Description:

82-84 Maitland Street is a 3-storey-plus-basement apartment building — known as the Royal George Apartments — located at the northwest corner of Maitland Street and Wellspring Lane in the Church-Wellesley Village neighbourhood of Toronto. 82-84 Maitland Street was designed in 1910 in an Edwardian style by the architectural firm Scott & Isley. Construction was completed by 1911. City of Toronto Directories indicate that the Royal George Apartments originally contained 7 suites — including a caretaker's suite in the basement — which has since been expanded to 8 suites in the present day.

The name Royal George derives from King George V who became King of the United Kingdom and its Colonies the same year the building was designed. 

During the 1980s, the interior of the building underwent significant renovations to bring it up to modern building and fire prevention codes. 


Architects - Scott & Isley: 

Unfortunately, limited information is known about the architectural firm Scott & Isley. On plans of 82-84 Maitland Street, the address of the firm is provided as 46 Russell Street, Toronto.

Isley refers to Gilbert Isley, then employed as a draughtsman at the architectural firm Darling and Pearson. Isley was born around 1880 and was originally from Brooklyn (New York). By the early 1900s, he had moved to Toronto. In December 1904, he married Florence Morton. 46 Russell Street — Scott & Isley's address — was the home of his father-in-law William Morton (where Gilbert and Florence also lived as of this point in time). The Isleys had moved back to New York by 1920, where Gilbert took up employment as a construction engineer. 

The identity of Scott is not known at present.



First Owner - George Meech: 

The Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street) was commissioned by George Meech. City of Toronto Directories indicate that there were two individuals with this name living in Toronto as of 1910:


George Meech — a local butcher who lived and worked at the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Grosvenor Street (at 496 Yonge Street / 2 Grosvenor Street). Notably, this was only a block west of the Royal George Apartments.

George Meech — a resident of Simcoe Park. 


Of the two, it is probable the first (the local butcher) was the Meech associated with the Royal George Apartments, albeit this requires further research to confirm with certainty. 


A Brief History of Early Apartment Buildings in Toronto:


A Brief History of Early Apartment Buildings in Toronto:




Communal living (boarding houses, barracks, etc.) have existed in Toronto since the city's inception in the late 18th century. However, the first purpose-built apartment buildings - originally known as apartment houses - did not emerge in Toronto until 1899.  


The emergence of purpose-built apartment buildings within Toronto was due to both their development and proliferation in other North American cities, as well as due to a rapid increase in the population of Toronto within the first decades of the 20th century that outpaced the availability of single-family dwellings. 


1899 saw the issuance of the building permit for the St. George Mansions at the southwest corner of Harbord Street and St. George Street. The St. George Mansions were completed by 1904 and were considered Toronto's first purpose-built apartment building. Richard Dennis notes in Toronto's First Apartment-House Boom: An Historical Geography, 1900-1920 (1989) that the earliest apartment buildings in Toronto were "large-scale luxury blocks" rather than middle-class efficiency apartments. 


Dennis (1989) further notes that "by 1907, when the first list of apartment houses was published in the city directory, eight buildings were listed" (14). Post-1907 saw a steady increase in the number of apartment buildings within Toronto alongside a building boom of apartments in the 1910s, albeit the post-1907 buildings were often less luxurious, smaller, and more utilitarian in scheme. By 1918, City of Toronto Directories listed at least 290 apartment buildings within the City of Toronto. 


ERA Architects note in their Toronto Building Typology Study: The Pre-War Apartment Building - Church-Wellesley Village (2018) that early apartment buildings in Toronto were often constructed on corner lots (including both streets and laneways) and had their first (ground) floor half a storey above street level as to allow basement suites and spaces to receive increased light. ERA Architects (2018) also note that the names selected for early apartment buildings in Toronto often "evoked British royalty, a certain level of class, and even American symbols of modernity." These trends hold true for the Royal George Apartments. 


By 1912, purpose-built apartment buildings in Toronto were the subject of significant controversy due to their alleged facilitation of immorality (partly due to their appeal to individuals who could live on their own without constant supervision and restrictions on guests and various activities); privacy and sanitation related concerns; the emergence of landlord legislation; perceived risks to property values in the surrounding area; a loss of neighbourhood greenspace with the larger building footprints occupying most of the lot; and societal bias towards renters versus owners. Calls emerged to prohibit the construction of new apartment buildings within pre-established residential areas. Eventually, Toronto City Council passed Bylaw 6061 to prohibit the construction of apartment buildings on specific streets (namely established streets that mostly contained houseform dwellings). Developers could still appeal on a case-by-case basis for an exemption. Another bylaw was passed to limit the size of the buildings and mandate a set amount of outdoor space on the lot. The Chief Medical Officer of Toronto - Dr. Charles Hastings (1858-1931) - also became involved in the debate with a public health focus on the tenement-like conditions in some Toronto apartment buildings. In 1911-1912, Dr. Hastings testified to Toronto City Council with particular concerns over overpopulation, poor ventilation, the risk of fire, and some apartment building's internal rooms having no windows.


