View source for William Berczy

{{Short description|Canadian pioneer and painter (1744–1813)}}
{{For|his son, Canadian politician and amateur painter|William Bent Berczy}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = William von Moll Berczy
| image              = William Berczy Self-portrait Florence 1783.jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Self-portrait, 1783
| birth_name         = Johann Albrecht Ulrich Moll
| birth_date         = {{Birth date text|December 10, 1744}}
| birth_place        = [[Wallerstein, Bavaria]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1813|02|05|1744|12|10}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]]
| nationality        = [[Holy Roman Empire]] - [[Canada]]
| other_names        = William Burksay (the name on his coffin)
| known_for          = 
| spouse             = [[Jeanne-Charlotte Allamand]]
| occupation         = {{Hlist | Diplomat | artist | land speculator | architect}}
}}
[[File:Family of Leopoldo of Tuscany by Berczy.jpg|thumb|250px|William Berczy, ''The family of [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Peter Leopold of Tuscany]]'', 1781–1782, Galleria d'Arte moderna, Florence]]
[[Image:Berczy’s The Woolsey Family.jpg|thumb|right|250px|William Berczy, ''The Woolsey Family'' (1809)]]
'''William von Moll Berczy''' (December 10, 1744 – February 5, 1813) was a [[German people|German]]-born [[Upper Canada]] pioneer and painter. He is considered one of the co-founders of the Town of [[York, Upper Canada]], now [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada and one of Canada's pre-eminent pre-Confederation artists.<ref>Adam Lauder, Heffel 'A Legacy Through Art: The Hudson's Bay Company Collection', (introduction to) lots 2 and 23, p. 58-59, Heffel Auction, November 19, 2025.</ref>

==Biography==
Berczy was born in [[Wallerstein, Bavaria|Wallerstein]], [[Swabia]], [[Electorate of Bavaria]] (part of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and now in [[Germany]]) as a son of the ''Wirklicher Hofrat'' (Albrecht Theodor Moll) and Johanna Josepha Walpurga Moll (née Hefele). Berczy was originally named '''Johann Albrecht Ulrich Moll''', but following marriage changed his name.{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=16}}

He studied at the [[Akademie der bildenden Künste]] in [[Vienna]] and at the [[University of Jena]] in [[Saxony]]. His early career was spent in several European countries, including Poland, Switzerland, and [[Italy]].{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=16-17}} In 1792, Berczy sailed for the [[Americas]], settling in [[Philadelphia]], then setting up a business in [[York, Upper Canada]] (now [[Toronto]]).{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=23}} A few years later, his work took him to [[Lower Canada]] ([[Quebec]]).{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=24}}

Berczy married, on November 1, 1785, [[Jeanne-Charlotte Berczy]] née Allamand (1760–1839) of [[Lausanne]] (canton of [[Bern]], now - since 1803 - canton of [[Vaud]]), Switzerland.{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=22}} They had two sons, [[William Bent Berczy]] and [[Charles Albert Berczy]]. His son Charles Albert Berczy became the second postmaster of Toronto.{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=43}}

Berczy helped [[John Graves Simcoe]] establish a settlement north of York, called [[German Mills]] with his migrants under the German Land Company, which later became the town of [[Markham, Ontario|Markham]].{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=15}}
{{blockquote|
"William Berczy, co-founder of Toronto, along with his German Pioneers, cleared part of the townsite of York (Toronto), erected houses and a magazine, built 15 miles of Yonge street (Eglinton to Elgin Mills some without shoes) in addition to 30 miles of roads in Markham township and also cleared 24 miles of the Rouge river waterway for navigation."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.karlheissler.com/gm.html |title=Historical Events and Personages "German Mills" |publisher=Karlheissler.com |access-date=July 27, 2013}}</ref>
}}
Berczy built homes in York and Markham, including [[Peter Russell (politician)#Russell Abbey|Russell Abbey]] in York.{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=24}}

Berczy painted. His two best-known pictures are a full-length portrait of the [[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]] chief Thayendanegea ([[Joseph Brant]]) ({{circa| 1807}})<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/search/artwork_e.jsp?mkey=3247 |title=Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) &#124; National Gallery of Canada &#124; National Gallery of Canada |publisher=Cybermuse.gallery.ca |access-date=July 27, 2013 |archive-date=August 28, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040828195402/http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/search/artwork_e.jsp?mkey=3247 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a group portrait of the Woolsey Family<ref>[http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/search/artwork_e.jsp?mkey=3359 Woolsey Family]</ref> (1809).{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=40}} Although best known for his [[portrait]]s, he also carried out religious paintings and architectural work, including plans for the Anglican [[Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal|Christ Church Cathedral in Montreal]] in 1803,{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=42}} and was a surveyor.

