Exploring Mississauga's Trinity Methodist Cemetery

The “lost village” crossroads community of Hanlan developed between what is now Tomken and Dixie roads along Britannia Road. By the early 1830s the community had added a general store, post office and a carpenter’s shop, as well as a blacksmith, tinsmith and shoemaker shops. In 1844 a schoolhouse was built – School Section #11. The first school house was made from rough-cut logs, but in 1872 it was replaced by a brick building. In 1853 (or 1851 as records vary) the community welcomed a Methodist church. At first it was known as Hunt’s Chapel after a local preacher John Hunt who donated land for the church and a cemetery in 1853. In 1867 a new church was built and was named Trinity Wesleyan Methodist Church. The community took its name in honour of famed Canadian sculler Edward “Ned” Hanlan, and was reportedly named by the first postmaster George Johnston in 1878 after Ned Hanlan won the Canadian rowing championship the previous year. 

As with many of our “lost villages”, by the early 1920s the community of Hanlan had faded. Many of the early businesses had either ceased or had relocated to other more populated areas. Road and transportation improvements meant that people stopped less frequently. The post office and general store closed in 1911, with the last postmistress being Esther Armstrong. The blacksmith shop closed in 1923 and the church closed about the same time. The church building, which stood immediately to the west of the cemetery, was reportedly torn down in 1946. The schoolhouse remained in use until 1957 and was torn down in 1970. Bit by bit, Hanlan disappeared. Today, only the lonely cemetery at the southeast corner of Britannia and Dixie roads remains, a ghost of the past landscape.

The cemetery is known as the Trinity United (or Methodist) Cemetery. The earliest burials recorded for the cemetery date to 1842, although the cemetery itself was legally created in 1853. The old cemetery is the last resting place for many who settled, lived, and died in this area of historic Mississauga long before the city came to be. They include the young children of Jane and James Harrison, Jane (aged 1) and George (aged 5), who died on June 23 and 24, 1842 respectively. It is possible that they died during a cholera epidemic in 1842. Infant mortality was a real and present concern for all.

Also buried here are Henry Green Leuty (1818-1895), his wife Hannah (1824-1920), and several of their children. Natives of Yorkshire, England, they came to Canada in the early 1840s, settling here and establishing a farm. Their grandson, RCAF Sergeant Allen Henry Leuty lost his life in 1943 while serving in the Second World War.

Also buried here is Charles Irvine (1822-1869), a native of England, who was a respected weaver in nearby Mount Charles. He is remembered today by the Charles Irvine Weaver Shop in Black Creek Pioneer Village. Several gravestones in the cemetery connect with the Baldock family, who had a 100-acre farm on the north side of Britannia Road across the cemetery. Patriarch Low Walter Baldock arrived in Canada from Liverpool around 1836, and several generations of the family lived and farmed in the Hanlan area.

In the cemetery you can also find the gravestone for William Youle Watson (1815-1898) and his wife Mary Ann Aldred (1818-1905). Together they would raise a family of nine children. Their daughter Eliza would marry Miles Vokes, a noted stonemason who built several historic buildings in Mississauga. William Youle Watson came to Canada in 1820, and spent the rest of his life in historic Mississauga. He was a shoemaker by trade, but is also noted as having served with the loyal militia during the Rebellion of 1837.

There are approximately 63 people buried in this historic cemetery, although there is reference to gravestones having been lost, so it is quite possible that the cemetery is larger than it appears, and with many more stories to explore.

The cemetery is also home to a couple of spirit stories, including the spirit of a groundskeeper who reportedly tidies up the cemetery, and also a woman who is said to wander in the southeast corner of the cemetery grounds. Who they might be, we do not know. However there is reference to the groundskeeper being named James McBride. There was a McBride family who farmed in the immediate area, although they are not believed to be buried in this cemetery.

The cemetery is now maintained by the City of Mississauga.