Have you ever wondered how streets in Milton received their names?
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 Eden Estates Court and Michener Place. This week, we’re focusing on Given Lane and Sheaffe Place.
Starting alphabetically with Given Lane (formerly Given Road), Challinor says it’s actually a pretty common name for a street, but not for the reason you’d expect.
It’s theorized that the term ‘Given’ for municipalities likely comes from farmers donating the land for the street. Municipalities can then use the donated, or given, land to by-pass any natural obstacles and continue developing the community. In Milton’s case, Main Street was interrupted by wetlands in the area and Given Road (now Given Lane) was developed to get around the issue.
Our second street is Sheaffe Place, which gets its name from one of the few, if not the only, Americans to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (now known as Ontario).
Sheaffe was born in Boston, Massachusetts and served in the War of 1812 as a Loyalist General for the British Army. His role as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada was cut short after disagreements over his leadership and he later went to England to finish his military career. He died in Scotland in 1851 at the age of 88-years-old.
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.
