KING BILLY - Tommy Stephenson of Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, Ireland in Toronto By Brian McConnell* When some of your relatives came from Ulster and you find out an extended family member was riding the white horse as King Billy in the Twelfth of July parades in Toronto how should you feel? This happened during the 1930s when thousands of marchers participated and hundreds of thousands watched.(1) As it was part of my cultural heritage I was interested to learn more. In the course of researching historical records I discovered that Tommy Stephenson, a close family friend who lived with my grandparents when he first arrived from Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1929 and later shared an apartment with my father, was an accomplished horseman whose skill was called upon to help in the Twelfth of July celebrations by dressing up as King William of Orange and riding a white horse. Thomas Stephenson was born at Manorhamilton, County Leitrim, Ireland in 1907.(2) The family had a farm in the Townland of Munnagashel, Parish of Cloonclare, Barony of Drumahaire. They attended the Church of Ireland.(3) He was named after his grandfather Thomas and known to family and friends as Tommy. He learned to ride at home..../2
Page 2 Tommy, pictured above, travelled from Belfast, Northern Ireland on the Vessel Doric and arrived at the port of Montreal, Quebec on July 6, 1929. From there he took the train to Toronto.(4).../3
Page 3 In Ireland Tommy s family were descended from Scots planters who had been settled in County th Leitrim in the 17 century. They were called Ulster Scots. Like most members of the Church of th Ireland in the early 20 century they were also loyal to the British government. When Tommy left Ireland, although his travel documents showed his race as Irish his nationality was indicated as British. After the partition of Ireland in the 1924, many Protestants from the border Counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim, and Donegal chose to move to Canada including my grandparents two uncles and an aunt. They all arrived before Tommy came. When Tommy arrived in Toronto he obtained work with T. Eaton & Co. in its Toronto where many from Northern Ireland already worked. As noted in the obituary for Timothy Eaton, who had been a native of Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, anyone from Ballymena or district arriving in Toronto or Winnipeg ( where it T. Eaton & Co. had another large store) invariably found in him a warm friend and a generous and sympathetic benefactor. (5) When not working as a salesman at the Eatons store in Toronto, Tommy taught riding lessons at the Post Riding School in the city and is pictured below horse jumping..../4
Page 4 He was also a member of Enniskillen Loyal Orange Lodge # 387 in Toronto. By the early 1920s Toronto became known as the Belfast of Canada. It had fifty-nine Orange Lodges, more than any other city, including in Ireland. (6) The 1929 Orange parade on the Twelfth of July was estimated to have 20,000 marchers and over 200,000 spectators. (7) The speech to the crowd after the parade was given, as pictured below, by the Mayor of the city, Samuel McBride. He was also an Orangeman and grandson of Ulster Protestant immigrants. (8).../5
Page 5 In the summer friends and family would gather in Toronto for the celebration around the Twelfth of July. It was during this time that Tommy met Rebecca (Rae) Sheridan, another immigrant from Northern Ireland. Rae lived in New York City. Tommy also had friends from Ulster in New York City who he could visit. In 1946 when he visited New York he stayed with Tommy McConnell, my great uncle. He flew to LaGuardia Airport in New York on Trans Canada Airline and his passenger record showed my father as his contact in Canada.(9) In High School, my father was Captain of the Senior Football Team at Northern Collegiate in Toronto and active in other sports. He was accompanied by Tommy to his Father and Son Sports Banquet. Photo above shows Tommy at far left seated beside Rae Sheridan, who is next to Tommy McConnell and his wife Anna. After Tommy and Rae were married, in the early 1950s Tommy opened Stephenson s Men s Clothing Store on Mount Pleasant Avenue in Toronto. Tommy and Rae made trips to Ireland in the 1960's and 1970's to visit relatives. He passed away from cancer, unfortunately, on April 29, 1983 in Toronto.(10).../6
Page 6 NOTES: (1) Photo of King Billy on horse from City of Toronto Archives. Also see The Orange and the Black by R.S. Pennefather, T.H. Best Printing Company Limited, 1984. The Sentinel estimated Orange Order membership in Canada at half a million in 1920. (2) Civil Registration of Births Index, Ireland, 1907 (3) Census of Ireland, 1911 (4) Canadian Passenger Lists, 1929 (5) Death of Timothy Eaton, Toronto, Canada, The Belfast Evening Telegram, Feb. 1, 1907 (6) See page 49 in The Sash Canada Wore, by Cecil J. Houston & William J.Smyth, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, 1980 (7) See The Sentinel, Centennial Issue, 1875-1975, p. 30 (8) Photo from Toronto City Archives (9) 1946 Arrival LaGuardia Airport, New York, USA (10) See Newspaper Obituary from Toronto Star Newspaper thanks to Jane Stephenson attached as Appendix A * Article completed by Brian McConnell on February 22, 2014, amended March 21, 2015. To contact him please email brianm564@gmail.com
Page 7 Appendix A