The Early Riverfront Townships

The Early Riverfront Townships. St. George’s Square Commemorative Park. The first block of land in Lambton County and the first township to be established within the bounds of the present St. Clair Township was purchased from the Chippewa First Nation by the Crown in 1796. It was named Shawanese Township and was known by alternate spellings. The township was partially surveyed in 1811 for Lord Selkirk's Baldoon Settlement, and fully surveyed and established in 1820. Shawanese Township was renamed Sombra by Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, by 1820. A veteran of the Napoleonic Peninsular War in Spain, he felt that "Sombra" , the Spanish word for "shade", best described the dense forest canopy that shaded the ground as a sombrero would. The area north of Sombra Township and south of Lake Huron was known alternatively as either the St. Clair District or Township. Moore Township was surveyed and established in 1829 when St. Clair District was divided into Moore and Sarnia Townships. Moore Township and Mooretown were named after General Sir John Moore who was killed in the battle of La Coruña, Spain in 1809. In 1823 Corunna was surveyed as a possible location for the capital of the united provinces of Upper Canada (now Ontario) and Lower Canada (now Québec). The centre square of Corunna was to be set aside for the Parliament buildings and was named St. George's Square in honour of the patron saint of England.