Elizabeth Simcoe, an heiress from England, loved Upper Canada when she came out in 1792 with her husband, John Graves Simcoe, the new lieutenant governor. When they visited Toronto in 1793 to survey it as a site for a naval base and the temporary capital, she explored the area enthusiastically and made many sketches of what she saw.
      The above sketch shows the fort in 1796 (then known as "the garrison," later as Fort York) overlooking the narrow entrance to the harbour, opposite "Gibraltar Point." Simcoe had chosen the Toronto location because its defensible harbour might be useful in the war which was looming between Britain and the U.S.

More stories about the history of Jarvis Collegiate, early Toronto and William and Samuel Jarvis.

Benn, Carl, Historic Fort York, 1793-1993, Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., Toronto, 1993. ISBN 0-920474-79-9