The Founding of Brampton

Chinguacousy Township, part of the Mississauga Indian tract, was surveyed in 1819. John Elliott, John Scott and William Buffy were early settlers here of a crossroads hamlet first known as Buffy's Corners. In 1834 Elliott laid out a village plot and by 1837 the community numbered 18 families. Elliott and William Lawson, a fellow native of Brampton, England, were influential in naming the village, which was incorporated in 1853, and in establishing a Primitive Methodist congregation. The coming of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1856 aided Brampton's economic development. A foundry, established in 1849, and a horticultural business, started in 1860 and later internationally known, became important industries. Chosen as the county seat in 1867, Brampton was incorporated as a town in 1873.