Toronto Ferry Company

To the left of the Hanlan Hotel, you can see the Doty Ferry Company docks, on the Toronto Island
People waiting for the ferry at the Doty Company Ferry docks at Hanlan's Point, circa 1885-95, by F.W. Micklethwaite

The Toronto Ferry Company was formed from the merge of John Doty Engine & Ferry Company with A.J. Tymon's Island Ferry Company, two of Toronto's early ferry operators to Toronto Islands in 1890. TFC was founded and headed by businessman Lol Solman. The company's ferry license and ships was later acquired by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1927.

A.J. Tymon's Island Ferry Company

Captain Andrew J. Tymon (1844-?) operated a number ferries from 1880 until the formation of his own service in the mid-1880s. It later merged with John Doty (1822-1902) Doty Machine and Engine Works's company to form TFC in 1892.

Vessels included:

His son Joseph Tymon (b. 1873) would become a ferry captain for the Toronto Ferry Company.[1]

John Doty Engine Company

John Doty was an American born Toronto industrialist who built his empire from a small machine shop to eventually operating a shipbuilding and ferry service to Toronto Island in the late 19th Century. Doty was born in 1822 in Lewiston, New York and had lineage to settlers abord the Mayflower. He moved to Niagara Falls, New York then to around the Golden Horseshoe before settling in Toronto to start his empire. He acquired the Dickey, Neill and Co. Soho Foundry on Bathurst and Front to begin his Doty Machine Works in 1883. By 1889 he began to manufacture engines and shipbuilding in 1891. In 1880 he also began his John Doty Ferry Company with the purchase of the assets of the Turner Ferry Company and merged with A.J. Tymon to form Toronto Ferry Company in 1890. In 1892 Doyt retired from his business and moved to Godreich, Ontario where he died in 1902.

John Doty began as a builder of ship engines and gradually as an operator of ferry service to the Island. The company was located at Front and Bathurst Streets in a building now occupied by Sherwin-Williams paint store.

A list of engines built by John Doty:

The John Doty Engine Works and shipyard would be sold in 1892 due to financial troubles; the facility operated until 1905 under George and John Bertram as the Bertram Engine Works.[2]

Docks

Fleet

A list of ships operated by the TFC:

Product list and details
 Make/Model   Description   # passengers   Year acquired   Year retired   Notes 
* Mayflower - built by Bathurst Street Wharf for John Doty Engine & Ferry Company ferry 900-1000 1890 1938 Later acquired from the Toronto Ferry Company by E.B. Osler (with acquisition of John Doty Engine & Ferry Company and Tymon's Island Ferry Company; became city garbage scow
Primrose built by Bathurst Street Wharf for John Doty Engine & Ferry Company ferry 900-1000 1890 1938 sister ship to the Mayflower and later acquired from the Toronto Ferry Company
Bluebell - built by Polson Iron Works Limited for Toronto Ferry Company ferry N/A 1906 1955
Trillium 1910-1957 - built by Polson Iron Works Limited for Toronto Ferry Company ferry N/A 1910; 1976 1957 re-enter service 1976 with Metro Parks
Luella - built by W. Armour & Company and John Doty Engine Company for Toronto Ferry Company ferry 122 1882 1934
Sadie - built as St. Jean Baptiste for the Turner Ferry Co. by James Andrew of Oakville double-decked paddle vessel - 112 feet 377 1885 ?
Canadian - built for the Turner Ferry Co. by Alexander Clindinning of Toronto two-decked, double-ended pad-die steamer - 122 feet 340 1882 ?
Prouvette Beyer - built for the Turner Ferry Co. ferry 1882 ?
Arlington - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. in Harwood single deck screw steamer 100 1878, 1880 ?
Jessie McEdwards - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. by Melancthon Simpson of St. Catharines single deck screw steamer - 65 feet 116 1876 ?
Kathleen - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. by George Dickson of Toronto two-decked screw steamer - 84 feet 200 1886 1918
Gertrude - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. by George Clean of Toronto two-decked screw steamer - 75 feet 147 1886 ?
Island Queen - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. - Joseph Duval at Port Dalhousie single-decked screw steamer - 73 feet 148 1882 1918
Ned Hanlan - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. ferry 1902 1966
T.J. Clark ferry 1918 1960
Miss Simcoe ferry 1918 1929
Lady York ferry 1918 1929
Aylmer ferry 1918 1929
Buttercup ferry 1918 1929
Jasmine ferry 1918 1929 later renamed Ojibway
Clark Brothers ferry 1918 1927
John Hanlan - built by John & James Abbey/Abbey Brothers Shipyards of Port Dalhousie screw steamer ~100 1844 1929 burned and sunk off Sunnyside Park 1929

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/prominentmen/default.asp?ID=c065
  2. ↑ Dave LeBlanc (July 19, 2011). "Condo dwellers: Do you know your area's history?". Globe and Mail., citing Nathan Ng.
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