Noel, Nova Scotia
Encyclopedia
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 Noel 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, (also known as Densmore Mills, Nova Scotia
), Noel Road, Nova Scotia
, North Noel Road, Nova Scotia
. The earliest recorded reference to the community of "Noel" was by surveyor Charles Morris (jurist)
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.
, eight dwellings and dykes that are still there to this day. During this time, the village of Noel was in the middle of a war zone between New England and New France fighting to maintain control over Acadia. Upon his return from the New France victory in the Battle of Grand Pre
(1747), military officer Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu
stopped into Noel to tend to his wounded soldiers. Liénard de Beaujeu is the first recorded visitor to the village.
At the beginning of Father Le Loutre's War
, Noel Doiron and many others joined the Acadian Exodus
from mainland Nova Scotia to the French colony of Ile St. Jean (i.e., Prince Edward Island). Noel was accompanied by the Acadians in Selma, Nova Scotia
and Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia
. Noel specifically settled Pointe Prime, Ile St. Jean (present day Eldon, Prince Edward Island
).
Noel Doiron
was an Acadian
who was deported to France on a vessel known as the Duke William after the Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
. The Duke William sank on December 13, 1758. At least three hundred and sixty Acadians, including, Noel and most of his extended family perished. The sinking of the Duke William is one of the worst marine disasters in Canadian history (as measured by Canadian lives lost)--see list of disasters involving Canadians by death toll. According to the Captain of the Duke William, William Nichols (mariner)
, Noel Doiron was "head prisoner" aboard the doomed vessel and was described as the "father of the whole island", a reference to Noel's place of prominence among the Acadian residents of Isle St. Jean (Prince Edward Island). For his "noble resignation" and self-sacrifice aboard the Duke William, Noel was celebrated in popular print throughout the 19th century in England and America.
. Twenty one years after Noel was vacanted by the Acadians, the village was settled by Ulster Scots people Timothy O'Brien and his four sons (1771).
.
. Prior to the publication of academic scholarship on the namesake of the village of Noel (2008), the origin of the community's name was virtually unknown. The reason for the name's unknown origin was, in part, because the oral history of the community was lost with the Deportation of the Acadians, which left the village vacated for 21 years. The Ulster Scots and their descendants who arrived in the village created folklore that claimed that the village was named "Noel" (the French word for Christmas) because either the Acadians or the Irish first arrived in the village on Christmas day. Such folklore informed The Chronicle Herald headline on December 14, 1965: “Village of Noel has Direct Association with Christmas.” This folklore has also been reflected in a recent children’s book by Bruce Nunn & Yolanda Poplawska named Magical Christmas Light of Old Nova Scotia (2003). There is also a special Christmas postmark by Canada Post
created for the community (2005).
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...
province of 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 in the Municipal District of East Hants
East Hants, Nova Scotia
East Hants is a municipal district in Hants County, Nova Scotia.With its administrative seat in Milford Station, the district occupies the eastern half of Hants County from the Minas Basin to the boundary with Halifax County, sharing this boundary with the West Hants municipal district...
, which is in Hants County, Nova Scotia
Hants County, Nova Scotia
Hants County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia which was the home of Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Alden Nowlan and Noel Doiron. The county of Hants was created June 17, 1781, and consisted of the townships of Windsor, Falmouth and Newport...
. The community is most well known for being named after its most prominent resident Noel Doiron
Noel Doiron
Noel Doiron was a leader of the Acadians, renown for the decisions he made during the Deportation of the Acadians. Doiron was deported on a vessel named the Duke William . The sinking of the Duke William was one of the worst marine disasters in Canadian history...
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
Noel Shore, Nova Scotia
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. Birth place of one of the famous "Miller Brothers", Harry Herbert Miller. His brother Willard Miller was born in the neighbouring...
, East Noel, (also known as Densmore Mills, Nova Scotia
Densmore Mills, 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.- Acadians :...
), Noel Road, Nova Scotia
Noel Road, Nova Scotia
Noel Road is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in The Municipality of the District of East Hants in Hants County. The community is named after Noel Doiron.-References:*...
, North Noel Road, Nova Scotia
North Noel Road, Nova Scotia
North Noel Road is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in The Municipality of the District of East Hants in Hants County. The community is named after Noel Doiron.-References:*...
. The earliest recorded reference to the community of "Noel" was by surveyor Charles Morris (jurist)
Charles Morris (jurist)
Charles Morris was a Canadian army officer, officeholder, and judge.Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was the Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court from 1776 to 1778.He fought in the Battle of Grand Pre....
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.
Acadians
The community of Noel was named Trejeptick by the Mi'kmaq and was renamed Noel. Noel Doiron settled in the community around 1710 and lived there for forty years. During that time he and others in the Noel Bay built a chapel at Burntcoat Head, Nova ScotiaBurntcoat Head, Nova Scotia
Burntcoat Head is an unincorporated Canadian community in Hants County, Nova Scotia and is known internationally as the site where it was officially recorded that the Bay of Fundy, and specifically Burntcoat, has the highest tides in the world.- Highest Tides in the World :Burntcoat Head has a...
, eight dwellings and dykes that are still there to this day. During this time, the village of Noel was in the middle of a war zone between New England and New France fighting to maintain control over Acadia. Upon his return from the New France victory in the Battle of Grand Pre
Battle of Grand Pré
The Battle of Grand Pré, also known as the Battle of Minas, was a battle in King George's War that took place between British and French forces near present-day Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia in the winter of 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession...
