Barbara Raue

Woodstock Ontario Book 4 in Colour Photos Barbara Raue

Woodstock is located in the heart of South Western Ontario, at the junction of highways 401 and 403, 50 kilometers east of London and 60 kilometers west of Kitchener. Woodstock is the largest municipality in Oxford County. Light Street memorializes A. W. Light, the first of the military officers to arrive in the area. He was a retired colonel, had published several books, and had many ideas and much enthusiasm for the settlement at the west end. In the 1830s, British naval and army officers placed on half-pay were encouraged to settle in Oxford to ensure this community's loyalty to the British crown. The first to arrive was Alexander Whalley Light, a retired colonel who came to Oxford County in 1831. He was joined by Philip Graham in 1832, a retired captain of the Royal Navy, and Captain Andrew Drew, on half-pay from the Royal Navy, arrived in Woodstock to make preparations for his superior, Rear-Admiral Henry Vansittart, also on half-pay. Half-pay officers went to considerable lengths to clear their chosen parcels of land.