The loss of HMS Speedy and the 20 souls on board was a terrible disaster for the town of York and Upper Canada. York had about 450 people at that time, and the loss of 20 travellers all at once was the largest death count in decades. Read More
Photo courtesy Brighton Digital Archives The early days of the Orland Mill Stephen Bletcher Newcomb (1816-1868) moved his family from Hope Township in the 1840s, maybe as early as 1843, and around 1851 built a grist mill at Concession 7, Lot 8, Brighton Township. This is the area where the Goodrich-Loomis Conservation area is today.… Read More
As the sleigh sped through Smithfield on the way to Trent Port, Governor General Thomson may have contemplated the daunting task awaiting him in Montreal. The Mackenzie Rebellion was only two years past and nerves were still very raw, extreme partisan positions being the normal manner of discourse. Lord Durham had been and gone, providing his Durham Report with recommendations for changes to the governance of Upper and Lower Canada. British gentlemen could not fathom why normally peaceful Canadians had actually taken up arms against the crown, but they were intent on preventing it from happening again. Read More