This Week in Nova Scotia History: March 9-15
9 March after 1908 - During the winter months, when many ponds and inlets were frozen over in the province, the game of hockey was known to be a favourite winter pastime since the early nineteenth century. But rarely did artists visually record the game. Early nineteenth-century artist, Isabel Lear, was able to capture a game of hockey being played on the North West Arm. The presence of the 34metre tower at the Dingle dates the time of her painting to be after 1912 (when the tower was completed).
10 March 1760 - Paul Laurent, a prominent Mi'kmaq Saqamaw (Chief) and warrior signed a peace treaty in Halifax on behalf of the La Héve tribe (La Have, N.S.). With Laurent were also Saqamaw Michel Augustine and Saqamaw Claude Rene who signed treaties for their tribes. More Saqamaws would later sign as well.
Prior to the treaties, the Mi’kmaq had been in a cycle of war and peace with the British Crown for over 50 years. Laurent had also been involved in both Mi’kmaq-crown warfare, as well as diplomacy. He was known to be closely connected with Abbé Jean-louis Le Loutre's mission at Shubenacadie, as well as having participated in the Acadians' resistance under Charles Deschamps de Boishébert's command. He later surrendered to the British at Fort Cumberland (formerly Fort Beauséjour) and went to Halifax in February 1760 “to conclude a Treaty of Peace” with the British as earlier treaties had been terminated by wars.
The subsequent Mi’kmaqcrown Treaties of Peace and Friendship signed between various Mi’kmaq Saqamaqs, as well as with the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and the Passamaquoddy, with the British Crown - there were 10 nearly identical treaties which were signed between 10 March 1760 to 9 November 1761 (sometimes known as the Halifax Treaties) are now recognized and affirmed by the Constitutional Act (1982), and they remain today as the foundation of the relationship between the Mi’kmaq First Nations and the Crown.
In the opening statement of the Treaty, Laurent acknowledged “the jurisdiction and Dominion of His Majesty George the Second over the Territories of Nova Scotia or Acadia and we do make submission to His Majesty in the most perfect, ample and solemn manner.” Further, if there were any future ‘Quarrel of Misunderstanding’ between “the English or between them and any of my tribe, neither I nor they shall take any private satisfaction or Revenge, but we will apply for redress according to the Laws established in His said Majesty’s Dominion.”
Thus, Laurent and the other Mi’kmaq Saqamaw signatories also became British subjects and through various truck-houses, were provided outlets for trade and to obtain ’necessaries.’ This was also the basis for the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Donald Marshall (1999) providing for a Mi’kmaw right from the 1760-1761 Treaties to be able to have a moderate livelihood fishery and hunt. ‘Moderate’ though was not defined.
(References: “Treaties of 17601761.” Sister Dorothy Moore L’nu Resource Centre. Cape Breton University. URL: bit.ly/3v2eogz.)
11 March 1751 - Irishman, Florence Dunphy, died in an accident during the construction of the fortifications on Georges Island. Earlier, fellow Irishman, Thomas Duggan died in an accident on 19 February. Four days after Dunphy’s death, Michael Conway died from another accident.
At the time, Georges Island was also where many Foreign Protestants, known as “redemptioners,” had disembarked upon their arrival from Germany. Beginning in 1750-’51 with the Gale, the Betty, the Speedwell, and the Ann. They had “joined workers from the town, most of them Irish, who had been assigned the construction of fortifications.” Many lived in tents that had been set up upon their arrival as the Dartmouth side of the harbour was considered too dangerous due to attacks by Mi’kmaq warriors.
(Reference: Marshall, Dianne. Georges Island The Keep of Halifax Harbour. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 2003. p.28.)
