Selwyn, Ontario

"Bridgenorth" redirects here. For the town in the UK, see Bridgnorth.

Selwyn
Township (lower-tier)
Township of Selwyn
Lakefield
Selwyn
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Peterborough
Settled	1822
Formed	January 1, 2001
Government
• Type	Township
• Reeve	Mary Smith
• Federal riding	Peterborough—Kawartha
• Prov. riding	Peterborough
Area
• Land	315.64 km2 (121.87 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	16,846
• Density	53.4/km2 (138/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Postal Code	K0L 2H0
Area code(s)	705
Website	[1]

Chemong Lake with Bridgenorth in background

Selwyn is a township in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, located in Peterborough County.

Formerly known as Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield, the township passed a by-law changing its name to Selwyn in 2012. The change became official on January 15, 2013.

Geography

The township comprises the communities of Bridgenorth, Chemong Heights, Chemong Park, Connaught Shore, Deer Bay, Emerald Isle, Ennismore, Fife's Bay, Flood's Landing, Fowlers Corners, Gannon Beach, Gannon Village, Kawartha Park, Kimberley Park, Lakefield, Selwyn, Selwyn Shores, Stewart Heights, Tera View Heights, Tindle Bay, Victoria Springs, Village Meadowa, Windward Sands, Woodland Acres, Young's Cove, Young's Point and Youngstown.

The township is 67 percent rural including small villages and hamlets, along with the urban areas of Lakefield, Bridgenorth - Chemong Park, and Woodland Acres (part of the urban area of Peterborough). Farms have been established on most of the flat areas that are intermixed between the rolling hills and lakes. The Trent-Severn Waterway passes through the township.

History

See also: Peterborough County, Ontario § Historic Townships

On January 1, 1998, Ennismore and Smith Townships were merged to form the Township of Smith-Ennismore. On January 1, 2001, a Minister's Order created the township in its current form by amalgamating the formerly independent Village of Lakefield with the Township of Smith-Ennismore and part of Douro–Dummer Township.

On December 11, 2012 the township council voted to select a new name after Canada Post notified many residents that addresses would have to be changed to reflect the municipality due to a phasing out of its rural route system. By a vote of 3 to 2, the township council voted to adopt the new name of Selwyn.

Economy

The region is in the heart of Ontario's eastern cottage country, where urban residents (mostly from the Toronto region) have cottages on many of the small lakes. Many of the retail and services offered in the region cater to this seasonal market.

Small scale farms are a large industry, and dairy and meat production are some of the notable goods.

Government

In the 2010 municipal election, Mary Smith won the position of reeve (now mayor) from former reeve Ron Millen by 1,355 votes. Former federal Member of Parliament Andy Mitchell succeeded Smith as deputy reeve.

Demographics

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 92.4%
• French as first language: 1.3%
• English and French as first language: 0%
• Other as first language: 6.3%

Population trend:

• Population in 2011: 16,846
• Population in 2006: 17,413 (or 17,027 when adjusted to 2011 boundaries)
• Population in 2001: 16,414
• Population in 1996:
  • Ennismore (township): 4465
  • Lakefield (village): 2444
  • Smith (township): 9200
• Population in 1991:
  • Ennismore (township): 4284
  • Lakefield (village): 2555
  • Smith (township): 8997

Education

Near the village is Lakefield College School which Prince Andrew, Duke of York attended in 1977. The campus was the filming location for the 1977 Canadian film Age of Innocence/Ragtime Summer. In the village itself is the Ridpath Junior Public School named after James William Ridpath, publisher in the late 19th century and early 20th century of the Lakefield News, local businessman, sportsman and dignitary. Located right in the village is the Lakefield District Secondary School. St. Paul's Catholic School situated very close to the high school is the area parochial school.

In fiction

In Paul Nicholas Mason's novel Battered Soles (2005), Lakefield is the site of a pilgrimage, begun in July 1997, which sees thousands of pilgrims from all over the world walk from Peterborough along the Rotary Greenway Trail to St. John's Anglican Church in the village. The focus of the pilgrimage is a life-sized statue of a blue-skinned Jesus in the basement of the church. Mason's second novel, The Red Dress (2008), is also set in Lakefield, although this time the community is thinly-disguised as Greenfield.

In film

• Lakefield and Lakefield College School were used as the location for the 1977 Canadian film Age of Innocence (aka Ragtime Summer) starring David Warner, Honor Blackman and Trudy Young. One memorable scene was shot at the location of the old Lakefield train station on Stanley St. The first four letters were removed on the Lakefield sign and replaced with the name Rockfield.
• In the winter of 2010 Verizon made a commercial at Lakefield's Ontario Speed Skating Oval outdoor speed skating rink.
• Unheralded (2011), a National Film Board documentary directed by Aaron Hancox, is about the Lakefield Herald. It focuses on this community paper's journalists as they cover newsworthy events taking place in and around the town.

Famous persons

• Charles Arkoll Boulton, former councillor and reeve, Senator for Marquette, Manitoba
• Ronnie "The Hawk" Hawkins, country musician
• Margaret Laurence, novelist
• Leahy Family, band
• Susanna Moodie, pioneer, writer and newspaper editor
• Paul Nicholas Mason, writer
• Paul Reddick, blues-rock artist, songwriter, and harp player
• Bruce Ridpath, professional ice hockey player who played on several Stanley Cup teams in the early 20th century
• Catharine Parr Traill, English-born pioneer, writer, naturalist (sister of Susanna Moodie)
• Mike Fisher, professional hockey player for the Nashville Predators, grew up in Bridgenorth

See also

• List of townships in Ontario