Avon River Heritage Society
  • About
    • Avon River Heritage Society
    • The Avon River
    • Meet the People in our Neighbourhood
    • Fundraising
  • History
    • Natural History >
      • Highest Tides in the World
      • Tidal Bore
      • Avon Peninsula Ecology
      • Birds of the Avon
      • Marine and Freshwater Species of the Avon
      • Karst Environment
      • Gypsum
    • Pisiquit
    • Mi'kmaq >
      • Mi'kmaq of the Avon River
    • Acadians >
      • Acadians of the Avon River
      • Village Thibodeau (Poplar Grove)
      • Acadian Families After Expulsion
    • New England Planters >
      • Genealogy
      • James and Lydia Mosher
    • African Nova Scotians
    • Local Home Histories >
      • The Old Stone House >
        • The Mystery of the Fieldstone House
      • The Mounce Mansions >
        • Captain George R. Mounce House
        • The Thomas A. Mounce House
        • Interior of the Honeymoon House
      • Wallace Point
      • Edmund McCarthy
    • The Avondale School
    • Golden Age of Sail >
      • Vessels of the Avon River
      • Shipbuilding Process
      • Shipbuilding Tools
      • Ship Directories
      • Sailing Ships, Sugar, and Salt
      • The Hamburg
      • Captain George Richard Mounce Sr
      • The Rotundus
    • Avondale Wharf & The Landing
    • The Avon Spirit
  • Arts & Culture
    • The Great Little Art Show
    • Artists Landing Gallery
    • Open Studio at the Museum
    • Full Circle Festival
    • Artisans in Action
    • Paint Avondale
    • Avondale Wharf Day
    • Honey Harvest Festival
    • North Along the Shore Jamboree
  • Calendar
  • Rentals
  • Lydia and Sally Cafe
  • Planters Sea Chest Gift Shop
  • Volunteer Opportunities and Employment
  • How to find us!

Acadian Families  After Expulsion

Jacques and Marie Girouard (Boisseau) farmed in Newport Township in 1754 until their land and livestock were confiscated and their family was deported on separate ships in the 1755 expulsion. The story of what happened to them, their daughter, Theotiste Landy, son-in-law Paul Landry, their five children, and two grandchildren has been researched by historian Diana Ross McCain, published in Connecticut Magazine and presented in William Gerrior’s “Acadian Awakenings”.

Jacques and Marie, daughter Theotiste, son-in-law Paul, and one of Theotiste and Paul’s children were deported to Maryland while five other children of Jacques and Marie and two other children of Theotiste and Paul were deported to Connecticut. Described as “poor, naked, and full of vermin” on arrival after a long, harrowing journey, there the children were “bound out” to a local household, exchanging their labour for food and shelter. 

While the Landry and Girouard parents were frantically seeking their children, the young children were losing their language and memory of their parents. After great personal struggle, the parents managed to find their children but local officials took the children back to the households to which they were bound. The Girouards and Landrys petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly for the return of their children. Two of the children remained in Connecticut and two ended up on prison ships to England. After eight years in New England, the Girouard parents and some of the children got a passage to the French colony Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, where Jacques died shortly after arrival. Sadly, the tragic story of this Newport Township Acadian family was repeated too many times by other fractured Acadian families. 

In 2017, relatives of local deported Acadian families came to Newport Township for a cross-cultural gathering, which was also attended by others representing Mi’kmaq, Planter, and African Nova Scotian descendants of the area. Together, participants shared music, food, and a commitment to learning from each others’ histories to create a more compassionate and just future. 

You can read more about the Girouard family in “Acadian Awakenings”, a series of books by William Gerrior, on the history of Acadians and the Acadian Girouard (Gerrior, Giroir, Giroire, Gerrior) family. 

Avon River Heritage Society Museum, 17 Belmont Road, Avondale/Newport Landing, Hants County, Nova Scotia, B0N 2A0
Email us at infoavonriver@gmail.com
Telephone us, May through October, at (902) 757-1718