12 March 1612-13 - Jesuit priest, Fr. Pierre Biard SJ (15671622), who resided at Port Royal from 1611-1613, shared his observations of the Mi’kmaq people’s challenges in obtaining food supplies during the winter months of 1612-13 in Nova Scotia - “…in the month of February and until the middle of March, is the great hunt for Beavers, otters, moose, bears (which are very good), and for the caribou, an animal half ass and half deer. If the weather then is favourable, they live in great abundance, and are as haughty as Princes and King; but if it is against them, they are greatly to be pitied, and often die of starvation.”
Biard had arrived at Port Royal in 1611. His accounts are some of the earliest chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France.
(Reference: Fr. Pierre Biard’s source is found in: Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. Edited by R.G. Thwaites. Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers Co.. 1897/Vol. III: 1611-1616. 77-83. URL: bit. LY/49WSUDN.)
13 March 1521 - Joao Alvares Fagundes (1460-1522), a native of Viana do Castelo, in the northern region of Portugal, recorded with a notary in Lisbon, the voyages that he had made the previous year with several families from the Azores to the coast of Newfoundland, and later sailing further east to a “new coast,” believed to be the coast of Cape Breton at Ingonish and at Chedabucto Bay. Fagundos is also believed to be the first European to explore and map the “Baye Fundo” (meaning deep bay in Portuguese) – now known as the Bay of Fundy.
As we know today, the history of Nova Scotia and the Maritimes does not begin in the 1500s with the arrival of Europeans. Nevertheless, Fagundes had reached the shores of Nova Scotia, because he had been commissioned by King Manuel of Portugal to establish a small colony in Portugal’s name. However, historian, L.A. Vigneras noted that “whether he (Fagundes) also explored Cape Breton Island and penetrated into the Gulf of St. Lawrence remains a matter of speculation.”
It is known though from later reports by Basque fishermen that some families from the Azores, and their descendants had settled on the shores of Cape Breton and established Portuguese fishing stations as they had reported to have sailed over earlier with Fagundes. They also expressed to the Basques the hope that Portuguese officials would send more support for priests.
As to what happened later to the Portuguese settlers who had arrived in Nova Scotia with Fagundes, “It is thought that the colony failed because of the hostility of local Natives. Whether this story is true cannot be established, given the evidence currently available.” It is known too that Mi’kmaq place names began to appear on Portuguese maps by 1550.
On 8 October 2000, over 150 families representing the Portuguese Society of Nova Scotia, and a number of families from the United States, gathered on the Halifax waterfront to christen a memorial to Portuguese explorer, Joao Alvares Fagundes.
(References: Vigneras, L.A.. “Fagundes, Joao Alvares.” Dictionary of Canadian Biography. URL: bit. LY/3T0D6ZV. And Hiller, J.K. “The Portuguese Explorers.” Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador. 2004. URL: bit.ly/48ks7ju.)
14 March 1746 - Following the first British siege and capture of Fortress Louisbourg in 1745 by New England provincial troops, British naval officer Charles Knowles (1704-1777) was appointed Governor of Cape Breton Island (formerly Ile Royale).
It was 33 years earlier (1713) when the French settlement of Louisbourg was founded by 160 people (mostly fishermen and their families, and some soldiers) who had vacated Placentia, Newfoundland.
With its strategic location for both the military and merchant trade with its close proximity to rich fishery grounds, construction of a fortress soon began with some of the best engineering talent from Europe constructing the fortress’s barracks, magazines, hospitals, a government house and chapel, making it one of the strongest fortresses on the North American continent. It was also expensive, as the French had spent over 30 million livres in its construction. As historian Kenneth Donovan has noted, “By 1737, Louisbourg with approximately 1,500 people, was one of the most populous towns in North America…, (and) colonial Louisbourg became a community, not merely in numbers, but in spirit and feeling.”
When the North American phase of the War of Austrian Succession broke out, known in North America as King George’s War (1744-1748), mainland Nova Scotia was in the hands of the British. It was headquartered at Annapolis Royal, with a military outpost at Canso to protect their fishery, while the French were well established on Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island) at Louisbourg.
