Guysborough

History

The Mi'kmaq frequented the area, and had a seasonal settlement just south of present-day Guysborough near present-day Cook's Cove. The site of present-day Guysborough was first occupied by French Europeans in 1634, led by Isaac de Razilly, a French nobleman and Navy officer who later became Governor of French Acadia. He built Fort St François à Canso at the entrance to the harbour, on the peninsula known today as Fort Point. In 1655, Nicolas Denys, governor of the new St Lawrence Bay Province, renamed the area to Chedabuctou and built Fort Chedabuctou at the site of the Razilly's fort to serve as his capital. In the early 1680s, Clerbaud Bergier, a French Huguenot merchant from La Rochelle, France, led other French merchants in founding the Company of Acadia (Compagnie de la Peche Sedentaire), and established Fort St. Louis to control the regions fishery. Settlers were brought to support the fort and fishery, and the village of Chedabuctou grew next to the fort, as well as farming activity farther inland along the Milford Haven River. A group cleared land and spent the winter of 1682 at Chedabuctou, with the first crops being planted in 1683. By 1687, several families were living at Chedabuctou, as well as soldiers and many seasonal fishermen. In August 1688, during King William's War, raiders from New England pillage the fort and fishery. The fort is taken when a soldier opens the gate in the morning and all the others are still asleep, leading to the lone soldier being overwhelmed by the raiders hiding near the gate. The pillaging of the fort is a financial disaster for the company, with several large ships being captured. In the aftermath of this failure, the Company of Acadia is reorganised and a garrison of French Troupes de la Marine are stationed at Fort St.…