Welland County (area, excluding cities was 226,970 acres) is a historic county in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

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 ...

. The county was formed in 1845 from Lincoln County. The county was named from the

Welland River The Welland River (originally called the Chippawa Creek) is a river in the Golden Horseshoe that passes through the Southern Ontario cities of Welland and Niagara Falls. It flows from its source, a Drainage Basin just south of Hamilton, On ...

. The river got its name from

John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 u ...

who named it after the

River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river Source (river), rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally nort ...

which forms a border of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England. Niagara Falls, and the Townships in this county were among the earliest settlements in Upper Canada. In some census and election records from the late 19th century, the townships of Pelham and Wainfleet (which can be seen on the map below) were enumerated as part of Monck County. However, Monck never existed as a county in the political sense, but only as an

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. In 1970, Lincoln and Welland Counties were amalgamated to form the

Regional Municipality of Niagara The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality in southern Ontario, Canada, which occupies most of the Niagara Peninsula. As of 2024, the region had an estimate ...

Historic Townships

Bertie Township, Area . Organized in 1784. Named in honour of

Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven General Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (171412 August 1778), styled Lord Willoughby de Eresby from 1715 to 1723 and Marquess of Lindsey from 1735 to 1742, was an English peer. Early life Bertie was born in 1714 and, begi ...

. Community centres: Fort Erie, Bridgeburg and Ridgeway. Crowland Township, Area . Organized in 1788 and named from an ancient town in Lincolnshire. Veterans of

Butler's Rangers Butler's Rangers (1777–1784) was a Loyalist provincial military unit of the American Revolutionary War, raised by American loyalist John Butler. Most members of the regiment were Loyalists from upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. T ...

were the first settlers. Community centre: Welland. Humberstone Township, area . Opened in 1787 and named from the Lincolnshire town. Community centre of Gravelly Bay was formed in 1832, renamed

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after ...

was incorporated as a village in 1870, became a town in 1918, merged with the neighbouring Village of Humberstone in 1952, and was re-incorporated as a city in 1966. In 1970, Niagara Region municipal restructuring expanded the city by adding Humberstone Township. Pelham Township. Area . Opened in 1790 and named in honor of the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, Willi ...

; Pelham is one half the family name of Pelham-Clinton. Community centre: Fonthill, North Pelham, Ridgeville, and Fenwick. Stamford Township, Area . Opened in 1784 under the name of Mount Dorchester.

changed the name in 1792 honouring an old town in Lincolnshire. Community centres: Niagara Falls (which was first called Clifton), Drummondville and Stamford. Thorold Township. Area . Settled by Butler's Rangers in 1784, but officially set apart in 1788. Named in honour of Sir John Thorold, M.P. for Lincolnshire (1734–1815). Community centres: Thorold, St. John's, Allanburg, Port Robinson. Wainfleet Township, Area . Opened in 1798 and named from a town in the Lincolnshire fens. Community centre: Marshville. Willoughby Township: Area . Opened in 1787 and named from an English Village. Chippawa and others had settled in the region as early as 1784.

Navy Island Navy Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Niagara River in the province of Ontario, managed by Parks Canada as a National Historic Sites of Canada, National Historic Site of Canada. It is located about 4.5 kilometres (2+3⁄4 miles) ups ...

, the scene of

William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify the establishment of Upper Canada. He represe ...

References

External links

1950 Map of Welland County

1879 map of Lincoln and Welland counties
{{Coord, 43, 00, N, 79, 05, W, region:CA_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Former counties in Ontario Populated places disestablished in 1970 History of the Regional Municipality of Niagara

Historic Townships

See also

References

External links