The County of Victoria, or Victoria County, was a county in the Canadian province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. It was formed in 1854 as ''The United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria'', and separated from Peterborough in 1863. In 2001, the county was dissolved and reformed as the city of

Kawartha Lakes The City of Kawartha Lakes (2021 population 79,247) is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It is a municipality legally structured as a single-tier city; however, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontario county and is most ...

. Though first opened to settlement in 1821, the area that was encompassed by Victoria County has a history of Indian occupation, first by the Hurons.

History

The history of Victoria County began with the passing of the Constitutional Act in 1791, dividing Canada into two provinces:

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 ...

(present day Ontario) and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

(present day

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, 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 ...

); and appointing a lieutenant-governor for each. The first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada was Colonel

John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the Drainage basin, watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. ...

, who

surveyed Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Two-dimensional space#In geometry, two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of ...

the province and set out tracts of land for

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

with genuine interests. Before the land that became Victoria County could be surveyed, however, speculators had Simcoe removed from office in 1796, and the land was secured from settlement for over 20 years. Following 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 ...

, a large wave of immigration prompted the province to purchase more land from local Indian tribes. On 5 November 1818, six Mississauga chiefs, Buckquaquet of the Eagles, Pishikinse of the Reindeers, Paudash of the Cranes, Cahgahkishinse of the Pike, Cahgageewin of the Snakes, and Pininse of the White Oaks, met in Port Hope. There they surrendered the rights to over four thousand square kilometres of land, known as the "Mississauga Tract". In exchange, the Indians (numbering about 400) were to receive $750 per year in goods. However, the government later changed this to $10 per year for each living person born before the deal was signed. The Mississauga Tract included all of Victoria and Peterborough counties, as well as parts of 28 adjacent townships. Following the purchase, the land became

Newcastle District The Newcastle District was a historic district in Upper Canada which existed until 1849. It was formed in 1802 from the Home District, consisting of the counties of Durham and Northumberland. History The legislature had enacted in 1798 that "as so ...

in 1802. In 1845, it was renamed Colborne District consisting of the County of Peterborough. In 1851, Peterborough County was divided into the counties of Peterborough and Victoria, which were united for municipal purposes as the United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria. A

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

was authorized in 1856 to facilitate the creation of a provisional county council for Victoria, but, as the united counties council delayed conducting it, a further Act was passed in 1861 to compel its being held, following which the provisional council was formed. and its formal separation took place in 1863. Further townships were surveyed in the following years that were attached to the County, extending its reach northwards. In 1868, the townships of Ryde, Draper, Macaulay, Stephenson, Brunel, McLean and Oakley were detached from the County and transferred to the new District of Muskoka, and the townships of Stisted, Chaffey, Franklin and Ridout were detached in a similar manner in 1873. They were not withdrawn for municipal purposes until their annexation to

Simcoe County Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...

in 1877. The townships of Anson, Hindon and Lutterworth were also withdrawn from the County in 1874 and transferred to the new Provisional County of Haliburton. In 1974, as a result of the creation of the

Regional Municipality of Durham The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater Toron ...

, Manvers Township was withdrawn from Durham County and transferred to Victoria County. On 1 January 2001, Victoria County was dissolved, and its townships and incorporated communities were amalgamated to form the

City of Kawartha Lakes The City of Kawartha Lakes (2021 population 79,247) is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It is a municipality legally structured as a single-tier city; however, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontario county and is mostl ...

, a name chosen because of the prominence of the lakes in the geography of the region.

Organization before amalgamation in 2001

It encompassed

Townships

Victoria County consisted of 13 separate townships and 6 incorporated villages with their own local governments. Population centres are listed in parentheses: *

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

(Victoria Road, Coboconk) * Carden (Dalrymple) *

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor cha ...

(Sebright, Uphill, Sadowa) * Eldon (Glenarm) * Emily (Downeyville, Fowlers Corners) * Fenelon (Isaacs Glen, Powles Corners) * Laxton, Digby and Longford (Uphill, Norland) *

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

(uninhabited) *

Manvers Manvers is a suburb of Wath upon Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It lies across the border with the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, whilst Mexborough is part of Doncaster. It is situated between Mexb ...

(Janetville, Bethany) * Mariposa (Oakwood, Little Britain, Manilla) *

Ops In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

(Reaboro) *

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

(Coboconk, Kinmount) * Verulam (Dunsford, Bobcaygeon) The township of Laxton, Digby and Longford is an amalgamation of the once individual townships of Digby and Laxton, and half of the original Longford Township. The separate township of Longford is uninhabited, though dotted with abandoned logging towns.

Incorporated communities

*Town of Lindsay *Village of

Bobcaygeon Bobcaygeon is a community on the Trent–Severn Waterway in the City of Kawartha Lakes, east-central Ontario, Canada. Bobcaygeon was incorporated as a village in 1876, and became known as the "Hub of the Kawarthas". Its recorded name ''bob-c ...

