Photo: Town of Milton
We have one street connected to very a well-known Milton family, and another named after a fun flower!
On a weekly basis, 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 focused on Chestnut Heights and Plum Place. This week, we’re covering Chilver Heights and Periwinkle Place.
Starting alphabetically with Chilver, Challinor says the namesake was the matriarch of the famous Bastedo family in Milton.
Audio Player
The Bastedo family is also the namesake for Bastedo Court, which we covered the history of back in 2021.
Challinor notes that the Bastedo family also had a relative who served in World War One, and was the first Milton resident to die in the war. His name would be honoured on the cenotaph in Milton.
Our second street this week is Periwinkle Place. Challinor talks about the flower that serves as the namesake.
Audio Player
Periwinkle has also become a very popular colour, which is a shade of purple that resembles the flower.
When discussing the street name, Challinor noted that the Town of Milton usually takes alliteration into consideration. They did a great job with Periwinkle Place.
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.
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 X account or 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 (Milton)
- News1015@LocalRadio.ca (Orangeville)
- News92@LocalRadio.ca (South Simcoe)
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.