Controversy later emerged over Bylaw 6061, namely that the prohibition of new buildings was causing rents in existing buildings to skyrocket (some rents increased by 10% to 35%). A collapse in the property market in 1913/1914 and the advent of World War I resulted in a shift of public focus away from the construction of new apartment buildings in Toronto. During World War I fewer apartment buildings were constructed in Toronto. This was followed by an increase after the war that peaked with a building boom in 1928. However, construction of new apartment buildings then declined over the following years due to the Great Depression. 



Notably, during this period, the construction of new apartment buildings in many areas required individual bylaws to be passed allowing an exemption for each site. Bylaw 6061 was altered in 1941 on the advice of the City Solicitor who considered it "was illegal for the Council to authorize violations of residential bylaws by passing amending by-laws, if such action was taken for the benefit of private individuals, and not in the general public interest." Dennis (1989) further discerns that post-1941 the practice continued but "whole blocks or streets, rather than individual lots, were specified whenever an exemption was made."


Following World War II, the first apartment high-rise buildings were built in Toronto in the 1950s to 1970s. Condominiums first emerged in Toronto in the 1970s and 1980s.  


Early / First Occupants:

The early / first occupants of the Royal George Apartments — per the City of Toronto Directories — included: 

Suite 1: The Williams family resided in Suite 1 of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street, Toronto between 1918 (the earliest apartment-specific data available in the City of Toronto Directories) and 1933. Silas C. Williams was a Manager at the Seamless Rubber Company Limited. During the early 1920s, the Toronto operations of the Seamless Rubber Company Limited were based at 68 Temperance Street. Francis Williams is noted on census records to have been the wife of Silas C. Williams. The 1921 Census of Canada additionally notes that Silas and Francis Williams lived at the Royal George Apartments alongside their young niece Francis Brantley. The 1921 Census of Canada notes that Silas and Francis Williams were originally from the United States of America and had arrived in Canada in 1912, whereas Francis Brantley was also originally from the United States of America and arrived in Canada in Unfortunately, the 1921 Census of Canada records are unclear as to Silas C. Williams’ age – with the record reading either 34 years old (born circa. 1887) or 54 years old (born circa. 1867) as of the enumeration of the records. Comparatively, Francis Williams is listed as being of 29 years of age (born circa. 1892) and Francis Brantley is listed as being 2 years of age (born circa. 1919). Of note is that a J. O. Harvey is listed as residing in Apartment 1 circa. 1929/1930. Further research is required to determine Harvey’s relationship to the Williams family (friend, sub-tenant, etc.) and where the Williams family were residing during this period-in-time.


Suite 2: Robert Lynch Stailing (1888-1950) and Mabel Stailing (1873-1954) – Robert Lynch Stailing was an influential and well-connected figure in Toronto’s business class, particularly within the field of insurance. The Stailing family resided in Suite 2 of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street, Toronto) between circa 1913/1914 and 1921. The Stailing family then moved into Apartment 5 of the Royal George Apartments in 1922 and resided here until 1935. Robert Lynch Stailing was originally from Nova Scotia, had attended Mount Allison University in 1910, and married Mabel Lyman Stailing (née Ruggles) of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America the same year. The Stailings arrived in Toronto in the early 1910s. Upon arriving in Toronto, Robert Lynch Stailing became a Clerk at the London & Lancashire Fire Inspection Company. He then became the Office Manager of Reed, Shaw, & McNaught insurance brokers in 1916. In 1916, he also become the Assistant Manager of the Canada Operations of the Sun Insurance Office of London, England (also known as the Sun Group and later as Sun Life Financial) and had later become the Manager of the Canada Operations of the Sun Insurance Office of London, England by the early 1930s. Stailing’s 1950 obituary in the New York Times identifies that he was formerly the Manager of the Patriotic Assurance Company and Planet Assurance Company, as well as the President and Managing Director of the Imperial Insurance Office. Stailing was also the Honorary President of the Canadian Insurance Accountants’ Association; Vice President of the All Canada Insurance Federation between 1934 and 1941; President of the Canadian Underwriters’ Association between 1939 and 1940 and again in 1947; President of the Dominion Board of Insurance Underwriters between 1944 and 1945; a Trustee of the Leonard Foundation; a Rector Warden for Saint Paul’s Anglican Church on Bloor Street East; and the President of The National Club in 1949. Stailing is noted to have authored many articles on insurance for Canadian publications. Further research is required to determine if Robert and Mabel Stailing had any children.


