Filles du Roy
Guest speaker: René Forget
When: Thursday, September 19, 2013, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in French followed by a bilingual question period.
Before this lecture will take place the presentation of a donation from the Société historique Beaurepaire-Beaconsfield Historical Society to the Heroes Committee represented by Maj. Richard Gratton, Chair, and Lt.-Col. (Retired) Terrence Montague, Vice-Chair.
René Forget will tell the odyssey of the Filles du Roy to help us better understand the importance of our feminine ancestors in the establishment of the colony in the 17th century, role that History has a tendency to forget. These women should be honoured as “mothers of the nation” as they were essential in our history.
The lecture includes:
-Their social and cultural origins
-Their trip across the Atlantic
-Their hasty wedding
-Their fertility and their morality
-Their contribution to the new country
Very much interested in Québec history and genealogy, the psychologist Forget explored the fascinating era of the Filles du Roy. He wrote an historic saga inspired by one of these women. Eugénie, fille du roy describes the historic odyssey of French youths, mostly from Normandy, who came to Nouvelle-France.
The author created the character of Eugénie and imagined her influence as well as of the other filles du Roy during this era ruled by politic and religious authorities. The saga followed up with Cassandre, daughter of Eugénie, who will go to study in Paris. Also of Étiennette, spouse of the village blacksmith, the best friend of Cassandre.
Thanks to the accurate behaviour analysis of his different characters and his historical descriptions, René Forget made us re-live through these passionate early days of our country.
Afghanistan, beyond the news headline, as seen by a witness
Guest speaker: Major Richard Gratton
When: Thursday, November 19, 2015, from 19:00 to 20:45
Where: Beaconsfield Library
303 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A7
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
From December 2010 to July 2011, Major Richard Gratton, a citizen of Beaconsfield, was deployed to Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion Royal 22e Régiment.
Major Gratton proposes to take you beyond the news headline with his presentation, videos and pictures. A conflict, still in the headlines in this month of November, remembrance month.
Guest speaker: Robert L. Baird
When: Thursday, May 21, 2015, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
Carrying on the current theme of military history, Robert Baird’s talk will be on military history during the summer of 1945 and t
he Canadian support in the preparation of the American invasion of Japan: “Operation Downfall”.
The American military were actively involved in elaborate preparations for the invasion of Japan and scheduled it in two phases, one starting on November 1st 1945, “Operation Olympic” and the second on March 1st 1946, “Operation Coronet”. The summer of 1945 was a fascinating period of military history, in which Robert Baird took part.
A resident of Beaconsfield since 1962, Robert was an active member of the Beaconsfield Planning Committee for over 14 years. He wrote and published the book “Beaconsfield and Beaurepaire” in conjunction with Gisèle Hall who did most of the research. He has a degree in Civil Engineering from McGill and a Master degree in history from Concordia University. Bob was a volunteer member of the Sixth Canadian Infantry Division in 1945.
The Long Sault on the Ottawa River: From Prehistory to Dollard des Ormeaux
Guest speaker: Robert Simard, Historian and Storyteller
When: Thursday, January 21, 2016, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
Historian at the Musée régional d’Argenteuil in Carillon, Robert Simard is a great storyteller. His presentation balances delicately between history and fantasy. There is a point for Mr. Simard when history develops into a full-fledged pageant, thereby transporting us to the frontier where dreams and memory meet and marry.
The lecture will focus on the prehistory of the Ottawa River, the movements of First Nations people around the Long Sault and the famous battle of 1660.
The United Empire Loyalists: an overview
Guest speaker: Robert Wilkins
When: Thursday, March 20, 2014, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
A general overview of the United Empire Loyalists, what made them who they were, their diversity(religious, linguistic and racial), and their heritage in Canada today, with a couple of specific examples, just to illustrate what they lived through and experienced during the Revolutionary War and afterwards when getting re-established in what remained of British North America (now Canada).
Canada and The Battle of Vimy Ridge
Guest Speaker: Roman Jarymowycz PhD
When: Thursday, September 15, 2016, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge (9-12 April 1917) was a classic: considered the making of a national army as well as a text book example of warfighting. Where previously British and French forces failed to achieve success, the young Canadian Corps demonstrated a perfected attack that brought operational as well as political results. The battle incorporated a model set-piece assault that was grounded on break-through scientific techniques, detailed planning, painstaking rehearsal and aggressive reconnaissance on all levels. Vimy Ridge also marked the zenith of Montreal arms, the city's battalions were splendidly represented and, in the case of the Black Watch, the level of participation never exceeded. The techniques and approach to battle of the Canadian Corps set a standard that made its reputation and presented a demanding legacy.
Roman Johann Jarymowycz OMM, CD, PhD
Jarymowycz's publications include Calvary from Hoof to Track; the history of The Royal Montreal Regiment 1945-1990; and the award-winning Tank Tactics. He has most recently completed the official history of the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada, The Black Watch RHR, in two volumes, to be published in the fall of 2016. He is currently preparing a history of The Royal Montreal Cavalry. He has been a frequent contributor to CBC documentaries, including The Killing Ground, The Valour and the Horror, and, The Great War.
A graduate of Loyola College and McGill University, Lt Colonel Jarymowycz has taught at high school and university levels. He has lectured at the Royal Military College and both Canadian Forces staff colleges.
