Cankerville: What’s in a Name?

A common question about Brighton history is “Why the name Cankerville?” Here’s what I have learned.

The name refers to an early settler community at the intersection of today’s Number 30 Highway, Alexander Road and Tilling Road. In the first decade of the 1800s, a group of people stopped at this spot and decided to take advantage of the intersection of Butler Creek and the Percy Road. Maps from the 1850s call it the “Old Percy Road”, but early on it was just a trail to the settlement in Percy Township which had been established as early as 1798 in order to harvest oak timber for the British Navy. It was the main north-south road until replaced by the Brighton and Seymour Gravel Road in the 1850s.

These early entrepreneurs set up stores and blacksmith shops at this strategic location, planning to make money from the routine north-south traffic. This was good for travellers and merchants alike. Land grants had been issued to loyalists but there were few actual settlers interested in moving to the area until the 1820s.

However, as time went by, the squatters began to feel the heavy hand of government. When legitimate land owners occupied their land, they were annoyed to find that a community of merchants and tradesmen was already well established on the creek and road. Tension between the two groups simmered through the 1820s and 1830s as settlement grew and the rightful owners pressured the squatters to move along.

This situation gradually worked itself out as land owners gained control of all parts of their land or were compensated by people who had established themselves without legal right. We have no evidence that there was any violence involved in this tense situation, although one can’t help but think of certain western movies that ended quite differently.

The one lasting result of the conflict between the squatters and land owners was the name Cankerville. The legitimate landowners coined this term as a way to describe their anger and frustration toward the early settlers who stopped here to do business but had no legal claim to the land. It was a name that demonstrated very clearly how unwelcome the squatters were in those early settlement days.

The sign we see today demonstrates that the name has passed down through generations in common parlance, often with a note of derision in light of the nature of the name. Another approach to the name might be to explain it in the context of growing antagonism between the more prosperous class in Upper Canada, often referred to as the Family Compact, and those less fortunate.

Land grants were given to members of loyalist families with the clear intent of creating an elite class that would control the province. This was a natural step for those steeped in the British system of privilege. However, there was pushback from others who worked hard to make a new home without such advantage.l

Dan Buchanan is “The History Guy of Brighton, Ontario.” He is engaged in many projects related to local history and works closely with the Brighton Digital Archives, a volunteer group supported by the municipality that collects historical documents and pictures. www.vitacollections.ca/brightonarchives/search.