Mahlon Burwell (February 18, 1783 – January 25, 1846) was a surveyor and political figure 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 ...

. He was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in 1783 and came to Upper Canada with his family in 1796. He was largely self-schooled and was employed by the government of the province to survey the Talbot settlement and the Talbot Road in 1809 and settled near

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...

some time after that. During 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 served in the 1st Middlesex Militia, was captured by raiders and his property was destroyed. After the war, he continued his survey work in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and Essex Counties, and on the Talbot Road. This difficult work took its toll on Burwell's health. He was often paid in land, rather than cash, and acquired large land holdings scattered across the southwestern part of the province. In 1830, he laid out the plan for the village of Port Burwell on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

; he also set up a company to develop the harbour and export timber from the area. In 1812, he was elected to the

6th Parliament of Upper Canada The 6th Parliament of Upper Canada was Opening of Parliament, opened 27 July 1812. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in June 1812. All Legislative session, sessions were held at York, Upper Canada. The first Parliament buildings (locate ...

representing

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. He represented the area until 1824 and then again from 1830 to 1834. In 1813, he was appointed justice of the peace. Burwell benefited from his close ties as friend and employee of Thomas Talbot and received other patronage posts in the region. He was ahead of his time in proposing that local taxation be used to support education. In 1836, he was elected to represent the town of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the Legislative Assembly. In later life, his influence declined possibly as a result of ill health. Mahlon Burwell provided land on which Trinity Church, an example of early Gothic Revival architecture, was constructed in 1836. Until the arrival of the Reverend Thomas Read in 1843, the congregation of Trinity Church was served by travelling missionaries. Trinity Anglican Church 1836 He died at Port Talbot in 1846. His son

Leonidas Leonidas I (; , ''Leōnídas''; born ; died 11 August 480 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. He was the son of king Anaxandridas II and the 17th king of the Agiad dynasty, a Spartan royal house which claimed descent fro ...

served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. His younger brother, Lewis Burwell, assisted him as a surveyor, and was later Upper Canada's deputy surveyor.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burwell, Mahlon 1783 births 1846 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Canadian surveyors People from Elgin County Canadian justices of the peace Immigrants to Upper Canada