A former Prime Minister and a former Governor General, both played a role in English/French relations for Canada.
Each week, we speak with Milton Historical Society (MHS) 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 Bowell Crescent and Grey Landing. This week, we’re focusing on Chretien Street and Gosford Crescent.
Starting alphabetically with Chretien, Challinor talks about the former Prime Minister’s legacy.
In 1993, Jean Chretien beat the first and only female Prime Minister, Kim Campbell, to become the country’s leader. Challinor says the win came off years of Canadians souring on the previous Conservative regime. He notes that this happens all the time in politics, and will continue to happen moving forward. Politics is a cyclical industry, and most leaders have a finite amount of time in their role because of this.
Many remember the 1993 election for the attack ads ran against Chretien, which criticized his face and his previous battle with Bell’s palsy. The ads have become infamous for how they backfired and affected Campbell’s campaign.
Moving on to our second street this week, Challinor says Gosford Crescent is named for an Irishman who served two years as Governor General in the early 1800s.
Gosford was followed by Lord Durham, known as ‘Radical Jack’. Durham seemingly struggled in the role and was quickly replaced.
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.
