The "Welsh Settlement" in Upper Canada.
Creators: name: Rosser, F. T.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1953
Subjects: subject: Biography.

description: Passionately nationalistic in their native land, the Welsh have resisted the might of England for centuries and have never been assimilated into English life. Abroad, however, they have merged gracefully with other cultures and, in a relatively short time have lost their identity in new cultural patterns. That is what happened in the Welsh Settlement of Upper Canada. The distinctively Welsh characteristics of the Upper Canadian settlers lasted for scarcely more than half a century. This paper attempts to capture something of the colour and life of that little group (approximately 400 people) which glowed so briefly in the shifting pattern of Canadian history. The man responsible for the establishment of a Welsh Settlement in Upper Canada was John Matthews, a native of Glamorganshire, South Wales. He left home early in life and obtained employment in the British Civil Service. He was a junior clerk in the British embassy in Paris at the time of the French revolution and is thought to have become persona non grata with the French authorities. Friends at the American embassy were instrumental in bringing him to the United States where he was befriended by Benjamin Morgan, a wealthy Philadelphian. Under Morgan's guidance Matthews obtained work and later opened a paper store in Philadelphia which prospered greatly and within twelve years had made a small fortune for him. Just before the War of 1812-14 he returned to Wales. John Matthews, greatly distressed to find the circumstances under which his relatives lived in Wales, determined to use his means to promote their welfare by establishing them on lands of their own in the New World. The Welsh were industrious and prospered greatly on the rich lands they had obtained. Intermixed with them were English, Scotch and Irish settlers and before long most of the Welsh became conversant with the English language. The first church to be organized in the neighbourhood was the First Lobo Baptist Church founded by Baptist people from Charlotteville in the Long Point Settlement. Although the original Welsh group were all Methodists, most of them had joined the Baptist Church by 1832. Other denominations came later and Welsh people became attached to each of them. Also, they founded three Baptist churches of their own. Schools were organized in the 1840's and were extended and improved in the next twenty years. The development of good roads followed by railroads provided excellent communications with other centres. Under these influences, Welsh characteristics were soon lost. The first village in the community, Siddallsville, grew up around John Siddall's flour mill opened in 1834. Sawmills, other flour mills and a carding mill were later built along Nairn Creek which flowed through the settlement. The village of Carlisle, founded in 1848 when George Shipley built a mill, grew rapidly and became the principal village of North Middlesex, with a population of about 1,000. Denfield was recognized as a village after the opening of the London, Huron and Bruce railroad in 1876. Of these three Welsh Settlement villages, only Denfield remains to-day. The great movement of settlers to the West began to affect the Welsh soon after the middle of the 19th century and a number of the immigrants and many of the first generation Welsh Canadians moved westward to pioneer anew. In the first generation of the Welsh to marry in Canada the average number of children per family was almost nine but by the third generation the average number, had dropped to 3.4. Fourth- and fifth- generation descendants living to-day are estimated at 5,000 and are scattered over the continent with approximately two-thirds living in the United States. With each succeeding generation, occupations have become more diversified. The living descendants represent a typical cross-section of Canadian and American life. In the biographical section of this paper detailed information is recorded regarding each of 45 Welsh immigrant families. In the land location section, all the original settlers (nearly 500) in an area of almost 60,000 acres are listed alphabetically. This list gives the location and date of settlement on each farm and the reference to the original land petitions most of which are to be found in the Public Archives of Canada. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)