A search of the first East Flamborough Township Land Registry Abstract Index showed that George Baker’s purchase of Lot 8, Concession 5, East Flamborough Township in 1822 was conducted without the request for a mortgage to cover the cost.

To discover who George Baker was and whether he was the first of the family to arrive in Upper Canada it was necessary to turn to another source – the Flamborough Archives.

The Archives holds a vast array of family records, both private and public, relating to the former Flamborough townships. Through these, a small “picture” of who George Baker was emerged.

He was not the first member of the family to arrive in the township, as early records suggest George’s parents, Abraham Baker and Esther Yake from Pennsylvania were probably late Loyalists, entering Upper Canada as the 19th century began.

The family first settled on the 4th Concession in about 1801, but were forced to relinquish ownership temporarily after the War of 1812 concluded because their application had been mishandled by the Land Board at Niagara – this despite Abraham’s repeated applications to obtain ownership had failed and he had instead requested a lease of the property.

Just before the outbreak of hostilities that would become the War of 1812, on March 17, 1812, Abraham Baker submitted another petition before the Hon. Isaac Brock, stating he had taken the Oath of Allegiance and resided in the province of Upper Canada peacefully since coming from Pennsylvania. This time, he was recommended for a lease and now believing he could continue to reside, he enlisted as a Private in the 2nd York Militia. Only after the hostilities were over, were the family made aware that they did not have a lease, the paperwork being lost in the chaos and confusion leading up the the war.

With the status of the family’s property uncertain, George Baker, the eldest son, moved northwards in the sparsely settled township.

When he selected Lot 8, it was probably because it included a section of the fast flowing Grindstone Creek, for within two years he had built a small sawmill and a log house for a family of six sons and two daughters. His untimely death Aug 18, 1836, left a wife and a young family resulting in the necessity of a will.

Sylvia Wray is the former archivist with the Flamborough Archives. She can be reached through the Archives at archives@flamboroughhistory.com.

This article was originally published in the Flamborough Review, 21 August 2014.