Mayflower descendants fall conference at Port Maitland school Sept. 28-29

Sept. 28 tour of Founders cemetery, where more than two-thirds of all interred are possible Mayflower descendants

The Nova Scotia Colony of Mayflower Descendants fall conference will start with a tour of the Founders cemetery.

The Nova Scotia Colony of Mayflower Descendants is having its annual general meeting and fall conference at the Port Maitland Consolidated School Sept. 28 and 29.

The group has as a mandate to educate, inform and inspire people about Nova Scotia’s Mayflower heritage – those descended from the pilgrims who travelled from Plymouth, England, in the fall of 1620 to land in Massachusetts.

The group and its meetings are open to anyone who has an interest in learning about the Mayflower and its heritage and in particular who wishes to know more about possible Mayflower An actor portraying Mayflower passenger William Bradford, spiritual leader of the Mayflower pilgrim. ancestry.

The weekend will start Friday at 3 p.m. with a tour of the Founders cemetery. Located on Highway 1 just north of Port Maitland, the cemetery is the resting place of grandchildren and others descended from the Yarmouth area’s earliest English settlers. Because the vast majority of these early settlers came from the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts, more than twothirds of all those interred here are possible Mayflower descendants – meaning if you can track your ancestry to one of these folks, the odds are good you may be a Mayflower descendant as well.

The meeting continues Friday evening with a talk about Mayflower sights in England and Holland, led by Canadian historian Susan Roser, who is also the General Society of Mayflower Descendants vice-governor. The group will also hear Acadian stories from noted local talespinner Laurent d’Entremont.

On Saturday, the main conference begins at 10 a.m., with Roser presenting. Talks will follow on how to trace your ancestry, led by Garnet Purdy, Judi Archibald and a panel of others who have completed official tracing and become full General Society members of the Mayflower Society by tracing their ancestors. After lunch on-site, the group will break into two groups; those wishing to learn more about joining and tracing ancestry will have a session led by Judi, while the other group, those who are already members, will attend the annual general meeting of the NS Colony.