History
Amherst Island was known by the French as Isle Tonti, after Henri de Tonty, who accompanied La Salle during his explorations. The island was later settled by United Empire Loyalists and renamed Amherst Island in 1792 in honour of Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, who was commander-in-chief of British forces in North America.
Amherst Island was farmed for generations by Irish tenants who rented from a British Lord through his manager, and many of the current residents of the island are descendants of those early settlers.
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