Souris, Prince Edward Island
town in Prince Edward Island, Canada
Souris () is a town in Kings County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is located near the northeastern tip of the province.
History
Souris was founded by Acadians in 1727 as a fishing settlement at the mouth of the Souris River. These early settlers experienced several plagues of field mice in the surrounding area during the 1720s-1760s which damaged crops. Souris is French for "mouse" and a mouse is the town's mascot. It is said that "a French vessel passing by the bay in the early 1700s was forced to cut through the waves of drowned mice and so gave the name to the area. The 1744 map of Sieur de la Roque names the bay, Havre a la Souris". Earlier names also included: Colville Bay, Grand Haven, New Bristol, and Red Cliffs.
The name likely also shares similar roots with the Souriquois and the Souris River. The French (Acadians) came to call the Micmacs the Souriquois, adopting the Indians' pidgin word for the trade language.
“Souris, Prince Edward Island” enters the record as town in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Souris, Prince and Edward can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Souris, Prince Edward Island” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Souris, Prince and Edward provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2167346. VIAF identifies the subject as 137140623. The Library of Congress control number is no91016724. Authority coordinates are 46.355, -62.254. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1727 and 1744.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Souris, Prince Edward Island”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Souris, Prince Edward Island primary sources, Souris, Prince Edward Island archive and Souris research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Souris, Prince Edward Island”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Souris, Prince Edward Island” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.