London is the tenth largest city in Canada, and it is known by many as the Forest City, but one thing that our city will forever be linked to is London, England.
One of the most famous and major cities in the entire world, London, England is where our name came from and even today there are many connections here to the British Capital.
Mike Baker spent 17 years as the curator at the London Museum, he says it was important for London Ontario’s founder Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe to trace our names back to England.
“Our across the river is Westminster, which is the same in the UK capital, the Westminster is across the Thames from the City of London Proper…In the nineteen eighties, London, Ontario consciously named streets up near Paul Mall like Piccadilly and Cheapside.”
In spite of these links, former London radio icon Bill Bray says that the tracks our English forefathers left have been buried in some ways.
“There were certain families who used to run it [London]. The influx of new people coming in has changed it, who had little regard to the English connection and I think it was primarily the old London families whose names are still in use around buildings and the hospital that kept the connection.”
London, Ontario is proud to have a distinctly unique city today. Known for it’s post-secondary institutions, medical presence, and hockey powerhouse London Knights, the city of about 370 000 people is proud to have its own identity, as well as having its roots across the ocean.