*Village of

Fenelon Falls Fenelon Falls is a village in Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Kawartha Lakes. Nicknamed the "Jewel of the Kawarthas," it has a population of 2,500 permanent inhabitants, which swells in the summer due to tourism and holiday cottages. Fenelon ...

*Village of Omemee *Village of Sturgeon Point *Village of Woodville

Unincorporated communities and hamlets

* Ancona Point * Argyle * Avery Point * Baddow *

Baker Trail The Baker Trail is a hiking trail in western Pennsylvania in the United States. The trail's southern terminus is across the Allegheny River from the borough of Freeport in Armstrong County. Its northern terminus is in State Game Lands No. 24, ...

* Ballyduff *

Barclay Barclay may refer to: People * Barclay (surname) * Clan Barclay Places * Barclay, Kansas * Barclay, Maryland, a town in Queen Anne's County * Barclay, Baltimore, Maryland, a neighborhood * Barclay, Nevada, a town in Lincoln County * Barclay, ...

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West B ...

Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...

* Birch Point *

Bolsover Bolsover is a market town and the administrative centre of the Bolsover (borough), Bolsover District, Derbyshire, England. It is from London, from Sheffield, from Nottingham and from Derby, Derbyshire, Derby. It is the main town in the Bols ...

* Brunswick * Burnt River * Burton * Bury's Green * Cambray * Cameron * Camp Kagawong * Campbells Beach *

Coboconk Coboconk, often shortened to Coby, is a community in the city of Kawartha Lakes, in the south-central portion of the Canadian province of Ontario. The village lies at the junction of Highway 35 and former Highway 48, on the northern tip of ...

* Corsons Siding * Cowan's Bay * Crawfords Beach * Cresswell *

Crosshill Cross Hill or Crosshill may refer to: Places * Cross Hill, Cornwall, England *Cross Hill, Derbyshire, England * Cross Hill, Gloucestershire, England * Cross Hill, South Carolina, USA * Crosshill, East Ayrshire, Scotland *Crosshill, Fife, Scotland * ...

* Cunningham's Corners * Dalrymple *

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...

^* * Daytonia Beach *

Dunsford Dunsford is a village in Devon, England, just inside the Dartmoor National Park. The place-name 'Dunsford' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ''Dunesforda'', meaning 'Dunn's ford'. The village has a number of ...

* East Emily * Eldon Station * Fairburn Corner * Fee's Landing * Feir Mill * Fell Station *

Fingerboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

^* * Fowler's Corners * Fox's Corners *

Frank Hill Frank Robert Hill (21 May 1906 – 28 August 1993) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager. Playing career Forfar and Aberdeen Hill was born in Forfar and started his career at Forfar Athletic F.C., Forfar Athletic, jo ...

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

* Gilsons Point *

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

* Glandine *

Glenarm Glenarm () is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the North Channel coast north of the town of Larne and the village of Ballygalley, and south of the village of Carnlough. It is situated in the civil parish of Tickmacrevan a ...

* Glenway Village * Grasshill * Greenhurst-Thurstonia * Hickory Beach * Hillhead Corners *

Horncastle Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains. History Romans Alt ...

^* * Hukish * Isaacs Glen * Janetville * Joyvista Estates * Kenedon Park * Krenrei * Kenstone Beach * Keystone Beach * King's Wharf *

Kinmount Kinmount is a village with a population of approximately 500, located on the Burnt River in Ontario, Canada. The village is apportioned by three municipalities, they are, City of Kawartha Lakes, Minden Hills and Trent Lakes. The village's hinte ...

Kirkfield Kirkfield is a village located in the city of Kawartha Lakes, in the Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The incorporated place, unincorporated village was named in 1864 after the initial name, ''Novar'', was rejected by the government. A list of ...

* Lake Dalrymple * Lancaster Bay *

Lifford Lifford (, historically anglicised as ''Liffer'') is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland, the administrative centre of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken as holding this ...

* Linden Valley *

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album '' Second Light'' ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

* Long Point * Lorneville * Lotus * MacKenzie Point * Mallards Bay * Manilla *

* Mariposa * McCrackin's Beach * McGuire Beach * Newmans Beach * Norland * Oak Hill * Oakdene Point * Oakwood * O'Donnell Landing * Orange Corners * Pickerel Point * Pleasant Point *

Pontypool Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970. Location It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...

* Port Hoover * Powles Corners * Reaboro * Red Cap Beach *

Rohallion Rohallion Estate (pronounced roh-HAL-ee-on, Scottish Gaelic: ''Ràth Chailleann'', 'The Fort of the Caledonians' ) is an estate in Rumson, New Jersey. The estate house was built in 1887 on a lot originally . The property owner, Edward Dean Adams, ...

