Like most settlers, the founder of Tillsonburg came to the area seeking better opportunities for himself and his family. George Tilson, however was unlike most settlers. Part of a select group of people who jumped started early industry in Canada, Tilson was an engineer ahead of his time.

Spending time in Norfolk with the VanNorman's, he constructed the first iron forge in Upper Canada, which at it's height supported upwards of a thousand settlers.

• Annandale National Historic Site