I had an email forwarded to me by Saugeen Times, that came from a couple who had biked the Lake Huron trail and had encountered Miramichi Bay in Saugeen Shores. He had originally come from the Miramichi area of New Brunswick.
He was wondering how the Miramichi name had come to be associated with this location in Saugeen Shores. Little did he know that I had been waiting more than 10 years for someone to ask me that question.
I pulled out some old files and research documents, got them organized, and phoned him to tell him the story. It goes back 175 years plus. It starts on the bank of the Saugeen River, between what today is Durham and Hanover. The little book is still in print and is available at the Museum. It is titled PIONEER DAYS at Guelph and the County of Bruce. It was written and published in 1905 by David Kennedy Sr. I grew up with a copy of it in our home. I believe today that an original copy is buried in my brother-in-law’s garage in Owen Sound.
Kennedy met three members of my maternal grandmother’s ancestors building a scow on the river near Hanover on March 29, 1851. They were heading for the tiny community of Saugeen at the mouth of the river. They had walked there from Guelph on a bush trail from Guelph to Owen Sound that had been cut a few years earlier, but the fast flowing spring water in the river would get them to their destination much faster.
Another seven members of their family continued on to Owen Sound. They walked the First Nation bush trail to Southampton later in April when it would be passable.
By the end of April 1851, there were 10 of my ancestors in Saugeen/Southampton. They had travelled there from Chatham, New Brunswick, the heart of the Miramichi District. This area is the homeland of the Mi’kmaq people.
The 10 members of my ancestors who arrived were:
1. Jonathon Martindale Sr. – Shoemaker-My Great Great Grandfather.
2. Ann Martindale – My Great Great Grandmother.
3. Jonathon Martindale Jr. (son)– Seaman.
4. James Martindale (son) – Stevadore.
5. Esther Cowart (Martindale) – Daughter – Widow of Peter Cowart
6. David Martindale-Plasterer-My great Grandfather
7. Mary Elizabeth Martindale (nee Jones) – wife of James
8. Deborah Martindale – small child of James and Mary.
9. Jonathon Martindale III – small child of James and Mary.
10. Eliza Martindale – Wife of James.
The Martindale family had arrived in the Miramichi in 1826 or 1827 from Northwest England. Some older children remained in the Miramichi.
This is the start of a much bigger story so let me remain focused on the question about “Our Miramichi Bay”. How did it get its name?
Well, my darling, soft spoken, Grandmother told me, on more than one occasion that her Father, David, had told her that the family had left Miramichi, because of “problems”. They had left in a “hurry”. What did that mean?
So much Canadian history has been digitized, and more and more is being done every day.
About eight years ago, I was going through some library files when I saw a file titled, “ONTARIO DIRECTORY FOR 1851”. Names of professional and business men and other inhabitants in CITIES, TOWNS & VILLAGES throughout the Province! Surprisingly, there was a page titled “SOUTHAMPTON or Saugeen”. Below were listed the names and professions of 52 men. Yes, only men. No women were named. My Great Great Grandfather was named, and so were his three sons, all with their Trade shown. Then what stopped my reading abruptly was, right below their names, was the name “John Miramichi”, Ship Builder.
Did he arrive here with my ancestors? He must have. I went back to New Brunswick Census details from prior periods. Nothing! I then started to think about Miramichi being used as a surname. That did not make sense. It was the name of the region where the Mi’kmaq people had been for centuries. I contacted the Miramichi History Museum. They assured me that no one would ever have Miramichi as a surname.
Other than the ONTARIO DIRECTORY OF 1851, the name John Miramichi never appeared again.
The gentleman who rode his bike past our Miramichi Bay in Saugeen Shores and contacted me, told me that it reminds him of the bays along the shore of the Miramichi, in New Brunswick.. For him and his wife it was picturesque and beautiful, just as it is for us. How was it named? Who knows.
It may have been named after a “fugitive on the run” … or maybe by one of my ancestors.
No matter, we can all enjoy it.
