Hon. Hamnett Kirkes Pinhey (1784-1857), a young London importer and ship insurance
broker, emigrated to Canada in 1820 with a small fortune, to develop an estate in the
Canadian wilderness. He soon established himself as a leader of society in eastern Upper
Canada (Ontario) and became a member of the Legislative Assembly, Reeve of March
Township, Warden of Carleton County, and a member of the Legislative Council of Upper
Canada. He developed HORACEVILLE, on the Ottawa Riverfront of March Township
(now the City of Kanata), as his residential estate, operating grist and sawmills and
building St. Mary's Church, which opened in 1827.