Thomas Young

Artist, teacher, architect, politician, civil engineer, and surveyor; b. c. 1805 in England, he and his wife Mary Cordelia had two sons and four daughters; d. 3 Oct. 1860 in Toronto. From 1834 to 1839 he was a drawing master at Upper Canada College. In 1835–36 advertised for subscribers to his series of Four views of the city of Toronto, issued in New York City by the newly founded house of Nathaniel Currier. These accomplished lithographs, executed at an early stage in Toronto’s development and the first generally available scenes of the city, provide valuable views of Upper Canada College, the recently erected provincial parliament buildings, King Street, and the city from the eastern shore-line. As was done in many of Currier’s urban prints, Young’s views were enhanced with architectural features then unrealized. To the parliament buildings, for example, Young added his own version of a porch that the government had been unable to build for lack of funds, and in the view of King Street he provided a steeple for the truncated, tower of St James’ Church.