Enoch Turner brewed beer and used his wealth to help educate others
On my walk through St. James-the-Less Cemetery in downtown Toronto, I stopped at the grave of brewer and philanthropist Enoch Turner.
Enoch—the name appears in the Old Testament book of Genesis—was a wealthy English-born brewer who, in 1803, established a successful brewery near today’s Front and Parliament streets. Brewing required vast quantities of water, and Turner drew on the fresh flow of Taddle Creek to supply mill power and to fill beer kegs for thirsty Torontonians. Now buried beneath the city, the creek once ran southeast to Toronto Harbour near what is today the Distillery District.
Enoch was also known locally for feeding his horses beer—something the horses appeared not to mind, and which drew curious onlookers. One hopes the police didn’t consider administering a breathalyzer on the horses when transporting beer to his pubs.
When Toronto’s population more than doubled in 1847 as a result of the Irish famine, Turner’s neighbourhood changed dramatically. Many newcomers arrived from County Cork, giving rise to the area’s nickname: Corktown. Unfortunately, the city largely looked the other way when it came to educating these new immigrants. In response, Turner built a schoolhouse in 1848 on land donated by Little Trinity Anglican Church behind the church.
The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse offered free, co-educational elementary education and played a vital role in advancing the idea of a public, tax-supported school system. Free public education officially began in Toronto in 1851, and the school served as an important model for that city-supported system. This, more than his brewery, became Turner’s lasting legacy.
Enoch Turner died in Toronto in 1866. He was 73 or 74.
1792-1866
While Enoch was building schools, another Toronto brewer was building churches. See my related site about Eugene O’Keefe.
