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Charles Rankin, (1797 − 1886 or 12 October 1888) was an early Irish-born and Scottish-descended settler and
land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...
in
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
(the predecessor to the province of
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
). He is significant due to his role in the surveying and early settlement of large areas of Upper Canada, including much of the Bruce Peninsula and south shore of Lake Huron, and notably the city of Owen Sound. Born in 1797 at
Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...
,
County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, he died in either 1886 or 1888 in
Owen Sound Owen Sound (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat, seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi River, Pottawatomi and Sydenham River ...
, a city whose founding he had been instrumental in.


Biography


Early life

Rankin's father, George Rankin, was born in 1762 at
Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...
,
County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...
, in what was then the British-governed
Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland (; , ) was a dependent territory of Kingdom of England, England and then of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1542 to the end of 1800. It was ruled by the monarchs of England and then List of British monarchs ...
, and which today is a part of
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. His ancestors had originally migrated from
Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, to participate in the 17th-century
Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...
. George married Mary Stuart (born in Bunker Hill,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
to Scottish immigrants) and the couple had seven children: John (who became a
medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...
in Picton,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
), Charles, George Junior (who became an army surgeon in India), James (died young), Susan, Kate, and
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
, the seventh child, who also became a land surveyor. Charles was born in 1797, also in Enniskillen, but after the end of the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
, he accompanied his parents and siblings to
Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
in
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...
, where his younger brother
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
was born in 1816. The elder Rankins would later move to
Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town ...
, York (now
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
), and finally
Bytown Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a sod ...
(now
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
), but Charles' life would diverge from theirs before that point.


Surveying career


Deputy provincial surveyor

After the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
,
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
experienced a significant immigration wave. Militiamen and soldiers received land grants, and the re-fortification of the north shore of the Great Lakes during the war enriched the merchants, farmers, and mill owners who supplied the forts. With the districts around Detroit and Niagara already settled from the previous generation of pioneers (who had settled the area during and after the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
), the government of Upper Canada, under the control of the oligarchical
Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today's Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...
, sought to colonize areas which were further away from the American border, which could be a defensible "heartland" for the province. Development agencies like the
Canada Company The Canada Company was a private British land development company that was established to aid in the colonization of a large part of Upper Canada. It was incorporated by royal charter on August 19, 1826, under the ( 6 Geo. 4. c. 75) of the B ...
were formed, and by the middle of the 19th century the government would be laying out the colonization roads to key destinations, with townships along the way, creating secure land-based routes between the previously scattered and isolated lakeshore settlements which had been vulnerable to American
interdiction Interdiction is interception of an object prior to its arrival at the location where it is to be used in military, espionage, and law enforcement. Military In the military, interdiction is the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy f ...
and blockade during the War of 1812. Surveyors were suddenly in significant demand, and became an important profession in the province. On 27 December 1820, Charles Rankin was appointed deputy provincial land surveyor for Upper Canada's Hesse (or Western) District by
Peregrine Maitland General Sir Peregrine Maitland, GCB (6 July 1777 – 30 May 1854) was a British army officer and colonial administrator. He also was a first-class cricketer from 1798 to 1808 and an early advocate for the establishment of what would become the C ...
, the 4th
lieutenant governor of Upper Canada The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...
, who was also an early advocate of the
Canadian Indian residential school system The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by various Christian churches. The sch ...
as a means to deepen British control of the province's indigenous population. Initially based in the township of Malden near Amherstburg, Rankin developed a close understanding of the region's natural geography throughout the 1820s. He would not stay there, however. In the early 1830s, he would survey a number of townships scattered throughout the province in rapid succession: in 1830, Eldon and Fenelon in what would become Victoria County (now the city of
Kawartha Lakes Kawartha Lakes (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 79,247) is a List of municipalities in Ontario , single-tier municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Though structured as a single-tier municipality, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typica ...
); in 1831, Presquisle or Presqu'ile Point; in 1833, the
Nottawasaga Bay Nottawasaga Bay is a sub- bay within Georgian Bay in Southern Ontario, Canada located at the southernmost end of the main bay. The communities located on Nottawasaga Bay are Meaford, The Blue Mountains, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Tiny. Th ...
area (where he settled on some of land west of the present town of
Thornbury Thornbury may refer to: Places ;Australia *Thornbury, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Thornbury railway station, Melbourne ;Canada * Thornbury, Ontario ;England *Thornbury, Devon * Thornbury, Herefordshire *Thornbury, Gloucestershire **Thornbury ...
); and in 1834, Loughborough (now the community of
Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...
in
Frontenac County Frontenac County is a county and census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. The city of Kingston is in the Frontenac census division, but is separated from the County of Front ...
), Gore,
Crowland Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. ) is a town and civil parish in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland ...
(now a part of the city of
Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on ...
in Niagara Region), Humberston or Humberstone (now a part of
Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after ...
), and Blanford or Blandford (now the township of
Blandford-Blenheim Blandford-Blenheim is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Oxford County. The township had a population of 7,359 in the Canada 2011 Census. Its government consists of a mayor and four councillors. There are no geographic ...
in Oxford County). He began surveying his first colonization road, the Garafraxa Colonization Road from Oakville to
Owen Sound Owen Sound (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat, seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi River, Pottawatomi and Sydenham River ...
, in 1837, but was only able to survey as far as
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
when the
Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the Oligarchy, oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the Lower Canada Rebe ...
broke out. The survey would be finished several years later by a different surveyor, John McDonald.


