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D'Anville's Encampment National Historic Site of Canada

Across from 188 Bedford Highway, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1925/05/15

General view of the location of the plaque and cairn, 2006.; Parks Canada | Parcs Canada, Miriam Walls, 2006.
General view
Detail view of the plaque, 2006.; Parks Canada | Parcs Canada, Miriam Walls, 2006.
Detail view
No Image

Other Name(s)

D'Anville's Encampment National Historic Site of Canada
D'Anville's Encampment
Encampement d'Anville

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2009/12/14

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

D’Anville’s Encampment National Historic Site of Canada is located on a small plot of land in Centennial Park in Bedford Basin, Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was in this area, in 1746, that Duc d’Anville camped along the shore on a failed expedition from France to recover Acadia. The site consists of a Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) plaque and cairn surrounded by a five-metre radius in Centennial Park. There are no known extant remains associated with Duc d’Anville’s 1746 encampment, and its precise location remains unknown. Official recognition refers to the five-metre radius surrounding the HSMBC plaque and cairn.

Heritage Value

D’Anville’s Encampment was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1925 for the following reasons:
- in the autumn of 1746, Duc d’Anville’s formidable but storm-shattered expedition, sent from France to recover Acadia, encamped along this shore;
- owing to storms and disease, the enterprise utterly failed.

A year after Louisbourg fell to the British in 1745, France sent an armada of warships across the Atlantic to retake and dismantle the fortress, to take Annapolis, and to attack Boston. The expedition was led by Jean-Baptiste-Louis-Frédéric de la Rochefoucauld de Roye, Marquis de Roucy and Duc d’Anville, who is often referred to as Duc d’Anville or d’Anville. The powerful fleet started with 70 ships, 10,000 sailors, and upwards of 3,000 soldiers. When d’Anville arrived in Chebucto (Halifax Harbour) on September 10, 1746, the fleet included only three war ships and a few transports; the rest had been scattered or sunk due to severe storms. Many men perished, mainly of food shortages, typhus, dysentery, and scurvy. The remaining crews camped on the beach where many continued to succumb to illness. On September 27th, d’Anville himself died and control of the fleet passed to Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquière, Marquis de La Jonquière, who later became a Governor of Canada. La Jonquière returned to France with the remaining fleet in October, losing more ships and men due to further storms and sickness.

Sources: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, May 1929, December 2007.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that contribute to the heritage character of the site include:
- its location on the coast in the Rockingham neighbourhood of Halifax, Nova Scotia;
- its setting on a small plot of land in Centennial Park next to the Rockingham rail station, overlooking Bedford Basin;
- the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque and cairn commemorating the site in the centre of the designated place;
- viewscapes from the plaque and cairn across Bedford Basin to the Wallace Heights neighbourhood in Halifax.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Federal

Recognition Authority

Government of Canada

Recognition Statute

Historic Sites and Monuments Act

Recognition Type

National Historic Site of Canada

Recognition Date

1925/05/15

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

1746/01/01 to 1746/01/01

Theme - Category and Type

Peopling the Land
Settlement

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Community
Settlement

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Indigenous Affairs and Cultural Heritage Directorate Documentation Centre 3rd Floor, room 366 30 Victoria Street Gatineau, Québec J8X 0B3

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

274

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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