The Triple Lines of Evidence for Prehistoric Migrations:
Genetic, Archaeological, and Linguistic
Guest speaker: Roy Keys
When: Thursday, March 17, 2016, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
In the past decade and a half, the relatively new science of genetics has shed new light on the peopling of the world. Recent results confirm the archeological evidence for 2 major waves of migrations into Europe after the last ice age, and enable a reconstruction of the genetic history of the populations of modern Europe.
Montréal's three beginnings, Hochelaga, Tiohtiagi, and Ville-Marie
Guest Speaker: Roy Wright
When: Thursday 19 january 2017, from 19h30 to 21h
Where: Centennial Hall
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
As we celebrate 375 years since the founding of a permanent European settlement at Montréal, we would do well to recall the two previous occasions when French explorers remarked its significance for eventual future settlement, realized in 1642.
In 1535 Jacques Cartier visited Hochelaga, then as now a centre rivalling the downriver Stadacona settlement at what is now Quebec City. He described it as a community of some 1500 inhabitants surrounded by a palisade, and during his short visit was taken by its chief to the top of nearby Mt. Royal.
In 1609 and 1611, Samuel de Champlain visited the sites of today's Kahnawake and Montréal (marking the latter with an A on his 1612 map). Here he had to portage around “Sault Saint-Louis”, the Lachine Rapids, noting their importance to the natives gathering to parlay and trade, the former diplomatic function commemorated in the Iroquoian name Tiohtiagi, and the latter commerce still a hallmark of Montréal's importance at the start of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Finally in 1642, Paul de Chomedy de Maisonneuve, Jeanne Mance and about 50 French settlers started to build a community at the site marked 30 years earlier. The new fortified settlement was named Ville-Marie, in celebration of the religious vision of Sieur de Maisonneuve and Bishop Laval.
Pirates of North Atlantic
David Kirke and Elcid Barrett
Guest Speaker: Roy Wright
When: Thursday, February 15, 2018, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: Centennial Hall
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
Although less notorious than the Caribbean, the North Atlantic has had its share of romantic swashbucklers.
The Atlantic Provinces and Quebec claim buried treasure and other folklore, but some truly significant historical figures as well. We will focus on one exponent of each tradition: Elcid Barrett, folklorically more famous today than even Captain Kidd, thanks to Stan Rogers, and David Kirke, who was knighted for capturing Québec from Champlain in 1629. Their stories illuminate the role pirates and privateers have played in our history and mythology, and their fate in retirement highlights the societal advances made since then, if not more enlightened political policy. Indeed, we still live in an age of piracy.
Join us for a singalong with Roy Keys.
The Great Peace of 1701
Guest speakers: Roy Wright, resident of Kahnawake
When: Thursday, March 15, 2012, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
288, boul. Beaconsfield, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A7
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period
Everyone welcome. Admission free.
The Last of the Beothuks : Shawnadithit or Santu?"
Guest speaker: Roy Wright
When: Thursday, February 18, 2016, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period.
While most Canadians with historical curiosity or feeling will have heard of Shawnadithit and her poignant fate, very few will know the name of Santu, whose story was published in 1922 by University of Pennsylvania Prof. Frank G. Speck. He wrote the short monograph BEOTHUK AND MICMAC after meeting Santu, the last Beothuk still living a century ago among the Micmac of Conn River, Newfoundland.
This remarkable encounter was the result of Speck's perseverance and the mutual trust developed between this maverick ethnologist and the indigenous people, mostly Algonquian, that he worked with in eastern North America, from the Catawba of South Carolina to the Lenni-Lenape, Abenaki-Penobscot, Passamaquoddy-Maliseet, Micmac, and Naskapi-Cree of the Northeast as far as Labrador.
We will focus on this little-known part of the history of Newfoundland, tracing the earliest origins of these "Red (-Paint) Indians" to the earliest human hunters south of the last glaciation on the Canadian Shield.
Santu Toney. Shanawdithit The son of Santu Toney and his family.
Photo Frank Speck 1910. Photo Frank Speck.
Courtesy of American Philosophical Society (4595a) Courtesy of American Philosophical Society (4595a)
A request has been made for anyone with musical talent to record an MP3 version of Santu's Song!
The first modern Code-talker:
Elmer Jamieson and the Mohawks in the Great War
Guest speaker: Roy Wright16-Jan-15
When: Thursday, January 15, 2015, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period
You will discover how the Mohawk language became a talking secret code during WWI.
The First Nations: Our Successes and Our Failures
Guest Speaker: John Ciaccia
When: Thursday, January 19, 2012, from 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
288 Beaconsfield Boulevard, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A7
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period
Everyone welcome. Admission free.
Information: Contact us
Starting in September 2016, the Beaurepaire-Beaconsfield Historical Society invites you to discover different aspects of Canadian History
Everyone welcome.
Free for members; $2 for non-members
Become a member for $5 per year
Information: Contact us
In 2017, through its lectures and exhibit, the Beaurepaire-Beaconsfield Historical Society invites you to celebrate the following anniversaries: 150th of Canada, 50th of Expo ’67, and 375th of Montreal
Everyone welcome.
Free for members; $2 for non-members
Become a member for $5 per year
Information: Contact us
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