Page 9 - Giv'er Miramichi magazine - Winter 2019

Beaubear’s Island Speaker Series

The Friends of Beaubears Island will once again host Mi- of St Lawrence, from Miscou Island to Cape Breton. It in-
ramichi historians in a Speaker Series during the month of cluded a trading post at Miramichi in the 1640s, though the
February. Presentations will occur in the library at the Nelson first extensive French establishment on the river was that of
Rural School, 26 St Patricks Drive at 7pm on Monday and Denys’ son Richard.
Thursday evenings. Upcoming
speakers include: Feb. 21: Gérard Picot – The
Bearers of the Cross: The Writ-
ings of Fr. Chrétien Le Clercq
Feb. 11: Brandon Savage – Fol-
lowing in the Footsteps of the Gérard Picot presents a discussion
North Shore Regiment of the writings of Fr. Chrétien Le
Local history teacher Brandon Clercq, a Recollect Franciscan friar
Savage will recount his onsite and and missionary to the Mi’gmaq in
document research into the post- the mid-17th century. He was a
ings of the North Shore Regiment chronicler of New France, who
during peace and wartime. from wrote two early histories.
England through to Germany. Feb. 25: Frances Connell – The
Come and hear details of one of Shepherd of the Woods: Fr. Bene-
Canada’s most famous fighting dict J. Murdoch Frances Connell
units of World War II. our own presents on Fr. Benedict J. Mur-
North Shore soldiers. doch, who wrote ten books, his first
being The Red Vineyard (1923), a
Feb. 14: Henry Collins – Citizen
Based Science on the Blessed spiritual autobiography of his
Basin Harry Collins represents wartime experiences in the First
the Miramichi River Environmen- World War. Most of the other works
tal Assessment Committee were fictional or spiritual and are
(MREAC) as its Executive Direc- less well known.
A 1685 map by Fr. Emmanuel Jumeau. It displays a
tor. The organization has func- cross-shaped marking over territory above the former Feb. 28: Neil Wallace – Pirates!
tioned as a community-based town of Newcastle, which some take as an indication of Fact and Fantasy Neil Wallace
not-for-profit watershed organiza- the mission station and fort operated by Richard Denys. doubles down this year with a pre-
tion since 1989. MREAC’s pri- (Source: Beaubear's Island Interpretive Centre) sentation looking to the Golden
mary objective is environmental Age of Piracy of the early modern
stewardship and management of the Miramichi watershed. period. In its broadest accepted definition, his conversation
will span the 1650s to the late 1720s.
Feb. 18: Ken Walker – The Denys Family on the Mi-
ramichi 1647-1709 Ken Walker looks back more than three Learn more about this fantastic community of ours and its
centuries to a time when the domain of Nicholas Denys, gov- impact, both across the country and across the globe.
ernor of Acadia, extended along the southerly side of the Gulf

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