Kenneth W. McKay

“ The railway, electricity and the Postal Union have gone far to blend the nations into one. Every day, all round the globe, men read the same news, think the same thoughts, are thrilled with the same tidings of heroism or suffering. Human sympathy is broadened and deepened. Mankind is more homogeneous in spirit. Statecraft, literature, society, have become democratic and cosmopolitan.
The spirit of union dominates the century. The forces of disunion and disintegration are everywhere routed. ”

“ Judge Hughes thanked the County Council for the privilege of opening the new Court House. The county building was a testimonial to the advancement of the county council. He had to acknowledge with thanks the many kind things said of him personally, and of the way he had administered justice in the county. The building is an index, not only of enterprise and good taste, but also of conception for the convenience of those who had to attend the county buildings to do business. ”

“ If we look beyond the limits of our own county and view the Province at large, we see progress and prosperity, peace, contentment and general happiness surrounding us. We find the minds of the people progressing too, for with a bountiful provision for schools and a well ordered system, the rising [Pg 14] generation are enabled, and doubtless will keep pace with their monetary prosperity.
The encouragement that agriculture has met with in an increased demand for the staple produce of the county, and remunerative prices will call for an improved system of tilling the fields. ”

“ The first court house in London was constructed of flat logs, and on the ground floor was a log partition to separate the jail from the jailer's room. The court room above was reached by stairs outside. This was followed by the erection of a two story frame building upon the same square where the present court house stands, but closer to the street. In one end of the first floor were placed two cells, which were rendered more secure by being surrounded with logs, from which the building acquired the distinctive title of "The Old Log Court House." ”

“ The principle includes the realization of all that the century stands for—union, equal rights, progress, justice, humanity.
It is my task to say a brief foreword on the progress of Canada and especially the county of Elgin. The beginning of the century found Ontario almost an unbroken wilderness. Rare and scanty were the clearings here and there along Lakes Erie and Ontario, and on the great rivers. The winter express from Detroit to York or Niagara, made its way along the lonely forest path. ”

“ The provision made for women during a forced attendance at court shows how far we have advanced on one particular line. It is a grand building of the utilitarian type, and erected on such lines that great beauty may be discovered by a casual glance. I want to say a word in praise of the architect who designed the building and supervised its erection to the satisfaction of the Building Committee. ”

“ The encouragement given to manufactures by the increased consumption, justifies enterprise in an increase of fabrics; and all these call forth the necessary supply of improved and cultivated minds—so that enquiry is awakened, and the benefit of our schools and colleges is every year becoming more and more appreciated and will be so much better attended and encouraged, that they will themselves improve in their standard and tone, so that Canada in one or two generations will equal, if not successfully rival, parts of the world which are now considered amongst the freest and most contented. ”

“ I cannot close without reference to His Honor Judge Hughes and his long judicial career in the County of Elgin. He opened the old court house forty-six years ago; he has been spared to open the new. In the first courts he grasped by the hand the men who planted civilization on the shores of Lake Erie. He has lived to grasp by the hand their children and grand-children. ”

“ The architect and contractors have done their part well; but the credit is mainly and beyond all due to the public spirit of the people of Elgin, who were resolved that nothing short of best would satisfy them, and who were willing to be taxed to a reasonable extent upon the sole condition that the building should be well and honestly built, be a credit to the county and answer its purpose. ”

“ The thriving city of St. Thomas, the enterprising and flourishing town of Aylmer, and numerous promising villages, advancing with rapid strides in magnitude and importance, form centres of population, where a century ago the primeval silence was unbroken, save by the footfall of the Mississaga ranging the woods in pursuit of game. [Pg 3]
It was during the first decades of the century that the pioneers came. ”

“ It establishes a milestone marking the progress of a people who first planted civilization in this county a century ago. The burning of the old Court House necessitated the building of a new one, and this gave the present council the opportunity to erect a building characteristic of the people, and of the arts and sciences of this particular period. The old court house was emblematic of the pioneers of this county. ”

“ Life has been made more interesting. Travel is easier and cheaper, and mankind has become acquainted with the world it inhabits. The stars have been discovered. They have been weighed and analysed. The human mind has expanded with wider knowledge. ”

“ We can educate our children almost entirely at the public expense, and place them within reach of the highest honors that their talents entitle them to, or that the country can bestow. The time has gone by for those honors to belong only to a class ”

“ In its important examples, all municipal art should be at once a decoration and a commemoration—it must beautify and should celebrate; thus becoming a double stimulus, first to the aesthetic sense, second to the sense of patriotism.—Blashfield. ”

“ D. W. Smith, in his Gazetteer of 1799, states: "That there is a good Gaol and Court House," in Sandwich, "situated a little below the fort of Detroit, on the east side of the river."
The Munro House, 1800-1802.
The U. E. Loyalists settlement of Norfolk commenced in 1793, and in 1798 the rapid increase in population was recognized by a division of the Western District and the formation of three Counties, Norfolk, Oxford and Middlesex to be known as the London District. This was organized by the appointment of a general commission of the peace and the necessary officials. ”

“ From them the present population is largely sprung. Dunwich was the first to be settled. A few immigrants from the Eastern States settled near Port Talbot. Then the overflow of settlement from Long Point made itself felt in Southwold, Yarmouth, Malahide and Bayham. Before 1820 the Highland settlements began in Aldborough and Dunwich. The wanderings of the Kildonan settlers from Hudson's Bay to Red River, and thence eastward to Upper Canada and southward, to the settlements on Lake Erie, add a tragic episode to the story of the pioneers of West Elgin. ”

“ The County Council met on the 27th of July, to receive report presented by Architect Darrach, who estimated the cost of plans submitted at about $33,000. Opposition was offered by some members of the Council, who were desirous of limiting the cost of building to $20,000, but the architect's plans were adopted. A by-law was passed appointing a special building committee, and authorizing the Warden to sign contracts. The architect's fee was fixed at $1,200 for the whole work. ”

“ That after taking into consideration the advance in price of material and labor—that the buildings have been erected in as judicious and economical a manner as the circumstances would admit, and that the beautiful workmanship and design is not surpassed by any building in Canada west. ”

“ The building to be erected on a foundation of white oak timber squared, the same to be sound and of sufficient thickness, the building to be shingled and to have two sufficient floors, an entry eight feet wide to be made from the front door across one end of the lower story, from which winding stairs are to be erected to ascend to the second story ”

“ They are onerous, responsible, and will be at times arduous and disagreeable. I depend upon the forbearance of those with whom I shall be brought in contact, and claim their assistance and advice when necessity shall suggest it. ”

“ In 1838 a new jail was proposed, and in the years 1843 and 1844 the present jail and court house in London was completed at a cost of £8,500. The latter resembles the castle of Malahide near Dublin, the birth place of Col. ”