The county seat is the city of London, although the city is politically independent from the county. The Middlesex census division, which consists of the county together with the City of London and three First Nations reserves, had a population of 455,526 in 2016.[2] Part of the county is also included in the London census metropolitan area.
Administrative divisions
Middlesex County is composed of eight incorporated municipalities (in order of population):
Population centres: Strathroy and Mount Brydges. Other communities: Cairngorm, Campbellvale, Caradoc, Christina, Falconbridge, Glen Oak, Longwood, Melbourne (part) and Muncey.
Population centres: Dorchester and Thorndale. Other communities: Avon, Belton, Cherry Grove, Crampton, Cobble Hill, Derwent, Devizes, Evelyn, Fanshawe Lake, Friendly Corners, Gladstone, Harrietsville, Kelly Station, Mossley, Nilestown, Oliver, Plover Mills, Putnam, Salmonville, Silvermoon, Three Bridges and Wellburn.
Population centre: Glencoe. Other communities: Appin, Ekfrid, Lewis Corners, Macksville, Mayfair, Melbourne (part), Newbury Station, North Appin Station, North Ekfrid, North Glencoe Station, Riverside, Strathburn, Tate Corners, Wardsville and Woodgreen.
The area was originally organized as Suffolk County, created in July 1792 by Governor Simcoe by his first proclamation issued at Kingston, which also defined it as a constituency for the purposes of returning a member to the new Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, and was described as having the following territory:[3]
... bounded on the east by the county of Norfolk, on the south by lake Erie, until it meets the carrying-place from point au Pins unto the Thames,[4] on the west by the said carrying-place, thence up the said river Thames until it meets the northwesternmost boundary of the county of Norfolk.
Map of Upper Canada showing 1792 division into counties and ridings
Simcoe toured the southwestern portion of the province's territory in early 1793 and concluded that the lower forks of the Thames would be best suited as the future site of the provincial capital. The names London in Middlesex were considered more appropriate for this.[citation needed] Suffolk County was reorganized as Middlesex County, as part of the London District, in 1798 by the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada,[5] consisting of the townships of London, Westminster, Dorchester, Yarmouth, Southwold, Dunwich, Aldborough and Delaware.
Map of Upper Canada showing 1798 division into districts, counties and townships (published 1818)
Middlesex County was expanded several times thereafter, starting in 1821 with the addition of the townships of Moza, Ecfrid (sic), Carradoc (sic) and Lobo.[6] Adelaide Township came from the Huron Tract in 1835,[7] and Williams Township was withdrawn from Huron County and annexed to Middlesex in 1845.[8] In 1837, Bayham and Malahide Townships were transferred to Middlesex from Norfolk County.[9] Metcalfe Township was formed from the north part of Ekfrid and the south part of Adelaide in 1845.[10]
Upon the abolition of the London District in January 1850, Middlesex County was constituted for municipal purposes.[11] The County was reorganized as the United Counties of Middlesex and Elgin in 1851, with its townships divided thus:
Creation of the United Counties of Middlesex and Elgin (1851)[12]
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Middlesex County had a population of 500,563 living in 204,157 of its 216,736 total private dwellings, a change of 9.9% from its 2016 population of 455,526. With a land area of 3,317.76 km2 (1,280.99 sq mi), it had a population density of 150.9/km2 (390.8/sq mi) in 2021.[20]
Middlesex County has 38,231 people over the age of 15, with 45% of them working in the same municipality as the one they live in.[21] That implies that more than 50% of them commute to other municipalities.
Members of the County Council are the mayors (or reeves) of the municipalities of Adelaide Metcalfe, Lucan Biddulph, Middlesex Centre, North Middlesex, Southwest Middlesex, Strathroy-Caradoc and Thames Centre as well as the Village of Newbury. Centres with a population exceeding 5,000 also get an additional seat for their deputy mayors. The head of council is one of its members who is elected as reeve for a one year term by the councillors.[22]
