Captain William Gilkison (1777-1833) was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, and emigrated to North America in 1796. He served with the British forces in the War of 1812 as an assistant quartermaster-general and, in 1832, purchased some 14,000 acres of land in Nichol Township. He selected this area at the falls of the Grand River as a town site for his proposed settlement and named it Elora. It was laid out by Lewis Burwell, deputy provincial land surveyor, late in 1832, and the following year, Gilkison established a sawmill and a general store. The founder of Elora died in April 1833 before the full results of his foresight and enterprise were achieved.

Location

Near the cenotaph in Town Square, Geddes Street, Elora

Themes

• Communities
• Industry and trade
• People