Farnham is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality Brome-Missisquoi is a regional county municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. It lies in the Eastern Townships area. The seat is Cowansville. In 2021, it was transferred to the Estrie region from Montérégie. In Parliament it is co ...

in the

Estrie Estrie () is an administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 per cent francophone. Angl ...

region of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Canada. The population as of the

Canada 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...

was 10,149, making it the second most populated community in the RCM.

History

The city of Farnham takes its name from the historic Township of Farnham. The latter is one of the few townships established before 1800, and was named in remembrance of

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tri ...

, UK. The first "Farnhamiens", mostly

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

from the United States, arrived in 1800. On December 28, 1876, Farnham got the status of "town". On March 8, 2000, the town of Farnham and the municipality of Rainville merged to form the new "City of Farnham". The total population is now numbered at 8,000 inhabitants. Farnham is also the site of an important military training camp, used primarily by the

Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School The Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (CFLRS) is located at the Saint-Jean Garrison in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. Courses offered The two main courses offered at CFLRS are the Basic Military Qualification (BMQ) for Regular Force ...

and local militia.

Geography

Built on the shores of the

Yamaska River The Yamaska River is a river in southern Quebec, Canada. Sourcing water within the Eastern Townships, it ends its journey in Lake Saint-Pierre where it is a tributary to the Saint Lawrence River; altogether it is long. Crossing nearly twent ...

, at the border of the

Saint-Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. "Laurel wreath, laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, perse ...

lowlands, the city of Farnham is located in the center of important cities such as

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost naviga ...

(West) and Granby (North-East).

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Farnham had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Attractions

Petite Église - once an old church, the newly renovated building is now a fully functional recording studio, owned and operated by

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

. The band announced on January 18, 2013, that they are selling the church they had been using as a studio. Other notable bands to have recorded at Petite Église include

Wolf Parade Wolf Parade is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2003 in Montreal. The band released three full-length albums before taking a five-year hiatus in 2011. They announced their return in 2016, releasing a self-titled EP in May of that year, and a ...

and

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

. The church is now owned by Emery Street Records, and continues to be used as a recording studio.

Activities

Located in Farnham is a skydiving school, Nouvel Air. Farnham has an arena named in honour of Madeleine Auclair. Since the 1990s Farnham has had a skate board park, which hosts an annual festival every August named "Skatefest de Farnham". Southeast of Farnham is the golf course "Club de Golf de Farnham". Farnham is on the route of both the Montérégiade Farnham/Granby and Route verte bicycle paths.

Transportation

Farnham is home to

Farnham railway station Farnham railway station serves the town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Train services are provided by South Western Railway, with direct trains running to Guildford, Aldershot, Alton, Woking, Surbiton, Clapham Junction and London Water ...

, a disused station belonging to the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

Notable people

* In 2006, the members of the group

purchased the Petite Église, an old church that was renovated into a permanent recording studio for the band. After recording the albums ''

Neon Bible ''Neon Bible'' is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was first released on March 5, 2007, in Europe and a day later in North America by Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006, through the band's ...

'' and ''

The Suburbs ''The Suburbs'' is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 2, 2010. Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and "Month of May".

'' at the location, the band put the studio up for sale in 2013 citing "roof problems" as the cause for the sale. *

H. H. Bennett Henry Hamilton Bennett (January 15, 1843 – January 1, 1908) was an American photographer famous for his pictures of the Dells of the Wisconsin River and surrounding region taken between 1865 and 1908. The popularity of his photographs helped tur ...

, photographer, was born in Farnham. *

Sylvain Charlebois Sylvain Charlebois is a Canadian researcher and professor in food distribution and food policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is Dalhousie's former Dean of the Faculty of Management. He is currently the Director of t ...

, researcher and expert at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

, was born in Farnham. He is the son of Farnham's first woman mayor, Lyse Lafrance-Charlebois (1991-2000). *

Simon Durivage Simon Durivage (born December 10, 1944 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian French language television news anchor for '' RDI en direct''. He was recruited by Radio-Canada in 1969 and has since hosted several newscasts and public affairs programs: ...

, a known journalist in Province of Québec, was born in Farnham. *

Alain Forand Major-General Joseph Robert Alain Pierre (Alain) Forand, CMM SC MSC CD (born January 27, 1944) is a Canadian infantry officer and the former Colonel of the Royal 22e Régiment. Early life Alain Forand was born in Farnham, Quebec, Canada on 2 ...

, commanded the southern

UNTAES The United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) was a UN peacebuilding transitional administration in the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia in the eastern parts of Croatia ...

forces in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and the

Land Force Quebec Area Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...

during the Saguenay Flood operation and the Ice Storm of 1998. *

Ludger Lemieux Ludger Lemieux (February 9, 1872 – October 27, 1953) was a Quebec architect who designed a number of notable Art deco structures in Montreal's Saint-Henri district. While he often worked in partnership with Joseph-Honoré MacDuff, his best ...

, architect, was born in Farnham. *

Yvan Ponton Yvan Ponton (born 22 October 1945) is a Canadian actor, commentator and television host. Ponton has had a lengthy acting career which includes roles in a variety of major French-Canadian television shows and movies. He is most well known to Engl ...

, a known comedian in Province of Québec, was born in Farnham. *

Yves Rodier Yves Rodier (born June 5, 1967) is a Québécois comic strip creator known for his many pastiches of '' The Adventures of Tintin''.List of cities in Quebec This is the list of municipalities that have the Quebec municipality type of city (''ville'', code=V), an administrative division defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy. Note that although the terms "city" and ...

Municipal history of Quebec The municipal history of Quebec started in 1796 with the creation of administrations for Montréal and Quebec City, but it really developed immediately prior to the creation of the Province of Canada in 1841 with the formation of municipal distr ...

References

External links

Official web site

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality