Timeline
HISTORY
1719: Fishermen from French established a burial ground in nearby Naufrage (a French word for shipwreck), initially for those lost in a shipwreck. Until the Scottish cemetery was established, oral history states this French cemetery may have been used for pioneer burials. There is no evidence in archival or church records to substantiate this claim.1771: First Scottish settlement
1798: Census - Lot 43 population ~ 40 families
1803: Census - population of Naufrage and East Point of 483.
1803: Requirements provided for new cemeteries - A pastoral letter dated at Tracadie August 24, 1803, and signed by Right Rev. P. Denaut, Bishop of Quebec states: " We permit cemeteries to be opened wherever a chapel shall be built, but they must be blessed and well fenced in."
1805: Permission Granted to establish new cemetery. On October 28,1805, Father McEachern wrote a letter which stated that he had a church covered in at Naufrage measuring 34 x 24 feet. Permission was granted to establish a cemetery which was to be blessed and fenced in near the church. At the time of the 1973 restoration, it was believed that the first burial had occurred in 1805. However considering the first Scottish settlement was in 1771 and there was a healthy population in the region in the early 1790's common sense dictates that this ground is much older. As there were marriages and births, most certainly there had to be deaths.
1816: Church established. Father MacEachern's letter of September 19,1816 states that the first church of St. Margaret's was put up about this time. He writes a chapel put up and covered in on Lot 44 about 8 miles north of the French at St. Alexis, 45 x 32 and 18 feet in the post.
1837: Church enlarged. Father John MacDonald enlarged the church at St. Margaret's in the year 1837.
1861: Census - Lot 43 population ~ 900 families
1895: Burials cease. Cemetery abandoned. Once again, one is unable to establish a precise date. A new cemetery was established ca. 1897 behind the current St. Margaret of Scotland Church, on what is today the Northside Road.
1973: Restoration Project. The pioneer cemetery received a substantial makeover in 1973. Most of the historical material in this site is from the 1973 project, and it was gained from the Public Archives of Prince Edward Island. There are errors and omissions. Until they are corrected, this research material will remain intact.
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