Banished from Our Home: The Acadian Diary of Angélique Richard

Susan Merskey is freelance writer in London, Ontario.

Prior to 1755, many families, including Angélique Richard’s had
established small farms in Acadia (renamed Nova Scotia under British
rule). All seemed well until 1755, when the British arrived and demanded
that the Acadians take an oath of loyalty to England. Those who refused
to do so would be expelled from the region. In her diary, Angélique
describes what happened to her and her family.

Her father was captured and imprisoned in Halifax. Her oldest brother,
Victor, joined the Acadian rebels, while her other two brothers were
held in captivity for a while before escaping. The rest of the family,
including her grandmother, mother, sister Belle, the twins Marie-Josephe
and Zachary, and Angélique were put aboard a ship bound for Annapolis,
Maryland, where other deported Acadians had settled. In Annapolis, they
found a home with the Finnertys, and Belle died soon thereafter. Before
long, Catholic residents were banned from sheltering the Acadians, for
fear of French plots. Eventually, the family secured passage on a ship
to Baltimore, and it is there that Angélique’s father was able to
rejoin them.

Banished from Our Home is part of the Dear Canada series, in which
episodes of Canadian history are vividly brought to life by a young
female narrator who lives through the event. Sharon Stewart was already
familiar with the Acadian expulsion from her graduate studies, but in
doing further research for the book, she discovered that she was
descended from an Angélique Richard, who was born in Acadia in 1676.
The fictional Angélique, however, is based partly on Stewart’s
mother, Lucille Agathe Lepine. The photographs, historical note,
epilogue, and notes about the author at the end all lend authenticity to
the story. Recommended.