George Crookshank (1773-1859)

He was born in New York City. In 1817, he built a large red brick house in Toronto that although altered and dwarfed by skyscrapers still stands. In 1821, he built a red brick country house at Thornhill that has again been altered beyond all recognition but still stands and is now known as Sunnyside Manor. In its day, his townhouse had few rivals: the exterior walls were two-feet thick; the reception rooms measured 16-by-25-feet; a sweeping staircase connected the two floors; and, the interior was panelled in walnut imported from England. The front door was also made of imported English walnut and featured a 12-inch wrought iron lock opened by a 7-inch iron key.

In 1821, he married Sarah Susannah Lambert, niece of two of New York's most prominent merchants: Moses Rogers, of 7 State Street and Archibald Gracie who built the Gracie Mansion. After she died in 1840, her unmarried sister (Julia Maria Lambert) moved in with the family and helped raise their two children. When Crookshank died in 1859, excluding his property at Thornhill and in Connecticut and New York City, his estate was valued at £49,986 that was left to his only surviving child, Mrs Catherine Heward.