Discovering Your Roots in Elgin:  

Chapter 1

Brief Outline of History of Elgin County

                Elgin County, located in south-western Ontario on the north shore of Lake Erie, is comprised of seven townships: Aldborough, Dunwich, Southwold, Yarmouth, Malahide, Bayham, and South Dorchester.  It is bordered on the west by Orford township in Kent County; on the north by Mosa, Ekfrid, Caradoc, Delaware, Westminster and North Dorchester townships in Middlesex County, and Dereham township in Oxford County; and to the east by Middleton and Houghton townships in Norfolk County. To the south is Lake Erie. Aylmer is the only town and St. Thomas the only city located in the county.

The Talbot Settlement

                When John Graves Simcoe toured Upper Canada as its first Lieutenant-Governor, his young aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Thomas Talbot, visited and fell in love with the Ontario wilds. After resigning from the military, Talbot wanted enough land at the mouth of Kettle Creek to establish a small agricultural community. Unable to secure land at that location, Talbot was able to get 5, 000 acres at Port Talbot and settled there in 1803.

                Much of South-western Ontario had been surveyed by 1803. Much of the land was owned by speculators, the Crown and the Anglican Church. Talbot was faced with the problem of settling immigrants in spite of the problems caused by these tracts of land which blocked communications and hindered road development. Talbot was to received two hundred acres of land for each settler that he located in the original grant. Talbot, however, settled the immigrants on land in Aldborough and Dunwich Townships, as well as taking his two hundred acres in those townships. As time passed, he placed settlers on lands in Southwold, Yarmouth, Malahide and Bayham Townships in Elgin County. He also settled people in adjacent townships; eventually having settlers in twenty-six townships. In the years between 1816 and 1818 Scottish settlers came to the Talbot Settlement. Many of them were given land in Colonel Talbot’s reserved areas of Aldborough and Dunwich Townships. The settlers were expected to clear a certain amount of land, pay a settlement fee and clear the front of their property for a road.

                Other Highlanders were given land in South Dorchester and North Yarmouth Townships. In Malahide and Bayham Townships the land along the concessions closest to the lake was settled by people from Nova Scotia.

                Settlers received their lands and cleared them so that crops could be grown as quickly as possible. By the middle of the 1800's the population has risen to 12,000 people and there were over 60,000 acres under cultivation.

                Elgin County was part of Middlesex County from 1837 to 1851. Prior to that, Elgin was part of the London District. In 1851 legislation was passed to separate Middlesex and Elgin Counties. Elgin County was named from the Governor-General of the time, Lord Elgin.

                Early villages in Elgin County were Port Talbot, Tyrconnell, Millersburg, Temperanceville (Orwell), Sparta, Five Stakes (Talbotville), Stirling, Kettle Creek Village, Hog’s Hollow, Fingal, Talbot Mills, Port Stanley, Port Bruce, Jamestown, Grovesend, Troy (Aylmer), Vienna, Port Burwell, Richmond, Sandytown (Straffordville), and others.

                Over time schools, churches, various businesses and industries were established including ship-building in Port Burwell. The fishing industry grew at Port Stanley and Port Burwell. At the turn of century, farms were usually small and run by the farmer and his family.

                A network of railway lines spread across South-western Ontario joining the region to cities and ports in Canada and the United States. There were at least five different railways coming through the county: the Michigan Central, the Pere Marquette, the London and Port Stanley, the Canadian National, and the Canadian Pacific railroads.

                In 1944 the total area of cleared land was about 365, 000 acres with crops of oats, mixed grains, beans, tobacco and orchard fruits.

                In 1999 the population of the county was 45,000 people with an agricultural heritage and a developing industrial base. The city of St. Thomas has 32,000 people with a business and industrial basis.

                For current information about the area, see the web page for the St. Thomas - Elgin Tourist Association.

Chronological History and Facts

1788                        Province of Upper Canada (Ontario) divided into four districts: Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse

1792                        Four districts re-named: Eastern, Midland, Home and Western (Elgin county located in Western District)

1792                        Province divided into counties: Middlesex County covered what is now Elgin County

c1796                      James Fleming settles in Aldborough township

1802                        Districts were again changed: Elgin county now part of London District

1803                        Land grant given to Thomas Talbot

1803                        Thomas Talbot arrives with George Crane in May; lands at mouth of river in Dunwich township and names Port Talbot

1809                        Early settlers arrive in Dunwich township: John Pearce, Col. Leslie Patterson, Mrs. Story, Johnny Barber, Col. Mahlon Burwell

1809                        Settlers arrive in Southwold township: John Philpott, Samuel Garnsey, Ira Gilbert, Daniel McIntyre and the Harris brothers

1810                        First settlers reach Malahide township: William, Andrus, Daniel, Simeon and Joseph Davis

1810                        First lots in Yarmouth township settled by families named Drake, Mandeville and Rapelje

1812                        Bayham township settled by Joseph DeFields and James Gibbons

1816                        First school in the county established in Malahide

1825                        St. Thomas has its beginning as a village

1826                        Archibald McLachlan and Isaac Willis settle in South Dorchester

1848                        population of County was 22,000

1852                        County separated from Middlesex and named Elgin, in honour of the Earl of Elgin, Governor General of Canada from 1847-1854

1857                        London and Port Stanley Railroad opened

1872                        Canada Air Rail Line and Canada Southern Railway opened

1882                        St. Thomas is incorporated as a a city

(St. Thomas has annexed land from Yarmouth & Southwold Townships throughout the years)

1998                        Municipal Amalgamation took place in January, re-aligning Elgin County into eight municipalities, as follows: (former municipality in brackets, if applicable)  

To Chapter 2 - Place Names in Elgin County

© Ontario Genealogical Society, Elgin County Branch
 
September 1999
Published by Ontario Genealogical Society
Elgin County Branch
Box 20060
St. Thomas, Ontario  N5P 4H4