 The township was established in 1799 and named after Sir Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings.The town was primarily home to people of Irish background up until 1844, when more and more French-Canadians settled the region and small shops and industries emerged.After the First World War and the October Revolution, Rawdon saw a considerable number of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian noble families arrive to settle in its countryside from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.