- The First Acadian
Charles de St Etienne de La Tour
- Publisher
- New World Publishing
- Initial publish date
- Nov 2022
- Category
- NON-CLASSIFIABLE, Native Americans
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781989564288
- Publish Date
- Nov 2022
- List Price
- $19.95
Add it to your shelf
Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 14 to 18
- Grade: 9 to 12
Description
The First Acadian; Charles de St Etienne de la Tour ISBN 90781989564288 - $19.95 (142 pages)—a fascinating history of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick: from pre-teen to Governor of Acadié, survival via friendship with the Mi’kmaq, the lucrative fur-trade, love and marriage, conflict and war, and historic outposts/fortresses of today’s Maritimes. This is Peter’s 4th book for New World in the past 7 years of his eleven books in history and for historical education. Peter has 3 degrees in history; is an interesting storyteller who makes good historical connections — this is a lighter read, but thoroughly researched and comprehensive historical story about a fascinating character in Maritime history: it is also well-promoted in the Atlantic region
About the authors
Contributor Notes
Biography
The Hon. Peter L McCreath, PC, DCL, MA, is a long-time resident of Hubbards, Nova Scotia, and is a direct descendant of John Cary who arrived in Massachusetts Bay in 1644. His descendant, Rose Cary vacationed with her family in Hubbards, Nova Scotia, in 1909 where she met a local boy, Lionel Shatford, whom she married a decade later, after he returned from five years of service in the Canadian Army in Europe during World War One. Rose Cary Shatford was his maternal grandmother.
Peter has led, to say the least, a remarkably diverse series of careers and a full, interesting life. He is by education an historian and educator: with BA (Hons. History) from the University of Toronto, an MA (History) from Dalhousie University and two degrees in Education from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. He completed the coursework for a PhD in history at Queen’s University, but a chance to work as the executive assistant to the Rt. Hon. Robert L. Stanfield took him to Ottawa and his connection to political life began. He was also awarded two honorary doctorates from Saint Mary’s and the Doctoral Faculty of Mexico.
His diverse life has included: naval officer, a teacher and professor, a journalist, broadcaster, small business owner, a banker, a change management consultant, a Member of Parliament and cabinet minister, a world traveller, a human rights commissioner and advocate. After three stints as an executive assistant to prominent political figures, eventually led him to run for office himself: the House of Commons as MP for the South Shore and in the federal cabinet. That was followed by fifteen years in the wine and spirits business, nine of which were as founding Chair of the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.
He was also one of the first recipients of the Citation for Citizenship (Govt of Canada), the Canada 125 Medal, and the Queens Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee medals.
After four books on history for the public-school systems within Canada and many monographs on human rights, Peter turned to writing books for the public. This is his fourth trade book on history, politics and travel – the second in three years by New World.
A multi-generation Nova Scotian, husband and father – and a servant to many cats – he is married to Judy, still lives in Hubbards, and has a grown daughter and son.
Excerpt: - The First Acadian: Charles de St Etienne de La Tour (by (author) Peter L. McCreath; compiled by Janet Soley; managing editor Francis Mitchell; guest editor Virginia Houston)
Chapter 14: A Sparkling New Addition to my Life: Françoise
La Tour: You have seen the ground laid. The next few or even more years were going to be difficult, and I expect, far more interesting than I might have wanted. So, I felt I needed to bring a little sunshine into my life, which turned out to be a welcome new dimension.
Reporter: Let me guess, I’ve read some history prior to our conversation: you are going to tell me that you had decided that you had been alone long enough, that it was time you found yourself a wife, a woman to love and to become a partner in your life.
La Tour: Entirely correct, despite facing an unwanted war, I began to realize that there was something important missing in my life: a woman to love and, perhaps it could be said, to make my life whole.
