Friday, August 3, 2001

Many parallels between two Dartmouth towns

FOR ITS OCCASIONAL SERIES LOOKING INTO THE HISTORY OF THE NAVAL TOWN, DARTMOUTH HISTORY RESEARCH GROUP GIVES AN INSIGHT INTO LIFE IN NOVA SCOTIA

by DAVID STRANACK

DARTMOUTH, Massachusetts, USA -recently visited by our mayor, Cllr Richard Rendle, and a civic party - is not the only namesake town with which we have connections. Our own Dartmouth History Research Group has recently established links with a similar body in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. In this article, David Stranack compares the history of the two towns.

Dartmouth stands on the banks of a large, sheltered natural harbour which provides easy access to the sea. Stating the obviousone might think. But actually this description refers to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, our namesake town 3,000 miles across the Atlantic on the eastern seaboard of Canada.

There are some remarkable similarities in the histories of the two Dartmouths, with the sea, and fishing in particular, playing a major role in the development of both communities. But, inevitably, there are significant differences as well - not least in age.

It is not really feasible to pin down the foundation of our own Dartmouth to a specific year. The name is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 - although Townstal is - but there was almost certainly a small settlement down on the banks of the river by the end of the llth century. Our Dartmouth can therefore legitimately claim nearly 1,000 years of history.

The origins of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, however, can be pinpointed much more precisely. In 1750 the sailing vessel Alderney. with 353 colonists from England on board, dropped anchor in the harbour, across the water from the settlement of Halifax, on the western bank, which had been established the previous year. Many of the passengers making the voyage to the new world came from the south west of England, and it is highly likely that some originated from our own home town. Perhaps it was their voice that prevailed when it came to choosing a name for the new

Settlement.

Grants of land were made by the Govenor Edward Cornwallis and homes erected. But while the Dartmothians of Devon lived a relatively peaceful life on the bank of the Dart in the middle of the 18^th centuary, all was not well on the other side of the atlantic.

The tribe of Mi’kmaq Indians who had lived for generations in the region now named Nove Scotia, was less than enthusiastic about the newcomers’ approptiation of land that they considered to be theirs. Only a few months after disembarking from the Alderney the settlers were attacked by the local tribe, and several were killed. Enthusiasm for the new Dartmouth waned. Some colonists crossed the harbour to the relative safety of the larger community of Halifax, while others gave up and returned to England. By 1755 only five families remained in Dartmouth.

Mi'kmaq Indians at Tufts Cove Encampment in Nova Scotia

Picture contributed by Dartmouth (Nova Scotia) Heritage Museum

Fortunately, peace with the locals was eventually established, and by the end of the 18th century, Canadian Dartmouth was a thriving and expanding community, attracting such disparate groups as Quakers from New England, and 'loyalists' fleeing the aftermath of the American War of Independence.

Interestingly, it was the French that had a significant role to play in the development of both towns. Here in England it was the Normans who were the first to realise the full potential of Dartmouth as a port. In some of the town's earliest records it is predominantly French names that appear as tenants of properties.

In Canada the relationship with the French was somewhat different. France had been the first European country to establish a major presence in this part of the north American continent. But the success of their colonists was viewed jealously by the English, and during the 17th and 18th centuries the two nationalities battled continuously for supremacy.

By a strange historic coincidence both Dartmouth’s became involved in very similar preparations for war. In 1758 and 1759 thousands of British soldiers were billeted on the shores around Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, prior to the battles with the French at Louisbourg and Quebec. And it is recorded that they '... practised landing assaults on the steep slopes.' How remarkably similar this seems to be to the well-known events of 1944 when the Americans used the nearby shores of Start Bay to prepare for the storming of Normandy later that year.

With both towns enjoying natural sheltered harbours and easy access to the sea, it was inevitable that the fishing industry would play a major part in their development. As early as 1570 ships were sailing out of our Dartmouth, across the Atlantic to fish for the abundant cod that populated the great banks off Newfoundland. In spite of the hostile French, and indeed a less than enthusiastic Government in London, settlements of English fishermen were soon established on this great island off the coast of Canada, and a burgeoning trans-Atlantic trade in fish and fish products soon brought considerable prosperity to many ports in Devon and Cornwall, and to Dartmouth in particular.

Fishing, albeit in a different form, was also responsible for a major leap forward in the development of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. In the early 18th century a thriving whaling fleet had grown up around Nantucket Island, now part of Massachusetts, USA. The prevailing influence in this activity was the Quakers, who were loyal to England. Following America's War of Independence, the traditional allegiance of these loyalist Quakers was less than popular with the embryonic United States, and they were forced to seek a more friendly environment for their activities.

A relatively short journey northwards up the coast in 1785 brought them to the newly founded Dartmouth, where they settled, and brought much prosperity and development to the community during the next few years.'

Their spacious harbours have been a boon to both Dartmouths, but inevitably where there is water it has to be crossed. So ferry services have featured prominently in the development of both towns. Here in Devon there is mention of a ferry service across the River Dart as early as 1365. But the Canadian Dartmothians were quick off the mark as well.

In 1752 just two years after the first settlers landed, passengers were being transported regularly by oar and sail across the water to Halifax. 1830 was an auspicious year for ferries in both towns. Here in England an Act of Parliament was passed for the purpose of 'establishing and maintaining a Floating Bridge across the harbour of Dartmouth'. In the same year the first steam ferry - the Sir C Ogle was introduced to ply between Dartmouth and Halifax in Canada. This vessel was named after Rear Admiral Sir Charles Ogle of the Royal Navy, and operated the ferry service for 64 years.

So the long history of Dartmouth, Devon, and the rather shorter history of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, show some interesting parallels. But today perhaps we in Devon should extend some sympathy to our fellow Dartmouthians across in Canada, who have recently celebrated their 250th anniversary. Out there the powers that control local government and administration have deemed that Dart-mouth should no longer be a town in its own right. On April 1,1996, it was absorbed into the Halifax Regional Municipality, and in the eyes of officialdom Dartmouth is now no more than a district within the urban sprawl.

A warning for us all.

The Sir Charles Ogle - the first steam ferry to operate between Dartmouth and Halifax in Canada