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1 Introduction The Rawdon Township Transcriptions by Lewis Zandbergen President, Stirling-Rawdon Historical So­ ciety Rawdon Township was named in honour severely impacting the availably of rye of Francis Rawdon Hastings, 1754-1826, for distilling purposes. However, by 1806, "a gallant soldier, an eloquent senator, and a after a recovery in hay crops once again al- popular statesman." Upon his father's death lowed the growing of rye wheat destined to This booklet is the result of a project which in 1793 Francis added the titles 2nd Earl of produce the amber nectar, several distilleries will eventually see the entire assessment Moira and Baron Rawdon of Rawdon, York were in full production, rolls of Rawdon Township published for At this time the cluster of dwellings and family historians. businesses around the creek on the border between Rawdon and Sidney Townships was known variously as Rawdon Mills, Fidlar Mills (after Edward Fidlar, a prosper­ ous mill owner), and even Seldon Mills for Seldon Hawley, a lumberman. Throughout the early years of the 1800s settlers continued to arrive in Rawdon Why the transcribing project was begun. The fall of 2003 saw the Stirling-Rawdon Public Library's celebration of 100 years of service to the residents of Stirling and area. A project to commemorate this special occasion, a room dedicated to historical and genealogical pursuits, was initiated by Head Librarian and CEO Chris Faiers and Stirling-Rawdon Public Library Board Chairman/Stirling-Rawdon Historical So­ ciety president Lewis Zandbergen in 2002. After more than a year of planning, renova­ tions and the acquisition of computers, CD ROMs, a new microfilm reader printer and reels of data, the grand opening was held during Library Week in October of 2003. Almost immediately those responsible for the changes were asked if the 1851 Raw­ don Township census records would be available. Persons involved in genealogical pursuits know that the 1851 census for the township can not be found--anywhere; it simply has not come to light. County, after his name. Upon his mother's However, it was known that Assessment passing in 1808 he also assumed the Bar- Rolls for the township did indeed exist and onies of Hastings, Hungerford, Botreaux Records in existence were probably close to any census records and De Moleyns. A complete account of the The record books for assessment purposes the group could acquire. An exploratory life of Francis Rawdon can be found in the are large (roughly 22 inches wide and 18 trip to the former Rawdon Township offices history of the Rawdon Family compiled by inches high when opened) and some are in vault in Spring Brook uncovered a virtual Stan Rawdon in 1990. A copy of this fasci- very frail condition; as years go by they will "gold mine" of records, both assessment and nating history can be found in the Stirling- continue to disintegrate therefore we are tax rolls as well as several records from the Rawdon Public Library's Local History and also compiling a digital archive. 1860s which provided information about Genealogy Room, militia in the area. A committee was struck under the Stirling- Rawdon Historical Society "umbrella" and Short history of Stirling-Rawdon to 1858. sessment for taxes is the 1838 record which plans were made to transcribe those records Rawdon Township and the village of Stir- named the owner/occupant of the land and using a data base set up by members Barb ling shared their history until 1858 when the gave details about the lot and concession and Bob Dawes. Permission to transcribe village became incorporated as a separate number, as well as enumerating the numbers given by Township of Stirling-Rawdon entity. The settlement of Stirling was made of cattle, horses and value of the property. Council and work began in early 2004. It is possible through the abundant water supply These records are filled with names familiar expected to last for quite some time. (NOTE: from a creek (now Rawdon Creek) which to most researchers, Hubble, Hoard, Finkle, Volunteer transcribers are always welcome.) powered early mills. Lake, Horton and others. In 1797 John Bleecker and Caleb Gilbert Present members of the Transcription team Where did the name Rawdon originate, were granted Lot 11 Concession 1 in Raw- are Bob Dawes, Barb Dawes, Pat Marshall W. Hambly first described Rawdon Town- don Township. In 1803 Joshua Goldsmith and Lewis Zandbergen. Each person brings ship in his diary of 1794; he was the person was licensed to operate a still with a capacity different strengths to the project hired to survey the area. However, the name of 53 gallons. Samuel Rosebush became the Rawdon already appears on a map outlining second still owner and was licensed in 1804; the Crawford Purchase of 1783, and ap- in 1804 Rosebush was listed as the only dis- We have only scratched the surface in pears (along with Huntingdon, Hungerford, tiller in the county. this transcription work. There are many as- Sidney and Thurlow) on a map of Upper The summer of 1805 must have been a sessment and tax rolls to be completed. As Canada dated April 12, 1800. An official dry one for little hay was harvested. Farm- stated earlier, more transcribers are always date of the naming isn't known. ers grew rye instead to feed their animals welcome. Township. By 1821 the population stood at around 200. By 1829 it had jumped to 329. Houses and small farms began dotting the countryside of Rawdon Township. Descen­ dants of United Empire Loyalists moved north as the lands to the south filled; in the 1830s immigrants from Scotland, England and Ireland arrived escaping famine and unrest in their home countries boosting the numbers of setders; between 1830 and 1835 the population of the township had almost doubled from 335 in the former to 625 in the latter. By 1839 residents of the township numbered 1,067. Upon the severance of vil­ lage and township in 1858 the population stood at around 4,000. Francis Rawdon Hastings, 1754- 1826, 2nd Earl of Moira and Baron Rawdon of Rawdon, York County, Baron of Hastings, Hungerford, Botreaux and De Moleyns. Information is carried right across the two pages and we have chosen to print the records in this format The first basic as- was