In the mid-1930s George McCullagh purchased 200-acres of land in what is now the Bayview/John area of Thornhill. Construction of his iconic home at 7750 Bayview Avenue began soon after. It eventually cost $500K to construct, equivalent to $11M today.
McCullagh was a wealthy Toronto financier. Between 1936 and his death* on his Thornhill estate in 1952 at age 47, he was an influential newspaper owner. He created The Globe and Mail by merging the Liberal-allied Globe and Conservative-allied Mail and Empire newspapers in 1936. He purchased the Toronto Telegram newspaper in 1948. He was also active in Canadian politics and used his newspapers to further his aims.
Remarkably, the only biography of McCullagh to be written was last year by Mark Bourrie and titled Big Men Fear Me. It turns out the author had a difficult task; all of McCullagh’s papers were burned by his wife Phyllis in 1973. She, incidentally, went on to marry McCullagh’s best friend George Drew, Ontario premier between 1943 and 1948 and federal Progressive Conservative Party leader from 1948 to 1956.
As you may imagine, Thornhill was an important part of his life with several mentions in the book giving us a rarified view of what life was once like here.
Befitting his prominence, the estate played host to a large garden party for his Royal Canadian Air Force colleagues in June 1941, his sister Beverley Jean’s lavish wedding, and innumerable visits by Ontario Premiers Hepburn and Drew as well as Prime Minister Mackenzie King. McCullagh also counted John Bassett, another notable Canadian, among his close friends.
A year after George died, Phyllis sold the estate to Dr. Edward Earle Shouldice and it was remodelled into a hospital. The 22.4-acre site would remain in their ownership until a sale in 2016 to Atlas Global Healthcare and then to Liberty Development three years later. Their plans included the construction of five condominium towers ranging in height between 18 and 35 storeys with 1287 units and 858 below ground parking spaces proposed.
In September 2022 the City of Markham purchased the land to use it for a variety of purposes for the long-term benefit of its citizens. Those plans include a public park and conservation of the estate and its gardens. The existing lease with Shouldice Hospital continues.
*The circumstances of his death are somewhat uncertain. The coroner claimed he died of a heart attack while others believe it was suicide. His body was found in the pond at the estate.
Photo Note: the collage includes a photo I took this year of the headstone at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.