This article was originally published on AuroraToday, as part of a regular series of columns in partnership with the Aurora Historical Society and Town of Aurora Museum & Archives.
By 1843, when Richard Machell secured his ownership of three-quarters of Yonge and Wellington, the children of the veterans of the War of 1812 were grown, with armed conflict the furthest thing from their minds.
Most men were required to serve in what was called the “sedentary militia,” although the service requirements often amounted to little more than drinking a portion of rum and a half-day of marching.
The Militia Act of 1855 called for the formation of a formal, trained, volunteer militia across the Dominion. This took some time to establish, and in late 1862, the Aurora Infantry Company was founded – just weeks before Aurora’s very first village council was to meet.
The Aurora Infantry Company’s founding commanding officer, Seth Ashton, served on that first council, and was a fixture in local politics for decades to follow. The soldiers in such units trained, with pay, for a limited number of days per year, keeping them with their families, farms, and businesses. It wasn’t long before trouble brewed: In late May 1866, a group of Irish-Americans known as the Fenians attempted to invade Canada.
At the call, the Aurora Infantry Company boarded the train with numerous others to defend the Niagara frontier. While the invasion was repulsed, it was not without cost, and this conflict on the eve of Canada’s confederation helped to cement the significance of the military in our society. This was reflected in the citizens of Aurora gifting to the regiment a silver bugle and Union flag to celebrate their safe return in July.
That fall, Aurora’s company, along with those from eight other York County communities, joined to form the 12th York Battalion of Infantry.
The 12th’s new commanding officer was a young William Dummer Jarvis, a cousin of the more infamous branch of that family, who brought the “Rangers” name to the battalion. They headquartered in Newmarket, then Aurora, constructing a purpose-built drill shed in Town Park in 1874. The battalion and the building both began to play larger roles in the community, drawing Aurorans to serve and many of the village’s prominent citizens to seek officer commissions.
The new battalion was put to the test in 1885, when they were called to travel to Saskatchewan for the incident of the Northwest Resistance. The York Rangers’ colour sergeant at that conflict, William Henry Taylor (named for his father, an Auroran veteran of the Fenian affair), continued his service for many years. As captain of the Aurora company up to the outbreak of the First World War, and through his work with the town and county as an assessor and clerk into his 80s, Henry, as he was known, exemplified the dedication and local pride that became synonymous with the York Rangers as they grew in parallel to our little town.
While the sound of marching feet (or indeed, Sherman tanks!) has faded from our streets, our local company remains an indelible mark on our proud history.
Jeremy Hood is the museum collections technician with the Aurora Museum & Archives, and has been working with the town since 2019. He is also the curator of the Queen's York Rangers Regimental Museum, which collaborates frequently with the town to tell the stories of our military history.
