The Types Riot Commemorative plaque, 1987.
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Original JPG File | 1800 × 1200 pixels (2.16 MP) 15.2 cm × 10.2 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Resource ID
6139
Access
Open
Address
160 Frederick Street, Toronto, ON M5A 1E2
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
1987
Historical Themes
Literature, Political History, War and Conflict
Program Category
Historical Plaques
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Time Period
1794-1834
Caption
The Types Riot Commemorative plaque, 1987.
Description
The printing offices of William Lyon Mackenzie's controversial weekly newspaper, The Colonial Advocate (1824-34), were located on this site in 1826. That year on June 8 a group of young men broke into the premises, destroyed the press and threw the types into nearby Lake Ontario. The rioters were related by blood or profession to the Province's ruling elite who had been much criticized and ridiculed in the newspaper's columns. This did not excuse their vandalism, but compounded it, in the eyes of those who favoured political reform. Although criminal charges were never laid, a civil court awarded Mackenzie damages sufficient to re-establish his newspaper elsewhere. The types riot incident became a symbol of the many grievances that eventually led to the Rebellion of 1837.
Marker lat / long: 43.650291, -79.369252 (WGS84)