NOVA SCOTIA- The Order of Good Cheer 400 years celebrating booze and food -Canada's First Cooks and Recipes (First Peoples)/ Celebrating Nova Scotia Peoples history-First Immigrants /Celebrating our Mi'kmaq historical culture/Come visit getcha Nova Scotia Canada on/CANADA students youngbloods- getcha Canada history on /Canada's First Order of Good Cheer Trail visiting history, wineries, breweries and fun- bring your kids and grannies 2

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Mi’kmaq camp, Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, 1891
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BLOGGED:

CANADA MILITARY NEWS: Them Rum Runners and bootleggers and Pirates of the Atlantic and Canada/ Canada and the drought, locusts and massive unemployment during WWI and WWII /Some Canada history/First Peoples 1913-1918/

http://nova0000scotia.blogspot.ca/2015/09/canada-military-news-canada-and-drought.html

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BLOGGED:

Canada Military News: FISHERS- Canada and Atlantic Canada Fishing history/history of atlantic Canada since 1500/COME VISIT NOVA SCOTIA AND ATLANTIC CANADA- GETCHA CANADA ON FOLKS /blogsand links

http://nova0000scotia.blogspot.ca/2015/11/canada-military-news-canada-atlantic.html

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NOVA SCOTIA - ABORIGINAL DAY....

Province-wide events provide great outings for families this weekend

CAROL DOBSON

The first people of Nova Scotia, the Mi’kmaq, lived in this province for tens of thousands of years.

Originally, they followed the woods and waters, depending on the fish and game, for their sustenance and livelihood.

During the weekend of June 20-21, their culture, music, art and food will be celebrated at a number of events throughout the province.

On June 20, the parade ground of the King’s Bastion at the Fortress of Louisbourg will come alive between noon and 4 p.m. with a traditional Mi’kmaq powwow.

Visitors are invited to take part in traditional song and dance and to listen to Mi’kmaq storytellers speak of their culture and their legends.

The day will be filled with the sound of drums and the smells and tastes of traditional Aboriginal food, including eel stew.

Then, on Sunday, the Membertou community will be celebrating at the Membertou Heritage Park in Sydney from 1-4 p.m.

“There will be drumming and dancing, children’s activities, and a barbecue," says Jenna Chisholm, Membertou’s marketing and media relations manager.

“Everyone is welcome and we are encouraging people to wear traditional regalia."

In Halifax, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is inviting people to celebrate with guest artist Dozay Christmas, a member of New Brunswick’s Tobique First Nation. View her work in Shifting Ground, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s permanent collection exhibition of aboriginal artworks.

Then visit the studio to meet the artist and create some of your own art. Use a variety of techniques as you learn more about the traditional aboriginal way of life and the stories of Glooscap.

The weekend kicks off at Kejimkujik National Park on Saturday evening with a lecture entitled ‘Life on the Coast: Archaeology and the ancient Mi’kmaq of Port Joli’ with Matthew Betts from the Canadian Museum of History, in the indoor theatre, in the visitor information centre beginning at 7:30 p.m.

There’s an early start Sunday morning with a 5 a.m. sunrise ceremony at Merrymakedge Beach.

At 10 a.m., there will be a Medicine Walk, also at the Merrymakedge Encampment, where author Laurie Lacey will be leading guests on a walk to discover traditional Mi’kmaq uses for wild medicinal plants.

Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., there will be a series of workshops on traditional Mi’kmaq activities, including basket making, canoes and porcupine quill jewelry.

As well, there will be guided walks to view some of the petroglyphs left in the park in earlier times by the Mi’kmaq.

The Muse des Acadiens des Pubnicos & Centre de recherche, West Pubnico is celebrating on Sunday as well, beginning at 1 p.m.

“At 2 p.m., there will be music from Henri d’Eon, Henri d’Entremont and others," says Bernice d’Entremont, the museum’s program director. “You can visit the seashore to learn about seaweeds and then visit the gardens. In the gardens, you will see plants similar to the ones brought from France by the original settlers and also plants they were introduced to, by the Mi’kmaw, for medicinal purposes."

She says there will be walks along the various trails on the property and demonstrations of traditional Mi’kmaw culture, delivered primarily by Acadians who are also Metis, by virtue of having shared Mi’kmaw and Acadian ancestry.

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On Sunday, the community of Membertou will be celebrating at Membertou Heritage Park in Sydney from 1-4 p.m.

CONTRIBUTED

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Ashley Julian of Indian Brook dances on the Halifax waterfront during National Aboriginal Day events last June. HERALD FILE

A celebration of culture, heritage

JOEL JACOBSON

Excitement is at a peak for Sunday’s celebration of National Aboriginal Day in Nova Scotia.

Entering its 20 th year in Canada, the day calls on all Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples, recognized by the Canadian constitution as Aboriginal peoples.

Although these groups share many similarities, they each have their own distinct heritage, language, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs.

“The aim of the National Aboriginal Day on June 21, the same day every year, is to celebrate the summer solstice, due to its significance as the longest day of the year," says Garrett Gloade of Millbrook Nation, a senior heritage interpreter at Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre on the outskirts of Truro and co-coordinator, with Heather Stevens, of this year’s celebration.

“There will be dancing, singing, drumming, a reptile zoo for the children, vendors selling traditional crafts, and great food, too, during the event that starts at 10:30 a.m. and goes until 3 p.m., rain or shine," he says.

Last year, the event was celebrated in Halifax as part of APTNTV’s national coverage and drew very large crowds to the Halifax waterfront.

This year, Edmonton and Winnipeg will be the featured cities for APTN telecasts with many First Nations performers highlighted.

“The general public really supported our event last year," says Garrett. “This year we expect more strides to be taken as people become more open to our culture and embrace the event, seeing the good of coming together as one people."

He says there will also be a National Aboriginal Day event at Membertou Heritage Park in Sydney. While National Aboriginal Day was begun in 1996 through a proclamation by then Governor General Romo LeBlanc, this will be the 10 th celebration at Millbrook. Garrett estimates close to 2,000 people will come through the doors of the recently re-named Millbrook Culture and Heritage Centre, formerly the Glooscap Heritage Centre, near the 40-foot-high Glooscap statue off Highway 102 at exit 13A.

Garrett noted Trevor Gould will be master of ceremonies for the event with the Eastern Eagle Singers among the entertainers.

“We’re inviting people from all directions to meet in Millbrook for this day of joy," says Garrett.

“We have a couple of tour buses, filled with people from all over the continent, coming to help us celebrate. It will be a fantastic day."

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Olivia Gillis stands near the 40-foot-high Glooscap statue at Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre. TODD GILLIS

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Founding the Order of Good Cheer

Samuel de Champlain proposed the idea of a social club to keep spirits warm as the snow howled outside

Jon Tattrie

When Samuel de Champlain arrived in New France in the early 1600s, one of his first tasks in the French colony situated in Mi’kmaq territory was to found the Order of Good Cheer.

He had good reasons. New France — now called Nova Scotia — nearly killed everyone who joined de Champlain during the first winter of 1604-05. They had unwisely opted to shelter on the Bay of Fundy’s Isle Sainte-Croix. The island was easily defended from human enemies, but sat helpless against winter’s attack. The 78 men soon found themselves trapped on the island as the Fundy tides froze and churned.

The exhausted men developed rotting sores and their legs swelled to double size. Their teeth fell out. Thirty-six men died of scurvy that winter.

The next year, de Champlain and his men built a fort on the mainland at Port-Royal (near today’s Annapolis Royal). As his pioneers settled in for the winter of 1606-07, the French explorer proposed they start a social club to keep their spirits warm as the snow howled outside their Habitation. De Champlain called the group the Ordre de Bon Temps, translated as the Order of Good Cheer. It’s possibly the oldest European social club in North America, and also the first European gastronomic society on the continent. The group met every few nights.

De Champlain made important allies in Member tou and Messamouet, Mi’kmaq leaders in the area, and invited them to the feasts. They brought most of the food. Imagine digging into a locally sourced banquet featuring delicacies like moose nose and beaver tail, as well as Mi’kmaq mainstays like duck, geese, partridges, larks, caribou, otter, bear, rabbits, wild cats and raccoons.

De Champlain provided the wine and the dining room. Next to a blazing fire, the French and Mi’kmaq friends ate and drank deeply into the nights.

Imagine the conversations between these two worlds — the ancient Mi’kmaq culture learning about their new European guests who were looking to start a new world. As a young man, Messamouet had befriended Basque fishermen and sailed across the Atlantic. The Mi’kmaq man had lived with the governor of Bayonne, a Basque community in France, for a while before returning to Mi’kma’ki.

While the most important members of the order sat at the table, lesser members of both societies sat inside to enjoy the spillover warmth.

“We always had 20 or 30 [Mi’kmaq] men, women, girls, and children, who looked on at ourmanner of service. Bread was given them free," wrote Marc Lescarbot, one of the settlers.

A popular drink served at the end of the feast was called hippocras. The warm beverage mixed red wine, sugar, cinnamon, peppercorns, nutmeg, cloves and ginger with orange blossom water.

For every gathering, one man would be tasked with planning and preparing the feast. “This person had the duty of taking care that all around the table were well and honourably provided for," noted Lescarbot.

He said the order created meals that would impress a Parisian epicurean and for less cost.

“For there was no one who, two days before his turn came, failed to go hunting or fishing, and to bring back some delicacy in addition to our ordinary fare. So well was this carried out that never at breakfast did we lack some savoury meat of flesh or fish, and still less at our midday or evening meals; for that was our chief banquet."

Lescarbot describes one memorable night.

“The ruler of the feast or chief butler, whom the [Mi’kmaq] called Atoctegic, having had everything prepared by the cook, marched in, napkin on shoulder, badge of office in hand, and around his neck the collar of the order ... after him [came] all the members of the order, carrying each a dish. The same was repeated at dessert, though not always with so much pomp. And at night, before giving thanks to God, he handed over to his successor in the charge the collar of the order, with a cup of wine, and they drank to each other."

The Order of Good Cheer lapsed after that first winter, but was revived in modern times as a way to welcome tourists to Nova Scotia.‘‘

Imagine the conversations between these two worlds — the ancient Mi’kmaq culture learning about their new European guests who were looking to start a new world.

’’

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Wayne Melanson, a Parks Canada interpreter, dressed as Samuel de Champlain sitting at the table inside the Habitation. It's a recreation of the room that would have hosted the order. JON TATTRIE

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CANADA'S FIRST COOKS- Aboriginal -First Peoples /Inuit Peoples and recipes

History of Canadian Cookbooks

Canada's First Cooks

• Traditional Aboriginal Cooking
• The Order of Good Cheer

The Order of Good Cheer

Source
Watercolour of the Order of Good Cheer by C.W. Jefferys

The 1000-year-old Norse settlement at l'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland marks the earliest site of European cooking in Canada. However, Canadian culinary history would not be influenced by European adaptations until 1605, when the Habitation at Port-Royal was founded in Acadia (Nova Scotia). The first winters at Port-Royal were long and difficult for the settlers. At the height of the cold weather in 1606-7, Samuel de Champlain proposed that a social club, The Order of Good Cheer, be established to keep the men's spirits up.

Each night one of the men would plan and prepare the food for the banquet. There was lots of wine to accompany the meal, and much singing and merriment among those present. The entertainment at one of these banquets,The Theatre of Neptune by Marc Lescarbot, is considered to be the first formal play written and produced in North America.

The Mi'kmaq were invited to the feasts, and they supplied most of the fresh food. We don't have a record of the menus, but we know that the region's plentiful game and fish would have provided the main ingredients. Hippocras, a favourite drink of the period, was served at the end of the meal. A recipe for hippocras (to be served warm) includes the following ingredients: 4.5 litres of red wine, 1 litre of white sugar, 1 stick of cinnamon, 6 peppercorns, 6 teaspoons of nutmeg, 24 cloves, 2 teaspoons of ground ginger and a cup of orange blossom water.

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/cuisine/027006-1140-e.html

Traditional Aboriginal Cooking

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Source
Cree family inside a tipi, Northwest Territories

Canada's indigenous peoples established societies and were sustained by foods that were as various as the regions they inhabited. In the Arctic, the Thule (circa A.D. 1000-1600) and their descendants the Inuit depended primarily on seals, whales and caribou. On the West Coast, fish and other seafood, roots and berries were mainstays. The buffalo fulfilled almost all the needs of the tribes that peopled the prairies. Woodland Native peoples depended on the wildlife in the forests, and the Huron became master gardeners of "the three sisters", corn, beans and squash. Seafood was a significant part of the diet of the Mi'kmaq and Beothuk who inhabited the East Coast. Today there is an ongoing effort to maintain these traditional foods and ways of cooking. Cookbooks record ingredients and methods of food preparation that were once passed on through individual instruction and oral custom.

Source

Source

F.W. Waugh. Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation. Ottawa: 

Maize (corn) was a sacred crop of the Native peoples of North America. When mature, it was dried and ground, making it easy to store and light for travelling. By the 16th century, there were at least 150 known varieties of corn in the Americas.

Source

Source

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Canadian Cuisine: Native Foods and Some Mouth-Watering Ways to Prepare Them. Ottawa: Canadian Government Travel Bureau, 1966

"In this strange new country [the settlers] found foods they had never seen before, and they also found that Canada's native Indians were eating foods and using techniques completely new to them" (p. 1).

Source
Gathering What the Great Nature Provided: Food Traditions of the Gitksan. By the People of 'Ksan. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 1980

The Gitksan live in the 'Ksan (Skeena) River area of British Columbia. In this valuable book, they describe how they stored and cooked the fish, meat, fruit and tubers that were readily available to them.

Source

Source

Qikiqtamiut Cookbook. Compiled by Lisi Kavik and Miriam Fleming. [Sanikiluaq, Nunavut]: Municipality of Sanikiluaq and the Canadian Circumpolar Institute Press, [2002]

Based on the hunting, fishing and gathering way of life of the Inuit of the Belcher Islands, this modern publication deals with the traditional land-based culture of the North, and with its continued preservation.

Source

Source

Source

Old Time Recipes of Manitoba Indians. [Winnipeg: Indian and Metis Friendship Centre, 196-?]  

Collected by the Indian Ladies' Club of the Indian and Métis Friendship Centre.

Source

Source

Remarkable Recipes for Sweet-Grass Buffalo. Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1961

The unusual eating experience that is protein-rich buffalo meat can still be enjoyed today thanks to a successful conservation program.

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Source

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Bernard Assiniwi. Recettes typiques des Indiens. [Montréal]: Leméac, 1972

Traditional Aboriginal Cooking

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Source

Source

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The Rural and Native Heritage Cookbook. Burleigh Falls, Ont.: Lovesick Lake Native Women's Association, 1985

Source

Source

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Marie Matthew and David Seymour. Foods of the Shuswap People. Kamloops, B.C.: Secwepemc Cultural Education Society, 1986

One of a series of booklets that record the traditions of the Shuswap people of the Kamloops region of British Columbia. "Hunters depended mainly on the results of their hunting to get food while they were away from camp. They made kettles, for boiling or storing water, out of spruce bark or a cleaned deer stomach. These were placed near the fire, and had hot rocks added to them to cook the meat" (p. 18).

Source
Nancy J. Turner. Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. Vancouver:UBC Press, 1995

The author provides pictures and descriptions of the plants used by West Coast Native peoples. Turner also describes the etiquette involved in the way each plant was prepared and eaten, including the songs sung at the gatherings where plants were served.

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THE ORDER OF GOOD CHEER

Nova Scotia Is No Stranger To Good Cheer.

The Good Cheer Trail celebrates Nova Scotia’s rich culinary history dating back to 1606, when Samuel de Champlain established the Order of Good Cheer in Port Royal.

As possibly one of the first gastronomic societies in North America, the Order of Good Cheer raised the spirits of early settlers and set the tone for centuries of good Nova Scotian food, drink and fun.

We're proud to carry on Champlain's legacy with the Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail – a culinary adventure unlike any other!

Port Royal

In 1606, Samuel de Champlain established the Order of Good Cheer in Port Royal.

Step back in time with a visit to the Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada. Visitors experience the earliest days of French exploration to gain an impression of the place where these early settlers lived and to stand on the site where the first gastronomic society of North America was formed. You can get a stamp at this site, but there is no sampling opportunity.
www.novascotia.com/see-do/attractions/port-royal-national-historic-site/1462

Fortress of Louisbourg

Fortress Rum is the first rum to be matured onsite at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site in almost 300 years. In the 18th century, Louisbourg was one of North America's busiest seaports and France's centre of trade and military strength in the New World. Caribbean rum was a major trading good of the times.

This summer explore the drink that sugar made with "Louisbourg Rum Experience – Worth Protecting!" Take part in an historic rum tasting and savour an 18th century Rum Punch. This program will be offered daily from July 1 to September 7, 2015.
www.fortressoflouisbourg.ca/FortressRum

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Nova Scotia offers spirited road trip for visitors, locals

BILL SPURR FEATURES WRITER
Published May 23, 2015 - 10:03pm
Last Updated May 25, 2015 - 10:30am

Blomidon is among the destinations on the Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail.

Visitors and locals are being encouraged to drink their way around the province this summer — employing a designated driver, of course — with the establishment of the Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail.

Taking its name from Samuel de Champlain’s Order of Good Cheer, the trail launches June 1.

“We were approached by Nova Scotia Tourism with the concept because we have the Chowder Trail, and the Good Cheer Trail is a natural fit with that, and next year we’re looking at doing a lobster trail,” said Christine White of Taste of Nova Scotia, which is managing the trail.

“The idea is that we’ll have a substantial group of trails related to culinary that make it super easy for visitors to find their way to these culinary experiences. It also encourages locals to discover and appreciate what we have in our own backyard.”

Membership in the Good Cheer Trail is open to anyone in the beverage alcohol industry who offers a consumer experience, with 38 destinations confirmed and interest from others who intend to include a consumer component by next summer.

“Everybody was really interested,” White said.

“We’ve got 14 wineries, 12 breweries, five brew pubs, two historical stops and five distilleries, which are Glenora, Ironworks, Steinhart in Antigonish, (Sea Fever) in Guysborough and the fifth is Tangled Garden. They have their jams and jellies but they also have an amazing line of liqueurs, and I think that’s one of the surprises on the trail.”

The Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail is Canada’s first winery, craft brewery and distillery trail, and will run from June 1 to Oct. 31. Visitors can collect stamps on a hard copy of a passport or check in virtually and win a T-shirt by collecting 10 stamps.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/travel/1288608-nova-scotia-offers-spirited-road-trip-for-visitors-locals

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History of Nova Scotia
with special attention given to
Transportation and Communications

Chapter 7
1 January 1820   to   31 December 1839

Index with links to the other chapters

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Never confuse history with nostalgia.  In its Greek origins, historia meant inquiry, and from Thucydides onward, the past has been studied to understand its connections with the present.

For all the elaborateness of modern scholarship, we still do what the Greeks and Romans did: figure out how we got from there to here.

Electronic technology is only the latest (and most potent) tool in that work.  With the arrival of the digitized archive, or the historical hypertext ...the record of the past faces a brave new future...

Traditionally, historians have come in two basic models: the hang glider and the truffle hunter, and both can be helped out by electronic technology.  Truffle hunters are excavators, resolute at extracting some small savory gobbet of truth from an improbably hidden source...

Hot-Wired History, Unplugged by Simon Schama, Old Dominion Foundation Professor of Humanities at Columbia University 
    http://www.forbes.com/asap/120296/html/simon_schama.htm

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1824 March 8

Birth of F.N. Gisborne

Frederic Newton Gisborne was born in Broughton, Lancashire, England, 8 March 1824.  His father was Hartley Packer Gisborne; his mother was descended from a half sister of Sir Isaac Newton.  Fred Gisborne pioneered the construction of electric telegraph systems and was responsible for the installation of one of the world's earliest underwater electric telegraph cables.  As a youth he accompanied his uncle to Tahiti and Mexico, where they attempted to grow gutta percha as insulation for electric wires.  He moved with his brother to Canada in 1845 and farmed for two years near St. Eustace, Lower Canada. 

Gisborne worked as one of the first operators for the Montreal Telegraph Company, becoming its Chief Operator, then in 1847 was appointed General Manager of the British North American Electric Telegraph Association, which was formed for the purpose of connecting the Maritime provinces with Upper and Lower Canada.  From 1849-51 he held the position of Superintendent of Telegraphs in Nova Scotia.  During the early 1850s Gisborne began to study the possibility of a submerged transatlantic cable, and interested Joseph Howe and others in the subject.  Having received their permission to conduct a preliminary survey, he travelled to the United States to find investors willing to sponsor the development and installation of a submarine line.  He enlisted the support of several businessmen and was appointed Engineer of the private company that emerged as a result.  After overseeing the establishment of an overland link from Nova Scotia through New Brunswick to the United States, in 1852 he successfully laid an electric telegraph cable under Northumberland Strait, connecting Prince Edward Island with the rapidly-developing North American telegraph system. 

Another step in Gisborne's original transatlantic plan had been to build a telegraph line across Newfoundland and under Cabot Strait to Nova Scotia, where it could be connected to the existing continental network.  With a small steamer and a crew of six native Indians, he had conducted a preliminary survey across Newfoundland in 1851, hiking through dense forests and surviving much hardship.  By 1853 labourers had been hired to clear a path for a cable.  Before their work could be completed, however, Gisborne's backers failed.  The project was suspended and the labourers' wages were unpaid.  Gisborne sold property of his own in an attempt to meet the company's outstanding debts, but his funds were inadequate and he was placed in debtor's prison.  To add to his grief, his young wife (Alida Ellen Starr, whom he had married in 1850) died early in 1854, leaving him with two small children to raise. 

Gisborne pleaded with the Colonial Government of Newfoundland for his release, asking that he be given the opportunity to form a new company which would assume all outstanding debts and complete the telegraph line from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia.  The Government freed him and passed an act granting a loan towards the salaries of the unpaid labourers.  In the winter of 1853-54 Gisborne returned to New York, where he solicited support from Cyrus W. Field and several other investors.  The New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company was soon formed, and it covered the debts of the preceding company and obtained partial financial support from the Governments of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Maine.  Gisborne returned to Newfoundland in May, 1854 as Chief Engineer of the Company and Superintendent of the submarine operation.  A first attempt to lay a cable between Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia was made in 1855 but failed.  In 1856 the effort met with success, and Gisborne was offered a permanent position as Superintendent of the new telegraph system.  He rejected the terms offered, and his connection with the company ceased. 

In 1856 Cyrus Field visited England to garner support for the construction of the transatlantic telegraph system that Gisborne had envisioned earlier in the decade.  The Atlantic Telegraph Company, created as a result of Field's trip, finally linked Europe to America by cable in 1858. 

Frederic Gisborne was elected President of the Mining Association of Newfoundland in 1857 and devoted himself to mining pursuits for several years, then returned to England as a mines and minerals agent for the Government of Nova Scotia.  In addition, he gave his attention to further scientific inventions (including electrical and signalling devices), for which he received several British medals.  He returned to Canada in 1869 as Chief Engineer for an English company which had investments in the coal mines of Cape Breton.  In 1879 he accepted the position of Superintendent of the Telegraph and Signal Service of the Dominion Government, where he remained for several years.  In that capacity, he was involved in the development of a cable system stretching from Canada to Australia via the Aleutian Islands, Japan and New Guinea. 

Frederic Gisborne married his second wife, Henrietta Hernaman, in 1857.  They had four children, one of whom later became Superintendent of the Government Telegraph Service in Manitoba and the Northwest Province.  Another son, Francis, became a barrister in the federal Department of Justice.  Frederic Gisborne was a charter member of the Royal Society of Canada, a member of the Council of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of many scientific associations.  He died in Ottawa on 30 August 1892. 

[Adapted from Biographical sketch: Frederick Newton Gisborne Victoria University Library (University of Toronto) 

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      On the evening of November 22, 1852, a small sidewheeler christened the Ellen Gisborne was preparing for one of the unique adventures in Canadian history.  The ship was a two-masted schooner of 81 feet with a breadth of slightly over 14 feet.  On its decks was a most unusual cargo — approximately 14 miles 22 km of cable capable of carrying the faltering signals of the newly created electric telegraph.  The small ship's mission was to lay this English-made cable beneath the waters of Northumberland Strait.

      The weather was not the least encouraging.  The high winds were whipping snow and sleet across the strait and the tide was running high.  Visibility, though sporadic, was, for the most part, reduced to zero.  The ship was anchored off Cape Tormentine, N.B., and one end of the cable had been taken ashore and fastened to a tree.  Only a handful of people on either side of the strait were aware of the drama that was about to unfold.  Even fewer would have knowledge of Frederick Newton Gisborne, the man whose dream of a telegraph connection between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island was about to become a reality.

[Excerpted from Voices of the Island: History of the Telephone on Prince Edward Island by Walter C. Auld.]http://www.pei.sympatico.ca/island_tel/history.htm

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1824 December 29, Wednesday

Novascotian Begins Publication

On this day, the first issue of the Novascotian newspaper was published in Halifax.  It quickly would become one of the leading newspapers in British North America. 

On 27 December 1827, Joseph Howe bought the Novascotian from George Young, agreeing to pay £1050 in installments of £210 a year for five years.  From 1 January 1828, Howe was in full control of the newspaper's content.  In a letter dated 5 July 1829, Howe wrote: "I took the paper from Young, under the conviction that I would lose at least 100 subscribers the first year, as I was a stranger to them all, and perhaps might not be able to keep it up to the old standard — instead of which I have now nearly a hundred more than he ever had..." 

In the issue of 1 January 1835, the Novascotian published a letter signed "The People", which alleged grave offences against the Halifax magistracy.  Its key sentences were: "I will venture to affirm, without the possibility of being contradicted by proof, that during the lapse of the last 30 years, the Magistracy and Police have, by one strategm or other, taken from the pockets of the people, in over exactions, fines, etc. etc. a sum that would exceed in the gross amount £30,000... Is it not known to every reflecting and observant man, whose business or curiosity has led him to take a view of the Municipal bustle of our Court of Sessions, that from the pockets of the poor and distressed at least £1,000 is drawn annually, and pocketed by men whose services the Country might well spare." For printing this letter, Howe was tried for libel, 2-3 March 1835.  The trial ended in his famous victory, which is widely considered to be the beginning of freedom of the press in Canada.  From the Novascotian, 5 March 1835: "...we announce to our numerous readers in the interior, and in the neighbouring Provinces, that the Press of Nova Scotia is free.  Its independence has been established, by the firmness and intelligence of twelve impartial men, on these rational and indestructible principles of reason and English Law, that our ancestors tried out and determined — and which, while they are amply sufficient to guard society against its abuse, are essential to the protection of this invaluable Institution..." 

On 30 December 1841, Howe announced the Novascotian had been sold to Richard Nugent.  From May 1844 to April 1846, Howe edited theNovascotian and the Morning Chronicle. Later, the Novascotian became the property of The Halifax Chronicle. In 1949, the name Novascotian was included among the assets acquired when the Herald and Mail bought the Chronicle and the Star. In the early 1980s, the name Novascotian was revived and over the next few years appeared from time to time as a page in the Chronicle-Herald and the Mail-Star. 

On 19 April 1998, it made "another debut" as a regular section in The Sunday Herald. This time, the publisher decided "to abandon the soft-feature, no-bad-news formula, and to try to take the Novascotian closer to its roots.  In Joseph Howe's day, the paper was the cultural and political voice of an awakening Nova Scotia; in fact, it was one of the leading newspapers in British North America." 

[Excerpted from Volume 1 Number 1 of The Sunday Herald, Halifax, 19 April 1998, with additional information from J. Murray Beck's Joseph Howe: Voice of Nova Scotia, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1964.] 

