Amherst Island is located in
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...
, west of
Kingston,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. Amherst Island, being wholly in Lake Ontario, is upstream, above the St Lawrence River
Thousand Islands
The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...
. The Island is part of
Loyalist Township in
Lennox and Addington County
Lennox and Addington County is a county and census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. The county seat is Greater Napanee. It is located in the subregion of Southern Ontario named Eastern Ontario.
Around the middle of the 19th century, t ...
. Amherst Island is located about offshore from the rest of Loyalist Township and is serviced by public ferry from
Millhaven. The Island measures over in length from Bluff Point in the southwest to Amherst Bar in the northeast and over at its widest point across. The Island is about in size and is one of the largest islands in the Great Lakes.
The Amherst Island archipelago also includes: Nut Island, Grape Island ''pronounced'' Grapee, the Brother Islands and Salmon Island, totalling over or about . Nut Island is the largest of these islands and is about off the Amherst Island shore between Amherst Bay and Long Point Bay. Grape Island is located about off the Amherst Island shore, and can be easily seen from shore. The Brother Islands are situated equidistant between Amherst Island, Amherstview and Lemoine Point, Kingston, Ontario.
History
Amherst Island had been frequented, inhabited seasonally by Indigenous peoples who named it, Ka8enesgo translated as ''big, long island''. Amherst Island was known by the French as Isle Tonti, after
Henri de Tonty, Lieutenant to
La Salle during their explorations. Loyalist-era settlement had started by 1792 and the Island was thickly settled by 1835.
[''Early Residents of Amherst Island'', by Thomas Sylvester (2022).] In a proclamation by the
Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada
The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded Yor ...
on 16 July 1792, the Island was formally renamed to Amherst Island, in honour of
Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst
Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign ...
, who was commander-in-chief of British forces in North America. Simcoe was renaming the archipelago to commemorate British Generals of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
:
Wolfe Island, Amherst Island, and
Howe Island
Howe Island is an island located in Lake Ontario east of Kingston in Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Thousand Islands chain. Together with Wolfe Island and Simcoe Island, Howe Island is part of the township of Fronten ...
.
In 1788, the Island was granted by the Executive Council to one of their own
Sir John Johnson
Brigadier General Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet (5 November 1741 – 4 January 1830) was an American-born military officer, magistrate, landowner and colonial official in the British Indian Department who fought as a Loyalist during the America ...
, who had lost his father's extensive New York Colony possessions to the revolting Colonies. In 1823, Sir John's widowed daughter, Catharine Maria Bowes, gained control of the Island Estate from her disinterested father. She sold numerous conversions of life-leases to freehold ownership to avoid the looming Wild Land Tax, 1824. By 1827 Mrs. Bowes was still in financial difficulty and granted a power of attorney to the
Stephen Moore, 3rd Earl Mount Cashell, who purchased the balance of the Island Estate outright from her in 1835. Individual freeholders already ''owned'' and farmed nearly 4,000 acres, approximately one quarter of the Island, predominantly, but not restricted to, the First Concession.
[''Amherst Island'': ''a Detailed Survey ir John Johnsoncirca 1790 and Land Ownership,'' by Thomas Sylvester (1993).]
Mount Cashell's interest in Amherst Island was both profit-oriented and ''initially'' humanitarian. He aspired to establish a feudal estate, and reap large returns on his investment by the settlement of the Island with industrious tenants who would continue to clear and cultivate the land, thereby improving its value and providing ''his heirs'' with a ''perpetual'' rental income. But his vision initially, extended beyond pecuniary ends. Inspired by the evangelical belief in human improvement, he thought that by encouraging emigration from Ireland to Canada he could help solve the overpopulation of his homeland, create a prosperous, loyal farming population in the new world, and strengthen the Empire through a transatlantic
grain trade. Mount Cashell became a leading spokesman of these views in North America.
Most of the Irish settlers had been small farmers, labourers, sailors, artisans, and the better-off class of labourers from Ards Peninsula
Ards
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...
