Here they are with their classmates in 1906. But more on this picture later. The Brooks family resided on a farm located in the community of Brown's Corners, one of many small communities that no longer exist. Brown's Corners was located at the corner of Finch Avenue East and Markham Road, named after David Brown who ran the post office on the southwest corner.
Bill and his brothers John and George attended S.S. #3, also known has C. H. Berner School. The school was located at the corner of Finch Avenue East and Neilson Road and was a 1 km walk from the family farm. The school was opened in 1872, replacing an earlier school that was located on the same site, first established in 1847. You can see the SCH noted in the middle of this map.
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| Historical Atlas of York County Ontario, 1878 |
S.S. #3 was your classic one room schoolhouse, though it later received an addition. Here is a photo taken in 1896 at the time of Scarborough's Centenary celebration.
All grades were taught in the one room and about 30 students attended at any one time. I found this undated newspaper clipping in my grandparents' papers. The picture is also featured in the book published by Jean Little to commemorate the school's 100th anniversary in 1972. The photo in Jean's book did not identify any of the students but I was fortunate that the newspaper clipping did.
The clipping indicates this is the class of 1904, the book 1906. I think 1906 is the correct date as my great-uncle George was not born until 1901. So my grandfather, second from the right in the first row would have been 11. He is holding George's hand - he would have been 5 and John, 5th from the right would have been 9.
This school was important to the Brooks family, My great-grandfather was a trustee of S.S. #3 from 1909-1911. My grandfather attended the 100 year anniversary celebrations in 1972. I found the program in his papers.
The school closed not long after this reunion. It still stands in its location at Finch and Neilson, now part of a private Christian school.
My grandfather would have been near the end of his formal education when he graduated from C.H.Berner as the school would have only gone to grade 8. The first high school in Scarborough, Scarborough High School (now R.H. King Academy), was not built until 1922. The Brooks boys would have returned to work with their father on the farm.
But Bill's quest for education didn't end. As I've written before he eventually became a bookkeeper. To achieve that position he moved to Toronto and returned to school to continue his education. He attended the Central Business College located in Riverdale at Jones and Gerrard. I don't know how long the program he took lasted but he did well as shown in this summary of his marks.
He completed his program in 1914, not long before he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces and headed to France.
I wonder how he would have done if he had a chance to attend university. Given the times, the Scarborough school boy did not too badly.
