Commemorative Plaques Associated with the Talbot Settlement Churches

Talbot Settlement
Churches
Thomas Talbot   Old St Thomas Church     St Peter’s Tyrconnell     Trinity Church, Port Burwell     Christ Church, Port Stanley  

LIEUT-COL. JOHN BOSTWICK, 1780-1849

Born in Massachusetts, Bostwick came as a child to Norfolk County.   He was appointed high constable of the London District in 1800 and sheriff in 1805.   A deputy-surveyor, he laid out some of the earliest roads in the Talbot Settlement and in 1804 was granted 600 acres here at the mouth of Kettle Creek.   After serving as a militia officer throughout the War of 1812 he settled on the site of Port Stanley and founded this community.   Bostwick represented Middlesex in the legislative assembly 1821-24.   He donated the land for this church, which was completed in 1845, and is buried in its churchyard.

Erected at Christ Church, Colborne and Matilda St., Port Stanley, Ontario Mahlon Burwell Plaque

LIEUT-COL. MAHLON BURWELL
1783-1846

Born of Loyalist parents, Burwell became a deputy-surveyor in 1809 and was instructed to lay out the Talbot Road for settlement.   He was granted 600 acres of land in Southwold Township where he settled in 1815.   A close associate of Col. Thomas Talbot, Burwell carried out extensive surveys in southwestern Upper Canada which prepared the way for settlement.   He served in the War of 1812 as Lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Middlesex Militia, was a justice of the peace and for some 20 years represented this area in legislative assembly.   This community, named in his honour was laid out by Burwell in 1830.

Erected at the Municipal Office, Pitt and Erieu St., Port Burwell, Ontario

CAPTAIN DANIEL RAPELJE 1774-1828

Emigrating from New York State to the Long Point Settlement in 1802, Rapelje later received 200 acres of land on the south side of the Talbot Road at Kettle Creek. He settled here with his family in 1810. A veteran of Lundy's Lane and other battles of the War of 1812 he became a captain in the 1st Middlesex Militia. In 1814 he built a log grist-mill and subsequently divided a portion of his land into town lots. The settlement that Rapelje established formed the nucleus of the city of St. Thomas.

Erected at City Hall, 545 Talbot St., St. Thomas, Ontario