Trafalgar Township Historical Society Digital Collections

William Peacock

Description
Media Type
Image
Item Type
Photographs
Description
Professional portrait of William Peacock. William Peacock had been a seaman and then captain before retiring in England. He came to Halton in 1832 with his wife and six of their eventual eleven children.

St. Luke's Anglican Church, a landmark on Highway 5 at Palermo, was built in 1845 by William Peacock. He also did the beautiful carving inside the designated heritage building. The church held its first service on March 11, 1846.

In later years, William and Harriet also gave land for the Merton school although William felt he was then too old to build the school.

Merton school S.S.#15 was first a log building. A brick one was built in 1857 that was demolished to make way for the highway, and third school was built in 1923 that closed in 1958 when the new Palermo Public School on Old Bronte Road was opened.

The school was active in the life of the community with literary and drama clubs, and an active Home and School Association.
Notes
The Merton area (Lots 26-35 2SDS Trafalgar) was settled as early as 1810. The first settlers were David Utter, Joseph Smith, William Bates, Cornelius Tipps and Henry Cale. The community adopted the name "Merton" when the post office opened in 1852. The name was likely chosen to commemorate the battle of Trafalgar and Lord Nelson as other local villages had chosen Bronte and Palermo. The post office remained open until 1917 when it was replaced by rural mail service from Bronte.

Merton boundaries were present day Burloak Drive to 3rd Line, the railway tracks near Lake Ontario north to Upper Middle Road. The intersection of Bronte Road (originally called Station Road) and the Queen Elizabeth Way (formerly Lower Middle Road) was the centre of the Merton area.
Subject(s)
Personal Name(s)
William Peacock, b. April 26, 1796 d.March 27, 1875 ; Harriet Peacock, b. August 10, 1798 d.January 8, 1882
Local identifier
TTOIJMH0001
Collection
Trafalgar Township Historical Society
Geographic Coverage
  • Ontario, Canada
    Latitude: 43.48341 Longitude: -79.71632
Copyright Statement
Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
Recommended Citation
William Peacock
Contact
Trafalgar Township Historical Society
Email:michelle@tths.ca
Website:

Trafalgar Township Historical Society Sponsor: Jeff Knoll, Local & Regional Councillor for Oakville Ward 5 – Town of Oakville/Regional Municipality of Halton
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