History of Richmond Hill, Ontario - Miles' Hill Becomes Richmond Hill

Miles' Hill Becomes Richmond Hill

Sometime in the 1820s, Miles' Hill was renamed Richmond Hill. The oft repeated story is that it was so named after a visit to the area by Governor General of British North America Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond on July 13, 1819. However, another well repeated story is that the area's first schoolteacher, Benjamin Barnard, was from a Richmond Hill in England, and taught all his classes the folk song The Lass of Richmond Hill because he was nostalgic for his old home. The popularity of the song with locals may account for the new name. Most authorities, including the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names report the honouring of Charles Lennox as the origin of the name.

The Richmond Hill settlement continued to expand and mature as a farming community, especially with the improving condition of Yonge Street that led to daily stagecoaches coming to Richmond Hill from York and Holland Landing. By 1828, Richmond Hill featured a general store, schoolhouse, church, tavern, blacksmith's and carpenter's shop along Yonge Street. The population at this time was growing by nine percent a year. On January 6, 1836 James Sinclair was appointed postmaster for Richmond Hill. This established the name "Richmond Hill" in a government approved way, and the name began to appear on maps. The newer immigrants and new generations increased land values and built larger houses with more elaborate and better finished estates. Anna Jameson came through the area in the fall of 1837 and remarked that the area had "some of the finest land and most prosperous estates in Upper Canada"