What can I say, I was over 40 years old, and had lived my entire life since my teens in Acadié. I had never really had any sort of social life as they had in France. I had a wonderful and beautiful wife, and together we had three beautiful daughters, information I shared with you earlier. But, since losing her, and my girls moving forward with their own lives, I had been very much alone, in that regard, for a long time. And I know it was no disrespect to Marguerite, and she would have understood that there is something missing if you do not have a life partner. And in that regard, I had been on my own for some time. So, I made the decision that it was more than about time to find myself a wife: one that I could love, one that could handle life in Acadié, and, frankly and hopefully, one that could handle me.
Reporter: I expect that would have been a challenge. What did you have to offer a young bride, or her family? Obviously, my suspicion would be that you had no place in society in Paris or even in Champagne. How were you going to go about this challenge?
La Tour: Obviously, I really did not know the details of how these things were done at the time, how these arrangements were made – especially for older guys like myself. But I did know that it was not uncommon that with a few inquiries in the right places, marriages could be arranged by contract, almost like two companies coming together. I expect it is different now: previously one would meet someone, fall in love, get married and live happily ever after, perhaps a bit of a fairy tale. But I knew that was not exactly how it was done in my day. Even so, I expect that the prospective bride and groom would at least get to meet prior to the wedding, maybe
even get to know each other. But at that time, that was not really an option for me. I could not leave Acadié and return to France and be gone for up to a year. By then, there would not likely have been anything for me to come back to.
So, I arranged with a business colleague associated with my trading company partners in La Rochelle, but people who knew me, but also knew quite a bit about life in Acadia, to see to finding me a possible wife. He was a well-respected man called Guillaume Desjardins du Val. I asked him to seek out and find a woman who hopefully would be compatible – to be my wife. Obviously, I wanted someone of a similar social stature as myself, one who was comfortable with the idea, and felt she could handle life in the quasiwilderness of Acadié.
As you know, it was common in our day, that there would be a formal marriage ‘license’, normally signed off by the parents with the consent of the couple. And normally, both parties would be expected to indicate what, by way of resources, they would bring into the marriage. Certainly, there was an expectation that the bride would come with a dowry, in cash or property of some sort. I knew that it was reasonable to anticipate that there would not be a great rush of young women interested in taking on life in what one might consider “the unknown wilds of a land such as Acadié”. So, in my proposal, I put forth no request for a dowry from my prospective wife. At the same time, I offered a gift up front of 2,000 livres with which she could purchase jewellery or whatever else she might wish or need, plus fifty percent of all my earnings from the date of our marriage, and a guarantee of 10,000 livres in insurance on my life, in funds set aside to comfortably enable her to return to her parents in the event of my death.18
Françoise Marie Jacquelin Courtesy www,biography.ca
Desjardin did his job well. He found a beautiful, twenty-year old girl, Françoise Marie Jacquelin, the daughter of a highly respected Paris physician. In fact, the marriage contract was signed
First Acadian Le Tour Oc28 wos1.indd 102-103
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on December 31, 1639, early in the new year. I guess they had a little celebration in Paris, then she sailed out to meet me at Cape Sable near the end of March 1640. We were properly married by a priest at Fort St. Louis on Cape Sable.
From there we proceeded to Fort La Tour across the great bay, where I introduced her to the beautiful home I had built for her, which also accommodated her servants.
Reporter: That must have been a great joy! And I gather, she turned out to be a wonderful and remarkable woman.
La Tour: Of that, there is no doubt or question. In very short order, I must tell you, I fell deeply in love with her. And it did not take long for me to learn that not only was she beautiful, but she was also of great strength of character, courage, and intelligence. And I also had a great amount of assistance from my dear wife, Françoise, who although from Paris became not only a loving wife, but a strong supporter, indeed even as an administrative and military asset. She also came to love life in Acadié, which I would say was a most pleasant and welcome surprise. She became my best friend and advocate. Indeed, she had remarkable courage and leadership qualities of her own. Not long after her arrival in Acadia and our marriage, Françoise gave birth to a baby boy. What more could one ask?
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