E arl e Lockerby 
     
    
   
   
    
     aint—Pierre-du-Nord (centered at 
     
     Havre Saint-Pierre) is one of 
     
     five parishes which existed on 
     
     Île Saint-Jean during the Freneh 
     
     regime, the others being Port—LaJoye 
     
     (Saint-Jean-I'Évangéliste). Malpec (La 
     
     Sainte—Famille), Saint-Louis-du—Nord—Est 
     
     and Pointe-Prime (Saint-Paul). Only the 
     
     parish registers of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord 
     
     and Port—LaJoye have survived. The 
     
     parish register of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord 
     
     travelled to France with a shipload of 
     
     depbrtees, aboard a British transport in 
     
     the autumn of 1758, following the 
     
     capture of Louisbourg by the British that 
     
     year. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Island historians have long been aware of 
     
     the parish register for Port—La Joye, but 
     
     such appears not t0 have been the case 
     
     for that of Saint-Pierre—du—Nord, the 
     
     original of which resides today in an 
     
     archives at St—Malo, France.l Books, or 
     
     chapters of books, dealing with Island 
     
     Acadian history have referred to the 
     
     register of Port—LaJoye without 
     
     mentiom'ng that of Saint—Pierre—du—Nord. 
     
     A relativer recent example of this is the 
     
     book The Catholic Church in Prince 
     
     Edward Island I720 - 1979 which was 
     
     published in 1979. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The first entry in the register of Saint— 
     
     Pierre-du—Nord is dated July l9, 1724 
     
     and records the baptism of Magdelene 
     
     Briand, daughter of Bernard Briand and 
     
    
   
   
    
     DISCO VERIN G LOCAL HIS T OR Y 
     
     THROUGH CHURCH RECORDS OF 
     
     SAIN IlPIERRE-DU-NORD (I 724-] 758) 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
     ,7“ “ma w.“ A“: 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
         
     
    
   
   
    
     Isabelle Saunier. both ot‘ whom wcrc 
     
     Mi‘kmaq. The priest administering thesc 
     
     rites was Claude—François de Brevant 
     
     who described himself as “prestrc 
     
     approuvé desservant dans la paroisse de 
     
     St—Pierre en l‘isle St Jean au déffaut d'un 
     
     curé.“ Entries by Brevant span the period 
     
     July l9 to September l6, 1724. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Of the first six entries, no Iess that live 
     
     involve Mi‘kmaq people. Such entries 
     
     may be found sprinkled throughout the 
     
     register. These confirm What is well 
     
     known from other sources, namely that 
     
     the French expended considerable efforts 
     
     to have the native people embrace the 
     
     Roman Catholic faith. These entries not 
     
     infrequently list French inhabitants as 
     
     witnesses t0 church rites involving native 
     
     people and as godparents in the case of 
     
     baptisms. This confirms the considerable 
     
     degree of social intercourse which existed 
     
     between the French settlers and the 
     
     Mi’kmaq people. 
     
    
   
   
    
     What the first entry and other early 
     
     entries also tell us is that in 1724 Saint— 
     
     Pierre—du-Nord was a parish in its own 
     
     right, not an adjunct to the parish of Port- 
     
     LaJoye. Moreover, a church existed in 
     
     the settlement at this time. A burial entry 
     
     of August 24, 1724 reads “inhumés dans 
     
     l’église.” Several marriage entries 
     
     subsequently state that the people were 
     
     “assemblés dans l’église.” The church 
     
     may have been built in 1724 or possiny a 
     
    
   
   
    
     l'l'ranscripts ofthe parish register of Saint-Pierre—du-Nord are available al the Prince Edward Island 
     
     Archives and Records Office, at me Centre d'études acadiennes (CEA),Université de Moncton, and a! the National 
     
    
   
   
    
     Archives cf Canada (NAC), Ouawa Microfilm copies of the original register are held by the CEA and NAC. 
     
    
   
   
    
            
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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