Manuscript map. "Thos. Allen Blyth P.L.S. Hamilton June 3rd, 1853". "Scale 132 Feet to one Inch". "To R. J. Hamilton Esqr". North is oriented down. Map shows 40 numbered lots bounded by "Fourth Conn. Road, and south limits of the City of Hamilton" [currently Concession Street] and extending south beyond a "public highway" [currently Inverness Avenue East]. The map extends beyond Melville Street in the west [currently Belvidere Avenue] and beyond the "original road allowance between lots 12 and 13" [currently Upper Wellington Street] in the east. The acre lots are adjacent to some estates or properties of prominent Hamilton landowners. Along the map's left edge, "No 66 Drawer 2". Handwritten on verso, "E & J F Moore's".
Manuscript map. Signed, "Thos. Allen Blyth P.L.S. Hamilton June 30th 1855". "Scale 10 ft. to an Inch." North arrow is oriented down. "The property of D. McInnes Esqr" is written below the title in pencil. Streets appearing on the map include John Street, and King Street. "No 86, drawer 3" is handwritten along left edge.
“Scale 100 ft to an Inch”. Streets appearing on the map include King Street, Aikman Avenue, Main Street, Wentworth Street, and Burlington Street [now Sanford Avenue]. Written in the bottom right corner, “(Signed) Ths. Allen Blyth. P.L.S. Hamilton January 12, 1854”. Written in the top right corner, “No 76 Drawer 2”. Written on the left side reads, “Easterly limits of City of Hamilton”. Aikman Avenue, was named after John Aikman (1764-1841). John Aikman was a United Empire Loyalist who settled with his wife, Hannah, in the area in 1787. The family lived near what is now King Street and Sanford Avenue.
There is a number "52" in the bottom left hand corner. The north arrow is penciled in the bottom left hand corner, indicating the top of the map is east.
Writing on the map details the footage of each lot and its geographic coordinates. The deed date and owner of each lot is also featured therein. The lots featured in this survey go from 8 to 12. Handwritten note on verso: "Plan of Lots 8.9.10.11.12, Block 5, Compiled from Title Deeds, D. Kirkendall's Survey, 9th April 1857."
Lots are located at the corner of MacNab and Merrick Streets. Merrick Street has now been changed to York Boulevard. The site is now home to a public parking garage at the Hamilton City Centre.
Surveyor's signature is illegible due to tears in the sheet's lower right corner. "Scale 100 ft = 1 inch". "Reserve No 1. in R. Beasleys Survey". Richard Beasley, an influential merchant and politician owned and developed land in the area. North arrow points to the bottom of sheet. Streets appearing on map include "Lock Street (produced)" [now spelled Locke Street], Poulette Street, William Street [now Hunter Street], and "Robert (prodcd)" [now Bold Street]. According to Hamilton Street Names (2002, p. 72), "when Locke Street was named (approximately 1840), it was west of Hamilton's town limits. The southern limit of Locke Street was Hunter Street (then named William) because of a deep ravine called Beasley's Hollow" which is delineated on the map with an irregular line. Many of the homes in this area were built to house railway workers and their families (Hamilton Street Names, p. 72). "Beasley no 36 Drawer no2" handwritten at the top of sheet. "R C Beasley" written in blue pencil near Lock Street.
