"I propose to write a history of the County of Perth, in order that those whom futurity will bring may know the story of pioneer life in this portion of Canada." So begins William Johnston's thoughtful and detailed history of this section of the great Huron Tract. Published in 1903 it recounts the events which took place but a mere 70 odd years before, bringing the advantage of relative freshness, and even living memory, to the account.
Perth County's beginnings are a little different to those of the more easterly districts of Upper Canada in that its land allocation, and so settlement, was made the responsibility of the Canada Company, and they decided to discharge this responsibility by initially using a system of land allocation described as "leasehold" as opposed to the more conventional direct sale, or freehold system, employed elsewhere. (See also More information link below.
More than 10% of the book is given over to what are more normally termed "Biographies" of the early settlers, although Mr. Johnston calls them "sketches." There are several composite photographs of the leaders of various administrations.
This is a fine, detailed, well constructed and illustrated history of the county rich with information on civic development and naming many, perhaps all, of the bold pioneers who played their own part in the development of Perth County.
High quality scanned images of the whole of the original book. This CD has been bookmarked for easy navigation, and pages can be searched, browsed, enlarged and printed out if required.