Written By Carol Small, Middlesex Centre Archives
Middlesex County has a long and rich history. This year, 2025, marks a special milestone. It is 225 years since the name of Middlesex County first appeared. It also is 175 years since Middlesex County was first designated for administrative purposes. As always, history is evolutionary. It is no different with our County history. This is a very brief outline of the County’s very rich history. To understand it, let’s begin at the very beginning.
Original inhabitants in the County were the Attawandaron, Anisinabeg, Haudenosaunee and Lunaapeewax. They had called this land home for centuries. Explorers and trappers first appeared in this area in the 1600s and 1700s. In 1747, French pioneers began settling along the Detroit River in Southern Ontario. With the Treaty of Paris in 1763, after the Seven Years War, most of New France in North America was awarded to Britain. The British called the area the Province of Quebec. From 1788, the Province of Quebec was divided into Districts. Middlesex County was situated in the Hesse District (Western District in 1792).
With the American Revolution in 1776, people loyal to the Britain moved north to settle in British territory. Britain granted loyalists 200 acres of land per household to compensate for their losses in America. In 1794, Simcoe granted Ebenezer Allen (1752-1813) 2000 acres of land near Delaware. Allen had fought with the Butler’s Rangers (British) in the American Revolution and Colonel Butler recommended Allen to Simcoe. Allen, a colourful character, was required to establish a sawmill, gristmill, a church and a promise of 200 acres for every settler brought in. The church never happened. Allen’s lands can be found along the Thames River and Belvoir Estate. More Loyalists followed Allen to the Delaware area.
In December 1791, the Constitutional Act split the Province of Quebec into two areas – Upper and Lower Canada. This area caught the attention of Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe even before he left England and before the formation of Upper Canada. In early 1791, Simcoe wrote to Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society: “I mean to establish a Capital in the very heart of the country, upon the River La Tranche (Thames)”. Simcoe travelled to the Fork-of-the-Thames and thought it was a good site for the government of Upper Canada. Lord Dorchester, Governor of the Canadas, did not support the idea and named York (Toronto) as capital. Simcoe, in his five years as Lieutenant-Governor, ordered the lands of the Thames Basin be surveyed for settlement, and roads be built –including Dundas Street or Governor’s Road from Burlington to the Thames, Longwoods Road from Chatham to Delaware and Commissioners Road from Delaware to Dorchester.
Upper Canada created the first counties in 1792 for election and militia purposes. They were the basis for the surveying and creation of townships, and for land registration. In 1792, Simcoe originally named the area, Suffolk County. It included from Norfolk County west to Essex County, south to Lake Erie and bounded by the unsettled territory in the North. After his visit to the area in 1793, Simcoe concluded the area was better suited to the name Middlesex in the London District.
In 1798, the Upper Canada government created districts for local governance. The London District included Middlesex, Oxford, Norfolk, Elgin, Huron, Perth, and Bruce counties. The district town was Charlotteville (Turkey Point) but moved to Tisdale’s Mills (Vittoria) in 1815. In 1826, the district town was moved to London, with the removal of Rainham and Walpole Townships to Haldimand County. In 1837, Oxford and Norfolk Counties left London District. In 1840, Woolwich and Nichol Townships left to join Waterloo and Wellington Counties. Huron County withdrew in 1841. In 1845, the district was restricted within Middlesex County to include the townships of London, Westminster, Dorchester, Delaware, and townships from what is now Elgin County, including Yarmouth, Southwold, Dunwich, and Aldborough. By 1850, only Middlesex and Elgin Counties remained as London District.
In January 1850, London District was abolished and replaced with the United Counties of Middlesex and Elgin, with Middlesex designated for municipal purposes. Yarmouth, Southwold, Dunwich, and Aldborough separated in 1853.
By the early 1800s, settlers began arriving into all parts of Middlesex County. Most were from the British Isles. Some were simply looking for a better life. Some came under settlement schemes such as with Colonel Talbot. Others were escaping persecution such as the Highland Clearances in Scotland and abominable conditions in Ireland. The names of townships, towns, villages and hamlets reflect the nationality of the settlers, as they tended to name their community for the ones they left in the “old country”.
Read the second part of this
interesting article in our next March first edition.
