The Streets of Charlottetown - Naming Patterns

The original streets if not having an obvious source like Water Street, carried associations with family names and titles of important individuals and those traditions continued when the town expanded. The family names honoured in newer areas became Island families whereas the original set were English individuals of prominence or high office. The use of royal titles was a pattern not unique to Charlottetown. King, Prince and Queen Streets as well as Queen's Square may have even had a specific association with incumbents on the day they were named but today they have lost any specific association with one individual and retain a broader association with the title of a regal office.

By contrast the later naming of Victoria Park was to honour a specific individual, as were the names Queen Elizabeth Drive and Prince Charles Drive both parts of newer subdivisions in Brighton. With Charlotte Drive part of the parallel streets in this same subdivision it is safe to assume that this was another association with a regal name but in this case an historical one being Charlottetown's namesake Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III.

Great George Street which once included the section now called University Ave from Euston to Grafton was the exact centre of the town with Prince and Queen on each adjcent side providing a symbolic and regal example of Georgian symmetry. While there would also be a King Street, Great George appears to have cemented a specific reference to George III, during his formidable 60 year reign. Although the street is shorter than the original, the name would last through time. The placement of Province House eventually on the very centre of the configuration in the middle of Queen's Square is equally an important symbolic placement of a center of power.

After geographic names like Water and West, and regal titles, the vast majority of original names were associated with nobility in important positions politically in London. These include Weymouth, Hillsborough, Fitzroy, Richmond, Grafton and Euston Streets. Total count seems to have also been a factor in the allocation with the Royal Family achieving four streets plus the primary square, not to mention central positioning within the town with three of the five broader streets all achieving royal association. The British Prime Minister Agustus H. Fitzroy, the Duke of Grafton whose family seat was Euston House came in second place with three streets allocated to his various family names.

The politics of placement of the remaining names and their closeness to the regal centre or to the comparative width of the street (five central north-south streets were extra wide), might be worthy of additional research. Sufficient to say that the allocation of street names in the original Charlotte Town both in quantity and placement was to honour significant individuals currently in power in London and was done with thought to ensure the status of the monarchy and the prime minister were held highest, in that order.

Association with family names or titles rather than specific individuals names (with the exception of Great George), was the tradition that became entrenched and when there was need for additional names these names were based on Island families. Individuals may have been associated with ownership of property in the area like the Beasley, McGill, Esher or Longworth families. Or they could be eminently involved with public life like Governor Dundas, or various generation of the Haviland family.

As the town grew the names of streets and neighbourhoods became associated with the names of houses of early owners. Names like Spring Park, Sidmount, Inkerman, Mount Edward all can be traced to a specific house or estate.

A third set of names developed for roads leading out of the town. These gained the obvious name of the destination thus Malpeque Rd. leading from Euston St., along what is now University Ave. was derived that way as was Lower Malpeque Rd. Both St. Peter's Rd., and North River Rd. derive the same source for their names. A curious addition to that list is Kensington Rd. which leads in the opposite direction from the town of Kensington. When we look closer we realize that the name Kensington associated with the Prince Co. community was first as a school district around 1863. Kensington Point is located on the Hillsborouth River and shows up on Bayfields maps of 1845. The Kensington Range (an early rifle range) would become another landmark on the Hillsborough south of Kensington Rd.

The fourth pattern which emerges is that of a geographic derivation with include West and Water. One may be left wondering if Greenfield and Green street are derived from a similar basis. Green being a family name on PEI would lead one to search more.

The current use of subdivision names related to nature is really a similar method of recognizing components of the environment. The subdivision of Sherwood was along this line in which tree names like Oak, Maple becaming the dominent motif for a large sections. The use of Robin Hood images like Friar Park, and other Sherwood Forest associations were part of this tree theme and playing on the Sherwood name.

Newer areas of Sherwood have recently adopted local naming traditions as family names like Barbour Circle, Rogers Lane, Dale Drive, Brow's Lane, Walsh Crescent, and Macausland Drive in growing areas.

One group of names seems to derive from the combining of two words to create a novel term, and a number of those exist. They include Westcomb and Westridge Crescents, Birchmount, Ferndale Rosemount Drive and Northridge Parkway. Although not all double barreled names are new creations - Falconwood has a long history on PEI.