,
County Down (importantly property not owned by Mount Cashell). Since their homeland was particularly exposed to coastal winds and the absence of water-power, their built environment had been dotted with windmills.
[''New Lease on Life: Landlords, Tenants, and Immigrants in Ireland and Canada'', by Catharine Anne Wilson (1994, McGill-Queen's Press)]
Mount Cashell issued the settlers seven-year leases at a nominal rent and requiring them to make certain improvements each year. He erected two piers, to secure and make serviceable two excellent natural harbours; he introduced a clergyman for St James' Anglican Church, for whom he provided a glebe house; he sent out a surgeon, for whom also he built a house; he built a house for an active agent; he built and furnished an excellent general store and a forge. Families from the Ards had begun arriving by the 1820s. Throughout the 1830s and 1840s their numbers swelled as friends and relatives continued to arrive – chain migration. But by the 1860s the movement had subsided. Settlers who arrived in the early years moved straight into leases while those arriving after 1850 often laboured for friends before renting existing leases. By 1841, the community had three schools and a population of over 1,000 people. The majority of families were Presbyterian, followed by Roman Catholics, Church of England, and recent Methodist converts. These Irish immigrants lived in either shanties or one-storey log houses on their leased land, and never achieved purchasing farms from departing, pre-Mount Cashell freeholders.
![Amherst Island 1878 map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Amherst_Island_1878_map.jpg)
It is impossible to imagine the social dichotomy on the Island during Mount Cashell's management: individual freeholders, the minority, who could conduct long term, personal strategies ''versus'' the majority, tenants with no prospects of ever owning their farm, who could neither commit resources nor time to beyond next year. The freeholders owned wood cookstoves in their "improved houses," while the tenants cooked on open hearths in their temporary abodes.
While Amherst Islanders had prospered from the grain trade into the 1840s, the soil was depleted, the
Hessian Fly
The Hessian fly or barley midge, ''Mayetiola destructor'', is a species of fly that is a significant pest of cereal crops including wheat, barley and rye. Though a native of Asia, upon its discovery it was believed to have been transported into N ...
agricultural pest had arrived and the
Huron Tract
The Huron Tract Purchase also known as the Huron Block, registered as Crown Treaty Number 29, is a large area of land in southwestern Ontario bordering on Lake Huron to the west and Lake Erie to the east. The area spans the counties of Huron, Pert ...
beckoned; dozens of tenant families departed to the prospect of ''owning'' land on the distant frontier. Their landlord fell upon hard times. The famine in Ireland hurt Mount Cashell badly. Distressed Irish tenants and declining rents placed a heavy burden on a landlord who was already in debt because of lavish living and beleaguered by an untrustworthy agent's embezzlement. In 1848, he mortgaged Amherst Island. Several more mortgages followed on his Canadian properties, and in 1856 his creditors foreclosed and Amherst Island was sold at public auction to creditor/ kin
Robert Perceval Maxwell (1813-1905)
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
.
Some of the current residents of the Island are descendants of those Irish settlers.
Amherst Island at mid-19th century was a mixed economy of farming wheat and barley, fishing in the
Bay of Quinte
The Bay of Quinte () is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter "Z" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf of ...
, sailing the Great Lakes, and shipbuilding at the local yard of David Tait. Soon, however, the shipyard relocated west to Prince Edward County; sailing declined as railways supplanted the previous monopoly of water transport; and crop farming gave way to more stable, mixed dairy farming. As the economy changed those who could not make the transition left, while those who remained imagined purchasing their lease-hold and expanding their farms.
In all this, Robert Perceval Maxwell and his agent were the primary financiers, establishing the agricultural society and a cheese factory, promoting improvements, and financing loans and mortgages. Throughout these years, the Ards emigrants did very well. Many became proprietors, they held prominent positions in the community, and the Island became well known for its 'Irishness'. John Watson, from
Portaferry
Portaferry () is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is home to the Exploris aquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Flo ...
, called his pub on the Island the 'County Down Inn'. The stone fences that lined the land were modelled after those on the Ards.
