The present townships of Bathurst, Beckwith and Drummond were settled under the jurisdiction of the Quarter Master General's Department. Scottish emigrants, quartered in barracks at Brockville during the winter of 1815-16, and soldiers discharged from the Glengarry Light Infantry and the De Meuron and De Watteville regiments formed a majority of the original settlers. In March 1816, a central depot was established on the site of Perth, and by October the settlement contained some 1500 persons.