Guysborough, Nova Scotia
Encyclopedia
Guysborough is an unincorporated Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
community in Guysborough County
Guysborough County, Nova Scotia
Guysborough County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:Taking its name from the Township of Guysborough, which was named in honour of Sir Guy Carleton, Guysborough County was created when Sydney County was divided in 1836.In 1840, the Township of St. Mary's, in Guysborough...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
.
Located on the western shore of Chedabucto Bay, fronting Guysborough Harbour, it is the administrative seat of the Guysborough municipal district.
History
The Mi'kmaq name for the village of Guysborough was Chedabuctou. The village of Guysborough was first settled by europeans in 1634 by Isaac de Razilly. He built a fort named Fort St François à Canso at the entrance to the harbour. In 1655 Nicolas DenysNicolas Denys
.Nicolas Denys was a French aristocrat who became an explorer, colonizer, soldier and leader in New France. Today, he is perhaps best known for founding settlements at St. Pierre , Ste...
, governor of the new St Lawrence Bay Province, built Fort Chedabuctou on Fort Point to serve as his capital. The fort was later replaced and renamed Fort St Louis.
In 1682, a permanent settlement was started by Clerbaud Bergier. A group cleared land and spent the winter with the first crops being planted in 1683. Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Meneval
Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Meneval
Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Menneval was a governor of Acadia from 1687-1690.Little is known of his early life. He did serve in the French army in France with distinction and won Turenne’s notice and praise....
landed at Chedabouctou in 1687 when arriving to take up his position as governor of Acadia.
Claude Bergier led other merchants from La Rochelle, France in enjoying a fishing monopoly in Acadia. In 1682, Fort St. Louis was established by the Company of Acadia (Compagnie de la Peche Sedentaire) to protect the fishery. The principal ports were at Chedabucto Bay
Chedabucto Bay
Chedabucto Bay is a large bay on the eastern coast of mainland Nova Scotia between the Atlantic Ocean and the Strait of Canso next to Guysborough County...
, which accounted for fifty fishers in 1686. Dauphin de Montorgueil was the commandant at Fort Saint-Louis.
Raid on Chedabucto (1688)
The Company of Acadia suffered heavy losses in 1688, when Chedabouctou was pillaged by New Englanders.Battle at Chedabucto (1690)
During King William's WarKing William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...
, in 1690, Captain Cyprian Southack proceeded to Chedabucto to take Fort St. Louis which, unlike Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
, put up a fight before surrendering. As part of Sir William Phips
William Phips
Sir William Phips was a shipwright, ship's captain, treasure hunter, military leader, and the first royally-appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay....
expedition to destroy te capital of Acadia Port Royal
Battle of Port Royal (1690)
The Battle of Port Royal occurred at Port Royal, the capital of French Acadia, during King William's War , the first of the four French and Indian Wars. A large force of New England provincial militia arrived before Port Royal, which was surrendered without resistance not long after...
, Phips sent Southack to Chedabacto with 80 men to destroy Fort St. Louis and the surrounding French fishery. Meneval was stationed at the fort with 12 soldiers. They tried to defend the fort for over six hours, until fire bombs burned the fort to the ground. Southack destroyed the enormous amount of 50, 000 crowns of fish.
At the same time, Phips also dispatched Capt. John Alden who raid Cape Sable Island as well as the villages around the Bay of Fundy, particularly Grand Pre and Chignecto.
The Company of Acadia encountered a variety of difficulties on the way to its final disappearance in 1702.
Raid on Chedacacto (1718) - The Squirrel Affair
Shortly after Southback established himself at Shelburne, Nova ScotiaShelburne, Nova Scotia
Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Shelburne County.-History:-Settlers:...
, the Mi'kmaq raided the station and burned it to the ground. In response, from 17-24 September 1718, Southback led a raid on Canso and Chedabucto (present-day community of Guysborough) in what became known as the Squirrel Affair. Southack laid siege for three days to Fort St. Louis at Chedabucto, which was defended primarily by Acadians. There were approximately 300 Acadians in the area. On board the HMS Squirrel, Southack kills numerous of the Acadians and imprisons others. On September 18, British marines land on Lasconde's Grave and seize the entrance to Chedabuctou Harbour. The following day the HMS Squirrel landed troops at Salmon River who then proceeded to the rear of the village. The HMS Squirrel made its first attempt to enter the harbour but was beaten back by the Acadian cannon fire from the Fort. Later in the day the village was captured by the land troops. On September 20 the HMS Squirrel made a second attempt to enter the harbour. It successfully fired upon the fort. On September 23 Southack burned the village and loaded the goods on to the captured French transports. After pillaging and burning the villages, on September 24, Southack released the Acadian prisoners onto the Canso Islands without any provisions or clothing. Others fled to Isle Madame. He seized two French ships, and encouraged Governor of Nova Scotia Richard Philipps
Richard Philipps
General Richard Philipps was said to have been in the employ of William III as a young man and for his service gained the rank of Captain in the British army. He served at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and made the rank of Lt. Col. in 1712.In 1717 he was appointed Governor of Nova Scotia by...
to fortify Canso
Canso, Nova Scotia
For the headland, see Cape Canso.Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, next to Chedabucto Bay. The area was established in 1604, along with Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The British construction of a fort in the village , was instrumental...
.
French and Indian War
The Acadians in this region left in the Acadian ExodusAcadian Exodus
The Acadian Exodus happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories...
during Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre’s War , also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War and the Anglo-Micmac 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...
. Those that remained would have been removed during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
.
British settlers renamed the town Guysborough after Sir Guy Carleton
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, KB , known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Irish-British soldier and administrator...
, commander of the British forces and Governor General of Canada in the 1780s. Land in the area was granted to soldiers of disbanded British regiments following the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
and the population grew.
Guysborough Blockhouse (1812–1815) was built to defend the town's harbour by the British during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
The town's fine natural harbour led to its establishment as the administrative centre for the county, and despite the diminishing role of the harbour for transport links, forestry, fishing and agriculture remain of great importance to the area.
St Ann's Catholic Church is the second church on the present site and was built in 1873.
Attractions
- The Old Guysborough Court House Museum (c. 1842 to 1843) is a Municipal Heritage Property on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
- The former residence of Supreme Court of Nova Scotia Justice W.F. DesBarres. The justice was the grandson of Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarresJoseph Frederick Wallet DesBarresColonel Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres Colonel Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres Colonel Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres (November 22, 1721 – October 27, 1824 (or October 24, 1824 ) was a Swiss-born cartographer and Canadian statesman, who served as aide-de-camp to General James Wolfe...
who was an army officer, military engineer, surveyor, colonizer and colonial administrator who created an important 4-volume atlas of nautical chartNautical chartA nautical chart is a graphic representation of a maritime area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land , natural features of the seabed, details of the coastline, navigational hazards, locations of natural and man-made aids...
s for the coastline of eastern North America called the Atlantic Neptune. The residence was renovated into the DesBarres Manor Inn in 2003. Several maps from the Atlantic Neptune hang in the inn.
- The Rare Bird Pub, The Skipping Stone Souvenir Store and Candlery, built in the 1920s and located on the scenic waterfront, were built from the old Jost Buildings. Frequented from their opening to the mid-1970s, the last of them, a general store, closed its doors in the early 1990s.