Who is Ellesmere Island named after?

Factual Questions
1

When I went to middle school, the mentally challenged children were in a program called the “Ellesmere” program. I always wondered who this Ellesmere fellow was. I just wanted to know if the name of the island is related.

2

Link to Ellesmere Island National Park. (Doesn’t answer your question, but has some fascinating facts about the area that I found Googling.) Likewise this site, with links to a bunch of views of Ellesmere Island locations.

– from this site

I couldn’t find out anything regarding a connection of special education to the name Ellesmere, with two exceptions:

[ul][li]Back in 1977, a gentleman named Frank Ellesmere donated equipment to a special needs program in Mankato, MN.[/li][li]The special needs education program headquarters for Ontario are located on Ellesmere Road.[/ul][/li]Either of these seem to have any connection with your middle school?

3

Thanks Polycarp. I went to school in NJ so no obvious connection there. I suppose it’s possible that there could be a link with the gentleman who made the donation in MN.

4

From this page, Jackknifed Juggernaut :

5

:o

Sorry, Polycarp, skipped right over your quote.

6

I note that “Ellesmere Island National Park” (the second largest NP in Canada) has been renamed “Quttinirpaaq (Ellesmere Island) National Park of Canada.”

Here are some great images and QT video from this very remote park:

http://www2.parkscanada.gc.ca/apps/thesite/page/parks.asp?siteid=71&Language=EN

and

http://www2.parkscanada.gc.ca/parks/nunavut/quttinirpaaq/english/Gallery_e.htm

Who volunteers to tell them that they’ve misspelled “Charybdis?”

7

Hey, if they screwed up on “Charybdis,” who’s to say what they did to “Quttinirpaaq”? :smiley: