Sesquicentennial & Century Family Farms

Nine  Sesquicentennial  Farms

In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, the Esquesing Historical Society has made a list of the remaining farms in Halton Hills (Esquesing Township) which have belonged to the same family for at least a century and a half.  In some instances the family name has changed because the farm was passed down to a daughter of the family and subsequently assumed the surname of her husband. 

Background

The list of century farms from the 1967 Centennial list composed by the Halton Junior Farmers was our starting point but after discussions with several old time residents, surveys mailed to the families of interest and the use of the 1877 Halton Atlas and a 1916 advertising map it was discovered that the list of 20 farms should have been 30 farms. The updated list can be found in the Heritage Farms menu at the top of this page. In addition to the sesquicentennial farms, we have collected a list of new century farms that have belonged to the same family since 1917.  This list can also be found in the Heritage Farms menu above.

2017   Sesquicentennial   Farms:     (Photos below)

Family Years Location Present Use Present Owner
Brown 1826 191 Years Lot 19 Conc.5, 5th Line cash crop & sheep Ted Brown
Brown 1826 191 Years Lot 19 Conc.4, 4th Line cash crop & Bruce Trail Leone Brown
Brownridge 1819 198 Years Lot 4 Conc.7, 7th Line Murray Brownridge cash crops the farm Sold to developers (2016)
Eccles/McClure 1843 174 Years Lot 25,26 Conc.10, 10th Line dairy farm Bill & Stuart McClure
Fisher 1822 195 Years Lot 9 Conc.5, 5th line cash crop David, John, Paul and Patricia Fisher
Harding 1858 151 Years Lot 26 Conc.6, 6th Line crops for alpaca farming Joan Matheson
Lindsay 1854 163 Years Lot 21, Conc.7, Trafalgar Rd. cash crop James Lindsay
Snyder/McArthur 1845 172 Years Lot 32, Conc.3, 3rd Line Ron McArthur farms the remaining 47 acres Leroy McArthur
Stull 1838 189 Years Lot 24,25, Conc.9, 8th Line crops & livestock Rick & Sally Stull

Brown House (photo 1954)

Lindsay House and Barn (undated)

Lindsay Barn (undated)

Fisher House (1826)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harding House (undated)

Halton Hills (Esquesing Township)

          In November of 1966 the Halton Junior Farmers submitted to the local newspapers (e.g. Georgetown Herald and Milton Champion) a list of approximately eighty farms in Halton County of which twenty-one farms were in Esquesing Township (Halton Hills) that had been owned by the same family for at least a century. This was done for the 1967 Centennial celebration. The Esquesing Historical Society has furthered research on the century farms finding an additional nine family farms that should have been included in the list.   These farms are indicated by an asterisk and blue text.

 Family Surname     1967 Family Owner        Location

Appleyard *Appleyard, Richard Lot 25 Conc. 8, Trafalgar Rd.
Bessey 1800’s Bessey, Wray H. Lot 19 Conc 7, 6th Line
Brooks 1822 Brooks, Charles Lot 3 Conc. 5, 5th Line
Brown, 1826 Brown, Fred J. Lot 19 Conc 5, 5th Line
Brown, 1826 *Brown, Harold Lot 19, Conc 4, 4th Line
Brown McCullough, Marg Lot 27, Conc. 4, #7 Hwy.
Brownridge 1819 Brownridge, Ward Lot 4 Conc. 7, 7th Line
Davidson 1844 Davidson, Charles Lot 31, Conc. 3, 2nd Line
Davidson 1844 *Davidson, Bert Lot 31, Conc. 3, 3rd Line
Devereaux 1830 *Devereaux, John Lot 18 Conc. 7, 17 Sideroad
Devereaux 1830 Devereaux, Norman Lot 18 Conc. 7, Trafalgar Rd.
Eccles 1843 *McClure / Eccles Lot 25, 26 Conc. 10, 10th Line
Fisher 1822 Fisher, William G. Lot 9 Conc. 5, 5th Line
Gillies 1832 *Davis, Ron Lot 15, Conc 4, !5 Sideroad
Harding 1866 Harding, Wilfred Lot 26 Conc. 6, 6th Line
Hilts 1819 Hilts, Joseph Henry Lot 32, Conc 9, 8th Line
Henderson 1844 Henderson, George Lot 22 Conc. 7, Trafalgar Rd.
Lawson 1843 Lawson, Norman H. Lot 1, Conc. 5, 4th Line
Lindsay 1854 Lindsay, Donald N. Lot 21, Conc. 7, Trafalgar Rd.
McCallum 1823 McCallum, Finlay Lot 7 Conc. 1, 1st Line
Robertson 1822 Robertson, Frank Lot 14 Conc 3
Ross, H.L. * Ross, Joe Lot 17, Conc. 5, 17 Sideroad
Ruddell 1841 Ruddell, A.J. Lot 9, Conc. 7, Trafalgar Rd.
Shortill 1835 Shorthill, Floyd Lot 30, Conc. 8, 8th Line
Snyder 1845 *McArthur, Fred Lot 32, Conc. 3
Sprowl 1856 Rachel Sprowl estate Lot 18 Conc. 3
Starret 1859 Starret, W. Doug Clayhill Rd. Lot 27 Conc. 10
Stull 1838 Campbell, Hugh Lot 24, 25, Conc. 9, 8th Line
Swackhamer 1819 Swackhamer, Wallace Lot 32, Conc.4, 3rd Line
Whaley 1828 Whaley, Mrs. Lena Lot 1 Conc. 11