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House
Info-Research Solutions
Researching the
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada
Recherche sur la Forteresse-de-Louisbourg Lieu historique national du Canada
THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF 18TH CENTURY LOUISBOURG
Microfiche Report Series 83
By
Margaret Fortier
1983
Fortress of Louisbourg
Part Two - The Outports
Grand
Laurembec
The area immediately east of Louisbourg harbour was known as the Plein Du
Grand Laurembec. The land was identical in character to what lay on the other
side of the harbour, alternating between high ground and marsh. Plans seem to
indicate that it had been stripped of whatever trees it had, though it is
likely that there had only been scrub fir and spruce. The plain terminated at
the cove and barachois of Grand Laurembec. The area north of the Rivière Aux
Roches (6-Mile Brook) and the barachois into which it drained seems to have
been quite heavily wooded. [1] Land on either side of the barachois was granted to Jean La Grange, surgeon
major of the troops, in 1727 by Governor St. Ovide and commissaire-ordonnateur
De Mézy. The concession contained 20 arpents on either side of the barachois
and extended inland for 40 arpents. It was bounded on the south by the sea, on
the northwest by St. Ovide's habitation, and on the rest of its perimeter by
lands not conceded. [2] The portion of La Grange's concession which lay south of the stream and
barachois was part of the plain area, while the land to the north was heavily
wooded. In 1732 residents of Baleine and Petit Laurembec complained that La
Grange had prohibited them from cutting wood on his land. De Mézy replied that
La Grange and others who owned large parcels of land had always permitted wood
to be cut, provided it was done in specified areas and that roads opened at
the landowners expense were not ruined. When the complaints were investigated,
he continued. it was found that the residents of those communities had been
cutting wood near La Grange's house, leaving it exposed to the wind off the
water. Plans indicate that the house was in the northeast shore of the
barachois, in an area which would be fairly well sheltered as long as the
trees between it and the seashore to the southeast remained. La Grange showed
those who complained a more suitable place to cut wood, which was also more
convenient for them. [3] The census taken in 1734 lists one person living on the La Grange property.
[4] In 1742 a heifer went astray and ended up on La Grange's land. She was put
in a dairy which veuve La Grange maintained there. The domestic who worked for
veuve La Grange was Martin Guion. [5] Nothing is known of the La Grange
habitation after that date., There is no record of a sale or a re-granting of
the property. Plans from the 1750s show the area occupied by the house to be
clear of trees. [6] In 1757 batteries were established on the western shore of
the Anse du Grand Laurembec. A footpath was cut between the batteries and a
parapet "avec banquet, et tranchée derriere de 6 pieds plus bas pour y
posser a couvert", was formed. All along the shore in front of these
works was an abatis (a defensive feature formed by felled trees). [7]