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Hisorcal Whitby L~LI Iy iran'W.inter, DOMINION BANK This large brick building at the southeast corner of Brock and Dundas Streets holds a special place in the history of the Town of Whitby and the history of banking in Canada. For 95 years it served as the Whitby branch of the Dominion Bank (now the Toronto Dominion Bank), and was the first branch offthe bank opened outside Toronto. Much of the credit for the foundingof the Dominion Bank in 1871 goes to James Holden, a resident of Whitby, who worked with other financial men from Toronto and Ontario County to establisT1 one of the few Canadian banks which has survived for more than a century. In 1868 there were 24 chartered batiks in Canada with 121 branches, but their failure rate was a matter of concern. The Bank of Upper Canada and the Commercial Bank failed in 1867, and in 1869 the Royal Canadian Bank closed its doors. The failure of the Royal Canadian Bank, after only four years of operation, prompted Mr. Holden to call a meeting in the office of Toronto lawyer William Mulock to propose the founding of a new and more stable bank. Among the founders of this new bank, to be called the Dominion Bank, were William Mulock, a future Chief Justice of Ontario; Henry Pellatt, father of Sir Henry Pellatt who built Casa Loma in Toronto; and Edmund Osler, a brother of Sir William Osler, the famous Canadian doctor. On April 26, 1869, these men drafted a petition to the government to obtain a charter for the Dominion Bank, and started work on subscribing $400,000 capital required f0 open offices. Mr. Holden gathered together a large number of barristers, benchers, industrialists and financiers to put money into the new banik. In Ontario County, he enlisted the support of Aaron Ross, a wealthy Port Perry merchant, and Joseph Gould, an important public figure in Uxbridge. On Jan. 10, 1871, the first board of directors of the Dominion Bank was formîed. Mr. Holden was one of the found directors and-served till his deati in 1881. Branches were suggested for Hamilton, London, Fergus and Whitby, but through the efforts of Mr. Holden, Whitby was the ýonly town to subscribe the $25,000 needed to open an office. The head office of the Dominion Bank opened in Toronto on Feb. 1, 1871, and the second office in Canada opened at Whitby on Feb. 23. By 1880, Bownanville, Brampton, Napanee and Cobou rg were added to the list. The Wlhitby branch opened in the office vacated by Y FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1976, PAGE 7 the goyal Canadian Bank (presently occupied by the Whitby Free Press), on the east side of Brock S.treet, North. J. H. McClellan, manager for the first year, later went onfto open branches of the Dominion Bank at Oshawa and Liverpool Market in Pickering Township. He was succeeded in 1872 by H. B. Taylor. The Whitby branch of the Dominion Bank got off to to such a good start that a new building was constructed at the Four Corners in 1874 and the bank moved in the following year. It served as the office of the Whitby branch for 95 years, until 1970 when a new building was constructed beside the cenotaph. Today it is a real estate office. The Dominion Bank was the only building in the southeast business block to escape destruction in the great fire of October 1877. The fire broke out in a frame store behind the bank, and because the bank was a brick building, the flames burned around it before destroying al the remaining buildings south to Colborne Street. The roof caught fire several times, but the building was saved through the efforts of the Whitby fire department and its Merryweather Fire Engine. Whitby's mayor, G. Y. Smith kept a law office above the bank, and during the fire his furniture was carried out of the building and badly scorched. The Dominion Bank was one of the few Canadian banks to survive the economic depression of 1873 to 1880, and is still one of Canada's leading banks today. Managers who occupied the building In the picture above were- H. B. Taylor, 1872-1889; W. I. Carswell, 1889-1890; R, Rop, 1890-92; E. Thornton, 1893-1908; C. D. Cordon, 1908-1912; A. A. Atkinson, 1912-1915; S. D. Terry 1915-1917; J. G. Hall, 1917-1920; G. P. Lynd, 1920-1926; J. H. Perry, 1926-1939; G. H. Ross, 1939-1941; J. C. Taylor, 1941-1951; H. J. Hiscox, 1951-1969; and H. J. Eaton, 1969-1970. Mr. Eaton was also the first manager of the new office on Dundas Street. When a man's wife has to go out of town for a week or so, chances are strange things may and often do occur. Well, man oh man, things sure got "All Shook Up", to quote Elvis Presley, when my wife went out of town for a few days. Shortly after my wife left on her long trip, I was left with the whole darnc d place to nyself. "Ding-Dong", the doorbell