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The name Novascotian used as a section head
in the Halifax Sunday Herald, 12 January 2003

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1825 December 29

Refugees from Nova Scotia

The United States House of Representatives, 19th Congress, 1st Session: Read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole House to-morrow — A Bill To revive and continue in force an act, entitled "An Act further to provide for the refugees from the British provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia." 
Source: U.S. House of Representatives, 19th Congress, 1st Session 
Historical Collections for the U.S. National Digital Library 
    http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html 

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1826

Annapolis Iron Mining Company

In the village of Clementsport, Annapolis County, in the 1820s "a company was formed under the auspices of two American men, for the working of the valuable iron mines in the neighbourhood.  Smelting furnaces were constructed and coalsheds and other buildings" necessary for their business were erected.  "The beds of iron ore which they worked are situated to the southward of the village, and at a distance of about three miles five kilomteres from it." Moses Shaw (senior) of Clementsport was instrumental in setting up the Annapolis Iron Mining Company which was incorporated in 1826.  Iron ore was transported from the quarry along a railway built with maple rails, to the furnace at the mouth of the Moose River.  Stoves and iron hollow-ware (pots, kettles, etc.) were cast in the foundry nearby.  Power was provided from an undershot water wheel.  Local farmers made charcoal and sold it to the company for use in the blast furnace.  The dam wall and archway remain as part of our present-day (2000) road bridge.  The trip hammer used for crushing the ore can be seen at the parking lot by the bridge (the old village square).  Many acres of land granted to Loyalist settlers in Clements Township only about forty years earlier, in 1784, along with ungranted land were bought and used for the mining of ore and manufacturing.  L.V. Shaw, Moses Shaw's grandson, has written about this rather important and interesting episode in the history of Clements. 
[Digby Courier, 14 June 2000] 

The above was excerpted from a report in the Digby Courier of a meeting of the Upper Clements Historical Society held on May 4th, 2000.  The quotes are from The History of the County of Annapolis, by W.A. Calnek, published in 1897.

Annapolis Iron Mining Company monument Photographs 
    http://ns1763.ca/annapco/annironm.html 

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1827 April 23

First Steam Engine Begins Working

On this day, the first steam engine began operating in Nova Scotia. 
[The Halifax Daily News, 23 April 2000] 

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1827 June 4

Richard Smith Arrives With Machinery

Richard Smith, of Staffordshire, England, arrived at Pictou on the brig Margaret Pelkington with a cargo of mining machinery, including boilers, cylinders, and other parts needed to assemble steam hoisting and pumping engines.  Smith was the mining engineer for the General Mining Association of London, England, which then held the rights to most of the coal in Pictou County.  The GMA was granted mineral rights in Nova Scotia in 1826, and operated coal mines in Albion Mines (now Stellarton), as well as in Sydney Mines and Joggins, until about 1900.  The business built up by the GMA became the foundation for Dominion Steel and Coal, Canada's largest industrial corporation, with a complex of coal mines, shipyards, steel plants and railways stretching from Wabana, Newfoundland, to Windsor, Ontario. 

On 22 September 1999, a plaque recalling the GMA's place in the mining history of Nova Scotia was officially received by the Museum of Industry in Stellarton.  Parks Canada's Historic Sites and Monuments Board researched the company's history and arranged for the manufacture of the plaque, which will be placed near the GMA's old Cornish pumphouse on the grounds of the Museum of Industry. 

[The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 23 & 24 September 1999, and other sources.] 

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"Prior to the arrival of the large British company, called the General Mining Association of Nova Scotia, in the 1820s, mining in what was then a colony was on a very small scale — a modest bit of work from the surface on outcrops, but nothing that you could really label industrial, large-scale mining.  What happens in the 1820s is the General Mining Association gets control of mining leases in the colonies and it's given a monopoly over coal mining in the colony of Nova Scotia.  On the basis of that monopoly, it invests very large sums of money in the colony, developing massive coal mines using state-of-the-art technology — the Albion mines, Pictou County, and the Sydney mines in Cape Breton.  So you have almost overnight the emergence of state-of-the-art mining in Nova Scotia, and at the same time the GMA brings over its money — its capital — it also brings over British miners to operate these mammoth new mines.  It begins there; you have transplanted directly from Britain these large steam engines, surface railways, large surface works for sorting coal, and the entire system of mining including the idea of boy miners..." Source: When Boys Mined Coal Interview with Robert McIntosh, Ph.D., Historian     http://www.pitpony.com/movie/whenboysminedcoal/mcintosh.html Reference: Cochran Entertainment Incorporated website     http://www.pitpony.com/

Use the Wayback Machine to view web sites from the past. The Wayback Machine has archived copies of this document: When Boys Mined Coal Robert McIntosh interview Archived: 1999 May 06  http://web.archive.org/web/19990506135716/http://www.pitpony.com/movie/whenboysminedcoal/mcintosh.html Archived: 2000 March 04  http://web.archive.org/web/20000304094305/http://www.pitpony.com/movie/whenboysminedcoal/mcintosh.html Archived: 2001 June 19  http://web.archive.org/web/20010619020832/http://www.pitpony.com/movie/whenboysminedcoal/mcintosh.html Archived: 2002 August 17  http://web.archive.org/web/20020817095827/http://www.pitpony.com/movie/whenboysminedcoal/mcintosh.html Archived: 2003 December 24  http://web.archive.org/web/20031224234855/http://www.pitpony.com/movie/whenboysminedcoal/mcintosh.html These links were accessed and found to be valid on 17 March 2010.

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1827 July

Steam Ferry on the Bay of Fundy

The steamboat Saint John, made her first trip across the Bay of Fundy, to Digby and Annapolis.  Saint John usually operated under steam power, but for reserve power in case of mechanical trouble, she was schooner rigged with foresail, mainsail and jib.  For the rest of 1827, Saint John made weekly trips across the Bay. 

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1827 December 7

Canada's First Steam Engine Begins Operation

At Stellarton, "the very first steam engine in all Canada began puffing away": H.B. Jefferson wrote in his paper Mount Rundell, Stellarton, and the Albion Railway of 1839, read before the Nova Scotia Historical Society on 9 November 1961. 

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1827 December 7

Colonial Patriot Begins Publication

On this day, the first issue of the Colonial Patriot newspaper was published in Pictou, Nova Scotia. 
[The Halifax Daily News, 7 December 2000] 

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1827 December 29

J. Howe Buys the Novascotian

On this day, Joseph Howe acquired the Novascotian, a weekly newspaper printed in Halifax, from George Young. 
[The National Post, 29 December 1999]

In 2010, the name Novascotian still appears weekly in Nova Scotia, as a section of the Halifax Sunday Herald, a newspaper published by a corporate successor of the original.

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1828 March

Halifax - Annapolis Stage Line

In March 1828, a number of subscribers [shareholders] who had formed themselves into a Company for the purpose of running stage coaches between Halifax and Annapolis Royal, met to choose a committee to co-operate with a committee at Kentville in the general arrangement and superintendance of the concern.  These men were James N. Shannon, John L. Starr, George W. Russell, Michael Tobin, treasurer, and J.C. Allison, secretary.  The editor of the Novascotian commented: "Although we are doubtful whether a sufficient number of passengers will be found to enable the Company to carry on the enterprise without a loss — we think the Gentlemen deserve every credit for commencing so patriotic and useful an undertaking.  Among the other advantages which our readers to the westward will derive from these stages, will be the receipt of the Novascotian, fresh from the press, instead of having to wait nearly four days for its arrival." 
[The Halifax Herald, 24 March 1942] 

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1828 June

The Halifax - Pictou Stage Line

In 1828, Ezra Witter and Jacob Lynds were operating their stage once a week from June to the middle of November.  It left Halifax every Tuesday at 7 am, reached Truro at 7 the next morning, and Pictou at 8 that evening.  It left Pictou one hour after the arrival of the PEI packet, and reached Halifax on Saturday afternoon.  The coach took four passengers carrying up to 20 pounds 9 kg of luggage each, at a fare of £2 10s one way Halifax - Pictou. 

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1828 June 3

First Stage Halifax - Annapolis Royal

The first scheduled stage coach to run between Halifax and Annapolis, departed Halifax on this day.  This line was organized and operated by the Western Stage Coach Company. 

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1829

First Standard Gauge Railway

In 1829, a tramway (light railway) for horse-drawn vehicles was built along the river bank from Albion Mines (now named Stellarton) to a wharf near New Glasgow, where small schooners could take on cargoes of coal.  According to noted railway historian H.B. Jefferson, "this was the very first standard gauge track in Canada, and probably in North America, and the fish-belly type rails cast for it at the nearby Albion foundry were undoubtedly the first rails of any kind cast in Canada, and very likely in North America." In 1834 this horse tramway was extended 400 yards 400m downstream to a larger wharf, to handle the increasing traffic. 

The Stephenson, or "standard" gauge, is 4 feet 8½ inches 143 cm. In railway parlance, "gauge" refers to the distance between the rails of a railway track, as measured between the inside faces; this is the most fundamental characteristic of any railway.  "Standard gauge" refers to the gauge which Robert Stephenson chose for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first railway in the modern sense, opened for regular operation in England in 1825.  Over the next century, many gauges were used to build tens of thousands of miles of railways all over the world, but more track was built to the Stephenson gauge than to all other gauges combined.

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1829 May

Eastern Stage Coach Company

Formation of the Eastern Stage Coach Company, to operate the Halifax - Truro - Pictou route. 

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1830 November 23

Eastern Stage Coach Company
annual subsidy

A Coach drawn by three or more Horses, running three times each week, from the Month of May to the middle of November, and during the remainder of the year, once each week, between Halifax, Truro and Pictou... 

At the General Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, begun and holden at Halifax, on Monday, the Eighth day of November, 1830, in the First Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord William the Fourth, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. &c. &c. being the First Session of the Fifteenth General Assembly, convened in the said Province.

In the time of Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B. Lieutenant-Governor; S.S. Blowers, Chief Justice and President of the Council; Samuel George William Archibald, Speaker of the Assembly, William Hill, Acting Secretary of the Council; and John Whidden, Clerk of the Assembly.

CAP. I. (Chapter one)

An Act for applying certain Monies, therein mentioned, for the service of the year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty, and for other Services therein specified.

(Passed the 23d day of November 1830.)

V. And be it further enacted, That the sum of £250, annually, for the years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-One, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Two, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Three, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, be granted and paid to the Eastern Stage Coach Company, for the encouragement of a line of Stages now running between Halifax, Truro and Pictou ; the money to be drawn from the Treasury quarterly, upon its appearing to the satisfaction of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, or Commander in Chief for the time being, that the public have been accommodated during those years respectively, with a Coach drawn by three or more Horses, running three times in the week, from the Month of May to the middle of November, and during the remainder of the year, once in the week, between Halifax, Truro and Pictou.

Source:— Statutes of the Province of Nova-Scotia, volume the fourth, from A.D. 1827, 8 George IV to A.D. 1835, 5 William IV. [page 88]
http://books.google.ca/books?id=WMQvAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA88 

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Eastern Stage Coach Company
Easing the three-horse rule

At the GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the Province of Nova Scotia, begun and holden at Halifax, on Thursday, the Seventh day of February, 1833...

And whereas, the Eastern Stage Coach Company, by the terms of the Provincial Grant of the year 1829, to become entitled thereto, are bound to run their Carriages with three Horses each, and it sometimes happens that it is extremely difficult or impossible to run with three or four Horses the whole time.
V. Be it therefore enacted, That at such times as may be necessary in the Winter Season, on account of the state of the Roads, the said Company shall be at liberty to run their Carriages on such line or such part thereof, as may be requisite, with two or more Horses, without prejudice to their right to receive any Grant from the Treasury, in the same manner as if they had run their said Carriages with three or four Horses.

Source:— Statutes of the Province of Nova-Scotia, volume the fourth, from A.D. 1827, 5 George IV to A.D. 1835, 5 William IV. [page 193]
http://books.google.ca/books?id=WMQvAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA193 

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1830

Annapolis Iron Mining Company

Act of incorporation amended

CAP. V. (Chapter five)

Whereas, it may be expedient for the Annapolis Iron Mining Company, incorporated under an Act, passed in the seventh year of His Majesty's reign, entitled, An Act to authorize the Incorporation of a Company for working certain Mines of Iron in the County of Annapolis, to borrow money upon the security of their Lands and Buildings for the purpose of completing their Works, and of carrying on their business : And whereas, doubts may be entertained, by persons willing to lend upon Mortgage of the siad Lands and Premises, of the power of the said Company to grant the security aforesaid :—

BE it therefore enacted, by the President, Council and Assembly, That it shall and and may be lawful for the said Annapolis Iron Mining Company, in such manner and form as a majority of the Directors for the time being may think proper, to grant and convey in Mortgage, any Lands, with the Buildings thereon, which they now possess, or hereafter may possess, or any part thereof, to secure payment of any money which the said Company may borrow, to enable them to enlarge or carry on their business, and for the general purposes of the said Corporation.

Source:— Statutes of the Province of Nova-Scotia, volume the fourth, from A.D. 1827, 8 George IV to A.D. 1835, 5 William IV. [page 75]
http://books.google.ca/books?id=WMQvAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA75 

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1830 December 23

Fifteen Steam Engines in Operation

On this day, the Novascotian newspaper reported that fifteen steam engines were in regular operation in Nova Scotia, just four years after the first engine began working at Albion Mines (Stellarton).  Many of these were marine engines (installed in ships). 

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1831

Quebec & Halifax Steam Navigation Company

The Quebec Parliament passed an Act (chapter 33, 1831) to incorporate the Quebec & Halifax Steam Navigation Company.  The Act named 230 people, about equally divided between the two cities, who had agreed to subscribe a total of £16,000 to finance the company; most of this money went to pay for the construction of a new steamship, the Royal William, for the service.  At that time, a courier postal service operated between Halifax and Quebec, which usually took at least a week one way, and longer in winter. 

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1831 April 29

Royal William Launched

On this day the Royal William, the first steam-powered vessel built in Canada which was designed to go to sea, was launched from Campbell's shipyard at Wolfe's Cove, near Quebec City.  Lady Aylmer, wife of the Governor-General, christened the ship, naming it for the reigning monarch, William IV; as Prince William Henry he had been the first member of European Royalty to cross the Atlantic and visit North America.  A few days after the launch, two engines of 80 horsepower 60 kilowatts each were installed.  The total cost of the ship was £16,000 sterling.  The vessel's sea-going capability was necessary for the Halifax - Quebec route, which included 150 miles 240 kilometres on the open Atlantic between Halifax Harbour and Chedabucto Bay at the entrance to the Gut of Canso (Canso Strait).  At that time there were no weather forecasts beyond such things as "red sky at night, sailors' delight", and each trip required about 18 to 20 hours' exposure to whatever the Atlantic Ocean had to offer.

The diary of the Quebec Exchange, as published in the Montreal Gazette, shows that Royal William was launched on Friday, April 29th, 1831, in the presence of His Excellency Lord Aylmer, and named by Lady Aylmer after the reigning king, the band of the 32nd Regiment attending.  Royal William arrived at Montreal, May 2nd, 1831 and sailed from Quebec, August 24th, 1831, on her first trip to Miramichi, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Royal William finally left Quebec for the last time for London at 5am Of August 4th, 1833...
Excerpted from The History of North Atlantic Steam Navigation (book) by Henry Fry, 1896
Source:
The Ship's List (which has much more information about this noteworthy steamship) 
    http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/RoyWil33.htm

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1831 August 31

First Arrival of Royal William in Halifax

The Royal William departed Quebec on 24 August 1831, on her first voyage to Halifax, with 20 cabin passengers, 70 steerage passengers, 200 tons of cargo, and 120 tons of coal.  Cabin fare was six pounds five shillings, which included berth and meals.  Along the way, there were one-day stops at Mirimachi, New Brunswick, and Pictou, Nova Scotia.  In 1831, Royal William made three round trips between Quebec and Halifax; the engines "worked satisfactorily." 

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1831 November 25

First Issue of the Yarmouth Telegraph

The first issue of the Yarmouth Telegraph newspaper was published this day. 

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1832

Steam Ferry to PEI Begins Operation

The General Mining Association put its steamboat Pochahantas on a daily (except Sunday) schedule between Pictou and Charlotte Town (Charlottetown), during ice-free months; this was the beginning of a transportation service that continued until 1939. 

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1832

Cholera Epidemic Paralyzes Shipping

During the cholera epidemic of 1832, many governments put severe restrictions on movements of ships.  This widespread paralysis of shipping drove many shipping companies into bankruptcy, and others barely survived.  The Quebec & Halifax Steam Navigation Company had been having financial problems with Royal William's Halifax - Quebec service, and the cholera shutdown was the final straw.  In the spring of 1833, Royal William was sold at auction for £5,000. 

Reference: The first epidemic of Asiatic cholera in Lower Canada, 1832

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1833

Monthly Halifax-Bermuda Mail Boat Service Begins

In 1833, the packet vessels carrying the Royal Mail from England terminated at Halifax.  Samuel Cunard of Halifax was awarded a contract by the British Admiralty to provide a monthly mail boat service between Halifax and Bermuda, as a way of providing a regular mail service between England and Bermuda.  This was his first ocean service.  It continued to Bermuda until July, 1886. 
Source: 
    http://bermuda-online.org/canada.htm 

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Cunard's New York - St. Thomas - Bermuda service
November 1850

In November, 1850, Samuel Cunard of Halifax introduced his steam packet service from New York to St. Thomas, with a call at Bermuda in both directions.  But the New York portion of the service was not a commercial success compared to his earlier Halifax Bermuda direct service and was canceled in May of 1854. 
Source: 
    http://bermuda-online.org/canada.htm 

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Cunard's Halifax - Bermuda service
May 1854

In May 1854, Cunard extended his direct Halifax Bermuda service.  This route remained in operation until January, 1880, when a number of West Indian islands replaced St. Thomas as ports of call.  The contract was finally canceled in July, 1886. 
Source: 
    http://bermuda-online.org/canada.htm 

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1833 March 9

Halifax Harbour Frozen Over

On this day, Halifax Harbour froze over (a very rare event). 
[The Halifax Daily News, 9 March 2000] 

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1833 August 5

Royal William Sails from Quebec for Last Time

On this day, Steamship Royal William leaves Quebec for Pictou, Nova Scotia, en route across the North Atlantic, the first ship to cross this ocean under steam all the way. 
[The National Post, 5 August 2000] 

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1833 August 9

First Issue of the Yarmouth Herald

The first issue of the Yarmouth Herald newspaper was published this day.  It was a single sheet 18 × 24 inches 46 × 61 cm folded to make four pages, and was published every Friday.  Alexander Lawson was the owner, publisher, editor, and reporter.  The Yarmouth Herald became one of the longest running weekly newspapers in Canada, continuing publication until 1966. 


The Yarmouth Herald front page first issue
volume one, number one, 9 August 1833

This was scanned directly from an original (not a microfilm copy)
that was found in a bundle of old newspaper clippings – mostly
from Yarmouth newspapers in the 1940s but including several
items  going  as far  back  as the  1830s – purchased  at an
estate auction in 2010 at a rural fire hall in Pictou County.

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1833 August 18

Royal William Departs for England

On this day (or perhaps one day earlier, on August 17th), Royal William's steam engines chuffed out of Pictou Harbour on its way to England, Captain John McDougall, with five cabin passengers, three steerage passengers, 254 tons of Pictou County coal, a crew of 36 men, and some general cargo including a harp and a "box of stuffed birds" sent by Rev. Thomas McCulloch, local pastor, to a London collector (it is believed that these stuffed birds were sent by McCulloch on behalf of one John J. Audobon, American naturalist, friend and guest of McCulloch, who was visiting Pictou at the time).  This was to be a one-way voyage; the vessel's owners were hoping to find a buyer.  On this trip, Royal William became the first vessel ever to cross the Atlantic under steam all the way.  She arrived at Cowes, Isle of Wight, 19½ days out of Pictou.  "From Cowes she went to Liverpool, and for four years she was employed between England and Ireland, when she was again put upon the Atlantic station, and crossed and recrossed repeatedly..." 
The last quote is from a paper The Past, Present, and Future of Atlantic Ocean Steam Navigationby T.T. Vernon Smith, C.E. (Civil Engineer), read before the Fredericton Athenaeum, June 15, 1857. 
The picture is from the National Post, 5 August 2000. 

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Royal William of 1833

There were two early steamers (ships powered by steam engines) named Royal William.  This article (see archive links below) is about the first, built in 1831, that crossed the North Atlantic ocean in 1833.  The second, built in 1837, crossed the Atlantic in 1838. 
Royal William of 1833 
    http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/RoyWil33.htm 

The Wayback Machine has archived copies of this webpage from the early days: Royal William of 1833 Archived: 2001 April 18  http://web.archive.org/web/20010418061116/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/RoyWil33.htm Archived: 2002 October 20  http://web.archive.org/web/20021020202535/http://theshipslist.com/ships/RoyWil33.htm Archived: 2003 June 25  http://web.archive.org/web/20030625123230/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/RoyWil33.htm Archived: 2004 September 13  http://web.archive.org/web/20040913075927/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/RoyWil33.htm Archived: 2005 December 18  http://web.archive.org/web/20051218033709/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/RoyWil33.htm Archived: 2006 November 27  http://web.archive.org/web/20061127140638/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/RoyWil33.htm Archived: 2008 April 18  http://web.archive.org/web/20080418083501/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/RoyWil33.htm These links were accessed and found to be valid on 17 January 2011.

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1833 August 28

Abolition of Slavery Act Passed

In August 1833, the British Parliament passed the Bill for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Empire (including Nova Scotia).  This Act, which came into effect on 1 August 1834, gave all slaves in the British Empire their freedom — but not all at once.  All slaves under the age of six were to be freed immediately.  Slaves over the age of six were to remain part slave and part free for a further four years (which was euphemistically called the "apprenticeship period").  In that time they would have to be paid a wage for the work they did in the quarter of the week when they were "free".  To soften the blow for slave owners — and to make it easier to get the votes needed to pass the bill — the Bill included a provision for compensation to be paid by the British government to the slave owners.  The amount involved depended on the number of slaves held — one example was the 665 slaves owned by the Bishop of Exeter, for which he was paid £12,700. 

Sources:

Slavery Abolition Act 1833

An Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves; and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves 28th August 1833

1833 Abolition of Slavery Act

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An Act for Abolishing Slavery throughout the British Colonies
28 August 1833

After 1st August 1834, all slaves in the British colonies shall be emancipated, and slavery shall be abolished throughout the British possessions abroad. 

...All and every the persons who on the said first day of August one thousand eight hundred and thirty four shall be holden in slavery within any such British colony as aforesaid, shall upon and from and after the said first day of August one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four become and be to all intents and purposes free and discharged of and from all manner of slavery, and shall be absolutely and for ever manumitted; and... the children thereafter to be born to any such persons, and the offspring of such children, shall in like manner be free from their birth; and... slavery shall be and is hereby utterly and for ever abolished and declared unlawful throughout the British colonies, plantations, and possessions abroad... 

Source: 
    http://libertystory.net/LSDOCABOLISHSLAVERYBRITCOLONIES.htm 

The 1825 Civil Code of Louisiana, Article 36 defines "manumitted persons" as those who, "having been once slaves, are legally made free." "Manumitted" is an ancient legal term, going back at least twenty centuries to Roman law. Under Roman law, the act of manumission created a new relation between the manumissor and the slave which was analogous to that between father and son.

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1834

Currency Conversions

...The currency in New York is calculated in dollars and cents, also in shillings and pence; 100 cents is the current value of the American or Spanish dollar, and 12½ cents is equal to what is called a York shilling, and eight such shillings equal to five shillings, Halifax currency, or one dollar.  The currency in the Canadas is at the rate of five shillings to the dollar, and is called Halifax currency; at present the gold sovereign is worth twenty-four shillings, currency, in Montreal.  Many persons are deceived when hearing of the rates of wages, &c. In New York, when stated in shillings — but five shillings in Canada is equal to eight shillings in New York.  The par of exchange with England for the dollar is four shillings and sixpence sterling, the general rate, which has varied but little for years past, is about four shillings and two pence sterling, or from 7½ to 9½ per cent premium, in favour of England, but it is less now.  The risk of transport is the principal objection against carrying your specie with you to Canada, as you will generally get as high a premium for it there as in New York; and you can depend with safety on any of the Banks in Upper or Lower Canada.  Besides American Bank notes are not so current in Canada, unless at a discount, when passed in small sums, from one-half to two per cent; if possessed of a considerable amount and in large notes, you may get par, or perhaps a small premium in Montreal.  The American Bank notes most current in Canada, are those of the United States Bank, the State Bank of New York, and of the chartered Banks of the City of New York, and the Bank of North America, at Philadelphia... 

[Excerpted from 1834 Emigrants Handbook Official Information for Emigrants, Arriving at New York and who are desirous of Settling in the Canadas; also, Extracts from the Instructions for Emigrants arriving at Quebec, as issued by A.C. Buchanan, Esq. His Britannic Majesty's Chief Agent for Emigration to the Canadas.  To be obtained without fee or reward, with every other assistance and advice that can benefit the Emigrant proceeding to the Canadas, from James Buchanan, Esq. His Britannic Majesty's Consul, Nassau Street, New York.  Printed at the Gazette Office, St. James Street, Montreal, 1834. 

The following is excerpted from the 1834 Emigrants Handbook:

1. In transmitting home money to aid your friends to come out, or in paying for their passage in New York or the Canadas, be sure of the respectability of the persons with whom you bargain.  If in your power, be directed by the Consul at New York, the Chief Agent at Quebec, or the Government Agent at Toronto.

2. In almost every part of Upper Canada, west of Toronto, the New York Currency is more in use than the Halifax or Canada; that is, the York shilling is worth 1½d. Canada Currency; you will therefore mind the distinction in your dealings, by asking the currency meant.  Halifax Currency is, however, the currency recognised by law throughout the Canadas.

3. The American shilling varies in value in almost every State.

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1834

Birth of A.M. Mackay

Born in 1834 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, Alexander McLellan Mackay had a brief teaching career before becoming a telegrapher working in Halifax, Hamilton, and New York. 
Source: Alexander McLellan Mackay 
    http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~melbaker/amackay.htm 

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A.M. Mackay Appointed Manager of the
New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company
in Newfoundland
January 1857

When Mr. Cyrus W. Field arrived in New York in December 1856, he found the Gulf cable [underwater cable across Cabot Strait, between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island] broken, and all the Newfoundland telegraph line in a state of disorder, the superintendent, Simpson, having abandoned the country in despair.  He put himself in communication with James Eddy and the well-known Daniel H. Craig, founder of the New York Associated Press, and asked them to select for him the best man in America to take charge of the Newfoundland lines; without communication with each other, they advised him to appoint Mr. A.M. Mackay, then twenty-two years old, the Superintendent of the Nova Scotia Telegraph. 

When Mackay came here [Newfoundland] in January 1857 he found everything in confusion, not a single section of the line was in working order; he ascertained where the break was in the cable, repaired it in June 1857 with the small steamer Victoria, walked over the line from Cape Ray, organised the staff of operators and repairers, and put the whole concern in working order. 

From this period until the successful laying of the transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866, the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company in this Colony [Newfoundland] was kept in existence as a going concern by two men, Field and Mackay; a dozen times the other directors would have dropped it altogether but for Field's enthusiasm and perseverance, and Mackay's activity and careful, economical management in the Island.  The laying of the transatlantic cable of course put life into the local lines, made the worthless valuable, and from that day to this everything has gone well under the same able management... 

Source: page 641 History of Newfoundland, by D.W. Prowse, published 1895 in London 

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1834 October 15

Yarmouth - Shelburne Stage Line

James T.C. Enslow "respectfully begs to notify the public that he has commenced running" a stage coach "once each week between Yarmouth and Shelburne, leaving Yarmouth every Wednesday afternoon precisely at 4 o'clock and Shelburne every Monday morning at 10 o'clock." 
[Excerpted from Yarmouth Reminiscences, by J. Murray Lawson, 1902.] 

