VILLAGE HISTORY History taken from the Ninetieth Anniversary Book of St. Matthews Anglican Church Motto: "Cherish the past and make the present worth remembering;". E.P.4. The site for Aldershot was determined when the waters of Lake Ontario receded from the rocky escarpment known as the Waterdown Mountain, leaving a sandy plain from the sand-bar at Burlington Beach to Carroll's Point and the Royal Botanical Rock Garden. There were no settlers in the district until 1783 when David Fonger arrived from Europe and received a grant of land on Lot 5, Concession 1, on the Plains Road, now the King's Highway No. 2 from Toronto to Hamilton. The Governor-in-Chief for Canada, Sir Frederick Haldimand, in 1783 appointed a Surveyor General to open up tracts of land for the new settlers who sought peace in Canada after the Seven Years War with France, and the American War of Independence (1766-1781). Deputy Surveyors were appointed in townships in Upper Canada when the province was divided in 1791. In the district now known as North Wentworth, there were three townships, Beverly, East and West Flamborough. In his 1791 survey map Augustus Jones marked four concessions and the Broken Front on Waterdown Heights and the Plains. Concessions were 50 chains or five eights of a mile apart. Each concession was divided into seven lots, and the Broken Front between the Plains Road and the northern shore of Burlington Bay was sub-divided. Recent purchasers of land in this Broken Front section have been puzzled by the term which indicates an uneven frontage on the bay instead of the five eights of a mile depth. There were two concessions between the Plains Road and the escarpment, and two in the Waterdown district toward Lake Medad, named for the owner of the farm, Medad Parsons, who was born when Biblical names were favoured by pious parents. On October 25th, 1791, the first survey map was made showing what is now known as Burlington Bay or Lake Geneva. The No. 2 Highway or Plains Road was on Indian trail. The Plains Road ran from the boundary line between Wentworth and Halton counties, originally the boundary of the Mississaugua [Mississauga] Reserve and called the Centre Road when it marked the division between East and West York Riding and ended at Burlington Heights. In July 1792 Ontario was divided into counties and Lake Geneva was re-named Burlington Bay by Governor Simcoe. In 1793 the governor named the Westerly lot Flamboro [Flamborough] and four years later a survey was made called East and West Flamboro. Also during this year, John Green built a grist mill at the place now called Greensville which was named after him in 1850. In 1798 Ontario was redivided into 22 counties and 9 districts, Flamboro and Beverly being the home counties.