Senneville () is an affluent on-island suburban village on the western tip of the

Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...

, Quebec, Canada. It is the wealthiest town in the

West Island The West Island (, ) is the unofficial name given to the city, towns and boroughs at the western end of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. It is generally considered to consist of the Lakeshore municipalities of Lachine (specific ...

. Situated close to the city of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, it was historically a popular location for the country houses of wealthy Montrealers. Attractions include multiple golf clubs, a yacht club, and La Ferme du Fort Senneville, an organic demonstration farm. The Morgan Arboretum was founded here in 1953, and is today managed by Macdonald College; an important bird sanctuary, it is open to the public year-round. Fort Senneville was constructed here in 1671, but its ruins are on private land and are not accessible to the public. The historic core of the village was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

in 2002.

Geology

All of Senneville lies over dolomite. In contrast to the monotony of this

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

, there are many types of

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

in the municipality.

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

is common near the northeastern corner and part of the western shores.

Sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

dominates many inland areas; it is rapidly drained in places but often has impeded drainage due to the type of hardpan which develops in

podzol Podzols, also known as podosols, spodosols, or espodossolos, are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathlan ...

s. Near-shore areas along the northern margin have extensive areas of

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

which forms a calcareous well-drained

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

. The loamy slopes overlooking

Lake of Two Mountains Lake of Two Mountains (French: ''Lac des Deux Montagnes'') is part of the river delta widening of the Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada, at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. Lake of Two Mountains has four outflows: Rivière des Mille Îl ...

are excellent for fruit trees and tender plants due to fertile soils, good drainage, and the moderating effect on microclimate provided by the lake.

History

Because of its strategic location at the far western end of Montreal Island, a stockade fort was built there in 1671. In 1679, Jacques Le Ber, fur trader from Montreal, bought the Boisbriand Fief from Michel Sidrac Dugé, and renamed it to Senneville after

Senneville-sur-Fécamp Senneville-sur-Fécamp (, literally ''Senneville on Fécamp'') is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A farming village, by the coast of the English Channel, in the Pays de Caux, situa ...

, his hometown in France. Le Ber operated a fur trading post there and built a stone windmill at the fort in 1686, which also served as a focal point for settlers in the area. In 1689, the

Battle of the Lake of Two Mountains The Battle of the Lake of Two Mountains () took place during the Beaver Wars between the colony of New France and the Iroquois Confederacy that occurred on October 16, 1689. The battle occurred in response to the Lachine massacre of August 1689 ...

took place nearby. 1n 1691, the stockade and windmill were burned down by

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

and a new stone fort was constructed in 1702–1703, which lasted until 1776 when it was destroyed during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

troops under

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold (#Brandt, Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of ...

. The Village Municipality of Senneville was established on January 12, 1895, when it separated from the Parish of Sainte-Anne du Bout-de-l’Isle. The Senneville Post Office operated from 1911 to 1957. On January 1, 2002, as part of the

2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal Montreal was one of the cities in Quebec affected by the 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec. On January 1, 2002, all the municipalities on the island of Montreal were merged into the city of Montreal. However, following a change of ...

, Senneville was merged into the city of Montreal and became part of the borough of Pierrefonds-Senneville. However, after a change of government and a 2004 referendum, it was re-constituted as an independent village municipality on January 1, 2006.

Demographics

According to the

Office québécois de la langue française The (, OQLF; ) is an agency of the Quebec provincial government charged with ensuring legislative requirements with respect to the right to use French are respected. Established on 24 March 1961 by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage, the ...

, Senneville has been officially recognized as a bilingual municipality since 2005-11-02. In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Senneville had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Government

The current mayor of the Village of Senneville is Julie Brisebois. In addition, there are six municipal councillors: #François Vaqué (District 1) #Alain Savoie (District 2) #Christopher Jackson (District 3) #Michelle Jackson Trepanier (District 4) #Dennis Dicks (District 5) #Peter Csenar (District 6)

Former mayors

List of former mayors: * Louis-Joseph Forget (1896–1911) * Frederic Lumb Wanklyn (1911–1914) * Guy Boyer (1914–1915) * Frederick Cleveland Morgan (1915–1919) * John Lancelot Todd (1919–1920) * R. MacD. Paterson (1920–1922) * George M. Bosworth (1922–1925) * Robert R. Macaulay (1925–1930) * William A. Fallis (1930–1933) * John Y. Phillips (1933–1935) * William George M. Stuart (1935–1936) * Thomas Arnold (1936–1937, 1939–1943) * Joseph Davison Weir (1937–1939) * Guy Mansfield Todd (1943–1947) * Luther H. D. Sutherland (1947–1951) * Adélard Raymond (1951–1959) * Edward R. Smallhorn (1959–1967) * Bernard Whittaker Burgess (1967–1975) * Cameron F. Duff (1975–1986) * Ovila Crevier (1986–1995) * George MacLeish (1995–2002, 2006–2013) * Jane Foukai (Guest (2013–2017) * Julie Brisebois (2017–present)

Education

The '' Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' operates Francophone public schools, but were previously operated by the '' Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' until June 15, 2020. The change was a result of a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from denominational to

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. It operates the

École secondaire Saint-Georges École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

. The

Lester B. Pearson School Board The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB, , CSLBP) is one of the largest school boards on the island of Montreal and one of the nine English school boards in the province of Quebec. It is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec. Established in 1998, ...

(LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools in the area. * The zoned elementary school is Dorset Elementary School in

Baie-D'Urfé Baie-D'Urfé (, ; previously spelled Baie d'Urfé or Baie d'Urfee) is an Greater Montreal, on-island suburb of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is part of the West Island area of the Island of Montreal. As part of the 2002–2006 municipal reorganiz ...

School Board Map
"

. Retrieved on September 28, 2017.

Notable residents

Notable past and present residents include: *

Ken Dryden Kenneth Wayne Dryden (born August 8, 1947) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, politician, lawyer, businessman, and author. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was ...

, politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former NHL goalie * Corey Hart, singer-songwriter * Janina Fialkowska, classical pianist *

John Abbott Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of the Conservative Party. Abbo ...

, the third Prime Minister of Canada, lived at 170 Senneville Road *

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

, stage, film, and television actor was the great-grandson of John Abbott and lived in his house most of his youth *

Lino Saputo Emanuele "Lino" Saputo, (; born June 10, 1937) is an Italian-Canadian billionaire businessman. He is the founder of the Canadian cheese manufacturer Saputo Inc. According to ''Forbes'', he has an estimated net worth of US$4.7 billion as ...

, founder of the Canadian cheese manufacturer Saputo Inc.

References

External links

*
Gordon & Gotch's 1924 Map of the Island of Montreal

Senneville is named on this map
{{MontrealNeighbourhoods Villages in Quebec Island of Montreal municipalities West Island Populated places established in 1679 Bilingual cities and towns in Quebec