A list of Villages, Towns, Cities of Upper Canada
(Ontario) and their name changes over time. Along with a few facts and such.


Shaun 3/96

"Counties of Ontario -
 Stormont, named after David Murry, seventh
Viscount Stormont (1727-1796); Dundas, after Henry Dundas, Viscount
Melville (1741-1811); Grenville, after William Wyndham Grenville (1759-1834);
 Leeds, after Francis Godolphin Osborne, fifth Duke of Leeds;
Prescott, after Major-General Robert Prescott (1725-1816); Russell, after
Peter Russell, who administered the goverment of Upper Canada 1796-1799;
Carleton, after Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester (1724-1808); Lanark, after
the town of Lanark, Scotland;

 Renfrew, after Renfrewshire, Scotland; Frontenac, after Count de Frontenac
(1620-1698); Addington, after Henry Addington , ViscountSidmouth (1755-1844);
 Lennox, after Charles Lennox, third Duke of Richond (1735-1806);
Prince Edward, after Prince Edward Augustus fourth son of King George III
and father of Queen Victoria (1767-1820); Hastings, after Francis Rawdon
Hastings (1724-1826); Northumberland, after the English county of that
name; Peterbourgh, after the the town of Peterbrough in that county, the
town being named after Colonel Peter Robinson, brother of Sir John
Beverley Robinson; Durham, after the county of the same name in England; 

Victoria, after Queen Victoria; Ontario after Lake Ontario; York, after the
English county of Yorkshire; Simcoe, after John Graves Simcoe; Peel, after
Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850); Dufferin, after , the Governor-General of that
name; Halton, after Major William Halton, secretary to Lieutenant-Governor
Gore; Wellington, after the Duke of Wellington (1769-1851); Waterloo, after
the Famous Battle; Wentworth, after Sir John Wentworth, governor of Nova
Scotia; Lincoln, after Lincolnshire England; Welland, name of Chippawa
creek changed to Welland river, after stream of the same name in
Lincolnshire, and county followed; Haldimand, after Sir Fredrick Halimand
(1718-1791);

 Brant, after Josph Brant (1742-1807); Norfolk, after the English county of
that name; Oxford, after the English city; Elgin, after the Earl of Elgin,
Govnor-general; Middlesex, after the English county; Kent, after the English
county; Lampton, after John George Lampton, Earl of Durham (1792-1840);
Essex, after English county; Perth after the Ontario town of Perth, which in
turn was named after Perth Scotland; Grey after Earl Gray (1764-1845);
Haliburton, after Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865); Muskoka, after
Chief of the Chippawa; Parry Sound, name given originally by Captain
Bayfield to the sound, then to the town, then to the county, after Parry Sound
in the Arctic, which got its name from Sir William Edward Parry, the Arctic
explorer; Nippissing , from Lake Nippissing; Manitoulin, a corruption of an
Indain word for Great Spirit."

From The Oxford Encyclopdeia of Canadian History -Makers of Canada
Series - by Lawerance J Burpee 1927 Vol 12 Pg 136

Names Changes

Back to Genealogy Page