grave post - Howard

Last week I introduced you to St James Cemetery in Toronto that was designed by John Howard.
Now I will introduce you to John and Jemima Howard.

a portrait of John G Howard (source: wikipedia)

1874           and Jemima

His name may not be as familiar as some others, but some of his works certainly are. Besides the cemetery, he was also responsible for laying out what are now the Toronto Islands and High Park, the premier park in the city and the largest one that is wholly within the city limits. One of the streets that goes through the park is called Howard Park Avenue.

John and Jemima came to Canada from England in 1832. Until then, he was known as Corby, though why the name change is not known. One of his explanations for changing it to Howard was that he had been born illegitimate and had been given the name of his stepfather and wanted to go back to his 'rightful' name. Another was a claim to be a direct descendent of Thomas Howard, the 4th Duke of Norfolk, though a 17th century descendent had changed his name to Corby from the ancestral estate Corby Castle after a family dispute.

Their marriage was a little odd - John had a long term relationship with a Mary Williams and had three children by her - but when Jemima became ill with cancer, he did everything he could to care for her. He would outlive her by 13 more years and die at his home, Colborne Lodge, in High Park and in which he was allowed to continue living as part of the deal.

The land that was to become High Park was bought to be used as a sheep farm in 1836, during his tenure as the city surveyor. Howard was also a busy engineer and architect who we can thank for the many public buildings and churches as well as the roads and sewers and bridges making the muddy town of York, as Toronto was then known, a bit more livable. His land, however, was not at all suitable as a farm, being rather hilly with wetlands and sandy soil. By 1873, he had deeded the park land back to the city in exchange for a permanent pension. He and Jemima had no children of their own. Both were artists in their own right. Jemima is said to have possibly suffered from dementia, which may explain why her bedroom had no door handle on the inside and a railing in front of the fireplace. There is also a rumour that John tried to have her committed to the lunatic asylum (which he also designed and which was torn down in 1976 to be thankfully rebuilt as a much more patient friendly facility).
The house is now a museum run by the Toronto Historical Board.

The Howards are buried in the Howard Tomb, a monument that is located across from Colborne Lodge and overlooks Grenadier Pond. Howard designed the tomb himself in 1874 with a cairn representing Jemima's Scottish roots. Jemima died in 1877 (possibly of breast cancer) with the poor woman having a view from her bedroom window of her own burial tomb as she lay dying. There is a rumour that if the conditions are right, you can see her ghostly image in the window. 

The gate is from St Paul's Cathedral in London. Showing his wealth and influence, he bought the fence (designed by Christopher Wren in 1714) when it was taken down and had it shipped to Canada. Sadly, the ship capsized in the St Lawrence and most of the railing was lost, but Howard managed to have this small section salvaged.

a watercolour done by John Howard around 1874-75.

see more tragics at Julie's Taphophile Tagics