(1747), military officer Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu
Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu
Daniel Hyacinthe Liénard de Beaujeu was a French officer during the Seven Years War. He participated in the Battle of Grand Pre . He also organized the force that attacked General Edward Braddock's army after it forded the Monongahela River. The event was later dubbed the Battle of the Monongahela...
stopped into Noel to tend to his wounded soldiers. Liénard de Beaujeu is the first recorded visitor to the village.
At the beginning of 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...
, Noel Doiron and many others joined the Acadian Exodus
Acadian 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...
from mainland Nova Scotia to the French colony of Ile St. Jean (i.e., Prince Edward Island). Noel was accompanied by the Acadians in Selma, Nova Scotia
Selma, Nova Scotia
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.- Acadians :...
and Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia
Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia
Maitland, East Hants, Nova Scotia is a village in the East Hants, Nova Scotia municipal district, and home to the historic Lawrence House Museum, part of the Nova Scotia Museum...
. Noel specifically settled Pointe Prime, Ile St. Jean (present day Eldon, Prince Edward Island
Eldon, Prince Edward Island
Eldon is a Canadian community in Queens County, Prince Edward Island southeast of Charlottetownin the township of Lot 57.- History :The Acadians arrived in Pointe Prime, Ile St. Jean in 1750...
).
Noel Doiron
Noel Doiron
Noel Doiron was a leader of the Acadians, renown for the decisions he made during the Deportation of the Acadians. Doiron was deported on a vessel named the Duke William . The sinking of the Duke William was one of the worst marine disasters in Canadian history...
was an Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
who was deported to France on a vessel known as the Duke William after the Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.-Background:The British government realized that with the...
. The Duke William sank on December 13, 1758. At least three hundred and sixty Acadians, including, Noel and most of his extended family perished. The sinking of the Duke William is one of the worst marine disasters in Canadian history (as measured by Canadian lives lost)--see list of disasters involving Canadians by death toll. According to the Captain of the Duke William, William Nichols (mariner)
William Nichols (mariner)
William Nichols of Falmouth, England was a sea captain in the 18th century. He played a prominent role in one of the greatest marine disasters in Canadian history as measured by loss of Canadian lives...
, Noel Doiron was "head prisoner" aboard the doomed vessel and was described as the "father of the whole island", a reference to Noel's place of prominence among the Acadian residents of Isle St. Jean (Prince Edward Island). For his "noble resignation" and self-sacrifice aboard the Duke William, Noel was celebrated in popular print throughout the 19th century in England and America.
Ulster Scots (Irish)
After the exodus of the Acadians from Noel (1750), the land was owned but never settled by Charles Morris (jurist)Charles Morris (jurist)
Charles Morris was a Canadian army officer, officeholder, and judge.Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was the Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court from 1776 to 1778.He fought in the Battle of Grand Pre....
. Twenty one years after Noel was vacanted by the Acadians, the village was settled by Ulster Scots people Timothy O'Brien and his four sons (1771).
Shipbuilding
The Noel Bay had many ship yards in the 19th century. The most prominent was the Osmond O'Brien Shipyard. This shipyard produced twenty vessels, the largest being the Amanda, which was sailed out of the bay by Captain William Scott of Minasville, Nova ScotiaMinasville, Nova Scotia
Minasville is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in The Municipality of the District of East Hants in Hants County....
.
Namesake of Noel
The village of Noel is named after Noel DoironNoel Doiron
Noel Doiron was a leader of the Acadians, renown for the decisions he made during the Deportation of the Acadians. Doiron was deported on a vessel named the Duke William . The sinking of the Duke William was one of the worst marine disasters in Canadian history...
. Prior to the publication of academic scholarship on the namesake of the village of Noel (2008), the origin of the community's name was virtually unknown. The reason for the name's unknown origin was, in part, because the oral history of the community was lost with the Deportation of the Acadians, which left the village vacated for 21 years. The Ulster Scots and their descendants who arrived in the village created folklore that claimed that the village was named "Noel" (the French word for Christmas) because either the Acadians or the Irish first arrived in the village on Christmas day. Such folklore informed The Chronicle Herald headline on December 14, 1965: “Village of Noel has Direct Association with Christmas.” This folklore has also been reflected in a recent children’s book by Bruce Nunn & Yolanda Poplawska named Magical Christmas Light of Old Nova Scotia (2003). There is also a special Christmas postmark by Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
created for the community (2005).
Links
- Film short on Noel and Marie Doiron: "The Exiles"http://hohants.weebly.com/6-noel-and-marie-doiron.html
- CBC Radio Documentary: "Noel Doiron and the Wreck of the Duke William" http://www.cbc.ca/maritimemagazine/archives/jan_w4.html
- Article in Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society: "Noel Doiron and the East Hants Acadians" (2008): http://www.acadian-roots.com/frames.html
- Journal of Captain William Nichols:http://www.acadian-roots.com/duke-two.html
- Letter from Captain William Nichols dated December 16, 1758 http://books.google.com/books?id=QlYDAAAAMAAJ&dq=The%20london%20magazine%22%20Vol.%20XXVII&lr=&pg=PA655#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- Captain William Nichols Webpage http://williamnichols.weebly.com
- Noel on Destination Nova Scotia