Born of Loyalist parents, Burwell became a deputy-surveyor in 1809 and was instructed to lay out the Talbot Road for settlement. He was granted 600 acres of land in Southwold Township where he settled in 1815. A close associate of Col. Thomas Talbot, Burwell carried out extensive surveys in southwestern Upper Canada which prepared the way for settlement. He served in the War of 1812 as lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Middlesex Militia, was a justice of the peace, and for some 20 years represented this area in the legislative assembly. This community, named in his honour, was laid out by Burwell in 1830.

Location

At the municipal office, Pitt and Erieus Streets, Port Burwell

Themes

• Communities
• People
• Politics and law