We have a street named after a longtime Milton volunteer firefighter and a former Lieutenant-General for the then Province of 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 Chilver Heights and Mortimer Crescent. This week, we’re looking at Clarriage Court and Downes Jackson Heights.
Starting alphabetically with Clarriage, Challinor talks about the man who helped a lot of Milton residents on their worst days.
Ivan Clarriage’s volunteer work was appreciated to such a high degree that he became the District Captain for volunteer firefighters. He was also once the President of the Ontario Firefighters Association.
Our second street this week is Jackson Downes Heights. Challinor says the man once took over a little colony then known as the Province of Canada.
He notes that, at the time, the Province of Canada would have been a grouping of what is now Ontario and Quebec.
Downes Jackson’s main goal was to develop the colony’s army – which he achieved. He was then summoned home right before his sudden death in the summer of 1845. His body was buried near his home in what is now Sorel-Tracy, Quebec.
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.