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1835 September 23

First Clockmaker Installment

On this day, the first installment of Thomas Chandler Haliburton's The Clockmaker was published in The Novascotian, a Halifax newspaper. 
[The Halifax Daily News, 23 September 1999] 

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1836

Annapolis County Steam Boat Company

The Act to incorporate the Annapolis County Steam Boat Company was passed by the Nova Scotia Legislature in 1836. 

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1836 June

Digby - Yarmouth Stage Coach Line
Begins Operation

A new weekly stage coach service between Yarmouth and Digby began operation.  The schedule called for a coach to depart Yarmouth each Sunday at 6am and arrive in Digby at noon Monday.  It left Digby on Tuesday "immediately after the arrival of the steamboat from Annapolis," and reached Yarmouth at 4pm Wednesday. 

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1836 December 1

Avon River Bridge Opened

On this day, the new bridge across the Avon River at Windsor was opened for traffic.  It was built by the Avon Bridge Company, and charged tolls to pay for the cost of building and maintaining the bridge.  The company's records of toll payments are an excellent source of reliable statistics on traffic in those early days, and some of these statistics survive today. 
[The Halifax Daily News, 1 December 1999, and other sources.] 

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1837 June

Seventeen Shillings per Chaldron

"The Mining Association is now selling coals in Pictou County at 17s per chaldron, same price at the mines [in Stellarton] and at the loading ground [New Glasgow] 6 or 7 miles below." 
[The Yarmouth Herald, 16 June 1837] 

"Coals" was the term then used for what we now call "coal".  In those days, coal was often sold by the "chaldron", a unit of measure often encountered in the old records but nowadays almost completely forgotten. The World of Measurements, by H. Arthur Klein, Simon & Schuster, 1974, (an excellent reference book) states that the chaldron is equal to 32 dry bushels, which is the same as 71,018 cubic inches.  Klein uses an inch equal to 2.540,005 cm. Thus one chaldron is equal to 1,163,800 cubic centimetres. That is, one chaldron is nearly equal to 1,160 litres, or 1.16 cubic metres.

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1837 July 17 - August 4

Nova Scotia Exports to St. John
19 Days in 1837

Between July 17th and August 4th, 1837, coasting vessels carried from Nova Scotia — "almost wholly from the shores of the Bay of Fundy, to the city of St. John, New Brunswick: 733,500 feet deals; 1,192 tons plaister; 4,323 dozen eggs; 2,260 boxes smoked herrings; 98 barrels pickled herrings; 187 boxes cherries; 4,074 lbs. butter; 5,902 lbs. cheese; 603 bushels potatoes; 236,000 staves; 55,000 shingles; 10 horses; 951 sheep and lambs; 16 oxen; 5 cows; 25 calves; 1,000 gallons oil; 88,000 feet boards; 67 flagging stones; 1 barrel shad; 2 barrels codfish; 60 bushels oats; 4 barrels and 58 bottles fir balsam; 34,000 bricks; 1520 quintals dry fish; 1 qtl. scaled fish; 900 lbs. hops; 55 sides leather; 20 empty barrels; 28 cords wood; 7 barrels tongues and sounds; 2 barrels pork; 24 chairs; 840 lbs. ham; 7000 feet lumber; 456 lbs. smoked meat; 22,000 feet scantling; 27,800 feet hardwood boards and lumber.  On a rough calculation we conclude that the value of these articles is about £7500." Export business has been this brisk "every month for years past." 

[The Acadian Recorder, Halifax] 
[Reprinted in the Yarmouth Herald, 18 August 1837] 

The quintal (pronounced KEN-tul) was and is a measure of weight, widely used in western Europe in the tenth to fifteenth centuries, and in the North Atlantic fishing industry in the 1700s and 1800s. The quintal continued in regular commercial use along Canada's Atlantic coast, in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, into the 1950s. One quintal   =   112 pounds   =   50.8 kilograms In the early 1900s, Porto Rico consumed 200,000 quintals of Lunenburg fish per year.  One Lunenburg quintal equaled 112 pounds of salt fish.      http://www.lostatsea.ca/dorymate.htm In the 1942 season, a fleet of 21 schooners landed 69,000 quintals at Lunenburg, and another 5,000 quintals were purchased green from Newfoundland craft, making a grand total of 74,000 quintals.  The prices ranged from eleven to twelve dollars per quintal, according to size.      http://www.lostatsea.ca/1943lun.htm A quintal being a unit of 100 US pounds or 112 British pounds of dried salt codfish... 53rd Annual Blessing of the Fleet: Provincetown Portuguese Festival 2000 Provincetown, Massachusetts      http://www.capecodaccess.com/p_timeline/1900.html

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1837 October

Steamship Victoria Under Construction

British and American Steam Navigation Company The extraordinary ship Victoria, now building at the dock-yards of Messrs. Curling & Young, ofLimehouse, for the above enterprising company, is altogether unparalleled in beauty of architecture and immensity of size.  The following are her dimensions: Length from figure-head to taffrail 274 feet 83.5 metres; Breadth of hull 40 feet 12.2 metres; Breadth to outside of paddle cases 64 feet 19.5 metres; Depth from the floor timbers to the upper deck 26 feet 7.9 metres. "The estimated tonnage falls very little short of 2,000 tons!" 

It is believed that this is the longest ship ever constructed for navigating the ocean... Victoria's "timbers are of solid English oak, the principal planking of African oak, and that of stem and stern of Dantzic fir, which has been preferred on account of its lightness.  The top-sides are of Havanna cedar.  Her ribs are strongly knit together with massive diagonal trussings of iron, and every means appear to have been devised to prevent her straining in a heavy sea.  Much of her planking is cogged to the timbers, and various other modes of security adopted, which the advanced progress of the hull now renders invisible ... 

She is to be propelled by engines of 500 horse-power 370 kilowatts, and is expected to make the passage from England to New York in eighteen days, and from New York to England in the short space of fourteen! With regard to her fittings-up for passengers, she will evidently float unrivalled, there being full six feet 180 cm between decks... She is expected to maintain an average speed, in all weathers, of 200 miles 370 kilometres a day.  The distance from Portsmouth or Liverpool to New York is about 3000 nautical miles 5600 kilometres; hence, if she only averages 150 miles 280 km per day, the passage will not exceed 20 days; 175 miles 325 km per day will give a passage of 17 days; 200 miles 370 km per day, 15 days; and 215 miles400 km per day will bring her to her destination in a fortnight! The average passage of the present packet ships exceeds 29 days, or nearly a month! ... 

After deducting her engine-room, she will have ample accomodation for 500 passengers, 25 days' fuel, and 800 tons measurement goods, exclusive of luggage, provisions, and stores!... It is expected that the launch will take place about the middle of November, and that she will be ready for sea very shortly after..." 

[Excerpted from an article which appeared in The Yarmouth Herald of 13 October 1837, which was reprinted from a London newspaper.] 

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1837 November 27

Steamship Nova Scotia Begins Operating

Steamer Nova Scotia "This commodious new steam boat commenced her first trip on Monday last (27 November 1837); she performed the voyage to St. Andrews (New Brunswick) and back to Saint John in excellent style, and promises to be a swift and safe boat.  Large and extensive accomodations are made for cabin passengers, and every thing that can render comfort and convenience to those on board have been liberally furnished by the enterprising owners.  On her return from St. Andrews to Eastport (Maine) on Tuesday morning, she performed the distance, about 16 miles 26 km in one hour and four minutes, and from Eastport to Partridge Island, against a strong head wind, in five hours and twenty minutes. 

It is expected that during the summer months she will perform her voyage from Saint John to Annapolis (Nova Scotia), and return the same day; so likewise to and from Eastport in one day.  With such arrangements, there can be no possible doubt of the boat's succeeding advantageously for the proprietors. 

The Nova Scotia is 136 feet 41.5 metres long; her extreme breadth 37 feet 11.3 metres, and is about 250 tons 250 tonnes burthen.  The gentlemen's after cabin is 36 feet 11.0 metres long, and contains 24 berths, is very neatly painted in imitation of rose and satin wood, the berths panelled, with rosewood pilastres between each length, surmounted by a bronze Ionic capital, giving the cabin a light and elegant appearance.  The ladies' cabin on the main deck is 36 feet 11.0 metres long, contains also 24 berths, and is finished in a similar style of neatness, in mahogany and satin wood.  The gentlemen's forward cabin contains 12 berths, is 13 feet 4.0 metres long, and is also finished in a like style in marble and satin wood.  In addition to the above, there is a State Room abaft the main cabin, containing 4 berths; one forward having 4 berths, and one adjacent to the ladies' cabin; affording to private parties every accomodation that could be desired.  Passengers in this boat have also the luxury of a promenade deck about 100 feet 30 metres long, affording a comfortable shelter in wet or boisterous weather to those who would not wish to be confined to the cabins, and in fine weather a beautiful promenade. 

The engines of 45 horsepower 34 kilowatts each, from the manufactory of Messrs. Fawcett, Preston, & Company of Liverpool (England), are of an improved construction, and we think we may safely say, they are not surpassed, if equalled, on this side of the Atlantic; the setting of those engines in the boat, and the more than satisfactory manner in which they performed their duty on her first trip (having by far exceeded the speed they were intended to work at) reflects much credit on the gentleman who came with the engines for the purpose of setting them up.  The cylinders are 39 inches 99 cmdiameter, and 3 feet 6 inches 107 cm stroke; and make 35 strokes per minute [35 revolutions per minute of the crank shaft and paddle wheels].  Some alteration is contemplated in the construction of the floats, which, by reducing the speed of the engines, it is expected will increase that of the boat. 

The Nova Scotia is commanded by our old and favourite commander, Capt. Thomas Reed, whose abilities and character are so universally known that it would be useless for us to offer a word of eulogy. 

[This item, here quoted whole, appeared in The Yarmouth Herald of 1 December 1837; it was reprinted from the Chronicle of Saint John, New Brunswick.] 

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1838 April 26

Brig Tyrian Sails from Halifax

Among the passengers on board as Tyrian sailed out of Halifax Harbour, were Joseph Howe, then 33 years old and editor and owner of the Novascotian, a weekly newspaper, and Judge Thomas Chandler Haliburton, author of Sam Slick, a book that was selling very well.  Half way across the Atlantic,Tyrian was overtaken by the steamship Sirius, which had departed from New York on 1 May 1838. 

Tyrian sailed out of Halifax with six days' head start on a much shorter route, but Sirius was powered by steam, and could move at normal speed even when there was no wind.  Lt. Commander Jennings of Tyrian had important mail on board which was destined for the British Government, and, whenSirius pulled abreast of Tyrian, he hailed Sirius and arranged a mid-ocean transfer to the faster ship. 

Joseph Howe, always a journalist alert for a story, got into the boat making the mail transfer, and clambered aboard Sirius to have a look.  Howe "took a glass of champagne with the Captain," looked at the sumptious quarters on Sirius, and decided to stay; one of his fellow passengers was James Gordon Bennett, founder, owner, and editor of the New York Herald. On the return of the ship's boat, Tyrian passengers watched in frustration as Sirius'paddlewheels began turning, and the steamer quickly pulled ahead and disappeared over the horizon, while Tyrian's sails flapped listlessly in a near calm breeze. 

To Howe and Haliburton, this was a convincing demonstration that steam was the future of North Atlantic shipping. 

On 24 August 1838, a memorandum prepared by Howe, Haliburton, and several others, was presented to Lord Glenelg, Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies; the recent experience at sea was described in strong terms, and it was represented that the 1837 rebellion in Canada likely would have been avoided if there had been faster and more reliable communication between the authorities at Westminster (London, England) and York (Toronto). 

[Excerpted from the book First Things in Acadia by John Quinpool, published in Halifax in 1936, and other sources.] 

The voyage across the Atlantic was accomplished by two steam-powered ships in the year 1838.  These were Sirius, a ship of 700 tons and of 250 horsepower, and Great Western, of 1,340 tons and 450 horsepower. Great Western was built for this service, and was a large ship for that time, measuring 236 feet in length.  Her paddle wheels, one on each side, were 28 feet in diameter, and 10 feet in breadth of face. Sirius sailed from Cork April 4th, 1838, and Great Western from Bristol April 8th, both arriving at New York on the same day, April 23rd, Sirius in the morning, and Great Western in the afternoon. Great Western carried out of Bristol 660 tons of coal.  Seven passengers chose to take advantage of the opportunity, and made the voyage in one half the time usually occupied by the sailing packets of that day.  Throughout the voyage the wind and sea were nearly ahead, and the two vessels pursued the same course, under very similar conditions.  Arriving at New York, they were received with the greatest possible enthusiasm.  They were saluted by the forts and the men-of-war in the harbor; the merchant-vessels dipped their flags, and the citizens assembled on the Battery, and, coming to meet them in boats of all kinds and sizes, cheered heartily.  The newspapers of the time were filled with the story of the voyage and with descriptions of the steamers themselves and of their machinery. A few days later the two steamers started on their return to Great Britain, Sirius reaching Falmouth safely in 18 days [having met Tyrian in midocean, as described above] and Great Western making the voyage to Bristol in 15 days, the latter meeting with head winds and working, during a part of the time, against a heavy gale and in a high sea, at the rate of but two knots. Sirius was thought too small for this long and boisterous route, and was withdrawn and replaced on the line between London and Cork, where the ship had previously been employed.  Great Western continued several years in the transatlantic trade. Thus these two voyages inaugurated a transoceanic steam service.  During the succeeding six years Great Western made 70 passages across the Atlantic, completing the westward voyages in an average of 15.5 days, and eastward 13.  The quickest passage westward to New York was made in May, 1842, in 12 days and 18 hours.  The fastest steaming was logged 12 months earlier, when the eastward voyage from New York was made in 12 days and 7 hours. The form of steam engine in most general use at this time, on transatlantic steamers, was that known as the "side-lever engine." It was first given the standard form by Messrs. Maudsley & Co., of London, about 1835, and was built by them for steamers supplied to the British Government for general mail service. [Excerpted from A History of the Growth of the Steam Engine by Robert H. Thurston, D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1878. Chapter V, The Modern (1878) Steam Engine Applied to Ship Propulsion]

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1838 September 13

Steam Rumour Reaches Halifax

"We have heard, and from good authority, that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have recommended to the Treasury Board the employment of Steam Vessels in the early part of next year, for the conveyance of Mails from Falmouth (England) to this Port (Halifax)." 
[This item, here quoted whole, appeared in The Yarmouth Herald of 24 September 1838; it was reprinted from the Halifax Gazette of 13 September 1838.] 

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1838 September 14

Whitehall Gets the Message

The Tyrian episode (above) made a strong impression.  On this day, a formal announcement from Whitehall included this: "He is deeply impressed with the importance of the subject and His Lordship hopes that an arrangement may be effected at an early period, by which the desired improvements in communication between this country (Great Britain) and British North American Provinces will be accomplished." In November 1838 the British Admiralty advertised in the London Times for tenders to operate a monthly regular mail service across the Atlantic by steamships of not less than 300 horsepower 230 kilowatts each, to operate between England, Halifax, and New York.  Judge Haliburton immediately sent this news to Samuel Cunard in Halifax, who boldly seized the opportunity. 
[Excerpted from the book First Things in Acadia by John Quinpool, published in Halifax in 1936.] 

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1838 November - December

Royal William on the North Alantic

In the issue dated 12 November 1838, The Yarmouth Herald printed the following: "The Quebec papers state, that goods ordered by the steamer Royal William, that departed New York on the 4th August, were received at Quebec on the 4th October, only nine weeks from the time when the orders had been sent out." — In the issue dated 10 December 1838, of the Yarmouth Herald: "The steam ship Royal William arrived at Liverpool (England) on the 5th November.  She left New York on the 20th October (1838)." 

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1839

British and North American Royal Mail
Steam Packet Company

The Beginning of the Cunard Line

In 1839, Samuel Cunard of Halifax established the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company — usually known as the Cunard Line — principally to carry the Royal Mail to Canada and the USA.  Cunard's company operated independently and continuously for 131 years, until 1971, when it was taken over by Trafalgar House PLC.  In 1996, Trafalgar House, parent company of Cunard, was bought by the Norwegian business group Kvaerner for £850,000,000.  In 1998, it was taken over by Carnival Cruise Lines. 
Source: Chronology of the Cunard Steamship Company 
    http://www.seaview.co.uk/Cunard_History.html 

Reference: 
The Cunard Steamship Company 
    http://www.uncommonjourneys.com/pages/lines/cunard.htm 

For a moment, let's fast forward 160 years into the far future Cunard Unveils Plans for the Largest Ship Ever November, 1999: Details of Cunard Line's anticipated new vessel dubbed Project Queen Mary have been completed and the company expects to name the vessel and the builder in a few weeks.     Expected to be approximately 1,100 feet long, the new vessel will surpass in length the current title holder, Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, by about 25 metres.  She is expected to be in service in 2003.     Her hull will be painted a nonreflecting matte black in keeping with Cunard tradition that dates back to the mid-1800's.  Her giant single stack will be painted in the historic Cunard Red with black bands and it will tower more than 20 decks above her keel.     With engines generating 140,000 horsepower, her power plant will produce enough electricity to light up the city of Southampton, England; and her great whistle will be heard from a distance of 15 kilometres. Source: http://www.seaview.co.uk/cruiselines/cunard/queenmary.html Cunard Plans the World's Longest, Largest Passenger Ship Signs Letter of Intent for Queen Mary 2 $700,000,000 Liner Will Be the Fastest Cruise Liner Since QE2 Cunard Line is one of the world's most recognized brand names March 9, 2000   Cunard Line announced today that the company has signed a letter of intent to build its super-liner Queen Mary 2 at the Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.  The liner is expected to be launched in the last quarter of 2003.  Once launched, Queen Mary 2 is intended to fly the British flag, with her homeport being Southampton, England. "QM2 will measure over 1,130 feet in length," said Cunard Line President and CEO Larry Pimentel, "That's just 117 feet shorter than the Empire State Building is tall.  She'll tower nearly 21 stories in height from keel to masthead, with a gross registered tonnage of nearly 150,000 tons." Pimentel stated that QM2 is expected to carry just 2,800 guests, which is a very small complement for a ship of this size, and a guest-to-crew ratio of about 2-to-1 will enable a superb service standard.  "But aside from her sheer size," said Pimentel, "She is a marvel of innovative features, specifically designed for her.  For instance, she will be propelled by the world's first four-pod ship propulsion system, utilizing two fixed and two rotating propulsion pods that will enable her to cruise at nearly 30 knots.  Inside, she'll have all the dramatic features and grand scale that marked the great liners of the past, enhanced by the latest technology for comfort and convenience.  The combination of all of these elements will produce the most luxurious ocean liner ever built." "The signing of this letter of intent is a significant milestone in the birth of this unique vessel," said Micky Arison, Chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation, Cunard's parent company.  "Over the last months, our vision of the first true ocean liner to be built in a generation has evolved from a dream to a detailed plan on paper.  We are satisfied that the shipyard that created Normandie, France and other legendary liners has the capability to make that dream a reality." Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique, which employs over 4,000 workers in its facility, has a continuing record of delivering ships of unusual size and style.  Recent projects at the yard resulted in large ships for the coastal cruising trade.  However, it is entirely another matter to construct a purpose-built transatlantic liner.  From the architect's plans to the nature of the steel plating that forms the skin of the hull, a liner differs in most details from the sorts of ships that have been built in the last three decades.  Nonetheless, Alstom's officers are confident that their company represents the best choice for Cunard.  "We want to build this magnificent ship because of our history and because of our future," said Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chairman and CEO Patrick Boissier.  "We understand the character of the ship they want to build, and we know how to build that kind of ship." "The level of excitement and interest in this project is beyond anything we could have imagined," said Cunard Line President and CEO Larry Pimentel.  "Queen Mary 2 seems to embody the public's renewed fascination with the romance of a bygone era of sea travel.  Now that excitement and interest is being transformed into a tangible project, with dollars and cents attached to it.  From the start, we believed that this project could be realized.  Now we have agreed to the fundamentals of how we are going to make Queen Mary 2 not merely a reality, but a sound investment and a resounding success." A recent agreement with the City of Long Beach, California and its affiliates, which operate the floating hotel Queen Mary, has cleared the way for Cunard Line to use the name Queen Mary 2 for its new liner.  The final building agreement is subject to several conditions including the finalization of definitive contracts and financing. Cunard Line, one of the world's most recognized brand names with a classic British heritage, is operated by Miami-based Cunard Line Limited, which also operates Seabourn Cruise Line.  Cunard Line Limited is a unit of Carnival Corporation.  Carnival shares trade on the New York Stock Market under the ticker symbol CCL.  The Cunard fleet includes famed Queen Elizabeth 2 and Caronia.  The Seabourn fleet includes Seabourn Sun, Seabourn Pride, Spirit and Legend and Seabourn Goddess I & II.  Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruise Line are members of the exclusive World's Leading Cruise Lines alliance, which also includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises and Windstar Cruises.  Together, these member lines share a commitment to quality and value, offering cruise vacations that appeal to the widest range of lifestyles and budgets and sail to some of the world's most exciting destinations.  Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruise Line represent nearly 50 percent of the world's luxury cruise market. Source: Cunard Line press release, 9 March 2000 http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/09/c2954.html

Captain Warwick on the Cunard Line

In 1999, Cunard is the only cruise line in the world that uses the name of its founder, Samuel Cunard, and it was founded in 1840.  He had this incredible vision to bridge the Atlantic with this string of steamships. 

Samuel Cunard was Canadian and could not get any money in Canada, so then he went to the United States and could not get any money there.  For everybody thought it was a crazy idea.  So he went to England and linked up with some engineers and that is where the company really started. 

Their first ship, the Britannia, set forth from England on July 4th 1840 and that began the bridge of the North Atlantic.  Then everybody thought Cunard's achievement was a great idea and so everybody got on the bandwagon and intense competition from other companies in Europe and England as well as the United States.  But Cunard stayed firm.  And in later years, the competition totally disappeared. 

And then we had the war years.  Our country (England) wanted to use our ships and we lost a lot of them as a result.  Then the airlines came and we turned our adversaries into allies, and so on.  We have had a lot of fragmented leadership and management in more recent years but then Carnival Corp came along as a form of white knights and it is incredible the resilience that people have when they become associated with Cunard and that was to keep the flag flying.  This desire to keep the flag flying has been further endorsed by Carnival who took over the company just a year and a half ago.  Within minutes of buying this company, they announced their desire to build other transatlantic liners in the form of the Queen Mary Project, as we call her.  And with my long association with the Cunard company, I feel we are going to move ahead. 

Source: 
Captain Ronald W. Warwick, master of the Cunard ship Queen Elizabeth 2.  He wrote the first authoritative book on the QE2 in 1985.  Since then the book has been revised and republished, first in 1994, and then in 1999. 
    http://www.seaview.co.uk/cruiselines/cunard/qe2_captain.html 

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Cunard Line's 150th Anniversary

July 1990: The captain pulls out all the stops for the QE2's fastest east-west crossing of the Atlantic in 105 hours 57 minutes to mark the 150th anniversary of the Cunard Line. 

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Cunard's new Queen Mary 2 to house Olympic athletes
Source: The Globe and Mail, page T4, 4 January 2003

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1839 January 28

Nova Scotia Legislature

Proceedings of the Nova Scotia House of Commons
(now known as The Legislature)
January 28, 1839
Source: http://nslegislature.ca/demo/JPEG/0121_1839-01-29_Resolution_01.jpg

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1839 March 20

Three Atlantic Steamers

Extract of a letter from Glasgow, Scotland, to a merchant in Boston, Massachusetts, dated 20th March, 1839: "We feel highly gratified to inform you that the keels of three steamers of 1100 tons and 420 horsepower 310 kilowatts are now being laid.  No expense will be spared to make these boats equal to any vessels now afloat.  They are intended to run between Liverpool and Halifax twice a month, with a continuation from the latter port to Boston, and other steamers from Pictou for Quebec, which will no doubt, create not only a greater intercourse with the U. States, but an immense addition of travel on the various rail roads, by which means passengers and letters will arrive in Quebec in a shorter time than they now do by steam to New York.  Your friend Cunard has just left here, after extending the size of the boats beyond the power and tonnage first contemplated.  The contract is made with Messrs. Wood and Napier, the most extensive and successful builders in the kingdom." 
[The Yarmouth Herald, 3 May 1839] 

These three steamships were Acadia, Caledonia, and Columbia.
All three were launched in 1840.

• Acadia – Nova Scotia
• Caledonia – Scotland
• Columbia – United States

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1839 April 20

Boston Supports Halifax

At a meeting of citizens of Boston, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "at the Hall of the Tremont Bank, on Saturday, April 20th, 1839, to consider what steps should be pursued to encourage the proposed communication by Steam Packets between Boston and England... Resolved, That we regard the establishment of a line of Steam Packets, between Liverpool and Boston, as tending greatly to advance the prospreity of this city... That it is of the highest importance to the success of this great enterprise that the larger class of steam packets should run entirely through from Liverpool, England, to Boston, and vice versa — stopping sufficient time at Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the reception of fuel and to receive and discharge passengers and freight... That the Hon. S. Cunard of Nova Scotia, the spirited projector and conductor of this enterprise, is entitled to the warmest acknowledgements of the inhabitants of this City and State for the vast benefits which must accrue to them from the measure he has originated, and that he is assured of our sincere and ardent wishes for his success ..." 
[The Yarmouth Herald, 10 May 1839] 

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1839 May 4

First Contract to Carry
Trans-Atlantic Mail

The first contract between the British Admiralty and Samuel Cunard was dated this day.  This was the first contract entered into by the government of Great Britain for the conveyance of mail by steamship across the Atlantic.  The contract included a subsidy to Cunard of £80,000 a year for seven years. The Yarmouth Herald of 1 November 1839 reprinted the following from the Novascotian: "Mr. Cunard's Contract — The London Sun furnishes a detailed account of this Contract entered into by this gentleman, from which we glean a few particulars, in addition to those already published in theNovascotian. The Boats from Pictou to Quebec are to be of not less than 150 horsepower 110 kilowatts. The Commissioners of the Admiralty may alter the days of sailing, and may detain the Packets for 24 hours, only.  If, in stress of weather, time can be saved, the naval officer in charge of the Mails may direct them to be landed at the nearest port in England.  This person and his servant are to be found, and have cabins, free.  The Mails may be entrusted to Commanders, if the Admiralty see fit.  If the officer in charge sanctions any delay or putting back, not authorized, he is to be fined £100; and for every twelve hours delay of the larger vessels, the Contractor is to pay £500, and for the smaller ones £200.  The Contractor is to carry two chief cabin passengers at £30 each, and two forward passengers at £15; and seamen, soldiers, and marines at £4 each.  He is also to convey free small packages for the Admiralty, and stores, not to exceed five tons weight.  No part of the Contract is to be underlet, and the only penalty incurred by the non-fulfilment of the whole is £15,000." 

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1839 May 27

Three Locomotives Arrive

The three steam locomotives, Samson, Hercules, and John Buddle, that were to provide motive power for the Albion Rail Road (always spelled in old documents as three separate words) arrived at Pictou on board the brig Ythan of Newcastle.  H.B. Jefferson wrote: "They were built in 1838 by Timothy Hackworth, today becoming recognized as a greater locomotive genius than better publicized George Stephenson." 

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1839 September 6

Plans for 13 TransAtlantic Steamships

The Yarmouth Herald of this date reported: "Ocean Steam Navigation — By October 1841, there will be thirteen large and splendid steam ships running across the Atlantic Ocean.  No one will be smaller than the Liverpool, and more than half of them will be larger than the Great Western. Four of the thirteen will ply between Liverpool, Halifax, and Boston, and the rest will run between Bristol, Liverpool, and the Clyde, to New York." 

