One of Pelham’s Oldest Families…. In the year 1840, Mr. Henry Giles left his hometown of Norwich England, along with his wife Hannah and young family, to settle in Canada. Being of the Quaker faith, and characteristically industrious, he set about immediately to find a means of livelihood. He located a farm in Pelham, which he could rent for 9 pounds a year, (pictured above).

In the year 1843, Mr. Henry Giles wrote two letters to his brother Robert.  

May 17, 1843 -- “We took a walk a few days since, to Pelham Heights (today’s Lookout Point), about a mile from Hill cottage where we had a most extensive and enchanting prospect including both lakes, St. Katherines and Niagara.  I was informed Toronto may be discerned through a telescope. -- Farming is in this country the most pleasant and independent life a man can lead, to say nothing about its healthfulness.”

July 15, 1843 -- “The principal man in the new village wishes to name it Temperanceville, which I tell him is a vile name, and that if it must smack of Temperance at all, he had better name it St. Matthew’s after the great Apostle. There is a large Temperance Hotel at the top of this hill, to which they are about to conduct a stream of water, and construct a fountain. This being the case, I have proposed the name of Fonthill. Mount Albion has also been talked about, but no name is yet fixed upon.”

In the second half of the century, rail bridges spanned the Niagara River, and Welland became a rail centre, but the first track to cross Pelham was not built until 1885-86. By this time, the need for improved transportation in the area was acute.

The pioneer days of struggling to grow enough food for your family had passed and Pelham’s rich soil was yielding bountiful harvest for which there was an increasing demand in surrounding cities.  But to reach these markets, the farmer had to travel for hours along dusty or muddy roads by horse and wagon.

In 1896, a railway was completed to link Toronto and Hamilton to the bridge in Buffalo (the T.H.& B.), and by the end of the century, you could get from Fenwick to Welland in 20 minutes, and travel to Hamilton in an hour and a half.  In 1905, Fonthill got its railway, the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway (N.S. &T.), which linked Fonthill to St. Catharines and Welland and ran along track powered by electricity from overhead wires.  The railway through Fonthill enabled the nurseries to send their products all over North America.

Source: The Voice of Pelham, March 2017

https://issuu.com/thevoiceofpelham/docs/voice_of_pelham_march_1_2017/14

Caddy Bag Patent Drawing from 1905 - James Herbert Winslow