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An Act to Incorporate the Town of Saint Catharines, March 29, 1845

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Act_to_incorporate_StCatharines_RG930.pdf (74.98 KB)

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2025-04-01

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An Act to incorporate the Town of Saint Catharines, March 29, 1845. A royal coat of arms is on the cover and below reads “Anno Octavo Victoria Reign. CAP. LXIII.” Printed in Montreal by Stewart Derbishire and George Desbarats. The Act describes the organization and government of the Town including elections, by-laws, infrastructure, and commercial activities.

The document is 17 pages and contains printed notes in the margin describing the contents. Notes include the division of the town into four wards; election of members of Corporation; qualification of voters; annual elections; oaths of person presiding at elections; candidates’ qualifications; perjury; election of President; making by-laws; appointment of officers; filling vacancies; contested elections; and the summoning and examining of witnesses.

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The St. Catharines area was first settled by United Empire Loyalists in the late eighteenth century. The agricultural community grew and saw the establishment of many mills along Twelve Mile Creek. For a while the settlement was known as Shipman’s Corner after tavern owner Paul Shipman. The village later became known as St. Catharines, possibly named after Catharine Askin Robertson Hamilton, the wife of prominent businessman Robert Hamilton. From 1824 to 1829, the first Welland Canal was built, incorporating Twelve Mile Creek as part of its route. This established St. Catharines as the most important industrial centre in Niagara. By 1845 St. Catharines was incorporated as a town. Around the 1850s St. Catharines became known as a health spa that saw wealthy patrons visit from across Canada and the southern United States. It also became a stop along the Underground Railroad that helped fugitive slaves seeking freedom. Harriett Tubman lived in St. Catharines for several years in the 1850s and used her home as a base.

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https://hdl.handle.net/10464/19156

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