Ontario, Canada
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ofOntario, Canada |
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At one time, the Province of Quebec encompassed all the area that is now Ontario and Quebec. In 1791 Quebec was split into the two provinces as they are now, and were designated Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec).
During the late 1700's and until 1849, Norfolk county included parts of what are now Brant, Elgin, Haldimand, Middlesex and Oxford county's, besides the area it has today. That said, most of our ancestors lived in Norfolk and Haldimand counties both of which border on Lake Erie. Since 1849, Norfolk County has remained unchanged.
There are no records that show Norfolk ever had any settelment of Europeans previous to the mid 1780s or early 1790s. There are areas in some parts of the country, as on the shore near Houghton Center, where the forest seems to have been cut down long before the present century, and where a large number of fragments of pottery have been picked up of such a kind as to indicate, in the judgement of some persons, that Europeansmay have had a settlement there. The United Empire Loyalists and British emigrants, who came to America at the close of the Revolutionary War which severed the thirteen colonies from the British Empire were the founders of Norfolk.
In 1790 pioneers were settling on the mainland shore along the Long Point Bay, and upon his arrival in 1792 John Graves, Lieutenant Govenor of Upper Canada, saw the strategic military importance of the protected harbor and the bluffs overlooking the point. He encouraged settlement by favoring officers and men who had supported the Crown during the American Revolution. At that point in time, it was known as the Long Point Settlement. Sir John Graves returned to England in 1796. After that, the land was given to anyone who swore allegiance to the King and had the means to develop it.
The northern part of Norfolk county, the Townsend township, was granted to Andrew Pierce and Associates to settle. Their agent Paul Averill, succeeded in drawing many settlers to the area from 1793 to 1797. After that, it was opened up to any settlers as in the southern townships.
After the war of 1812, between the United Stated and Canada, the settlement of the county was quite rapid. The townships were settled by farmers and Lumbermen. The farmers in the most habitable areas, and the Lumbermen in the more remote areas.
About 1820 the courts were moved from Turkey Point to Vittoria, which continued to be the District Town until 1826, when the District Offices were moved to London. At that time the County of Norfolk became the Talbot District, which included exactly the same territory as it now has, and Simcoe was made the District Town. The Act of 1849, which abolished Districts, gave the name Norfolk once more to this County, and it still retains it."
Norfolk has some of the richest soil in Canada and flat or gently rolling land made it ideal for agricultural pursuits in an age when that was the major industry. Prospective settlers came from far and wide having heard of the advantages of the Long Point Settlement. They came from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and all along the eastern seaboard of the United States as far south as North Carolina. Some came direct from the British Isles. The pioneers ranged widely in ethnic background including long-time colonial British and Dutch descendants, and early to mid-eighteenth century German immigrants. Among the settlers were former Portuguese, Russian and Swiss nationals.
The District Capital for all of south-central Ontario, known as the London District, was placed near Vittoria in 1800 and then the no-longer existing town of Charlotteville nearby in Norfolk and finally returned to Vittoria in 1815. During the War of 1812, Fort Norfolk on the bluffs guarded the hinterland behind. From 1842 to 1858, the focal town of Simcoe served as the administrative center for the Talbot District. In 1858, the individual counties assumed their own local government and Simcoe continued as the seat for Norfolk County.
Throughout the 1800's and much of the 1900's, agriculture was "king" in Norfolk, developed by dedicated men and women who loved the land and it continues to hold equal importance with a bustling industial base today.
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