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Durham County (area ) is an historic county in
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. It was named for the English
County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
and city of Durham. It was created in 1792 but was later merged Northumberland County to form the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham. In 1974, the two counties were split and reorganized, with the former portions of Durham County reorganized into 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, it forms the east end of the Greater Toronto A ...
.


History

Durham County was created in 1792 by a proclamation of Lieutenant Governor Simcoe. The original boundaries were as follows: In 1798, the Parliament of Upper Canada passed a statute defining the boundaries of the counties. Durham was then defined to include: In 1834, the townships of Verulam, Fenelon and Eldon were added to Durham County.


Mergers and dissolution

Durham was united administratively with Northumberland County as the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham from 1850 until Durham County was dissolved on January 1, 1974. Effective January 1, 1974, about half of Durham County was merged with Ontario County to create 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, it forms the east end of the Greater Toronto A ...
. The township of Manvers was transferred to Victoria County, which is now the city of
Kawartha Lakes Kawartha Lakes (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 79,247) is a List of municipalities in Ontario , single-tier municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Though structured as a single-tier municipality, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typica ...
, Cavan was transferred to
Peterborough County Peterborough County is a county and census division located in Southern Ontario, Canada. The county seat is the City of Peterborough, which is independent of the county. The southern section of the county is mix of agriculture, urban and lakef ...
, where it is now part of Cavan-Monaghan, and Hope was transferred to Northumberland County, where it is now part of the town of Port Hope. The townships of Darlington and Clarke were amalgamated with the Town of Bowmanville and the Village of Newcastle as the Town of Newcastle, and the township of Cartwright was combined with the Ontario County townships of Scugog and Reach to create a new Township of
Scugog Scugog is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, south-central Ontario, Canada. It is northeast of Toronto and just north of Oshawa. The anchor and largest population base of the township is Port Perry. The township has a populatio ...
. In 1993, Newcastle was renamed
Clarington Clarington (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population 101,427) is a lower-tier municipality in the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in 1973 as the town of Newcastle with the merging of the town of Bowmanville, the ...
.


Historic townships

The county was originally composed of the townships of Cartwright, Manvers, Cavan, Darlington, Clarke and Hope, and portions of what is now
Peterborough County Peterborough County is a county and census division located in Southern Ontario, Canada. The county seat is the City of Peterborough, which is independent of the county. The southern section of the county is mix of agriculture, urban and lakef ...
, created in 1838. *Cartwright – Area . Located in the northwest portion of Durham County, touching Lake Scugog. The Township was opened in 1816. The name is in honour of Richard Cartwright. Mostly settled between 1850 and 1858 by Irish immigrants. Community centres: Purple Hill, Caesarea, Scugog. This Township is now in Scugog Township *Cavan – Area 62,296 acres. Settled in 1816. Community centres : Millbrook, Cavan and Carmel. This Township is now in Cavan-Monaghan Township in Peterborough County * Clarke - Area, . Was opened in 1792 and named in honour of General Alured Clarke. Community centres: Newcastle, Newtonville, Crooked Creek, Morgan's Corners, Orono, Kendall, Leskard. This Township is now in Clarington Municipality *
Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
– Area, . It was opened in 1792 and named after the ancient English town. The first European settlers arrived from the United States in 1794. Community centres, Bowmanville, Enniskillen, Tyrone, Courtice. (the settlement was mostly Irish). This Township is now in Clarington Municipality. *Hope – Area, . First settlement was in the town of Port Hope. The Township as opened in 1792 and named in honour Colonel Henry Hope, a member of the Legislative Council of Canada. The Township is now the Town of Port Hope in Northumberland County * Manvers – Area . Opened in 1816. Named in honour of Charles Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers. Community centres: Pontypool, Manvers Station, Janetville, Yelverton, Bethany, Franklin, Brunswick, Burton, Ballyduff, Lotus, Fleetwood, Lifford. Now in the City of Kawartha Lakes.Sherrell Branton Leetooze, ''The Trail Through The Bush — A brief history of Manvers Township'' (Durham: L.M-J Associates, 1998).


See also

*
List of Ontario census divisions The Province of Ontario has 51 first-level administrative divisions, which collectively cover the whole province. With two exceptions, their areas match the 49 census divisions Statistics Canada has for Ontario. The Province has four types of ...
*
List of townships in Ontario This is a list of township (Canada), townships in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Townships are listed by List of census divisions of Ontario, census division. Northern Ontario Northeastern Ontario Algoma D ...


References


External links


map of Durham County
{{coord, 44, 05, N, 78, 36, W, display=title, region:CA-ON_type:adm2nd Former counties in Ontario History of the Regional Municipality of Durham 1974 disestablishments in Ontario States and territories established in 1792 Populated places disestablished in 1974