Shediac (official in both languages; ''Shédiac'' is colloquial French) is a heavily Acadian town in Westmorland County,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) 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. It is the only province with both English and ...

. The town is home to the famous

Parlee Beach Parlee Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park located in Pointe-du-Chêne, New Brunswick, Canada. Geography Parlee Beach Provincial Park is located in eastern Westmorland County fronting the Northumberland Strait on the northeast side of P ...

and is known as the "Lobster Capital of the World". It hosts an annual festival every July which promotes its ties to lobster fishing. At the western entrance to the town is a 90-ton sculpture called ''

The World's Largest Lobster ''The World's Largest Lobster'' (french: Le plus grand homard du monde) is a concrete and reinforced steel statue in Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada sculpted by Canadian artist Winston Bronnum. The statue is 11 metres long and 5 metres tall, weig ...

''. It is believed that

chiac Chiac (or ''Chiak'', ''Chi’aq''), is a Creole variety of Acadian French spoken mostly in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. Chiac is often characterized and distinguished from other forms of Acadian French by its borrowings from English, ...

, a well-known French accent, was named after Shediac.

Etymology

Shediac was originally called La Batture. Its name was later changed to Shediac in reference to its position at the basin of the Shediac River. The name "Shediac" itself is derived from the Micmac word ''Esedeiik'', which means "which comes from far away", possibly in reference to the

Shediac Bay Shediac (official in both languages; ''Shédiac'' is colloquial French) is a heavily Acadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. The town is home to the famous Parlee Beach and is known as the "Lobster Capital of the World". It hosts ...

or the current of the

Petitcodiac river The Petitcodiac River is a river in south-eastern New Brunswick, Canada. Referred to as the "chocolate river" by local tourist businesses, it is characterized by its brown mud floor and brown waters. The river has a meander length of and is lo ...

Geography

Shediac is situated primarily on Route 133 around

, a sub-basin of the

Northumberland Strait The Northumberland Strait (French: ''détroit de Northumberland'') is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada. The strait is formed by Prince Edward Island and the gulf's eastern, southern, and western sh ...

. Its topography is relatively flat and its soil is mostly composed of sedimentary rocks dating from the Pennsylvanian. Shediac enjoys a continental climate. The town is located southwest and adjacent to the community of Pointe-du-Chêne, once the eastern terminus of the

European and North American Railway The European and North American Railway (E&NA) is the name for three historic Canadian and American railways which were built in New Brunswick and Maine. The idea of the E&NA as a single system was conceived at a railway conference in Portland, M ...

as well as a stopover for

Pan-Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

's transatlantic "clipper" air service featuring large seaplanes.

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

' flying boat service to

Foynes Foynes (; ) is a town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 520 as of the 2016 census. Foynes's role as seap ...

in Ireland also used the facilities.

History

Hundreds of years ago, the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...

encampment of "Es-ed-ei-ik" was one of the major camps in southeast New Brunswick. The Mi'kmaq word "Es-ed-ei-ik" which means "running far in" (in reference to the tide, which has a long range over the shallow, sandy beaches) eventually transformed into Gédaique.

Acadians The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

first arrived at Shediac in 1751 as a result of the

Acadian Exodus The Acadian Exodus (also known as the Acadian migration) happened during Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories. The thr ...

from peninsular

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 ...

. During the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, French officer Charles Deschamps de Boishebert made his headquarters at both Shediac and

Cocagne, New Brunswick Cocagne () is a Canadian community, formerly part of an eponymous local service district (LSD) and later incorporated rural community, in Kent County, New Brunswick. History It was named after Cockaigne, a mythical paradise in medieval Fre ...

. In the autumn of 1755, Boishebert established himself on the south shore of Cocagne Bay, a place known as Boishebert's Camp. The following year, Boishebert moved to

Miramichi, New Brunswick Miramichi () is the largest city in northern New Brunswick, Canada. It is situated at the mouth of the Miramichi River where it enters Miramichi Bay. The Miramichi Valley is the second longest valley in New Brunswick, after the Saint John Rive ...

, specifically to

Beaubears Island Beaubears Island (french: Île Boishébert) is an island at the confluence of the Northwest Miramichi and Southwest Miramichi Rivers near Miramichi, New Brunswick. The island is most famous for being the site of an Acadian refugee camp during th ...

. After the war, Acadians returned to the region in 1767. World's Largest Lobster (statue)

Today many

francophones French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the la ...

use the spelling Shédiac; however, the town's name upon its incorporation did not feature an accented "e", and correspondingly the official geographic name for the community is Shediac.

