Mississauga.com
- Jan Dean
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- Dec 10, 2012
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History buff. Matthew Wilkinson is the historian at Heritage Mississauga. He’ll be speaking this Thursday about the War of 1812. Photo supplied__________________ - This year was a busy one for Matthew Wilkinson — the historian at Heritage Mississauga has given his Call to Arms presentation about three dozen times this year, the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.
But each time he does it, Wilkinson, who has spent three years researching the city’s connections to the war, tailors the presentation to a specific area and the audience.
For the Streetsville Historical Society on Thursday night, he’ll be zeroing in on who, how, why and when people in Streetsville were involved in the war.
“Streetsville comes out of the War of 1812,” said Wilkinson. “It was only after the war had ended that Timothy Street, essentially a refugee, founded the town.”
Another connection was Joshua Pollard, a resident of Toronto Township, as Streetsville was then known. Pollard, who joined the militia and fought on the British side, wrote that he carried the dead general’s hat from the Queenston Heights battlefield. Since the only general killed that day was Isaac Brock, it seems fair to conclude it was Brock’s hat he carried. He also named a son Joshua Brock Pollard.
Wilkinson describes these people as “unremarkable in their service.”
His presentation starts at 7:30 p.m. in Room 102 at Specialty Care, 4350 Mississauga Rd. S.
Everyone is welcome.
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