Meaford is at the mouth of the Big Head River. Originally it was called Peggy's Landing after the wife of the first settler. David Miller and his family, including Peggy, arrived in the area in 1838 and built a cabin on the bank of the river. About 1840, William Stephenson, a Yorkshireman, opened the first tavern just north of the river in an area that quickly became known as Stephenson's Landing. The village, including both Landings, was eventually named after Meaford Hall, the home of Admiral Sir John Jervis, Earl St Vincent, after whom the township is named. The most famous creature from Meaford is a dog, Beautiful Joe, the subject of a best-selling novel written in 1893 by Margaret Marshall Saunders. There is a park named after him in Meaford.