1870s: The remaining tenants ''finally'' had the opportunity to buy their farms and transition out of their log residences, and build "improved houses." Thereby the Island most likely slipped from
carbon neutrality
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
to importing Coal ''circa'' 1880: the resident agent's country manor house ''Farnham'' itself burned 20 ''tons'' per year.
Amherst Island Virtual War Memorial
Boer War
:Corporal Edward Allan Filson †
World War I
:Lieutenant Bertram Kerr Allen †
:Sapper James Henry Bell †
:Private Charles Burgess †
:Private James Ernest Arthur Dennee †
:Private Frederick C Morris Glass †
:Private Thomas Edward McFern †
:Private Edward Alexander Milligan †
:Private Hugh Sterling Polley †
:Private William Ross Pringle †
:Trooper Charles Reid †
:Private Bernard George Twort †
:Lance Corporal Lawrence Oswald K Wemp †
:Private Frederick Willard †
World War II
:Flying Officer John James Earls †
:Corporal John Henry Kearney †
:Warrant Officer Wallace David Kearney †
:Flying Officer Anthony Brian Orchard †
:Pilot Officer Cecil Ralph Tait †
:Gunner Fred Ernest Wemp †
Community
![MV Frontenac II ferry, Ontario Canada](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/MV_Frontenac_II_ferry%2C_Ontario_Canada.jpg)
The two neighbourhoods on Amherst Island
Stella and
Emerald still reveal the forgotten steam-boat landings. Stella, formerly ''Lower Landing'' is the metropolis, where the ferry docks, has McGinn's General Store, LCBO Convenience Outlet, the Back Kitchen, Neilson Store Museum, and Weasel & Easel. It borrows its name from the Stella Post Office, the remaining postal outlet for the Island. Emerald, formerly ''Upper Landing'' is a collection of a dozen houses and a church towards the west end of the Island.
The Island is accessible from the mainland only by water or air. A toll ferry service, carrying people, cyclists and motorists, connects the hamlet of Stella on the Island with
Millhaven on the mainland. The ferry,
M/V ''Frontenac II'', runs 365 days a year, with a crossing time of about 20 minutes. There is a nominal charge for bicycles and motorcycles while pedestrians are free. The ferry service is operated by
Loyalist Township.
The resident population of about 450 people doubles during the summer months. The Amherst Island Community Centre is available outside of regular school hours.
The Ministry of Transportation has awarded a $51.7 million contract for the conversion of the existing ferry docks from side-loading ramps to end-loading ramps to allow for easier access to and from the Island. Construction is expected to take place during 2017/18 and will include improved vehicle queuing areas, public restrooms and heated waiting areas.
MTO has further announced plans to construct a new $20 million ferry for Amherst Island to replace the
M/V ''Frontenac II'' near the end of 2019 ''
M/V_Amherst_Islander_II'', Spring 2022].
Amherst Island Radio 101.3 FM
A volunteer community radio station,
CJAI-FM, Amherst Island Radio CJAI 101.3 FM, began broadcasting on April 1, 2006, originally on 93.7 FM. Previously licensed as a developmental community radio station, CJAI changed frequency to 92.1 FM in October 2007 following the licensing of a new radio station on the adjacent 93.5 frequency in Kingston, and was granted a permanent license on December 6, 2007. It is a 100% volunteer operated station, and is concerned with the preservation of harmony between the rural and urban way of life, accurate and timely information of local events, and the promotion of Canadian musical talent throughout Loyalist Township and beyond. In October 2021, CJAI expanded it's broadcasting power and changed frequency to 101.3 FM.
Notable Islanders
Native Islanders include
Harry Raymond Fleming
Harry Raymond Fleming, M.D., (October 24, 1894 – November 5, 1942) was a Saskatchewan physician and politician.
He is the son-in-law of Liberal MP George William Kyte of Cape Breton.
His grandparents, William Fleming and Mary Keating emigrated ...
(1892–1942), Canadian MP for
Humboldt, Saskatchewan, and English-born artist
Daniel Fowler
Daniel Fowler (February 10, 1810 – September 14, 1894) was an English-born Canadian artist, writer and farmer. He is still considered one of Canada's finest artists working in watercolour.