Suite 3: William F. Daniel is listed as residing in Suite 3 of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street, Toronto) between 1914 (the earliest apartment-specific data available in the City of Toronto Directories) and 1919. Daniel was a Department Manager at the National Drug and Chemical Company of Canada. The National Drug and Chemical Company of Canada was incorporated in 1905. In 1906, it initiated the “operational integration of 19 wholesale drug companies and 13 retail stores." During the late 1910s, the Toronto operations of the National Drug and Chemical Company of Canada were based at 240 Richmond Street West. In 1987, the company changed its name to Medis Health and Pharmaceutical Servics and was bought out by the San Francisco based McKesson Corporation in 1991. The company is still active as of 2022, although now operates under the name McKesson Canada.


Suite 4: The Edgeworth family resided in Apartment 4 of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street, Toronto) between 1914 (the earliest apartment-specific data available in the City of Toronto Directories) and 1931. The family consisted of John Edgeworth ( 15 October 1857 – 17 October 1916) – an Inspector at the Canadian Permanent Mortgage Corporation; Teresa (also known as Terese or Tessie) Edgeworth (1851 – 4 January 1931) née Forse - wife and later widow of John Edgeworth; James Edgeworth; and Hazel Edgeworth - a stenographer at the Ontario Legislative Buildings or Parliament Buildings.


Suite 5: Duncan McCallum resided in Apartment 5 of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street) between 1919 (the earliest apartmentspecific data available in the City of Toronto Directories) and 1921. Unfortunately, no further information is provided about McCallum in the City of Toronto Directories or in the 1921 Census of Canada. Further research is required to determine Duncan McCallum’s profession, as well as his date of birth and date of death. Of note is that during this same period there was another Duncan McCallum – an electrician with McGregor & McIntyre Limited - who lived only a few blocks away at 28 Alexander Street, Toronto.


Suite 6:  John McDonald Gordon – John McDonald Gordon resided in Apartment 6 of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street) between 1914 (the earliest apartment-specific data available in the City of Toronto Directories) and 1923. Further research is required to determine John McDonald Gordon’s former profession. John McDonald Gordon may have been retired by the mid-1910s.

Suite 7:  Suite 7 was the caretaker's suite, albeit it was occasionally rented out to other tenants. It appears to have been in the basement. The first information available for this suite is in the 1914/1915 City of Toronto Directory, at which point in time the caretaker was John Sefton. Later caretakers included: William Geary (also spelled William Geevey) (mid-1910s to early 1920s); Albert Pillinger (in the mid-to-late 1920s); William A. Edmond (in the early 1930s); Thorley Pugsley (in the mid-1930s through the early 1950s); Joseph Stradesky (in the mid-1950s); and William Gagides (in the mid-to-late 1960s). 

Please note that some of the above-mentioned residents may have lived in the building as early as 1910/1911. 

Later Occupants of Note: 

Please note this list of former occupants is not exhaustive and aims to provide a general overview. Dates are also approximate. 

Harvey Klemmer Maurer: Harvey Klemmer Maurer (1898-1992) was the Principal of the Wellesley Public School13 during the late 1940s through early 1950s and resided in Apartment 6 of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street, Toronto) during the same period. Maurer was originally from the town of Clifford in Huron County, Ontario. During World War I, Maurer served with the Canadian Over Seas Expeditionary Force.


Dinah Christie: Dinah Christie resided in Suite 3 of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street, Toronto) during the mid-to-late 1960s (and potentially later). Dinah Christie (born 1942) is a British-Canadian actress, comedian, entertainer, playwright, and singer. During the 1960s through 1980s, she was largely associated with the CBC. One of the CBC shows that Christie was involved in during the mid-1960s was This Hour Has Seven Days, which quickly became controversial – described as “Canada’s most subversive television series” (Hillmer 2015) – and later shaped the current affairs, political, and/or tabloid talk show genre(s) in the following decades. Christie was one of the cohosts of the show and “sang original tunes based on the news of the week” (Corcelli 2002/2020). This Hour Has Seven Days – which ran between 1964 and 1966 - also “set new standards of broadcast journalism in Canada and the U.S. with shows like W5, 60 Minutes, and The Fifth Estate all debuting within fewer than 10 years of its cancellation” (Corcelli 2002/2020). Stacey Coulter also listed as residing in Apartment 3 of the Royal George Apartments during this period. Christie came out of retirement in 2012 and recently produced her play Paddle Song about the life of E. Pauline Johnson (1861-1913) the same year (Hardaker 2012).


Edwin Stephenson: Edwin Stephenson (1931-2008) was a freelance film actor who resided in Suite 2 of the Royal George Apartments during the late 1960s (and potentially later). Stephenson was originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (IMDb 2020). During this period in time, Richard Luckhart; Joseph Vacheresse; and J. Van Evera were also listed as residing in Suite 2.


Land Assembly:

The Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street) should be considered under increased threat of demolition, as they are part of an ongoing land assembly project by KingSett Capital at the northeast corner of Church Street and Maitland Street. No applications for re-development at the northeast corner of Church Street and Maitland Street have been made publicly available as of May 2022. However, steps should be taken to ensure the preservation of the Royal George Apartments (82-84 Maitland Street) in the future. 





(Research by Adam Wynne).