Inventor Name
Toye, Benjamin B.
Repository
Archives of Ontario
77 Grenville Street, Unit 300
Toronto, ON
M5S 1B3
Canada
416-327-1600
1-800-668-9933 (Toll-free number-Ontario only)
www.archives.gov.on.ca
Physical Description
30 centimetres of textual records 54 photographs
Summary
Benjamin Burdwood Toye (1836-1893) was an early operator and innovator in the telegraphy field in Canada. Toye worked for the Montreal Telegraph Company and the Northwest Telegraph Company in various capacities, including Northwest Telegraph Company Area Superintendent. He also invented improved switches, relays and automatic repeaters and was the first operator to take messages by sound. Toye was married to Anne Elizabeth Brown (1839-1903) Fonds consists of the personal and business records of Benjamin Burdwood Toye. Personal records include: family correspondence, 1851-1925; a diary of a trip to England, 1858; a history by Toye's of telegraphy in Toronto, 1848- 1852; newspaper clippings; genealogical information on the Toye, Brown and Nowel Families and photographs of members of the Toye, Brown and Ashfield families. Business records include: financial accounts and receipts, 1876-1907; land records, 1856-1906; patents, notes, and drawings for inventions, 1867-1891; and correspondence relating to Toye's employment, inventions and their patenting, 1856-1925. Fonds also includes various lists of telegraphic equipment, 1881-1883.
