Historical Stones of
Toronto's Mount Pleasant
Cemetery
Herbert Alexander Bruce
Q-143
Birth: Sep. 28, 1868
Death: Jun. 23, 1963
Born in Blackstock, Ontario near Port Perry, Bruce was educated as a surgeon at the University of Toronto and in Paris and Vienna. He was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. He owned Wellesley Hospital in Toronto which he founded in 1911, and was a professor of surgery at the University of Toronto. In 1916, during World War I, he was appointed inspector-general of the Canadian Army Medical Corps by Sir Sam Hughes, and attained the rank of colonel in the Canadian Army (Permanent Active Militia). Bruce investigated medical practices in the army and issued a Report on the Canadian Army Medical Service which urged a complete reorganization of the medical corps. Although perhaps well-meaning, only a few of his recommendations for reform were feasible from the military and economic points-of-view, and the manner of his appointment was protested by Sir William Osler as an affront to the medical profession. Bruce's report was disowned by the government at the time and he was dismissed from his duties, while his conservative patron, Hughes, was obliged to resign. In 1919, he published Politics and the Canadian Army Medical Corps, criticizing the government for its actions but avoiding any specific denunciation of Hughes. In 1920, Bruce purchased a farm on Bayview Avenue overlooking the Don Valley and built a Tudor-style mansion which he named Annandale. In 1932, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario by R.B. Bennett for a term that lasted until 1937. He often verbally clashed with new Ontario Premier Mitch Hepburn who attempted to curtail the extravagance of the vice-regal office in the face of theGreat Depression. The lieutenant-governor's official residence, Chorley Park, was closed by the Hepburn government at the end of Bruce's term on the pretext of cutting costs. While most lieutenant-governors are former politicians, Bruce took the unusual step of entering politics following his term as the King's representative. Following the sudden death of Conservative MP David Spence in the middle of the 1940 federal election campaign, Bruce contested and won Spence's seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1940 federal election. Sitting as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Parkdale, Bruce was an outspoken advocate of conscription. He was re-elected to a second term in the 1945 federal election, but retired from office in 1946.
Charles William Rayner
Plot Q Lot 250
Born in Suffolk, England, Rayner came to Canada at the age of seven. Rayner Created a construction company and their first job in Toronto was building the Bayview Avenue bridge over the Don River, just north of Lawrence Avenue which he undertook in 1925. Other projects For Manitoba Hydro and Ontario hydro followed, on of the largest being the 45 million dollar project to build twin Hydraulic diversion tunnels under the city of Niagara Falls taking water from the above fall to new Sir Adam Beck Generating Station Number two down river. Rayner Construction also built miles and miles of highways, an undetermined number of traffic bridges, and a large portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway. In his younger days, Rayner had also been a pioneer amongst the prospectors. In 1915 – 16 he surveyed and opened a quarry on the north shore of Georgian Bay for a small Buffalo, New York company that was eventually to become known as Union Carbide. Rayner Construction was also involved in the construction of the country’s first subway, the TTC’s Yonge line which opened on March 30, 1954. Charles William Rayner died on January 1, 1958 at the age of 74.
John Davis
Plot Q Lot 268
John started a pottery business called John Davis and son also known as the Davisville Pottery Works. The business was located on the east side of Younge Street just north of the present Davisville Avenue. and was the only industry there back then. the plant moved later to 377 Merton Street(now Pottery Playgrounds) in 1916. The plant made clay products fo eight-five years. John's wife Mary died in 1889. John and Mary had seven children. Davisville is named in his honour.