Berczy travelled to [[New York City]] during the [[War of 1812]] and was stranded when attempting to travel. He first stayed in [[Middlebury, Vermont]], with friends, then to [[Albany, New York]], then to New York City from which he planned to travel to [[England]]. He fell ill while in New York and died while in the care of friends. He was buried in an unmarked grave at [[Trinity Church Cemetery|Trinity Church]] as William Burksay.{{sfn|Atanassova |2004|p=43}} His wife moved in with her son William and died on September 18, 1839, in [[Sainte-Mélanie, Quebec|Sainte-Mélanie, Lower Canada]].<ref>{{cite DCB |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/allamand_jeanne_charlotte_7E.html |title=ALLAMAND, JEANNE-CHARLOTTE (Berczy) |volume=VII |first=Ronald J. |last=Stagg |access-date=July 27, 2013}}</ref> Berczy was also survived by his other son, Charles Albert Berczy.

==Legacy==
An elementary school in central Markham(Unionville) is named William Berczy Public School in his honour.<ref>{{cite web |title=William Berczy Public School |url=http://www.yrdsb.ca/schools/williamberczy.ps/Pages/default.aspx |website=www.yrdsb.ca |publisher=York Region District School Board |access-date=2021-03-10}}</ref> The school, founded in 1967, has approximately 600 students in grades K-8. Also in honour of this founder, the then Town of Markham named one of its densely populated neighbourhoods after him, the [[Berczy Village, Ontario|Berczy Village]]. Berczy Creek is a tributary of the Rouge River in Markham. A bronze statue of Berczy will be situated in at Berczy Square, a park to be built at [[Berczy Village]] near Kennedy Road and 16th Avenue in Markham.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Berczy Square Will Be Home to William Berczy Statue: Celebrating a 220-Year Legacy |url=http://www.markham.ca/wps/wcm/connect/markhampublic/bbc59aec-ea90-4973-bc66-fc12b4a08817/Markham_Life_Spring_2015.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=bbc59aec-ea90-4973-bc66-fc12b4a08817#page=4 |publisher=Markham Life, Spring 2015, p. 4 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034646/http://www.markham.ca/wps/wcm/connect/markhampublic/bbc59aec-ea90-4973-bc66-fc12b4a08817/Markham_Life_Spring_2015.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=bbc59aec-ea90-4973-bc66-fc12b4a08817#page=4|access-date=2021-03-10|archive-date = March 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Unionville Plan Earns Kudos |url=http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/1435062-unionville-plan-earns-kudos/ |website= www.yorkregion.com |date=June 10, 2010 |publisher=Markham Economist & Sun |access-date=2021-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Scarpitti |first1=Frank |title=Mayor's Inaugural Address, 2014 |url=http://www2.markham.ca/markham/ccbs/indexfile/Agendas/2014/Council/cl141201/Mayor%20Scarpitti%20Inaugural%20Address%202014.pdf |website=www2.markham.ca |publisher=Markham, Canada |access-date=2021-03-10}}</ref> Within Berczy Village is [[Berczy Village, Ontario#William Berczy Settlement Historical Cemetery|William Berczy Settlement Historical Cemetery]].

William Berczy Boulevard is a major road from Major Mackenzie Drive to 16th Avenue in Berczy Village, Berczy Gate is a short street near Highway 7 and Ninth Line and Berczy Creek Way is a short road near 16th Avenue and Warden Avenue in Markham. In Toronto a roadway called Leader Lane was renamed from Berczy Lane. There is also Berczy Street in Aurora running next to the train station.

[[Berczy Park]] is a small park located behind the [[Gooderham Building]] at Front Street and Wellington Street in [[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]]. The park had been vacant for many decades and once used as a parking lot after the buildings on the site were demolished. A tree-lined city park emerged after the late 1980s and has undergone renovations from 2015 to 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Berczy Park |url=http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=e6f8bee8e94f8510VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=3cf419cb2c521510VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD |website=www1.toronto.ca/ |publisher=Toronto Parks and Recreation |access-date=2021-03-10 |archive-date=March 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330164548/http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=e6f8bee8e94f8510VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=3cf419cb2c521510VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= More dogs, taller trees: Berczy Park is (partially) back in action |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/more-dogs-taller-trees-berczy-park-is-partially-back-in-action-1.3880929 |website=www.cbc.ca |publisher=CBC News, Dec 5, 2016 |access-date=2021-03-10}}</ref>

Berczy Street Park and Berczy Street are found in [[Barrie, Ontario]]. Berczy-Strasse is a street named for him in [[Wallerstein, Bavaria]].

