The Grand Dérangement

English: , The Grand Dérangement , L’Acadie, established by France in 1604, was a strategically located and highly coveted colony. In 1713, it was handed over to England and renamed Nova Scotia. The foundation of Halifax, in 1749, led part of the Acadian population to move to French territory. The remaining Acadians were still perceived as a threat, and in 1755, the British authorities launched their systematic deportation, splitting up families and communities, seizing all lands and possessions., This was the Grand Dérangement or Great Upheaval. Nearly 10,000 men, women, and children were piled into ships and deported to Anglo-American colonies, to England and to France. Others escaped the deportation, seeking refuge in French territory and forming a resistance. Over the next ten years, almost half of the Acadian nation was lost at sea or died from disease and famine. By 1765, a mere 1,600 survivors remained in Nova Scotia, their fertile land now occupied by settlers from other areas., Some Acadian families returned to their former home. but most never again set eyes on Acadie. Many took root in Quebec and France, while in Louisiana they gave rise to a new community that produced the rich Cajun culture. Yet, the Grand Dérangement was unable to wipe out the Acadian presence on its native soil. L’Acadie lives on in Atlantic Canada, speaking French and offering to the world its proud and dynamic culture., St-Grégoire , After the Deportation, Acadians arrived and settled in the adjacent seigneuries of Bécancour, Godefroy and Roquetaillade in three successive waves. They came from Beaubassin, Sainte-Anne-des-Pays-Bas and the Anglo-American colonies., Between 1755 and 1758, hundreds of Acadians fled to Québec. By 1758, some of them had settled on land in the seigneurie of Bécancour, south of Lake Saint-Paul. A second group travelled along the Saint John River and the Grand-Portage to Cacouna. Around 1764, they arrived in the Godefroy seigneurie. Other Acadian families who had been deported to colonies along the American coast soon joined friends and family and developed the Roquetaille seigneurie., By 1787, these three groups of Acadians demanded their own parish, which they called Sainte-Marguerite or Godefroy. It was renamed Saint-Grégoire-le-Grand by the clergy when the parish was officially established in 1802. In 1965, it became an integral part of the City of Bécancour. The descendants of these Acadian refugees form one of the largest Acadian communities in Québec. ,