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Mackenzie House at 82 Bond Street, located in the heart of Toronto was the last home of Wil-
liam Lyon Mackenzie, Toronto’s rst mayor and political activist known as the leader of the 1837 Rebellion of Upper Canada. MacKenzie was also an outspoken critic through his newspaper, the Colonial Advocate.
e rebellion failed and he ed to the United States as a refugee for
ten years and, returning to Toron- to, he was given a house purchased through a public fundraising cam- paign by his friends and political allies. is is the house you will be reading about and seeing in my pho- tographs.
Mackenzie lived at the house with his wife, three daughters and a live-in maid named Catherine Byrns from 1859. A er Mackenzie died, the family lived for another ten years in the home. e house is an example of Georgian archi- tecture attributed to William Rogers.
I was fortunate enough to attend a spe- cial baking session in the authenic period kitchen. e session, called,
Tea & Politics was led by historical in- tepreter, Sarah Fairley. It was held in the basement where the kitchens were lo- cated, as were most kitchens during the 19th century. is location made kitch- ens warm in the winter and cooler in the summer. It was a humid day when
I attended the cooking session and the windows were open to the garden. For- tunately, there was a welcome breeze into the humid kitchen where we were working. I was in a group of fourteen enthusiastic novice bakers who want- ed to learn about history, baking in the 19th century and, of course, tea.
Sarah Fairley loves to “bring history
to life” and what better way is there
to do that than through food? Sarah
has a background in history, as well as teaching. She was previously at Gibson House, another Toronto historical home operated by the City of Toronto, for- merly home of Scottish immigrant