Sydenham was a township

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Grey County Grey County is a county in the province of Ontario. The county is located in the Southwestern Ontario region, and is a part of the Georgian Triangle. At the time of the 2021 Canadian census the population of the county was 100,905. Owen Sound is ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, named in part for Lord Sydenham, governor of Canada from 1839 to 1841. The area is bounded on the north side by

Owen Sound Owen Sound (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat, seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi River, Pottawatomi and Sydenham River ...

, a large inlet of

Georgian Bay The Georgian Bay () is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To its northwest is t ...

. Sydenham Township was surveyed in 1842, with concessions running north to south, and at that time the land consisted mainly of hardwood forest.Directory of the County of Grey for 1865-6. (Part 8)
/ref> Immigrants from Scotland and Ireland began to settle this area at about this time. The first mill was built in 1846, and the first school section was organized in 1851.Ufland, Vina Rose
''History of Sydenham Township''
R. Bond & Wright, 1967.Marsh, Edith Louise
''A History of the county of Grey''
Fleming Publishing Co., Owen Sound, 1931. The first post office, at Woodford, was established in 1852. In 1853 the residents organized an Agricultural Society. By 1861 there were over 3,000 people living in the township. Although telephone lines were connecting nearby towns as early as 1886, it was not until 1908 that telephones began to be installed in Sydenham Township. Sydenham Township included the villages of Leith, Annan, Hoath Head, Bognor, Balaclava, and Woodford.

2001 amalgamation

In 2001, with the

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

of various municipalities in Southern Ontario, the Town of Meaford, St. Vincent and Sydenham Township were amalgamated to form one municipality entity. Sydenham Township is now part of the Municipality of Meaford. However, in April 2015, efforts to de-amalgamate, citing an unacceptable tax rise and a propensity to "focus all municipal resources on the urban infrastructure of the former town of Meaford" as reasonings, have been heard by the Meaford Council."Deputy Mayor to Sydenham Separatists – Talk to Us"
''The Meaford Independent''

References

''Canadian County Atlas Digital Project''. Communities in Grey County 1842 establishments in Canada 2001 disestablishments in Ontario Former township municipalities in Ontario Populated places disestablished in 2001 {{Ontario-geo-stub