Description:


1418-1420 Queen Street West is a 3 storey building located on the north side of Queen Street West midblock between O'Hara Avenue and West Lodge Avenue in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto. 1418-1420 Queen Street West was constructed in 1891/1892 and is in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture.  

Historical photographs indicate that 1418-1420 Queen Street West originally contained an ornate parapet. This parapet was removed post-1910. 

The architect and/or builder of 1418-1420 Queen Street West are not known at present. However, archival resources — presently inaccessible to the public due to COVID-19 pandemic-related closures — may be able to identify these parties. 

Early Occupants: 

As of 1892/1893, both 1418 and 1420 Queen Street West were in use by William Murchison's drugstore. By 1893/1894, William Murchison's drugstore was based in 1418 Queen Street West and Seth Rickaby had opened a stationery shop at 1420 Queen Street West.  

William Murchison's drugstore — known as W. Murchison and Murchison & Company — was based at 1418 Queen Street West from 1892/1893 until 1900. Seth Rickaby's stationery shop was based at 1420 Queen Street West from 1893/1894 until 1913/1914. Biographies of these merchants have been included below. 

One of the earliest landlords of 1418-1420 Queen Street West was Richard Hayes, a local butcher.

Carolyn Whitzman in Suburb, Slum, Urban Village: Transformations in Toronto's Parkdale Neighbourhood, 1875-2002 (2009) provides the following description of Hayes landlordship: 

"On Queen Street, a newly constructed commercial building at numbers 1418-1420 was purchased in early 1890 by a butcher named Richard Hayes, who sold his house on Dowling Avenue in order to finance the deal. The purchase price was $8700, with a $4000 mortgage provided by an individual surnamed Thomas. Within a year, Hayes had borrowed a total of $9220 from the Synod of the Diocese of Saskatchewan, with his property as collateral. The Synod took over the property in 1894 and managed it until a 1913 sale to the long-time lessee Munro and Son, druggists, for $2850." 

Please note that Whitzman (2009) provides an alternative date of construction for 1418-1420 Queen Street West.


William Murchison:

William Murchison (1863/1864-1923) was born in 1863/1864 in Huron Township, Ontario. In 1883, he married Isabella Mathenson (1864-1935). William and Isabella Murchison had at least 6 children — 4 daughters and 2 sons — born between 1888 and 1902. The family were Presbyterian.

William Murchison's drugstore— known as W. Murchison and Murchison & Company — was established around 1883. 

The following biography of William Murchison was provided in the Consolidated Illustrating Company's Toronto Illustrated, 1893 (1893): 

"William Murchison — This gentleman is an experienced druggist and chemist and a graduate of the Ontario College of Pharmacy. He is a native of Canada and a young man of splendid abilities, and has established a most excellent reputation by his straightforward business methods and uniform courtesy and pleasant manner of treating patrons. He has been established in business a period of ten years and occupied an attractively fitted up store, 22 x 65 feet in area, at 1418 Queen Street West, and is conducting it with professional knowledge and skill according to modern ideas. Mr. Murchison keeps in stock a full line of drugs and medicines, chemicals, surgical appliances, supplies for the sick-room, tinctures, extracts, etc. and also toilet requisites, perfumery, and everything that pertains to the business."  (page 212). 

During the mid-1890s, Murchison also served as the president of Ontario's Provincial Pharmaceutical Association.  

In 1900, the Murchisons emigrated to Buffalo, New York where William continued his business as a pharmacist. William Murchison died in in 1923 and Isabella Murchison died in 1935. 


Seth Rickaby:

Seth Rickaby (1845-1922) was born in 1845 in Westerdale, Yorkshire, England. In 1857, he emigrated to Canada. On 22 December 1870, he married Amelia Pope (1848-1931) in Toronto. Seth and Amelia Rickaby had 9 children — 5 daughters and 4 sons — born between 1872 and 1882. However, 5 of the Rickaby children died prior to the age of 2. The Rickaby family were Wesleyan Methodists. 

During the early-to-mid 1870s, Seth Rickaby was a merchant in and the postmaster of Glenarm, a small village near Fenelon Falls in what is now the City of Kawartha Lakes. The Rickaby family arrived in Toronto during the 1880s.  

In Parkdale, Seth Rickaby established a stationery shop at 1420 Queen Street West in 1892/1893. Seth Rickaby was also the proprietor of the Parkdale Bazaar, which was in operation at 1420 Queen Street West intermittedly through the 1890s.

Around the turn of the 20th century, William John Rickaby (born 1872) — Seth and Amelia Rickaby's eldest son — established a business selling musical instruments at 1420 Queen Street West (alongside his father's stationery shop and the Parkdale Bazaar).  

Seth Rickaby's shop at 1420 Queen Street West closed in 1913/1914. Seth Rickaby died in Toronto in 1922.



Later Occupants and Uses: 


Circa 1899/1900:

1418 Queen Street West: Munro Brothers — drugstore; and D'Arcy E. Munro.

1420 Queen Street West: Seth Rickaby — stationery; and William J. Rickaby — musical instruments.


Circa 1909/1910:

1418 Queen Street West: Munro Brothers — drugstore; and D'Arcy E. Munro.

1420 Queen Street West: Seth Rickaby — stationery; and William J. Rickaby — musical instruments.


Circa 1914/1915:

1418 Queen Street West: D. E. Munro — drugstore. 

1420 Queen Street West: Elmer Mauasowitz — dry goods; and James Brutton.


Circa 1919/1920:

1418 Queen Street West:  D. E. Munro — drugstore.
 
1420 Queen Street West: Branch of Arthur Poyntz — butchers.

Circa 1929/1930:

1418 Queen Street West: D'Arcy E. Munro— drugstore; and Maurice Schultz.

1420 Queen Street West: Len Collins — butcher; William B. Deterling.


Circa 1939/1940:

1418 Queen Street West: D'Arcy E. Munro — drugstore; and Gladys Barker.

1420 Queen Street West:  Parkdale Variety Store; William E. Randall; and Charles Litowitz.


Circa 1949/1950;

1418 Queen Street West: D'Arcy E. Munro — drugstore; and Gladys Barker.

1420 Queen Street West:  Playfair Shoppe — children's and ladies' wear; Irving Greenberg; and Samuel Greenberg. Samuel Greenberg was listed as the owner of the building as of 1949/1950.


Circa 1959/1960:

1418 Queen Street West: Thomas C. Selby — drugstore; Gertrude Corbett; and John McElroy. Thomas C. Selby was listed as the owner of the building in the 1960 City of Toronto Directory. 

1420 Queen Street West: In-N-Out Cleaners; Samuel Greenberg; and Arthur King. Samuel Greenberg was listed as the owner of the building in the 1960 City of Toronto Directory. 


Circa 1968/1969:

1418 Queen Street West: Daniel Brothers — tobacco shop; Parkdale Post Office; and 2 residential units. 

1420 Queen Street West: Maher Shoe Store; Louis Sigmond; and Muriel Ogden.


1996:

1418 Queen Street West: Smarts Fashion. 

1420 Queen Street West: Parkdale Video. 

Early 2007:

1418 Queen Street West: Karim's Discount Jewellery. 

1420 Queen Street West: A. R. Bargain — a bargain store which sold kitchenware, hardware, luggage, and other items. 


Present Day (January 2022):

1418 Queen Street West: Park Agency Print Shop. 

1420 Queen Street West:  H & R Block (branch), with two upstairs residential units.

(Research by Adam Wynne)