This map depicts 41.5 acres of land subdivided into blocks and lots. It is located at the intersection of King and Dundurn Streets, in the Strathcona neighbourhood (lot 19, concession 2). Along the left side of the map is the title "Sketch of part of lot no.19 containing 41 1/2 acres". There is no author, date, or directional arrow listed on the map. Directionally, north would be pointing toward the right edge of the map. Just below the title is listed the scale "2ch to one Inch". In the top left-hand corner the map it is numbered: "No 47 Drawer No 2". The streets shown are unmarked but they are King Street (running east-west) and Dundurn Street (running north-south). There are 130 individual lots depicted on the sketch within 10 blocks. There is also, along King Street, a "Brick Yard" and a large property belonging to "Captn. Stewart". At the top of the map (eastward) is open space, shown as "54 acres". Local historical maps show that this area was largely natural land, on higher elevation. The 1850-51 Map of the City of Hamilton by Marcus Smith confirms the location of this map and shows this a small portion of this land becoming a "Catholic Cemetery" [now the location of the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King] and the rest as undeveloped land belonging to "the honorable Malcolm Cameron" (1808-1876). The Marcus Smith map also includes a "Capt. Stuart" as an individual owning land in the same location as the sketch. It is unclear as to which Captain Stuart/Stewart the map refers. One possibility is that it is well-known abolitionist and former military officer Captain Charles Stuart (1783-1863) who immigrated to Upper Canada in 1817 and settled in Amherstburg. We know that he was in the region during this period, because he assisted in the formation of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada at Toronto in February 1851 (Simpson, Donald. "Stuart, Charles" in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, accessed May 1, 2015). Other options come from the Hamilton City Directories: in 1853 there is a Stuart listed as the clerk for the district court on King Street West. In 1880 there is a John Stewart listed as an "excise officer" living on King Street. Finally, in 1886 there is an Alex Stewart listed as a mason and living on King Street West. In the centre of the verso of the map is found a signature "Lot 19, Charles Bain, Esq" as well as the number 133 encircled. In the top right-hand corner of the map is another mention of "Charles Bain, Esq". Very little seems to be written of Bain although some sources indicate he was an assistant surveyor for the Grand River Navigation Company. He worked as an understudy to Marcus Blair of Hamilton who was the area's senior deputy surveyor and Warden of the Forest on the Grand River (Hill, Bruce Emerson. The Grand River Navigation Company. Brantford: Brant Service Press, 1994). Bain was deputized as the surveying assistant to Blair by the efforts of James Winniett (1777-1849), superintendent of the Indian Department. Both Bain and Blair dealt regularly with complaints, mistreatment, and illegal squatting on the Six Nations land surrounding the Grand River. In 1837 Bain was made Deputy Warden after the firing of Blair by Sir Francis B. Head (The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, Appendix to the Sixth Volume of the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, Montreal: Steam Press, Rollo Campbell printer, 1847). By 1841, Bain was made Director of the Grand River Navigation Company. On behalf of the Grand River Navigation Company, Bain was likely involved in surveying and laying out plans for the villages of Paris, Indiana, of Oneida and Seneca [modern day Caledonia].
Scale: “8 feet=one Inch”. The sketch map shows a property with a “First piece” and a “Second piece” and a “Gangway” in the middle. There is also a “Stable” south of the “First piece”. A letter “J” is inked onto the map in the top left corner. At the base of the map there is the information of the surveyor: “Thos. A. Blyth. P.L.S. Hamilton Oct 1850”. There is no directional arrow but the map is oriented with north at the top. The exact location of the sketch is not known.
Manuscript map. "J. D. McKay & Co." faintly handwritten near lower edge. Scale "50 ft = 1 inch". North arrow is oriented down. Streets appearing on map are Main Street and Railway Street [now Locke Street], alongside 6 numbered lots. "No 41" is handwritten in the top left corner.
"Scale 100 Feet to the Inch." The map is numbered, on the left edge it reads "No 29 Drawer 6" in handwriting. The top right hand corner features a hand-drawn box with a penciled sketch. There is an inelligible note written in pencil above Roswell Street regarding the lots below. The signature reads "R.N. Law". The streets listed include Queen Street North, Robert Street, Douglas Street, and Roswell Street. Only Queen Street is in existence, in place, today.
This survey shows a number of rural lots in the former Township of Saltfleet located on the east mountain of Hamilton. The map is oriented so that north is at its base and the directional arrow found above the title reflects this fact. The escarpment is shown spanning lots 22-24 in the 4th Concession. Streets listed on the map include: the "6th Concession" [now Mud Street], the "5th Concession" [now Green Mountain Road], the "4th Concession" [now King Street East], and the "Original Road Allowance between Lots 22 x 23" [now Upper Centennial Parkway]. In the centre of the map there is also a small prospective road following the escarpment edge [now Ridge Road].
