Trout Creek, a possible connection to Australia, and southern bias

I’m sure everyone who hails from Trout Creek has been subject to some sort of abuse about the town’s name, the most common derivative is Sucker Ditch, I’ve also heard many that need not repeating. I’ll have to admit, that I too have thought the name a little guttural or even humorous, but the townsfolk have adopted it, and even embraced it (the unofficial logo of the Trout Creek Fire Department is a stylized fish wearing a helmet and bunker pants while holding a fire hose). But the history of the town’s name leads to some interesting avenues, and some age-old territorial animosity.

Using the book Place Names of Ontario by Alan Rayburn, I have educated myself on the meanings and origins of many of the place names in the Almaguin region, its surrounds, and even Ontario. The entry for Trout Creek is as follows:

“Situated on a tributary of the South River, in Parry Sound District, 37 km south of North Bay, this town (1913) was first known as Little Bend of the South River and Powassan as the Big Bend. It was called Melbourne after the pioneer settlers arrived in 1868, possibly for Melbourne, Australia, itself named in 1835 for Lord Melbourne (1779-1848), the British prime minister in 1834-41. However, its post office was called Barkerton in 1887. Three years later it was renamed Trout Creek.” Pp 349

As my title suggests there is a connection to Australia, but just because one well cited book says ‘possibly’ does not make it so. None the less, this is the initial piece of evidence in the connection, a simple matching to a much larger and well known locale with the same name (when the history of a towns name [in Ontario, and Canada] is lost, all one has to do is find the equivalent name in England, Scotland, Ireland, or another English speaking country and you’ve most likely arrived at its origin. Most town founders named their new town after the place they came from: an example is Callander being named after founder George Morrison’s parents birthplace in Scotland).

Another reason why towns choose names, or are forced to choose names, is because the name they have selected and submitted is already taken, and therefore have to decide on a replacement. So I delved deeper into the book, looking for a reason why Trout Creek may have changed its name. I discovered a Melbourne, in Middlesex County, and the entry for it is as follows:

“This place in Ekfrid Township, Middlesex County, 32 km southwest of London, was the site in 1832 of Ekfried post office, later corrected to Ekfrid. The name was changed to Longwood in 1857, to Wendigo in 1882, and finally to Melbourne in 1887. It was probably given for Melbourne, Australia, which had been named in 1835 after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779-1848), British prime minister, 1834-41. There was, however, a miller called Walter Melbourne, who was living in nearby Appin in the mid-1800s.” Pp 217

Here lies a compelling theory on a possible scenario: this Melbourne (Middlesex) was named so in 1887, the same year that Trout Creek changed its name from Melbourne to Barkerton. In order to become a named place and gain some sort of recognition, said place had to apply for a post office. In most cases the postmaster chose the name of the town (they were often the most educated persons in the vicinity), and submitted his proposal to the postal board, essentially the naming committee for the province of Ontario. What most likely occurred was that Melbourne (Middlesex) got it’s application in before that of Melbourne (Parry Sound) and thus had claim to, and was granted the name, forcing the people and postmaster of Melbourne (Parry Sound) to search for a new name. They likely chose Barkerton as a quick fix, Barker was the name of a mill and some stores, and followed by –ton, being a suffix denoting town. Obviously this was a consolation name, as it only lasted 3 years before it fell into disfavour and the people chose the final name for the town, that of Trout Creek.

There is a bit of a legitimacy claim here however, as the history shown indicates that the people of Melbourne (Middlesex) were fickle towards the name of their town, changing it 4 times in 55 years, while those living in Melbourne (Parry Sound) retained that name from inception until they were forced to change, a period of 19 years. Could this be one of the earliest south vs. north battles in Ontario’s history? Could the southern bureaucrats at the postal board have sided with the people of Melbourne (Middlesex) against those of Melbourne (Parry Sound)?  Communications weren’t what they are today, and so many towns sprung up across Ontario with the same name, and to end the confusion one or the other were forced to change. However, in most cases it was the town which had the more legitimate claim that was given precedent in the matter, and in this case it would have been Melbourne (Parry Sound). The decision usually went in favour of the town which had been called the name in dispute for the longest period of time: Melbourne (Middlesex) only named so in 1887, by that time Melbourne (Parry Sound) had been named so for 19 years. Even population is against Melbourne (Middlesex), it was neither then, nor is now, larger than Trout Creek.

Now that we’ve discovered a potential history of the naming of Trout Creek, we’ll go back to the connection with Australia. The simple fact that Trout Creek once shared the same name with Australia’s second largest city is hardly a reason to associate the two, after all Melbourne’s origins lie in England. The next piece of evidence is a street in Trout Creek: Adelaide Street. Adelaide is also a city in Australia, in fact that countries fifth largest. This naming could have been just an ode to the old name of the town, in fact there is also a Melbourne Street recalling this history. But that doesn’t sit well with me, place names usually have deeper meanings and are not concocted on whims. Perhaps some early settlers in Trout Creek came from Australia, naming the place after the city they came from, and a street after a city where perhaps others had once lived. Both Melbourne and Adelaide are found on Australia’s southern coast, and while they are over 700 km apart, they are the capitals of neighbouring states, Victoria and South Australia respectively. The presence of these two names in a small community with very few foreign ties otherwise, should indicate some sort of connection. We may never know what it was, or who it was, for all I know it could have been some early town founder with a fascination for the land down under.

An interesting note is that there existed an Adelaide Township, it too in Middlesex County, and the entry in Place Names of Ontario is as follows:

“This township in Middlesex County was named in 1831 after Amelia Adelaide Louisa Theresa Carolina (1792-1849), the eldest daughter of George, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Meiningen, and the wife of William IV, who became king that year.” Pp 4

This is more of a coincidence than anything, since Adelaide Township was named in 1831, and Melbourne (Middlesex) wasn’t named so until 1887, a full 19 years after Trout Creek had initially been named Melbourne. None the less, it presents an interesting dynamic (it should also be noted that Adelaide, Australia was named after the same person as Adelaide Township).

While I haven’t exactly proven anything, I have drawn some strong conclusions. I believe from my research that my theory is plausible. I am also sure that some in Trout Creek would rather hail from Melbourne, Ontario, than Sucker Ditch, but that is neither here nor there.