From 1924 to 1928, author Mazo de la Roche was a summer neighbour of the Harrises of Benares, living nearby in “Trail Cottage.” It was there that she wrote her award-winning, bestselling novel “Jalna”, the first of 16 novels about the fictional Whiteoaks family. Her books have sold over 10 million copies in more than 100 languages. In 2008, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada honoured Mazo de la Roche by unveiling a plaque at Benares. Some believe that Benares, a century-old Georgian revival home on Clarkson Road, may have been the inspiration for Jalna, hence the reason for the names given in the subdivision when it was developed in the 1960s: Whiteoaks Park, Whiteoaks Public School, Mazo Crescent, Jalna Avenue, Roche Court, and Whiteoaks Avenue.
Source: Clarkson Tour Brochure and Mississauga.ca historical image gallery