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Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only. Known as the "City of the 1000 Islands", Brockville is located on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River opposite Morristown, New York, about half-way between Ontario's Cornwall to the east and Kingston to the west. It is roughly a 50-minute drive south of the national capital of Ottawa. It is one of Ontario's oldest communities and is named after the British general Sir Isaac Brock. ==History== Indigenous peoples lived along both sides of the St. Lawrence River for thousands of years. The first people known to have encountered the Europeans in the area were the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, a group distinct from and preceding the Iroquois nations of the ''Haudenosaunee''. While the explorer Cartier recorded about 200 words in their Laurentian language and the names of two villages, they disappeared from the area by the late 16th century. The Mohawk people of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) by then used the St. Lawrence Valley as a hunting ground. This area of Ontario was first settled by English speakers in 1785, when thousands of American refugees arrived from the American colonies after the American Revolutionary War. They were later called United Empire Loyalists because of their continued allegiance to King George III. The struggle between Britain and the 13 American colonies occurred in the years 1776 to 1783, and seriously divided loyalties among people in some colonies such as New York and Vermont. In many areas traders and merchants, especially in the coastal cities or the northern border regions, had stronger business ties and allegiance to the Crown than did the frontiersmen of the interior. During the 6-year war, which ended with the capitulation of the British in 1782, many colonists who remained loyal to the crown were frequently subject to harsh reprisals and unfair dispossession of their property by their countrymen. Many "Loyalists" chose to flee north to the British colony of Quebec. Great Britain opened the western region of Canada (known as Upper Canada and now Ontario), purchasing land from First Nations to allocate to the mostly English-speaking Loyalists in compensation for their losses, and helping them with some supplies as they founded new settlements. The first years were very harsh and some exiles returned to the United States. The St. Lawrence River, which separates Brockville and Morristown, New York, was named by French explorers in the 18th century to honour the martyred Roman Christian, Saint Laurentis. In 1785 the first U.E. Loyalist to take up land in Brockville was William Buell Sr. (1751–1832), an ensign disbanded from the King's Rangers, from the state of New York. Residents commonly called the first settlement "Buell's Bay". Around 1810 government officials of Upper Canada designated the village as Elizabethtown. About 1812 leading residents of the village suggested that the village be renamed to differentiate it and the township of Elizabethtown. The commanding British General in Upper Canada and temporary administrator of the province was Major-General Isaac Brock. He was celebrated as the "Hero and Saviour" of Upper Canada because of his recent success in securing the surrender of Fort Detroit during the War of 1812. Perhaps to curry favour with Gen. Brock, certain leading citizens of the village, including Charles Jones, proposed the name of Brockville. They began using this name in their correspondence and dealings with Isaac Brock. Gen. Brock was soon involved in other battles on the Niagara Peninsula. On October 13, 1812, he was fatally wounded while leading troops up the heights near the village of Queenston, then held by American militia. A Raid on Elizabethtown occurred on February 7, 1813, when Benjamin Forsyth and 200 men of his American forces crossed the frozen St. Lawrence River to occupy Elizabethtown and seize military and public stores, free American prisoners, and capture British military prisoners.〔(Parks Canada - The War of 1812 )〕 General Brock had learned of the honour being offered by the residents of Elizabethtown, but had no chance to give it his official blessing before his death. Provincial officials accepted the new name, which was soon commonly used by residents and visitors. In 1830 the population of Brockville exceeded the 1000 mark. This entitled it to be represented by its own elected member in the House of Assembly. Henry Jones, the village postmaster, was elected in October 1830 to the 11th Parliament of the Province. Brockville became Ontario's first incorporated self-governing town on January 28, 1832, two years before the town of Toronto. By means of the Brockville Police Act passed by the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, Brockville was granted the right to govern its own affairs, pass laws, and raise taxes. The first elections for the new Board of Police were held on April 2, 1832 to elect four members to the Board. These four in turn chose a fifth member, Daniel Jones, who became the first Police Board president or Mayor of Brockville. In March 1836 he became the first native Upper Canadian to receive a knighthood for services to the Crown; he was known as "Sir Daniel Jones". In the 19th century the town developed as a local centre of industry, including shipbuilding, saddleries, tanneries, tinsmiths, a foundry, a brewery, and several hotels. By 1854, a patent medicine industry had sprung up in Brockville and in bordering Morristown, New York featuring such products as "Dr Morse's Indian Root Pills", "Dr. McKenzie's Worm Tablets" and later, "Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People". In 1855, Brockville was chosen as a divisional point of the new Grand Trunk Railway between Montreal and Toronto. This contributed to its growth, as it could offer jobs in railway maintenance and related fields. At the same time, the north–south line of the Brockville and Ottawa Railway was built to join the timber trade of the Ottawa Valley with the St. Lawrence River ship route. A well-engineered tunnel for this railway was dug and blasted underneath the middle of Brockville. The Brockville Tunnel was the first railway tunnel in Canada. Brockville and many other towns in Canada West became involved in the threatened Fenian invasion after the American Civil War in 1865. In June 1866 the Irish-American "Brotherhood of Fenians" invaded Canada. They launched raids across the Niagara River into Canada West and from Vermont into Canada East. Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald called on the volunteer militia companies in every town to protect Canada. The Brockville Infantry Company and the Brockville Rifle Company (now The Brockville Rifles) were mobilized. The unsuccessful Fenian Raids were a catalyst that contributed to the creation of the new confederated Dominion of Canada in 1867. By 1869, Brockville had a population of 5000 and a station on the Grand Trunk Railway. It was the County Town of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville and a Port of Entry. Steamboats stopped in Brockville daily while plying between Montreal, Kingston, Toronto and Hamilton. The Brockville and Ottawa Railway connected Brockville with Smith's Falls, Perth, Almonte, Carleton Place and Sandy Point. During the summer, a steam ferry plied every half hour between Brockville and Morrisburg, New York.〔''The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory.'' H. McEvoy Editor and Compiler, Toronto: Robertson & Cook, Publishers, 1869〕 In 1962 Brockville was granted official status as a city. Its coat of arms featured a beehive surrounded by a golden chain and bears the motto ''Industria, Intelligentia, Prosperitas''. This is an official heraldic design. Brockville is one of the few Canadian cities to have a recognized heraldic flag. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brockville」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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