Ottawa Ski Club - the Gatineau Valley Historical Society

48
Maurice River was their stamping
ground the heaawaters of .the two
rivers are relatively close together
and it is quite possible some of the
Gatineau family ventured down rthe
river in their search for furs.
Perhaps some of our readers will
challenge this name derivation so an
alternwtive is given for good measure.
It is claimed by some that Gatineau
stems from the Indian word Etinoo
meaning, "The People" that is, the
IJ'OOple of any particular distriot. This
might account for the spelling, Lettinoe
and Gatteno mentioned above.
Hull
One of the many trans-planted
names from England. Philomen
Wright found·er of the city of Hull is
commonly giv~m credit .for bringing
the name Hull with him but records
show the township was so named· before
Wright's arrival.
Kingsmere
Kingsmere Lake was originally
named Jeffs' Lake the name of the
first settler on 1ts shores, William
Je ffs, who was gran'ed Lot 20 in 1824.
When the post office was opened in
1880 the name Kingsmere (lake of
the king) was suggested by Lt. Col.
·J . S . Dennis, then Deputy Minister of
the Department of the Interior,
and formerly Surveyor General of
Dominion Lands.
Lauriault Hill
Named for an early settler. The
interesting history in connection with
this name is over the .s-pelling for
which no less than twelv~ •alternative
forms ·are recorded, Lairo, Loriault,
Larriault, Loriot, Lariou, Larieux,
Lariot, Lauriot , Lauriau, Lorriou,
Loryot, and Lariaul>t. The spelling
Lauriault accepted for map usage was
determined by adopting the ,form used
OTTAWA SKI CLUB
by the family descendents living now
in the Gracefield area. It is also of
interest to observe -the rapid decline
in the use of this name due to skiing
development in the immediwte
vicinity.
Meach Lake
In 18>24 land was granted (200
acres) to Asa Meech and the following
extract is taken from a published
paper "Early Settlement of Meach
Lake" by Ethel Penman Hope.
"Asa Meech, United Empire Loyalist
by birth, by training Oxford graduate,
d•OQtor of divinilty, do ct o1~ of
medicine, and master of shorthand,
pastor of a chu-rch in Charlotte, Vermont,
in the winter of 18-18, lel't his
home accompanied by his wife and
family on a journey made ·by sleigh
and oxen along the frozen St. Lawrence,
then