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1839 September 17

Albion Rail Road's First Coal Trains

Samson, the first engine to be assembled and given trial trips, hauled the first coal trains over the newly-built and still not complete Albion Rail Road, about 2.5 miles from Albion Mines to Fourth Chutes, across the river from New Glasgow. 

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1839 September 19

Albion Rail Road Formally Opened

The formal opening ceremony for the Albion Rail Road took place in Stellarton on this day.  The ceremony was premature, in that only 2.5 miles of the railway had been built; this was less than half of the complete railway which was to be 6 miles 403 feet 9.78 kilometres in length.  H.B. Jefferson wrote: "The great celebration at Mount Rundell (the General Manager's house on Foord Street in Stellarton) on that date has often been described, with its roast whole ox barbecue, its casks of rum and ale placed on convenient saw horses about the grounds for the edification of the proletariat, and its 'initial running of the locomotive carriages', when John Buddle and Hercules, in that order, made two round trips over the line, each hauling 35 cars and 700 passengers." Samson was held in reserve, and did not run that day. 

From The Yarmouth Herald of 27 September 1839: The Pictou County Rail Road — The portion of this work reaching from the mines (Stellarton) to New Glasgow — a distance of about two miles three kilometres — has been completed, and steam Locomotives with their trains were to be run on it on the 19th of this month.  This, we believe, is the first piece of Railroad, traversed by steam power, ever opened in a British Colony — and the event is certainly one of much interest.  The Mechanic and Farmer of the 18th says:— To commemorate the event, it is to be held as a gala day at the Mines.  The different Companies under the command of their respective captains, plan walking in procession with suitable emblems; and we believe that no expense will be spared by the Agent of the General Mining Association to render the spectacle as imposing as possible, and to infuse hilarity and animation in the bosom of the immense concourse of spectators who will attend to witness the exhibition.  Both steam locomotives will be in town at half-past seven o'clock a.m., for the gratuitous accomodation (free rides) of the onlookers.  The Volunteer Artillery Company will also attend to enliven the scene. 

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1839 October

42 Ocean Steamers for 1841

From the Baltimore American

"The perfect and triumphant success which has attended the experiment of Ocean Steam Navigation between Great Britain and the United States, is but the forerunner of the extension of the system between other distant ports.  It has been already stated that the British and French Governments have turned their attention to the subject, and that regular lines of steam ships are soon to be brought into operation under their auspices.  We find in the New York Herald the following list of steam ships, which will be in operation in the course of the year 1841:— 

SHIP NAME OR OWNER TONS HORSE POWER PORTS Great Western 1340 450 Bristol to New York British Queen 1870 500 London to New York Liverpool 1150 468 Liverpool to New York New York 2000 600 Liverpool to New York United Kingdom 2000 600 London to New York President 2500 600 Liverpool to New York City of New York 2500 700 Bristol to New York Steamer, Cunards 1100 420 London to Boston Steamer, Cunards 1100 420 London to Boston Steamer, Cunards 1100 420 London to Boston Steamer, Cunards 1100 420 London to Boston Steamer, British Government 1000 300 Glasgow to Boston Steamer, British Government 1000 300 Glasgow to Boston Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1400 400 (See Note 1 below) Steamer, British Government 1500 500 (See Note 2 below) Steamer, British Government 1500 500 (See Note 2 below) Steamer, British Government 1500 500 (See Note 2 below) Steamer, British Government 1500 500 (See Note 2 below) Steamer, British Government 1500 500 (See Note 2 below) Steamer, French Government 1200 400 Havre to New York Steamer, French Government 1200 400 Havre to New York Steamer, French Government 1200 400 Havre to New York Steamer, French Government 1200 400 Havre to New York Steamer, French Government 1100 350 Brest to Brazil Steamer, French Government 1100 350 Brest to Brazil Steamer, French Government 1100 350 Brest to Brazil Steamer, French Government 1100 350 Brest to Brazil Steamer, French Government 1100 350 Bordeaux to Vera Cruz Steamer, French Government 1100 350 Bordeaux to Vera Cruz 42 58,260 18,048

Note 1: Falmouth (England) or Southampton (England) to the West Indes, to the Gulf of Mexico, to South America and to the Brazils, also from Havana to New York, keeping the entire West India & American route open by steam.
Note 2: From London either to Egypt or via the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies.

In reference to the above list, the Halifax Times remarks:— "The interesting account, from a Baltimore paper, of the number of splendid steamers that will shortly be traversing the ocean, will be looked upon with much interest.  It is, we believe, generally correct, but we notice a few discrepancies, which it may be as well to set right.  Mr. Cunard's steamers, which are rated there at 420, are, we understand, 500 horsepower.  Instead, also, of running between London and Boston, as there stated, it should be Liverpool and Boston, touching at Halifax.  The two steamers of 300 horse power, placed in the list under the head of "British Government" and stated to run between Glasgow and Boston, are also, we assume, Mr. Cunard's, and are to run, one between Quebec and Pictou, the other between Boston and Halifax." 

[This item, quoted whole above, appeared in The Yarmouth Herald of 18 October 1839.] 

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1839 November 1

Minas Basin Steam Service

"Steamer on the Basin of Minas — The Hon. James Ratchford, of Parrsboro, has issued a Prospectus, having for its object the establishment of a Steamer on the Basin of Minas, to ply between Parrsboro, Horton, and Truro — and occasionally, if found practicable, making a trip to Saint John.  The expense of the undertaking would be £5000, and it is proposed to raise this sum by subscription [sale of shares] in shares of £50 each..." 
[The Yarmouth Herald, 1 November 1839] 

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1839 December 1

New Lighthouses in Operation

The light house recently built on Scatarie Island was put into operation on 1st December 1839.  The building was painted white, and the light was about 90 feet 27 metres above the sea.  It was equipped with a "revolving light of a superior description, visible one minute and invisible half a minute." A good boat was "always kept at the establishment to render assistance to vessels in distress," and a gun was placed there "to answer signals." 

Two light houses had been built "on the north and south extremes of the Island of St. Paul's." The one on the north end was put in operation on 1st December 1839.  This light showed "a very brilliant fixed light," and was elevated about 150 feet 46 metres above the sea.  The light on the south end of St. Paul's Island was "expected to go into operation a short time" later. 

The new light house "on the S E end of Cross Island, at the entrance of Lunenburg Harbour, in latitude 44 22 N, longitute 64 06 W," was put into operation on 1st December 1839.  This light was "distinguished from Sambro and Liverpool lights, by exhibiting two lights, one 30 feet 9.1 metresabove the other," the lower one being a fixed light, and the upper one flashed or was darkened "at intervals of one minute," and could "be distinguished from the gradual motion of a revolving light, by the quickness of its motion or change from light to dark." The building was "painted red, to distinguish it in the day time from Sambro and Liverpool lights" which were painted white; "and as a further mark of distinction, Cross Island is a low island, near a mile in extent and thickly covered with trees, whereas Sambro is a high bluff rock, without trees of any description." 

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1839 December 23

Nova Scotia Western Steam Company

A meeting was held in Yarmouth to explore the possibility of establishing a company to operate a scheduled weekly steamship service between Yarmouth and Halifax, stopping at points along the way.  An advertisement, in The Yarmouth Herald of 20 December 1839, read as follows:

Steam Notice

"All persons interested in the formation of a Company, to be called the Nova Scotia Western Steam Company, having for its object a weekly communication by Steam-Boat with Halifax, are requested to meet at the Phoenix, or Richan's Hotel, on Monday next (23 December) 2 o'clock p.m. for the purpose of forwarding the interests of the said Association, now about to be formed.  A punctual attendance is requested." 

On 22 November 1839, under the head "Nova Scotia Western Steam Navigation" The Yarmouth Herald had reported: "Mr.  Bazalgette, of Halifax, is now in this place (Yarmouth), procuring the names of such gentlemen as may feel disposed to take shares in a Steam Packet between Halifax and Yarmouth.  The shares are £25 each, and the whole sum required is £10,000.  It is intended to purchase the boat in Britain, and to have her on the route next summer." 

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Index with links to the other chapters

Go To:   History of Telegraph and Telephone Companies in Nova Scotia 
    http://ns1758.ca/tele/telephone.html 
Go To:   History of Railway Companies in Nova Scotia 
    http://ns1758.ca/rail/railways.html 
Go To:   History of Electric Power Companies in Nova Scotia 
    http://ns1758.ca/electric/electric.html 
Go To:   History of Automobiles in Nova Scotia 
    http://ns1758.ca/auto/automobiles.html 
Go To:   Nova Scotia History, Chapter One 
    http://newscotland1398.ca/hist/nshistory01.html 
Go To:   Nova Scotia in the War of 1812 
    http://ns1758.ca/1812war/war1812-atlantic.html#war1812-novascot 
Go To:   Nova Scotia Historical Biographies 
    http://newscotland1398.ca/hist/nshistory00.html#ns-historical-biog 
Go To:   Proclamations: Land Grants in Nova Scotia 1757, '58, '59 
    http://planter2010.ca/proc/proclamations-ndx.html 
Go To:   Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1805, edited by Richard John Uniacke 
    http://ns1763.ca/law/ns-statutes1805-titlepg.html 
Go To:   Home Page 
    http://newscotland1398.ca/index.html 

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Latest update:   2013 May 17


http://newscotland1398.ca/hist/nshistory07.html

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Aboriginal Heritage

Mi’kmaq camp, Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, 1891

Aboriginal documentary heritage found in the holdings of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) reflects the exemplary contributions of Aboriginal peoples to this country’s political, social, economic and cultural development. First Nations, Métis and Inuit continue to participate in defining Canada as a nation. Their contributions can be traced over time—from the documentation of early Indigenous mythologies, archaeological finds of bone scrapers in the Yukon, and evidence of bison drives and jumps in Alberta, to today’s award-winning literature and films.

This material is available in all types of media and can be accessed on site or through online databases, virtual exhibitions and digitized documents. Researchers with experience using LAC resources and researching aboriginal subject matters may wish to go directly to our Resources for Researchers page.

Three men and a Métis dog cariole, Fort Garry, Northwest Territories, 1871

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Kenojuak with her children, Kinngait, Nunavut, late summer 1960

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General Tools and Resources

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Genealogy and Family History

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Residential Schools

Library and Archives Canada holds many documents of interest to researchers regarding the residential and other schools. Since those records are complex, we suggest that you start your research by reading the Residential School Records Resources info-pages.

• Conducting Research on Residential Schools (PDF 689 KB)
• Native Residential Schools in Canada: A Selective Bibliography
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Photographic Collections

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Databases

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Digitized Microforms

• School Files Series - 1879-1953 (RG10) (Archived)

Electronic Collection

• Finding Out About Native Canadian Women Writers Published in English (Archived)
• Heroes of Lore and Yore: Canadian Heroes in Fact and Fiction (Archived)
• Passageways: True Tales of Adventure for Young Explorers (Archived)
• Pathfinders and Passageways: The Exploration of Canada (Archived)
• The Jesuit Relations and the History of New France (Archived)

Reference Websites

• Aboriginal Documentary Heritage (Archived)

Research Guides and Finding Aids

• Aboriginal Peoples: Guide to the Records of the Government of Canada
• Conducting Research on Residential Schools (PDF 689 KB)
• File and Item Descriptions for Aboriginal Heritage
• Indian Affairs Record Group 10 (RG10) Inventory
• Indian Bands and Agencies
• Native Residential Schools in Canada: A Selective Bibliography

Virtual Exhibitions  

• Aboriginal Sound Recordings: Music and Song (Archived)
• Canadian West -- Aboriginal Claims (Archived)
• Framing Canada: A Photographic Memory. Essays on Aboriginal Peoples (Archived)
• Our Voices, our Stories - First Nations, Métis and Inuit Stories from Yesterday and Today (Archived)
• Project Naming
• Project Naming: 2002-2012 (Archived)
• Treaty 8 (Archived)
• Virtual Vault: The "Four Indian Kings" (Archived)

----------------------

Acadian

Officer of the Régiment des Volontaires royaux, Louisbourg, 1758. Library and Archives Canada, C-012427.

Genealogy and Family History

• Research at Library and Archives Canada
• Research in Published Sources
• Research at Other Institutions and Online

The term "Acadians" refers to immigrants from France in the early 1600s who settled in the colony of Acadia, in what are now the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

The colonization of Acadia by the French started in 1604 at Port-Royal. In the 1630s, about 20 families came from the Loudunais area and soon after soldiers and "engagés" joined them. In 1670, the Acadian population consisted of 400 people. Steadily, the population grew and the territory expanded to include Nova Scotia, Cape-Breton Island, New-Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. With the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Acadia was given away to Great Britain, with the exception of île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) and île Royale (Cape Breton Island).

As early as 1754, due to the threat of a new war in America, Charles Lawrence, governor of Nova Scotia, was considering the deportation of the Acadians. Between 1755 and 1762, about 10,000 Acadians were made prisoners and were deported to the American colonies, Great Britain and France.

By 1764, the Acadians were allowed to return on condition of dispersing themselves over the territory and swearing their loyalty to the British Crown. Many Acadians returned to America as laborers for the merchant-fishermen of Jersey Island. Many Acadians from France and the American colonies settled in Louisiana. Those returning to the Maritimes chose to settle in Baie Sainte-Marie in western Nova Scotia, Cheticamp on the western shore of Cape Breton Island, the Malpèque region of Prince Edward Island and on the eastern and northern shores of New Brunswick as well as in the province of Quebec, particularly in the area of Yamachiche and L'Acadie.

Research at Library and Archives Canada

Placide Gaudet fonds

Gaudet's Notes (MG 30 C20) [PDF 105 KB], the bulk of which are in the possession of Library and Archives Canada, constitute the main source for Acadian genealogical research. They were compiled by Placide Gaudet from various documents, not all of which are held by Library and Archives Canada. Although a most helpful source, the Notes must not be considered in any way as official records. The information given generally consists of dates and places of birth, marriage and death. The Notes are arranged in approximate alphabetical order and are available on microfilm reels C-2238 to C-2241.

Parish Registers

The Parish Registers fonds (MG 9 B8-1) contains transcriptions of parish registers of various Acadian parishes and from Gaspesia. Microfilm C-3021.

Library and Archives Canada also holds microfilmed copies of the following Acadian parish registers:

• Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Port-Royal, Nova Scotia), 1702-1755, (MG 9 B8-24), microfilms C-1869 and C-1870.
• Saint-Charles-des-Mines (Nova Scotia), Registers of baptisms, 1707-1749, (MG 9 B8-12) microfilm C-1869.
• Sainte-Anne-de-Kingsclear (New Brunswick), 1767-1859 (MG 9 A11-13, vol. 1), microfilms C-3019 and M-4604.
• Saint-Henri-de-Barachois (Shédiac, New Brunswick), 1812-1870 (MG 9 A11-2, vol. 1), microfilm C-3016.
• Sainte-Marie (Baie-Sainte-Marie, Nova Scotia), 1799-1801 (MG 9 B8-26), microfilm C-3026.
• Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Bouctouche (New Brunswick), 1800-1870 (MG 9 A11-3, vol. 1) microfilm C-3016.
• Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Malpèque (Prince Edward Island), 1817-1848 (MG9-C8-4), microfilm M-16.

Prudent-L. Mercure fonds (MG 30 C5)

Information pertaining to Madawaska families of north-western New Brunswick. Microfilms C-3109 and C-3110.

Archives départementales du Morbihan (MG 6 A6 E)

Genealogy of Acadian families from the parishes of Bangor, Locmaria, Palais and Sauzon, of the Belle-Isle-en-Mer region of France, 1767. Microfilm F-1556.

Passenger Lists

Library and Archives Canada holds passenger lists (MG 1 F 5-B) for the years 1717, 1732, 1747 and 1749-1758, containing names of passengers travelling to Acadia.

Other documents related to the Acadians

The following fonds and collection contain various material pertaining to the Acadians:

• Monsieur de La Rochette, 1755-1787, (MG 18 F14, vol. 1 p. 388-429 and vol. 2, p. 427-429) Lists of Acadians and prisoners of war.
• Fonds Archives des colonies, série C14, Correspondance générale; Guyane française, 1765, (MG 1 C14) Census of inhabitants of Sinnamary, a place of refuge for displaced Acadians. March 1, 1765. (volume 28, page 348-352v).
• Archives des colonies, série C11D, Correspondance générale; Acadie, 1603-1788, (MG 1 C11D) Volumes 8 to 10 contain documents pertaining to Acadian and Canadian refuges. Microfilms F-168 to F-173.
• Papers relating to the Acadians deported to Massachusetts in 1755, 1755-1769, (MG 18 F15) Acadian petitions, microfilms M-81 and M-82.
• Ayer collection, 1638-1894, (MG 18 N50) Census of Acadians for the year 1708, microfilm M-1680.
• Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies; notariat (MG 1 G3) Series G3 consists of minutes of the notaries of Canada, Acadia, Newfoundland, l'Ile Royale and the islands of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon.
• Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies; greffes judiciaires (MG1 G2)

Research in Published Sources

• Acadian church records, Volume I, 1679-1757, by Winston De Ville. (AMICUS 4392046)
• Acadian Church Records. Volume II, Beaubassin, 1712-1748, by Milton P. Rieder Jr. and Norma Gaudet Rieder. (AMICUS 74037)
• Acadian church records, Volume III, Port Royal, 1702-1721, by Milton P. Rieder Jr. and Norma Gaudet Rieder. (AMICUS 5616527)
• Acadian descendants, by Janet B. Jehn. (AMICUS 5616525)
• Acadian exiles in the colonies, by Janet B. Jehn. (AMICUS 12244042)
• Acadians, by Heather Hudak. (AMICUS 32469902)
• Corrections & additions to Arsenault's Histoire et généalogie des Acadiens, by Janet B. Jehn. (AMICUS 8968669)
• De Nantes à la Louisiane : en 1785, 1600 Acadiens quittent le vieux continent, à destination de la Nouvelle-Orléans : l'histoire de l'Acadie, l'odyssée d'un peuple exilé, by Gérard-Marc Braud. (AMICUS 14542198)
• Des Acadiens déportés à Boston, en 1755 : un épisode du grand dérangement, by Pascal Poirier. (AMICUS 6946836)
• Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes, by Stephen A. White. (AMICUS 22128873)
• Dictionnaire généalogique des familles des Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, 1760-1948, by Dennis M. Boudreau. (AMICUS 25375431)
• English supplement to the Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes. part I, 1636 to 1714, by Stephen A. White. (AMICUS 23965346)
• Familles acadiennes, by Léopold Lanctôt. (AMICUS 20895347)
• Généalogie des familles acadiennes : avec documents, by Placide Gaudet. Re-edited by René Babineau. (AMICUS 10588523)
• Généalogies acadiennes, by Placide Gaudet. (AMICUS 32829642)
• Histoire de l'Acadie, by Nicolas Landry. (AMICUS 25514956)
• Histoire des Acadiens et des Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick, by Sylvain Godin and Maurice Basque. (AMICUS 33500122)
• Histoire des Acadiens, by Bona Arsenault. (AMICUS 29969507)
• Histoire et généalogie des Acadiens, by Bona Arsenault. (AMICUS 900039)
• History of the Acadians, by Bona Arsenault. (AMICUS 899870)
• Index to Bona Arsenault's "Histoire et généalogie des Acadiens", by Phoebe Chauvin Morrison. (AMICUS 11221144)
• Inventaire général des sources documentaires sur les Acadiens, by Centre d'études acadiennes. (AMICUS 839845)
• La colonie acadienne du Poitou, by A. Papuchon. (AMICUS 12097920)
• La France des Acadiens, by Robert Prévost. (AMICUS 13674216)
• L'Acadie : histoire des Acadiens du XVIIe siècle à nos jours, by Yves Cazaux. (AMICUS 13380121)
• L'Acadie de l'Atlantique, by Maurice Basque, Nicole Barrieau and Stéphanie Côté in collaboration with Raymond Cyr and Emmanuel Doucet. (AMICUS 22564760)
• L'Acadie des ancêtres avec la généalogie des premières familles acadiennes, by Bona Arsenault. (AMICUS 2214117)
• L'Acadie des Maritimes : études thématiques des débuts à nos jours, under the direction of Jean Daigle. (AMICUS 13176059)
• Le grand arrangement des Acadiens au Québec: notes de petite-histoire, généalogies: France, Acadie, Québec de 1625 à 1925, by Adrien Bergeron. (AMICUS 3238068)
• Les Acadiens : citoyens de l'Atlantique, by Jean-Marie Fonteneau. (AMICUS 25938678)
• Les Acadiens aux îles Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, 1758-1828 : 3 déportations, 30 années d'exil, by Michel Poirier. (AMICUS 4819546)
• Les Acadiens de l'Ile, 1720-1980, by Georges Arsenault. (AMICUS 26938532)
• Les Acadiens de Saint-Pierre & Miquelon à La Rochelle, 1767 à 1768 et 1778 à 1785 : notes de l'abbé Patrice Gallant, edited by Stephen A. White. (AMICUS 24966)
• The Acadian exiles in the American colonies, 1755-1768, edited by Milton P. Rieder and Norma Gaudet Rieder. (AMICUS 42020)

Research at Other Institutions and Online

• Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island
• Centre d'études acadiennes Anselme-Chiasson (French only)
• Institut d'études acadiennes de l'Université Sainte-Anne en Nouvelle-Écosse
• Musée acadien du Québec à Bonaventure (French only)
• Websites:
• Acadian and French Canadian Ancestral Home
• Acadian Cultural Society
• Acadian-Cajun Genealogy and History
• Acadian Genealogy
• Amitiés France-Acadie (French only)
• Comité des amitiés acadiennes de la Vienne et du Poitou (French only)
• Fédération acadienne du Québec (French only)
• Seconde Nation
• Société acadienne de l'Alberta (French only)
• 
  

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/history-ethnic-cultural/Pages/acadian.aspx

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1.     [PDF] 

Black/Mi'kmaq Relations in Nova Scotia - Bibliothèque et Archives ...

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/.../MR43195.PDF - Cached - Similar

of the Pre-Confederation Black community: A Brief History. Chapter 4. 96 ...
Halifax, Nova Scotia on racism in the education system. The conference was a
...... In December 1975, the Chronicle Herald reported "New wave of optimism, on
. N.S. Reserves ..... Canada's oldest clubs, The Order of Good Cheer. The earliest
and ...

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Nova Scotia

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Nova Scotia joined Confederation on July 1, 1867.

The first inhabitants of Nova Scotia were Mi'kmaq, whose dwellings extended from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island to the southern coast of the Gaspé Peninsula.

The French established the first European settlement in 1604, calling it Acadia. By 1750, they had a community of 12,000 inhabitants.

The only English-speaking inhabitants before 1749 were in Annapolis and Canso, but in that year, Halifax was founded with the arrival of 2,500 settlers. In 1753, Lunenburg was established by German immigrants.

Nova Scotia grew rapidly in the second half of the eighteenth century with the arrival of many immigrants from New England. The advent of the Loyalists after 1782 resulted in the division of the territory into two separate colonies, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Researchers interested in ancestors who lived in Nova Scotia use the main kinds of genealogical sources. Attention focuses mostly on records related to the Acadians, Loyalists and Mi'kmaq.

Civil Registration (Birth, Death, and Marriage Records)

In Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management holds birth records (1864-1877), marriage records (1864-1930) and death records (1864-1877 and 1908-1955). Nominal indexes and digital images to the above records are available on the Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics Web site.

Records of births from October 1, 1908, marriages from 1931 and deaths from 1956 are held by:

Service Nova Scotia: Vital Statistics
PO Box 157
Halifax, NS
B3J 2M9

Criminal Records

• Nova Scotia Archives:
  Search for court records using the BosaNova database and keywords such as "court."
• Courts of Nova Scotia

Genealogical Societies

• Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia

Land Records

Land grants are in the custody of the:

Crown Land Information Management Centre Registrar of Crown Lands
Department of Natural Resources
PO Box 698
Halifax, NS
B3J 2T9

The Nova Scotia Archives holds microfilm copies of land grants and petitions, all of which are indexed. A database covering the years 1769 to 1843 is available online.

Search BosaNova for details about land records for other counties.

Records of subsequent transactions are held by the Land Registration Office in each county.

Provincial Websites

• ArchWay: Nova Scotia's Archival Database
• Council of Nova Scotia Archives
• Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia
• CanadaGenWeb - Gateway to Free Canadian Genealogy
• Nova Scotia Archives:
  These Research Tips provides further information on how to do genealogical research in Nova Scotia.
• Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library
• Nova Scotia Genealogy Network Association
• The official provincial government Web site contains useful information about the province and its historic records.
• The Canadian Encyclopedia allows you to learn more about the history, geography and people of Nova Scotia.

Many libraries hold reference books, local histories, family histories and other books on genealogy. Library and Archives Canada allows you to browse lists of Canadian library Web sites and catalogues by province (Archived).

Wills

All estate documents are recorded and kept at the offices of the Registrar in each Probate District. The Nova Scotia Archives holds microfilm copies of probate records, complete for all counties to about 1900, some of which contain indexes.

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/places/Pages/nova-scotia.aspx

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Archived Content

This archived Web page remains online for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. This page will not be altered or updated. Web pages that are archived on the Internet are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats of this page on the Contact Us page.

Introduction | History | Daily Life | Culture | References History Port-Royal After Europeans found out about this "new" continent, the king of France decided that he should send people to settle there in order to claim the land for France. He called this land New France. Building settlements and looking after the settlers was expensive so he offered to give all the rights to fur trading to one person and in exchange they would have to bring settlers to New France. Source The habitation at Port-Royal In 1603, King Henry IV of France gave Pierre Du Gua de Monts a monopoly on the fur trade in New France. That year De Monts, his mapmaker Samuel de Champlain and the crew left France on the ship Bonne Renommée and arrived at Tadoussac, a fur-trading centre, to start a colony. In the first year of the settlement, only five of 16 men survived. In 1604, de Monts and Champlain began a new colony on Île Sainte-Croix in the Baie Française (now called the Bay of Fundy). But the conditions were harsh and 35 of 79 men died. In 1605, they moved the settlement to sheltered harbour across the bay in what is now Nova Scotia. They called this new settlement Port-Royal, and it became the capital of Acadia, the first colony in New France. Source Map of Port-Royal by Champlain, 1613 The French built a wooden fort, two stories high, with a courtyard in the middle. They planted wheat and vegetables outside the fort to help feed them throughout the winter. In order to take the men's minds off the long cold winter, Champlain began a tradition called the Order of Good Cheer. Each man took his turn to plan an evening of entertainment and a delicious feast. The person who was planning the evening had to catch or hunt the main course and cook the food. Roasts of moose, duck, goose, rabbit, bear, porcupine, beaver tail or fish might be served. He was also responsible for organizing the entertainment, which might be music or skits. These evenings helped to keep the men's health and spirits up. Source Evening feast in the tradition of Champlain's Order of Good Cheer The French formed good relations with the Mi'kmaqand traded with them for furs. The colonists had made it through the winter well, but one day news came from France that the king had ended de Monts' monopoly on fur trading. The settlement could not continue without a supply of men, profits from furs and supplies. Port-Royal was abandoned in 1607 and the settlers returned to France. -------------------------------- Three cheers for the Good Cheer Trail The province’s latest tourism initiative, The Good Cheer Trail, is a great excuse for a summer roadie. Posted By Ariane Hanlon on Thu, May 28, 2015 at 4:00 AM click to enlarge ILLUSTRATION BY AZIZA ASAT Merging historical anniversary with a reason to drink, next week marks the launch of the Good Cheer Trail. With over 30 stops at breweries, wineries, and distilleries, the trail was created by the province to promote discovery of lesser-known regions of Nova Scotia, while building awareness of the gastronomic explosion happening from one end to the other. Participants receive a passport to keep track of their visits, which also makes a nice memento of the trip even if your memories are hazy. The stops span province-wide, including in regions that tourists might never have heard of, let alone have thought of visiting (or spending their money in). While the trail is being promoted mainly to outsiders in target markets like Toronto and Boston, nothing stops any libation-loving native Nova Scotians from grabbing a passport and discovering their own province too. In addition to the drink stops, the trail includes two historic sites: The fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, and Port Royal in the Annapolis Valley. This year marks the 400th anniversary of North America’s first social club, The Order of Good Cheer, founded in 1606 by Samuel de Champlain. While the order was initially founded to keep the settlers’ minds off the brutal winter and rough living conditions while they established Port Royal, this modern interpretation of Good Cheer promises all of the good times without the fear or freezing or starvation. Win, win, right? The trail can be self-guided, says Taste of Nova Scotia’s Christine White, although since the point is to bounce around the province drinking, she stresses that people should secure a designated driver. Or, to make sure nobody feels left out, organized tours are being set up to shuttle people around. Nova Scotia’s tourism website offers a six-stop package with a visit of the fort at Port Royal, tastings and designated driver included in the $125 fee http://www.thecoast.ca/RestaurantandBarNews/archives/2015/05/28/three-cheers-for-the-good-cheer-trail

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History of Nova Scotia
with special attention given to
Transportation and Communications

Chapter 1
Before 31 December 1699

Index with links to the other chapters

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All human knowledge — everything ever drawn, composed, painted, or written — will be stored in one digital space available to the entire planet, with powerful search engines providing efficient, cheap access. 
  — William Thorsell, in The Globe and Mail, 5 February 2000
Mr.  Thorsell is chairman of the editorial board of The Globe and Mail and a member of the World Economic Forum's global issues advisory group.

