[Greavsie]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

It was founded by the British (as York) in the years following their conquest of New France (there had been French and Iroquois settlements here previously but they aren't contiguous with today's Toronto), but initially was settled mainly by American Loyalists displaced after the Revolution along with some freed slaves. The city really started to boom in the 1840s, fueled by emigrants fleeing the Irish Famine, making the city's population majority-Irish into the 20th century.

thanks!