Halton County, Ontario

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Halton County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is also one of the oldest counties in Canada.

It is named after Major William Mathew Halton who was appointed in 1805 as Secretary to the Upper Canada provincial Lieutenant-Governor Sir Francis Gore.

Settlers started to arrive in the area in the early 1780's. The south part was first settled by United Empire Loyalists, the northern part was settled mainly by immigrants from the British Isles. As of July 24, 1788 the area was part of the Nassau District[1]. The Provincial Act of 1792 renamed the Nassau District to Home District [2].

Along with Wentworth County, Halton County was created in 1816 as part of the Gore District. It consisted of the townships of Beverly, Blanford, Blenheim, Dumfries, Flamborough, Nelson, Nichol, Trafalgar, Waterloo and Woolwich. Over the years most of the townships were removed to other counties leaving only four: Esquesing (added in 1821), Nassagaweya (1821), Nelson and Trafalgar.

For a brief period between 1850 and 1854, Wentworth County and Halton County were joined for government purposes as the United Counties of Wentworth and Halton, although for administrative purposes they remained distinct. In 1973 [3], Halton County was replaced by Halton Regional Municipality [4].