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    Special Topics:

#   The Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia
#   Massachusetts Boundaries, 1691

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1398 June 2

600th Anniversary

On 2 June 1998, the Nova Scotia Legislature unanimously adopted 

RESOLUTION NO. 353

Whereas, according to legend, Prince Henry Sinclair, in 1398, set sail from the Orkney Islands with 12 ships and 300 crew; and

Whereas on June 2, 1398, Prince Henry Sinclair and crew landed in Guysborough; and

Whereas this week, Sinclair Societies and Scottish clans are celebrating the arrival of Prince Henry in the New World;

Therefore be it resolved that this House extend congratulations to the Sinclair Society and wish them every success in their quest to authenticate the arrival of Prince Henry in North America. 

Complete Hansard report 
    http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C56/57_1_h98jun02/i98jun02.htm#[Page%20613] 

This is the earliest event in the history of Nova Scotia that can be dated to a specific single day (according to legend).  The Resolution refers to "Guysborough," located on the west side of the Strait of Canso, which separates the Nova Scotia mainland from Cape Breton Island.

Born in Scotland in about 1345 A.D. Henry Sinclair became Earl of Rosslyn and the surrounding lands as well as Prince of Orkney, Duke of Oldenburg (Denmark), and Premier Earl of Norway.  In 1398 he led an expedition to explore Nova Scotia and Massachusetts.  This was 90 years before Columbus "discovered America"!  Prince Henry Sinclair was the subject of historian Frederick J. Pohl's Atlantic Crossings Before Columbus, which was published in 1961.  Not all historians agreed with Pohl, but he made a highly convincing case that this blond, sea-going Scot, born at Rosslyn Castle near Edinburgh in 1345, not only wandered about mainland Nova Scotia in 1398, but also lived among the Micmacs long enough to be remembered through centuries as the man-god Glooscap...
Source: The Westford Knight 
            http://members.tripod.com/~clangunn/westfordknight.html 

• Additional information may be found in these books:
• Atlantic Crossings Before Columbus, by Frederick J. Pohl, 1961, Norton, New York.
• Prince Henry Sinclair : His Expedition to the New World in 1398, by Frederick J. Pohl, 230 pages, 1974, Davis-Poynter.
  Reprinted in paperback March 1998, 232 pages, Nimbus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1551091224   [Frederick J. Pohl died in January 1991, aged 102; the quality of his research warrants further investigation of the Henry Sinclair story.]
• Holy Grail Across the Atlantic: The Secret History of Canadian Discovery and Exploration, by Michael Bradley with Deanna Theilmann-Bean, 391 pages, 1988, Hounslow Press, 124 Parkview Avenue, Willowdale, Ontario, M2N 3Y5.  ISBN 088882100X.
• The Sword and The Grail, by Andrew Sinclair, 240 pages, 1992, Crown.
• The Discovery of the Grail, by Andrew Sinclair, 307 pages, 1998, Carroll & Graf, New York.  ISBN 078670604X.
• Grail Knights of North America, by Michael Bradley, 416 pages, 1998, Hounslow Press.  ISBN 088822030.  [Michael Bradley is the author of several provocative and controversal interpretations of history. He has written seven books, inlcluding two novels. A former lecturer at Dalhousie University's Centre for African Studies, he has been invited to give guest lecture series at Kennedy-King College (Chicago), Yale University, The Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, Vanderbilt University, The University of Toronto, and York University.]
• The Sinclair Saga: Exploring the Facts and the Legend of Prince Henry Sinclair, by Mark Finnan, 154 pages with photographs, 1999, Formac Publishing Company Ltd., 5502 Atlantic Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 1G4.  ISBN 0887804667.  Distributed in the U.S.A. by Seven Hills Book Distributors, 1531 Tremont Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45214.
• The Labyrinth of the Grail, by William F. Mann, 350 pages, June 1999, Laughing Owl Publishing Inc., Grand Bay, Alabama.http://www.laughingowl.com/ ISBN 0965970183.

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1497 June 24

Cabots Reach Cape Breton

Italian-born navigators John and Sebastian Cabot departed from Bristol, England, on 2 May 1497, and set sail to follow Columbus' route to what he thought was Asia.  The Cabot expedition reached land on 24 June 1497, likely at Cape Breton Island. 
[National Post, 2 May 2000] 

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John Cabot made his first voyage from Bristol in search of a westerly route to India in 1497.  He made a landfall on the eastern coast of North America, but whether on Labrador, Newfoundland, or Nova Scotia is uncertain.  No actual settlement immediately followed the voyages of the Cabots. 
Source: Nova Scotia history 
            http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11135a.htm

Nova Scotia historic plaque
commemorating John Cabot 
http://ns1763.ca/victco/aspycabot.html

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1497 - 1800

Brief Outline of Nova Scotia History
1497 - 1800

Vikings may have been the first Europeans to explore Nova Scotia, but the first recorded exploration was made in 1497 by English explorer John Cabot. French claims were established by Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 and by Jacques Cartier ten years later. 

In 1604 Pierre du Gua Sieur de Monts, Samuel de Champlain, and Baron de Poutrincourt established a colony at Port Royal, but in 1607 the colony was abandoned. Poutrincourt returned in 1610 and established the first successful settlement of Europeans in what is now Canada. 

In 1621 King James I of England changed the area's name from Acadia to Nova Scotia. Eight years later groups of Scots settled at Charlesfort, near Port Royal, and at Rosemar, on Cape Breton Island. 

Throughout the 17th century (the 1600s) the English and French battled over control of Nova Scotia. The Peace of Utrecht in 1713 confirmed British control of Acadia, although the French retained Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island. 

During King George's War in 1744, the French and British again battled over Nova Scotia. The British decided to make Nova Scotia British by bringing in more settlers. Halifax was founded as a fishing port and naval station, and other towns were planned. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the French settlement of Fort Beausejour fell under an American attack, and Fort Gaspereau fell to the British. After the war Governor Charles Lawrence ordered more than 6000 Acadians deported to the American colonies, but about 2000 escaped. 

By 1763 Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick were joined to Nova Scotia, although Prince Edward Island was separated from Nova Scotia in 1769 and Cape Breton Island and New Brunswick were detached in 1784. Cape Breton Island was reannexed in 1820... 

By Thomas Greiner, Muenchnerstrasse 50, Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany 
    http://members.tripod.com/~thgreiner/history.htm 

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The term "Acadia" was used for the first time in 1524 by the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. When he came upon the region of present-day Washington, D.C., during the month of April, the vegetation appeared so luxuriant that he named the area "Arcadia" after the region of ancient Greece renowned for its innocence and contentment. Today the region visited by Verrazzano is called Delmarva because it encompasses parts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The 'r' was dropped in the 17th century and the name Acadia was used to designate the territory covered by the Maritime provinces of today. 
Source: 
Acadian History 
    http://www.umoncton.ca/maum/acadian_hist_an.html 

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Caught between opposing policies, the Acadian population endured a troubled history and looked on powerlessly as others made decisions. By right of conquest, Acadia had been English since 1613, but in practice it was still French, since no English settlers arrived before 1629. The two colonial powers of Europe paid little attention to Acadia until the end of the 1620s, when renewed interest foreshadowed the turbulent years that lay ahead for the inhabitants of this coveted territory... 
Source: 
Acadian History 
    http://www.umoncton.ca/maum/acadian_hist_an.html 

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1550 - 1700

General Outline of the History
of North America's Atlantic Coast
1550 - 1700

In the early 1600s, the Atlantic Seaboard of North America was about to become more crowded.  In 1608 the French would establish Quebec.  The Pilgrims would land at Plymouth Rock in 1620. 

In 1626 the Dutch would put down in a place now known as Manhattan. 

Settlement of what was to become the United States and Canada would continue to pick up speed: John Winthrop founded Boston in 1630; Samuel Champlain set up Trois-Rivieres, Canada, in 1634.  South Carolina would be settled in 1663.  William Penn established Pennsylvania in 1681. 

The Spanish still claimed much of North America, but the Atlantic Seaboard was being preempted by others. 

Spanish power had declined rapidly after 1550.  Her armies were defeated by the French, and a revolt by the Netherlands — secretly aided by England — had drained Spain of strength.  By the late 1500s, English "sea dogs" such as John Hawkins and Francis Drake were seizing Spanish ships wherever they met them. 

Queen Elizabeth sent the plunder to the Tower of London, to be "restored to King Philip III."  Needless to say, it never got back to Spain, and the Queen herself went down to the Thames to knight Drake on the deck of his ship.  He had made the first English voyage around the world (1557 to 1580) and had returned laden to the gunwales with spoils taken from Spanish ships. 

The raids, of course, angered Spanish King Philip, and he was made angrier by the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth's Catholic rival for the English throne.  He assembled a massive fleet of ships and in 1588 sent them to overthrow Elizabeth, take her island and restore Catholicism there.  But the Spanish Armada was defeated, some say by luck, some say by skill, some say by the chance happenings of a storm.  Indeed, the ships that managed to escape British guns were driven ashore and broken up by a terrific storm. 

The defeat of the armada successfully defended the British isles, but it did more: It opened the seas to British shipping, and North America to British colonization. 

Until then, England hadn't made much of an attempt at colonization.  It was busy building a strong state at home — and, besides, there was more profit in letting the Spanish do the work, than plundering the treasure fleet.  Still, Queen Elizabeth had given a charter to Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1578, giving him the right to "inhabit and possess all remote and heathen lands not in the actual possession of any Christian princes."  Gilbert was lost at sea after an abortive attempt to found a colony on the coast of Newfoundland. 

His half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, inherited the charter.  In 1585 he sent more than 100 men under Captain Ralph Lane to Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina.  Raleigh named the land Virginia... After James I came to the English throne, Raleigh was accused of plotting against the king, and was eventually executed. But Raleigh's investors decided to try again at colonizing North America... 

Source: 
Remembering Our Acadian Heritage 
Lafayette, Louisiana Daily Advertiser, 29 September 1994 
    http://www.lft.k12.la.us/chs/la_studies/cajun/acad_mag.htm 

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1558

Earliest Map of Nova Scotia

Diego Homem, chart of North America and the Atlantic from Queen Mary's Atlas, 1558
Source: http://www.vineyard.net/vineyard/history/allen/N_Am_1558.jpg
The earliest approximately correct map of Nova Scotia is that of a Portugese, Diego Homem, and bears date of 1558.  The Portugese were not very successful in their colonizing efforts, but they did succeed in colonizing with cattle and swine the dreadful sandbank of Sable Island, off the southeast coast of Nova Scotia — a deed for which in later years many a shipwrecked seaman has had cause to remember them with gratitude.  In such names as Blomidon, Minas, Bay of Fundy (Baya Fondo), and others, the Portugese have left on these coasts the memory of their explorations. 
Source: Page 201 of The Canadian Guide Book: The Tourist's and Sportsman's Guide to Eastern Canada and Newfoundland... by Charles G.D. Roberts, Professor of English Literature at King's College, Windsor, Nova Scotia; 378 pages, published by D. Appleton, New York, 1891.
 
from page 201 of "The Canadian Guide Book..." by Charles G.D. Roberts, 1891
Source: Early Canadiana Online http://www.canadiana.org/
page 201   http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?id=1c89ddcf4f&display=56228+0279

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1589

Henry IV becomes King of France

Henry IV (1553-1610) was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and, as Henry III, of Navarre from 1572 to 1610.  In 1604 Henry IV gave a commission to Pierre du Gua, sieur de Monts, appointing him viceroy of the territory in North America lying between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the mouth of the Hudson River.  On 8 May 1604 (NS), de Monts arrived at the mouth of the LaHave River on the coast of Nova Scotia.  A few days later he sailed up the Bay of Fundy and into the Annapolis Basin.  Henry IV was assassinated in May 1610 and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII, age nine. 

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1598 - 1603

Marooned on Sable Island

Marquis de la Roche in an abortive attempt to colonize New France, on sighting Sable Island, dropped off 40 men from his small crowded boat with a view of going back to get them once his smaller crew had located a more likely spot in New France.  A storm blew up and de la Roche, in a very wrecked condition, arrived back in France. Five years later, finally, somebody in France thought to go check, and, during September, 1603, 17 wretched survivors were found and returned to France. 
Source: 
Peter Landry's chronology of Nova Scotia history 
    http://www.blupete.com/Hist/NovaScotiaBk1/Dates/1500s.htm 

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Charles G.D. Roberts' description
of the men marooned for five years on Sable Island

Unique and interesting, though a most disastrous failure, was the colonizing enterprise of Marquis de la Roche in 1598.  The location of this attempt was Sable Island, which is more interesting to read about than to visit.

Sable Island is a bank of sand, deposited by the swirl of meeting ocean currents.  It lies 90 miles [about 140 km] southeast of Nova Scotia, and is the center of fogs and fiercest storms.  Its shape is roughly that of a crescent, 22 miles [about 35 km] by 2 miles[about 3 km] wide and a shallow pool divides it from end to end.  Its position is shifting gradually eastward, and the dreadful wrecks of which it is from time to time the scene have won it the name of "charnel-house of North America."

De la Roche, being made the Viceroy of Canada and Acadie, set sail for hius new dominions with a ship-load of convicts for colonists.  Approaching the Acadian coasts he conceived, in his prudence, the plan of landing his dangerous charges upon Sable Island, till he might go and prepare for them, on the mainland, a place of safety.  The forty convicts, selected from the chief prisons of France, were landed through the uproar of the surf, and the ship made haste away from the perilous shore.

But she did not come back!  De la Roche reached Acadie (Nova Scotia), chose a site for his settlement, and set out for the island to fetch his expectant colonists.  But a great gale swept him back to France and drove him upon the Breton coast, wher the Duke de Mercoeur, at that time warring against the king, seized him, cast him into prison, and held him close for five years.

Meanwhile those left on the island were delighted enough.  They were free, and began to forget the scourge and chain.  Beside the unstable hummocks and hills of sand they found a shallow lake of fresh water, the shores of which were covered luxuriantly with long grass, and lentils, and vines of vetch.  Lurking in any and every portion of the grassy plain were little cup-like hollows, generally filled with clear water.  Every such pool, like the lake, was alive with ducks and other water-fowl, among which the joyous convicts created consternation.  There were wild cattle also, trooping and lowing among the sand-hills or feeding belly-deep in the rank water-grasses; while herds of wild hogs, introduced years before by the Portugese, disputed the shallow pools with the mallard and teal.

The weather for awhile kept fine, and the winds comparatively temperate, and the sojourners held a carnival of liberty and indolence.  But this was not for long, and as the skies grew harsher their plight grew harder.  As the weeks slipped into months they grew first impatient, then solicitous, then despairing.  Their provisions fell low, and at last the truth was staring them in the face — they were deserted.

From the shipwrecks along the shore they built themselves at first a rude shelter, which the increasing cold and storms soon drove them to perfect with their most cunning skill.  As their stores diminished, they looked on greedily and glared at each other with jealous eyes.  Soon quarrels broke out with but little provocation, and were settled by the knife with such fatal frequency that the members of the colony shrank apace.

As they had been provided with no means of lighting fires, they soon had to live on the raw flesh of the wild cattle, and little by little they learned the lesson, and began to relish such fare.  Little by little, too, as their garments fell to pieces, they replaced them with skins of the seals that swarmed about the beach; and their hut they lined with hides from the cattle they had slaughtered.

As the months became years their deadly contests ceased, but exposure, and frost, and hunger, and disease kept thinning their ranks.  They occupied themselves in pursuing the seal for its skin, the walrus for its ivory.  They had gathered a great store of sealskins, ivory, and hides, but now only twelve men remained to possess these riches.  Their beards had grown to their waists, their skins were like the furs that covered them, their nails were like birds' claws, their eyes gleamed with a sort of shy ferocity through the long, matted tangle of hair.

At last, from out of his prison, De la Roche got word to the king, telling him of their miserable fortune, and a ship was at once sent out to rescue them. 

Source: Pages 201-203 of The Canadian Guide Book: The Tourist's and Sportsman's Guide to Eastern Canada and Newfoundland... by Charles G.D. Roberts, Professor of English Literature at King's College, Windsor, Nova Scotia; 378 pages, published by D. Appleton, New York, 1891.
Early Canadiana Online http://www.canadiana.org/
page 201   http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?id=1c89ddcf4f&display=56228+0279
page 202   http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?id=1c89ddcf4f&display=56228+0280
page 203   http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?id=1c89ddcf4f&display=56228+0281

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1603 March 24   (OS)

Death of Queen Elizabeth I

On this day, Queen Elizabeth I of England died after a reign which began 15 Jan 1559 (OS). 

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King James VI/I

May 1603

Born in Edinburgh Castle on 19 July 1566, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband, Lord Darnley.  He was less than a year old when he saw his mother for the last time, and thirteen months old when, in August 1567, he was crowned King James VI of Scotland in Stirling after her forced abdication.  He was crowned as King James I of England in May 1603.  A member of the Scottish House of Stuart, he ruled over Scotland alone (1567-1603) and then over England as well (1603-25).  He was the first sovereign ever to reign over the whole of the British Isles.  On 24 March 1603 Elizabeth I of England died childless, and James VI inherited the crown of England by virtue of his descent from Elizabeth's aunt Margaret, who had married James IV of Scotland. James VI thus became also James I of England, and ruled over the two countries until 1625. 

References: 
History of the Scottish Crown 
    http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/scotland/stewart.htm 
House of Stuart (Stewart) 
    http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=366988 
James, I of England and VI of Scotland 
    http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=365632 

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1604

Second Oldest European Settlement
in North America

Port Royal
(now Lower Granville, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia)

In 1604 King Henry IV of France gave a commission to Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts, appointing him viceroy of the territory lying between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the mouth of the Hudson River. De Monts arrived at the mouth of the LaHave River on the coast of Nova Scotia and he then sailed up the Bay of Fundy and into the sheet of water which is now known as the Annapolis Basin. Here, near what is now the town of Annapolis, a site was chosen for a settlement and de Monts gave the name of Port-Royal to the place. Leaving some of his companions there he sailed along the northern shore of the Bay of Fundy, entered the St. John River and later made his winter quarters at the mouth of the St. Croix River. The companions whom he left at Port-Royal returned to France. 

The following year de Monts and the survivors of his party at St. Croix returned to Port-Royal. This was the beginning of European settlement in Canada, and the colony thus established is the oldest European settlement in North America with the exception of St. Augustine in Florida. The colony was temporarily abandoned in 1607, but in 1610 the French returned and remained in undisturbed possession until 1613, when a freebooter from Virginia named Argall made a descent upon the colony and totally destroyed it. 

Source: 
    http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11135a.htm 

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...Now sieur de Monts, having the authority and power mentioned, and being well equipped and accompanied, left France in the year 1604, just a hundred years after the discovery of this country, and went to live upon the Coast of Norembegue among the Eteminquoys people, upon a small Island, which he called sainte Croix. But misfortune overtook him there, for he lost a great many of his people by sickness. 

Leaving there the following year, forced by necessity, he changed his dwelling place to Port Royal, towards the East Southeast, some twenty-six leagues[about 130 km] away, in Acadie or the Souriquoys country. Here he remained only two years, for the associated merchants, seeing that their outlay exceeded their receipts, no longer cared to continue the experiment. So they all had to return to France, leaving nothing as a monument of their adventure, except two dwellings entirely empty, that of sainte Croix, and that of Port Royal; and bringing no greater spoils back with them, than the Topography and description of the Seas, Capes, Coasts, and Rivers, which they had traversed. These are all the chief results of our efforts up to the years 1610 and 1611... 

Source: Letter dated May 26, 1614, written in Latin by Father Pierre Biard, to the Very Reverend Father Claude Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus, at Rome 
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610-1791 
    http://vc.lemoyne.edu/relations/relations_03.html 

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A wealthy Huguenot and a favorite of Henry IV, Pierre du Gua, sieur de Monts was the holder of a trade monopoly in New France and the patron of Samuel de Champlain. In 1604-5 he and Champlain explored the coast of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and New England as far south as Cape Cod.  In 1605 he established the first French colony in Canada at Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia). Leaving it in Champlain's care, he returned to France but sent ships in 1607 and 1608 to aid the colonists. 
Source: 
    http://www.bartleby.com/65/mo/Monts-Pi.html 

---

Henry IV's 1608 Commission to Sieur de Monts
7 January 1608 (NS)

...Sieur de Monts, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the expedition, obtained letters from his majesty for one year, by which all persons were forbidden to traffic in pelts with the savages, on penalties stated in the following commission:

Henry by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre, to our beloved and faithful counselors, the officers of our admiralty in Normandy, Brittany, and Guienne, bailiffs, marshals, provosts, judges, or their lieutenants, and to each one of them, according to his authority, throughout the extent of their powers, jurisdictions, and precincts, greeting:

Acting upon the information which has been given us by those who have returned from New France, respecting the good quality and fertility of the lands of that country, and the disposition of the people to accept the knowledge of God, We have resolved to continue the settlement previously undertaken there, in order that our subjects may go there to trade without hindrance. And in view of the proposition to us of Sieur de Monts, gentleman in ordinary of our chamber, and our lieutenant-general in that country, to make a settlement, on condition of our giving him means and supplies for sustaining the expense of it, it has pleased us to promise and assure him that none of our subjects but himself shall be permitted to trade in pelts and other merchandise, for the period of one year only, in the lands, regions, harbors, rivers, and highways throughout the extent of his jurisdiction: this we desire to have fulfilled. For these causes and other considerations impelling us thereto, we command and decree that each one of you, throughout the extent of your powers, jurisdictions, and precincts, shall act in our stead and carry out our will in distinctly prohibiting and forbidding all merchants, masters, and captains of vessels, also sailors and others of our subjects, of whatever rank and profession, to fit out any vessels in which to go themselves or send others in order to engage in trade or barter in pelts and other things with the savages of New France, to visit, trade, or communicate with them during the space of one year, within the jurisdiction of Sieur de Monts, on penalty of disobedience, and the entire confiscation of their vessels, supplies, arms, and merchandise for the benefit of Sieur de Monts; and, in order that the punishment of their disobedience may be assured, you will allow, as we have and do allow, the aforesaid Sieur de Monts or his lieutenants to seize, apprehend, and arrest all violators of our present prohibition and order, also their vessels, merchandise, arms, supplies, and victuals, in order to take and deliver them up to the hands of justice, so that action may be taken not only against the persons, but also the property of the offenders, as the case shall require...

Given at Paris the seventh day of January, in the year of grace sixteen hundred and eight, and the nineteenth of our reign. Signed, HENRY...

Source: 
Modern History Sourcebook 
    http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1608champlain.html 

---

Additional references: 
Nova Scotia Biographies: Pierre Du Gua de Monts 
    http://www.blupete.com/Hist/BiosNS/1600-00/Monts.htm 
Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts (1560?-1630?) 
    http://www.fwkc.com/encyclopedia/low/articles/m/m016002522f.html 

---

1604

Source of the name “Fundy”

The origin of the word "Fundy" is believed to be traceable to 16th century Spanish and Portuguese mariners.  Their use of the word "Rio Fondo" (meaning deep river) on early imprecise maps was thought to refer to the Bay.  By the time of Champlain's maps, Fundy was fairly accurately portrayed and now named Bay Francoise...
—Source:
Early Perspectives on the Fundy Environment 
    http://docs.informatics.management.dal.ca/gsdl/collect/bofep1/import/WF_HTML/BOFEP6-2004-001.htm

---

1606 November 14

The Order of Good Times Founded

...The Order of Good Times is the oldest social club in North America, having been first formed at Port Royal in Annapolis County on November 14, 1606...
— Hon. Murray Scott, the Speaker of the Nova Scotia Legislature
proposing Resolution Number 1111, 11 May 2001
Complete Hansard report 
    http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C53/h01may11/i01may11.htm#[Page%203351]

---

1610 May

Louis XIII becomes King of France

Louis XIII (1601-1643) succeeded to the throne of France in May 1610 at the age of nine years and eight months, upon the assassination of his father Henry IV.  On 14 May 1643, Louis XIII died and was succeeded by Louis XIV, age five years.  Between them, Louis XIII and Louis XIV ruled France as absolute monarchs from 1610 until 1715, a span of 105 years. 

---

1621 September 10

Nova Scotia Granted to Sir William Alexander

In 1605 at Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia) the French founded their first successful colony in North America.  Later they named all their Atlantic possessions Acadie, or Acadia.  In 1613 English colonists from Virginia captured Port Royale, and in 1621 Acadia was renamed Nova Scotia by William Alexander, who had been granted the territory by James VI/I on September 10, 1621.  His attempts to colonize the region were a failure, but his royal charter gave Nova Scotia its name, coat-of-arms, and flag. 

In 1632 the colony was ceded to the French under the Treaty of St-Germain-en-Laye.  Port-Royale was refounded — at Annapolis Royal, close to its former site — and Acadian colonization proceeded through the Annapolis Valley to the Chignecto Isthmus, although quarrels among the Acadians prompted Oliver Cromwell to dispatch an occupying force in 1654. 

Charles II restored Nova Scotia to the French in the Treaty of Breda 1667, but in 1713 the mainland was awarded to the British under the Treaty of Utrecht.  The French controlled the Ile Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) and Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island). 

The flag of Nova Scotia is a white flag with a blue St. Andrew's Cross (Saltier) dividing the field in four, while in the centre is the double-tressured lion of Scotland, the ruddy lion rampant in gold.  It traces its origin to the Charter of New Scotland granted in 1621 to Sir William Alexander (afterwards the Earl of Stirling) by King James VI of Scotland and I of England.  In this Charter the name, Nova Scotia, (which is the Latin form for New Scotland) first appeared in contradistinction to Acadia or the Acadie of the French.  The Flag itself is derived from the Royal Coat of Arms granted to Nova Scotia in 1625 by King Charles I of England, the son and successor of James VI. 

The Ancient Arms of Nova Scotia is the oldest and grandest in all the Commonwealth countries overseas.  It was granted to the Royal Province of Nova Scotia in 1625 by King Charles I in support of the first British colonial effort on the Canadian mainland.  The Arms were borne by the Baronets of Nova Scotia.  The Scottish statesman Sir William Alexander established the British territorial claims which were later realized. 

