Local historian shares fascinating story of Toronto's first-ever cat
You don't have to be the type of person who insists on approaching every cat you pass on a Toronto sidestreet to find the story of the first domesticated feline to ever live in the city, as graciously shared by a local historian to social media this week, to be a captivating part of the chronicle of our hometown's earliest years.
Author and Canadiana host Adam Bunch, known for delving into such topics in his newsletter The Toronto History Weekly, tweeted the tale of our founding cat on Tuesday with information sourced from writings of the late 18th century.
Um, this is awesome and you need to read it. Toronto had a founding cat! #envhist https://t.co/E8BhHsHLCp
— Mark McLaughlin, PhD (@MarkJMcLaughlin) July 5, 2023
Elizabeth Simcoe, wife of inaugural Lieutenant Governer of Upper Canada John Graves Simcoe, mentioned her furry friend in some diary entries penned shortly after her family arrived to what is now Toronto from Niagara in 1793.
The two lived with their children (and yes, pets) for a time in a luxury tent in Fort York — complete with doors, wallpaper and windows, Bunch writes — as they began their life in colonial Canada.
2. The cat arrived early one morning in July 1793.
— Adam Bunch (@TODreamsProject) July 5, 2023
The city had been founded just a few days earlier. The first British soldiers had arrived & begun chopping down trees to build a military base: Fort York. pic.twitter.com/d6Ks4kynDl
Simcoe wrote of her cat, "I brought a favourite white Cat with grey spots with me from Niagara. He is a native of Kingston. His sense and attachment are such that those who believe in transmigration would think his soul once animated a reasoning being."
She also noted his bravery, saying "He was undaunted on board the Ship, sits composedly as Centinel at my door amid the beat of Drums & the crash of falling Trees & visits the Tents with as little fear as a dog would do."
10. He was far from the first feline to set paw on this land.
— Adam Bunch (@TODreamsProject) July 5, 2023
The forests of Toronto were home to cougars, bobcats & lynx — there's even evidence Indigenous people may have tried to domesticate some.
But he does seem to have been the first house cat to live in the new town. pic.twitter.com/EhQGPA4D1d
As Bunch states in his tweet thread on the quirky subject, "it seems Toronto's founding cat was a badass."
Those who, like us, just discovered this intriguing tidbit via the writer seem to be finding it pretty darn cool, with some even wondering why the kitty hasn't been given his own national holiday yet, especially as one of the less problematic figures in our nation's history.
