Perth County, Ontario
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Perth County, Ontario is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. The county seat is Stratford. It is located in Southwestern Ontario, 161 km west of Toronto. It encompasses 219,121 hectares (541,440 acres), 90% of which is classified as prime agricultural land (Classes 1, 2, and 3). According to the 2001 census, the population of Perth County was 73 675.
The county includes:
- Town of North Perth
- Township of Perth East
- Township of Perth South
- Municipality (township) of West Perth
The City of Stratford and Town of St. Marys are part of the census division, but both have been separated from the county's jurisdiction.
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[edit] Historic Townships
Perth County (Area 524,571 acres) was mainly settled through the agency of the Canada Company which opened a road from the site of Stratford to Goderich.
- Blanshard Township, area 45,952 acres. Opened in 1830 and named from Richard Blanshard, Director of the Canada Company.
- Dowie Township, area 48,342 acres. The township was opened for settlement in 1830 and named in honour of Robert Downie, M.P. , one of the directors of the Canada Company.
- Easthope Townships (North and South). Areas 43,117 and 23,641 acres. Named from Sir John Easthope, M.P. A Director of the Canada Company. Opened for settlement in 1830. Until 1843 the townships were one.
- Ellice Township. Area 54,520 acres. Opened in 1830 and named in honour of Rt. Hon. Edward Ellice, a Canadian-born director of the Canada Company. His father was managing director of the Hudson's Bay Company.
- Elma Township, Area 67,413 acres. Opened in 1849 although the first settlers, Samuel an George Code, came in 1848. Named in honour of Lady Elma Bruce, daughter of the eight Earl of Elgin, Governor-general of Canada
- Fullarton Township. Area 40,198 acres. Opened in 1830 and named from John Fullarton, Director of the Canada Company.
- Hibbert Township. Area 41,421 acres. Opened in 1830 and named in honour of William T. Hibbert, Director of the Canada. First settler was Thomas Fox who received 200 acres of land from the Company on the condition he open an inn for travelers on the Huron Road.
- Logan Township. Area 53,748 acres. Opened for settlement in 1830. Named in honour of Hart Logan, Director of the Canada Company and uncle of Sir William E. Logan, the founder of the Canadian Geological Survey.
- Mornington Township Area 50,087 acres. Opened for settlement in 1845 and surveyed in 1850. Named in honour of the second Earl of Mornington, eldest brother of the Duke of Wellington.
- Wallace Township. Area 50,508 acres. Opened for settlement in 1849 and named in honour of Thomas, Baron Wallace, Vice-president of the British Board of Trade under Lord Goderich in 1820.
City of Stratford. In Downie, Ellice and Easthope Township. In 1831 William Sergeant was given a lot by the Canada Company on the condition that he open an inn. In 1832 he erected the first frame building in the region by the Avon River and called it the "Shakespeare Hotel." First purchaser of land was John Sharman (1834), a blacksmith from Bedfordshire, England. His son, Henry, was the first child born within the limits of the city.
Source: Province of Ontario -- A History 1615 to 1927 by Jesse Edgar Middletwon & Fred Landon, copywrite 1927, Dominion Publishing Company, Toronto
[edit] See also
[edit] Communities in Perth County
- Amulree
- Atwood
- Avonbank
- Avonton
- Bornholm
- Britton
- Brodhagen
- Brunner
- Carlingford
- Carthage
- Conroy
- Cromarty
- Donegal
- Dorking
- Dublin
- Fullarton
- Gads Hill
- Gowanstown
- Harmony
- Hesson
- Kinkora
- Kirkton (border with Perth County)
- Kurtzville
- Lisbon
- Listowel
- Millbank
- Mitchell
- Molesworth
- Monkton
- Motherwell
- Newry
- Newton
- Nithburg
- Poole
- Prospect Hill
- Rannoch
- Rostock
- Russeldale
- St. Columban
- St. Marys
- St. Paul's
- Sebastopol
- Sebringville
- Shakespeare
- Staffa
- Stratford
- Teviotdale
- Topping
- Trowbridge
- Wallace
- Wallen Corners
- Wartburg
- Woodham
[edit] External links
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