I had no idea when I got into w/c canoe restoration that these canoes were part of my family history, to a degree. My Mother had attended a family reunion a couple years ago and in the home of the relative that hosted was an old w/c canoe. Not just any canoe, but one with history attached from my Mothers side. It was a Durnan canoe.
Excerpts from the Obituary of William Arthur Durnan, the last Durnan to live on the Toronto Islands.
The Durnan's were original residents of the Toronto Islands, going back as far as 1832 when James Durnan, became the lighthouse keeper at the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse. Those duties were assumed from 1854 to 1905 by his grandfather George, who rescued 13 people from shipwrecks. His grandmother Katherine was the first schoolteacher on the island. And Arthur and Helen, his parents, operated a general store at Hanlan's Point.
His service in Canada's Merchant Marine during the war included a three-month stretch in 1942 in the engine room of an American freighter on a hazardous voyage down to Rio de Janeiro and back to the U.S. The crew encountered sabotage and German submarine alarms, and Mr. Durnan contracted a blood poisoning. An avid water skier and adept oarsman, Mr. Durnan worked at a variety of water-related endeavours: as boatman for the Island Yacht Club, with the family boathouse and livery at Hanlan's Point, and running an Island water taxi service with a cousin.
The Durnans ran the family livery and built their own w/c canoes which they rented out. I have a couple of old photo's but there is very little else anywhere of our history aside from the Toronto Archives.
I planted the seed with my Mother in the hopes of getting the last surviving Durnan canoe should the time come that it needs a new home.
Excerpts from the Obituary of William Arthur Durnan, the last Durnan to live on the Toronto Islands.
The Durnan's were original residents of the Toronto Islands, going back as far as 1832 when James Durnan, became the lighthouse keeper at the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse. Those duties were assumed from 1854 to 1905 by his grandfather George, who rescued 13 people from shipwrecks. His grandmother Katherine was the first schoolteacher on the island. And Arthur and Helen, his parents, operated a general store at Hanlan's Point.
His service in Canada's Merchant Marine during the war included a three-month stretch in 1942 in the engine room of an American freighter on a hazardous voyage down to Rio de Janeiro and back to the U.S. The crew encountered sabotage and German submarine alarms, and Mr. Durnan contracted a blood poisoning. An avid water skier and adept oarsman, Mr. Durnan worked at a variety of water-related endeavours: as boatman for the Island Yacht Club, with the family boathouse and livery at Hanlan's Point, and running an Island water taxi service with a cousin.
The Durnans ran the family livery and built their own w/c canoes which they rented out. I have a couple of old photo's but there is very little else anywhere of our history aside from the Toronto Archives.
I planted the seed with my Mother in the hopes of getting the last surviving Durnan canoe should the time come that it needs a new home.
