Community Champions

Debbie Bath-Hadden had the distinction of being Brock Township’s first female mayor. During her political career she served three consecutive terms as a council member, then in 2010 she was elected as a Regional Councillor and Mayor in 2018. During her years on council, Bath-Hadden is credited with promoting the township’s summer day camp, its … Read more

Jennie Glendinning was born in 1885, west of Manilla in Brock Township. With the outbreak of W.W. I, Jennie enlisted as nursing sister. She travelled to Montreal where she trained at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Upon graduation in 1915, she deployed to England where she cared for sick and wounded British soldiers, prisoners of war … Read more

James Glendinning was born in Brock Township in 1849. As a young man he inherited and assumed the operation of his grandfather’s 150 acre Brock Township farm on lot 9, concession 8, near Vroomanton. James was much the politician and a community spirited man. His first entry into politics was his election to the Brock … Read more

For more than 40 years, Ted English successfully operated Country Lane Cartage, a milk transport business based in Sunderland. It was from this business that the team of Country Lane Belgians was born. Initially as a business promotion, Ted showed his antique milk wagons and horse-drawn equipment in local community parades and festivals. However, Ted’s … Read more

A local entrepreneur and businessman, William (Bill) Doyle left the farm to establish and operate two businesses in the village of Sunderland. Before, during and after World War II, Doyle operated an egg grading station at the top of the hill on River Street. This operation provided an important service to local mixed farms having … Read more

John Doble was born, raised and spent much of his life at the family farm just east of Sunderland. In the 1960s John served as Councillor and Deputy-Reeve of the old Township of Brock and returned to municipal politics in 1988 when he was elected Regional Councillor for Brock Township. For 15 years during the … Read more

James Doble whose parents had emigrated from Mayo County, Ireland to Canada in 1822, was born in Brock Township in 1825. James Doble was a capital venturist and entrepreneur. At the turn of the 20th century, he was a co-founder of the Doble & Company Bank on Albert Street in Sunderland, an enterprise later taken … Read more

Frank Doble was born in Brock Township and operated a lumber business with a planing mill in Sunderland at River and Pine Streets until 1905. With Sunderland expanding with the arrival of the railroad, Doble constructed several new homes in the village. Frank Doble and his family are credited with establishing the village’s first library … Read more

Lorne Brethour was born and raised in Brock Township. As a boy on the farm, Lorne developed a passion for horses and quickly showed a natural ability to work with them. The Brethours owned a farm to the west of Sunderland where Lorne in partnership with his brother Wilmot raised and trained horses. Standardbreds became … Read more