Like many of the place names we see every day, the origin of the name Gwillimbury (East and West alike) is probably unfamiliar.
At best, one may know it honours Upper Canada’s first lieutenant-governor, John Graves Simcoe. That does a disservice to the name and the remarkable lady it honours.
Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim was many things in life — wife, artist, writer. Most of all, she was a survivor, a woman who not only endured but seemed to thrive despite life’s hardships.
Elizabeth was born to British army officer Lt.-Col. Thomas Gwillim and his wife, Elizabeth Spinkles, in 1762 (the exact date is unknown). Thomas died some seven months before her birth, causing his distraught widow to return to England. Whether the arduous and strength-sapping journey by ship was a factor is unknowable, she died a matter of days after giving birth. However, she managed to hold on long enough to see her daughter baptized. The infant was now alone in the world.
Baby Elizabeth was taken in by her aunt, Margaret, and her husband, Adm. Samuel Graves. In 1782, she happened to meet the admiral’s godson, John Graves Simcoe, and the pair quickly fell in love. They were married the same year.
The couple came to Canada in 1791, when Simcoe was named lieutenant-governor. Elizabeth embraced her role as the lieutenant-governor’s wife, and seemingly found adventure in the frontier colony.
She accompanied her husband on several trips through Upper Canada, leaving a visual record in the form of drawings and more than 500 watercolour paintings that provide a valuable window into early Ontario. Equally of value were her detailed diaries that provide a vivid documentary of life in the 1790s.
While the life of the lieutenant-governor was one of privilege, Elizabeth endured her share of hardships. She lost a young daughter in Canada, stoically endured some rather primitive locations (she was disdainful of York, now Toronto, with its mud and bugs), and forced herself to remain within her station despite being independent and having an insatiable curiosity.
Elizabeth visited West Gwillimbury at least once during her time in Canada, passing through on Sept. 28, 1793, and camping on a tributary of the West Holland River.
The Simcoes left Canada in 1796, never to return, but not before the lieutenant-governor named East, West and North Gwillimbury for his beloved wife. Whitchurch is believed to be named for her place of birth as well.
Elizabeth was far more than a wife and a footnote in history. She was her own person, one who played an important social role in support of her lieutenant-governor husband and whose artistry left us a treasury of early Ontario insights.
She very much deserved the honour of having townships named for her, and of statue raised in Bradford in 2007, 157 years after her death.
