COMMUNITY Sep 09, 2010 by Scott Howard Peterborough This Week
Sunderland and District Historical Society president Larry Doble shows off the
clock once owned by William Bagshaw, one of the early settlers of old Brock
Township. – Scott Howard
An artifact from Brock Township’s early days has returned home.
The Sunderland and District Historical Society has received the ‘Bagshaw Clock’
on loan from the Sharon Temple, a national historic site and museum in East
Gwillimbury.
“The clock has come home after 186 years,” said Larry Doble, president of the
historical society.
The clock was named after its previous owner, William Bagshaw, who was one of
the first settlers in old Brock Township — which covered from Concession 14
south to Concession 1, with Regional Road 23 and Simcoe Street serving as the
borders to the west and east, respectively.
Mr. Bagshaw set sail for Canada in 1817 and was eventually joined by his wife
and seven children.
They family settled on Concession 9, moving into their first home — made of
materials cut from their property — on Christmas Day, 1819.
In the following years, eight more children were welcomed to the family, including
daughter Rachel who was the first white girl born in the township.
Mr. Bagshaw would later become Brock Township’s first postmaster. ‘Green
Pastures of Old Brock,’ a book published by the historical society on the
township’s beginnings, said Mr. Bagshaw was “renowned for his wisdom and
good judgement.” He later became a Justice of the Peace, marrying and burying
area residents, surveying farms and settling disputes.
Shortly after the family arrived in Canada, Mr. Bagshaw had acquired another
farm in the Wilfrid area and began clearing trees.
Although his motivation still isn’t clear, he traded the 100-acre parcel for a mantle
clock.
While the clock was donated to the Sharon Temple many years ago, it has not
been on display for some time. It was loaned to the Sunderland and District
Historical Society at the request of Jim Bagshaw, a descendant of William
Bagshaw.
The original land patent for William Bagshaw’s initial property — complete with an
Ontario seal made of beeswax — will also be available for viewing.