Dundas, West Flamborough & Ancaster Twp, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada

Notes:
Dundas /'d?n?d?s/ is a community and former town in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is nicknamed the Valley Town because of its topographical location at the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment on the western edge of Lake Ontario. The population has been stable for decades at about twenty thousand, largely because it has not annexed rural land from the protected Dundas Valley Conservation Area.



History and politics to 1974

The town of Dundas was named after Dundas Street,[1] which itself was named by John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada [until 1798], for his friend Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, a Scottish lawyer and politician who never visited North America. Prior to being called "Dundas," the town was called Coote's Paradise, and was renamed Dundas in 1814.[2]



In 1846, this "manufacturing village" had a population of just over 1,700. The Desjardins Canal had been completed and connected the community with Lake Ontario allowing for convenient shipping of goods. A great deal of cut stone was obtained from the "mountain" and much of it was shipped to Toronto.There were six chapels or churches, a fire company and a post office. Industry included two grist mills, a furniture factory, a cloth factory and two foundries (for making steam engines). Tradesmen of various types also worked here. Four schools, six taverns, three breweries and a bank agency were operating. [3] Dundas was incorporated in 1847 from parts of West Flamborough Township and Ancaster Township in Wentworth County, Canada West.



The Great Western Railway (GWR) put their line through Dundas in 1853, but it wasn't until 1864 that the first Dundas station was built.[4] By 1869 the population was 3500 and was known as a small manufacturing centre.[5]



In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Dundas enjoyed considerable economic prosperity through its access to Lake Ontario via the Desjardins Canal, and was an important town in Upper Canada and Canada West. It was later surpassed as the economic powerhouse of the area by Hamilton, but for decades it led in importance. A number of Ontario cities (including Toronto) retain streets named Dundas Street, which serve as evidence of its one-time importance. Dundas was once the terminus of Toronto's Dundas Street (also known as Highway 5), one of the earliest routes used by Ontario's first settlers.



With the establishment of McMaster University in nearby west Hamilton in 1930, Dundas gradually became a bedroom community of the university faculty and students, with a thriving arts community. Dundas has a large community of potters and several studio shows/walking tours of the town feature their work each year.

Birth

Matches 1 to 4 of 4

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Birth		Person ID
1	Clark, John Robert	2 Jul 1834	Dundas, West Flamborough & Ancaster Twp, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada	I48216
2	Morrison, Jane "Anne"	3 Feb 1837	Dundas, West Flamborough & Ancaster Twp, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada	I7444
3	Callander, Reuben Stirling	4 Aug 1880	Dundas, West Flamborough & Ancaster Twp, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada	I19320
4	Nichols, Daniel Conley	7 Jul 1893	Dundas, West Flamborough & Ancaster Twp, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada	I4353

Census

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Census		Person ID
1	Brown, George Bruce "Bruce"	1891	Dundas, West Flamborough & Ancaster Twp, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada	I46527

Occupation

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Occupation		Person ID
1	Brown, George Bruce "Bruce"	1891	Dundas, West Flamborough & Ancaster Twp, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada	I46527

Marriage

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Family	Marriage		Family ID
1	Blair / Hall	27 Oct 1897	Dundas, West Flamborough & Ancaster Twp, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada	F4887