Mahlon Burwell (February 18, 1783 – January 25, 1846) was a surveyor and political figure in

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 ...

. He was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1783 and came to Upper Canada with his family in 1796. He was largely self-schooled and was employed by the government of the province to survey the Talbot settlement and the Talbot Road in 1809 and settled near

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

some time after that. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, he served in the 1st Middlesex Militia, was captured by raiders and his property was destroyed. After the war, he continued his survey work in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and Essex Counties, and on the Talbot Road. This difficult work took its toll on Burwell's health. He was often paid in land, rather than cash, and acquired large land holdings scattered across the southwestern part of the province. In 1830, he laid out the plan for the village of Port Burwell on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

; he also set up a company to develop the harbour and export timber from the area. In 1812, he was elected to the

6th Parliament of Upper Canada The 6th Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 27 July 1812. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in June 1812. All sessions were held at York, Upper Canada. The first Parliament buildings (located at the intersection of Front and Parlia ...

representing

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. He represented the area until 1824 and then again from 1830 to 1834. In 1813, he was appointed

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. Burwell benefited from his close ties as friend and employee of Thomas Talbot and received other patronage posts in the region. He was ahead of his time in proposing that local taxation be used to support education. In 1836, he was elected to represent the town of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in the Legislative Assembly. In later life, his influence declined possibly as a result of ill health. Mahlon Burwell provided land on which Trinity Church, an example of early Gothic Revival architecture, was constructed in 1836. Until the arrival of the Reverend Thomas Read in 1843, the congregation of Trinity Church was served by travelling missionaries. Trinity Anglican Church 1836 He died at Port Talbot in 1846. His son

Leonidas Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a List of kings of Sparta#Heraclids, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the List of kings of Sparta#Agiad dynasty, Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed d ...

served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. His younger brother, Lewis Burwell, assisted him as a surveyor, and was later Upper Canada's deputy surveyor.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burwell, Mahlon 1783 births 1846 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Canadian surveyors People from Elgin County Canadian people of English descent Canadian justices of the peace Immigrants to Upper Canada