In October of 2019, I had the privilege of giving a talk about the Prices at a monthly meeting of the Beach and East Toronto Historical Society (TBETHS).
The room, at the Beaches Branch of the Toronto Public Library, was filled to capacity and the audience seemed to like what I had to say.
The thrust of the presentation was how four men, Joe Price (my great grandfather), his two sons Leslie and Earl (the “Price Brothers”), and their colleague, Harry Stevens, built well over 200 houses in the Beach in the first three decades of the twentieth century. In doing so, they had a lasting and positive impact on the district.
The talk also told the story of Joe’s early life and that of his beloved wife, Lizzie Leslie, and their five children, Pearl, Leslie, Earl, Helen (my grandmother) and Frances.
Correction — June 2021
In this talk, and in a later talk in 2021, I said that Harry Stevens and his wife Lizzie were living in a modest apartment at 1911 Queen Street East in 1946. That is incorrect. Another man named Harry Stevens was living in that apartment with his wife, but it was not this Harry Stevens. I apologize for the error.
To learn more about the important role of Harry Stevens in building the Beach, see this post.
Correction — March 2024
On pages 10 and 11 of the presentation, I talk about Joe Price’s “doubtful parentage,” speculate that he may have been the child of a single mother, and conclude that his parents’ identity is a mystery. Since then, additional research, with the support of DNA testing, has solved the mystery.
I am now convinced that Joe’s father was, in fact, a man named Alexander Price, and his mother was Mary McCormick, the daughter of Michael McCormick and his wife, Rose Finnan. Alexander was born in Lower Canada and Mary was born in Ireland.
Here is the presentation:
Men-Who-Built-the-Beach-Slides-and-TextOr you can download it in pdf format below:
One of the most satisfying aspects of the evening was the opportunity to meet, for the first time, a double handful of my Price cousins and their families. We took a once-in-a-lifetime group photo that night.
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