Exile Destination: Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France
| A terrible storm separated the convoy on it's
way to St. Malo. While two of the ships (Duke William, Violet)
sank, another was blown offcourse and made it to Boulogne-sur-Mer on December
26, 1758. Boulogne was a town of about 8000 at that time. |
The 179 Acadians who survived the trip stayed in the area for about
six years. [Note: a letter by Mr. Varignon written Dec. 27, 1758 mentioned about 180 had left Acadia and about a dozen had died en route. A letter from the Intendant of Picardy on Jan. 6, 1759 gives their number as 179.] Most of these Acadians had been at Pointe Prim, Ile St.
Jean (and at Cobequid before that). Like the other Acadians in France,
they received welfare from the government (6 sous per day). Diseases
such as smallpox struck down many of them.
 Seeking a better life, many volunteered to
migrate to other French territory. The West Indies island of St.
Lucie, was considered in 1763. But the group would eventually head
for Cayenne on Nov. 22, 1764 aboard the Les deux Frères. They arrived 49 days later. |
|
Other Acadians at Boulogne decided to join other Acadian exiles in
France. In late spring 1766, they sailed aboard the le Hazard to St. Servan.
A list attached to the St. Servan census of May 1766 identifies 77 of them.
A minority of the Boulogne Acadians settled down for good and have descendants
there today. |
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| LINKS: |
- Les
Acadiens de Boulogne-sur-Mer
- a list of Acadians from Boulogne was compiled by a Mr. Sainte-Mareville and can be found at the Municapal Archives
- Ernest Deseille has compiled a list of 118 Acadians at Boulogne; it can be found at the Boulogne Library
- Acadiens de l'Ile Saint-Jean a Boulogne - 1758-1764, La Société Historique Acadienne, Apr-May-Jun 1972 |
Return to Exile Destination: FRANCE |
