FIRST - Secondary School in the Talbot Settlement - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

NEAR SITE OF
THE TALBOT SEMINARY
FIRST SCHOOL
OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
IN TALBOT SETTLEMENT
1824
ERECTED BY
ELGIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1924

The Talbot Seminary

This plaque was erected in 1924 by the Elgin Historical Society. It marks the site of the first school of secondary education in the Talbot Settlement. Near the corner of Stanley and Walnut Streets, the site was purchased from Mahlon Burwell for the purpose of moving the school from its first site at Stanley and Talbot Street. The school has been moved to a thrid site and now serves as a residence at 6 St. Anne's Place.

A primary school operated directly beside the Seminary. That building was moved to the Site of the Central School (the present site of Wellington Street School) and later demolished.

Source: http://www.elginhistoricalsociety.ca/exhibits/content/talbot-seminary

The Talbot Settlement
THE BEGINNING OF ELGIN COUNTY SETTLEMENT
When John Graves Simcoe toured Upper Canada as its first Lieutenant-Governor, his young aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Thomas Talbot , first met and fell in love with Ontario wilds. Having resigned from the Army Talbot wanted enough land at the mouth of the Kettle Creek to establish a small agricultural community. Unable to secure enough land at that location Talbot was able to secure 5,000 acres at Port Talbot. Much of Southwestern Ontario had been surveyed by 1803. Most of the land was owned by speculators, the Crown and the Anglican Church. Talbot was faced with the problem of settling immigrants in spite of the difficulty caused by these large tracts of forests which blocked communication and hindered travel. Talbot was to receive two hundred acres for each of the settlers he located on his original grant. Talbot, however, settled the immigrants on land in Aldborough and Dunwich Townships, as well as taking his 200 acres in those townships.

As time passed, Talbot placed settlers on lands in Southwold, Yarmouth, Malahide and Bayham townships in Elgin County. In the years between 1816 and 1818, Scottish settlers came to the Talbot Settlement; many of these were given land in Col. Talbot’s reserved area of Aldborough and Dunwich townships. Other Highlanders were given land in South Dorchester and North Yarmouth. In Malahide and Bayham townships the southerly part was settled by people from Nova Scotia. Elgin County was part of Middlesex county from 1837 to 1851. Prior to that, Elgin county was part of the London District.

Source: https://elgin.ogs.on.ca/the-talbot-settlement/

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