HAMNETT KIRKES PINHEY 1784 - 1857
( From a plaque erected on the site by the Ontario Heritage Foundation. )
A merchant and ship owner in his native England, Pinhey came to Upper Canada in 1820. For his services as King's messenger during the Napoleonic Wars, he received a 1000 acres land grant on the Ottawa River. Within a decade he had built up an estate which he named Horaceville after his elder son. In addition to a manor house and barns, it included mills, a store and church. Pinhey took a leading part in township and district affairs. He was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1847, served as Warden of the Dalhousie District, and as the first Warden of Carleton County. Horaceville remained in family hands until 1959 when it was purchased by the National Capital Commission.
You'll find Pinhey's Point on the shores of the Ottawa River, it is where the Hon. Hamnett Pinhey build a home for his family when he came to the area in the early 1800's. He called the estate "Horaceville" after his son. The property was sold to March Township by Pinhey's heirs, and in 1983 the Pinhey's point Foundation acquired the property and conveyed it to the City of Kanata in 1990.
The property is open to the public all year round, and you are invited to visit the house and enjoy the site. All summer long there are events to enjoy, and costumed volunteers depict life as it was in Pinhey's day.
