John Scadding


John Scadding was an early settler in York, Upper Canada. John Scadding is remembered via the Scadding Cabin, the oldest building in Toronto. He served as a clerk to Upper Canada's first Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe.
Scadding arrived in Upper Canada with Simcoe in 1791. Scadding was granted a lot on the east side of the Don River in 1793. He built the log cabin now known as Scadding Cabin in 1794, to fulfil his settlement duties to the Crown. Scadding left York in 1796 for England with Simcoe and did not return until 1818. While in England, Scadding managed Simcoe's estate. Scadding married Melicent Triggs in about 1806, and they had three sons, John Scadding, Charles Scadding, and Henry Scadding. His son Henry became a prominent Toronto figure and a well-known historiographer of York and early Toronto. Simcoe died in 1806 and Scadding continued to manage the estate for a few years afterwards during which the sons were born.
Scadding returned to York in 1818. Scadding built a larger log house and numerous other buildings farther north on his property near Broadview and Gerrard, including a large barn and sold the southern portion of the lot and the original log cabin to William Smith. The rest of the Scadding family followed in 1821. Scadding died March 1, 1824, when a large tree being cut down fell on him. The remaining portion of the Scadding original land grant, located north of Gerrard, was purchased by the City of Toronto in 1856 and the later buildings demolished for the Industrial Farm and later the Don Jail.. The original log cabin was dismantled in 1879 by the York Pioneers and re-erected on the exhibition grounds where it still stands.