Do you know what a poppy on a street sign in Milton means?
Each week, we speak with Milton Historical Society President John Challinor II to gather information and details about the namesakes of our roads. If you weren’t aware, he and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, writing Milton Streets back in 2007.
Recently, we covered Higgins Drive and Malick Street. This week, we’re focusing on two streets with poppies on their signs: Harwood Drive and McLellan Crescent.
The poppy is representative of the namesake having been a veteran. Many streets in our town honour the Miltonians who served.
Starting with Harwood, Challinor notes that he was just 19-years-old when he died overseas fighting in World War I.
He was born in London, England. Challinor notes that Harwood likely saw the war as a chance to help defend his home country.
As a result of his death, Harwood and his family received the British Royal Medal and Victory Medal. They were also given the British Memorial Cross.
While he lived in Milton, Harwood worked as farm labour and spent most of his time in Omagh. He joined the military in 1915 and died just two years later. His body was buried in France, and his name is on the cenotaph in Milton’s Victoria Park.
Many soldiers who fought in the wars were young. Many lied about their age in order to get into the military to help fight in the cause. Challinor reflects when he was just 19-years-old and notes that one must have a lot of courage and bravery to decide to fight in the war.
Moving on to our next name, Challinor says McLellan Crescent is named after a Milton butcher who went overseas to fight in World War II. He died in a plane crash while dropping leaflets over enemy territory.
The aircraft they were in ran out of gas and the plane went down as a result.
McLellan was married to Anne Drennan, who worked as the organist at the Milton St. Paul’s United Church. His body is buried in England. His obituary can be found here thanks to the work done by the Milton Historical Society.
If you’re looking to understand how Milton’s streets are named, you should check out the book written by Challinor and Dills. Published by the Milton Historical Society back in 2007, it sold out in about six weeks and has since been long out of print. That said, according to Challinor, you can still find a copy at the Milton Public Library. With nearly 15-years having passed since the initial publication, and the extensive town growth in that time, an updated book is likely to come.
You can also take a walk with the late Jim Dills down Milton’s Main Street in 2002.
If you have a suggestion on what you’d like to learn about next week, let us know! We’re currently working on names that we find interesting. You can message our Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram page, or even email us at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that we find interesting.
If you have a news tip or story idea, you can now send us a heads up via email at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. If you’d like to get ahold of me personally, shoot me a message at Cameron.Wilkinson@LocalRadio.ca. We’re in the business of content creation, so no idea is a bad idea.
