Some 19th century history and a local farming family!
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 Miltonbrook Crescent and Tremaine Road/Old Tremaine Road. This week, we’re focusing on Minto Crescent and Proud Drive.
Starting alphabetically with Minto, Challinor says the namesake was a former Governor General of Canada from the 1800s.
Born Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Lord Minto likely would have had to adapt quickly when moving from Canada to India. Challinor notes that not only were the climates vastly different, but so were the political climates. For example, upon learning that he was being sent to India, Minto wrote a letter exclaiming his love for Canada and how he will miss it. While in India, Minto had bombs hurled his way, though he was not injured.
Our second street is Proud Drive. Challinor says it’s named after the Proud family, but not that one.
Doing this feature every week for a few years now, you learn about local farming families and their history. Sometimes, when they sell the farm, the families will move away. Challinor says that isn’t the case for the Proud family. You can still find them living in Milton and enjoying what the community has to offer.
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.
If you have a news tip or story idea, you can now send us a heads up via email at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. If you’d like to get ahold of me personally, shoot me a message at Cameron.Wilkinson@LocalRadio.ca. We’re in the business of content creation, so no idea is a bad idea.
