The history of Kensington Market began long before there was any ‘market’ to speak of, indeed, before there was any physical or cultural semblance of the Kensington Market that exists today. Kensington Market owes its initial development from uninhabited land grants, covered in meadows and thick forests, to a densely populated neighbourhood home to important Toronto institutions to one family in particular: the Denisons. Arriving from Britain, the Denisons were committed loyalists, staunch Tory conservatives, and deeply involved in the Canadian military.[i] They were also committed Anglicans and important members of Toronto’s wealthy, landed elite.[ii] Although the Denisons may appear “unlikely” founders of a neighbourhood characterized today as “tolerant, diverse, colourful, and funky,” the legacy of the Denisons abounds in the Kensington of today in forms ranging from iconic landmarks and important institutions to the very street names.[iii]