Clarendon is a municipality in the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...

region, part of the

Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec Pontiac () is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Campbell's Bay, Quebec, Campbell's Bay is the county seat. It should not be confused with the Pontiac, Quebec, municipality of Pontiac, which is located in the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is located on the north shore of the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

across from Horton Township in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Its settlements include Clarendon, North Clarendon, Charteris, Lawn, Murrell, Radford, Sand Bay, Starks Corners, and Yarm. The town of Shawville is surrounded by, but not part of, Clarendon. Largely cleared of forests, Clarendon is a predominantly agricultural municipality, with an elevation of above sea level. The only notable lake is Green Lake, which is surrounded by cottages.

History

The township was first surveyed in 1792 and appears on the Gale and Duberger map of 1795.

Settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...

did not occur until 1825 when James Prendergast, a retired British Army Officer, was commissioned by the government to lead this task. From that year until 1827, free land was granted, resulting in a wave of settlers, starting with 15 settlers near the township's centre (now Shawville). But Prendergast, originally from religiously-divided

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, stipulated that settlers only be Protestants in order to avoid similar religious strife. As a result, Clarendon (and Shawville) is known as the heartland of Anglo-Saxon Protestantism in western Quebec. Between 1827 and 1835, Prendergast was responsible for establishing the first four schools and bringing in its teachers. He also built a water-driven sawmill and grist mill at his home along the Ottawa River. In 1833, the Township of Clarendon was officially established. It was named after Clarendon Park, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England (where

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

had convened peers and bishops to formulate the

Constitutions of Clarendon The Constitutions of Clarendon were a set of legislative procedures enacted by Henry II of England in 1164. The Constitutions were composed of 16 articles and represented an attempt to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and to curb the power of t ...

in 1164). In 1837, the post office opened. From then on and into the 1840s, when the timber industry started to prosper, a second wave of settlement occurred, doubling the population of Clarendon between 1840 and 1850. In 1855, the

Township Municipality A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canada ...

of Clarendon was created. This status was reformed to Municipality of Clarendon on October 11, 2003.

Demographics

Population

Language

Mother tongue: * English as first language: 82% * French as first language: 14% * Other languages: 1.4%

References

External links