Did you know that, for the briefest of times, our community was known as Malloy’s Tavern? Here’s the story.
It begins with an early settler named William Malloy. Little is known about the man’s background. Indeed, even his last name is something of a mystery; it may have been Milloy or Mulloy, and Andrew Hunter, in his A History of Simcoe County, identifies him as Molloy. Whatever the correct spelling of the name, Malloy was likely Scottish, and Hunter says he originally settled at Coulson’s Hill, alongside a brother named Timothy, sometime in the early 1820s.
Malloy apparently had an eye for opportunity. He knew roadside inns were profitable, especially if located where two busy roads met. There happened to be such a crossroads nearby, at the fork of the road where Yonge Street branched — one arm continued west to the Scotch Settlement and another ventured north through West Gwillimbury toward Innisfil. Malloy bought land at this crossroads and opened an inn catering to weary passengers.
In those days, settlement took root around inns as these establishments brought economic opportunity. This was certainly the case with Malloy’s hostelry. The hamlet that emerged, known as Malloy’s Tavern, was the genesis of Bradford.
The community wouldn’t be known as Malloy’s Tavern for long, however. Englishman John Edmanson was jealous of Malloy’s success. He wanted a hotel of his own and found a loophole to undermine Malloy and, in turn, make his fortune. He insisted the road fronting Malloy’s tavern had been laid out in the wrong place. He strenuously argued the road should front his property.
Edmanson demanded a new survey be conducted and, should his assertions be proven correct, a new road be laid out. His appeal was heard, a new survey was carried out, his assertion was proven, and the road was rerouted. Bursting with self-satisfaction, Edmanson opened a hotel of his own. Now, the little community was referred to as Edmanson’s Corners.
Malloy was devastated by the turn of events. His tavern, now well removed from the road, withered like fruit on a vine. But he wasn’t entirely willing to give up. Instead, he opened a new inn across the Holland River alongside Yonge Street as it heads south to Newmarket and, ultimately, York (Toronto). The inn, which settlers dubbed the Bullfrog Tavern as it was adjacent to the river’s marshy shores, benefited from being astride the daily stage route.
The land around the tavern was surveyed in 1836 by George Lount and became a settlement known as Amsterdam.
The last we heard of Malloy was during William Lyon Mackenzie’s ill-fated rebellion of 1837, when history records as many as 100 ‘soldiers’ (militiamen, in actuality) were stationed in his tavern to protect Yonge Street and keep watch over the restive populace.
Malloy disappeared from records shortly after. For a brief time, however, he played a prominent role in our history. If not for Edmanson, we might be living in Malloy’s Tavern today. Edmanson’s Hotel, as an aside, still stands, testament to his vision and ruthlessness in pursuing it.
