Laura Bonneville
Laura Bonneville is a long-time resident of Guelph. She spent over forty years of her life in the neighbourhood of Guelph known as "St. Patrick's Ward," with her husband, whom was a retired welder. Together, they had several children, all of whom would go on to become successful, intelligent individuals. ■ Jump to the full interview
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For my oral history research assignment, I decided to take a closer look at a neighbourhood in Guelph known to locals as “The Ward," (see Figure 1) an area south of town that is made up starts around the train tracks near Macdonnell Street, and ends near Victoria and York.[1]
Much of my curiosity surrounding the Ward arose after I moved there last year, particularly due to the breath-taking architecture and undeniable charm. In addition to this, I heard from various people that the blocks within the ward were notorious for their cultural diversity, particularly the large Italian population. |
Figure 1: “St. Patrick’s Ward: Riding the Rails of Industry.” |
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“St Patrick’s Ward School, circa 1910.” Guelph: Guelph Public Library Archives. |
Yet, as I wonder the streets of the Ward, staring endlessly at the abandoned buildings that were once prosperous factories, I wondered what could’ve happened here in the past, particularly what brought so many groups of Italian Immigrants to the Ward. Luckily for me, my lovely interviewee, Laura, was from the neighbourhood herself, so this became the focal point of our discussion. While she isn’t of Italian heritage, Laura lived in close proximity with Italians in the Ward for decades, and while her knowledge of the topic was minimal, we still managed to have a wonderful conversation. |
In her early twenties, Laura married her high school sweetheart, a successful welder, and the young couple settled in St. Patrick’s Ward, where they would live for forty-five years. During our interview, Laura recalled nothing but fondness for her time in the Ward, often reminiscing about the tight-knit sense of community there, as well as her genuine neighbours.
In contrast with Laura’s knowledge, I dedicated an immense amount of time to digging up relevant primary and secondary sources so I could offer a contextual history of the Ward, and why it is the neighbourhood had such a powerful Italian community there.
| To the locals of Guelph, “The Ward,” officially named “St. Patrick’s Ward,” is known for its industrial past, a place where industries prospered and families came in search for work.[2] Yet, one may naturally wonder, how did this come to be? The early foundations of Guelph are credited to John Gault, who officially founded the town in 1827.[3] With that said, if there’s one individual who was responsible for defining the Ward’s industrial roots was James W. Lyon.[4] Lyon was an incredibly wealthy businessman and philanthropist and in the early years of the 20th century, he was the one that would purchase land for the development of new industries, leading to the birth of eight new factories, many of which became fundamental to Guelph’s local economy, mainly in the ward.[5] This included Northern Rubber (see Figure 2), a company that will be touched upon in further depth later on. |
The early stages of growth in the Ward can be traced back to 1855, when under the rule of Sir. John A. MacDonald, a plan for further development in the Ward was adopted and put in place[6] reason why Lyon decided to do this was because the Ward was growing substantially after the introduction of the Grand Truck Railway near the Speed River in the 1880s, and this was the beginning of a rapid industrial expansion all across the neighbourhood, and construction of new factories greatly contributed to this process.[7]
The Ward was not always the culturally diverse area that we know it as today. In fact, for decades, a majority of Guelph’s population originated from the United Kingdom, with a small cluster of families occasionally arriving from Scotland and Ireland.[8] By the 1900s, this would all start to change, as the rise in industrial prosperity in Canada and the lack of opportunities in certain European countries such as Italy and France, inspired families to immigrate in search of a new, prosperous life.[9] Italians in particular were coming to Guelph in large numbers in search of new jobs, mainly from poorer areas such a Treviso, Calabria and Gorgio and this led to chain migration.[10] Jobs that were popular included building streets, railways and other jobs within factories.[11]
The Italians did more than bring themselves to Canada, Guelph would also be increasingly exposed to their traditional ways of life.[12] One of the ways that they would feed their usually large families was through planting luscious gardens[13]. Laura herself reminisced on how lovely they were.
So now you may be asking yourself, why did they chose to settle in the Ward? The answer is quite simple: They came to the Ward, which at the time was known as “St. Patrick’s Ward,” because that’s there the largest number of factories in Guelph were at the time period.[14] That’s why there are so many residential houses close to abandoned factories today, because the notion was that if workers lived closer to the factories, they could save on transportation money.[15] This was a major draw for a lot of Italians.
