From 1837 to 1868, the land we now know as Victoria Park served a very different purpose: it was the military heart of London, home to the British garrison. The troops arrived in 1839, in the uneasy years following the Rebellion of Upper Canada. Their mission was clear—protect the region from potential border raids—and soon a full complex of barracks rose to house both soldiers and their officers.
The garrison, which typically numbered around 500, quickly became woven into the fabric of the young city. Beyond providing security, they fuelled London’s early economic growth and played a surprising role in its cultural life. In 1840, the stationed regiment founded the Theatre Royal, complete with musical interludes provided by the garrison band. They also introduced Londoners to a sport that would take firm root in the community: cricket.
In 1853, the troops were ordered back to Europe as preparations began for the Crimean War. The cannons now displayed in Victoria Park—installed in 1903—are relics of that conflict, Russian guns captured by British forces during the Siege of Sebastopol. While the regiment was abroad, their duties at home fell to military pensioners, and the barracks took on a new, humanitarian role as a refuge for escaped slaves travelling the Underground Railroad.
New tensions arose with the outbreak of the American Civil War. Some in the United States, including Secretary of State William Seward, viewed an invasion of Canada as a way to reunify their divided nation. Relations between Britain and the U.S. grew even more strained after the 1862 Trent Affair. In response, Britain dispatched 10,000 troops across the Atlantic, and 2,100 of them were stationed in London as a defensive measure.
Even after the Civil War ended, the threat of the Fenian Raids kept British forces in London until 1868. When the garrison finally departed and the grounds were handed over to the city, the area was renamed Victoria Park in honour of the Queen. Yet its military legacy didn’t end there—troops were once again quartered in the park during the Second Boer War and during both World Wars.
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