Owen Sound

Rankin would surface again in 1840, undertaking the surveying of a new township at a strategic location: the intersection of the
Sydenham River The Sydenham River is a river in Chatham-Kent, Lambton County and Middlesex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, flowing southwest from its source west of London, Ontario and emptying into Lake Saint Clair. The length of the river is and it ...
, the
Pottawatomi River The Pottawatomi River is a river in the municipalities of Owen Sound and Georgian Bluffs, Grey County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Great Lakes Basin and empties into Owen Sound, an inlet of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, at Owen So ...
, and an inlet on
Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...
's
Georgian Bay The Georgian Bay () is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To its northwest is t ...
, which had been named
Owen Sound Owen Sound (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat, seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi River, Pottawatomi and Sydenham River ...
a few decades earlier by the British explorer
William Fitzwilliam Owen Vice Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen (17 September 1774 – 3 November 1857), was a British naval officer and explorer. He is best known for his exploration of the west and east African coasts, discovery of the Seaflower Channel off the coa ...
. This had been intended as the northern terminus of the Garafraxa Colonization Road, with the road and town site being a part of an 1836 plan by
Francis Bond Head Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet KCH PC (7 December 1793 – 20 July 1875) was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837. Biography Head was an officer in the corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army from 181 ...
, Upper Canada's new, 6th lieutenant governor. In a shift from the policies of Maitland (which leaned toward assimilation and close management of indigenous people), Head believed that indigenous people could never be "civilized", and that the best course of action was to keep indigenous and settler populations geographically and administratively apart, with the ultimate goal of relocation of indigenous people to
Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island ( ) is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia (bioregion), Laurentia. With an area of , it is the Lake ...
. This policy was enacted with the 1836
Saugeen Tract Agreement Saugeen Tract Agreement, registered as Crown Treaty Number , was signed August 9, 1836, between the Saugeen Ojibwa and Ottawa and the government of Upper Canada. Sir Francis Bond Head used this occasion for the provincial government's annual distr ...
, intended to clear indigenous people from the Saugeen,
Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...
, or so-called "Indian" Peninsula. By the time of Rankin's arrival, the inlet's
Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
inhabitants had become displeased with intrusions on their territory. This resulted in Rankin being forced to stay on the east side of the Sydenham River, away from their village to the northwest. It was at this location where, on 7 October 1840, he would meet with a party led by John Telfer, the Crown land agent for the area. Telfer would quickly begin to oversee the construction of buildings and settling of Europeans in the town site (then named Sydenham) laid out by Rankin, along with a number of buildings in the Ojibwe settlement to the northwest, which became the Newash or Nawash "Indian Village" and was an official reserve. This would only last a few years, however, as the Ojibwe would be relocated to a new reserve on Colpoy's Bay, then again to Cape Croker. Today these scattered groups are referred to as the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, and the original Nawash reserve land is a part of the city of Owen Sound.


