Brock is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

in the

Regional Municipality of Durham The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater T ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Brock Township is also a former municipality and geographic township prior to the amalgamation that formed the current municipality. The

Trent–Severn Waterway The Trent–Severn Waterway is a canal route connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, at Port Severn. Its major natural waterways include the Trent River, Otonabee River, Kawartha Lakes, Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchiching ...

forms part of the northern border of the municipality, which enters

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk' ...

through Ramara Township. There are five locks in Brock. Thorah Island in Lake Simcoe is within the municipal boundaries of Brock.

History

The original Brock Township was surveyed in 1817 as part of York County and the first meetings were held in 1833. The township was named for Major General Sir Isaac Brock (1769–1812) whose estate received free land here for his service in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. William Bagshaw became Brock's first Postmaster and Justice of the Peace in 1819 when he owned property on Concession 9. Other early, settler ancestors included names like: Acton, Charters, Dusto, Purvis, Rundle, Bagshaw, Doble, Phair, St. John, Umphrey, Brethour, Doyle, Fallowdown, Ruddy and Vrooman (for whom the semi-

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

of Vroomanton was named). In 1852, the Township became part of the newly created Ontario County. In 1878, Cannington was incorporated as a village and was no longer part of the Township for municipal purposes. In 1974, as part of the municipal restructuring around the creation of the

, Brock was amalgamated with Thorah Township and the villages of Beaverton and Cannington to form the new Township of Brock.

Communities

Beaverton is the largest community and commercial centre of the township, while Cannington is home to the municipal administration and local high school. Beaverton is the commercial and financial centre for the township, and several stores, services and entertainment facilities are located there. Several chain outlets such as McDonald's, Independent Grocer and Tim Hortons are located along Highway 12. Smaller communities in the township include Ball Subdivision, Blackwater, Cedar Beach, Creightons Corners, Derryville, Gamebridge, Layton, Maple Beach, Port Bolster, Pinedale, Saginaw,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, Thorah Beach, Vallentyne, Vroomanton, Wick and Wilfrid.

Local Government

Brock is governed by a mayor, a Regional Councillor and five Councillors, each representing one of the five municipal wards. As of the 2018 election, the elected council members are: *Mayor: John Grant *Regional Councillor: Ted Smith *Councillors: ** Ward 1: Michael Jubb ** Ward 2: Claire Doble ** Ward 3: Walter Schummer ** Ward 4: Cria Pettingill ** Ward 5: Lynn Campbell The township faced controversy following the 2010 municipal election, in which then-incumbent mayor Larry O'Connor was reelected by a margin of just 13 votes over Terry Clayton. The narrow margin resulted in a judicial recount battle, and O'Connor resigned as mayor on March 28, 2011."Mayor Larry O'Connor resigns"
mykawartha.com, March 29, 2011. The municipal council subsequently appointed Clayton as mayor.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, Brock had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. According to the 2016 Census, 94% of Brock residents have English as their mother tongue (one of the highest percentages in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater ...

). No other mother tongue reaches 1%. The residents of Brock are older with a median age of 46.5 compared to the provincial average of 41.3.

Notable people

* George Arthur Welsh – decorated World War I and World War II flying ace hero *

Duncan Macpherson Duncan Ian Macpherson, CM (September 20, 1924 in Toronto – May 3, 1993 in Beaverton, Ontario) was a Canadian editorial cartoonist. He drew for the '' Montreal Standard'' (starting 1948) and for ''Maclean's'', illustrating the writings of Gr ...

– editorial cartoonist *

Basil McRae Basil Paul McRae (born January 5, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is a part owner and alternate governor of the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League and he is the director of player personnel for the Columbus Bl ...

– former NHL player * Hugh Livingstone Macneil – southern California pioneer, born in Wick

References

External links

* {{Authority control Township municipalities in Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in the Regional Municipality of Durham Populated places established in 1833 1833 establishments in Upper Canada