References: 
Nova Scotia's Flag by Alistair B. Fraser 
    http://www.fraser.cc/FlagsCan/Provinces/NS.html 
Other references: 
    http://www.gov.ns.ca/legi/pubs/provhouse/symbols/coat.htm
    http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/symbols/coatarms.htm
    http://ebooks.whsmithonline.co.uk/encyclopedia/59/M0005059.htm 

Sir William Alexander monument Victoria Park, Halifax 
    http://ns1763.ca/hfxrm/alexwill.html 

---

1625 March 28   (OS)

King Charles I

On this day began the reign of Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 

---

1625

Edinburgh Castle

The Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, in Scotland, legally is part of Nova Scotia in Canada.  Charles I declared it to be Nova Scotia territory so that Nova Scotian baronets might receive their lands there.  The decree has never been revoked. 
Source: 
Facts About Scotland 
    http://www.rampantscotland.com/didyouknow.htm 

---

In America in the early 1600s there was a New England, a New France, and a New Spain.  When old sea dogs regaled King James VI/I with tales of the New World, Sir William Alexander of Menstrie listened.  He noted New England, New France and New Spain.  He also noted there was no New Scotland.  Sir William, an enterprising Scot, attracted the attention of King James (VI of Scotland and I of England), who held court regularly at nearby Stirling, when he proposed that it might encourage development of a New Scotland if His Majesty were to offer a new order of baronets.  The King liked the idea.  After all, his creation of the Baronets of England in 1611 and the Baronets of Ireland in 1619 had raised £225,000 for the Crown. 

At Windsor Castle on September 10, 1621 King James signed a grant in favour of Sir William Alexander covering all of the lands "between our Colonies of New England and Newfoundland, to be known as New Scotland" (Nova Scotia in Latin), an area larger than Great Britain and France combined. 

The New Scotland grant consisted approximately of what we now know as the Maritime Provinces, with the Gaspe Peninsula and much of eastern Maine.  On October 18, 1624 the King announced his intention of creating a new order of baronets to Scottish "knichts and gentlemen of cheife respect for ther birth, place, or fortounes".  James VI/I died on March 27, 1625 but his heir, Charles I, lost no time in implementing his father's plan.  By the end of 1625, the first 22 Baronets of Nova Scotia were created and, as inducements to settlement of his new colony of Nova Scotia, Sir William offered tracts of land totalling 11,520 acres "to all such principal knichts & esquires as will be pleased to be undertakers of the said plantations & who will promise to set forth 6 men, artificers or laborers, sufficiently armed, apparelled & victualled for 2 yrs." Baronets could receive their patents in Edinburgh rather than London, and an area of Edinburgh Castle was declared Nova Scotian territory for this purpose.  In return, they had to pay Sir William 1000 merks for his "past charges in discoverie of the said country." 

Grants of land were made until the end of 1639, by which time 122 baronetcies had been created, 113 of whom were granted lands in Nova Scotia.  The Order continued until 1707, by which time 329 baronetcies were made. 

Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling and Viscount of Canada, who was born at Menstrie Castle in 1567, and is often referred to as the "Founder of Nova Scotia," died bankrupt in London in 1644.  His embalmed body is interred in the family vault in the High Kirk of Stirling. 

In October 1953, Nova Scotia's Premier Angus Macdonald unveiled a plaque at Edinburgh Castle to commemorate Sir William Alexander and the Baronets of Nova Scotia.  When Menstrie Castle was scheduled for demolition in 1956, it was donations from Scots in Nova Scotia and other parts of the world that financed its restoration, and a wall of one of the Nova Scotia Commemoration Rooms is covered with shields portraying the arms of 109 Baronets of Nova Scotia, surrounding a portrait of King James VI of Scotland and I of England. 

In 2000, there are still about 100 Baronets of Nova Scotia in existence, many of them descendants of ancestors who once owned land there — land which they never set foot on.  In Halifax's Victoria Park a cairn dedicated to Sir William Alexander stands at one end, with a statue of Robert Burns at the other end. 

Source: 
Baronets of Nova Scotia 
    http://www.canlinks.com/cdnclanfraser/baronets.htm 

---

Nova Scotia was divided into provinces, each sub-divided into dioceses.  Each diocese was divided into three counties, then each county into ten Baronies of over 10,000 acres each.  King James I, died on March 27th, 1625 but his son and heir, Charles I, quickly accepted the moneymaking plan.  Any man with 3,000 Merks could now have a Baronet in Nova Scotia.  One third of this fee went to William Alexander for exploration, while the remainder was to supply soldiers of the Crown in the new territory. 

A section of Edinburgh Castle was declared Nova Scotia territory for the sale of the Baronets, but response was slow.  By 1626, when Sir William became the Secretary of State for Scotland, only 28 Baronets were sold.  His problems continued when the French discovered the plan in 1627 and began to actively dispute Nova Scotia's settlement.  Sir William Alexander's son led a group to colonize and reinforce the area in 1629, but in the same year, Charles I ceded the territory to France. 

By 1631, Sir William was forced to abandon the territory at considerable financial loss.  Later, William was titled Earl of Stirling and Viscount of Canada, but he never really recovered from the Nova Scotia settlement disaster.  He died a poor man in London, in 1644.  Ironically, the Baronets continued to be sold until 1707 and even though they no longer conveyed any land, a total of 329 were dispersed over the years... 

Source: 
Sir William Alexander of Menstries, Earl of Stirling (c.1567 - 1644) 
    http://www.tartans.com/articles/famscots/alexanderw.html 

---

Should you go to Edinburgh and visit the castle, look to the right as you enter.  You will see a plaque placed there by the late Angus L. Macdonald, Premier of Nova Scotia.  On that site, James I of England, also known as James VI of Scotland... by royal declaration made that piece of ground a part of Nova Scotia — New Scotland — in order that he could present the Charter to Sir William Alexander of Menstrie on Nova Scotian soil. 
—Senator John Buchanan 
Hansard — Debates of the Senate, Ottawa, 19 June 1996 
    http://www.parl.gc.ca/english/senate/deb-e/33db-e.html 

---

21 June 1636

New Scotland (Nova Scotia) was founded in the early 1600s by Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, Scotland.  It included territory now known as Atlantic Canada and Anticosti Island.  Sir William Alexander funded and settled the colony by a system of Baronets of Nova Scotia, a hereditary title used to this day (the 21st century).  On June 21, 1636, Browne of Neale, was created Baronet of Nova Scotia and granted lands on Anticosti Island.  Patrick Broun of Colstoun was also created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1686.  Sir John Francis Archibald Browne was the 12th Baronet of Nova Scotia; also, the 6th Baron of Kilmaine.  
Source: 
Clan Brown: Baronets of Nova Scotia 
    http://www.clanbrown.org/Clan_Broun.html 

---

Cairn in Victoria Park, Halifax

Each Baronet paid 1000 merks (Scottish marks) for his Barony and 2000 merks to maintain six soldiers in the colony for two years.  Under Scots Law, Baronets "take sasine" by receiving symbolic "earth and stone" on the actual land.  Part of Edinburgh Castle was deemed granted to Sir William as part of Nova Scotia.  The Baronets were installed with "earth and stone" there while standing in Nova Scotia.  Each received a badge on an orange ribbon, worn about the neck. 

Baronet of Nova Scotia is a hereditary title.  They enjoy the privilege of wearing the arms of Nova Scotia as a badge, are addressed as Sir, and place Bt. or Bart. after their names. 

Three years after Hon. Angus L. Macdonald, then Premier of Nova Scotia, unveiled a plaque at Edinburgh Castle (1953) commemorating Sir William Alexander and Baronets of Nova Scotia, Menstrie Castle (Sir William's birthplace) was scheduled for demolition.  Attempts to bring Menstrie Castle to Halifax failed when Scots pleaded that it remain in Scotland.  Scots, many in Nova Scotia, financed restoration of Menstrie Castle and established the Nova Scotia Commemoration Room there.  23 stones from a staircase, of which the Victoria Park cairn is constructed, are all Halifax obtained of the Castle. 

Source: 
Founding of New Scotland 
    http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/FSCNS/Scots_NS/New_Scotland/
        Scotland_New_Scotland_Menstrie.html 

Sir William Alexander monument Victoria Park, Halifax 
    http://ns1763.ca/hfxrm/alexwill.html 

---

References — Nova Scotia baronets

Medals of the World 
United Kingdom: Baronets of Nova Scotia — orange-tawny; all other Baronets — orange-tawny with blue edges.  Instituted by James VI/I in 1624 for Baronets of Nova Scotia... 
    http://www.crosswinds.net/~mexal/uk/uk009.htm 

Donald MacKay, First Lord Reay, was knighted Baronet of Nova Scotia when he acquired Anticosti Island (then part of Nova Scotia).  Baronet of Nova Scotia is a hereditary title; Hugh William Mackay, 14th Lord Reay, present Chief of MacKay, is 14th Baronet of Nova Scotia. 
    http://www.clanmackayusa.org/mkhistry.htm 

Sir Gilbert Pickering, Baronet of Nova Scotia 
    http://www.stillman.org/pickrg2.htm 

John Cunyngham of Caprington and Lambrughton was, in 1669, created a Baronet of Nova Scotia.  In 1707, James Dick of Prestonfield was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia... 
    http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/lyondocs.htm 

In 1628, Sir Archibald Acheson, Esq., was created Baronet of Nova Scotia... 
    http://www.gwi.net/ages/Main%20Body/Lineages/Scotland/SC-FOLE1/notes.html 

Kenneth Mackenzie, eighth Baron of Gairloch, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia in 1700. 
    http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/mackenz2.html 

The name Malcolm means a devotee of St Columba, and four Scottish Kings carried this name.  Malcolumb is recorded in a charter of 1094.  John Malcolm of Balbedie, Lochore and Innertiel was appointed Chamberlain of Fife in 1641.  His eldest son was created a Nova Scotia baronet in 1665... 
    http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8287/tartanm.html 

Baronet of Pitsligo and Monymusk, Aberdeenshire 
Creation: Nova Scotia, 30 March 1626 
Sir William Daniel Stuart-Forbes, 
13th Baronet of Pitsligo and Monymusk — Succeeded to the title in 1985 
    http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Cathedral/4800/ASCR/ARCHIVE/art-7.html 

Gilbert Eliot of Minto was created a baronet of Nova Scotia by King William III in 1700. 
    http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/History/Barons/barons12.html 

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1680

The 5th Earl of Lauderdale was John Maitland who was a Senator of the College of Justice with the title of Lord Ravelrig 1689-1710 and was also created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1680.  He died on August 30, 1710. 
Source: 
The Maitlands of Lauderdale 
    http://www.lauderdale.u-net.com/a_short_account_of_the_maitlands.htm 

Sinclair Family Discussion List Archive <sinclair@matrix.net> 
...The Augustan Society http://www.augustansociety.org/ has a reprint of something called Scots Empire written and illustrated by R. Mingo Sweeney, (heavy emphasis on illustrated).  Each page has a paragraph on it with a large illustration, crest, seal, etc. taking up the rest of the page.  25 pages that includes an early map, list of NS Baronets beginning with Sir.  Robert Gordon of Gordonstown May 28 1625 and ending with Dec 17 1636 so the list stops before we find the name of John Sutherland Sinclair who succeed to the earldom of Caithness Jan 1891 and lived in Lakota, Noth Dakota... There are 96 Baronets listed for a time period of 13 years.  They are called Baronets of places such as Elphinstone, Langton, Lundie, Clancairny, Skelmorly, Auchinbreck, Ardnamurchan, etc... 
    http://www.mids.org/sinclair/archive/1999/msg02762.html 
Captain The Chevalier R Mingo Sweeney, Member 
International Commission for Orders of Chivalry 
    http://www.kwtelecom.com/chivalry/register.html 
Sweeney, R. Mingo <rsweeney@hotmail.com> 
    http://www.riverjohn.com/email.html 
Capt. Richard Mingo-Sweeney of Nova Scotia 
    http://www.sweeneyclan.com/1999/1999reunion.html 
R. Mingo-Sweeney FAS (Fellow of the Augustan Society) 
    http://www.augustansociety.org/fellows.htm 

...The chief of the clan Colquhoun, a baronet of Scotland and Nova Scotia, created in 1704, and of Great Britain in 1786; Colquhoun of Killermont and Gardcadden; Colquhoun of Ardenconnel; and Colquhoun of Glenmillan.  There was likewise Colquhoun of Tilliquhoun, a baronet of Scotland and Nova Scotia (1625), but this family is extinct... The eldest son, Sir John, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia by patent dated last day of August 1625. 
    http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/atoc/colquho2.html 

---

References: 
History of Edinburgh Castle (recommended) 
    http://www.scottishculture.about.com/aboutuk/scottishculture/
        library/weekly/aa083198.htm 
Edinburgh Castle webcam 
    http://www.camvista.com/scotland/edinburgh/ecastle.php3 
Edinburgh Castle is the second most-visited ancient monument in Britain, after the Tower of London... 
    http://www.scotland-calling.com/forts/edinburgh.htm 
Edinburgh Castle 
    http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/tour/castle.html 
Edinburgh's Royal Mile 
    http://www.aboutscotland.com/edin/royal.html 
Edinburgh Castle 
    http://www.caledoniancastles.btinternet.co.uk/castles/
        lothian/edinburgh.htm 
The Esplanade 
    http://www.caledoniancastles.btinternet.co.uk/castles/
        lothian/edinburgh/rock.htm#esplanade 

---

1632 - 1670

Chaos in Nova Scotia

Germain Doucet came to Acadia (Nova Scotia) in 1632 with Commander Isaac de Razilly by order of Cardinal Richelieu, Minister of State to King Louis XIII. They came to re-occupy the colony after the St. Germain-en-Laye Treaty of March 29, 1632. 

According to author Andrew Hill Clark in Acadia: The Geography Of Early Nova Scotia to 1760 (page 91): "Razilly... sailed from France on July 4, 1632 in L'Esperance a Dieu, shepherding two transports, and disembarked some three hundred people (mostly men) and a variety of livestock, seeds, tools, implements, arms, munitions, and other supplies at LaHeve (at the mouth of LaHave River in present Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia) on September 8." 

Razilly was a cousin of Richelieu and a royal councillor.  One of the leaders of The Company of New France, he was designated Lieutenant-General of all the parts of New France called "Canada" and the Governor of "Acadia"... 

Source: 
    http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/2700/sieur.htm 

---

On a document signed July 14, 1640, Germain Doucet was at Port Royal and Captain of the Army of Pentagoet as well as the right-hand man of the Governor of Acadia (Charles de menou d'Aulnay de Charnizay).  After the death of the Governor in 1650, Germain was the Commander at the fort of Port Royal and Deputy Guardian of the Governor's children. 

On August 16, 1654, when 500 Bostonian soldiers under the command of Robert Sedgewick attacked the fort of Port Royal, Germain found it wise to give up without a struggle as he had only 100 men to oppose them.  All military personnel were repatriated back to France.  Germain left his brother-in-law, Jacques Bourgeois, surgeon, as Lieutenant of Port Royal and as a witness to see that the conditions of the treaty were carried out.  He returned to France in 1654... 

Source: 
    http://www.doucetfamily.org/newsltr01.htm 

---

Having been given the order to attack the colony of New Holland (New York), Robert Sedgewick pillaged most of the Acadian settlements between July and September 1654.  This conquest of a rather dubious nature plunged Acadia (Nova Scotia) into an uncertainty which lasted several years.  From 1654 to 1670 both France and England exercised their authority in the region.  Versailles continued to distribute land grants as well as fishing and hunting rights, whereas England conceded the conquered territory — once again named Nova Scotia as it had been in the days of William Alexander — to William Crowne, Charles de La Tour, and Thomas Temple.  La Tour profited little from the grant.  Temple, who was later appointed governor of Nova Scotia, made virtually no attempt to enhance his section of the territory and found himself constantly in the midst of disputes pitting him against his associates and his rivals, such as Emmanuel Le Borgne.  Civil war in England helped the expansion of the fishery in New England.  Companies from England used Massachusetts as a base for the fishery in Newfoundland and for trade with the West Indies... 
Source: 
Acadian History 
    http://www.umoncton.ca/maum/acadian_hist_an.html 

---

On July 4, 1654, Major Robert Sedgewick left Boston with 500 men on three warships and a ketch.  On July 14, the expedition attacked Fort Saint-Jean.  La Tour defended the fort for 3 days with 70 men and 12 cannons.  He capitulated on July 17.  Sedgewick demolished Fort Saint-Jean, killed the garrison and took a value of 10,000 Louis in goods. Nicolas Denys later blamed Le Borgne for this defeat. Le Borgne had refused supplies and ammunition to La Tour and secretly corresponded with the English, encouraging them to attack. 

La Tour was taken prisoner and Sedgewick turned his attention to Port-Royal, arriving there on July 31.  Germain Doucet, dit Laverdure commanded the garrison in the absence of La Tour.  He has but 120 men to defend the colony.  The English came ashore with 300 men.  After a siege of two weeks, the French surrendered... 

Source: 
Second English Occupation, 1654 
    http://www.lafete.org/new/acadia/timeE/1654_en2.htm 

---

Reference

For a more detailed account of these events, see 
History of Nova Scotia, Book #1: Acadia 
Part 1, Early Settlement & Baronial Battles: 1605-90 
Chapter 8 — The Battling Barons of Acadia 
by Peter Landry 
    http://www.blupete.com/Hist/NovaScotiaBk1/Part1/Ch08.htm 

---

1643 May 14   (NS)

Louis XIV becomes King of France

On 14 May 1643, Louis XIII died and was succeeded by Louis XIV (1638-1715) at the age of five years.  Louis XIV was king of France for 72 years, 1642-1715, the longest reign in modern European history. 

---

1645 April 13

D'Aulnay Hangs La Tour's Men

d'Aulnay Hangs La Tour's Men, Mme la Tour watches
13 April 1645
Painting by Adam Sheriff Scott 
Source:  http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/discovery/images/evenimag/pre1760/daulnay.gif

For an account of this event, see:
History of Nova Scotia Book #1: Acadia, by Peter Landry
Part 1, Early Settlement & Baronial Battles: 1605-90
Chapter 8 — The Battling Barons of Acadia 
       http://www.blupete.com/Hist/NovaScotiaBk1/Part1/Ch08.htm

---

1649 January 30   (OS)
1649 February 9   (NS)

Execution of King Charles I

---

1651 February 25   (NS)

New Governor

On this day, Charles La Tour was made governor of Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick). 
[Halifax Daily News, 25 February 2000] 

References: 
Nova Scotia Biographies: Charles La Tour (1595-c.1665) 
    http://www.blupete.com/Hist/BiosNS/1600-00/LaTour.htm 
Francoise Marie Jacquelin, Lady La Tour 
    http://new-brunswick.net/Saint_John/latour/ladylatour2.html 

---

1653 December 16   (OS)
1653 December 26   (NS)

Oliver Cromwell

On this day, Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, or republic, of England, Scotland, and Ireland.  In England and its colonies, this was the time between kings, after the execution of King Charles I in January 1649 and before the restoration of King Charles II in May 1660. 

References: 
Who was Oliver Cromwell? 
    http://www.shepton-mallet.org.uk/history/history_cromwell_bio.htm 
Oliver Cromwell 
    http://www.cromwell.argonet.co.uk/ 
Oliver Cromwell: Lord Protector of England 
    http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon48.html 
Oliver Cromwell 
    http://www.olivercromwell.com/ 
Quotations from Oliver Cromwell 
    http://www.quotegeek.com/Literature/Cromwell_Oliver/ 

---

1660 May 29   (OS)
1660 June 8   (NS)

Restoration of Charles II

On 1 January 1651, the Scots crowned Charles II at Scone (this turned out to be the last such Coronation at Scone).  This was a time of more or less continual war between Scotland and England, and Charles II spent the next nine years in exile.  Then in 1660 he was invited back to London and on 29 May 1660 (OS), he was restored to his father's throne as King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 

References: 
History of the Scottish Crown 
    http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/scotland/stewart.htm 
House of Stuart (Stewart) 
    http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=366988 

---

1667

Treaty of Breda

The Treaty of Breda, signed by France and England in 1667, marked the return of Acadia to its place among the French colonies.  Thomas Temple, the English administrator of Acadia (Nova Scotia) from 1650 to 1660, created so many difficulties before handing the territory over to the French that Hector d'Andigne de Grandfontaine, the new governor appointed by France, was not able to take possession of the colony until 1670.

Accompanied by about 30 soldiers and 60 settlers, Grandfontaine now found himself faced with the enormous task of having to restore French authority among 400-odd settlers who had been living independently for several years.  He was hampered by the fact that Louis XIV had decided not to make any "outlay" for his colonies in North America at a time when the colony needed support more than ever.  It was too late for Acadia to be reintegrated by a colonial administration that had spent considerable sums in the 1660s but whose policies were totally oriented towards Europe by 1670.  Grandfontaine was also obliged to prevent the English in the Anglo-American colonies (Massachusetts, Virginia...) from trading and fishing in French territory.

It would appear that neither Grandfontaine nor his successors were able to achieve the objectives which were essential to French control of Acadia.  In the colonial context of North America, Acadia was of marginal significance.  Positioned between two rival colonies, the territory along the Bay of Fundy was the subject of dispute on several occasions and the scene of numerous military engagements.  Successive governors — Joybert de Soulanges, de Chambly, and Leneuf de La Valliere — all faced similar military and administrative problems which demonstrated the weakness of the Acadian colony.

After the Treaty of Breda, Acadia became a royal colony, which meant that the French crown took over the financial and administrative responsibilities, since neither private nor public companies had been successful in developing the colonies in North America.  From an administrative point of view, the governor of New France had jurisdiction over Acadia but, in practice, the administrators on the Bay of Fundy preferred to deal directly with France.  The isolation and communication difficulties, and specific internal problems, forced officials in Acadia to follow a very different course of action than those in New France.

Given their meagre resources, the authorities in Acadia could do no more than pursue a laissez-faire policy with regard to the fishery and the fur trade.  There were no ships to guard the coastline of the colony, consequently fisherman from Boston and Salem were able to continue operating as if nothing had changed.

Source:
Acadian History 
    http://www.umoncton.ca/maum/acadian_hist_an.html

Nowadays, when we in North America routinely view television pictures — live, at thirty frames a second, in full colour with sound — from Europe (or most anywhere in the world) less than one second after the events being reported, it is difficult to realize what those words "the isolation and communication difficulties" (above) mean. Communication between an administrator in Nova Scotia and the authorities in Paris was slow beyond our comprehension.  There was no such thing as telephone communication; not even telegraph. All communication had to be by way of a message written on paper, or, occasionally, carried in the memory of a traveller.  A message sent from Nova Scotia to France — or the other way round — would bring a reply only after the passage of months — five or six months at best, and eight or ten months most of the time.

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1685 February 6   (OS)
1685 February 16   (NS)

James VII/II

On this day, King Charles II died, and was succeeded by James Stuart as James VII (of Scotland) and II (of England).  James Stuart was born in London on 14 October 1633 (OS) 24 October 1633 (NS).  He was the third son of King Charles I and of his wife, Princess Henrietta Maria of France.  At the death of his brother Charles II on 6 February 1685 (OS), James succeeded as king.  He was crowned privately according to the rites of the Catholic Church, 22 April 1685 (OS) 2 May 1685 (NS), at Whitehall Palace, and publicly according to the rites of the Church of England, 23 April 1685 3 May 1685 (NS), at Westminster Abbey.  Scotland played a largely passive role in the revolution of 1688 until news of events in England and James' flight were followed by the collapse of the Scottish administration in late December.  A mob drove the Jesuits from Holyrood, sacked the Chapel Royal and desecrated the royal tombs.  Constitutionally, however, James remained king until 4 April 1689, when the Convention of Estates voted that he had forfeited the crown and offered the throne jointly to William and Mary.  The Scottish Catholics, led by Viscount Dundee, fought for James at the battle of Killiecrankie in 1689 and won, but Dundee died in the battle and the leaderless Jacobite challenge disintegrated.  Defeated by William II/III at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690, James spent the rest of his life in exile in France.  He was succeeded on the throne by his Protestant daughter Mary II in conjunction with her Dutch husband, William of Orange.  James died 6 September 1701 (OS) 17 September 1701 (NS) in France. 

References: 
History of the Scottish Crown 
    http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/scotland/stewart.htm 
House of Stuart (Stewart) 
    http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=366988 
James VII and II 
    http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/scotland/stewart.htm#JAMESII 
James II and VII 
    http://members.home.net/jacobites/james2.htm 
James VII 
    http://www.royal-stuarts.org/james_7.htm 
James VII and II Stuart, King of Scotland and England 
    http://www.stewartsociety.org/s1000021.htm 

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1689 May 11   (NS)

Mary II and William II/III

Mary was the daughter of James VII/II by his first wife, and was educated in Protestant doctrine, which she retained when her father became converted to Catholicism.  She married William of Orange, ruler of the Netherlands, in 1677.  After deposing James VII/II on 4 April 1689, the Scottish Convention of Estates voted to offer the crown to William and Mary.  They were proclaimed on 11 April 1689 and accepted the crown on 11 May 1689.  William of Orange (part of what is now known as the Netherlands) had a double connection with the royal house of Stuart, for he was the son of Princess Mary, daughter of Charles I, and he married his cousin, another Princess Mary, the daughter of James VII/II (by his Protestant first wife Anne Hyde).  He was on good terms with his uncles, Charles II and James, visiting them and corresponding regularly with them, but he became increasingly concerned about James VII's Catholicism and so he was prepared to accept the British invitation to displace his father-in-law, James VII. 

References: 
History of the Scottish Crown 
    http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/scotland/stewart.htm 
House of Stuart (Stewart) 
    http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=366988 
William II and III (1689-1702) and Mary II (1689-94) 
    http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/scotland/stewart.htm#WILLIAMII 
Mary II 
    http://www.xrefer.com/entry/365999 

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1691

Massachusetts Boundaries

included what we now know as Maine and Nova Scotia

As early as 1652 the government of Massachusetts claimed, under its charter, jurisdiction over the territory now known as the State of Maine and although this claim was resisted for a time by the inhabitants of Maine they submitted to it in 1658. 

In 1676, under proceedings instituted by the enemies of Massachusetts in England, the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over Maine and New Hampshire was annulled, and these provinces were restored to the heirs of Gorges and Mason.  In 1678 Massachusetts acquired from Ferdinando Gorges, grandson and rightful heir of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, title to the whole province, from the Piscataqua to the Sagadahoc, for twleve hundred and fifty pounds. 

But the right of Massachusetts was not finally settled until the charter of 1691, which not only included the Province of Maine, but the more distant Provinces of Sagadahoc and Nova Scotia. 

The separation of Maine from Massachusetts was a lengthy political process, which began in 1785, and finally became legally complete on 15 March 1820.  However, there were a few loose ends which remained a source of some minor conflicts between the governments of Maine and Massachusetts until 1853. 

Source: The Maine Book by Henry E. Dunnack, Augusta, Maine, 1920 
    http://www.waterboro.lib.me.us/histme.htm#mass 

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The Charter of Massachusetts Bay
October 17th, 1691

Massachusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia

WILLIAM & MARY by the grace of God King and Queene of England Scotland France and Ireland Defenders of the Faith &c To all to whome these presents shall come Greeting Whereas his late Majesty King James the First Our Royall Predecessor by his Letters Patents vnder the Greate Seale of England bearing date at Westminster the Third Day of November in the Eighteenth yeare of his Reigne did Give and Grant vnto the Councill established at Plymouth in the County of Devon for the Planting Ruleing Ordering and Govcrning of New England in America and to their Successors and Assignes all that part of America lying and being in Breadth from Forty Degrees of Northerlv Latitude from the Equinoctiall Line to the Forty Eighth Degree of the said Northerly Latitude Inclusively, and in length of and within all the Breadth aforesaid throughout all the Main Lands from Sea to Sea together alsoe with all the firme Lands Soiles Grounds Havens Ports Rivers Waters Fishings Mines and Mineralls as well Royall Mines of Gold and Silver as other Mines and Mineralls Pretious Stones Quarries and all and singular other Comodities Jurisdiccons Royalties Privileges Franchises and Prehen1inences both within the said Tract of Land vpon the Main and alsoe within the Islands and Seas adjoyning...

