The history of Carling dates back to 1818, when Thomas Carling, a farmer from the British county of Yorkshire, took his family to eastern Canada, settling at what is now the city of London, Ontario. During his first year there Carling cleared a small area of land. He called on his neighbours, Richard Walden, to help at a “stumping bee”, a cooperative effort in which each man brought his own oxen and tools and the land was cleared of tree stumps. All the neighbours asked in return was food and refreshment. Thomas Carling’s refreshment, a home-brewed ale, was of such quality that soon he was brewing it for other stumping bees. It grew so popular that he abandoned farming for full-time brewing. The first Carling brewery was a modest affair – two kettles, a horse to turn the grinding mill and six men to work on the mash tubs. Carling was his own sales and shipping department. He started by selling his beer on the streets of London, Ontario from a wheelbarrow.
Info gleaned from Wikipedia