First European Settlers in Hamilton, Ontario: Captain Richard Beasley (1775)

The first documented European settlement at the site of present-day Hamilton, Ontario was established in 1775 by Captain Richard Beasley, a United Empire Loyalist.

The Settlement

• Who: Richard Beasley (c.1761–1842), former British Indian Department officer, later merchant, judge, legislative assemblyman.
• From: New Jersey (loyalist refugee).
• Party: Beasley, his wife, and several associated families.
• Location: Head of Lake Ontario, near present-day Burlington Bay / Hamilton Harbour — strategic for trade with Indigenous nations (Mississaugas).
• Activity: Fur trading post, farming, provisioning loyalist migrants & British military.

Context: Why 1775?

• American Revolution underway; Loyalists fleeing north.
• Beasley secured land grant from Crown (confirmed 1790s).
• Pre-dates United Empire Loyalist mass migration (1783–84) — Beasley was an early scout/settler.

Later Development

• 1791: Township of Barton surveyed (Hamilton's core).
• 1815: George Hamilton (merchant, Beasley's associate) purchases 257 acres, lays out townsite — names it Hamilton.
• 1833: Incorporated as police village; 1846 as town; 1846 as city.
• Beasley's Legacy: Beasley Park, Beasley neighbourhood, Beasley statue (Gore Park). His home "Beasley House" stood until 1950s.

Indigenous Context

The area was Mississauga (Anishinaabe) territory — Between the Lakes Treaty (No. 3, 1792) ceded 3M acres to Crown. Beasley traded extensively with Mississaugas; spoke Ojibwe; advocated fair dealings (rare for era).