Home District

Former District in Upper Canada

The Home District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and detached in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada. It was abolished with the adoption of the county system in 1849.

Territorial evolution

Originally established as Nassau District in 1788,^[1] it was renamed as the "Home District" in 1792,^[2] The district was originally bounded to the east by a line running north–south from the mouth of the Trent River and to the west by a line running north–south "intersecting the extreme projection of Long Point into the lake Erie."^[3] The northern boundaries were vague and overlapping Indian land. The district town was originally Newark, later Niagara-on-the-Lake.

In 1798, the Niagara District was created from Lincoln County and Haldimand County, and the London District was formed from the counties of Middlesex, Norfolk and Oxford, both of which were detached from the Home District. The remainder was organized as follows:

Reductions and abolition

The District was reduced in size in several steps over the coming years.

The 1798 Act had provided that counties of Durham and Northumberland, upon a request by a majority of their townships, could be detached to form the Newcastle District.^[6] This occurred in 1802.^[7]

In 1816, the following parts of the District were detached to form Halton County in the newly created Gore District:

...the townships of Trafalgar, Nelson, Flamborough ..., Beverly, and blocks number one, two, three and four, on the Grand river, with the reserved lands in the rear of the townships of Blandford and Blenheim...^[8]

In 1837, Simcoe District was detached, consisting of Simcoe County.^[9]

In 1849, the Home District was dissolved and replaced for municipal purposes by York County,^[10] which was reorganized later that year to form the United Counties of York, Ontario and Peel.^[11]

Further reading

• Armstrong, Frederick Henry (1985). Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology. Dundurn historical document series, no. 3. Toronto: Dundurn Press. ISBN 978-0-919670-92-1. OCLC 12966852. First published as Armstrong, Frederick Henry (1967). Handbook of Upper Canadian chronology and territorial legislation. London, Ont.: Lawson Memorial Library at The University of Western Ontario. OCLC 20212.
• "Early Districts and Counties 1788-1899". Archives of Ontario. Retrieved 2016-05-30.

References

1. Proclamation of July 24, 1788
2. An act for building a Gaol and Court-House within every District of this Province, and for altering the Names of the said Districts, S.U.C. 1792, c. 8, s. 4
3. Proclamation of July 24, 1788
4. An act for the better division of this province, S.U.C. 1798, c. 5, s. 19-24
5. "Beausoleil First Nation".
6. 1798 Act, s. 25
7. An Act to provide for the Administration of Justice in the District of Newcastle, S.U.C. 1802, c. 2
8. An Act to erect and form a new district out of certain parts of the Home and Niagara Districts, to be called the district of Gore, S.U.C. 56 Geo. III, c. 19, s. 12
9. An Act to authorize the Erection of the County of Simcoe into a separate District, by the name of the District of Simcoe, S.U.C. 1837, c. 32
10. An Act for abolishing the Territorial Division of Upper-Canada into Districts, and for providing temporary Unions of Counties for Judicial and other purposes, and for the future dissolutions of such Unions, as the increase of wealth and population may require, S.Prov.C. 1849, c. 78, Sch. B
11. An Act to make certain alterations in the Territorial Divisions of Upper Canada, S.C. 1851, c. 5, Sch. A, par. 21-23; Sch. B