Museum Exhibition

Coming to Peel

Canada’s first refugees were the United Empire Loyalists who wished to remain loyal to Britain and fled to Canada fearing persecution after the American Revolution. Toronto Township, now the southern part of the City of Mississauga, was first surveyed in 1806 and settlers arrived soon after. After the War of 1812, the British government encouraged emigration to Canada to help populate the vast land. The end of the Napoleonic wars brought economic depression and unemployment to Great Britain and for many in the crowded country, emigration to Canada seemed the answer. The highland clearances in Scotland and the Irish potato famine also sent thousands of British immigrants to Peel. Between 1821 and 1835, there was a 500% increase in the number of immigrant settlers in Peel.

In this exhibition, you will learn more about the early settlers of Peel and their stories. Explore their lives from the first shanty to an elaborate Victorian home and read their own words about life in Peel.

“…we landed on 1st March with all that belonged to us. There was no house of any kind to which we could go. I began to clear away some of the snow where we were to lay our bed. We were now alone in the wilderness, but not despondent. I commenced to cut some wood for fire and then fixed some boughs of the trees above us for shelter. As night came on I made a large fire six or seven feet in length and we passed the night very comfortably.

Next day I commenced cutting some logs for a shanty fourteen by twelve feet and when I thought I had all prepared I went for some help to put it up. Four men were all I could muster – no more to be got for miles around. Before night we had it finished except the covering which I had to prepare. This was made of bark from the tree about six or eight inches wide and in lengths sufficient to cover one side at a time. The next day I had my little house covered. Then I wanted a floor in my cabin and this I made of the trees from which I had peeled the bark, fixing them with my axe the best way I could. I then made a bedstead, and on the 10 th March we moved into our cabin as contented as ever we were in our life.”

~ Donald Cameron, 1819

  “Went to Brampton this afternoon – they are busy enlarging the post office and making a great many more letter boxes. For the first time I saw a velocipede…it requires a great deal of practice to ride one.”

~ John Ferguson, 1869