Of the names of the 236 communities and neighbourhoods that have been identified to date in Greater Halifax, 65 (27.5%) can be found as place names in Scotland or are based on Scottish family names. Of course, some of these names are used in other parts of the British Isles as well, but at least 31 of them (13.1%) appear to be unique to Scotland.
Communities and neighbourhoods with names that occur only in Scotland and not elsewhere in the British Isles, and/or are definitely, or most probably, of Scottish origin are:
For comparability with other cities around the world, Greater Halifax has been defined as those urban and semi-urban parts of Halifax Regional Municipality centred on Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford and their respective outlying commuter communities. This includes the entire Chebucto Peninsula in the south, the Pockwock Lake area in the west, Wellington and Halifax International Airport in the north and the Porter's Lake area in the east.
- Beaverbank and Middle Beaverbank - Beaverbank is a district in the City of Edinburgh. It does not necessarily follow, however, that the origin of the names of these Greater Halifax communities is Scottish since the correct spelling is held to be "Beaver Bank".
- Bel Ayr Park - the spelling of this neighbourhood's name suggests a definite Scottish touch to what would normally be Bel Air. Ayr is a town in the south-west of Scotland. The illustration shows the pavilion near the beach at Ayr.
- Burnside and Burnside Park - Burnside is commonly found as a place name in Scotland (two places in Angus and one place in each of Fife, Moray, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian). Burn is the Scots word for a stream or creek.
- Cow Bay - According to the article on Cow Bay in Wikipedia, this community was named after Robert Cowie who, with Roger Hill, received a land grant in the area in 1763. Cowie is a Scottish surname (see Cowie Hill below).
- Cowie Hill - there is a Cowieshill in Aberdeenshire. Cowie is also a Scottish surname - in Aberdeenshire it is pronounced "Cooie". The article on Cowie Hill retrieved from Wikipedia in March 2007 attributes the name to one of the original owners of the land, Robert Cowie (see also Cow Bay above), and notes that the hill on which the community is situated was originally called "Cowie's Hill'. Robert Cowie was a British merchant (presumably of Scottish ancestry), who was granted the land in 1752 by Governor Edward Cornwallis.
- Crichton Park - the name of this suburb could well be attributed to Crichton in Midlothian, the location of Crichton Castle (seen here) where Mary Queen of Scots married Lord Darnley in 1565. She later married the Earl of Bothwell, owner of Crichton Castle, and lost her crown as a result.
- Duncan's Cove - although there are no places in Scotland with this name, Duncan is an ancient Scottish family name. The Duncan clan is descended from the medieval earls of Atholl, the name being an anglicisation of Donnachadh, from Gaelic donn (brown) and cath (war), thus suggesting the meaning 'brown warrior'. According to the Halifax County Genweb site, the name of this community honours Admiral Duncan who defeated the Dutch in the naval battle of Camperdown off the Dutch coast in 1797 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown (1731-1804) was born in Lundie, Angus, Scotland and educated in Dundee.
- Ferguson's Cove - Ferguson is definitely a Scottish name. The Ferguson clan has numerous branches, the name meaning 'first choice' in Gaelic.
- Glen Margaret - The Halifax County Genweb site provides the following explanation of the origin of the name of this community: "As the name suggests, Scottish Loyalists first settled the community of Glen Margaret. This district was first known as Lower Ward. It was changed to Glen Margaret in honour of the wife of John Fraser, one of the early Scottish Loyalist settlers." It is also stated that "Among the early Scottish settlers were John Creighton, Alexander and Hugh MacDonald and Donald Patterson. Other Loyalists with such names as Renfrew, Moore, Marven, Redmond and Munroe also settled here."
- Glen Moir - the Moirs are a sept of Clan Gordon. One presumes that this Bedford suburb was named for the Moirs who ran a family business in Halifax manufacturing bakery products. In 1873, James Moir, a son of William Moir, added confectionery goods to the family business. Part of the Moirs Mill factory was later moved to Bedford (Halifax County Genweb site).
