The Loss of the "Speedy"

In 1804 an Indian, Ogetonicut, arrested near York, was accused of murdering a trader, John Sharp, at Lake Scugog. The trial was to be held here in the projected, but never completed, district town of the Newcastle District. On October 7, the schooner "Speedy" sailed from York. Her passengers, in addition to the prisoner, included Solicitor-General Robert Gray, Judge Thomas Cochrane, High Constable John Fisk, and other participants in the trial. The ship appeared briefly off Presqu'ile on the 8th, before vanishing forever. The loss of so many prominent persons was a severe blow to the small colony.