CLUB HISTORY

In 1912 North Toronto was a small town on the outskirts of the City of Toronto. One of the areas laid out for the building of houses was called Alexandra Park. Edward B Stockdale, a member of a firm interested in developing Alexandra Park, was an ardent and public-spirited lawn bowler. He laid down the original green and built a small clubhouse on his property on the site of the present north green.
This came to the notice of some of the congregation of the local Presbyterian Church. One of these gentlemen was Tom Kilgore, the first resident of Alexandra Gardens. The group asked Stockdale for bowling privileges.
Stockdale and others eventually set up a corporation under the name of the North Toronto Lawn Bowling Club. Its purpose was listed as the promotion of lawn bowling, curling, skating, tennis, raquets and other winter and summer amusements. The property was leased from Stockdale and the annual lawn bowling fee was set at $5.00 and membership was limited to 75.
Lady bowlers appeared in 1915 and they were permitted two afternoons of bowling per week for an annual fee of $1.00
In 1919 a subsidiary tennis club was formed and was loosely associated with the bowling club until 1964 when the two clubs went their separate ways.
In 1932 the present clubhouse was built and in 1971 a building was erected to store tools and other equipment. In 1996 a permanent canopy with a lattice back wall was built, joining the two buildings.
It was not until 1925 that the Ladies Section was mentioned in the Year Book. It is impossible to evaluate the contribution that the ladies have made over the years to the facilities and equipment enjoyed by the club as a whole. In 1987 the Men’s and Ladies sections of the club were amalgamated and a combined executive has existed from that time.
In 1997 the club was approached by a group of avid croquet players wishing to bring their sport to our greens. The bowlers at the AGM voted unanimously to accept the croquet players and so 1998 saw what is hoped will be the first of many generations of croquet players to use our greens, and the name of the club was formally changed.
Our total membership is only about 60 now, but the effect is a close-knit, friendly group as opposed to larger clubs, permitting more members to take part in inter-club competitions than would be the case in larger clubs.