- Grahams Corner - there are many places in central and southern Scotland beginning with Graham from the surname; also a few just over the border in Northumberland and Cumbria. Graham is a Scottish family name, the clan being descendants of an Anglo-Norman family that settled in Scotland (particularly the border areas) in the early part of the 12th century. As noted by Scarlett (1975, p. 69), "in 1606 an entire sept of Cumberland Grahams was "transported" to Roscommon in Ireland for being troublesome on the Border." The most famous bearer of the name was the brilliant soldier James Graham, the 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612-50).
- Harrietsfield (Scottish Borders). The origin of the name of this community is uncertain with the result that it is not necessarily Scottish. "The community was probably named for the wife of Colonel William Thompson who was living in the area by the 1780s" (Halifax County Genweb site). Thompson (often spelled Thomson in Scotland) is a Scottish and English family name.
- Highland Acres and Highland Park - both possibly recalling the Highlands of Scotland. The illustration shows a painting of Glen Coe in the Highlands.
- Lochview Road - there is a Lochview in North Lanarkshire as well as many guesthouses and hotels in Scotland with this descriptive name ('view of the loch'). Most of the streets in the neighbourhood of Lochview Road have Scottish names.
- McGrath Cove - although there is no place in Scotland by this name, McGrath is a Scottish family name, the MacGraths being a sept of Clan Macrae. According to the House of Names heraldic website, McGrath is also an Irish family name.
- McNabs Island - the MacNabs are an ancient clan descended from the abbots of Glendochart, at the western end of Loch Tay.
- Melville Cove - there is a Melville House in Fife and Melville Grange and Melville Mains in Midlothian. Melville is also a Scottish family name originally from Dumfries-shire.
- Port Wallace and Wallace Heights - there are many places in Scotland based on the Scottish surname of Wallace, examples being Wallaceton in Dumfries & Galloway, Wallacetown in South Ayrshire and Wallacestone in Falkirk. One of Scotland's most famous Wallaces is Sir William Wallace, the thirteenth century patriot who championed Scotland's independence when this was under threat by King Edward I of England's expansionist policy. Wallace means 'Welshman', a Saxon term for 'foreigner' that was applied by the Saxons to the descendants of the Celtic-speaking Ancient Britons in Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria and Strathclyde. The article on Port Wallace, Nova Scotia, retrieved from Wikipedia in February, 2009 provides the following account of the origin of the name: "Port Wallace was established in 1861 and is named after the Honourable Michael Wallace, a colonial administrator and former President of the Shubenacadie Canal Company." In the Wikipedia article it is later stated that "Admiral Provost Wallis, Royal Navy was stationed at North American Station at some time after Michael Wallace's death. Upon the death of Admiral Wallis in 1891, the spelling of the community was erroneously changed to 'Port Wallis' and this was officially approved on 3 December 1953, only to be reverted to the present 'Port Wallace' on 18 February 1963."
- Purcells Cove - Black (1996), the authority on Scottish family names, states that Purcell occurs in some records in Lanark in 1490 and some other locations in 1566, 1664, 1692 and 1733. Black also states that some experts suggest that the name is derived from a nickname for a young pig (Old French 'porcus'). According to the Halifax County Genweb site, the community was named for Samuel Purcell, an early settler, who "lived in the area for a number of years but did not buy any land until 1828." It is not known whether Samuel Purcell was actually Scottish.
- Seaforth - there is a Seaforth Island and Loch Seaforth in the Western Isles and one of the most famous Scottish regiments was the Seaforth Highlanders, raised by the restored Earl of Seaforth in 1778. Seaforth is also the name of a well-known suburb of Liverpool, England at the mouth of the river Mersey, the name having been taken there from Scotland in the 19th century by Sir John Gladstone, the father of British Prime Minister William Ewert Gladstone.
