Heritage York Research Guide
William Cooper
of Cooper's Mills and Lambton Mills
Owner and operator of Cooper's Mills, later to be renamed Lambton Mills, William was one of the first millers involved in the creation of the town. He was a polymath, taking on roles in a number of very different fields across York (Toronto), not limited to: coroner, innkeeper, schoolmaster, coffee shop owner, and road officer for the Humber River area. For more information on mills, please visit Mills.
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Some brief information on William Cooper is detailed below. To view a full list of the primary sources found on Cooper during the research process for this guide,
please click here
A Miller on the Humber
William Cooper was born in 1761 in Bath, England. The earliest known record of his presence in York, Ontario, is a land certificate issued to William Cooper in 1793 within the Nassau district (later Home district, including York), cited below:
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Land Boards of Upper Canada, 1765-1804, item 3180
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William first settled in York, likely within the present day downtown area. In 1794, he would sell a lot to Abner Miles. To view a larger version of the image, please open the citation link.
Below is the citation and transcription of this sale (including original errors).
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"York Nov 27, 1794
This is to Sertify that I William Cooper in consideration of one yoke
of steers two years old and upwards with yoke and staple and ring therto
belonging, and one bell, likewise one
barell of salmon to be delivered at the
mill and one barell of flour - or cash
to the amount that in consideration of the
above have sold and demised to him (Miles) his heirs and asignes for ___ that dwelling house standing on lott
No. 6 in the county of York with lott and all
the boards slabs and shingles therto belong furthermore that I am to look for the above item but if not found the above. Miles is by this writing obligated to make the same good by the first day of april 1795 in ___therof
we have signed our hands
this twenty seventh day of November 1794"
At some point in the first few years of the 1800s, Cooper bought land on the Humber River, where he would soon develop a series of mills. The area on the east side of the river would become known as Cooper's Mills until a change of ownership in the 1840s (see below).
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William is elected as an overseer of highways for the Humber roads in the Township of York, 1808:
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William continued to maintain a presence throughout York, with varying businesses and local positions. Below is cited an announcement for his purchase of Merchant's Wharf, (near present-day Sugar Beach), on the lakeshore, in 1828. Today, the area is still called Merchant's Wharf, and Cooper St remains, between Queens Quay E and Lake Shore Blvd E.
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The Canadian Freeman - Apr 24, 1828. Google News, p. 4.
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When William passed away in 1840, his son Thomas would lease the land and its structures, including Cooper's Mills, to W. P. Howland. Linked below is a transcription of the leasing agreement from 1840 between Thomas Cooper and W. P. Howland for land and structures on both sides of the Humber River. Cooper's Mills then becomes Lambton Mills, with the name change also applying to the village when Howland renames the mills. (However, it would take several years for the village on the west side of the river to also adopt this name, as it had long been called Milton Mills).
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Thomas Cooper passed away in October, 1848, leaving behind a wife, Anna Maria Cooper, and an "illegitimate son", Thomas George, who at the time of the writing of the will, worked at his father's factory along the Humber River. Below is a transcription of the portion of Thomas' will that mentions his wife and son:
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Transcription of the last will and testament of Thomas Cooper of York, 1843 (partial)