Sunday, August 2, 2015

Goulbourn Twp. Survey 1817

2 Aug 2015
This article appeared in Stittsville News 25 Jan. 1984, pg 14.
Author is G.J. Zeldenrust, S.L.S., C.L.S.,
Goulbourn Historical Society
Data entered by myself will be in [XXX]
Will appear weekly until completed as it is on a
page 11" x 17". There is a drawing to explain the survey,
it is of Lots 6 thru 10, Con VIII, Goulbourn Twp.


"It was the autumn of 1815. Napoleon had been defeated at
Waterloo [18 June 1815], and the War of 1812 had been
concluded with the Treaty of Ghent [24 Dec. 1814] and
Great Britain found itself suddenly overrun with
thousands of discharged soldiers looking for a job.
  However, notwithstanding the apparent peace in His
Majesty's Colonies, the British government soon
recognized that no peaceful settlement of Upper Canada
was possible without a strong defense policy against any
possible future hostilities from the young new republic
along its southern borders.
  With this in mind, it was decided that additional land be
purchased from the Indians, and a second row of townships
be surveyed north of the already established townships of
Burgess, Elmsley, Montague and Marlboro. These were
then to be settled by discharged soldiers from His
Majesty's armed forces and by other citizens loyal to
the Crown.
  The new townships, which were later to become
Bathurst, Drummond, Beckwith and Goulbourn,
had not yet been named at that time and were simply
numbered townships No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively.
  Land purchase negotiations between Captain John
Ferguson, who was the  Agent for Indian Affairs at
Kingston, and the Chiefs of the Indian Nations of
Chippawa and Mississauga, who owned all lands
north of the Rideau, were begun in February 1816.
The total area under negotiation totalled nearly
three million acres, [2,748,000Acres], which of course,
included much more than the above-named four
townships. The so-called surrender was concluded
with the Second Indian Treaty of 1819. [Ref:
Carleton Saga, pages 7-8] (The first one being
the Crawford Purchase of 1783) [Carleton Saga
pages 2-4, map page 3.]"
To be Continued next week

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