Shediac Bay Yacht Club

Shediac Bay Yacht Club is on the Register of 'Canada's Historic Places' for being the location of a local wharf for nearly a century. The previous Shediac Bay Yacht Club House was designed by Roméo Savoie.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Shediac had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Income (2015) Mother tongue (2016)

Notable people

Georges-Antoine Belcourt Georges-Antoine Belcourt (April 22, 1803 – May 31, 1874), also George Antoine Bellecourt, was a French Canadian Roman Catholic diocesan priest and missionary. Born in Baie-du-Febvre, Quebec, Belcourt was ordained in 1827. He established missi ...

(1803–1874), missionary * Edna May Williston Best (1880–1923), feminist * Emile Duprée (1936 – ), former professional wrestler and promoter *

René Duprée René Emile Goguen (born December 15, 1983), better known by his ring name René Duprée (; ja, レネ・デュプリ, Rene Dyupuri) is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah where he is a former two-time GHC Tag ...

(1983 – ), professional wrestler, former

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

wrestler, son of Émile Dupree *

Muriel McQueen Fergusson Muriel McQueen Fergusson, (May 26, 1899 – April 11, 1997) was a Canadians, Canadian activist, judge and politician. Fergusson served in the Senate of Canada and the first woman Speaker of the Senate of Canada, Speaker of the Senate. She is ...

(1899–1987), Canadian senator * Gord Gallant (1950 – ), professional hockey player * Placide Gaudet (1850–1930), journalist, historian *

Daniel Lionel Hanington Daniel Lionel Hanington (June 27, 1835 – May 5, 1909) was a New Brunswick, Canada politician and jurist. He was born at Shediac, New Brunswick, the son of Daniel Hanington, and was educated there and at Mount Allison Academy in Sackvil ...

(1835–1909), former Premier of New Brunswick * Rosa Laricchiuta (1974 – ), professional singer *

Joseph E. Leblanc Joseph E. LeBlanc (May 28, 1916 – May 23, 1979) was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1952 to 1974 as member of the Liberal party. References

1916 births 1979 deaths New Brunswick Libera ...

(born 1916), politician * Samuel Lee (1756–1805), judge, politician *

Anna Malenfant Anna Malenfant (October 16, 1902 – June 15, 1988) was a Canadian singer, educator and composer. Early years and career She was born in Shediac, New Brunswick. Malenfant began her career with a performance of ''The Mikado''in Moncton. Sh ...

(1905–1988), singer, educator and composer * Edward R. McDonald (1872–1952), lawyer, politician, mayor, inventor of the Crossword Game, 1926 * Olivier-Maximin Melanson (1854–1926), Acadian businessman and politician * A. P. Paterson (1870–1957), politician * Scott Pellerin (b. 1970), former professional hockey player *

Pascal Poirier Pascal Poirier (February 15, 1852 – September 25, 1933) was a Canadian author, lawyer, and the all-time longest-serving Senator. Born in Shediac, New Brunswick, in a big family, he attended College Saint Joseph in Memramcook, New Brunswic ...

(1852–1933), writer, lawyer, senator * Jean George Robichaud (1883–1969), politician * Ferdinand-Joseph Robidoux (1875–1962), lawyer, politician *

Wes Sheridan Wesley J. Sheridan (born 20 January 1960) is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Kensington-Malpeque in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 2007 to 2015. He was a member of the Liberal Party. A nati ...

, Canadian politician *

Albert James Smith Sir Albert James Smith (March 12, 1822 – June 30, 1883) was a New Brunswick politician and opponent of Canadian confederation. Smith's grandfather was a United Empire Loyalist who left Massachusetts to settle in New Brunswick after the Am ...

(1822–1883), former Premier of New Brunswick * Ernest A. Smith (1864 – ?), Canadian politician *

Elsie Wayne Elsie Eleanore Wayne (née Fairweather; April 20, 1932 – August 23, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Saint John from 1993 to 2004. She was born in Shediac, New Brunswick. Politi ...

(1932–2016), politician * John Clarence Webster (1862–1950), physician, historian

Sister city

Breaux Bridge, Louisiana Breaux Bridge (;Jack A. Reynolds. "Breaux Bridge" entry i"Louisiana Placenames of Romance Origin."LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses #7852. 1942. p. 77. french: Pont-Breaux; frc, Pont-(de)-Breaux ) is a small city in St. Martin Parish, Loui ...

since 1970Clément Cormier, « Les Acadiens de la Louisiane et nous », Les Cahiers, Société historique acadienne, vol. 17, no 1, janvier-mars 1986, p. 13

Bordering communities

External links

Greater Shediac Area website
{{Authority control Populated coastal places in Canada Towns in New Brunswick Lighthouses in New Brunswick Populated places established in the 18th century