St. Thomas, Ontario
COL. THE HON. THOMAS TALBOT 1771-1853
Founder of the “Talbot Settlement”, he was born at Castle Malahide, Ireland, a member of the Anglo-Irish nobility. In 1803, after serving in the British Army, and on Simcoe’s staff, he was granted 5,000 acres in this region and settled in Dunwich Township. Through political and family influence he obtained extraordinary powers to promote colonization. Talbot built mills, supervised the construction of a 300 mile road paralleling Lake Erie, established thousands of settler in his “principality” and controlled the settlement of London. In 1817 St. Thomas was named for him. Eccentric and authoritarian he had successfully organized settlement in twenty-seven townships from Long Point to the Detroit River.
Erected by the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board, Department of Public Records and Archives of Ontario