For the 13 New England Colonies, mainland Nova Scotia was seen as a 14th colony and was considered the wedge between the two imperial powers. And as long as any disruptions
were confined to Nova Scotia, New England would consider itself safe.
However, the outbreak of the King George’s War hit home when news reached New England about French attacks at Annapolis Royal, and then Canso, where several prisoners were taken to Louisbourg. Many New Englanders became alarmed. Soon, under the leadership of Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts, a force of over 4,000 volunteers was raised for an attack on Louisbourg.
Many of the volunteers had no military experience, but all had a singular anger over the attacks that had happened, which was further fuelled by both anti-french and anti-catholic sentiments. They were led by commander-in-chief, William Pepperrell (1696-1759), a wealthy merchant and soldier in colonial Massachusetts, who helped organize and finance the expedition. He was supported by an additional 3,500 men from the British Royal Navy, led by Commodore Peter Warren (1703-1752).
After their attack began on 11 May 1746, the fortress fell six weeks later in June. One hundred New Englanders died in the fighting, but over 1,200 would later die of disease and the cold winter of 1745-46. That winter, newly appointed Governor Charles Knowles wrote, “I have struggled hard to weather the winter, which I’ve done thank God, tho was not above three times out of my room for five months - I am convinced I shou’d not live out another winter at Louisbourg.”
Much to the further distress of the New Englanders, with the Treaty of Aix-lachappelle in 1748, Fortress Louisbourg was returned back to the French. As for Charles Knowles, he would later serve as Governor of Jamaica, and after resigning from the British Navy in 1770, he accepted an invitation from Catherine the Great of Russia to serve as the first admiral of her Russian fleet. After serving for seven years, he would later return to London, where he died in 1777.
(Reference: Donovan, Kenneth. 1982. “Communities and Families: Family Life and Living Conditions in 18th Century Louisbourg.” Material Culture Review 15 (June). URL: bit.ly/3v2pfvg.)
15 March 1945 - When the Second World War started in September 1939, and up to March 1945, the Dartmouth Marine Slips shipyard repaired over 3,000 ships, with the peak years being 1941-42. Along with the Halifax Shipyard, they played a critical role during the Battle of the Atlantic (19391945).
As Dr. Brenda Hattie pointed out, due to men leaving their civilian jobs to fill the armed forces, a shortage of manpower was a challenge. By May 1942, the federal government had created a Women’s Division of the National Selective Service (NSS), with a mandate to recruit women into the labour force. This eventually included not only single women but also married women, filling a range of office roles, as well as in various trades.
For example, the Pictou Shipyards employed women in more than a third of their 2,000-employee workforce, many in non-traditional roles such as welding. Whereas the Dartmouth Marine Slips employed women in more traditional office roles.
This included Dr. Hattie’s mother, Nan (Wilkinson) Hattie, who, at the age of 17, was hired at the Dartmouth Marine Slips in 1942, after she had completed some courses at Miss Murphy’s Business College in Halifax. She told stories from the war years, which she described “as the most difficult time of her life and yet the most exciting… her position at the Dartmouth Marine Slips had given her a sense of self-confidence and agency as a young woman… having her own money had given her a new-found sense of independence…” Within five months of being hired, she was also put in charge of supervising five women in a hectic office, and a stressful environment that was practically 24-7.
The stressful realities of the working environment were evident when one considered that “Between January and May 1941, the lowest number of vessels entering Halifax in any one month was 329 and the greatest 434. The greatest number of ships in port on any one day was 126. Ship repairs at Halifax reached their peak on 4 April, when 64 ships were undergoing “major” repairs.”
Nan (Wilkinson) Hattie worked at the Dartmouth Marine Slips till 1949, “when she left to marry her longtime beau, Jack Hattie. She said she no longer wanted to work because, she said, she wanted to have and raise a family.”
(Reference: Hattie, Dr. Brenda. “Women of the Dartmouth Marine Slips 1939-1945 Final Report.” Nova Scotia Museum. May 2021.)