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Unfortunately, as time progressed, Italians in the neighbourhood became the targets of a great amount of prejudice. Laura mentioned that this was even a major problem while she was living in The Ward. One may assume that this is because of the mafia ties, but that’s not the case. It should be noted that I’m going to refrain from talking too much about the role of the mob in the Ward, but I will tell you that in the 1920s during Prohibition, areas in the Ward such as Alice Street, were notorious for criminal activities, most notably the illegal distribution of alcohol.[16]
It should be noted that Alice Street became one of the central hubs for Italian-Canadians within the ward. One of the most compelling works I could find on the topic came from Richard Valeriote’s Alice Street: A Memoir (see Figure 3), who writes about how his family came to the Ward during the Great Depression, and how Italians, particularly on that street, worked to build a strong sense of community with one another, which can still be felt in the city today.[17] |
Figure 3: "Alice Street: A Memoir" by Richard Valeriote (2001) |
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Realistically, what birthed the tensions between Italians and other ethnic groups in Guelph was Italy’s role in the Second World War, since they fought alongside the Germans and Japanese.[18] During the war years in Canada, hundreds of Italians were held in prisons or else forced out of the country.[19] Others would be denied entirely from coming into the country, while thousands, including those living in Guelph, lost their jobs.[20]
One haunting local example came from a Globe and Mail article published on October 3rd, 1942, which made reference to a local Guelph Italian named George Orfeo Tessaro, who was rejected a total of six times after attempting to register to fight with the Canadian army, all because of his cultural heritage.[21] This is only one of hundreds of instances. |
Figure 3: “Italian Enlists on Sixth try.” The Globe and Mail, October 3rd, 1942. Click photo to enlarge. |
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When the war years came to an end, Canada’s economy continued to grow at an even faster pace, and this would bring even more Italians to the Ward throughout the 1950s and 1960s, when Laura was living there. [22] The local factories in the area, particularly Northern Rubber, a company that employed over 600 locals within its five-story building.[23] This former plot of land is currently becoming a new line of condos, but it is a representation of the Ward’s working-class past. By 1961, close to ten percent of Guelph’s population was Italian.[24] |
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Today, the number of Italians in Guelph has skyrocketed, as modern statistics show that almost one third of the city is of Italian heritage, making it one of the largest Italian communities in all of Ontario.[25] There are numerous buildings throughout The Ward that remind us of the Italian Heritage in the area. An example would be The Sacred Heart Parish (see Figure 4), a Catholic church and school that was formed by Italians in the early years of the 1900s, and thanks to this religious institute, Italians could speak in their original language, much of which had to do with the position of the first pastor, Reverend Dr. Patrick O’Brien.[26] It was thanks to the church and other cultural factors that the Italians managed to maintain such a prosperous sense of community.
On the Record student member, Luke Gelata, did a reflection on the Ward and its significance to Guelph's history. |
Indeed, the Ward was the centre of this cultural prosperity for Italian-Canadians. One of the famous individuals to come out of Guelph from the Italian community was Lou Fotinato, who would later go on to play in the NHL for The New York Rangers. He once spoke highly of the Ward: “We weren’t lucky to be born in the Ward. Everyone down there had a work ethic.”[27] Without a doubt, the community of Italians that started in the Ward remains a crucial part of Guelph’s local history.
Endnotes
[1] John Keleher, The Sacred Heart Parish of The Ward, (Guelph: The Parish, 1980), 31.
[2] CHC Limited, Cultural Heritage Resource Impact Assessment: 120 Huron Street, (Guelph: CHC Limited, August 22nd, 2017), 2.
[3] Keleher, The Sacred Heart Parish of The Ward, 31.
[4] CHC Limited, Cultural Heritage Resource Impact Assessment: 120 Huron Street, 3.
[5] CHC Limited, Cultural Heritage Resource Impact Assessment: 120 Huron Street, 3.
[6] Crowley, Terry, Ward One, (Guelph: City of Guelph, 2016), 3.
[7] Keleher, The Sacred Heart Parish of The Ward, 32.
[8] Hilary Stead, Guelph: A People’s Heritage, 1827-2002, (Guelph: The City of Guelph, 2002), 36.
[9] Hilary Stead, Guelph: A People’s Heritage, 1827-2002,36.
[10] Crowley, Terry, Ward One, 12.
[11] Crowley, Terry, Ward One, 12.
[12] Crowley, Terry, Ward One, 12.
[13] Hilary Stead, Guelph: A People’s Heritage, 1827-2002, 37.
[14] Hilary Stead, Guelph: A People’s Heritage, 1827-2002, 36.
[15] Keleher, John. The Sacred Heart Parish of The Ward, 5.
[16] Crowley, Terry, Ward One, 13.
[17] Richard Valeriote, Alice Street: A Memoir, (Montreal: McGill-University Queen’s Press, 1980), pp. 3-6.
[18] Anderson, Eric, “Italian-Canadian History Explored in Guelph,” 570 News, July 12th, 2015.
[19] Anderson, Eric, “Italian-Canadian History Explored in Guelph,” 570 News, July 12th, 2015.
[20] Stead, Hilary. Guelph: A People’s Heritage, 1827-2002, 37.
[21] “Italian Enlists on Sixth Try,” The Globe and Mail, October 3rd, 1942, 23.
[22] Stead, Hilary. Guelph: A People’s Heritage, 1827-2002, 37.
[23] Crowley, Terry, Ward One, 4.
[24] Crowley, Terry, Ward One, 13.
[25] Stead, Hilary. Guelph: A People’s Heritage, 1827-2002, 38.
[26] Keleher, John, The Sacred Heart Parish of The Ward, pp. 5-7.
[27] Stead, Hilary. Guelph: A People’s Heritage, 1827-2002, 36.