Craigvale
History of Craigvale and Stroud
Prior to 1850
Samuel Maneer, 1797-1880, a native of Cornwall, England, with his wife
Elizabeth, 1800-1890, and two young sons, John, 4y, and William, 2 yrs
of age, arrived in Canada in the summer of 1831, after a trip across the
ocean in a sailing vessel. Their port of entry was North Carolina. They
travelled to Little York (Markham) in the summer of 1831, where a third
son, Nicholas, was born. In the spring of 1832 they travelled to Innisfil
and were one of the first settlers. Their homestead, a forest of heavy
mixed timber, was on the ninth line at the corner of the Penetang Road
in Craigvale Ontario in the Township of Innisfil. They built their first
cabin near the south boundary of their lot which now faces Highway 11.
An improved log cabin was built which remained until more modern times.
The first house in Stroud was built in 1830, the first school in 1848,
the first store in 1850, and the first church in 1852. History of Stroud,
by R G Simpking (1962)
Early businesses included bakeries, two hotels, butchers, a sawmill
at Craigvale, gristmill, shoemaking, carried on by Thomas Sibbald, John
and George Ellis, and William Maneer and Son (Samuel); tailoring; weaving;
blacksmithing, done by T Reynolds, and Samuel Maneer, waggonmaking and
repairs, also done by Samuel Maneer, and brick making, by the Chas E Chantler
Brick Yards.
Another early settler, Charles Reynolds, was manager, and his son, Milton,
was a key-man at the Chantler brickyard. It was a seasonal job. Charles
worked in the brickyard in Craigvale during the summer, then the family
packed the furniture, took their cow, and moved north to Penetanguishene,
where he was a logged in winter, then returned to Craigvale in spring
to work in the brick yard. They did this for years.
The village of Stroud was originally known as Victoria, an honour to
the popular and beloved Queen who reigned from 1837 to 1901. There were
so many places named after the Queen that when a post office was opened
here, the postal authorities sought to avoid confusion by giving the new
office a distinctive name. About 1875 the name of the post office was
changed to Stroud Post Office and the name Stroud eventually displaced
Victoria as the name of the entire community. The name chosen was Stroud,
after the hometown in Gloucestershire, Eng., of Innisfil resident Wm.
C Little, M.P.
This section contains material collected by Jeanne Groce about the history
of Stroud and Craigvale. It contains "information collected from libraries,
books, newspapers, the Centennial History of Innisfil, Historical Revue,
word of mouth, and anywhere else I could find it." Reference to the source
of the material is given where possible. |
Search This Site.jpg)
