London Township Pioneers (pg1)

Squire John MATTHEWS lived in the US about 20 yr returned to Wales in 1811 but seeing the poor conditions they lived in in 1821 he brought his people to Canada and settled in London township

James FRASER came to the township a few years later to settle

Edward HUGHES settled in the Welsh settlement in 1833 and built a log cabin for shelter which he replaced with a frame house. His son, Daniel, replaced this at the turn of the century with a fine brick building

By the mid-1840s living conditions greatly improved as shown by the Assessment returns from "Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada 1843 Apendix F.F"
	1839	1843	increase
cultivated land (acres)	15,446	19,233
log houses	44	37
frame houses	80	118
brick houses	1	4
horses - 3yr & over	560	791	41%
oxen - 3 yr & over	660	690	14%
milch cows	1441	1830	27%
young horned cattle	617	743	20%

The following shows the population growth of London township taken from assessment returns:
1818 -	0 returns
1819 -	170 returns
1820 -	464 returns
1840 -	2677 returns
1851 -	6735 returns

The first white resident of London tsp is believed to have been Joshua APPLEGARTH (he was an Englishman who came to Upper Canada in 1802). He obtained a land grant of 200 acres in Flamboro East in York Co. but settled in London area sometime before 1812. Joshua built his home on the north side of the Thames River near where Blackfriars Bridge is today where he tried growing hemp. Seems he left London tsp as early as 1819 however.

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