In the bottom left corner the map is numbered: "No 69 Drawer 2". Along the right edge there is a note which makes mention of the map's purpose: the transfer of ownership of lot 22 and part of lot 23 in the 4th Concession from "Thos. Waddell" to "A. Corman". All of the landowners listed on the map include John Williamson, Thomas Waddell, Alfonsus Corman, and Thomas Davis. The 1875 Wentworth County Atlas does not list any of these landowners as living on the lots, but it does show relatives of Alfonsus Corman as living nearby: "H.S. Corman" and "Tanis H. Corman" (lot 22, Concession 4). The survey was completed by Thomas Allen Blyth, P.L.S. It is signed and dated by Mr. Blyth in the bottom right hand corner: "ThS. Allen Blyth, P.L.S. Hamilton, Oct. 24th 1856". Blyth was one of the most prolific surveying professionals of the area in the 19th century, the "dean of Hamilton's Victorian surveyors" (Doucet and Weaver 1991:46). Blyth became a Provincial Land Surveyor on April 20, 1836 and worked in Hamilton for years. He is listed as having an office on King Street West in 1852. The map area is now a mix of agricultural, rural, and suburban land and includes the Devil's Punchbowl Conservation Area and the Starlite Drive In Theatre.
“Scale 3ch = 1 Inch”. The map is oriented so that the top of the map is south, with the directional arrow pointing down. Numbering is found atop the map in handwriting, “No 77 Drawer No 2.” At the base of the map there is the information of the surveyor: “Thos. A. Blyth. P.L.S. Sept 8th 1869.” The map is inscribed with the words “Copy”. The roads included on the map are “Mountain Road from Hamilton to Ancaster” [now Rousseaux Street], “Academy Street” [same name], and “Private Lane” [now Lodor Street]. The map also includes a school lot which is no longer in existence today.
Scale "5chs. equal one Inch". The map is oriented with north pointing down. In the lower right corner of the map, there is a certification statement signed and dated, "Ths. Allen Blyth P.L.S. Hamilton April 20th, 1850". Writing along the right edge reads, "No 68 Drawer No 1". Streets appearing on the map include: Fourth Concession Road [now Concession Street], 5th Concession Road [now Fennell Avenue East], road allowance between Nos. 12 and 13 [now Upper Wellington Street], and road allowance between Nos. 10 and 11 [now Upper Wentworth Street].
"Scale 6chs = one inch." The map is oriented so that the top is west, with the directional arrow pointing to the right, which is north. Below the title is the surveyor's information: "Thos. A. Blyth. P.L.S. Hamilton, C.W. Octr 2nd 1862". The map's copy hand and the individual to whom the sketch was given are also listed: "Copied by D. Sheldon Smith. Brantford, C.W. 25/10/62", "To Sheriff Smith. Brantford, C.W." The map is numbered "Drawer No 1" in handwriting. The roads included on the map are "Original Road allowance" [now Sherman Avenue], "1st Concession" [now Barton Street], and an unnamed road at the southern end of the map. The names of two property owners are mentioned on the map: "Lottridge" and "Case". An inlet of the shoreline is shown to reach well into the city.
“10 feet=one Inch”. Street appearing on the map include Market Street, York Street [now York Boulevard], and MacNab Street. An allotment of property on the map reads, “Archibald MacNab”. [Archibald MacNab, a chief, was an infamous relative of Sir Allen MacNab (Bailey, Dictionary of Hamilton Biography, 1912]. At this time in history, the streets Market Street and York Street extended all the way to MacNab Street. Today, MacNab Street only extends to York Street. Along left edge of map, "No 26 Drawer 5". Map is signed by Blyth and dated, "Hamilton Janry 4th 1849".
Manuscript map. Signed, "Thos A Blyth, Hamilton, March 29th, 1845". "Scale 5c [chains] to an inch". The north arrow is oriented down. Certification statement from Blyth states, "I hereby certify that this is the original plan of survey made by me for the late William Kirkendall of a portion of the front part of lot no 12 in the 4th Con of Barton in the 29 March AD 1845 valid this 7th day of Sept 1871". Lot 12 in the 4th Concession is likely south of Concession Street, between Upper Wellington and Upper Wentworth Streets. Handwritten in upper left corner, "No. 68 Drawer No 1". Title, 1871 date and Blyth's initials handwritten on verso.
