BRADY LAKE HISTORY

Location: Hindon Township

Officially Named: by Geographic Board of Canada. (April 5, 1938 gazette 1962)

"Named after a surveyor by the name of Colonel Brady" (MNR archives)

According to researcher Elinor Whitten’s personal communication with Liz Cowen,"Named after Crosbie Brady in 1859. He was a surveyor for the Bobcaygeon Road from the Bell Line to Lake Nipissing" (Source: Cowen, L personal communications, 1998.  Liz Cowen responded by letter to Whidden’s ad in the local paper looking for origins of lake names in Haliburton.)

As surveyors began to move through Haliburton mapping the land, the (hi)stories of Europeans were placed onto the lakes they named.

The above information came from: Discovering the (Hi)story of Haliburton Through Its Lakes' Names by Elinor Whidden, a student report prepared for Trent University- Bioregionalism Course, 1998. From the U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research Collection.

Lake Association: Brady Lake Ratepayer’s Association (https://bradylake.ca/)

From the Brady Lake Ratepayer’s Association website:
(https://bradylake.ca/about-2/history-of-brady-lake/)

The lake was named after Crosbie Brady, a Surveyor who was responsible for the survey of Hindon Township. Crosbie Brady named Brady’s Lake around 1858.

One of the first residents of Brady’s Lake was James Austen Sr., from London, Ontario. “James Austen Sr., in the spring walked all the way from London, Ontario, a distance of between 200 and 300 miles, to take up land on Brady’s Lake. All summer he laboured alone clearing the land for next year’s crop. When the turning of the leaves heralded winter, he trekked the weary miles back to London where he worked the winter before returning to settle permanently. His efforts were crowned with success and his descendants still live in the area.”

Boyd Road was named after Johnny Boyd, who lived at the foot of Brady’s Lake. He was the bass drum player in the annual Minden Orange Hall’s 12th of July Orangemen’s parade. (Source: In Quest of Yesterday, Reynolds, Nila. Provisional County of Haliburton, 1973)