Henry Van Luven, a veteran of the Battle of Lundy's Lane, one of the many battles of the Anglo-American War of 1812, was the founder of the village of Battersea.
The village was originally Rockville or Rockland, then was named Van Luven's Mills, and finally Battersea after a section of London, England.
Henry Van Luven was born in Dutchess, New York in 1794. He moved to Canada as a Loyalist where he settled in Bath.
In 1840, he purchased 1200 acres of crown land at the time of the development of the Rideau Canal.
The land had been already occupied by Amos Ansley and family who had failed to get title to the property.
He gave to each of his six sons 200 acres of land and they set to work clearing the land. His daughters were given lots within the new village.
He was elected in 1850 as the first reeve of Storrington Township. Henry built the stone mill in Battersea which was later owned and operated by the Anglin family.
The large Van Luven family home is on a rise at the entrance to what is now Battersea and in 1912 the home was converted into a fishing lodge, later called the Holiday Manor Northern Lodge.