Marriage and later career

Also in 1840, Rankin married his wife, Elizabeth Leech. A governess by occupation, she had come to Canada in 1838 with the family of
George Arthur Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet (21 June 1784 – 19 September 1854) was a British colonial administrator who was Lieutenant Governor of British Honduras from 1814 to 1822 and of Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania) from 1824 to 1836. ...
, the brief, 7th lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. She was also the aunt of John Leech, the noted English caricaturist and illustrator for '' Punch''. With Charles largely absent due to his survey work, Elizabeth opened a private school for young women in a large frame building standing at the northwest corner of King Street and
York Street York Street, also known as the Jakemans Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boston, England, and was the former home of Boston United. Originally called Shodfriars Lane, football was first played on the site since the la ...
, on a site which would later be occupied by the Palmer House hotel. This house is where their only child, Mary, would be born on 26 November 1844. Throughout the early 1840s, Rankin continued his survey work around Owen Sound and the south shore of Lake Huron, laying out secondary town sites as well as separate townships: Holland and Sullivan in
Grey County Grey County is a county in the province of Ontario. The county is located in the Southwestern Ontario region, and is a part of the Georgian Triangle. At the time of the 2021 Canadian census the population of the county was 100,905. Owen Sound is ...
in 1845; Saugeen, Indian Bay, and
Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
(also Grey County) in 1846; and Kempenfeldt and Barrie Park in 1847. This was followed by the surveying of a number of roads between existing settlements, as well as additional plots for these settlements. In 1847, Rankin had a brief period of activity on Lake Huron's north shore as well as its south shore, joining his brother, Arthur, in surveying around present-day
Bruce Mines Bruce Mines is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the north shore of Lake Huron in the Algoma District along Highway 17. The town of Bruce Mines had a population of 582 residents in 2016. The current mayor of Bruce Mines is ...
in the early 1840s. Indigenous-made copper jewellery had been attested to for years by Europeans throughout the Great Lakes, and archaeologists working in the 1970s discovered copper caches dating as far back as the
Archaic Archaic may refer to: * Archaic Period (several meanings), archaeological term used to refer to a very early period differing by location *Archaic humans, people before ''homo sapiens'' * ''Archaic'' (comics), a comic-book series created by write ...
period (8,000 to 3,000 BP, or 6,000 to 1,000 BCE). French documents from the 1650s also alluded to the presence of organized mining efforts by indigenous people, though no concrete archaeological evidence of the methods have been established, and the mining activities may have been confined to
placer mining Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...
and sifting. Nevertheless, rumours of vast mineral resources drew a number of European surveyors and prospectors to the north shore, such as the Rankin brothers, as well as another prominent Upper Canada surveyor of the era,
Albert Salter Albert Pellew Salter (1816–1874) was a provincial land surveyor in Upper Canada then Ontario in the mid-19th century. He is historically most notable for having discovered magnetic abnormalities at what is now Creighton Mine in Greater Sudbur ...
. This venture would be extremely profitable for the Rankins, as Arthur would later sell his shares in the Montreal Mining Company for £30,000, insulating him from the eventual crash of the Bruce Mines copper rush in 1876 due to flooding and cave-ins at the mines, and allowing him to finance his 1850s political career. Charles, meanwhile, moved to Owen Sound permanently in 1850. He returned to surveying even more townline roads, townships, and township plots around Georgian Bay throughout the 1850s, notably the townships of Artemesia, Arran,
Minto Minto may refer to: Places Antarctica *Mount Minto (Antarctica) Australia *Minto, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Minto railway station * Minto County, Western Australia * Parish of Minto, New South Wales Canada * Minto City, British ...
, and
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
. He was also present at the signing of the 1854 Saugeen Surrenders (also known as Crown Treaty No. 72), which saw the signing away of the original Saugeen Ojibwe reserve lands for settlement in exchange for the currently-held five tracts.


