Wilmot, Samuel, 1822-1899

Samuel Wilmot was born on August 22, 1822, at Belmont Farm, Clarke Township, West Durham, Ontario.

He was a pisciculturist, farmer, and officeholder. He was educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto (1830–1834). In 1856, upon the death of his father, he took over Belmont Farm. The property overlooked Wilmot Creek, a spawning stream for Lake Ontario’s Atlantic salmon. By the 1850s, the number of salmon in Wilmot Creek and other Lake Ontario spawning streams had dwindled due to overfishing and habitat changes caused by humans. Wilmot became interested in the practice of artificially hatching fish, and with federal government support, he opened one of the first hatcheries in North America in 1868. He served as Commissioner of Fisheries (1876-1895), establishing fifteen hatcheries across Canada. Wilmot also served on the council of the Agricultural and Arts Association of Ontario, and in 1879, became its president. He was active in the local government of Clarke Township as a municipal clerk (1850-1854, 1862-1868), a member of the township council (1859–1861, 1869–1870), and from 1871 to 1877, he held the office of reeve. In 1871, Wilmot became warden of the united counties of Durham and Northumberland. He was appointed a justice of the peace in 1856 and was an officer in the Durham militia from 1847 to the 1870s.

In 1852, he married Helen Matilda Clark (1834–1910). He died on May 17, 1899, in Newcastle, Ontario.