Morpeth is a community in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

that is between Blenheim and St. Thomas on

Highway 3 The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3. For roads numbered 3A, see 3A. International * Asian Highway 3 * Europea ...

in the municipality of

Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316)Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

History

The community is named after

Lord Morpeth George William Frederick Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle, (18 April 1802– 5 December 1864), styled Viscount Morpeth from 1825 to 1848, was a British statesman, orator, and writer. Life Carlisle was born in Westminster, London, the eldest son o ...

, who was once a guest of Col. Thomas Talbot."Morpeth," ''Encyclopedia of Canada'' (Toronto: University Associates, 1948), IV, 338 Morpeth was an area of notable commerce in the 1880s. However, when the railroad went through, it instead went through nearby

Ridgetown, Ontario Ridgetown is a community located in south-east Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus. It has a 2021 population of 2,797 and is one of many small farming communities in Chatham-Kent. The town motto ...

, which eventually grew faster than Morpeth. Archibald Lampman, one of Canada's

Confederation Poets ''Confederation Poets'' is the name given to a group of Canadian poets born in the decade of Canada's Confederation (the 1860s) who rose to prominence in Canada in the late 1880s and 1890s. The term was coined by Canadian professor and literary cr ...

, and "generally considered the finest of Canada's late 19th-century poets in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

" (''

Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available for ...

'') was born in Morpeth on November 17, 1861.Michael Gnarowski,
Lampman, Archibald
" ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Hurtig, 1988), 1169. The ''

Dictionary of Canadian Biography The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' (''DCB''; french: Dictionnaire biographique du Canada) is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The ''DCB'', which was initiated in 1959, is a ...

'' says: "The Morpeth that Lampman knew was a small town set in the rolling farm country of what is now western Ontario, not far from the shores of

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 ...

. The little red church just east of the town, on the Talbot Road, was his father’s charge."Lampman, Archibald
" Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Web, Mar. 22, 2011.

Commerce

Forms of

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

present in the village include a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

, a

trailer park A trailer park,caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and eas ...

, and a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

campground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for camping, overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight u ...

. To the south, nearby

Rondeau Provincial Park Rondeau Provincial Park is the second oldest provincial park in Ontario, Canada, having been established with an order in council on 8 September 1894. The park is located in Southwestern Ontario, on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit exten ...

provides recreational activities. Morpeth is also an attractive

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

community, with housing available specifically for this need.

Tourism

Greenview Aviaries, a park and zoo, is located less than a mile east of the village in

on the former Highway 3. It attracts visitors from a wide area and has expanded over the years to house many additional animal species, including Big Cats (Tiger, Lions, Jaguars), Wild Game (Buffalo, Elk, Zebras), Primates, Reptiles and Birds.Greenview Aviaries Park and Zoo
" Web, Apr. 28, 2011. Morpeth also sees a number of visitors traveling to nearby Rondeau Provincial Park
, Web, Apr. 28, 2011. and to Wildwood By the Lake, a family campground.Wildwood by the Lake
Web, Apr. 28, 2011.

References

External links

Chatham-Kent website
{{authority control Communities in Chatham-Kent Populated places on Lake Erie in Canada