Waterloo, Ontario called the founder of Waterloo, had come to the area in 1806 from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He bought 900 acres of bush land in 1806 from the German Company and founded a sawmill (1808) and grist mill (1816); these the focal point of the area. The grist mill operated continuously for 111 years. Other early settlers of what would become Waterloo included Samuel and Elia Schneider who arrived in 1816. Until about 1820, settlements such as this were quite small. In 1816 the new township was named after Waterloo, Belgium, the site of the Battle of Waterloo (1815), which had
The Battle of Waterloo (film) received mixed reviews. "Bioscope", a British film journal, praised British and Colonial's effort to preserve a portion of British history with a British production. It tempered this praise by noting that the film recreated scenes from the battle "from the point of view of an ordinary soldier in the thick of the battle," but there was almost no dramatic or human interest. The film was popular enough that a parody, "Pimple's Battle of Waterloo", was hurriedly put into production and released later that year. After the success of "The Battle of Waterloo", British and Colonial continued to produce longer films.