The Acadians are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the Northern American region of Acadia, as it is the region where the descendants of a few Acadians who escaped the Expulsion of the Acadians re-settled. Most Acadians in Canada continue to live in majority French-speaking communities, notably those in New Brunswick where Acadians and Francophones are granted autonomy in areas such as education and health.
Hants County is a historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the West Hants Regional Municipality, and the Municipality of the District of East Hants.
Fort Lawrence was a British fort built during Father Le Loutre's War and located on the Isthmus of Chignecto.
The Shubenacadie River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately 72 km from its source at Shubenacadie Grand Lake to its mouth at the historic seaport village of Maitland on Cobequid Bay, site of the building of the William D. Lawrence, the largest wooden ship ever built in Canada. In 2009, the I Backpack Canada blog named the Shubenacadie one of the top five whitewater rivers in Canada. The lower 30 km of the river is tidal and the river experiences a tidal bore twice daily, with some bores reaching up to 3 m in height at certain points along the river. Local tourism operators offer adventure seekers a chance to ride with the bore on high-horse power Zodiac Hurricanes. Tidal Bore Rafting was invented at the Tidal Bore Rafting Resort by H. Knoll. It is also a popular surfing spot for experienced Sea Kayakers.
Fort Edward is a National Historic Site of Canada in Windsor, Nova Scotia, and was built during Father Le Loutre's War (1749-1755). The British built the fort to help prevent the Acadian Exodus from the region. The Fort is most famous for the role it played both in the Expulsion of the Acadians (1755) and in protecting Halifax, Nova Scotia from a land assault in the American Revolution. While much of Fort Edward has been destroyed, including the officers' quarters and barracks, the blockhouse that remains is the oldest extant in North America. A cairn was later added to the site.
The Missaguash River is a small Canadian river that forms the southern portion of the inter-provincial boundary between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on the Isthmus of Chignecto. It had historic significance in the 18th century as the de facto border between French and English-controlled territories.
Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre was a Catholic priest and missionary for the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Le Loutre became the leader of the French forces and the Acadian and Mi'kmaq militias during King George's War and Father Le Loutre's War in the eighteenth-century struggle for power between the French, Acadians, and Miꞌkmaq against the British over Acadia.
Kennetcook is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipal District of East Hants. Also see adjacent community of Upper Kennetcook.
Noel is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipal District of East Hants, which is in Hants County, Nova Scotia. The community is most well known for being named after its most prominent resident Noël Doiron and for ship building in the nineteenth century. Noel Doiron is the namesake of the village as well as the surrounding communities of Noel Shore, Nova Scotia, East Noel, Noel Road, Nova Scotia, North Noel Road, Nova Scotia. The earliest recorded reference to the community of "Noel" was by surveyor Charles Morris in 1752. Prior to that date, the area is referred to as "Trejeptick", which first appears in the Colonial Office minutes of Annapolis Royal in 1734. Noel was also the home of the Osmond O'Brien Shipyard.
Noel Shore is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipal District of East Hants. The community is named after Noel Doiron and may have originally been named Vil Robere. Acadians left the area during the Acadian Exodus (1710). Birthplace of one of the famous "Miller Brothers", Harry Herbert Miller winner of the American Medal of Honor for actions during the Spanish–American War. His brother, Willard Miller was born in the neighbouring community of Maitland, Nova Scotia.
Densmore Mills is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in The Municipality of the District of East Hants in Hants County.
Selma is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in The Municipality of the District of East Hants in Hants County.
Eldon is a community in Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Eldon is southeast of Charlottetown in the township of Lot 57.
Noël Doiron was a leader of the Acadians, renowned for his leadership during the Deportation of the Acadians. Doiron was deported on a vessel named the Duke William (1758). The Duke William sank, killing many passengers, in one of the worst marine disasters in Canadian history. The captain of the Duke William, William Nichols, described Noel Doiron as the "father" to all the Acadians on Ile St. Jean and the "head prisoner" on board the ship.
The old name Cobequid was derived from the Mi'kmaq word "Wagobagitk" meaning "the bay runs far up", in reference to the area surrounding the easternmost inlet of the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia, Canada, a body of water called Cobequid Bay.
Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755), also known as the Indian War, the Mi'kmaq War and the Anglo-Mi'kmaq War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the British and New England colonists were led by British officer Charles Lawrence and New England Ranger John Gorham. On the other side, Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre led the Mi'kmaq and the Acadia militia in guerrilla warfare against settlers and British forces. At the outbreak of the war there were an estimated 2500 Mi'kmaq and 12,000 Acadians in the region.
The Acadian Exodus happened during Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories. The three primary destinations were: the west side of the Mesagoueche River in the Chignecto region, Isle Saint-Jean and Île-Royale. The leader of the Exodus was Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre, whom the British gave the code name "Moses". Le Loutre acted in conjunction with Governor of New France, Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière, who encouraged the Acadian migration. A prominent Acadian who transported Acadians to Ile St. Jean and Ile Royal was Joseph-Nicolas Gautier. The overall upheaval of the early 1750s in Nova Scotia was unprecedented. Present-day Atlantic Canada witnessed more population movements, more fortification construction, and more troop allocations than ever before in the region. The greatest immigration of the Acadians between 1749 and 1755 took place in 1750. Primarily due to natural disasters and British raids, the Exodus proved to be unsustainable when Acadians tried to develop communities in the French territories.
The Battle at Chignecto happened during Father Le Loutre's War when Charles Lawrence, in command of the 45th Regiment of Foot and the 47th Regiment, John Gorham in command of the Rangers and Captain John Rous in command of the navy, fought against the French monarchists at Chignecto. This battle was the first attempt by the British to occupy the head of the Bay of Fundy since the disastrous Battle of Grand Pré three years earlier. They fought against a militia made up of Mi'kmaq and Acadians led by Jean-Louis Le Loutre and Joseph Broussard (Beausoliel). The battle happened at Isthmus of Chignecto, Nova Scotia on 3 September 1750.
The William D. Lawrence Shipyard built vessels from 1859 until 1903 in Maitland, Nova Scotia. It is most renowned for building the William D. Lawrence in 1874, reported to be the largest wooden ship ever built in Canada and one of the largest in the world at the time. The merchant, shipbuilder and politician William Dawson Lawrence established the yard and built six vessels in it. His brothers Lockhart Lawrence and Thomas Lawrence both built vessels in the Shipyard as well as grandson Captain William Lawrence. The output of the Lawrence yard was relatively modest compared to other ship yards of the Bay of Fundy but Lawrence achieved distinction when he decided to build the William D. Lawrence as a tribute to shipbuilding in the province.
The Ile Saint-Jean campaign was a series of military operations in fall 1758, during the Seven Years' War, to deport the Acadians who either lived on Ile Saint-Jean or had taken refuge there from earlier deportation operations. Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Rollo led a force of 500 British troops to take possession of Ile Saint-Jean.
