The Great Canadian Genealogy Summit is offering sessions on
a variety of subjects that relate to my Nova Scotia research. The natives and
immigrants who formed the basis of the population came from a number of
distinct groups. My research families have interestingly diverse backgrounds.
There seems to have been a great intermingling once these groups came together
in the new land.
Some of the groups, such as the
Mi’kmaq and the Irish, are not represented in the various sessions. But other
groups that helped to form my research family’s backgrounds, will be discussed
at the summit. A major settlement group covered is the Acadians.
The most well-known fact about the
Acadians is that they were expelled from the Maritimes in 1755. But that is not
quite correct. The expulsion of the Acadians started in the last half of 1755
and continued until 1763. The Acadians were scattered all over the New World
and the Old and there were also some still left in Nova Scotia.
Did the Acadian families I am researching
find their way back to Nova Scotia or were they able to find a safe harbour in
the land they considered their own? I hope that the Acadian sessions at the
summit will give me some clues how to find this out.
Sources:
Griffiths, Naomi E.S. The
Contexts of Acadian History 1686 – 1784. McGill-Queen’s University Press,
Montreal, 1992