- Southdale (Shetland Islands).
- Tam O'Shanter Ridge - Tam O'Shanter is Robert Burns' most famous narrative poem about the problems of bumping into witches at Halloween, particularly when under the influence of drink! All the streets in this neighbourhood have Scottish names, its main road being Caledonia Road.
- Tantallon, Tantallon Woods and Upper Tantallon (Tantallon Castle in East Lothian).
- Waterstone (West Lothian).
- Waverley (Waverley railway station, Edinburgh and the title of Sir Walter Scott's first novel) but also the name of several places in England, including Waverley Abbey in Surrey, the inspiration for the title of Sir Walter's novel. The article on Waverley, Nova Scotia, retrieved from Wikipedia in March 2007, states that Waverley was indeed named after Sir Walter's Waverley novels.
Some of the following communities and subdivisions are also likely to have a direct or indirect Scottish connection, but these names can be found in other parts of the British Isles as well:
- Beechwood Park - there is a Beechwood in Scottish Borders, Dumfries & Galloway and Highland but Beechwood is more common in England and is also found in Ireland and Wales.
- Clayton Park - there is a Clayton in Fife. However, this name is far more commonly used in England. According to the article on Clayton Park, Nova Scotia, retrieved from Wikipedia in March 2007, the community "is named after a family that owned property in the area extending up the southern slope of Geizer's Hill." Clayton is an English family name, which reduces the likelihood of a Scottish connection.
- Cole Harbour and Cole Harbour Road - there is a Cole in the Shetland Islands. However, Cole is also the name of three English rivers and it occurs as an element of many other place names in England and to a far lesser extent in parts of Scotland and Ireland as well. An article in 'Destination Nova Scotia', retrieved in March 2007, provides the following account: "The area when it was originally settled was known to the Mi'kmaq as 'Wonpaak,' which means 'still water' or 'white water.' The English name may refer to an early pioneer family, though in a land grant of 1765 it is called Coal Harbour."
- Fletchers Lake - Fletcher is certainly a Scottish family name, there is a Fletcher tartan and there is also a Fletcherfield in Angus possibly associated with the Fletchers of Innerpeffer. Since the origin of the name is purely occupational (meaning arrow-maker) it is hardly surprising that Fletcher is also found as an element in at least twelve place names throughout England, for example Fletchersbridge in Cornwall and Fletcher's Combe in Devon. The community of Fletchers Lake takes its name from property owned by Robert Fletcher at the northern end of Lake Fletcher (information received in December 2008 from Darlene Morrison). It is not known whether Robert Fletcher's ancestry was Scottish.
- Glen Haven - there are places simply called Glen in Dumfries & Galloway, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, as well as two places in Ireland. In addition, there are hundreds of places in both Scotland and Ireland and a few in England and Wales with Glen as an element in the name. Glen means 'valley' in Gaelic. The name of this community appears to have been made up "to reflect the natural beauty of the area" and was the result of a petition organised around 1900 by Gordon Hubley to create a separate community with its own name and its own post office (Halifax County Genweb site).
- Greenwood Heights - there is a Greenwood in Scottish Borders, Moray and South Lanarkshire but Greenwood is also found in England and in County Mayo, Ireland.
- Highfield Park - there are many places in Scotland called Highfield - in Aberdeenshire, Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Highland, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. However, the name is used even more frequently in England.
- Kingswood (Perth & Kinross) but far more commonly found in England and also found in Ireland and Wales.
- Lewis Lake (Lewis in the Outer Hebrides). Lewis is a Scottish family name, but it is also a common Welsh family name, and can be found as an element in place names in England and Ireland as well. The illustration shows Lewis Castle on the Isle of Lewis.
- Lucasville - Lucas does not occur in place names in Scotland but is found in England. The Scottish Lucas family is nevertheless a sept of Clan Lamont. The name of this community near Middle Sackville is attributed to James Lucas (Locas), an early pioneer (Halifax County Genweb site), whose ancestry has not been reported.
