Pickering College is an independent, co-educational school for children in grades from Junior Kindergarten through grade 12. It is located in Newmarket, Ontario in Canada on a 17-hectare (42 acre) property on Bayview Avenue. The school accepts both day students and boarders (Grade 7 through Grade 12 only).
Pickering College is the second oldest independent school in Ontario, after Upper Canada College.
Pickering College is also the site of the Quaker Archives and Library of Canada which are housed in the Arthur Garratt Dorland Reference Library.Archives
History
Bloomfield (West Lake), Prince Edward County, 1841
Campus The roots of Pickering College trace far back into the 19th century in Bloomfield, a significant Quaker settlement near Picton at West Lake, in Prince Edward County. There, on property (lot 13, concession 2, Military Tract) purchased by Israel Bowrman, a Quaker, a school (or seminary) was eventually established.
It is said that around this time Joseph John Gurney, a prominent Quaker Englishman (considered a 'minister', in the Quaker sense of the term), and brother of Elizabeth Fry, herself a noted advocate of social and prison reform, offered the sum of 500 pounds to the Religious Society of Friends for the establishment of a school there, if they could raise a similar amount.
It is not immediately clear when the building that eventually became the West Lake Boarding School (and still stands today as a private residence) was actually erected. Mr. Bowrman mortgaged the property in 1830, and it is possible these funds were used to build what might have originally been intended as a house, later converted to a school. In either case, in 1841 the building began official use as a school, welcoming first only girls, and later, in 1842, with the construction of a wood framed building to the east, boys.
The main building served three purposes: its top floor served as dormitory for students, the basement served as dining room and servants' quarters, and the first floor acted as classroom and administrative facilities. For its time, the building was rather advanced in some respects, including indoor plumbing featuring a septic tank built of large red cedar logs.
There were a number of other buildings on the property including the boys' residence and other utility buildings, none of which remains today. Compared to the facilities of some of its contemporaries, West Lake Boarding School's were somewhat modest and more remote.
Operation
In 1848 this school was registered under the name West Lake Friends' or Quakers' Seminary. That it was coeducational was due to the Quakers' belief in the need to educate both sexes. The school was primarily administered and guided by the Quakers and it was non-denominal in nature.
According to historical sources, the school at West Lake was closed in 1865 due to lack of enrollment, partly on account of its difficult accessibility at the time. The property was sold in 1869.
In 1871 the Ontario legislature passed an Act to Incorporate the Trustees of the Friends' Seminary of the Province of Ontario. The Act stated that it was "the opinion of the said yearly meeting of Friends that the usefulness of the said Seminary would be largely increased by changing its location to the Township of Pickering near the village of Duffins Creek". The Act received royal assent on February 15, 1871 and a few years later, construction would begin on the new and modern school in Pickering.
Pickering Village, 1877
Campus In 1877 a successor to the original school near West Lake was constructed on Conc. 2, Lot 13, near the Village of Pickering. It would be a grand building, situated on 2 ha (5 acres) high atop a hill and visible to the town below. It would also be known as a landmark along what was then known as Old Kingston Road, and later as Highway 2.
The main school building, four storeys high in red and white brick [ref], was to be built by an Oshawa contractor for a relatively frugal sum of $24,300 (close to $475,000 in 2006 dollars). It featured a slate roof, arched windows, and a classic belltower over the centre section. It featured two wings that ran some 24 m (80 ft) behind the building, housing up to 75 boarding students, with the girls situated on the east side, boys on the west. The Principal and Matron of the school occupied a wing to the north, complete with living facilities and library. The centre of the school featured a large study room, with a stage for entertainment. It was also used for meetings of the Pickering College Literary Society. The second floor was exclusively classrooms and the third and fourth floors housed the students and teachers. In the basement were the kitchen and dining areas, along with the school's modern science laboratory. The school was said to enjoy a commanding view of its surroundings, including the Village of Pickering below.
The schoolhouse never acquired electricity (electricity was not available in the area, even in the early 20th century). For heat, the building relied on stoves until 1883, when steam heat became available. Indoor plumbing arrived only around 1905, the last year of the building's existence. A former student, Arthur Dorland recalled later in an interview:
"About the time I arrived at the school, inside plumbing had been installed and toilet accommodation had been modernized and enlarged. An adequate supply of water was also ensured by the erection of a windmill at Duffins Creek. which delivered some eight thousand gallons of water daily. This was in addition to the reserve supply in the main well and cisterns at the school. Nevertheless, we still used pitchers and basins in our rooms for washing and we filled our own jugs at a tap in the bathroom."
