Hicock Road - So named for Philo Hicock a prominent early settler in the (what was then) known as The Township of Bastard. Mr. Philo Hicock established a foundry in Beverly (Delta) in 1841. Mr. Hicock was Reeve of the Township of Bastard for ten years between 1850 and 1872. The name of the township (Bastard) was a peculiar name. Read on about the naming of the township, you decide which story sounds most plausible.
After the township was settled for some time a notice was received from the Government that the municipality needed a name. A resident Elder, Mr. Able Stevens Sr., was appointed a delegate to proceed to Toronto and suggest a name for the township. The understanding was that the township was to be called Stevenstown. When the Elder arrived at the Crown Lands Office, the clerks were busily engaged in naming the townships, following as a rule, the suggestion of the surveyors, or of interested parties. Coming to Bastard there was a pause and a discussion. Elder Stevens was appealed to, and from modesty (since his name was Stevens) he hesitated in suggesting Stevenstown, saying “that he did not know what to call it.” One of the clerks then remarked that, “As it has no father, it must be a bastard township.” The result was the naming of the Township as, Bastard Township. The story is related in the publication, History of Leeds and Grenville, Mika Publishing Company 1980, page no. 125 and is related as it was received from an old settler
The most likely (but least colourful) explanation is that Lt. Governor John Graves Simco named the township after an old and prominent family (the Bastards – pronounced Bah stahrd) in Devonshire, England, where the Simcoes had their estate. Surveyed in 1796, Bastard Township extended from Rideau Lake to Beverley Lake. The Township was quickly settled. The first settler was Elder, Able Stevens who came to Upper Canada from Vermont, USA, in 1793/94 and subsequently brought a number of families from his home State to settle in the area. After the war of 1812, Bastard benefited from soldier settlers pensioned off by the British government and with its fertile land, good mill sites and strategic location on the land routes from the St. Lawrence River to the interior, this municipality grew steadily through the 19th and 20th century.
Currently known as the Township of Rideau Lakes it is a great place to visit and to enjoy beautiful lakes, rivers, farms, architecture and of course the Rideau Canal which is a World Heritage site.
Parking near the cache should not be a problem as the road shoulders are wide. You will be on an incline from the crest of a hill, please park carefully then go and enjoy the find.