Biography
The son of Daniel Fowler and Mary A ...
(1810–94), who immigrated to Amherst Island in 1843 and remained there until his death. Fowler stated in his autobiography: "I found a sufficient variety of subjects on the island, along with shore and inland, and never went away on any sketching trip." Inspired by the Island's bucolic landscape, flora and fauna, Daniel Fowler was considered by his peers as "one of the fathers of Canadian Art". The house he lived in during his final years still exists on the north shore of the Island. A plaque commemorates the site.
Still standing on Amherst Island is family built and worked "W Brown and Son" Blacksmith Shop. First established by islander John Robinson in 1879, it was sold to John Brown in 1894. The original building burned down in 1913, but was soon rebuilt and run by Wes Brown, son of John Brown. It was operated until its closure in 1971.
Ecology
![Amherst Island](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Amherst_Island.JPG)
The natural habitat of the Island was as a mature forest. Presettlement, it was a closed-canopy, mixed deciduous forest: sugar maple, beech, basswood, with some oak particularly on stony sites, red ash on the wet sites, and black ash on the intermediate sites. The conifers were restricted to isolated stands of white pine or hemlock on well-drained sites, and presumably some white cedar. The Island forest also included hickories, American Chestnut and black walnut. The trees would have formed a closed canopy, uneven-aged mature forest. The incidence of forest fires or insect devastation would have been extremely rare, certainly less than once per millennium. Indeed, the most significant perturbations would have been wind and/or ice storms. The forest canopy, particularly near the shore, would have been (and still is) shaped by the winds. There was an accumulated, rich organic component to the forest soil profile.
That forest is gone: currently there is a steady-state condition of grassland. Centuries of agriculture has depleted the organic matter, the resulting heavy soil is characterized as white clay. The annual summer drought and winter wind-burn combine as a harsh environment for all small trees, even before our Climate Crisis. The recurring plagues of both
meadow vole
The eastern meadow vole (''Microtus pennsylvanicus''), sometimes called the field mouse or meadow mouse, is a North American vole found in eastern Canada and the United States. Its range extends farther south along the Atlantic coast.
The west ...
and
white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
threaten the few young trees.
Emerald Ash Borer
The emerald ash borer (''Agrilus planipennis''), also known by the acronym EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash species. Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees, and larvae feed undern ...
is about to destroy the significant Ash component. The Island is threatened to permanently lose vital nesting, perching, and shelter habitat.
Amherst Island is internationally recognized for concentrations of wintering hawks and owls and is home to the famous Owl Woods nature reserve. Up to 10 species of owls have been recorded during a single winter.
Short-eared owl
The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...
s,
long-eared owl
The long-eared owl (''Asio otus''), also known as the northern long-eared owlOlsen, P.D. & Marks, J.S. (2019). ''Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)''. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook o ...
s and
great horned owl
The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extre ...
s are among the resident bird population. Visitors from the far and near north -
snowy owl
The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding m ...
s,
saw-whet owls, and the rare
boreal owl
The boreal owl or Tengmalm's owl (''Aegolius funereus'') is a small owl in the "true owl" family Strigidae. It is known as the boreal owl in North America and as Tengmalm's owl in Europe after Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm or, more ...
as well as
eastern screech owl
The eastern screech owl (''Megascops asio'') or eastern screech-owl, is a small typical owl, owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada. This species is native to most wooded environments of its distribution, a ...
s and
barred owl
The barred owl (''Strix varia''), also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus '' Strix'', whic ...
s – add to the owl population during late fall and winter. Both
red-tailed hawk
The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members wit ...
s and
rough-legged hawks are usually present, and there are annual sightings of
bald eagles,
peregrine falcons and
turkey vulture
The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus '' Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of Sout ...
s.
Amherst Island is internationally known as an Important Bird Area and a key migratory location for birds; this fact has caused some concern for those wary of the proposed industrial wind turbine project slated to be built on the island.
