St. Margarets Pioneer Cemetery Restoration

P.E.I. (Ile Saint-Jean) was a French overseas possession, as a result of the first documented discovery by explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534. The point of land he viewed was a cliff east of St. Margarets, at Campbell's Cove. His first landfall was near Alberton in Prince County. The colony welcomed its first inhabitants who were French fishermen, survivors of a shipwreck at Naufrage. There was a cemetery established on the west side of the bridge at that time. In 1758, during the War of Austrian Succession, Ile Saint-Jean was invaded by the British, and the French inhabitants for the most part, were deported.

P.E.I. was turned over to the British.  In 1765, Capt. Samuel Holland arrived with a work party and conducted an extensive survey. Click on the link for a digitized article entitled Captain Holland's survey. He divided the Island into three counties, 15 parishes and 67 lots.

 The lots averaged 20,000 acres apiece. These lots were auctioned off to friends and supporters of the King, with the agreement that the individuals were to recruit settlers of British descent to develop and populate the Island. J. M. Bumstead wrote an article for the Island Magazine, entitled Captain John MacDonald and the Island, which illustrates the era well. Another reference is the James P. Lawson article for the Island Magazine, regarding the immigrant ship Alexander, entitled Passengers on the Alexander.

The geographic illustration of parishes did not suit the needs of the era. The sea, the shore-line waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, was the first highway. Therefore the first "boundaries" served by this cemetery, probably stretched from the Cable Head area to the Bayfield area - Lots 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45. In 1798 a rudimentary census was conducted naming the heads of household. The names from listed in Lot 41, Lot 42 and from John McPhee to Allan McDonald in Lot 43 would apply to the St. Margaret's parish. Unfortunately, records are not available for Lots 44 and 45.