The Loss of the 'Speedy'

Photo by Alan L Brown - May 20, 2004

Plaque Location

The County of Northumberland
The Municipality of Brighton
In Presqu'ile Provincial Park, in front of the Lighthouse Interpretive Centre at the far end of the park's main road

Plaque Text

In 1804 an Indian, Ogetonicut, arrested near York, was accused of murdering a trader, John Sharp, at Lake Scugog. The trial was to be held here in the projected, but never completed, district town of the Newcastle District. On October 7, the schooner "Speedy" sailed from York. Her passengers, in addition to the prisoner, included Solicitor-General Robert Gray, Judge Thomas Cochrane, High Constable John Fisk, and other participants in the trial. The ship appeared briefly off Presqu'ile on the 8th, before vanishing forever. The loss of so many prominent persons was a severe blow to the small colony.

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