David,
During the heyday of canoeing in Toronto, 1890’s to 1920’s the City directory shows 19 canoe and boat builders, many of them also operating sizeable livery operations. Most of them around the base of York Street, but Walter Dean’s success at Sunnyside Beach and Humber had encouraged many of them to centre there as well.
Octavius L. Hicks had established his boatbuilding business and livery operations there already in the late 1870’s. Octavius Hicks was a man of many talents and owned or was involved in many enterprises; commercial fishing fleet, road and bridge contracting business, brick yards, Humber Steam Ferry Company and for awhile the Royal Oak Hotel at Humber Bay.
His son William J. Hicks was early on running the boat and livery business and stayed in that business all his life, still operating in the mid 1950’s. However, very few boats and canoes were built by the Hicks after WWI, who instead concentrated on the boat livery aspect of the business, and often purchased his rental boats from other builders.
However, I doubt that this is a Hicks built canoe as I have found no proof of them ever building a metallic joint canoe. It is possible that your canoe might have been a rental canoe in the Hicks fleet built by Walter Dean, thus the brand mark possibly saying Hicks & Son.
Dick Persson
Headwater Wooden Boat Shop