* Rokeby * Rosedale * Sadowa * Salem Corners * Sandy Point *

Sebright The Sebright ( IPA: ) is a British breed of bantam chicken. It is a true bantam – a miniature bird with no corresponding large version – and is one of the oldest recorded British bantam breeds. It is named after Sir John Saunders Sebri ...

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

Snug Harbour Snug may refer to: * Snug (A Midsummer Night's Dream), a character in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' * Snug (piercing), a type of piercing * Snug, Tasmania, a small town on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, in the municipality of Kingborou ...

* Southview Estates * Sullivan's Bay * Sylvan Glen Beach * Taylor's Corners * Tracey's Hill * Union Creek * Valentia * Verulam Park * Victoria Place * View Lake * Washburn Island * Watson's Siding * Yelverton

Abandoned towns, post offices and church villages

Aros Aros may refer to: *Aros (Middle-earth), a river in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium * Aros, Mull, the location of Aros Castle, a ruined 13th-century castle on the Isle of Mull, Scotland *AROS Research Operating System, a free software i ...

Dongola Dongola ( ar, دنقلا, Dunqulā), also spelled ''Dunqulah'', is the capital of the state of Northern Sudan, on the banks of the Nile, and a former Latin Catholic bishopric (14th century). It should not be confused with Old Dongola, an ancien ...

* Downeyville * Fleetwood Station *

Hartley Hartley may refer to: Places Australia *Hartley, New South Wales *Hartley, South Australia **Electoral district of Hartley, a state electoral district Canada *Hartley Bay, British Columbia United Kingdom *Hartley, Cumbria *Hartley, Plymou ...

* Head Lake *

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

* Mariposa Station *

Mount Horeb Mount Horeb (Hebrew: ''Har Ḥōrēḇ''; Greek in the Septuagint: ; Latin in the Vulgate: ') is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by Yahweh, according to the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. It is described ...

^* *

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

* Ragged Rapids^* * St. Mary's *

Uphill Uphill is a village in the civil parish of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England, at the southern edge of the town, on the Bristol Channel coast. History Bone and stone tools found in caves at Uphill provide evidence of human activity i ...

Zion Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole (see Names ...

Note: ^*

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Demographics

The population is mostly rural, with only 34% living in urban areas.

Infrastructure

Colonization roads

Victoria County was first opened up to settlement in the 1821. At this time, the primary routes for entering the county-to-be were narrow trails. Settlers were offered land on the condition that they help further the progress of

concession roads In Upper and Lower Canada, concession roads were laid out by the colonial government through undeveloped Crown land to provide access to rows of newly surveyed lots intended for farming by new settlers. The land that comprised a row of lots that ...

into the region. This was often met with the bare minimum, and progress was slow. The Land Act of 1853 provided funding for the development of roads throughout the wilderness of Upper Canada. Grants were administered by the Department of Agriculture to survey and build the new roads. The roads followed the tradition of old

Roman roads Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, and cut through the wilderness in a straight line, veering only when the terrain was impassable, but cutting through swamps and hills otherwise. Four primary roads were built: the Cameron Road, the Bobcaygeon Road, the Monck Road, and the Portage Road. http://www.ontariogenealogy.com/Victoria/settleme.html http://www.ontariogenealogy.com/Victoria/history/victoriacountypioneers2.html The Cameron road, now mostly encompassed by

Highway 35 The following highways are numbered 35: International * European route E35 Canada * Alberta Highway 35 * British Columbia Highway 35 * Ontario Highway 35 * Quebec Autoroute 35 *Saskatchewan Highway 35 China * G35 Expressway Costa Rica * ...

, provided access from Lake Ontario to the northern limits of Victoria; The Bobcaygeon Road, begun in 1853, traversed north and south along the present-day eastern boundary of the region, and is mostly encompassed by former Highway 121; The Monck Road, which connected

Lake Couchiching Lake Couchiching ( ), from the Ojibwe ''gojijiing'' meaning "inlet", is a medium-sized lake in Central Ontario, Canada, separated from Lake Simcoe by a narrow channel. Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching are popular spots for fishing in summer and ice f ...

to Bancroft, encompassed partially by former Highway 503, now City Road 45; The Portage Road, connecting Lake Simcoe to Balsam Lake, encompassed entirely by former Highway 48, now City Road 48

Education

At one time the Victoria County Board of Education provided educational services. In 1999 it was amalgamated into the

Trillium Lakelands District School Board The Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 15 prior to 1999) administers public school education for students in a large area of central Ontario, Canada including the municipalit ...

."New superintendent for school board," ''Lindsay Daily Post'', 29 August 2003, A10.

References

{{Authority control Former counties in Ontario Populated places disestablished in 2001