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ADMAST 'Admaston township was established in 1843. In the origin of the name of this township the home associanns of the Governor, Sir Charles Bagel, appear -â€" Admaston was named after a little village lying near Eccleshall and Newport, in his native Staffordshire, England. 'An old map of 1836 shows I the . â€"Fâ€"â€"dâ€" “mast n as Mumme- 1n the ' mm ormanve days of Renfrew County, British-born survey- ors were usually employed to chart the new municipalities. Frequently they were permitt- ed or invited to name these local townships. Thus ' - maston the North and Sour c au ton mes para eing e onnec ere River perpet- uate e name surveyor Iohn McNaughton, who made the original survey of this and several other townships. The surve of Admaston township was commence in 1838 and completed in 1842. The Land Office was located on the south east comer of Lot 1, Concession I. > A new survey was complet- ed in 1847 of lots in Admasâ€" I ton and Bromley townshipsl fronting on the Bonnecherel _River from the District Line' to the head of the Fourth Chute. There is a photostatic copy of this surveyon file in the Admaston municipal office. Long narrow lots were surveyed on both sides of the river and the road allowance of one chain (66') surveyed at the ends of the lots were named the North and South ‘ McNaughton Lines. From the Department of Municipal Affairs, Admajtnu‘ was first mentioned in Canâ€" ada Statutes, 1845, Chapter 7, listed along with Blithfield, Bagot, Bromley, Horton, Mc- Nab, Pakenham, Pembroke, Ross and Stafford as compris- ing the County of Renfrew. It was incorporated under the Baldwin Act effective January 1, 1850 and the District of Bathurst passed a by-law wherein Admaston, Eromley and Blithfield were joined, Jnd set the place for the first meeting for election of coun- cillors to be “the place where the meeting of the township of Admaston was last held." Thus it was held where the present municipal building is located. In later years every second meeting bf Admaston council was held in Shamrock School to give ratepayers in that part of the municipality an Opportunity to attend. . of the township of Blithfield ON TOWNSHIP MUNI C I PAL HALL ‘Tn ‘1850 a memorial from reeves A maston presented to Lanark and Renfrew Counties United. It dealt with the separation from such United townships. There was also a Memorial on the subject. of separation and division of the township of Bromley into rural wards. County Council recommendâ€" ed that this not be effective until the Collector‘s Roll for the year was taken. Following the separation in 1851, Ad- maston was IV] e into ive â€"Tâ€"dTâ€"fl. was s an t reeve was chosen romt e eecte coun- cillors at the first meeting each year. The Municigal Budding was erece In e S a 81' am DU 35. ere was one room on each side of the front door. One partition has been removed and the other is used to store records and it serves as a polling booth. A "Sh Fair" was held in e eary days in this building, with one room fo- baking exhibits, one for sewing and knitting and the main room for grain, fruits and vegetables. Cattle and horses were shown in a ring across the road. This was across County ,Road 5 from the.present McDougall post office. Fair dates are un- known but R “I Brown, born in 1873, had a faint recollec- tion of attending the Fair as a small boy. ‘t The first settlers arrived in the area designated now as Admaston towns'hi about 1530. They camc. u the Bonnechere River, imbed the Pinnacle at R nfrew and eci e to settle along the Fourth and Fifth Concessions iwhich were aflame' with the autumn colors of the maple trees growing there. They realized that whe re_ hard- . woods grew there vvas fertile isoil. Land along the Bonne- chere River had beJin burned over and there wa: nothing growing there but small pop- lars among the “ZRampikes” left standing after; the fire. This section of the: township is still referred to as "The Brule”. These settlers of S‘cotch descent canine from me Lanark and Perth districts where their relatives had set- tled. An Irish settlement was established in the south wes- tern part of the townil-n‘p with the hamlets being named with such Irish names as Niount St Patrick and Shamrock The Opeongo was 0 ned as a Colonization llload in 1854. Many tavenis and “stopping places" were op- ' crated along this historic line -iri Admnston townsh‘ip. Cul- hnne’s at Fer lea -was the ‘ last to close. A woollen mill l was built at this place by l Ephraim Reid who came from Scotland and n ed the ‘ place for his for-me home. Here woollen hla ets and i homespun mate ‘ ' were l ‘ woven. The mill was burned three times and rebuilt. The dam was built on the creek leading -from Reid's Lake to the Bonnechere Riv- er. The last time it was re. built by Donald Campbell who operates a sawmill at Ferguslea. 1 The first settlers transpareâ€" ed their supplies along the Opeongo Line which, 'led through Shamrock (n w on Highway 132) in the winter to the shanties while‘ their wives and children remained on the farms to care For the livestock. There were. real hardships suffered by these people in the “Winter bf the Deep Snow". The South Mc- Naughton Road is presumed to have been the first road cut throu h the woods in ‘: the towns 'p. From excerpts of 1861 council minutes one learns that councillors elected were William Gibbons, Pieter Campbell, George Brown, Thomas Gonnan and Thomas VVhelan with W Gibbons as reeve. George Brown was appointed as clerk at a salarr of 18 £ 6 s. llzéd. Auditors William S Thompson and James German received one pound each. Collector â€"â€" John German, 11 £, Assessor â€"David Graham, 9 :9. tax rate was set at two and one. half pence on the pound. Boundaries of public school sections 2., 3 and 4 were al~ tered and the new section No. 7 was established.