5110 RTE 3 |
Prince Edward Island Tourism Region : Points East Coastal Drive
Description From Owner:
- 11 mi SE of Charlottetown in Lot 50. Named by Seymour Young in 1897 for the residence of Sir John A. Macdonald in Ottawa. Earnescliffe is now the official residence of the British High Commissioner to Canada
- P.O. Gallas Point 1891-1897; P.O. Earnscliffe 1897-1914.
- Gallas Point: Extends into Hillsborough Bay at Earnscliffe, Lot 50. The origin is obscure. Tradition has it that a scaffold was found there and that a dog had been hung by sailors or that a man had been hung.
- Bagster 1861 describes this as absurd, stating it is a personal name. A. B. Warburton noted in 1922 that Gallants Point appeared on an old map, and he had no doubt that that was its derivation. Michel Haché, surnamed Gallant, settled at Port La Joie in 1
- Pierre Galloa is noted in the de la Roque census 1752 as a settler at Pisquid River, having been in Acadia for thirty years.
- A writer in 1922 suggested two versions: a man hung himself by his suspenders or galluses; Holland's surveyors exclaimed that a theodolite stand resembled a gallows. Another tradition states that a man was hung for murdering a man in Lot 60.
- Another tradition is that trees left on the point appeared like gallows to sailors. A person who was born there wrote in 1963 that the usual tradition was for a person called Gallant, and she opposed the hanging theories.
- Douglas 1925 also suggests that it may be derived from Gillis, John Gillis being a settler on the south side of Orwell Bay in 1833. There are frequent references to Gallows Point in JHA from 1831 to 1861, and thereafter Gallas Point occurs.
- Holland 1765 Orwell Point, which later charts and maps mistakenly put on the next point east, which is McInnis Point (and mistakenly put the latter on the next point east, which is Mutchs Point).
- Bayfield 1846 Gallows Point. Douglas 1925 has Musik as the Micmac name, but this is a local personal name, Peter Musick being a Loyalist settler. However, Rand's 1880 list does give Meusik as the Micmac name for Gallows Point.
- Pacifique 1934 gives Miosigeg. Also known as Tweedys Point. Meacham 1880 shows Jos. Tweedy there and Cummins 1925 has John Tweedy at the point.
- With permission from 'Prince Edward Island Place Names' David E. Scott 2011
Address of this page: http://pei.ruralroutes.com/Earnscliffe