Hay River

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Souris, PEI (Nearby: Souris West, Eastern Kings, Annandale-Little Pond-Howe Bay, Central Kings, St. Peters Bay)

92 MAIN ST
Souris, Prince Edward Island
C0A 2B0


Prince Edward Island Tourism Region : Points East Coastal Drive

Description From Owner:
  • The river flows N into Naufrage Harbour on the Gulf of St. Lawrence just E of St. Margarets. It was named for the profusion of hay along its banks.
  • During the 1830s and 1840s Kings C. was in turmoil over the land question.
  • In December of 1836 more than 700 tenants attended a meeting here which was presided over by William Cooper, John LeLacheur and John MacIntosh, the three local Members of the Legislative Assembly.
  • A petition was passed demanding an immediate resolution to the land matter and encouraging tenants to withhold rent payments. The members took the petition to the Assembly.
  • Governor Sir John Harvey (1778-1852) called the petition 'dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional.'
  • When the three members refused to apologize to the Assembly for the tone of the resolutions, they were temporarily barred from the house.
  • This made them appear as martyrs to their constituents... and to themselves. The vexatious land problem didn't get sorted out for another 50 years.
  • With permission from 'Prince Edward Island Place Names' David E. Scott 2011


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  • William Cooper

    • Opposed absentee land ownership
    He was a sea captain and land agent but he railed against the absentee land owners and fought to help free poor, struggling settlers wrest the land they worked from indifferent absentee owners.

    William Cooper, born in England around 1786, used political pressure instead of an armed uprising by founding the Escheat Party and he became speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1839-43.

    He advocated confiscation of landlord property and its reallocation to those who farmed it. When land reform finally came, it was considerably more moderate: land was bought by the government and resold to the former tenants.

    Although he was largely forgotten after his death at Sailors Hope in 1867, his name is still invoked by social critics from a working class perspective and the Cooper Institute adult education and research organization has been named after him.

    With permission from 'Prince Edward Island Place Names' David E. Scott 2011


Visitors to this page: 220     This record last updated: December 19, 2022

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