This is sketch map of Burlington Heights, the property of Sir Allan MacNab (1798-1862). The map was surveyed by Thomas Allen Blyth, his signature found at the base of the sketch: "Ths. A. Blyth, P.L.S., Hamilton August [day] 1845." Blyth was a prominent surveyor in Hamilton during the Victorian era, having done countless plans of the region (for more information on Blyth, see RMC 7609: "Sketch of survey of lot 23 in the 4th Con. and lot 23 in the 5th Con., Saltfleet"). The plan's directional arrow is found in the top half of the map. Along its left edge is the word "sketch" and along its right edge is numbering "No 45 Drawer 2". The scale is found in the bottom left-hand corner: "Scale 3c to an Inch". On ther verso of the map there is also writing: "Sketch of the Survey of part of no. 19 in the 2nd Conn of Barton", "Plans", and "ThS A. Blyth P.L.S., Hamilton, August 4, 1845". The streets drawn are the "original road allowance between nos. 18 and 19" [now Dundurn Street], the "road from Burlington Heights to Hamilton" [now York Boulevard], and an unlabelled road [now Jones Street]. Of note on this map is the unusual configuration of York Boulevard, which was later altered for traffic safety purposes. This parcel of land is found at the westernmost extremity of Barton Township, sitting adjacent to Cootes Paradise. The line down the left side of the parcel reads "this line between lot no. 19 in the Township of Barton & the Government Reserve." The property owner, Sir Allen MacNab, was arguably the most influential Hamiltonian in the city's history. MacNab was a Canadian political leader, businessman, land speculator, lawyer, and soldier. He was a moderate Conservative who served as a Premier for the Province of Canada before Confederation (Peter Baskerville, "MacNab, Sir Allen Napier" in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 9, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1976). This map depicts the area just southwest of Dundurn Castle, the Italianate mansion constructed by MacNab in 1835. The map also encompasses Dundurn Park, Kay Drage Park, Hamilton Cemetery and the Chedoke Expressway.
"Scale 50 ft = 1 Inch." On left edge of map it reads, "No 57 Drawer 2". The map is oriented so that the north arrow points to the bottom of the map and south is at the top. Streets listed are: Wentworth Street, Main Street, and Ida Street. Ida Street, which can be found as such on Hamilton maps between 1903 and 1910, is now known as Delaware Avenue.
Title is uncertain as penciled writing is barely legible. "May 18/58" is penciled under title. Streets appearing on map include, John Street North, Catharine Street North, Henry Street [now Cannon Street East], and Lind Street [now Robert Street]. Land was originally owned by Nathaniel Hughson. He named several streets after members of his family including Catharine Street. "No 40, Drawer 5" is written along the upper edge.
Manuscript map. Cartographer unknown. Map shows Wellington Street in the west, extending to Victoria Street in the east, and north and south of "Arma" or "Anna" Street [difficult to transcribe with certainty]. According to the J.W. Tyrell map, City of Hamilton (1921), John H. Cameron's properties are located around Barton Street extending east from Wellington to Emerald Street. Handwritten near the sheet's upper edge, "No 13 Drawer 6". "172" is circled in the bottom left corner.
This is a plan for the subdivision of lots belonging to John Brown (1824-?) in the Durand neighbourhood of central Hamilton. The title is found, in faded pencil, along the right side of the map. The scale is found at the base of the map: "Scale 50 Ft to 1 Inch." There is also numbering at the base of the map: "No. 9 Drawer 6." There is no directional arrow but the map is oriented so that it is upside down. The streets listed are Concession Street [now Aberdeen Avenue], Queen Street, Markland Street, and Hess Street. The map maker's initials are found at the end of the title and along the left-hand margin where it reads "Copy - C.[?]B." There is a possibility that these are the initials of Charles Edward Booth (1821-1919). Booth was a surveyor who did professional work in Hamilton and died in the city in 1919 (Allan Davis, "C.E.S. Booth," Association of Ontario Land Surveyors, Toronto: AOLS Report of the Committee on Biography & Repository, accessed August 14, 2015). In the centre of the map there are 29 lots subdivided on the property of "John Brown, Esq." Brown was a merchant who lived in Hamilton. Brown was active in civic life in the city. It is possible that he acted as City Chamberlain, as evidenced by the 1851 City of Hamilton Directory (W.A. Shepard, The City of Hamilton Directory, 1851). In 1861, Brown built an elegant estate on Aberdeen Avenue (between Bay and Ravenscliffe) known as Highfield. The property was converted into the Highfield School for Boys in 1901; a predecessor to Hillfield Strathallan College ("History of HSC," Hillfield Strathallan College, http://www.hsc.on.ca/discover/history-of-hsc, accessed August 14, 2015). Brown was, also, at one point an owner of the famous hillside mansion "Rock Castle" (1848) built by Alexander Carpenter. In the 1871 Canadian Census, John Brown is listed as being 47 years old and a "wholesale merchant."