The Stockyard Story (1803-1985)

Nicholas Pashley was a bookseller and a freelance writer and editor in Toronto.

Author D.R. “Bob” McDonald has been engaged in the livestock industry virtually his entire adult life, acting in a number of capacities from com-mission farm sales to market dealer, from auctioneer to radio and television correspondent. This perspective makes him an obvious choice to compile the official history of livestock marketing in Ontario on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Toronto Live Stock Exchange, the institution he has served as full-time secretary manager since 1977.

The Stockyard Story begins with the establishment in Toronto of the St. Lawrence Market on November 5, 1803 — a lively spot where cattle, sheep, poultry, and other livestock could be bought and sold, meetings and auctions held, and where criminals could be pilloried or whipped for the edification of the public. Contemporary documents and illustrations depict life in the early nineteenth century Town of York. The author discusses a variety of aspects of early Toronto, including horse racing, toll gates, and the ferry across the Don River. Against this historical backdrop, he traces the development of the livestock industry — improvement of breeding standards, increased transportation possibilities, the introduction and growth of a meat packing industry — into the twentieth century.

The Toronto Live Stock Exchange was founded in 1910 to regulate business practices and trading ethics of traders at the Ontario Stock Yards, and the bulk of The Stockyard Story deals with the history and functions of these two institutions and of the families that have been instrumental in their development. It is a book published by and for the industry it describes, so it is free of controversy or negative comment. That said, The Stockyard Story is an attractive book with some interest to the layman.