Joseph Sheard (11 October 1813 – 30 August 1883) was an English architect and politician. He was

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

from 1871 to 1872. Born in

Hornsea Hornsea is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The settlement dates to at least the early medieval period. The town was expanded in the Victorian era with the coming of the Hull ...

, near

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, his father died when he was only six weeks old, leaving four young children to be raised by his mother. He quit school at the age of 9 and found a job as an apprentice with a barrel-maker. Aged 19, he sailed from Hull on 15 April 1833 aboard the "Foster" landing in Quebec. He made his way by Durham boat to Prescott, Upper Canada where he boarded the steamboat "William the Fourth" for York, arriving in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

in 1833. He first was a carpenter, builder, and then became an architect in the 1840s. He built the William Cawthra house (a mansion at the corner of King & Bay, Toronto) which was demolished in 1946. He also built the Ontario Bank building (at the corner of Scott & Wellington). He was also a member of the

Orange Order in Canada The Grand Orange Lodge of British America, more commonly known as the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada or simply Orange Order in Canada, is the Canadian branch of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization that began in County Armagh in Ir ...

. At the time of Confederation, he was the Commissioner of Works and an alderman (1851–1871) in St. Patrick's Ward. He introduced the motion for the August Civic Holiday. In 1851, he is listed as an alderman, a building inspector, and an architect civil engineer. He designed the Dead house in St. Michael's Cemetery, and he had an entry for the design the original Parliament Buildings of Canada in Ottawa in 1859. When he was Foreman of Public Works, he refused to build the

gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

to hang two leaders of the Upper Canada Rebellion, Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews. When he refused he said, 'I'll not put a hand to it,' said he; 'Lount and Matthews have done nothing that I might not have done myself, and I'll never help build a gallows to hang them." A park was named in his honour on the lot that was once his home (The Mayor Joseph Sheard Parkette). It is found between the streets Yonge, McGill, Anne (now called Granby) and Church (12 McGill St). His son, Dr.

Charles Sheard Charles Sheard, M.D. (February 15, 1857 – February 7, 1929) was a medical doctor, public health official and politician.Charles Sheard, former city M.O.H., dies in 73rd year, ''Toronto Globe'', February 8, 1929 Dr Sheard was born in Toronto a ...

, became the city's Chief Medical Officer and also served as a Member of Parliament. Other and current living members of the Sheard family include: * Dr Charles Sheard Jr (1886–1947) – son of Charles Sheard * Justice Joseph David Sheard (1924–2015) – son of Joseph Louis Sheard (1891–1956), grandson of Joseph Sheard and former Ontario Court of Justice General Division * Terence Sheard QC (1898–1985) – lawyer and author of ''Canadian Forms of Wills'' 950* Matthew Sheard (1840–1910) – architect and son of Joseph Sheard

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Historic Places in Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheard, Joseph 1813 births 1883 deaths Canadian architects English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Mayors of Toronto Immigrants to Upper Canada