- Masons Point - there is a Mason Lodge in Aberdeenshire and Masonhill in South Ayrshire; also five places in northern and central England with Mason as an element in the name. However, the name of this community in the St. Margaret's Bay area appears to be neither Scottish nor English. As explained in the Halifax County Genweb site, "some of the second generation Foreign Protestants who settled the area included those with the family names of Dauphinee, Mason and Fader", which suggests a French origin.
- Montague Gold Mines - there is a Montague in Perth & Kinross as well as in East Sussex, England.
- Old Holland Road - there is a place called Holland in the Orkney Islands as well as in three English counties. Holland is an Old English name meaning 'land of hill spurs', though it may also refer, of course, to the Dutch province of Holland. The Halifax neighbourhood takes its name from the road, which in turn was named after William and Thomas Holland, who held a land grant in the area in 1817 (information received in November 2008 from Jean Murray, a descendant).
- Porter, Porter's Lake and Middle Porter's Lake - there is a Porterstown in both Aberdeenshire and Dumfries & Galloway, Porterfield in Renfrewshire, Porterhall in South Lanarkshire and Porterside in West Lothian. Places with Porter as part of the name are even more commonly found throughout England.
- Portobello (City of Edinburgh, Dumfries & Galloway and East Lothian) also commonly found in England and Wales. It is possible that this outlying Greater Halifax neighbourhood may recall the place in Tyneside, northern England but a connection with Edinburgh cannot be ruled out. The name commemorates the capture of Puertobello, Panama by Admiral Vernon in 1739 (now acknowledged to have been an act of 'piracy' to prevent the Spanish colony from prospering). The picture above shows Portobello, Edinburgh.
- Preston, East Preston and North Preston - there are places called Preston in East Lothian and the Scottish Borders, not to mention Prestonpans, the battlesite near Edinburgh. Preston, however, is a very popular place name throughout England. It is also an English and Scottish family name, originating in the English county of Lincolnshire. According to the article on East Preston, retrieved from Wikipedia in May 2007, these communities were named for the Reverend Richard Preston. It is not stated whether Preston's ancestry was Scottish or English.
- Russell Lake West - there is a Russell Mains in Fife but Russell is far more commonly encountered in place names throughout England and there is also a Russell Hill in Monmouthshire, Wales. Russell is nevertheless a fairly common Scottish surname, derived from 'rous' meaning red. The earliest reference in Scotland to this name is in 1164. The Scottish Russells have their own family tartan.
- Shannon Park - Black (1996) states that Shannon is an old family name from Galloway and Kintyre, derived from the diminutive of the Irish 'sean', meaning 'old', or 'wise'. The family is a sept of Clan MacDonald, other variants of the name being Shannan and Shennan. Of course, Shannon is also the name of the most important river in Ireland, which may be the more likely origin of the name of this Dartmouth suburb.
- Springfield Lake (Springfield in Argyll & Bute, Dumfries & Galloway, Fife, Highland and Perth & Kinross) also in England and Wales.
- Spring Garden (South Ayrshire) also in East Sussex, spelt Spring-garden.
- Thornhill (Aberdeenshire, Dumfries & Galloway, East Ayrshire, Moray, Perth & Kinross and Stirling) also fairly commonly found in both England and Wales.
- Todds Island - there is a Todd's Hole in Angus. However, Todd occurs far more frequently in place names in England, particularly in the north.
- Wellington (Aberdeenshire; also Wellington House in Midlothian) and Wellington Station by association but Wellington is far more commonly found in England. It is more likely that the name of this outlying Greater Halifax community commemorates Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, hero of the Battle of Waterloo.
- Westwood Hills and Westwood Subdivision (Westwood in Dumfries & Galloway, Highland, Perth & Kinross, Stirling and South Lanarkshire) but Westwood is also commonly found throughout England and is a favourite name for neighbourhoods in other Canadian and American cities.
