Provincial Agricultural Fair of Canada West
Provincial Agricultural Fair of Canada West was an annual provincial agricultural fair held in various places[1][2] in Canada West and after 1867 in Ontario.
The fair was established in 1846 and sponsored by the Provincial Agricultural Association and the Board of Agriculture for Canada West. It replaced an earlier attempt in 1792 by the Agricultural Society of Upper Canada[3]
The fair was mainly an agricultural themed show featuring horses and domesticated animals from around what was still a very rural pre-Confederation Ontario. It would last until 1878 as it met competition with large number of local fairs that emerged across some towns and counties in Ontario[4] and eventually succeeded by the Canadian National Exhibition in 1879.
List of Provincial Agricultural Association of Canada West/Ontario
The fair was held annually, but only a few years have been documented:
| Year | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1846 | Toronto | Held at Government House Grounds near King Street West and Simcoe Street[2] |
| 1847 | Hamilton | |
| 1848 | Cobourg | |
| 1849 | Kingston | |
| 1850 | Niagara | |
| 1851 | Brockville | |
| 1852 | Toronto | north part of Grange Park (neighbourhood) |
| 1854 | London | Fair site was north of Oxford St., and south of Grosvenor St., between Talbot St. and the Thames River. Attended in last three days by James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin.[5] |
| 1858 | Toronto | |
| 1861 | London | Military Garrison property near Victoria Park.[6] The second provincial fair held in London (and sixteenth in Canada West) was on September 24–27, 1861, on grounds between Waterloo and Richmond, running south of what would become Kenneth Avenue "nearly down to Central Avenue".[7] |
| 1865 | London | Military Garrison property near Victoria Park.[6] Held September 18–22, this was the fair's third time in London.[8] |
| 1869 | London | Military Garrison property near Victoria Park.[6] The fair took place in September, and was attended by the Governor General (Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn) and Sir John A. Macdonald.[9] |
| 1873 | London | Military Garrison property near Victoria Park.[6] Held September 22–25—the 28th Provincial Fair was London's fifth.[10] |
| 1877 | London | Military Garrison property near Victoria Park. (The fairgrounds in London moved to their current Queen's Park location on September 19, 1887).[6] |
| 1878 | Toronto | Last year Fair was held |
Other Fairs
A list of annual agricultural and/or country fairs in Ontario created before or after the establishment of the provincial fair:
- East Middlesex Agricultural Fair - 1841. Held annual fairs until 1868 at north-west corner of Talbot and Oxford[11] - London, ON
- Markham Fair 1857 - Markham, ON
- Brampton Fall Fair 1853 - Brampton, ON
- Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show 1840 - Simcoe, ON
- Schomberg Fair 1850 - Schomberg, ON
- Western Fair 1868 - London, ON
- Scarboro Fair 1844 to early 20th Century - Scarborough, ON
Other annual fairs around Canada and the United States:
- Hants County Exhibition c. 1765 and annual since 1815 - Windsor, NS
- Canadian Western Agribition 1971 - Regina, SK
- Royal Manitoba Winter Fair 1882 - Winnipeg, MB
- Pacific National Exhibition 1910 - Vancouver, BC
- Great New York State Fair 1841 - NY State
References
- ↑ CNE Archives. 2013.
- 1 2 http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/CNEearly.htm
- ↑ http://www.emsdaleagriculturalsociety.com/our-history/history-of-agricultural-fairs/
- ↑ Agricultural Society of Upper Canada
- ↑ Brock, Dan; McEwan, Catherine (2011). Fragments from the Forks: London, Ontario's Legacy. London, Ontario, Canada: The London and Middlesex Historical Society. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-9866899-0-1.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Salter's Grove/Queen's Park (1879 - 1887)". Closed Canadian Parks. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
- ↑ Brock, Dan; McEwan, Catherine (2011). Fragments from the Forks: London, Ontario's Legacy. London, Ontario, Canada: The London and Middlesex Historical Society. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-9866899-0-1.
- ↑ Brock, Dan; McEwan, Catherine (2011). Fragments from the Forks: London, Ontario's Legacy. London, Ontario, Canada: The London and Middlesex Historical Society. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-9866899-0-1.
- ↑ Brock, Dan; McEwan, Catherine (2011). Fragments from the Forks: London, Ontario's Legacy. London, Ontario, Canada: The London and Middlesex Historical Society. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-9866899-0-1.
- ↑ Brock, Dan; McEwan, Catherine (2011). Fragments from the Forks: London, Ontario's Legacy. London, Ontario, Canada: The London and Middlesex Historical Society. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-9866899-0-1.
- ↑ Mitchell-Reid, Alison. "The East Middlesex Agricultural Society Fonds (AFC73)" (PDF). Archives Finding Aids. Archives and Research Collections Centre, Western University. Retrieved April 1, 2016.