In 2016, Berczy was named a [[Persons of National Historic Significance|National Historic Person]].<ref>{{DFHD|14253|Berczy, William National Historic Person|2025-05-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Government of Canada Announces new National Historic Designations |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2016/02/government-of-canada-announces-new-national-historic-designations.html |website=www.canada.ca |date=February 15, 2016 |publisher=Parks Canada |access-date=2021-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=William Berzcy (1744-1813) |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2017/09/william_berczy_1744-1813.html |website=www.canada.ca |date=September 9, 2017 |publisher=Parks Canada |access-date=2021-03-10}}</ref>

===In fiction===
Berczy is the subject of [[John Steffler]]'s [[biographical novel]] {{Google books|id=-dxSawEACAAJ|title=German Mills: A Novel Pertaining to the Life and Times of William Berczy}} ([[Gaspereau Press]], 2015).

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Atanassova |first1=Katerina |title=William Berczy - man of enlightenment |date=2004 |publisher=Varley Art Gallery of Markham |location=Unionville, Ontario|url=https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/discovery/search?query=any,contains,william%20berczy%20man%20of%20enlightenment%20katerina%20atanassova%20editing%20catherine%20harrison&tab=Everything&search_scope=UTL_AND_CI&vid=01UTORONTO_INST:UTORONTO&offset=0 |access-date=2021-03-10}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/william-berczy |title=William Berczy |first=Rosemary |last=Shipton |date=March 4, 2015 |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |access-date=August 22, 2019}}; also in French
* {{cite DCB |title=BERCZY, WILLIAM |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/berczy_william_5E.html |volume=5 |first=Ronald J. |last=Stagg}}
* "William Berczy Co-Founder of Toronto" written by John Andre in 1967 as a centennial project for the Borough of York.
* Hartmut Froeschle [Fröschle]: Adler auf dem Ahornbaum. Studien zur Einwanderung, Siedlung, Kultur-und Literaturgeschichte der Deutschen in Kanada. Herausgegeben und eingeleitet von Lothar Zimmermann. Toronto 1997 (Deutschkanadische Schriften, B. Sachbücher, Bd. 7), pp.&nbsp;53–63: "Williem Berczy, ein deutschkanadischer Pionier".
* Hartmut Froeschle [Fröschle]: Berczy trifft Goethe. In: Deutschkanadisches Jahrbuch / German Canadian Yearbook 15 (1998), pp.&nbsp;89–97.
* {{cite book |last1=MacIntosh |first1=Robert |title=Earliest Toronto |date=2006 |publisher=GeneralStore Publishing House |isbn=9781897113417 |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtzTT13aOLwC&q=%22Philippe+de+Rocheblave%22+OR+%22philippe-fran%C3%A7ois+de+rastel+de+rocheblave%22&pg=PA11 |access-date=2021-03-10}}
* Pioneers of the Don by Charles Sauriol 1995 {{ISBN|0-9699685-0-7}} (pp288–298 "The Story of the German Mills")
* B[eate] Stock: Berczy, William (Johann Albrecht Ulrich Moll). In: (K[laus] G[erhard]) Saur [Publisher]: Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. Die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker, Bd. 9. München, Leipzig 1994, pp.&nbsp;255–256.

==External links==
{{commons category|William Berczy}}
* [http://www.city.markham.on.ca/mpl/history/book_1.htm German Pioneers of Toronto and Markham Township - The Story of William Berczy]
* [https://www.thestar.com/article/557221 Article about Berczy Park in Toronto Star, Dec 22, 2008, giving more detail about his life: "Oasis amid skyscrapers has a magic of its own"]
* [http://www.ourroots.ca/page.aspx?id=769744&amp;&amp;qryID=e970c5f7-a61d-4e2b-ba3b-15790cb875f5 Berczy and the early Settlement of Markham]{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in History of Toronto and County of York, Ontario Vol 1 1885 page 114
* [http://www.guidingstar.ca/Markham_Ontario_History.htm Berczy in the History of Markham ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115075638/http://guidingstar.ca/Markham_Ontario_History.htm |date=January 15, 2013 }}
* [http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/collections/art/berczy/default The William Berczy Paintings]

{{Topics in Markham}}

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berczy, William}}
[[Category:1744 births]]
[[Category:1813 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Canadian painters]]
[[Category:18th-century German painters]]
[[Category:18th-century German male artists]]
[[Category:19th-century Canadian painters]]
[[Category:19th-century German painters]]
[[Category:19th-century German male artists]]
[[Category:Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni]]
[[Category:Painters from Toronto]]
[[Category:Canadian male painters]]
[[Category:German emigrants to pre-Confederation Canada]]
[[Category:German male painters]]
[[Category:People from Donau-Ries]]
[[Category:People from Markham, Ontario]]
[[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation Ontario people]]
[[Category:University of Jena alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century Canadian male artists]]