Elizabeth Dowdeswell is not the first Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario to visit Bradford West Gwillimbury.
John Graves Simcoe, first Governor of Upper Canada, passed through the municipality in 1793 – and named West Gwillimbury Township after his wife, Lady Elizabeth Gwillim.
William Mulock, born in Bond Head, was Lieutenant Governor from 1931 to 1932, and William Earl Rowe, who lived on a farm in Newton Robinson, served from 1963 to 1968.
And back in 2008, Lieutenant Governor David C. Onley helped unveil the statue of Lady Elizabeth Gwillim Simcoe that stands outside the post office in Bradford.
But Tuesday, April 16 marked the first visit of serving Lieutenant-Governor Dowdeswell to the municipality, a visit that involved an informal reception, and a roundtable discussion with members of the agricultural community.
“Her Honour has made it a personal priority to meet with Ontarians all around the province, to learn their priorities,” said Bradford West Gwillimbury Mayor Rob Keffer, welcoming the Lieutenant-Governor to the municipality.
“We have a profound agricultural heritage in Bradford West Gwillimbury,” said York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney, who was one of the dignitaries welcoming Dowdeswell to the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library on Tuesday.
The visit was described as part of a focus on the United Nations’ sustainable development goal number 11, for sustainable cities and communities. Agriculture has provided a solid economic base for the local economy, and community.
“I drive through the Holland Marsh all the time, but never stop in Bradford,” said the Lieutenant-Governor.
This time, not only did she stop, she met with local farming families, and heard from “young farmers, or young people who want to be farmers,” some of whom are the fourth or even fifth generation on the farm.
It was, Dowdeswell said, something that she hadn’t experienced before, and it was a unique opportunity to listen to them talk about their hopes and aspirations, “so proudly and so loudly.”
The Lieutenant-Governor noted that she has travelled across Ontario for constitutional reasons, to present honours and awards, and for ceremonial purposes.
“What I enjoy most is discovering who Ontarians are,” she said. “There are some similarities, from place to place, but also very unique stories.”
In all of her travels, she said, “I would simply appoint myself the province’s chief storyteller… As an outsider to your community, I get to see remarkable things – what you are proud of, and what you’re challenged by.”
Among those invited to attend the reception in the library’s Zima room were those who participated in the roundtable, as well as members of Bradford West Gwillimbury town council, first-responders and senior town staff, and representatives of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association, Tecumseth & West Gwillimbury Historical Society, and Bradford West Gwillimbury heritage committee.
After the speeches and meet-and-greet, the Local History Association invited the Lieutenant-Governor to take a tour of the Auld Kirk, a church established by one of the first group of settlers, who farmed the Scotch Settlement area.
Fleeing the failed Red River Colony of Lord Selkirk, they arrived in West Gwillimbury in 1819, shortly after the area had been surveyed and opened to settlement; 2019 marks the 200th anniversary of the Scotch Settlement, and the 150th anniversary of the brick church that still stands on the 6th Line of Bradford West Gwillimbury.
“We’re really pleased and honoured to have the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario visit,” especially in this anniversary year, Mayor Rob Keffer noted, explaining that the church was being preserved and restored by the BWG Local History Association.
He read a formal declaration, dedicating the “beautiful” restored doors at the church, then led the way inside.
Lieutenant-Governor Dowdeswell spoke with members of the association and, despite the chilly April weather, insisted on heading outside to the Auld Kirk graveyard to see the gravestones of the Bannerman family, ancestors of John George Bannerman Diefenbaker, the 13th prime ,inister of Canada.
She also received a copy of the two-volume set Governor Simcoe Slept Here: The Legacy of West Gwillimbury from BWG Local History Association president Jan Blommaert, closing the loop between the first and the current Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.
