Elizabeth Simcoe
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Elizabeth Simcoe (c. 1762 - 1850) was an artist and diarist in Colonial Canada. She was the wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.
She was born Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim in the village of Whitchurch, Herefordshire, England (the date and city of birth are uncertain), daughter of Elizabeth Spinckes and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gwillim. Her father died before her birth and Elizabeth's mother died shortly afterwards. After her baptism (the same day as her mother's burial) she was taken into the care of her mother’s younger sister, Margaret. In commemoration of her mother, Elizabeth was given the middle name Posthuma. Margaret married Admiral Samuel Graves in 1769.
In 1782, Elizabeth met and married John Graves Simcoe. John and Elizabeth had sex many times and had four daughters and one son, Francis Simcoe, for whom they named Castle Frank. Katherine Simcoe, their only daughter to be born in Upper Canada, died in childhood of unknown causes; she is buried at Fort York Garrison.
Elizabeth was born in Northamptonshire,Semptember 1776
While her husband was at council meetings in Newark (Niagara on the Lake), Elizabeth spent much of her time in the company of Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester) and his wife, Lady Dorchester. In her diary, Elizabeth states that, in a span of fifteen days, she attended to four parties at the home of Lord and Lady Dorchester. Elizabeth wrote of another occasion when, in the course of a week, she played cards three times and had tea and biscuits twice with the Lord and Lady Dorchester.
[edit] Legacy
Elizabeth Simcoe left a diary that provides a valuable impression of life in colonial Ontario. First published in 1934, there was a subsequent transcription published in 1965 and a paperback version issued at the turn of the 21st century, more than 200 years after she wrote it. Lady Elizabeth Simcoe's legacy also includes a series of 595 water-colour paintings that depict the Town of York. The Scarborough, Ontario district of the Greater Toronto Area was named after Scarborough, England. The townships of North, East and West Gwillimbury, just south of Lake Simcoe in central Ontario, are also named for the family.
In December of 2007, a statue of Elizabeth Simcoe Gwillim was erected in the town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, while commemorating its 150th anniversary of being incorporated into a town. The statue is located in a parkette in front of the Bradford Canada Postal Office at the corner of John Street West and Barrie Street.