And whereas severall persons employed as Agents in behalfe of Our said Collony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England have made their humble application unto Us that Wee would be graciously pleased by Our Royall Charter to Incorporate Our Subjects in Our said Collony...

And alsoe to the end Our good Subjects within Our Collony of New Plymouth in New England aforesaid may be brought under such a forme of Government as may put them in a better Condition of defenceof Wee doe by these presents for Us Our Heirs and Successors Will and Ordeyne that the Territories and Collonyes comonly called or known by the Names of the Collony of the Massachusetts Bay and Collony of New Plymouth the Province of Main the Territorie called Accadia or Nova Scotia and all that Tract of Land lying betweene the said Territoritorzes of Nova Scotia and the said Province of Main be Erected United and Incorporated... into one reall Province by the Name of Our Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England.

"the Territorie called Accadia or Nova Scotia" then included the region we call New Brunswick.

And... Wee doe... grant unto... the Inhabitants of... the Massachusetts Bay and their Successors all that parte of New England in America lying and extending from the greate River commonly called Monomack alias Merrimack on the Northpart and from three Miles [about 5 km] Northward of the said River to the Atlantick or Western Sea or Ocean on the South part And all the Lands and Hereditaments whatsoever lying within the limitts aforesaid and extending as far as the Outermost Points or Promontories of Land called Cape Cod and Cape Mallabar North and South and in Latitude Breadth and in Length and Longitude of and within all the Breadth and Compass aforesaid throughout the Main Land there from the said Atlantick or Western Sea and Ocean on the East parte towards the South Sea or Westward as far as Our Collonyes of Rhode Island Connecticutt and the Marragansett [Narragansett] Countrey all alsoe all that part or portion of Main Land beginning at the Entrance of Pescataway Harbour and soe to pass upp the same into the River of Newickewannock and through the same into the furthest head thereof and from thence Northwestward till One Hundred and Twenty Miles [about 190 km] be finished and from Piscata way Harbour mouth aforesaid North-Eastward along the Sea Coast to Sagadehock and from the Period of One Hundred and Twenty Miles aforesaid to cross over Land to the One Hundred and Twenty Miles before reckoned up into the Land from Piscataway Harbour through Newickawannock River and also the North halfe of the Isles and [of Shoales together with the Isles of Cappawock and Nantukett near CapeCod aforesaid and alsoe [all] Lands and Hereditaments lying and being in the Countrey and Territory commonly called Accadia or Nova Scotia And all those Lands and Hereditaments lying and extending betweene the said Countrey or Territory of Nova Scotia and the said River of Sagadahock or any part thereof... and alsoe all Islands and Isletts Iying within tenn Leagues [about 50 km] directly opposite to the Main Land within the said bounds...

And Wee doe further... ordeyne that... there shall be one Governour One Leiutenant or Deputy Governour and One Secretary of Our said Province or Territory to be from time to time appointed and Commissionated by Us... and Eight and Twenty Assistants or Councillors to be advising and assisting to the Governour... for the time being as by these presents is hereafter directed and appointed which said Councillors or Assistants are to be Constituted Elected and Chosen in such forme and manner as hereafter in these presents is expressed And for the better Execution of Our Royall Pleasure and Grant in this behalfe Wee... Nominate... Simon Broadstreet John Richards Nathaniel Saltenstall Wait Winthrop John Phillipps James Russell Samuell Sewall Samuel Appleton Barthilomew Gedney John Hawthorn Elisha Hutchinson Robert Pike Jonathan Curwin John Jolliffe Adam Winthrop Richard Middlecot John Foster Peter Serjeant Joseph Lynd Samuell Hayman Stephen Mason Thomas Hinckley William Bradford John Walley Barnabas Lothrop Job Alcott Samuell Daniell and Silvanus Davis Esquiers the first and present Councillors or Assistants of Our said Province...and wee doe further... appoint... Isaac Addington Esquier to be Our first and present Secretary of Our said Province during Our Pleasure and our Will and Pleasure is that the Governour... shall have Authority from time to time at his discretion to assemble and call together the Councillors or Assistants... and that the said Governour with the said Assistants or Councillors or Seaven of them at the least shall and may from time to time hold and keep a Councill for the ordering and directing the Affaires of Our said Province and further Wee Will... that there shall... be convened... by the Governour... upon every last Wednesday in the Moneth of May every yeare for ever and at all such other times as the Governour... shall think fitt and appoint a great and Generall Court of Assembly Which... shall consist of the Governour and Councill or Assistants... and of such Freeholders... as shall be from time to time elected or deputed by the Major parte of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the respective Townes or Places who shall lve present at such Elections Each of the said Townes and Places being hereby impowered to Elect and Depute Two Persons and noe more to serve for and represent them respectively in the said Great and Generall Court... To which Great and Generall Court... Wee doe hereby... grant full power and authority from time to time to direct... what Number each County Towne and Place shall Elect and Depute to serve for and represent them respectively...Provided alwayes that noe Freeholder or other Person shall have a Vote in the Election of Members... who at the time of such Election shall not have an estate of Freehold in Land within Our said Province or Territory to the value of Forty Shillings per Annum at the least or other estate to the value of Forty pounds Sterling And that every Person who shall be soe elected shall before he sitt or Act in the said Great and General Court... take the Oaths mentioned in an Act of Parliament made in the first yeare of Our Reigne Entituled an Act for abrogateing of the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and appointing other Oaths and thereby appointed to be taken instead of the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and shall make Repeat and Subscribe the Declaration mentioned in the said Act... and that the Governour for the time being shall have full power and Authority from time to time as he shall Judge necessary to adjourne Prorogue and dissolve all Great and Generall Courts... met and convened as aforesaid And... Wee doe... Ordeyne that yearly once in every yeare... the aforesaid Number of Eight and Twenty Councillors or Assistants shall be by the Generall Court... newly chosen that is to say Eighteen at least of the Inhabitants of or Proprietors of Lands within the Territory formerly called the Collony of the Massachusetts Bay and four at the least of the Inhabitants of or Proprietors of Lands within the Territory formerly called New Plymouth and three at the least of the Inhabitants of or Proprietors of Land within the Territory formerly called the Province of Rain and one at the least of the Inhabitants of or Proprietors of Land within the Territory lying between the River of Sagadahoc and Nova Scotia... [The General Court may remove assistants from office, and may also fill vacancies caused by removal or death.] And Wee doe further... Ordeyne that it shall and may be lawfull for the said Governour with the advice and consent of the Councill or Assistants from time to time to nominate and appoint Judges Commissioners of Oyer and Tcrminer Sheriffs Provosts Marshalls Justices of the Peace and other Officers to Our Councill and Courts of Justice belonging... and for the greater Ease and Encouragement of Our Loveing Subjects In habiting our said Province... and of such as shall come to Inhabit there We doe... Ordaine that for ever hereafter there shall be a liberty of Conscience allowed in the Worshipp of God to all Christians (Except Papists) Inhabiting... within our said Province... [Courts for the trial of both civil and criminal cases may be established by the General Court, reserving to the governor and assistants matters of probate and administration.]and whereas Wee judge it necessary that all our Subjects should have liberty to Appeale to us... in Cases that may deserve the same Wee doe... Ordaine that incase either party shall not rest satisfied with the Judgement or Sentence of any Judicatories or Courts within our said Province... in any Personall Action wherein the matter in difference doth exceed the value of three hundred Pounds Sterling that then he or they may appeale to us... in our... Privy Councill... and we doe further... grant to the said Governor and the great and Generall Court... full power and Authority from time to time to make... all manner of wholesome and reasonable Orders Laws Statutes and Ordinances Directions and Instructions either with penalties or without (soe as the same be not repugnant or contrary to the Lawes of this our Realme of England) as they shall Judge to be for the good and welfare of our said Province....And for the Government and Ordering thereof and of the People Inhabiting... the same and for the necessary support andDefence of the Government thereof [and also] full power and Authority to name and settle Annually all Civill Officers within the said Province such Officers Excepted the Election and Constitution of whome wee have by these presents reserved to us... or to the Governor... and to Settforth the severall Duties Powers and Lymitts of every such Officer... and the forms of such Oathes not repugnant to the Lawes and Statutes of this ourRealme of England as shall be respectively Administred unto them for the Execution of their severall Offices and places...

Grants of land by the General Court, within the limits of the former colonies of Massachusetts Bay and New Plymouth, and the Province of Maine, excepting the region north and east of the Sagadahoc, to be valid without further royal approval.

The governor shall direct the defense of the province, and may exercise martial law in case of necessity... Provided alwayes... That the said Governur shall not at any time hereafter by vertue of any power hereby granted or hereafter to be granted to him Transport any of the Inhabitants of Our said Province... or oblige them to march out of the Limitts of the same without their Free and voluntary consent or the Consent of the Great and Generall Court... nor grant Commissions for exercising the Law Martiall upon any the Inhabitants of Our said Province... without the Advice and Consent of the Councill or Assistants of the same... Provided alwaies... that nothing herein shall extend or be taken to... allow the Exercise of any Admirall Court Jurisdiction Power or Authority but that the same be and is hereby reserved to Us... and shall from time to time be... exercised by vertue of Commissions to be yssued under the Great Seale of England or under the Seale of the High Admirall or the Commissioners for executing the Office of High Admiral of England.... And lastly for the better provideing and furnishing of Masts for Our Royall Navy Wee doe hereby reserve to Us... all Trees of the Diameter of Twenty Four Inches [60 cm] and upwards of Twelve Inches [30 cm] from the ground growing upon any soyle or Tract of Land within Our said Province... not heretofore granted to any private persons And Wee doe restraine and forbid all persons whatsoever from felling cutting or destroying any such Trees without the Royall Lycence of Us... first had and obteyned upon penalty of Forfeiting One Hundred Pounds sterling unto Ous [Us]... for every such Tree so felled cutt or destroyed...

Source: The Second Charter Of Massachusetts, October 17th, 1691 
    http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/mass07.asp

Large Trees Reserved for Royal Navy for Masts 17 October 1691 We forbid all persons whatsoever from felling any such Trees Penalty: £100 per tree This prohibition applied throughout the territory now known as Massachusetts, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. ...for the better provideing and furnishing of Masts for Our Royall Navy Wee doe hereby reserve to Our Heires and Successors all Trees of the Diameter of Twenty Four Inches [60 cm] and upwards of Twelve Inches [30 cm] from the ground growing vpon any soyle or Tract of Land within Our said Province or Territory not heretofore granted to any private persons And Wee doe restrains and forbid all persons whatsoever from felling cutting or destroying any such Trees without the Royall Lycence of Our Heires and Successors first had and obteyned vpon penalty of Forfeiting One Hundred Pounds sterling vnto Ous Our Heires and Successors for every such Tree soe felled cult or destroyed without such Lycence...  Source: The Second Charter Of Massachusetts, October 17th, 1691      http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/mass07.asp

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The Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia

Exactly where is this infamous Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia,
which determined the location of the International Boundary?

Where was the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia?  That is now a forgotten question, but it sorely vexed two generations of diplomats, molded the early history of Aroostook, and dragged two great nations to the verge of war.  Its answer determined the location of much of the boundary of Maine and whether thousands of people should be American or Canadians by birth.  It was a prime factor in the famous northeastern boundary controversy which culminated in the equally famous Webster-Ashburton Treaty between the United States and Great Britain in 1842.

The Border Dispute, How the Maine-New Brunswick border was finalized 
    http://www.upperstjohn.com/history/northeastborder.htm

The foundations of that controversy were laid in the very beginnings of the English colonies in America.  As early as 1621 James I of England granted to his Scotch favorite, Sir William Alexander, the province of Nova Scotia, which included the present provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and most of the Gaspe Peninsula now belonging to Quebec.  The western boundary of this grant was to follow the River St. Croix from its mouth to its most westerly source, and thence by a line running northward until it intersected a tributary of the St. Lawrence.

Later, when Charles II granted the province of Sagadahoc to his brother, James, Duke of York, he designated the western boundary of Nova Scotia as the eastern boundary of Sagadahoc.

Subsequently Massachusetts claimed the ancient province of Sagadahoc under the terms of the Royal Charter of 1691 although Nova Scotia disputed the claim.  This dispute was settled after the conquest of Canada, when the British government confirmed the original line of the Alexander grant as the boundary between the rival provinces.  At the same time, the southern boundary of Quebec, where that province bordered on Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, was established "along the highlands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the said River St. Lawrence which fall into the sea, and also along the north coast of the Bay des Chaleurs and the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Rosiers..." thus definitely fixing on paper the boundaries of the three provinces.

Incidentally, it located the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia at the point where the north line from the source of the St. Croix intersected the line along the "Highlands."

The treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain at the close of the Revolution recognized these provincial boundaries of Massachusetts and made them a part of the international boundary.  The article in the treaty defining boundaries described that concerning the district of Maine thus:

From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz.: that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of the St. Croix River to the Highlands.  which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River...east by a line to be drawn along the middle of the St. Croix from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source, and from its source directly north to the aforesaid Highlands, which divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those that fall into the River St. Lawrence.

This description seems sufficiently definite that the boundary might be surveyed and marked without controversy, yet controversies arose serious enough to call out troops and bring the two countries to the very brink of bloodshed.

There were three major stumbling blocks; no one knew which river was the true St. Croix; the territory claimed by the United States cut off direct communication between Nova Scotia and Quebec; and when the country was explored and mapped, no point could be found on the face of the earth to which the treaty description of the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia exactly applied.

Sieur de Monts and his French colonists spent the winter of 1604-05 on a small island near the mouth of a river that flowed into Passamaquoddy Bay, and to both the bay and the island he gave the name St. Croix.  The colony proved a failure, and the colonists moved to Port Royal, but the name of the river was perpetuated on maps of the region drawn by Champlain.  However, the country remained a wilderness; repeatedly changed ownership from French to English and back again; and, with the march of years, although the name was remembered, the location was forgotten.

The first step taken by the two governments toward marking the international boundary was the appointment in 1786 of a joint commission to "decide what river is the St. Croix intended in the treaty," describe the river, and locate its mouth and source.  This commission found that there were three considerable rivers flowing into Passamaquoddy Bay — the Cobscook, the Schoodic, and the Magaguadavic.  The United States claimed that the river the farthest east, the Magaguadavic, was the river sought, while the British agent contented in favor of the Schoodic.

Much conflicting evidence was presented, but all doubt was dispelled by the discovery on the island at the mouth of the Schoodic, now known as Dochet or St. Croix Island, of cellar holes and other evidences of human occupation which corresponded exactly with a plan that Champlain had drawn of DeMonts' settlement at St. Croix.  Thus it was proved that the Schoodic was the true St. Croix of De Monts and Champlain, of Sir William Alexander's grant of Nova Scotia, and of the Treaty of 1783.

The next question to decide was whether the Princeton or the Vanceboro branch of the Schoodic was the main St. Croix, the British agent claiming the former and the American agent the later.  The commissioners decided in favor of the Vanceboro branch, and located the source of the river where the present north line begins.  Thus the boundary was established from the mouth of the St. Croix to its source, and it would seem that some progress had been made toward locating the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia.

But the next controversy that arose wore a much more serious aspect.  The natural line of communication between the settlements along the Bay of Fundy and those in the St. Lawrence Valley is up the St. John to the Madawaska, thence up that river to Lake Temiscouata, thence across Lake Temiscouata and over a height of the land by a portage to a small river flowing into the St. Lawrence.  This was the route used by the Indians for years without number, then by the French, and after the fall of Canada by the English themselves.  Not only was it the only practical route between St. John and Quebec before the days of turnpikes and railroads, but when the St. Lawrence was icebound in Winter, it was absolutely the only line of communication through British territory from Quebec to St. John, and thence to Halifax and Europe.

As long as Massachusetts remained a British possession, it made little difference to what province the upper valley of the St. John belonged, but when Massachusetts became part of an independent nation, it also became a matter of paramount importance to Great Britain to control the entire length of this key line of communication between her provinces.  Before the end of the eighteenth century, military posts had been established at Grand Falls and at Presque Isle on the St. John, post houses had been built at convenient distances along the way, and scattered settlements had sprung up even on the Madawaska.

The peace Treaty of 1783, as commonly understood at the time, made the Madawaska and upper St. John region a part of the United States, thus, from the Canadian standpoint, seating a foreign country squarely across an essential line of communication.  In time of peace, the royal mails might pass through international courtesy; but in time of war, communication could be maintained by force alone.

Scarcely had the terms of the treaty become generally known before Lord Dorchester, governor-general of British North America, perceived the importance of preserving to his government the line of communication, and a little later he advanced the opinion that the "Highlands were to be sought south of Grand Falls rather than north of that place.  However, it is evident that both American and British leaders were agreed prior to the War of 1812 that the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia was far to the north at the St. Lawrence watershed.  Even Governor Carleton of New Brunswick and Ward Chipman, for many years the British agent during the boundary controversy, held that opinion.

The British commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent at the close of the War of 1812 must also have held this belief, for they proposed that the United States should cede to Great Britain the territory north of the St. John in return for land elsewhere or its equivalent.  The American commissioners, among whom was John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, took the ground that they had "no authority to cede any part of the United States," and there the matter rested for the time being.

The Treaty of Ghent did provide, however, for the appointment of two commissioners who should ascertain the exact location of the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia and of the northwesternmost source of the Connecticut River; and should survey, mark and map the boundary between the source of the St. Croix and the River Iroquois.  If the commissioners should disagree, the whole question was to be referred to some friendly sovereign or state for arbitration.

President Madison appointed Cornelius P. Van Ness as one of the commissioners, and King George IV appointed Thomas Barclay as the other.  One of the first acts of the commission was to authorize a joint survey of the line running north from the source of the St. Croix.  The line was to begin "near a yellow birch tree hooped with iron and marked "ST and JH, 1797," and extend to the highlands that formed the southern boundary of the St. Lawrence watershed.  The commissioners were also to explore the different highlands between that line and the headwaters of the Connecticut.

This survey brought to light two facts that had an important bearing on the controversy.  First, the river basins of the St. John and the St. Lawrence were not separated by a continuous range of Mountains, or "Highlands," as was supposed; and, second, there was no place on the north line that answered exactly to the treaty description of the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia.  That is, there was no ridge which divided the waters falling into the St. Lawrence from those falling into the Atlantic.  This was because the line crossed the headwaters of the Restigouche River, which emptied into the Bay of Chaleur.  Thus, there was a point on the line that separated waters falling into the St. Lawrence from waters falling into the Bay of Chaleur, which is an arm of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and another point that parted waters flowing into the Bay of Chaleur from waters falling into the Bay of Fundy, an arm of the Atlantic, but no point that completely fulfilled the description of the treaty.

Ward Chipman, the British agent, and his advisors were quick to see the advantage that they might gain from this technical flaw in the treaty, and they made the most of it.  Since the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia could not be found north of the St. John, they reasons, it must be south of that river.  Moreover, since the St. John did not flow into the Atlantic but into the Bay of Fundy, the treaty markers must have meant by the term "Highlands" the watersheds that separated the basins of the St. John and the Penobscot.  They further argued that, while there were no "Highlands" where the north line intersected the St. Lawrence watershed, there was a very prominent highland on that line south of the St. John namely Mars Hill, central Maine at or near the southern limits of the St. John basin.  Thus they set up the claim that Mars Hill was the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia, and that the whole basin of the St. John, including of course the coveted line of communication, belonged to Great Britain.

The Americans claimed that the intent of the men who made the treaty of 1783 was to leave the boundary between Massachusetts on the one hand and Nova Scotia and Quebec on the other just where it had been before the Revolution; that, prior to the conquest of Canada, both Massachusetts and Nova Scotia had extended to the St. Lawrence, separated by a boundary that followed the St. Croix from its mouth to its source and thence north to the St. Lawrence; that when the southern boundary of Quebec was established it included only land that drained into the St. Lawrence, and left the entire St. John Valley west of the old line still in Massachusetts; that, when the treaty was made, little was known concerning the topography of the area, everyone supposed that the Restigouche was a very small river, and that the map that the treaty makers used showed the headwaters of the river far to the east of the line due north from the source of the St. Croix; and that to the best knowledge and in the intent of both the British and the American commissioners, the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia was at the height of land south of the St. Lawrence.

The commissioners could not agree.  Barclay adopted the extreme British view that the Northwest Angle was located at Mars Hill, while Van Ness took the American view that the angle was some eighty miles [about 130 km] north of the St. John near the headwaters of the Metis, a small branch of the St. Lawrence.  Surveys had been made; the issues had been clearly defined; otherwise the labor of the commissioners seemed barren of results.

After a delay of several years the two countries proceeded in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Ghent and referred the dispute to a friendly sovereign, William, King of Netherlands.  Albert Gallatin, one of the foremost statesmen of the day, assisted by William Pitt Preble of Maine, prepared the case for the United States.  The king prefaced his decision by stating that, in his judgment, neither party had presented conclusive evidence to substantiate its claim, and that, in justice, he could not decide in favor of one nation without prejudice to the interests of the other.  Accordingly he offered a compromise, which, like most compromises, satisfied nobody.

He decided that the international boundary should follow a north line from the source of the St. Croix River to a point where it intersected the channel of the St. John, thence up the middle of the channel of the St. John to the mouth of the St. Francis, thence up the middle of the St. Francis to its source, thence due west to the highlands which separated the basins of the St. John and the St. Lawrence, and thence along those highlands to the source of the Connecticut.

King William rendered his decision in January, 1831.  Great Britain had won her long-coveted line of communication and accepted the award, but the United States, influenced by the uncompromising attitude of the State of Maine against the cession of a single foot of her territory, rejected it.  Again matters rested just where they had been for fifteen years.  The rejection, however, was unfortunate for Maine, for the king's decision gave her much more territory than did the final settlement, and developments had already begun within the disputed area that kept the state in a turmoil for a dozen years, and that nearly rushed her people headlong into war.

Source: Trying to Locate The Boundary Line
Chapter Four of Aroostook: The First Sixty Years
a history in fifteen chapters by Clarence A. Day, which was first published serially in the Fort Fairfield Review, Fort Fairfield, Maine, beginning 26 December 1951 and concluding on 27 February 1957.  The electronic version was produced for the Internet by the Northern Maine Development Commission, and uploaded to the Web in July 2000. 
      http://www.nmdc.org/reportsstudies/Day%20-%20Aroostook%20The%20First%20Sixty%20Years.pdf

The Wayback Machine has archived copies of this document: Aroostook: The First Sixty Years Chapter IV: Trying to Locate The Boundary Line Archived: 2001 March 03    http://web.archive.org/web/20010303105739/http://www.nmdc.org/day/aroos4.html Archived: 2001 April 22    http://web.archive.org/web/20010422095331/http://www.nmdc.org/day/aroos4.html Archived: 2002 June 17    http://web.archive.org/web/20020617040719/http://www.nmdc.org/day/aroos4.html Archived: 2003 January 5    http://web.archive.org/web/20030105090825/http://www.nmdc.org/day/aroos4.html Archived: 2003 August 29    http://web.archive.org/web/20030829214014/http://www.nmdc.org/day/aroos4.html These links were accessed and found to be valid on 8 August 2007, 18 December 2014.

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The north west angle of Nova-Scotia...

ARTICLE 2nd: And that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject of the boundaries of the said United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are and shall be their boundaries, viz. From the north west angle of Nova-Scotia, viz, that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of Saint-Croix river to the Highlands...
Source: Library of Congress, Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789 
      http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/amrev/peace/paris.html

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Disputed Boundary

When, in 1783, the St. Croix River was fixed upon as the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, it became a disputed question as to what was the true St. Croix.  The Americans claimed that it was the river now known as the Magaguadavic, much farther to the eastward; but after much searching the dispute was laid to rest, and the British claim established, by the discovery of the remains of Champlain's settlement, on Doncet's Island, above St. Andrews. 
Source: Page 182 of The Canadian Guide Book: The Tourist's and Sportsman's Guide to Eastern Canada and Newfoundland... by Charles G.D. Roberts, Professor of English Literature at King's College, Windsor, Nova Scotia; 378 pages, published by D. Appleton, New York, 1891.
 
from page 182 of "The Canadian Guide Book..." by Charles G.D. Roberts, 1891
Source: Early Canadiana Online http://www.canadiana.org/
page 182   http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?id=45bfdda42a&display=56228+0250

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Canada & the United States Border Disputes 
      http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/canada&the_world/canada&us_border_disputes.html 

---

Bibilography of the Disputed Boundary between Nova Scotia/New Brunswick and Massachusetts/Maine Baldwin, J.R. "The Ashburton-Webster Boundary Settlement," Canadian Historical Association, 1938 Burrage, Henry F. Maine in the Northeastern Boundary Controversy, Portland, Maine, 1919 Classen, H. George Thrust and Counter-Thrust: The Genesis of the Canada-United States Boundary, Don Mills, Ontario, 1965 Corey, Albert B. The Crisis of 1830-1842 in Canadian-American Relations, New Haven, Connecticut, 1941 Clarence A. Day Aroostook: The First Sixty Years, Fort Fairfield, Maine Fox, Dixon R., ed. Harper's Atlas of American History, New York, 1920 Ganong, William F. "A monograph of the Evolution of the Boundaries of the Province of New Brunswick," Royal Society of Canada,Proceedings, 2nd series, II, pages 295-358 Irish, Maria M. "The Northeastern Boundary of Maine," Journal of American History, XVI (1922), pages 311-322 Jones, Howard To the Webster-Ashburton Treaty: A Study in Anglo-American Relations, 1783-1843, University of North Carolina Press, 1977 Keenleyside, Hugh L. and Gerald S. Brown Canada and the United States, New York, 1952 Kerr, D.G.G., ed. Historical Atlas of Canada, revised edition, Toronto, 1966 LeDuc, Thomas "The Maine Boundary and the Northeast Boundary Controversy," American Historical Review, LIII (October, 1947), pages 30-41 MacNutt, W. Stewart New Brunswick: A History, 1784-1867, Toronto, 1963 Martin, Lawrence and Samuel F. Bemis "Franklin's Red-Line Map Was a Mitchell." New England Quarterly, X (March, 1937), pages 105-111 Mills, Dudley A. "British Diplomacy and Canada: The Ashburton Treaty, " United Empire, N.S. II (October, 1911), pages 682-712 Moore, John Bassett History and Digest of the International Arbitrations to Which the United States Has Been a Party, Washington, D.C., 1898 Paullin, Charles O., ed. Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, New York, 1932 Sprague, John Francis "The North Eastern Boundary Controversy, 1783-1842," in Lewis C. Hatch Maine: A History, New York, 1919 Washburn, Israel, Jr. "The North-Eastern Boundary," Maine Historical Society, Collections and Proceedings, VIII (1881), pages 1-107 Source: Northern Maine Development Commission      http://www.nmdc.org/day/aroos4m.html and other sources

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1694 December 28   (OS)

Death of Mary II

On this day, Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland since 1689, died of smallpox leaving her husband, William III, to reign on his own. 
[National Post, 28 December 2000] 

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This webpage has been archived History of Nova Scotia: Chapter 01 with special attention given to Communications and Transportation Chapter 01 Archive  http://archive.is/newscotland1398.ca/hist/nshistory01.html All Chapters Archived  http://archive.is/newscotland1398.ca/hist/* More  http://archive.is/newscotland1398.ca/99/histindx.html These links were accessed and found to be valid on 2 November 2013, 18 December 2014.