The final very small group of names have been derived from individual names like Terry Fox Drive, Henri Blanchard Dr.,

Streets of Charlottetown - Alley Street

While the original Charlotte Town had a limited number of streets requiring names, traditions had been established by Surveyor General Samuel Holland and other in selecting names for various geographic features within the colony. When Charles Morris arrived from Halifax in June 1768 to survey and layout streets for Charlotte Town, an initial plan was established following Holland’s recommendations. Eventually Morris’s plan would be reworked considerably in 1771 by surveyor Thomas Wright under the instruction of Governor Patterson. The addition of four new residential squares to the initial concept of Queen’s Square for public buildings, has had a lasting beautification effect.

The Wright-Patterson plan has only one street named on it - Great George, in honour of King George III, but the pattern had become established and thus family names and titles became the dominant choice for streets south of Euston. The tradition changed over time to include Island family names for the developing new streets, especially as it began to expand beyond the original bounds defined by Euston Street.

Alley St. running off University Ave. near Euston St. is a short and narrow lane which might lead one to believe it was the alley-like quality that suggested its name. While there are no individuals in the Charlottetown telephone book with the surname currently, generations of the prominent Alley family of Charlottetown had firmly etched the surname into the memories of prior generations. Judge George Alley named to the Queens County Court at the age of 30 is likely one of the youngest judges Canada has ever seen. His efforts to establish the Historical Society of Prince Edward Island in 1881-1882 while not a long lasting as an organization, did spark interest in collecting the historical documents of the province. Judge Alley died before he was able to write his planned History of Prince Edward Island, yet his collections became an important part of the Public Archives and Records Office of PEI, through his colleague and cousin Henry Smith, who was also employed in the court system and who ensured that these early documents and images were saved.

The Alleys were Irish, and arrived on PEI about 1818. Thomas Charles Alley, a widower married Elizabeth Frances Dawson, a daughter of Col. Thomas Dawson of Dawson's Grove, who was herself a widow. Their son Thomas Alley Jr. born in 1820 was to become the well known Charlottetown architect whose own home currently houses the Red Cross on Prince St. It was the architect's son George, the judge who worked in the courthouse designed by his father. The same building is located east of Province House known currently as the Hon. George Coles Building. Fittingly the building houses within the Public Archives the historical collections that Judge Alley and Henry Smith assembled. The judge's son Dr. Gordon Alley (1874-1925) was a well known medical practitioner.

Despite the fact the Alley name has generally disappeared as a family name in Charlottetown, there are many individuals with Alley ancestry in the province through the various maternal lines. The role that Alley family members played in various fields remains worthy of commemoration.

One member of the family, Elizabeth Alley was the mother of Henry Smith, who maintained Judge Alley's historic collections for posterity. Among Smith's family items was a sampler his mother wrote as a child.

Elizabeth Alley is my name,
Ireland is my nation,
Charlottetown is my dwelling place,
and Christ is my salvation.

Saviour Lord implant in me,
That Celestial charity,
Let my every word and deed,
From a loving heart proceed.

Streets of Charlottetown - Weymouth Street

Association with prominent British politicians, their aristocratic titles as well as royal titles appears to be the common denominator for naming the first streets, when Mr. Morris arrived from Halifax in June 1768 to survey and layout streets for Charlotte Town. Weymouth Street running north from the harbour in the east side of the town was no different.

Thomas Thynne (1734-1796), eventually became the 1st Marquess of Bath in 1789 but during his political life was known as Viscount Weymouth having succeeded his father in 1751 and acquired the title 3rd Viscount Weymouth. He was also becoming an important English politician during the 1760's when Charlotte Town was being surveyed with a full set of streets needing names. Prior to his government appointments as Secretary of State he held the role as Master of the Horse to Queen Charlotte, for whom the city was named.

Viscount Weymouth's appointment as Secretary of State for the Northern Department in 1768 was during a time of unrest there and his 1770 appointment as Secretary of State for the Southern Department was also in the midst of a dispute with Spain over possession of the Falkland Islands.

Weymouth in public life is remembered for his considerable ability, especially as a speaker. His private life as Thomas Thynne included marriage to Elizabeth Bentinck, with whom he had three sons and ten daughters.

The family estate and titles have carried on over the generations with the current Viscount Weymouth being heir apparent of his eccentric father, the 7th Marquess of Bath who has an estimated wealth of £157 million. Bath, a grizzled painter who is married yet professes a polyamorous lifestyle with 75+ "wifelets" over the years, admits that he concocted the term to make it easier on his failing memory to recall names of the various girlfriends in what appears to be a rotating harem.