Having no electricity, the school had no electric lights. "Consequently, coal-oil lamps were used throughout the school for illumination. This presented a serious fire hazard, for oil lamps were always liable to be knocked over, and many a glass chimney was smashed to smithereens in a pillow fight or similar fracas". This dangerous situation was corrected by the installation of an acetelyne gas plant, eliminating the need for the lamps altogether.
In 1899, Sam Rogers (not to be confused with the English poet Samuel Rogers who died 44 years earlier), a Quaker descendant of Timothy Rogers (who had originally helped settle Pickering Village with a number of Quaker families in the early 19th century) donated funds to build an impressive gymnasium to add to the amenities. This building was done in an imposing Greek revival style with high arched windows, and a portico at the front with a roof supported by four large pillars. It would be the only major addition to facilities at the main campus, and would outlive the schoolhouse by some 82 years.
Operation
Although Pickering College had its roots in the original Friend's Seminary at West Lake, and remained primarily populated by Quaker staff, students, and administrators, the school in fact welcomed students from all walks of life. The students tended to come from families of decent means, as the tuition cost ($165.00 per year in 1893) was considerable to those of lower income, including children of agrarian families, for whom an education was considered unnecessary, since they were expected to maintain their family farms.
The school was guided by the Friends' belief in a high standard of education that emphasized all aspects of human development – academic, spiritual and physical: "The object of Pickering College [was] to secure to its students as thorough an education as can be obtained outside of a University or of a professional school, and at the same time to surround them with all the moral influences and guarded care of a well-conducted home."
The school's emphasis on a well-rounded education included ample opportunities for rigorous exercise: ball fields, rinks and courts, and later the gymnasium surrounded the building. Popular sports included "Association football as well as rugby, where the rules of that day were not so restricted as they are to day, were modified by the good moral atmosphere-for the most part-of the college." The athletic program was not merely extracurricular: "It [was] the chief aim of...the teachers to encourage in students a love of outside exercise, and no pains [would] be spared by the [Friends] Committee to make this a prominent feature of the institution, so that the health of the students may be secured in the best possible way, viz. by fresh air and outdoor recreation."
The school operated until 1885, when litigation between a number of Quaker bodies forced the school to close. The matter settled, the school reopened in 1892, and apparently enjoyed great success: "Mr. W. P. Firth M.A., D.Sc., became principal. With his wife, formerly Miss Ella Rogers B.A., daughter of Samuel Rogers, a well known Toronto figure at that time the school prospered, and attendance grew rapidly. Students came from all over the Continent, as well as from Japan, Russia, China, Persia, Armenia, Australia, Central America and the West Indies. A large number of Jamaicans graduated from the school. Many local students attended both the preparatory, as well as the collegiate departments. In the early nineties the attendance taxed the capacity of the building." Such was the success of the school in the late 1890s that an alumni event in 1894 gathered some 400 students from all over the country.
A number of notable graduates hailed from Pickering College, including university professors, Reverends and businessmen. The school had a business program that was described as "world-class",[Raetsen, Maureen;"Pickering College and the Hermitage: History that was Extinguished"; page 5; 1996] and even boasted a typewriting class, a first for a North American school. An excellent fine arts program was nourished at the school. The Pickering College Literary society met weekly for "musical recitals, poetry readings, discussions and debates on current issues." The school kept up a column in the local Pickering News "inviting the public to attend special meetings when the Society had a speaker".
The Village of Pickering also enjoyed a close and intimate relationship with the school — many businesses and trades supplied the College's needs, and the Village itself supplied a number of students. An example of the trade links between school and village was a man by the name of William Peak, "who ran a "taxi service" from the Grand Trunk Railway station to the College transporting students".
Thus was nourished a great affection for the school both in the Village of Pickering and in its alumni, of whom could be said "that no institution of learning [had] a more loyal body of graduates than Pickering College."[Wood, William R.;"Past Years in Pickering"; page 137; 1911] This joyful and exciting time was about to be drawn to a dramatic and tragic close.
Fire
On December 30, 1905, a catastrophic fire broke out in the main building of the College. Although the exact cause was never determined, it was known that the blaze began in the Principal's quarters, and, stoked by high winds, the fire quickly consumed the brick building's wooden inner frame and structure. By dawn the next day, all that remained of the once great school were the charred brick outer walls, along with the Gymnasium, the stables, and a few other brick outbuildings. Nearly all of the school's contents, including valuable records and equipment, were destroyed.
The extent of the damage was enormous; over $50,000 in 1905 dollars, with some $4,000 alone attributed to the loss of the Principal's (Mr. Firth's) library. Rebuilding costs were estimated to be another $30,000 or more over and above that number. Adding to the financial strain was that the school was actually underinsured at the time, the amount actually covered by insurance being less than $13,000.