Bancroft

History

By 1823, the government had purchased nearly two million acres of land from the Chippewa and Mississauga First Nations including a tract on the York River in Hastings County which had been established in 1792. The area was mapped in 1835 by explorer David Thompson. The first family to build a cabin here, the Clarks in 1853, did so to take advantage of the fur trade. Early settlers included James Cleak and Alfred Barker from England who arrived in 1855, settling on Quarry Lake. They got jobs in administration; Cleak opened a small store and Barker became the first postmaster. Over the years the settlement grew quickly. In fact, there were 89 families by 1868. Lumber companies arrived to remove timber. Some of the earliest settlers were United Empire Loyalists, but from 1856 to 1861, most were from Ireland, fleeing the problems caused by the Great Famine; many had farming experience and settled in the Township of Dungannon where the land was fertile. Most of the settlers were attracted to the area by the offer of free parcels that had been advertised in Great Britain. This made Bancroft (then still known as York Mills) a significant crossroads. The settlement had various names over the first years, York Mills, York River and York Branch. When the post office opened in 1861, it was called York River. A grist mill opened in 1865, gold was discovered in 1866 and other minerals would be discovered later. The discovery of sodalite by Frank Dawson Adams in 1892 led to the opening of the Princess Sodalite Mine. The first church and two schools were built in 1870. In 1879, the name of the settlement was changed to Bancroft by Senator Billa Flint, after the maiden name of his wife Elizabeth Ann Clement Bancroft. Flint convinced tradesmen to move to the area, which helped to…