Combermere, nestled along the east bank of the Madawaska River near the outflow of Kamaniskeg Lake, is a small village in the Township of Madawaska Valley with a history rooted in timber, transportation, and Catholic settlement. It originated in the mid‑19th century as Denis’ Settlement, named after early settler Denis O’Connor, but adopted the name Combermere in 1865, in honour of British Field Marshal Viscount Combermere — part of the wave of naming tied to British imperial figures at the time.

The village took shape along the Peterson Road, one of the lesser-known but significant colonization roads built to open up Ontario’s interior. Settlers here, many of them Irish Catholic, arrived with land grants and began clearing lots, establishing small farms and river-based industries. Logging dominated the local economy, with timber being floated down the Madawaska from surrounding townships. The stretch of river at Combermere was a key point in the timber drive, and remnants of old booms and piers are still occasionally uncovered along the riverbanks.

A post office was established in 1865, and by the 1880s, Combermere had a church, a school, and a modest but permanent population. The area's natural beauty also drew early interest for recreation and spiritual retreat — a legacy that continues today, notably with Madonna House, a religious community that has called Combermere home since 1947. The village also carries the sombre memory of the Mayflower disaster of 1912, when a steam-powered excursion boat capsized on Kamaniskeg Lake, taking eight lives — a pivotal event in local memory.

From a land surveyor’s perspective, Combermere offers a mix of historical complexity and physical challenge. The area follows the standard concession and lot framework from the original Crown surveys of Radcliffe Township, but the river’s dynamic shoreline, combined with historical occupation and natural events, means boundaries often deviate from their intended alignment. Early lot lines were laid out in regular grids, but long-standing use and shoreline erosion have introduced irregularities, especially near the river.

Timber-era mill lots, now long defunct, still show up in title searches, and several parcels are tied to original land patents under settlement duties. Surveys near the water require careful consideration of high water marks, meander lines, and Crown shoreline reserves. In recent decades, shoreline development around Kamaniskeg Lake has led to a proliferation of recreational lots and severances, layered over this earlier cadastral foundation. Tracing the evolution of a single property often involves reviewing colonization road surveys, early land patents, and the physical remnants of timber infrastructure still visible today.