Peter Perry - A man whose influence in Whitby and Area
is still felt today.
Each year, a Peter Perry award is given to a worthy citizen.
1992 marked the 200th birthday of Peter Perry, the man for whom the town of Port Perry is named.
Perry was the child of United Empire Loyalists and was born in Canada, just west of Bath Ontario (near Napanee, Addington Co.).
Like the Perry family, some 40,000 Loyalists fled the States to settle in Canada. Because his father was a Loyalist Peter was given land when he reached the age of majority in 1819. Peter Perry married in 1814 and he and his wife Mary Ham had nine children.
At this time, Loyalist settlers were not permitted by law to run for political office and it was this injustice that inspired Perry to make changes in the government. Perry joined the Reform Party of that day, and fought for responsible government. A member of the Assembly Perry won the 1824 election and with Marshall Spring Bidwell became co-representative of the combined counties of Lennox and Addington. After several battles over unfair British legislation, Perry was re-elected in 1828, 1830 and 1834. Though Perry was a very influential member of the Reform Party, he failed to break into the party's elite due to his lack of education and his penchant for coarse language.
Perry spent 12 years in the legislature and was instrumental in making many changes to the way Upper Canada was governed.
Perry fought against imprisonment for debt, for the use of secret ballot in elections, for the increased power of local township governments, against the monopoly of the Bank of Canada and for the right of all recognized clergy to perform marriages.
Perry settled on his property in Whitby and ventured into the world of commerce. With the success of his merchant business in Whitby, Perry started looking for ways to expand his enterprises.
Timber was in great demand and Perry envisioned a shorter route from Lake Scugog to Whitby. He soon purchased 100 acres on the southwest end of the lake.
Perry recognized the need for planning and road development. He purchased a store in 1844, and one year later drew up his first plan for the town streets. Plan in hand, it wasn't hard for Perry to attract investors to this progressive settlement. By 1846, Perry had convinced the group of Paxton, Sexton and Way to build a steam powered saw mill in town, more mills followed as did a hotel in 1848. The town's burgeoning mill industry attracted steam boat builders and industry boomed.
Perry didn't stop there and had soon secured government funds for road improvements, linking the growing Scugog Village with Whitby and Manchester.
Seeking to reorganize the governing of the area, Perry proposed a railroad between Lake Scugog and Whitby. This dream would be fulfilled after Perry's death, when in 1871 a railway linked Whitby and Port Perry.
He passed away on August 24, 1851.
Perry continued to influence life in this area. In 1851, the village of Scugog was renamed Port Perry, the railway was established and responsible government came to Ontario. Perry's son, John Ham Perry, followed in his father's footsteps and had a successful career in municipal politics.
