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of Prince Edward Island in 1881-1882 while not a long lasting as an organization, did spark interest in collecting the historical documents of the province.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.