The Wellington District was a historic

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

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 th ...

and its successor,

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

, which existed until 1849. It was formed in June 1840 from townships transferred from certain other districts: Thomas Ridout map of Grand River Indian Lands, 1821

Thomas Ridout map of Grand River Indian Lands, 1821

For electoral purposes, it was called

Waterloo County Waterloo County was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1853 until 1973. It was the direct predecessor of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Situated on a subset of land within the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of ...

and the

district town Town of district significance is an administrative division of a district in a federal subject of Russia. It is equal in status to a selsoviet or an urban-type settlement of district significance, but is organized around a town (as opposed to a r ...

was

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

. Upon the passage of the

Act of Union 1840 The ''British North America Act, 1840'' (3 & 4 Victoria, c.35), also known as the ''Act of Union 1840'', (the ''Act'') was approved by Parliament in July 1840 and proclaimed February 10, 1841, in Montreal. It abolished the legislatures of Lower ...

, for electoral purposes Erin Township was attached to Halton County, which became known as the East Riding of Halton, and the remaining townships of Wellington that had previously been part of Halton became known as the West Riding of Halton. When the East and West Ridings were renamed for their respective counties in 1845, the township of Erin continued to be part of Halton for electoral purposes, and the township of Dumfries was similarly included for such purposes in Waterloo. At that time, Waterloo County was declared to consist of the following townships: * Arthur * Amaranth * Bentinck * Derby * Eramosa * Egremont * Guelph * Glenelg * Garafraxa * Holland * Luther * Mornington * Minto * Maryborough * Melancthon * Normanby * Nichol * Peel * Proton * Puslinch * Sydenham * Sullivan * Waterloo * Wilmot * Woolwich * Wellesley In 1849, Wellington District was abolished, and Waterloo County remained for municipal and judicial purposes. The territory of the

Bruce Peninsula The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Island, ...

became part of Waterloo in 1849, but was later withdrawn and transferred to

Bruce County Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising eight lower-tier municipalities and with a 2016 population of 66,491. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, sixth Governor General of the ...

in 1851.

Notes

References

{{Districts of Upper Canada Districts of Upper Canada 1838 establishments in Upper Canada 1849 disestablishments in Canada History of Wellington County, Ontario History of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo