The Population Of The City Of Hamilton In 1850 Was 10,312,
And Now, In 1852, It Is Said To Exceed 13,000.
In 1838 the then
TOWN of Hamilton contained a population of only 3116.
When I first
visited that place in 1832 it was a dull insignificant village,
which might, I suppose, contain a population of 1200 or 1500. I can
hardly describe my surprise on revisiting it in 1849, to behold a
city grown up suddenly, as if by enchantment, with several handsome
churches and public and private buildings of cut stone, brought
from the fine freestone quarries in the precipitous mountains or
tableland behind the city.
Little need be said of the capital of the province, the city of
Toronto, the progress of which has been less remarkable in the
same period, for the obvious reason that its merits were sooner
appreciated or known by the emigrants from Europe. The population
of Toronto, then called Little York, in 1826 was 1677, while that
of the now city of Kingston was 2329. In 1838 the population
of Toronto was 12,571, and that of Kingston 3877. In 1850 the
population of Toronto was 25,166, and that of Kingston 10,097.
These few facts will enable the reader to form some idea of the
comparative progress of different towns in Upper Canada, under
circumstances similar in some cases and different in others. When
it is considered that all of these last-mentioned towns have for
many years reaped the full benefit of the influx of emigration and
capital from the mother country, while the shores of the Bay of
Quinte were little known or appreciated, it will appear that the
progress of Belleville has been at least equal to that of any of
them.
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