I recently returned from a holiday in Canada, visiting to see the colours of the fall but also for the opportunity to revisit Bognor in Ontario, which we first visited in 2002. It is situated approx. 110 miles north of Toronto and approximately 3,500 miles from West Sussex. We thought it would be fun to see if the area has changed much in the ensuring period.

We travelled the long straight road until we came across the sign "Bognor - a proud part of Grey Country" where we were also cautioned to watch for pedestrians. It would be quite easy to miss the small town, which consists of streets named John, William, Main, Queen and Frank Street, which form a grid, like the majority of American and Canadian towns. Like all small communities residents are involved in all aspects of their development and in 1966 they received a letter asking for their opinion on the matter of street lighting. The residents formed a committee to discuss the matter in great detail, as the cost of installing 10 street lights was considerable; the streets themselves were not paved or levelled until 1992.

It is not quite the thriving community that we were expecting. In 2002 we found a small group of people, which included their local historian also their postmistress, who were only too eager to hear about Bognor Regis in England whilst they told us of their own story. Their electoral register stood at 135 in October 2002 and in 2008 there have been few changes, the number has risen to 145 and there are 52 house's with two new constructions currently nearing completion. The obvious main question was, why is this community called Bognor?

The story starts back in the 1840's when Mr. Mrs. Trotter bought an area of land near the Big Head River, which they farmed and then constructed a mill and a dam on the river. This area was purchased in 1871 by Peter Quance who established a flour and grist mill which was, renamed Sydenham Mills. On 5th January 1873 a post office was established with Peter as the first Post Master. Within 12 months in 1874 he was superseded by Mr.C.H. Heming who quickly realised that there was confusion between this area and another Sydenham in Frontenac County. The obvious solution was to change the name, but to what? His father had emigrated from Bognor, England and had the solution; he suggested the name of Bognor. Hence from 1st June 1879 the area became officially known as Bognor.

Since 2002 I have received several communiqués regarding both Bognor's and one in particularly updated the story, as a couple contacted me who were descendants of Mr. Heming. The father Edward Heming lived with his wife at No. 2 Canada Villas here in Station Road, Bognor before he emigrated to Canada; he also constructed a home outside Guelph, Canada in 1896 which he named Bognor Lodge.

Whilst there I thought we should take a look at their church, only to find that this had been closed and demolished in 1981. The final service was held on September 27th 1981 and this was due to the serious decline in numbers over the years. The congregation at that time could not afford to financially support the church so it was decided to use the site for other purposes. It was interesting to find from the Grey County Archivist on this visit about the number of churches that have existed in this small township. I also found it interesting that a donation was made for the 1st Sunday School Christmas concert by a Mr. James Endicott, different spelling. He went on to become a Moderator of the United Church of Canada in 1928.