The Thomson Settlement

In Memory of David Thomson

There are three plaques about this settlement.
All can be seen on this page.

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted March, 2004

In this park at 1007 Brimley Road a bit north of Lawrence Avenue is an Ontario Heritage Trust plaque near the parking lot. Here's what it says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.757733 -79.25495

The first permanent resident in Scarborough Township was David Thomson, a Scot who came to Upper Canada with his brother Andrew in 1796. Each was granted 160 ha and David built a log cabin on his property that year. He was soon joined by other settlers, including his brothers Andrew and Archibald. The Thomsons, who were stone masons, worked on the first Parliament Buildings at York (Toronto). A road connecting the settlement with York was opened by 1799, and a sawmill was built by each of the brothers. A Presbyterian church, the first in the township, was built in 1819 on David's land and became the centre of the prospering 'Thomson Settlement'.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted October, 2006

The other plaque is not too far north, on St. Andrews Road in the cemetery of St. Andrew's Church (Scarborough) on a cairn erected by the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority is 1957. Here's what the plaque says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.759968 -79.252281

The Thomson Settlement, the first in Scarborough, consisted of early mills & homesteads centred around this point. The library, fostered by the Thomsons and used by the Mechanics Institute from 1878, was housed in its present building in 1896.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted June, 2008

Also in the cemetery, in the southwest corner, is a plaque erected in 1996 by the Scarborough Historical Society. Here's what it says:

In memory of David Thomson of Westerkirk Dumfries-shire Scotland who was the First Settler in Scarborough, where his was the first land cleared. He had arrived in Upper Canada in 1796 and died on the 22nd of June 1834, aged 71, leaving his wife, eleven children and 53 grandchildren.

More
Towns and Villages
Scarborough plaques

Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted March 30, 2011
Hi I was wondering if you have any information on Robert Davidson born in 1844, who is buried at the Thompson park cemetery.

Posted March 18, 2010
i have historical documentation re; thomson family northeasthope township perth county. in abundance please respond as this is family history. i am hoping to find some sort of connection with a adam thomson.thankyou. this info i have dates back tothe late 1800's

Here's where you can write a comment for this page.

Note: If you wish to ask me a question, please use the email link in the menu.

Note: Comments are moderated. Yours will appear on this page within 24 hours
(usually much sooner).

Note: As soon as the comment is posted, a link to it will appear on the home page in the section "Here are the 10 latest plaque pages with a new comment added by a visitor to this site."