- White Hills (Highland) also two places in England.
- Whites Lake - White is both a Scottish and an English family name. The earliest record in Scotland is in 1097, the name being derived from the Old English word for white -'hwit'. In Scotland, White and its variant Whyte are septs of Clan Lamont and Clan MacGregor.
- Woodside (Aberdeen City, Dumfries & Galloway, City of Glasgow, Fife, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth & Kinross) also found all over England.
- Aberdeen Terrace, Annandale Street, Argyle Street, Bell Road, Carmichael Street, Clyde Street, Falkland Street, Inglis Street and Robie Street in downtown Halifax.
- Cowie Hill Road, Hebridean Drive and Langbrae Drive in the Halifax suburban area.
- Braemar Drive, Burnside Drive, Caldwell Road, Caledonia Road, Crichton Avenue, John Stuart Drive, Ochterloney Street and Ross Road in the Dartmouth area.
- Beaverbank Road, Glendale Drive, Portobello Road and Waverley Road in the Bedford area.
- Black, George F. (1996). The Surnames of Scotland. (Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd).
- Destination Nova Scotia
- Halifax County GenWeb Site
- Halifax Regional Municipality Street Map, 2004 (MapArt Publishing, Oshawa).
- Scarlett, James D. (1975). The Tartans of the Scottish Clans. (Collins, Glasgow and London).
- Websites, place name gazetteers and published Ordnance Survey maps of British and Irish cities, towns, villages and counties.
- Wikipedia - Communities in the Halifax Regional Muncipality
Other evidence of Scottish influences on the development of Nova Scotia's capital city can be found in the names of streets and roads, parks and reserves, lakes, islands and coastal features throughout the metropolitan area. Well-known roads in the city centre and suburbs include:
Examples of parks and sports grounds with Scottish sounding names include Ashburn Golf and Country Club, Charles L. McDonald Sportspark, McCormacks Beach Provincial Park, Sir Sandford Fleming Park and Waverley Provincial Game Sanctuary. Geographic features include Anderson Lake, Beaverbank Lake, Bell Lake, Cochran Island, Davidsons Brook, Drysdales Bog, Finlay Cove and McNabs Cove (both on McNabs Island), Fergusons Cove, Fletchers Lake, Frasers Lake, Loon Lake, McDonald Lake, McDonalds Point, McGrath Lake, McGregor Brook, McIntosh Run, McKay Lake, Melville Island, Moirs Pond, Muirs Point and Wilsons Lake. The names of the two bridges linking Halifax with Dartmouth are distinctly Scottish: the A. Murray MacKay Bridge over The Narrows and the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge over Halifax Harbour. And of course many Nova Scotians are graduates of Dalhousie University situated in downtown Halifax, which was founded by George Ramsay, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie and Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia was a major destination for Scottish settlers, its very name meaning 'New Scotland'. A Scottish connection with this maritime eastern Canadian province dates back to 1621 when King James VI of Scotland (King James I of England) granted a charter to the Scottish poet and statesman William Alexander (1st Earl of Stirling) for the establishment of a colony in Canada. This venture never really got off the ground owing to French rivalry and expansion in the area, which resulted in Nova Scotia being part of the French colony of Acadia for much of the seventeenth century. Most of Nova Scotia was finally ceded to Britain in 1713, with large-scale Scottish settlement occurring mainly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries due to a combination of enforced "Clearances" and economic migration. To this day, the Gaelic language and many performing arts and other Scottish customs have survived on Cape Breton Island some 250 kilometres (about 150 miles) to the north-east of Halifax.
Acknowledgments:
© Ian Kendall
If you wish to contact Ian about his research, his e-mail address is ian.kendall1@bigpond.com.
Melbourne, Australia, October 2004
Revised April 2008