Later life

Rankin continued to live in Owen Sound in a home on the west side of the harbour for much of the rest of his life. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1872. Mary, his daughter, married Samuel Victor Hutchins, the eldest son of the Reverend Henry Hutchins of Prairie du Sac,
Sauk County Sauk County is a county (United States), county in Wisconsin. It is named after a large village of the Sauk people. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 65,763. Its county seat and largest city is Baraboo, Wiscon ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. Hutchins worked as a manager at various
Molson's Bank The Molsons Bank was a Canadian bank founded in Montreal, Quebec, by brothers William (1793–1875) and John Molson, Jr. (1787–1860), the sons of brewery magnate John Molson. Operations In 1837, the bank opened and issued its first banknotes. ...
locations in Ontario, and later worked in the audit department of the City of Toronto's treasury. They had nine children. Charles Rankin's death date and burial location are disputed, with sources variously claiming that he moved to Millbrook to live with his daughter, where he died on 15 March 1886 and was buried in St. James Cemetery in Toronto, alongside his wife and parents; or that he died on 12 October 1888 and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound. His Ontario Heritage Plaque in Owen Sound lists his death as being in 1886.


Legacy

Rankin's legacy largely exists in the form of the many roads and townships he laid out or whose early settlement he was involved in, such as the Garafraxa Colonization Road, which largely still exists in the form of
Ontario Highway 6 King's Highway 6, commonly referred to as Highway 6, is a Ontario Provincial Highway Network, provincially maintained highway in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It crosses a distance of between Port Dover ...
, or most notably, his role in the settlement and founding of the city of Owen Sound. As such, he had a strong role in shaping the modern human geography of much of
Southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario (census population 2,796,367 in 2021) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula, bounded by Lake Huron (includ ...
, especially
Grey County Grey County is a county in the province of Ontario. The county is located in the Southwestern Ontario region, and is a part of the Georgian Triangle. At the time of the 2021 Canadian census the population of the county was 100,905. Owen Sound is ...
and
Bruce County Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It has eight lower-tier municipalities with a total 2021 population of 73,396. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, the sixth Governor General of t ...
. A river in Bruce County, the
Rankin River The Rankin River is a river in the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce County in southwestern Ontario, Canada which flows from the east side of the Bruce Peninsula to join the Sauble River near Sauble Falls Provincial Park on the west side. The ...
, is named after him. In 1990, legal proceedings began over a strip of land along the
Sauble Beach Sauble Beach (pop. 2000) is a beach community and unincorporated area in the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce County, in the northern area of southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is on the Bruce Peninsula, along the eastern shore of Lake Huron, ...
lakeshore, with the Canadian federal government upholding
Saugeen First Nation Saugeen First Nation () is an Ojibway First Nation band located along the Saugeen River and Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. The band states that their legal name is the "Chippewas of Saugeen". Organized in the mid-1970s, Saugeen First Nati ...
's claim to it as a part of the
Saugeen 29 Saugeen 29 is a First Nations reserve in Bruce County, Ontario. It is the main reserve of the Saugeen First Nation. Like Chief's Point 28, this band owns land that is rented to cottagers who pay an annual lease fee for the use of the land. ...
reserve. Rankin's work as a surveyor came under modern scrutiny when the
Saugeen First Nation Saugeen First Nation () is an Ojibway First Nation band located along the Saugeen River and Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. The band states that their legal name is the "Chippewas of Saugeen". Organized in the mid-1970s, Saugeen First Nati ...
used it as evidence in their land claims dispute with the town of
South Bruce Peninsula :''South Bruce Peninsula is not to be confused with the Municipality of South Bruce, Ontario'' South Bruce Peninsula is a town at the base of the Bruce Peninsula of Ontario, Canada, in Bruce County between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. It was forme ...
, arguing that an 1855 survey map authored by him validated their claims. In another claim filed in 1994, both the Saugeen First Nation and
Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation () is an Anishinaabek First Nation from the Bruce Peninsula region in Ontario, Canada. Along with the Saugeen First Nation, they form the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. The Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First N ...
challenged the Crown on its alleged failure to uphold the terms of Treaty 72, which instructed " at the interest of the principal sum arising out of the sale of our lands be regularly paid, to ourselves and our children in perpetuity, so long as there are Indians left to represent our tribe, without diminution, at half-yearly periods," and requested reparations in the form of $90 billion, as well as the return of unsold Crown lands in the Treaty 72 area, much of it still existing in the form of twenty-metre shore allowances left by surveyors like Charles Rankin. Trial proceedings began in April 2019.


References


External links


An 1845 survey map made by Rankin depicting the contemporary Niagara, Gore, and Wellington Districts of Upper Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rankin, Charles Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian surveyors 1797 births Immigrants to Upper Canada People from Enniskillen 1880s deaths