https://youtu.be/3E7_NcQyZ4A?si=Av24xFWWYBmis46- Although Antoine Le Poupet de La Boularderie and his father Louis-Simon have been designated Canadian Historic Persons - individuals who made significant contributions to the history of Canada - their story has only ever been partially told. Part of their story can be found on Cape Breton Island, another part in France, and still … Continue reading Podcast Episode 09a – The Boularderies of Little Bras d’Or
Île Royale
Monsieur de Poilly’s 1757 Winter Tour of Cape Breton Island – Part 4
French Engineer Grillot de Poilly arrives in Port Toulouse, present-day St. Peters, Nova Scotia and gives a thorough assessment of what he finds there. This portion of his journal contains much valuable information about the Mi'kmaq that inhabited the area at this precarious time in Cape Breton's history. In some places we've inserted a question … Continue reading Monsieur de Poilly’s 1757 Winter Tour of Cape Breton Island – Part 4
Podcast Episode 08 – Christophe Chiquelier Jr: Louis XV’s Music Man in Louisbourg
As “Keeper of the King’s Instruments” for Louis XV, Christophe Chiquelier Jr’s work was endless but no doubt fulfilling. He was a master musical instrument maker, supplier of harpsichords to the Royal Family, and an instrument collector. But for a brief time during his youth, he was a soldier in Louisbourg, the capital of the … Continue reading Podcast Episode 08 – Christophe Chiquelier Jr: Louis XV’s Music Man in Louisbourg
Podcast Episode 07a – The Chevalier de Johnstone: From Culloden to Cape Breton
The Chevalier de Johnstone is one of the most colourful personalities to have come through Cape Breton in the 18th century. A Scottish exile who was involved in the 1746 Jacobite Rebellion, Johnstone was likely one of the only - if not the only - Scotsmen in Cape Breton during the time of Louisbourg. He … Continue reading Podcast Episode 07a – The Chevalier de Johnstone: From Culloden to Cape Breton
Monsieur de Poilly’s 1757 Winter Tour of Cape Breton Island – Part 3
The next leg of the French engineer de Poilly's journey, as found in the document “Plan et memoire d’un voyage fait pendant l’hiver de 1757, autour de l’Isle Roïale,” takes a very dangerous turn. Poilly and his travelling companions enter the Bras d'Or Lakes - an unfamiliar place to the French living in Cape Breton … Continue reading Monsieur de Poilly’s 1757 Winter Tour of Cape Breton Island – Part 3
Podcast Episode 05 – The Lost Harbour of Saint Esprit
For centuries, Cape Breton Island has seen waves of settlers come ashore from many different parts of the world. The ebb and flow of peoples spurred on by the effects of war, by enterprise or by the simple desire to put food on their table has shaped the cultural fabric of the island for hundreds … Continue reading Podcast Episode 05 – The Lost Harbour of Saint Esprit
Remarkable Stories From the Lost Settlements of 18th Century Cape Breton
Figure 1.1 - "A plan of the island of Cape Britain reduced from the large survey made by the orders and instructions of the right honorable the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations" by Samuel Holland, April 1767. To view a larger version, click here. The settlements of St. Esprit, Allemands, Rouillé and Espagnole no … Continue reading Remarkable Stories From the Lost Settlements of 18th Century Cape Breton
Monsieur de Poilly’s 1757 Winter Tour of Cape Breton Island – Part 2
Header image: Following the Moose, Cornelius Krieghoff (1860) The next portion of the journal "Plan et memoire d’un voyage fait pendant l’hiver de 1757, autour de l’Isle Roïale," prepared by Monsieur Grillot de Poilly, details their journey from Spanish Bay to Port Dauphin, known today respectively as Sydney and St. Ann's. If anyone out there … Continue reading Monsieur de Poilly’s 1757 Winter Tour of Cape Breton Island – Part 2
Monsieur de Poilly’s 1757 Winter Tour of Cape Breton Island – Part 1
Header image - Winter Landscape, Laval by Cornelius Krieghoff (1862) François-Claude-Victor Grillot de Poilly (or Monsieur de Poilly for short) was an Engineer in the French army who served at Louisbourg from 1755 to 1758. In February 1757, when the rivers and lakes had finally frozen over and travel on foot was now possible, he … Continue reading Monsieur de Poilly’s 1757 Winter Tour of Cape Breton Island – Part 1
Podcast Episode 04 – Explorers La Pérouse and Cook Converge on Cape Breton, 1758
In the age of Pacific exploration, two men spearheaded expeditions to parts of globe previously uncharted by Europeans - Jean François de La Pérouse and James Cook. Although La Pérouse and Cook would never meet, both men would converge on Cape Breton Island in the year 1758, near the beginning of their careers. This episode … Continue reading Podcast Episode 04 – Explorers La Pérouse and Cook Converge on Cape Breton, 1758
The Lost World of Cape Breton Island 