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THE TOWNSHIP OF HORNEPAYNE ONTARIO

Hornepayne – Name Origin – The Legend

The town of Hornepayne was named while surveying the railway line through the Northern Ontario bush during the moose rut. One of the surveyors was relieving himself behind some brushes in a squat position. His grunting apparently attracted the attention of an angry bull moose, who charged the helpless surveyor from behind and tossed him at least fifty feet into the air, and landed him halfway up a large spruce tree, where he clung helplessly for hours while the bull moose bellowed and pawed the earth below. A native guide witnessed this frightful event and ran into camp and out of breath reported that "Bullmoose "horn" make big "pain" in butt for surveyor-man in bush!" The surveyor was eventually rescued by the local tribe, and they named him "horn-pain in the butt".

Hornepayne – Name Origin – The Real Story

This apparently happened at what is now the Hornepayne town-site.  In reality it was named after financier Robert Horne-Payne. Hornepayne is a township of 1209 people (Canada 2006 Census) located in the Algoma District of Ontario, Canada. Hornepayne was established in 1916 as Fitzback when the Canadian Northern Railway's transcontinental line was built through the area. It was named for British financier Robert Horne-Payne. Long an invalid, he rarely visited Canada, but his financial skills left an imprint on the landscape. He has been credited with directing $500 million of British capital to Canada from 1894-1928 through the British Empire Trust Co, which he founded. So influential was Horne-Payne that when he warned British investors in June 1913 of reckless Canadian municipal borrowing, several western mayors protested. As chief fundraiser for William MacKenzie and Donald Mann, he was London director of the Canadian Northern Railway from 1901 until the Canadian Government took it over in 1918.

 Submitted by: Edward Rendell