Erindale at The Crook of The Credit by Jean Adamson was originally published in 1967 and revised in 1978. I read the revised edition. I am very familiar with the area since I have lived in Mississauga since 1972 and can recall the places Adamson writes about. She speaks with personal authority on the matter since she is a descendant of the renowned Adamson family, who were among Erindale’s first settlers. For the most part I found the book an engaging read and enjoyed the large photos that filled the pages of this scrapbook-sized book. Adamson wrote lengthy histories about the area’s churches, schools, roads, social life and individual houses among its seventeen chapters. What I disliked was that all too often I found I had to stop and reread entire paragraphs, for it seemed as if the author all of a sudden had a change in train of thought and then embarked on something else. This is symptomatic of a verbatim transcription from a recording. However, since there wasn’t any accompanying meaningless fill-in discourse in the text I am inclined to think it was Adamson’s own mental wanderings falling short of the editor’s blue pencil. It is unfortunate that some errors remained in the text despite her 1978 note about being grateful for having the opportunity to correct them. For example:

“From 1961 to ’63 the highway was raised and widened to four lanes starting west of the Fifth Line and extending through Erindale.”

Surely the author meant east of Fifth Line.

I admired Adamson’s devotion to the preservation of historical buildings. Her photos led me to Google Maps searches to find what has survived, but sadly even the passage of a short eleven years between editions meant a mournful addendum about the destruction of yet another house for a subdivision project. At the end of the book one could feel her overflowing ire, as in this brief 1978 update, which bristles with sarcasm:

“Just last year the ruins of the powerhouse were removed from the bottom face of the south bank, leaving a deep scar. Above it are several new homes perched perilously near the edge of the cliff. But they have a lovely view.”  

scar…
perilously…
plus the brusque twist-of-the-knife remark at the end. If you’re one of those new homeowners, I hope you’re happy.

Even as a longtime resident of the area I always enjoy learning new things. Truth be told, I have indeed wondered how Liruma Road got its name. Adamson explained that the name was chosen from the names of three women in the family of Stanley Harmer, who used to live in the Thorne Lodge, which was destroyed in a fire in 1965. We owe the name of Liruma Road to Lily, Ruth and Mary of the Harmer family and intersecting Loanne Drive to Lois and Anne.