Bromley Township, situated in central Renfrew County, was formally surveyed and opened in 1843 under Ontario’s standardized concession-and-lot system—yielding neat, grid-like parcels from Crown land. Early government-appointed surveyors laid out these lots alongside straight road allowances, creating the cadastral framework still mirrored in modern field plans and legal documents.

By the 1850s and 1860s, pioneer homesteaders were receiving Crown grants, with detailed patent maps recording names and lot numbers; many of these early grant plans have been preserved and digitized through missionary and settler atlases. This documentation is frequently referenced today for tracing property boundaries and resolving lot descriptions against contemporary surveys.

The township later saw the development of small village sites—most notably Douglas—where railway lines and mill operations introduced new parcel subdivisions and easements within the original grid. One such registered plan from 1875 shows part lots in concession 9 designated for village expansion, indicating early adjustments to the concession grid to accommodate community growth.

From a land surveyor’s perspective, Bromley offers a textbook example of how Ontario’s mid‑19th-century concession grid evolved under settlement pressure:

• Original Crown surveys with regular lots and road corridors still define field layouts.

• Pioneer grant maps provide invaluable context when reconciling title descriptions—especially for older properties.

• Subsequent village development and industrial easements introduced nuanced cadastral layers, requiring careful cross-referencing between concession plats and later subdivision plans.

In Bromley, surveying work often involves weaving together these historical datasets to ensure boundary accuracy—a blend of grid logic and human adaptation.