William John Lawrence
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Lawrence was born in the Toronto suburb of Yorkville in 1867 and attended Jesse Ketchum School. He started in the florist trade when given a job at Chestnut Park, the Yonge Street estate of Sir David Macpherson. He then became the horticultural instructor at the Mimico Industrial School for Boys before moving back to the town of North Toronto in 1902 where he built a house and several greenhouses on what was to become Roselawn Avenue, a name that recognized Lawrence’s floral specialty, roses. He died at his residence, 172 Roselawn Avenue, on February 1, 1942.
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded