The Pre 1800's Timeline
- 1613 June 5, coming up the Ottawa River from Montreal,
Champlain reaches the Chaudiere Falls, and names them. The Glebe is in Algonquin Territory.
- 1642 The Mohawks, an Iroquois tribe, attack and destroy the Algonquin fortress on Morrison Island,
and Algonquin domination of the Ottawa River trade ends. The Glebe is in Iroquois Territory.
- 1680 The French drive the Iroquois off the Ottawa and reopen the trade route to the west.
The Glebe is in the Territory of New France.
- 1759 September 17, the French garrison at Quebec capitulates, after Wolfe defeated Montcalm
on the Plains of Abraham on September 13.
The North American Colony of New France passes de facto to British control.
The actual boundaries of New France were somewhat vague, but certainly would have included the Glebe.
- 1763 February 10, By the Treaty of Paris, New France passed formally to Britain.
The Glebe becomes British Territory.
- 1763 October 7, the Province of Quebec first appears as a legal governmental and geographical entity.
- 1774 The Quebec Act set up the province of Quebec which included most of the area now in
the United States west of the Allegheny Mountains as far as the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
The land west of the Ottawa River and north of the St. Lawrence was named the judicial district of Lancaster.
The Glebe becomes Lancaster District Territory.
- 1783 The Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary war,
and persecuted British United Empire Loyalists (UELs) seek settlement in British territory.
- 1783 There are fewer than 2,000 Europeans living in present day Ontario.
The territory was an uninhabited hunting ground of nomadic Indian tribes, principally Algonquins and Mississaugas.
- 1783 October 9, acting under the instructions of Governor Haldimand,
the Indian Department headed by Sir John Johnson, a UEL displaced from upper New York State,
negotiated what was called 'the Crawford Purchase'.
Captain W.R. Crawford, UEL, negotiated with a Council of Mississauga Indians for the 'purchase'
of most of eastern Ontario from the Trent River north east to approximately Britannia Point on the Ottawa River,
and all land north of the St. Lawrence and South of the Ottawa save for the triangle at their confluence
that is part of Quebec, having already been settled as seigniories.
The purchase price was powder and shot, red cloth for clothing, and an unspecified amount of rum.
The Glebe is part of the Crawford Purchase.
Note: There is some question as to whether the Ottawa River Valley lands
were really the property of the Mississaugas to sell.
To this day, the Algonquin Indians continue to claim the Ottawa drainage basin as their territory
in an as yet unresolved land claim.
- 1788 July 24, Governor Sir Guy Carleton has the Lancaster District divided into four sections.
Most of eastern Ontario, as far west as the Gananoque River was in the Lunenburg District.
The Glebe is part of Lunenburg Military District.
- 1791 The Constitution Act divides Quebec into the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada,
and allocates every 7th lot as a 'Clergy Reserve' to support a protestant clergy.
The Glebe becomes part of Upper Canada.
- 1792 July 16, the Proclamation of Lt. Governor Simcoe divided Upper Canada into 19
political divisions called counties. The Glebe was in Dundas County at this time.
The Glebe becomes part of Dundas County.
- 1792 October 6, the Township of Nepean (then known simply as township D),
about 60,000 acres, was granted to George Hamilton, who applied to settle the area on behalf of
143 prospective settlers. The Glebe becomes part of Township D.
- 1793* John Stegmann (Deputy surveyor of Upper Canada) completes the rough or outline survey
of four townships of approximately 65,000 acres each, at the confluence of the Rideau and Ottawa Rivers.
(*historical references give varying dates from 1791 to 1794 for this survey activity.)
These are eventually named: Nepean and North Gore, north and west of the Rideau, and Gloucester and Osgoode
south and east of the Rideau. Early surveyors used river banks as starting points for surveys, and 'Rideau Front'
lots fronted on the Rideau River, while 'Ottawa Front' lots were surveyed in concessions back to a 'base line',
the current Baseline Road. East of Bronson Avenue, as well as south of Baseline Road,
the rest of Nepean Township was surveyed in from the Rideau River, and these lots are referred to in deeds,
as Rideau Front lots and concessions. The Glebe was surveyed from the Rideau Front.
The survey divides Nepean township (then still known only as township D) into 200 acre rural lots of 1 1/4 by 1/4 miles,
includes lots G,H,I and K of Concession C, Rideau Front, along with lot I of Concession B
(the Dow's Lake area) that make up the current Glebe. Lot H was the actual Clergy Reserve or 'glebe'
(church lands) which was to eventually give the area its name.
- 1793* Surveyor John Steggman drowns in Dow's Great Swamp.
(*some historical sources dispute this fate)
- 1794 Township D is named for Sir Evan Nepean, Under-Secretary in the Home Office,
responsible for Canadian affairs from 1782 to 1794. The Glebe becomes part of Nepean Township.
- 1797 Land grant of Nepean Township to Joseph Hamilton revoked for lack of settlement
(there is no record of any settlement at all)
- 1797-1812 Over 200 land grants, encompassing half the land in Nepean township,
were given to children of UEL's as they came of age. These grants had been promised to UEL's
when their parents settled in BNA in the late 1780's). Few take up their grants,
and many are bartered or sold off, sight unseen.
Note: There is a significant difference between a land grant
(the right to settle on land) and a title or deed to a piece of land.
In order to actually get a deed of ownership, settlers had to clear part of the land for crops, build a house,
and live there for a set number of years (usually 2 to 4).
- 1798 County of Carleton created, including the township of Nepean.
The Glebe becomes part of Carleton County.
- 1798 Nepean township name recorded for the first time by statue in the second Parliament
of Upper Canada.
