Grandique Ferry is a former community in

Richmond County Richmond County may refer to places: Australia *Richmond County, New South Wales, a cadastral division Canada *Richmond County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Richmondshire, the original Richmond County in Yorkshire, England United States ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Currently classed a "

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

" by the provincial government, it is situated on the northern shore of the Lennox Passage near Louisdale, opposite Grandique Point on

Isle Madame Isle Madame is an island off southeastern Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. It is part of the Municipality of the County of Richmond. Once part of the French colony of Île-Royale (New France), Île-Royale, it may have been named for Franço ...

. The name "Grandique" is derived from the French meaning for "big ditch" or "big bank".

History

Grand Digue Ferry was a mission of Arichat in the early 19th century. There is a Grandique on Isle Madame, which claimed they had the mission. It was Grandique Ferry that had the mission according to Bishop John Cameron, in an article in the May 22, 1969, edition of the Antigonish Casket. It was about the History of L'Ardoise Parish. He wrote that the idea was eventually when a cleric was available to establish a parish to administer to the people of St. Peters Bay area from Grand Digue Ferry to L'Ardoise. The Diocese was in Arichat from 1844 to 1886. The seat of the diocese was transferred to Antigonish around 1886 and it happened under Bishop John Cameron. According to mission records Grandique Ferry had population of 76 in 1821. There were 44 adults and 32 children. River Bourgeois had a population of 58 in 1821. This wouldn't be the back road of Grandique on the Island. River Bourgeois was an established community since the late 18th century. In the summer of 1827, news that a new road was about to be built between the Grandique Ferry harbour on the Lennox Passage and the Ship Harbour road. The Harbour in 1827 was known as the Grandique Ferry . Travel to

Arichat Arichat is an unincorporated place in the Municipality of the County of Richmond, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the main village on Isle Madame on the southeastern tip of Cape Breton Island. Toponym The name derives from a Mi'kmaq word meaning c ...

, the Gut of Canso and points west would soon become more tolerable. According to the 1861 census, there were 13 polling stations in Richmond County, Nova Scotia. Grandique Ferry (Louisdale) had no polling station. It was in with D'Escousse, because all of route 320 was in this polling station. D'Escousse had a population of 1173 in 1861. In 1881, D'Escousse had a population of 1492. In 1956, it was only 228. In 1956, they counted the population of Louisdale and other places on route 320 separate. Louisdale had a population of 736 in 1956. The combined total of seven other places on route 320 had population of 937 in 1956. Louisdale's (Grandique Ferry) population was added with all the route 320 places in the 19th century. According Marriages from the

Board of Statistics compiled by the

government, there was a church in Grandique Ferry in 1886. Maude Fixott and Nicholas White from

PEI PEI or Pei may refer to: Places *Matecaña International Airport, Pereira, Colombia, IATA code PEI *Pei County (沛县), Jiangsu, China *Pei Commandery (沛郡), a commandery in Chinese history *Prince Edward Island, a province of Canada * Pei, ...

were married in Grandique Ferry on September 7, 1886.

Early 20th century

In the early 20th century, Grandique Ferry was still a separate settlement in

Richmond County, Nova Scotia Richmond County is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the Municipality of the County of Richmond. History Named in honour of Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, who was Governor ...

. In the Journal of Education book by the

Nova Scotia Department of Education The Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is a department of the Government of Nova Scotia responsible for overseeing education institutions in the province. Becky Druhan is the current Minister of Education. Histo ...

in 1905, they mention the places with schools in

. No.18. was Grandique Ferry. The next one was No. 21 Basin. There was no Barachios St. Louis or Louisdale. In the Journal of Education book by the

in 1908, they mention the list of schools in

. They had No. 18 Grandique Ferry and No. 19 was Louisdale. The Louisdale area was known as Barachois St. Louis. The name was changed by act of the provincial legislature on April 7, 1905. The Act stated, " The settlement or district in the county of Richmond, now known as Barachois, St. Louis, shall hereafter be known and designated Louisdale".

References

{{Reflist

External links

(Picture taken in 1903 from Lennox Passage near Bridge. Heading Grandique Ferry - Isle Madame. Image from Freshwater and Marine Image Bank.)
*https://web.archive.org/web/20030716032321/http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/epb/sfish/maps/ns/high/ns90203.jpg Map with Grandique Ferry on it. *https://web.archive.org/web/20080204065433/http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/index.html *https://archive.today/20010426021539/http://www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625/nshist00.html *http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20071104044712/http://web.syr.edu/~elgalvin/gen/ *http://lardoise.netfirms.com/index.html#L'Ardoise%20index *https://web.archive.org/web/20070602060628/http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/ *http://www.gov.ns.ca/

Communities in Richmond County, Nova Scotia