Known as Britain's most infamous aristocrat, his estate includes a highly successful safari park where paying guests are driven in Land Rovers amid lions and other exotic creatures.

By contrast the younger generation which carry the Weymouth titles appear to be quite typical young people in the active pursuit of business careers internationally.

Streets of Charlottetown - Hillsborough

In naming the streets of Charlottetown, the traditions established by Samuel Holland throughout the province appear to have continued. Holland had presented his sketches and plans for the county towns to the Government of Nova Scotia and Mr. Morris arrived from Halifax in June 1768 to survey and layout streets for Charlotte Town. The plan needed reworking considerably in 1771 for surveyor Thomas Wright under the instruction of Governor Patterson. Through this a pattern had been established to honour both royal titles and the family names of a select group of senior officials in London with responsibility for the colonies.

Prominent in the group was Wills Hill. He was known as Viscount Hillsborough from 1742 to 1751 and as the Earl of Hillsborough from 1751 to 1789, and had risen as a successful British politician of the period, being the Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1768 to 1772, a period of significance leading toward the American Revolution.

Hillsborough was a member of Parliament from 1741-1756, he joined the Privy Council in 1754 and was created Baron Harwich 1756, which entitled him to a seat in the House of Lords. His highest rank was as 1st Marquess of Downshire in the Irish peerage in 1789.

His service, between 1763 and 1765, as President of the Board of Trade and Plantations had the greatest impact on PEI. It was during early 1764 that important decisions were being made about how best to develop Prince Edward Island as a colony and the entire matter had been referred by the British Government to this body for consideration and recommendations.

Hillsborough Street, Square, River, Bay and the federal riding of Hillsborough are all derived from one family name honouring the Earl of Hillsborough.

Frieda Creighton Creelman (1900-1967)

This view of Charlottetown would have been familiar to Frieda Creighton Creelman in a period when the great towers of St. Dunstan's Basilica dominated the skyline. While living through the period when the automobile had become dominant - she has chosen to capture a time slightly earlier - capturing a period before machines of various sorts had become omnipresent in the life of the town.

A brief biography of Freida is included in the finding aid to a collection of her correspondence and memorabilia located in the Dalhousie University Archives.

Creelman (née Creighton), Frieda, 1900-1967

Biographical history Born on September 22, 1900, Frieda Creighton was educated at Halifax Academy, Dalhousie University (B.A. 1921), and the Nova Scotia College of Art where she studied under Elizabeth Nutt. In 1926, she married Dr. Prescott Creelman. The couple initially resided in Newfoundland but moved to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1928. Frieda's interest in art continued throughout her life, and she continued to study and/or take courses in Boston, New York, Nova Scotia, England, and Spain. She also helped found, and was a member of, the Prince Edward Island Art Society. Frieda and Prescott Creelman had three children: son Robin and daughters Lorna and Carol. She died on March 4, 1967 in Prince Edward Island.

Recently (2017) Island historian Georges Arsenault sent me a copy of a photograph taken by Lumina Poirier MacDonald who had served as matron at the Sanatorium, working with Frieda's husband, Dr Prescott Creelman. The photograph was taken from the area of the Provincial Sanatorium in Charlottetown, looks south towards Highland Ave. from McGill Ave is also the view that Frieda saw out her own windows while she lived on McGill Ave. The winter scene with a box sleigh, a grouping of small houses, and the steeples of the town in the distance are the same elements she combined in the painting. Family have indicated that the painting was the scene outside her window.

Frieda Creighton Creelman - Charlottetown Watercolourist

The art of Frieda Creighton Creelman (1900-1967), have long had a special place within our family. Living in the same neighbourhood that she had, may be part of the interest. The fact that she was a close family friend of a prior generation of the family meant a number of her paintings are now found in various family homes. Her Island scenes capture another time and preserve aspects of Island heritage that would have been lost had she not captured them in living colour.

The painting of The Pump House, recalls an area much changed from when it was painted. Located on the banks of Governor's Pond in an area at the beginning of Fitzroy Street in Charlottetown - the building has been replaced with a modern structure known as a "lift station". The watercolour on loan from a family collection was part of the 2005 show assembled for the 150th Charlottetown anniversary, hosted by Confederation Centre Art Gallery & Museum.

An article on Frieda originally hosted on the Government of PEI website has disappeared but a version survives on the Internet Archives site.