Amherst Island
Lennox & Addington County
This page is currently in the works...
Have YOU researched before on Amherst Island??
Please share any info at all..
I have never done research for this area, but
would like to make up a page for other researchers.
Therefore, I am counting on submissions.
Thank you for your support.
This page contains little information.
Not all information on the islands is listed on their main page.
Be sure to check out each islands section on the resource pages
(See sidebar links)
LOCATION
Amherst Island of Amherst Island Twp, Lennox & Addington
County is located in Lake Ontario.
Amherst Island (22.8 sq mi/59.1 sq km), SE Ont., Canada, one of the Thousand Isls., at head of L. Ontario, near entrance to the St. Lawrence, 7 mi/11 km WSW of Kingston; 11 mi/18 km long, 5 mi/8 km wide; 44�08'N 76�43'W. Popular resort. Granted to La Salle by Louis XIV; originally called �le de Tonti.
From:The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. 2000.
"Amherst Island and its archipelago (Nut Island, Grape Island and the Brother Islands) cover over 16,500 acres or 66 square kilometers (25.8 square miles). The Island measures over 20 km (12 mi) in length from Bluff Point in the southwest to Amherst Bar in the northeast and over 7 km (4.4 mi) at its widest point across.
The resident population of some four hundred souls swells to close to one thousand during the summer months. The village of Stella nestles around Stella Bay on the protected north central shore. A regular ferry service connects the mainland (from Millhaven) to the village (and the rest of the island). "
From the site of Hans Krauklis with permission. OLD LINK Web site
NEW! SEE THE NEW AMHERST ISLAND HOMEPAGE PUT OUT BY THE ISLAND!
Amherst Page
EARLY HISTORY
From Smiths 1846 Canadian Gazetteer
"An Island in Lake Ontario, situated opposite the township of Ernestown,
so called from the Earl of Amherst; the name originally given it
by the French, being "Isle of Tanti." It was originally granted
by the Crown to Sir John Johnston, for military services. The
upper portion of it has been settled about 70 years, and the
remainder about 25 years. The principal part of the island is now
owned by the Earl of Mountcashel. The land is generally of very
good quality, and the tenants are in comfortable circumstances.
The steamboats touch here on their passages to and from Trent
and Kingston. Amherst island forms a township of the Midland District;
13,387 acres of land are taken up in the island, 5,030 of which
are under cultivation. There is a Post Office on the island, and
an Episcopal Church. There are also on the island, one
physician and surgeon, one store, two taverns, three ship-builders
, five tailors, seven shoemakers, five carpenters, 12 weavers,
two blacksmiths. Population : 1,104. Ratable property : �11,185."
From Lovell`s Gazetteer of British North America 1873
"Amherst Island, an island near the enterance to the Bay
of Quinte, W, of Kingston Ont.
Its original French name was the Isle of Tanti.
Area 16,830 acres. population 1, 1189."
Thanks JoAnne
See history sections of the site of Hans Krauklis at;
Amherst Island History
There is a lot of great info here!
From The Perceval Papers
Some history of the island and some settlers.
EARLY SETTLERS
"The early community was composed of numerous wealthy Loyalists,
some late loyalists, and a proportion of French Canadian
fishermen....The shoreline of the Island was settled by the close
of the 1820's. An Irish wave of immigration to the Island followed,
with the population peaking at 2,000 in 1842....
Most moved on to the frontiers of Ontario and the American
Midwest. The Island became insular, independent and conservative
when the monopoly of marine transportation was surpassed by mainland
roads and railroads.
"
From the site of Hans Krauklis with permission. Web site
CENSUS-population
See: Island Censuses
From Stats Canada:
Population 2001: 406
Population 1996: 399
Population 1991: 401
Contact Stats Canada for more information on statistics.
Lookup
Willie Armstrong of Whitby, ON emailed me..
"I have "Born on the Island" which is 1891 census for
Amherst as well as some births for 1870-1895.
I am willing to do lookups, I already have a listing
somewhere for that(Ont Gen Web I think)but if you
would like to post it somewhere else(your site), that's fine.
Email Willie
Thanks Willie!
ONLINE RESOURCES
NEW!
Amherst Island Beacon Online
Newspaper online
Amherst Island Post office info
Click on A at left to see info on Post masters and terms in office.
Online Atlas Project
SLOW TO LOAD!
Search for person under Amherst Island or
view a tenants map of the island...
Note: Amherst Island is in Lennox and Addingtion County!
County of Amherst Island.
Atlas Date for this map: 1878
See the ISLAND LINKS Page for some great Amherst Island links.
RECOMMENDED READING
(I don't have these books)
-Inquisiton: County Down / PRONI T856 [FHL 0258596] The history of an emmigration of some 200 Scots-Irish families from the United Parishes of St.Andrews, Ards Peninsula, Co. Down, 1829-1860, to Amherst Island, Ontario, Canada. The book also has full references and includes many maps, landlord and tenant family names, as well as lists of contact people for various surnames.
Thanks to Ann for this one:
-A New Lease on Life: Landlords, Tenants, & Immigrants in Ireland & Canada by Catharine Anne Wilson
published by McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994, ISBN O-7735-1117-2
Available from Russ Wallers Genealogy Books:
Amherst Island Loyalist Links:Marital Networks by Russ Waller
Kingston Genealogical Society has the following transcriptions:
St. Bartholomew's RC Cemetery
Pentland Cemetery
Glenwood Cemetery
NOTE
Richard Willard says a friend told him,
"all records on Amherst Island are in the librarys of
Bellville and Napanee."
Thanks Richard!
NOTE:Check out these links for resources you can
buy at a good cost...
Kingston Genealogical Society
or the Ontario Genealogical Society
The Islands: Amherst Island
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