rang. I opened the door to the visitor and told the visitors in no uncertain terms, that I had to be at another location pronto and I moved -- pronto. Hurrying to secure all doors, I pushed the family cat down the basement steps and slammed the door in his face -- then dashed out the front door slamming same behind me...... One hour later I was back on my own doorsteps with with mission accomplished. Then I realised I had no door keys. Have you ever been locked out of your own home? It's not funny, in fact it's a disaster. The last tinie it happened to me must have been 20 years ago. We're not the kind of people who keep an extra key underneath the welcome mat, flowerpot or hanging on a nail hidden in the shed. No sir, we don't need such items because we never do foolish things like locking ourselves out. But I had gone and done it! Well I got the grey matter working and, after trying the front and back door, figured my best plan was to attempt entry through the basenent A I MORTGAGES 1M l 'r E O 1st & 2nd Arranged; Bought orld Sold at Prime Rates coUPeter Kade 668-1.556 ANUBIS INVESTMENTS Ltd. 149 Srock st. N., Whltby Opening Announcement Barker - Dunn Denture Therapy Clinic A Complete Denture Service 111 Dundas St. W. W.hitby 668-1464 window. What a foolish thought! After working for 45 minutes on a window 24" x 18", I finished up bending a trowel completely out of shape, gouging two 3" strips of wood off the basenent window franie and suffered two skin abrasions on my knuckles. Then I had a brilliant idea: 4 I'd use the same method that people like "Cannon", "Columbo", "Kojak" and other slick T.V. detectives use to gain entrance -- I slid a credit card between the door edge and the lock tumbler. Hopeless! Walking from front to back and back to front of the house, my neighbour Nate took over. Working strenuously on door handles which were totally immobile, he proceeded to remove the entire metal framework of a main door, result -- hopeless! Nate is a very deteriined person. "You got a ladder?", he asked. I rapidly brought the prime requisite of a good burglar. In the meantime, our cat, locked down in the basement, was howling his head off to get Out -- and I was scratching my head as to whether i was going to get in! In short order Nate scaled the ladder and found an upper window with a slightly open screen which lie renioved and slowly forced entry through a bedroom window. The incident was over and I was able to get back into the house. Gleeful of the outstanding achieverment of being back in the confines of my own domain, I congratulated Nate and thanked him for his assistance. He's a good neighbour and replaced the hardware, rernoved from one of the main entry doors, when I remembered to put the ladder back in the garden shed. Would you believe I was attacked? Yup, I was attacked by a bee! We have a raised floor in the garden shed. A fanily of bees got together in the early spring and decided our shed was a good place to live. My wife and 1 are watclIful when we enter and close the shed because frequently one or two bees are usually around and and sometimes they'll attack. This beloved critter insisted on attacking me while I was trying to manoeuver a 12' y 'Barwood PREFINISHED TEXTURED OAK PARQUET i ladder into flic shcd. If you'vc bad bbc experience of a bec ladder into the shed. If you've had the experience of a bee clhasing you, you'll get the picture. Bees do not fly very fast but they can be a darned nuisance, and this one persisted in zooming up and over and around my head, face, amis, and shoulders. I was wearing my outside gardening shorts at the time. Eventually, I got the bee sufficiently scared so that I was able to put the ladder back in the shed, dash out and secure the shed. Meantime, my knee was acting up because I have "Digger's Knee", Any good gardener knows that Digger's Knee is like tennis elbow. You get if from putting pressure on a spade or shovel when turning earth over and ore, of my -favourite past-times is digging and planting. With all the aggravation of trying to gain enfry'irnto my home, chasing a bee off, my bandaged knee was really acting up and pulsing with pain. Limping into the kitchen I decided it was time to stoke up fle old furnace (my empty stomach). Then I remembered the cold chicken my wife had cooked for me before she left. This would be a quick and scrumptious meal and I promised myself rapid service. In short order cont'd on Page 16 How high do you want to go? You cari ai as high as you want to in the Canadian Airued Forces. Build yourself up phvsically and men- tally Become a leader and reach for the top. This is•what Combat Arms cai offer you. Ifts not a soft job. But if Combat Amis interest you you're niit a soft g;uy. 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