One of Halton’s earliest Members of Parliament (MP) and a beloved local lumber merchant!
Each week, we speak with Milton Historical Society President John Challinor II to gather information and details about the namesakes of our roads. If you weren’t aware, he and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, writing Milton Streets back in 2007.
Recently, we covered Day Terrace and Menefy Place. This week, we’re focusing on Hatt Court and Merkley Gate.
Starting alphabetically with Hatt, Challinor says it’s named after Halton’s first MP from the early 1800s!
Of course, Halton County is now Halton Region, and is made up of Milton, Oakville, Burlington, and Halton Hills; all of which have their own MPs.
Hatt served in the 7th Parliament of Upper Canada. The 1st ever term of its kind began back in 1792, in which Halton did not have a representative. Milton was not settled as a community until the 1820s when Jasper Martin built his mill (on Mill Pond) in the Gore District. It was then incorporated as a town into Halton County by 1857.
Our other street this week is Merkley Gate. Challinor says the namesake was a well-liked man, namely for being a local lumber merchant at a time when Miltonians needed lumber.
Arthur Merkley was very involved in the community, especially with St. Paul’s United Church and the local downtown business group, now the Downtown Milton Business Improvement Area.
Challinor notes that downtown Milton has had a bad history with fires. Several buildings were lost due to blazes. That made a man like Merkley very successful, though there is a sense of irony in the lumber business also burning down.
If you’re looking to understand how Milton’s streets are named, you should check out the book written by Challinor and Dills. Published by the Milton Historical Society back in 2007, it sold out in about six weeks and has since been long out of print. That said, according to Challinor, you can still find a copy at the Milton Public Library. With nearly 15-years having passed since the initial publication, and the extensive town growth in that time, an updated book is likely to come.
You can also take a walk with the late Jim Dills down Milton’s Main Street in 2002.
If you have a suggestion on what you’d like to learn about next week, let us know! We’re currently working on names that we find interesting. You can message our Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram page, or even email us at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that we find interesting.
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