The Island is noted for farming, particularly of sheep – of which there are several thousand on the Island, mainly at Stonebrae, Foot Flats, and Topsy Farms. The island's roads, built long ago, have little motorist traffic (excepting the hourly rush for the ferry) making the Island an excellent locale for cycling, especially on the gravel roads that meander along the Island shores. The Island has warm moderate summers, cold brisk winters and steady lake winds most of the year.
"Islands of Life", a report published in 2010 by the
Nature Conservancy of Canada
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a private, non-profit, charitable nature conservation and restoration organization based in Canada. Since its founding in 1962, the organization and its partners have protected of land and water acro ...
, ranks Amherst Island second in biodiversity significance among the islands of northeast Lake Ontario; second only in significance to its larger neighbour,
Wolfe Island.
Dry stone walls
The Dry Stone Walling Association of Canada (aka Dry Stone Canada) believes that Amherst Island contains the largest known concentration of historic Irish
dry stone wall
Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction m ...
s in Canada. Many of the walls are considered to be at least 160 years old.
Neilson Store Museum
The Museum reflects the life and times of the Island with exhibits depicting early schools, industrial tools, family life, natural history and transportation, and collected treasures. The Museum building itself is also an exhibit; built in 1883 by James S. Neilson, the Island grain merchant who opened this general store. His business flourished for nearly a century, in turn operated by his sons. Over the years, Neilson’s Store and dock became the commercial centre of the Island. It provided services in shipping and receiving goods and produce, storing and selling coal, barley and milled feed.
Wind farm turbine development
Steady lake winds, especially in winter, make some people believe that the Island is an ideal potential location for
wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...
s. Several companies have expressed interest in developing industrial wind turbine projects on the Island. After initial assessment two firms have withdrawn; one is still pursuing this action, encouraged by residents who have signed leases for wind farm turbines to be sited on their lands.
Some Island residents are opposed to the project, raising concerns that the proposed twenty-six 51-storey wind turbines will have a negative impact on the rich natural and cultural heritage and on tourism, both on the Island and in local mainland communities, as well as on migratory bird, bat and Blanding's Turtle populations. Several groups of residents have formed as a result of the proposals. The Island landowners who have agreed to host turbines on their land have formed Citizens of Amherst Island for Renewable Energy (CAIRE). Those opposed to wind power development on the Island have formed the Association to Protect Amherst Island (APAI) and a coordinated sister group, SaveAI. In January 2012, the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture asked the Ontario government to put a moratorium on all wind turbine projects until the health effects of this project and other issues have been properly assessed.
In 2011 Senator Bob Runciman championed a motion which resulted in a unanimous vote for a moratorium on wind-farm development along eastern Lake Ontario until the impact on birds and bats can be studied. Such a moratorium would protect Important Bird Areas and the migratory flyways - Prince Edward County and Amherst Island were featured. No action was taken by either the Federal government or the Liberal Provincial government.
In 2013 Amherst Island was voted one of Canada's Top Ten Endangered Places by the National Heritage Trust because of the threat of wind turbines to the cultural and natural heritage of this Island. The Trust continues to monitor the situation.
In September 2015, Windlectric Inc., a power generation company based in
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton. At its 2021 census population of 213,759, it is Ontario's largest town. Oakville is part of the Greater Toronto Area, one of the ...
, agreed to invest CAD272.5 million (US$181.33 million) in the construction and development of Amherst Island wind energy project. The total installed capacity will be 74.3 MW, from 26 wind turbine generators. The wind turbines were expected to commence commercial operations in fourth quarter of 2016 or first quarter of 2017
but actually became operational in early 2018.
See also
*
List of townships in Ontario
References
External links
Amherst Island home pageLoyalist Township websiteNeilson Store Museum and Cultural CentreAmherst Island Museum, Virtual TourAmherst Island Public Radio(APAI) Association to Protect Amherst Island(CAIRE) Citizens of Amherst Island for Renewable EnergyAmherst Island Wind InfoTopsy Farms
{{Authority control
Islands of Lake Ontario in Ontario
Landforms of Lennox and Addington County
Important Bird Areas of Ontario