Alexander Aitkin (or Aitken, born around 1771 and died 1799) was a Scottish surveyor. He served as deputy surveyor general in 1784 and later the first surveyor general of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. Aitkin was from

Berwick-Upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

to David Aitken and possibly Catherine. He served as deputy surveyor for

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

, Penetanguishene Harbour, and

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk'' ...

. He was responsible for surveying and creating the first

city plan Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

for

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and made plans for the York Harbour in 1793. Lot Street, later to be renamed Queen Street, was the first concession street in York. The original street was 6,600 feet or 1.25 miles (approx. 2 km) in length. The street was used to divide the lands in the Liberties into park lots for residential use. He died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

at an early age and was buried in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

on 1 January 1800.

References

1799 deaths Canadian surveyors People from Old Toronto Pre-Confederation Ontario people Canadian people of Scottish descent Year of birth missing Date of death missing People from Berwick-upon-Tweed Scottish surveyors 18th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Ontario

External links

* {{Canada-bio-stub