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Halton County (area 228,181 acres (923 km2)) is a former county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is also one of the oldest counties in Canada.
Contents
History
Halton County is named after Major William Mathew Halton, a British Army officer who was appointed in 1805 as Secretary to the Upper Canada provincial Lieutenant-Governor Sir Francis Gore in England and spent little time in Canada during his posting (served two terms 1806-1811 and 1815-1816).
Settlers started to arrive in the area in the early 1780s. The south part was first settled by United Empire Loyalists, the northern part was settled mainly by immigrants from the British Isles. In 1788, the area became part of the Nassau District, which was renamed the Home District in 1792.
Along with Wentworth County, Halton County was created in 1816 as part of the Gore District, consisting of the townships of Trafalgar, Nelson, Flamborough, and Beverley, together with certain blocks of land on the Grand River and reserved lands to the rear of the townships of Blenheim and Blandford. In 1821, the county was expanded through the addition of the townships of Esquesing, Erin, Nassagaweya, Eramosa, and Garafraxa, together with certain church land.
In 1838, on the creation of Wellington District, the townships of Garafraxa, Nichol, Woolwich, Guelph, Waterloo, Wilmot, Dumfries, Puslinch, Erin and Eramosa were withdrawn from Halton and transferred to Waterloo County.
Upon the passage of the Act of Union 1840, for electoral purposes Halton became two ridings for electing members to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada:
When the East and West Ridings were renamed for their respective counties in 1845, the township of Erin continued to be part of Halton for electoral purposes.
When the Gore District was abolished in 1850, the township of Erin was fully withdrawn and Halton County was united with Wentworth County to form the United Counties of Wentworth and Halton. As a result of a territorial reorganization in 1851, Halton County was reduced in size, with only the townships of Esquesing, Trafalgar, Nassageweya and Nelson remaining, and the union of counties was abolished in 1854.
As settlement progressed, several urban areas developed and were organized into separate villages and towns:
In 1958, Burlington amalgamated with the township of Nelson and annexed part of the township of East Flamborough. Oakville did the same in 1962, through amalgamation with Bronte and the township of Trafalgar. As a consequence, special legislation was passed to provide that votes of members of the county council were to be allocated according to the populations of the respective municipalities, provided that the combined number of votes for Burlington and Oakville would not be greater than the total votes allocated to the remaining municipalities.
In 1974, Halton County was replaced by the Regional Municipality of Halton.