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Index with links to the other chapters

Go To:   History of Telegraph and Telephone Companies in Nova Scotia 
    http://ns1758.ca/tele/telephone.html 
Go To:   History of Railway Companies in Nova Scotia 
    http://ns1758.ca/rail/railways.html 
Go To:   History of Electric Power Companies in Nova Scotia 
    http://ns1758.ca/electric/electric.html 
                   Nova Scotia's Modern Electric Power System 
Go To:   History of Automobiles in Nova Scotia 
    http://ns1758.ca/auto/automobiles.html 
Go To:   Nova Scotia History, Chapter One 
    http://newscotland1398.ca/hist/nshistory01.html 
Go To:   Nova Scotia in the War of 1812 
    http://ns1758.ca/1812war/war1812-atlantic.html#war1812-novascot 
Go To:   Nova Scotia Historical Biographies 
    http://newscotland1398.ca/hist/nshistory00.html#ns-historical-biog 
Go To:   Proclamations: Land Grants in Nova Scotia 1757, '58, '59 
    http://planter2010.ca/proc/proclamations-ndx.html 
Go To:   Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1805, edited by Richard John Uniacke 
    http://ns1763.ca/law/ns-statutes1805-titlepg.html 
Go To:   Home Page 
    http://newscotland1398.ca/index.html 

W3C HTML Validation Service http://validator.w3.org/

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Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail: Canada’s First Winery, Craft Brewery and Distillery Trail

Halifax, N.S. – The Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail is Canada’s first winery, craft brewery and distillery trail. Launching in partnership with Nova Scotia Tourism Agency (NSTA), the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and Taste of Nova Scotia, the trail includes more than 35 beverage-specific culinary tourism experiences across Nova Scotia and will officially commence on June 1, 2015.

“To strengthen Nova Scotia as a culinary tourism destination, the NSTA, in collaboration with our partners created the Good Cheer Trail,” says Patrick Sullivan, CEO of NSTA. “As home of North America’s oldest social club - The Order of Good Cheer – the Good Cheer Trail is a natural fit for Nova Scotia and is an innovative way to encourage visitors to see (and taste) more of Nova Scotia while experiencing what our artisanal wineries, breweries and distilleries have to offer.”

The Good Cheer Trail celebrates Nova Scotia’s rich culinary history dating back to 1606, when Samuel de Champlain established the Order of Good Cheer in Port Royal. As the first gastronomic society in the New World, the Order of Good Cheer raised the spirits of early settlers and set the tone for centuries of good Nova Scotian food, drink and fun.

In its inaugural year, the Good Cheer Trail includes 14 wineries, 12 craft breweries, five distilleries, five brew pubs and two historical (Port Royal and Fortress of Louisbourg) experiences. The trail is an annual culinary tourism initiative and will run from June 1 to October 31. From Yarmouth to Cape Breton, the trail weaves through stunning landscapes, heritage sites, beaches, farmland and cities.

“We know that food, drink and culinary experiences help define travel choices,” says Janice Ruddock, executive director of Taste of Nova Scotia. “We want tourists to choose Nova Scotia, we want locals to be proud of our products...the Good Cheer Trail is all about showing the world our quality wines, beers and spirits made by talented, passionate people who are proud to call Nova Scotia home.”

Trail participants have been recruited through partnerships with the Craft Brewers Association (CBANS), Winery Association of Nova Scotia (WANS), Nova Scotia Distillers Association, Taste of Nova Scotia and NSTA.

Good Cheer Trail explorers are encouraged to enjoy the trail responsibly with a designated driver or by booking an organized tour.

For more information about the Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail, please visit www.GoodCheerTrail.com. The Good Cheer Trail is on Instagram (@GoodCheerTrail, #GoodCheerTrail) and Facebook.

-30-

For more information please contact:
Christine White
Director of Communications & Events, Taste of Nova Scotia
Phone: (902) 492-9291, ext 115
Cell: (902) 880-2180
Email: Christine@tasteofnovascotia.com
Website: www.tasteofnovascotia.com

About Good Cheer Trail
The Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail is Canada’s first winery, craft brewery and distillery trail. Launched in partnership with Nova Scotia Tourism Agency (NSTA), Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and Taste of Nova Scotia, the trail includes more than 35 beverage-specific culinary tourism experiences across Nova Scotia.

The Good Cheer Trail celebrates Nova Scotia’s rich culinary history dating back to 1606, when Samuel de Champlain established the Order of Good Cheer in Port Royal. As the first gastronomic society in the New World, the Order of Good Cheer raised the spirits of early settlers and set the tone for centuries of good Nova Scotian food, drink and fun. www.goodcheertrail.com

About Taste of Nova Scotia
Taste of Nova Scotia is a unique, province-wide marketing program, whose members are committed to offering the very best culinary experiences and products that Nova Scotia has to offer. The Taste of Nova Scotia membership base includes more than150 quality food producers and processors, as well as a collection of the best restaurants in the province. www.tasteofnovascotia.com

About Nova Scotia Tourism Agency (NSTA) 
The Nova Scotia Tourism Agency (NSTA) was established in September 2012 to facilitate greater collaboration between industry and government in developing a more innovative and globally competitive approach to tourism. Our mandate is to work with industry to increase the number of visitors to the province and encourage them to spend more and stay longer, leading to increased revenue and industry profitability for the benefit of all Nova Scotians. The NSTA oversees sales, marketing and partnerships, product and experience development, market research and intelligence, and quality assurance, industry development and visitor services.

http://www.destinationhalifax.com/content/nova-scotia-good-cheer-trail-canada%E2%80%99s-first-winery-craft-brewery-and-distillery-trail
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my father's family came 2 Canada in 1632 as fishers from via Ireland 1100s- France- Placentia Bay Newfoundland...   

Irish

                    Two Irish girls.  undated photo
Source

Online Resources 

• Art
• Books and periodicals
• Canadian Historical Association Booklets - The Irish in Canada (archived)
• Medals and Pins
• Photographs
• Textual Material

Genealogy and Family History

• Research at Library and Archives Canada
• Research in Published Sources
• Research at Other Institutions and Online

Canada's most recent census returns list the Irish as the fourth largest ethnic group in Canada with almost four and a half million Canadians claiming either some or full Irish lineage. Indeed, this bond between Canada and Ireland has been in existence for centuries.

The first known Irish-born immigrant to Canada was Tec Cornelius Aubrenon, who arrived in New France in 1661 and remained until his death in 1687. However the Irish presence in Canada can be dated even earlier than the arrival of Aubrenon. As early as the middle of the 16th century, Irish fishermen from the south of Ireland frequently traveled to Newfoundland for part of their catch.

By far, the largest immigration of the Irish to Canada occurred during the mid nineteenth century. The Great Irish Potato Famine of 1847 was the cause of death, mainly from starvation, of over a million Irish. It was also the motivation behind the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Irish to North America. Because passage to Canada was less expensive than passage to the United States, Canada was the recipient of some of the most destitute and bereft Irish.

Passage was difficult for those making the three thousand mile voyage from Ireland. Crammed into steerage for over six weeks, these "Coffin Ships" were a breeding ground for many diseases. The primary destination for most of these ships was the port of Québec and the mandatory stop at the quarantine island of Grosse Ile. By June of 1847, the port of Québec became so overwhelmed, that dozens of ships carrying over 14,000 Irish queued for days to make landing. It is estimated that almost 5,000 Irish died on Grosse Ile and it is known to be the largest Irish burial ground exclusive of Ireland. Many Irish immigrants played a major role in Canadian society. Perhaps one of Canada's more famous immigrants from Ireland was Canadian ParliamentarianThomas D'Arcy McGee.

Apart from the annual St. Patrick's Day parade hosted by numerous cities, towns and communities across Canada, the proud presence of the Irish in Canada today is also manifest in the myriad of Irish societies and associations spread across the nation. There are also several Canadian associations for Irish studies as well as university programs and courses devoted to this the same theme.

Research at Library and Archives Canada

Names of Irish immigrants can be found in different series of records, mainly passenger lists. For the years before 1865, we suggest that you consult first the following online resources.

Immigrants at Grosse Ile

This database includes information on 33,026 immigrants whose names appear in surviving records of the Grosse Île Quarantine Station between 1832 and 1937. Names were extracted from different kind of documents.

Immigrants at Grosse Ile (1832-1937)

Immigrants to Canada

Library and Archives Canada holds a number of lists that have been identified and indexed by name in a database, formerly known as our Miscellaneous Immigration Index. Many of the records relate to immigrants from the British Isles to Quebec and Ontario, but there are also references to settlers in other provinces. The database also includes other types of records such as lists of the Irish settlers brought to the Peterborough area of Ontario in the early 1820s, the declarations of aliens for Lower Canada and names of some Irish orphans.

Immigrants to Canada

Montreal Emigrant Society Passage Book

Upon their arrival, many poor immigrants had to rely on benevolent societies for assistance when they arrived in North America. The Montreal Emigrant Society was established in 1831. Its main purpose was to provide transportation for immigrants who had arrived at Montreal from Quebec and were destined for settlement in different parts of Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario). Library and Archives Canada holds one register of names of immigrants for the year 1832 from the Montreal Emigrant Society (RG 7 G18). The passage book has been digitized and is available online. The use of this digitized database is facilitated by a name index.

Montreal Emigrant Society Passage Book (1832)

The names of Irish immigrants coming to Canada after 1865 can be found in immigrations records. Consult Passenger Lists, 1865-1935.

Other series of documents

Library and Archives Canada also holds some private fonds regarding Irish families such as:

• Heney Family collection, 1710-1980 (MG 25 G 347)
• Collection consists of genealogical charts and information concerning the Heney Family of the Ottawa area, and related families.
• Radcliffe Family fonds, 1832-1833 (MG 29 A 52)
• Letters written by members of the Radcliff family to friends and family in Ireland.
• Diary of an Irish immigrant woman, 1869 (MG55/29)
• Diary of an Irish immigrant woman which describes her experiences while travelling in 1869, from Dublin to Canada on the sailing ship Lady Seymour with her family.

Research in Published Sources

• A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland, by Brian Mitchell. (AMICUS 7234276)
• An Introduction to Irish Research: Irish Ancestry, a Beginner's Guide, by Bill Davis.
• Erin's Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada 1761-1853, by Terrence M. Punch. (AMICUS 33914535)
• Finding your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide, by David S. Ouimette.
• Flight from Famine: the Coming of the Irish to Canada, by Donald MacKay. (AMICUS 9431826)
• Grosse Ile: Gateway to Canada 1832-1937, by Marianna O'Gallagher. (AMICUS 4850757)
• Ireland: A Genealogical Guide for North Americans, by K.J. Betit.
• Irish Church Records: their History, Availability and Use in Family and Local History Research, by James Ryan.
• Irish Emigration and Canadian Settlement: Patterns, Links and Letters, by Cecil J. Houston and William J. Smyth. (AMICUS 12853274)
• Irish Migrants in the Canadas: A New Approach, by Bruce S. Elliott. (AMICUS 29137139)
• The Famine immigrants: lists of Irish immigrants arriving at the port of New York, 1846-1851, edited by Ira Glazier. (AMICUS 3929163)
• The Irish in Canada, by David A. Wilson.
• The Irish in Quebec: an Introduction to the Historiography, by Robert J. Grace. (AMICUS 12553129)
• The uncounted Irish in Canada and the United States, by Margaret E. Fitzgerald and Joseph A. King. (AMICUS 8013402)
• Tracing Irish Ancestors, A Practical Guide To Irish Genealogy, by Marie MacGonghail and Paul Gorry.
• Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, by John Grenham. (AMICUS 33137536)

Search for books on Irish in AMICUS, using authors, titles or subject terms such as:

• Irish genealogy
• Irish genealogies
• Irish Canada
• Irish immigration
• Irish immigrants

Research at Other Institutions and Online

• Genealogical Society of Ireland
• General Register Office (Belfast) of Northern Ireland
• General Register Office (Dublin)
• Ireland's Historical Mapping Archive
• National Archives of Ireland
• Land Registry & Registry of Deeds
• McMaster University
• The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections holds the Thomas D'Arcy McGee collection (1858-1925)
• National Archives of Ireland
• National Library of Ireland
• Ordnance Survey of Ireland
• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
• Valuation Office
• Websites:
• Church of Ireland
• Find my past.ie
• In Quarantine: Life and Death on Grosse Ile, 1832-1937 (Archived)
• In the Wake of Dark Passage, Irish Famine Migration to New Brunswick
• IrishFamilyResearch.co.uk
• Irish Ancestral Research Association
• Irish Family History Foundation - Online Genealogy Databases for Ireland
• Irish Genealogy
• IrishOrigins
• North of Ireland Family History Society
• Roots Ireland.ie
• The Shamrock and The Maple Leaf (Archived)

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/history-ethnic-cultural/Pages/irish.aspx


---------------------

French

Arrival of the "Filles du Roi"
Source

Genealogy and Family History

• Research at Library and Archives Canada
• Research at Other Institutions and Online
• Research in Published Sources

The French began to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the mid-16th century to explore the New World and settle there. They arrived in 1604 at Port Royal and colonized Acadia first. During the 1630s, about 20 families arrived from the Loudunais region along with soldiers and labourers (known as engagés in French). By 1670, the Acadian population had reached 400 people.

The French also settled further west in the St. Lawrence Valley when they founded Quebec in 1608. By 1660, only about 3,000 inhabitants called the St. Lawrence Valley home. In 1665, 1,200 men belonging to the régiment de Carignan-Salières arrived on the shores of Canada to fight the Iroquois Nation who constantly threatened the development of the colony. The King asked the district administrator, Jean Talon, to motivate soldiers to settle in the colony once the war with the Iroquois ended. As an incentive, a married soldier who settled in the colony would receive a sum of 12,000 pounds. It was this colonial policy that prompted 400 soldiers and officers to put down roots in New France.

However, to maintain a permanent settlement, these men had to marry and have families. Hence, groups of women started to arrive in New France during two distinct periods: 1634 to 1662 and 1663 to 1673. The first group of women came under the auspices of the Compagnie des Cent-Associés; the second under the authority of the King—where the term filles du roi [Daughters of the King] derives.

When beaver pelt hats became increasingly popular in the early 17th century, a lucrative fur trade business emerged in New France. To meet the demand, trappers and travellers gradually extended their hunting grounds beyond the St. Lawrence Valley to the interior of the continent. The French also explored and then settled in several regions of the United States. At the turn of the 18th century, French colonies were established in the present-day states of Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, MIchigan, Mississippi,Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Between 1820 and 1910, a decrease in the availability of tillable land in Canada drove close to 470,000 French settlers to the United States. They settled chiefly in New England and in Michigan, where they found meaningful employment in the famous “factories” (textile mills) during difficult economic times.

It is estimated that nearly 40,000 French settlers lived in New France during the French Regime and 10,000 of those stayed in New France and became the ancestors of nearly 6 million French Canadians.

Research at Library and Archives Canada

Census Returns

• Recensement du Canada de 1666 (Census of Canada of 1666) (available in French only)
• Recensement du Canada de 1681 (Census of Canada of 1681) (available in French only)

Consult our Census page for other census returns from Canada.

The régiment de Carignan-Salières (1665–1668)

A thematic guide (MSS1943) [PDF 1.1 MB] provides references to manuscript sources and contains a complete bibliography.

Marriage Indexes

Many marriage indexes covering extensive geographical areas are available, including the following:

Fichier Loiselle

Index for Catholic marriages held in the province of Quebec, some parts of Ontario and New Brunswick, and New England, mostly between 1750 and the early 1900s. Available on microfiche. On-site consultation only.

Collection Drouin

Different indexes for French-Canadian Catholic marriages, 1760–1935, including La Masculine (The Men Series), La Féminine (The Women Series) and the Kardex. Consists of many volumes and microfilms. On-site consultation only.

Fichier Histor

Index including all Catholic and Protestant marriages held in Quebec from 1730 to 1825, and also marriages in the Western French Forts, such as Detroit (Series C) and Acadian marriages (Series D). Available in book format. On-site consultation only.

Jacques-Henri Fabien Collection (MG 25 G231)

Collection of microfilm consisting of genealogical information covering the period from 1657 to 1974, distributed on more than 250,000 cards, mostly for marriages, indicating date and place, and the names of spouses and their parents. Includes parishes in the Outaouais region of Quebec and Ontario, some parishes in Eastern and Northern Ontario, counties of Pontiac, Vaudreuil, Châteauguay, Huntingdon, Beauharnois, l’Assumption, Laval, Deux-Montagnes and Argenteuil in Quebec. These microfilms have been digitized and are available online through the Héritage project.

Immigration Branch: Central Registry Files (RG 76)

• Admission to Canada of French subjects for enlistment with the forces of General Charles de Gaulle, 1940–1942, RG 76, volume 462, file 706126, microfilm C-10402
• Reverend Father H. Peran, St. Laurent, Manitoba—Special agent to Brittany France, 1906 and 1921, RG 76, volume 364, file 471120, microfilm C-10265
• Currie and Co., Havre and Paris, France. Booking agents, 1907–1924, RG 76, volume 434, file 652754, microfilm C-10314
• Admission of Jewish children from unoccupied France, 1942 to 1948 RG 76, volume 477, file 739325, microfilm C-10413

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) holds other archival records relating to French families, such as copies of microfilms from the French Colonial government (MG 1 to 9). Records included in the “Fonds des colonies” 1540–1898 (MG 1) represent the official archive of the French presence and expansion throughout the world. LAC holds a copy of the records that relate particularly to Canada and to the rest of North America. Those records mostly cover the period between the beginning of the exploration of the American continent and the end of the French occupation of New France in the second half of the 18th century.

Consult the Archives Search database using keywords, such as a surname, the name of an organization, a subject, or a place name.

Research at Other Institutions and Online

• Archives nationales (France) (available in French only)
• Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
• Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie (French only)
• FranceGenWeb (French only)
• France-généalogie (French only)
• FrancoGene
• New France, New Horizons: On French Soil in America
• Nova Scotia Archives
• Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
• Quebec Family History Society
• Société historique de Saint-Boniface – Voyageur Contract Database
• The Research Program in Historical Demography, Université de Montréal

Use AVITUS to find other websites about French people in Canada.

Research in Published Sources

• Catalogue des immigrants, 1632-1662, par Marcel Trudel. (AMICUS 4649687) (French only)
• Combattre pour la France en Amérique: les soldats de la guerre de Sept Ans en Nouvelle-France, 1755-1763, by Marcel Fournier. (AMICUS 36247428) (French only)
• Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec, by René Jetté. (AMICUS 3994211) (French only)
• Dictionnaire national des Canadiens-français, 1608-1760, by the Institut Généalogique Drouin. (AMICUS 2715913) (French only)
• Finding your French-Canadian Ancestors, by Louise St-Denis. (AMICUS 28628093)
• Genealogy of the French families of the Detroit River region, revision, 1701-1936, 2 volumes, by Christian Denissen. (AMICUS 7488422)
• La population des forts français d'Amérique (XVIIIe siècle) : répertoire des baptêmes, mariages et sépultures célébrés dans les forts et les établissements français en Amérique du Nord au XVIIIe siècle, 2 volumes, by Marthe F. Beauregard (AMICUS 3884036) (French only)
• Les Bretons en Amérique du Nord: des origines à 1770, by Marcel Fournier. (AMICUS 7401431) (French only)
• Les Européens au Canada : des origines à 1765 (hors France), by Marcel Fournier (AMICUS 8830587) (French only)
• Les Filles du Roy et leurs époux, by the Société d'histoire des Filles du Roy. (AMICUS 39850698) (French only)
• Nos ancêtres au XVIIe siècle : dictionnaire généalogique et bio-bibliographique des familles canadiennes, 6 volumes, by Archange Godbout. (AMICUS 7119574) (French only)
• Nos origines en France : des débuts à 1825, 13 volumes, by Normand Robert. (AMICUS 5401892) (French only)
• Orphelines en France, pionnières au Canada: Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle; followed by aRépertoire biographique des Filles du roi, by Yves Landry. (AMICUS 11402134) (French only)
• Retracez vos ancêtres : Guide pratique de généalogie, by Marcel Fournier. (AMICUS 37652442) (French only)
• Traité de généalogie, by René Jetté. (AMICUS 10243205) (French only)
• http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/history-ethnic-cultural/Pages/french.aspx

------

British

                Chadwick Sandles,
English immigrant travelling alone
Source

Online Resources

• Art
• Books and periodicals
• Canadian Historical Association Booklets
• British immigration before confederation 
• Photographs
• Stamps and Philately
• Textual material

Genealogy and Family History

• Research at Library and Archives Canada
• Research at Other Institutions and Online
• Research in Published Sources

The voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot marked the beginning of England’s interest toward North America. The Italian father John (Zuan Chabotto) and son Sebastian (Sebastiano Caboto), in service to the British Crown, landed on the coast of Newfoundland early in the summer of 1497.

In 1610, British explorer Henry Hudson made his way into the inland sea and claimed the area on the bay that now bears his name. Newfoundland was the site of the first English colony and was settled by fishermen who arrived from Devon in 1611 and put down roots in Conception Bay.

The capture of the fortress of Louisbourg in 1758 followed by Quebec City in 1759 led to the end of the French presence in New France and Acadia, which further solidified the British presence on the continent. The British also secured the colony’s West Coast as part of their North American empire. Captain James Cook arrived at Nootka Sound in 1778 and his fellow seaman, Captain George Vancouver, later charted the northwest coast of British Columbia for the British navy.

From 1775 to 1783, during the American Revolution, an influx of English Loyalist settlers migrated to Nova Scotia, Lower Canada (Quebec), New Brunswick and Upper Canada (Ontario). The exodus from the United States to what would become Canada lasted until the War of 1812 when the British Forces mobilized their regiments to defend their colony from an American invasion.

At the time of Canada’s Confederation, English philanthropic organizations started sending groups of orphans and pauper children to Canada. More than 100,000 children arrived in Canada between 1869 and the late 1930s. It is estimated that more than four million Canadians are descendants of British Home Children.

The quest for land encouraged the English to migrate to Rupert’s Land, as the Canadian West was known at the time. Most immigrants did not travel in cohorts, but settled individually in the Canadian Prairies, except for the Barr Colony whose 2,000 members, led by Reverend Barr, founded Lloydminster in Saskatchewan in 1903. Immigration to Canada continued to soar until the outbreak of the First World War, but resumed in the early 1920s when the Empire Settlement Actwas brought in to offer training and financial incentives to prospective immigrants to Canada. It continued on a steady basis throughout the 20th century; in 2011, more than 6.5 million people in Canada declared British ancestry.

Research at Library and Archives Canada

Phillips Thompson fonds, 1879–1923 (R7667-0-5-E) (MIKAN 101442)

The fonds consists of correspondence relating to Phillips Thompson’s writing and socialist activities, including several letters from Henry George, 1879–1923. Other letters are from such people as Wilfrid Laurier, Goldwin Smith, the Russian archivist Peter Alexeivich Kropotkin, John Delvin, A.W. Wright and Pierre Berton. There are also manuscripts, memorabilia and clippings.

Richard D. Robertson fonds (R11550-0-8-E) (MIKAN 1592962)

The fonds consists of papers created or received by Richard D. Robertson mainly relating to his career as a member of the RCMP as well as to his personal experiences in England, the United States, and Canada. Material includes reminiscences of his early days as a young constable in New Brunswick in the 1930s, his experience as “Boy Farm Learner” in Guelph, Ontario. There are also diaries he kept while on duty as a guard during the 1939 Royal Visit and as Chief of Security for the Canadian contingent at the 1954 Geneva Conference. Transcripts of many of these documents are also included.

Middlemore Children’s Emigration Homes fonds (MG 28 I 492) (MIKAN 107020)

The fonds consists of microfilmed records of the Middlemore Homes relating to the creation and operation of a child welfare organization and its efforts to assist, train and move impoverished and endangered children. The records can be researched with the help of finding aid 2057. They include: Settlement and Reports of Children sent to Canada; Committee and House Committee Minute Books; Application Books; History Books; Parents’ Consent Forms and Aftercare Visits; Case Files; correspondence; and printed annual reports.

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC)

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) holds copies of the records found in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives. The records must be viewed on site. The different series are described in theArchives Search database.

LAC also holds private and government records regarding English families. Consult the Archives Search database using keywords such as a surname or the name of an organization.

British immigration to Canada is depicted extensively in the following government record groups: RG 76 (Immigration), RG 17 (Agriculture), RG 30 (Canadian National Railways) RG 18 (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), RG 7 (Office of the Governor General), RG 2 (Privy Council Office). Lists of names are included in some records. A search using the keywords "Empire Settlement Act" will also yield several results on the topic of English immigration and settlement.

• Immigration Branch: Central Registry Files Applicants who have relinquished participation in the British Family Settlement Scheme (Empire Settlement Act) (contains lists), RG 76, volume 270, file 228719, microfilm reel C-7818 (R1206-127-4-E) (MIKAN 1432906)
• Transfer of English residential school students to Canadian schools (contains lists), RG 76, volume 451, part 1, file 692762, microfilm reels C-10326 and C-10325 (MIKAN 1434191)
• Unemployed immigrants at Chatham, Ontario (English), RG 76, volume 478, file 741316, microfilm reel C-10414 (MIKAN 1434385)
• Henry James Morgan fonds [textual record, graphic material] (R7531-0-8-E) John Cabot (MIKAN 2426581)
• Commissioner of Immigration, Toronto, Mr. Venall, English Lectures; Free land grants of Ontario, RG 17, volume 120, file 11766, (MIKAN 1979621)
• List of pauper children reported upon by G. Bogue Smart, Inspector of British Immigrant Children (lists and index), RG 76, volume 266, file 222479, microfilm reel C-7815 (MIKAN 1432884)

Research at Other Institutions and Online

• British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa
• British Columbia Genealogical Society
• Canadian War Brides
• Newfoundland's Grand Banks
• Ontario Genealogical Society
• The British Library
• The National Archives
• UK in Canada: British High Commission

Use AVITUS to find other websites about the British in Canada.

Research in Published Sources

• British Emigration to North America, by W.S. Shepperson. (AMICUS 4082331)
• British emigration into the Saskatchewan valley: the Barr colony, 1903, its bibliographical foundation, by Guy R. Lyle. (AMICUS 22640)
• British immigration before Confederation, by Helen I. Cowan. (AMICUS 33162775)
• British immigration to British North America 1815–1860, by H.J.M. Johnston. (AMICUS 10296130)
• Children of the Empire, by Gillian Wagner. (AMICUS 11612439)
• A History of Emigration from the United Kingdom to North America, 1763–1912, by Stanley C. Johnson. (AMICUS 8594840)
• The Little Immigrants: The Orphans Who Came to Canada, by Kenneth Bagnell. (AMICUS 25790513)
• Muddling through: the remarkable story of the Barr Colonists, by Lynne Bowen. (AMICUS 11618076)
• Nation builders: Barnardo children in Canada, by Gail H. Corbett. (AMICUS 27592915)

Search for books on the English in AMICUS using authors, titles or subject terms such as:

• English genealogy
• British genealogy
• British Canada
• British Immigration
• British immigrants

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/history-ethnic-cultural/Pages/english.aspx
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Best reseach site folks... hey kids, students and youngbloods... getcha Canada and Nova Scotia history on..

Nova Scotia Archives  http://novascotia.ca/archives/

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Clara Dennis

A virtual exhibit showcasing the work of Clara Dennis, Nova Scotia's first woman travel writer. Dennis travelled extensively through mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island during the 1920s and 30s. She had an observant eye, a keen sense of popular history, and captured in her work a Nova Scotia that no longer exists. Nearly eighty black-and-white photographs, along with selected pages from her published works, re-create that world again.