Selwyn, Ontario

History

On January 1, 1998, Ennismore and Smith Townships were amalgamated to form the Township of Smith-Ennismore. On January 1, 2001, a Minister's Order created the currentlargertownship by amalgamating the formerly independent Village of Lakefield with the Township of Smith-Ennismore and part of Douro–Dummer Township.

In December 2012, the township council voted to select a new name after Canada Post notified many residents that addresses would have to be changed to reflect the municipality due to a phasing out of its rural route system. The council chose to focus on a simpler name, reducing what it felt was confusion regarding the collective purposerather than a persistent notion of disparate partsintended by the history of amalgamations. By a vote of 3 to 2, choosing from a slate of new names, the township council voted to adopt the new name of Selwyn, effective January 2013.

Geography

The township comprises the communities of:

• Bridgenorth
• Buckhorn
• Chemong Heights
• Chemong Park
• Connaught Shore
• Deer Bay
• Emerald Isle
• Ennismore
• Fife's Bay
• Flood's Landing
• Fowlers Corners
• Gannon Beach
• Gannon Village
• Kawartha Park
• Kimberley Park
• Lakefield, Selwyn
• Selwyn Shores
• Stewart Heights
• Terra View Heights
• Tindle Bay
• Victoria Springs
• Village Meadows
• Windward Sands
• Woodland Acres
• Young's Cove
• Young's Point
• Youngstown

The township is The Trent-Severn Waterway passes through the township.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Selwyn had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 316.12 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

|1996|16109 |2001|16414 |2006|17413 |2011|16846 |2016|17060 |2021|18653

Mother tongue (2021):

• English as first language: 94.5%
• French as first language: 0.8%
• English and French as first language: 0.4%
• Other as first language: 3.9%

Economy

The region is in the heart of Ontario's eastern cottage country, where urban residents (mostly from the Toronto region) have cottages on many of the small lakes. Many of the retail and services offered in the region cater to this seasonal market.

Small scale farms are a main industry, and dairy and meat production are some of the notable goods.

Government

In the 2010 municipal election, Mary Smith won the position of reeve (now mayor) from former reeve Ron Millen by 1,355 votes. Former federal Member of Parliament Andy Mitchell succeeded Smith as deputy reeve.

In the 2022 municipal elections, Sherry Senis was acclaimed mayor after serving as councillor. The previous mayor, Andy Mitchell, did not seek reelection.

Education

Near the village is Lakefield College School which the then Prince Andrew, Duke of York (later Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) attended in 1977, however was dropped as an honorary chairman due to sexual abuse allegations. In the village itself is the Lakefield District Public School, which opened in 2018 after the Ridpath Junior Public School, named after James William Ridpath, publisher in the late 19th century and early 20th century of the Lakefield News, local businessman, sportsman and dignitary, was closed. LDPS took over the building formerly used for the now closed Lakefield District Secondary School. St. Paul's Catholic School is situated nearby.

Popular culture

In Paul Nicholas Mason's novel Battered Soles (2005), Mason's second novel, The Red Dress (2008),

In film

• Lakefield and Lakefield College School were used as the location for the 1977 Canadian film Age of Innocence. One memorable scene
• In the
• Unheralded (2011), a National Film Board documentary directed by Aaron Hancox,

Notable people

• Charles Arkoll Boulton, former councillor and reeve, left Ontario and later became senator for Manitoba
• Sebastian Bach, rock singer, notable for being the lead singer of the band Skid Row
• Ronnie "The Hawk" Hawkins, American-born Canadian country musician
• Margaret Laurence, novelist
• Leahy Family, band
• Susanna Moodie, pioneer, writer and newspaper editor
• Paul Nicholas Mason, writer
• Paul Reddick, blues-rock artist, songwriter, and harp player
• Bruce Ridpath, professional ice hockey player who played on the 1911 Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Senators
• Catharine Parr Traill, English-born pioneer, writer, naturalist
• Mike Fisher, professional hockey player for the Nashville Predators, grew up in Bridgenorth
• Paul Soles, Canadian actor, television personality and voice actor famous for being the voice of Hermey in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and Spider-man in the 1960’s
• Thomas Toth, Canadian runner
• Tyler Ardron, Canadian international rugby player, Super Rugby player (Waikato Chiefs), ITM Cup player (Bay of Plenty)
• Trevor Jones, Canadian rower

References

References

1. {{SCref. (2021)
2. Wedley, Brendan. (2012-12-12). "Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield Township to be renamed Selwyn Township". [[The Peterborough Examiner]].
3. "Township of Selwyn Community Profile". Township of Selwyn.
4. {{Cite cgndb. FAQGE. Chemong Heights
5. {{Cite cgndb. FAQGH. Chemong Park
6. {{Cite cgndb. FASQG. Connaught Shore
7. {{Cite cgndb. FAWBG. Deer Bay
8. {{Cite cgndb. FEHVS. Fife's Bay
9. {{Cite cgndb. FDGSF. Flood's Landing
10. {{Cite cgndb. FBFFI. Fowlers Corners
11. {{Cite cgndb. FBGMS. Gannon Beach
12. {{Cite cgndb. FBGMW. Gannon Village
13. {{Cite cgndb. FBTIC. Kawartha Park
14. {{Cite cgndb. FBUNW. Kimberley Park
15. {{Cite cgndb. FDWXM. Selwyn
16. {{Cite cgndb. FCSKI. Stewart Heights
17. {{Cite cgndb. FCVNF. Terra View Heights
18. {{Cite cgndb. FCZYJ. Victoria Springs
19. {{Cite cgndb. FCZZT. Village Meadows
20. {{Cite cgndb. FDHTR. Windward Sands
21. {{Cite cgndb. FDEZH. Woodland Acres
22. {{Cite cgndb. FDFXV. Young's Cove
23. {{Cite cgndb. FLAEN. Young's Point
24. {{Cite cgndb. FDCUV. Youngstown
25. (2001)
26. (25 October 2022). "Ontario election: Trent Lakes, Otonabee-South Monaghan, North Kawartha, Asphodel-Norwood, Havelock, Selwyn results - Peterborough". Global News.
27. Writer, Jessica Nyznik Staff Reporter, Examiner Staff. (2019-11-21). "Lakefield College School drops Prince Andrew as honorary chairman of LCS Foundation".
28. (2018-01-04). "Principal says students are buzzing with Lakefield District Public School finally expected to open Monday".
29. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170214223029/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXtZD87nAok ''Age of Innocence''/''Ragtime Summer'' (1977)]
30. (20 January 2016). "There's a new name (that you've never heard of) in Canadian running - Canadian Running Magazine". Runningmagazine.ca.
31. "Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield census profile". Statistics Canada.