THE
TYPES RIOT
Plaque,
within the entry arch at 160 Frederick St. (east of Jarvis St.) just
north of Front St. East, Toronto
William
Lyon Mackenzie printed his weekly Colonial Advocate
in York (Toronto)
at this location. A gang of young thugs related to members of the
Family Compact or connected with officials stormed the premises 8
June 1826. They destroyed three pages of the paper already set in
type as well as a form of type ready for printing of the Journals of
the Legislative Assembly. Some type was thrown into the adjacent bay
or scattered about. The composing stone was thrown to the floor and a
new cast-iron patent lever-press broken. Sam Jarvis led the 15
vandals in the orgy of destruction, and some 11 years later this same
Jarvis appeared as sheriff leading a contingent of armed persons
against Mackenzie's march down Yonge St. at the start of the
Rebellion of 1837.