On city's 50th anniversary, the Cambridge Times explores which name best represents us.
By: Maria Carla Rosales Gerpe
Note: This article was initially published by the Cambridge Times.
Toronto is home to Torontonians. The residents of Cambridge, U.K. and Cambridge, Mass. call themselves Cantabrigians. But what do Cambridge, Ont. residents call themselves?
As 2023 marks 50 years since Cambridge became a city, there is perhaps no better time to question our identity.
NO OFFICIAL NAME YET FOR THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE
“I don’t know how we’d identify as a city,” said 10-year Hespeler resident Sean Lovegrove when I posed the question, though he has heard the term “Hespelerites” to refer to people from Hespeler. City of Cambridge information and archives analyst Dan Schmalz confirmed Lovegrove’s tip with records from 1996.
That year, in a book called “The Great Hespeler Reunion,” editor Stan Jones passionately wrote this about Hespelerite identity: “With the amalgamation in 1973, we are officially no longer Hespelerites; however, as one old-timer noted, ‘you can take the person out of Hespeler, but you’ll never take Hespeler out of the person.’”
WHAT SHOULD WE CALL OURSELVES?
According to Schmalz, the city was founded after a province-mandated — and at the time rather unpopular — amalgamation of the city of Galt, the towns of Preston (which included the settlement of Blair that had been incorporated into Preston in 1969), and Hespeler in 1973. The name Cambridge is a nod to Cambridge Mills, a name given to early Preston.
“Many Cambridge residents still cling to the old (settlement) names, myself included,” said Schmalz, who was born after the amalgamation, but often refers to himself as being from Preston. Preston identity was immortalized in its newspaper, the Prestonian, preserved in the city of Cambridge’s archives.
“I’ve never heard anything used for describing Blair, unfortunately,” reported Schmalz, after looking through historical records. Although, Blairites has been used by the local media before.
Pat Cody-Cabral was also born in Cambridge post-amalgamation, but considers herself a proud “Galtonian,” which past newspaper records, such as the Galt Evening Reporter, corroborate.
“I don’t care how we call ourselves as long as you realize Galt is the best,” said Cody-Cabral, bursting into laughter.
When I first moved to Fiddlesticks — or Fiddle-what, as most people respond when I say where I reside — I was promptly taught that I was from Hespeler and not Galt in a haughtily playful way by my Galtonian friend.
SOME CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS STILL YEARN FOR NAME TO PROVIDE SENSE OF UNITY, IDENTITY
Schmalz believes embracing a Cambridge-wide identity, as opposed to mainly sticking to the older ones, “will probably still take a few generations as we continue to welcome new residents to the city.”
Some, however, feel ready. Twenty-two years ago, Mandeep Kaur moved from Queens, N.Y. to north Galt, Cambridge. At the time, “people didn’t know much about Cambridge, but now it’s growing,” explained Kaur of the need for a name to unite newcomers and old residents alike.
“We should have a name!” echoed Cyndie Burnett after I asked whether people from Cambridge should have one. Her friend, Val Hill, who has now lived in Cambridge for two years, nodded in agreement.
SO, IF WE WERE TO CHOOSE A NAME, WHICH ONE WOULD IT BE?
Recently, we unveiled a city gift card, a program we share with our twin city, Cambridge, in the U.K. Perhaps referring to Cambridge residents by Cantabrigians could work. Or so I thought.
“Cantabrigians doesn’t even make sense,” Burnett retorted to my suggestion.
“Where does the T even come from?” my partner inquired. Only apparent to etymology nerds (me), Cantabrigia is the city’s Latin name.
“Maybe Cambridgites? Cambridgians?” Hill pondered.
Schmalz says he has seen the term Cambridgians on social media before, but because Cambridge does not easily roll off the tongue, “nothing seems to have stuck.”
Also unsure of which name to give Cambridge residents, Hespelerite Lovegrove stated that, for now, “saying, ‘from Cambridge’ works.” A history buff, he’s more interested in other things, like “Why is there an area in Hespeler called ‘Popcorn?’”
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