The Queen's Bush Settlement, 1820-1867
Text from the plaque
In the early 19th century the vast unsettled area between Waterloo County and Lake Huron was know as the "Queen's Bush". More than 1,500 free and formerly enslaved Blacks pioneered scattered farms along the Peel and Wellesley Township border, with Glen Allan, Hawkesville and Wallenstein as important centres. Working together, these industrious and self-reliant settlers built churches, schools, and a strong and vibrant community life. American missionaries taught local Black children at the Mount Hope and Mount Pleasant schools. In the 1840s the government ordered the district surveyed and many of the settlers could not afford to purchase the land they had laboured so hard to clear. By 1850 migration out of the Queen's Bush had begun. Today African Canadians whose ancestors pioneered the Queen's Bush are represented in communities across Ontario.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The County of Wellington
The Township of Mapleton
In a park, just west of Road 45 crossing the Conestogo River
5.4 km from Road 86 via
north on Road 12 and west on Road 45
N 43 39.278 W 80 42.169
Recorded October 2008. Check current access before visiting.
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Where it stands
Visitors' notes
February 1, 2015
I am a resident of Wellesley and am currently researching the settlement, and to answer one of the questions, the name technically meant the whole area up to the lake, but the actual farmers settled in Wellesley and Woolwich townships. Anything above that was bush until after they all had left.
August 12, 2014
Those wishing to learn more about the Queen's Bush may wish to consult a book by Linda Brown-Kubisch: "The Queen's Bush Settlement: Black Pioneers 1839 - 1865", published in 2004 by Natural Heritage Books, Toronto, now part of Dundurn Press; go to www.dundurn.com. The book is also available via Chapters/Indigo. It may also be available at your local public library.
February 12, 2014
Did the Queen's Bush incorporate all the British unsettled lands west of the boundary of today's Simcoe County, over to Lake Huron, north of Waterloo and Wellington Counties and north to Georgian Bay, or does the term Queen's Bush only refer to those areas into which our African Canadian's first migrated?
July 14, 2012
I am interested in the parameters of the Queen's Bush? Where can I find this information? Thank you.
February 11, 2011
It's refreshing to see "African Canadian" used properly, here as a description of a modern race of African descent which holds Canadian citizenship. The term is often misused in opposition to 'African American', in an attempt to differentiate between Blacks in what became Canada from Blacks in what became the U.S. The word 'American' refers to a continent, not U.S. citizenship, and is an inclusive term that can be applied to historic or modern groups in both countries (and other American nations). 'African Canadian' is a subset of the 'African American' umbrella. -Wayne
February 9, 2011
Thank you for this site. I have enjoyed browsing today and will return - T.S. Chatsworth Twp