History of the Evangeline Region

Aboriginal people have a rich history in Prince Edward Island. However, there is no evidence that they were settled in the Evangeline region. There is evidence that the aboriginal people were settled in the Maplèque Bay area.

The first families to settle in the area were Acadian families who had previously lived in the Malpeque Bay region. Prior to their move, they had farmed the land on lots 16, 17 and 19 for some 30 years. In 1804, Colonel Harry Compton acquired lot 17 and moved from England to look after his land. At first, the Acadians got on well with him, but over the years relations deteriorated and a group of tenants abandoned their land in search of a better life elsewhere. They settled on lot 15, founding La Roche (Baie-Egmont) and Le Grand-Ruisseau (Mont-Carmel).

This corner of PEI was uninhabited. So Acadian families settled there illegally. They knew the landowner wasn't taking care of his land, and they dreamed of one day owning it.

The Evangeline region was officially founded in 1812, which explains why it is occupied by so many Acadians and is the largest of the province's 6 Acadian regions. It's also the reason why the French language is so present and alive today.

The Evangeline region encompasses more than lot 15, as many of the founders' children, as well as the new families who moved to the area after 1830, settled in lots 14 and 16. Today, lots 14 and 16 are home to the villages of Saint-Philippe, Saint-Hubert, Saint-Gilbert, Urbainville and Wellington. Wellington grew with the construction of the railway station in 1873-74, and it was here that the first Acadian residents arrived and settled.

The Evangeline region is named after the Acadian heroine created by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His poem " Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie " tells the story of the Deportation of the Acadians through the eyes of this fictional character. Here is L. Pamphile Lemay's French translation of the poem Évangéline.

For more information on the Evangeline region, here's the Evangeline guide: Le passé et le présent : La région Évangéline written in collaboration with historian Georges Arsenault.