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Eastern Townships

The Eastern Townships (French: Cantons de l'Est) is a historical region in south-eastern Quebec, lying between the former seigneuries south of the Saint Lawrence River and the United States border. Its northern boundary roughly followed the Logan Line, the geologic boundary between the flat, fertile St. Lawrence Lowlands and the Appalacian Mountains. The region comprises counties that were originally divided into townships after the traditional method of land grants of the original New England and New York settlers. Earlier French settlement along the Saint Lawrence River had divided the landscape into parishes and Seigneuries. A tourist region of the same name now covers most of the region, as does an administrative entity officially called Estrie. Boundaries are slightly different for each region. The principal cities are Sherbrooke, Granby, Magog, and Cowansville. The towns of Drummondville, Victoriaville, and Thetford Mines are part of the historical region, but not part of the tourist or administrative regions. The region has summer colonies used by vacationing Montrealers and several ski resorts, including being Mount Orford, Bromont, Mount Sutton, and Owl's Head.

Demographics

Population: 300,917 (2005)
Area: 10,195 km²
Density: 29.2 /km²

The area contains 41,000 predominately English speaking inhabitants, a minority in the community.

The area has been described as "populated by well-heeled cottagers and gentlemen farmers."

Counties

The Eastern Townships originally consisted of the following counties:

In the early 1990s Quebec was reorganized into 17 official regions divided into regional county municipalities. The bulk of the Eastern Townships became the Estrie region (which is often called les Cantons de l'est in French), but Arthabaska, Drummond, and part of Wolfe and Megantic counties became part of the Centre-du-Québec region, the remainder of Megantic County became part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region, and part of Shefford and Missisquoi counties became part of the Montérégie region.

History

The first inhabitants of the region were the Abenaki Indians. This can be observed by the different names of towns, lakes and rivers which many are of Abenaki origin. They allied themselves with the French during the Seven Years' War to fight the British.

The region was part of New France until the 1763 Treaty of Paris which granted the region to the British. Shortly after the American Revolution, a few United Empire Loyalists, who fled the revolution in order to stay loyal to the British Crown, settled in the Eastern Townships. The land there was controlled by three English seigneurs: Colonel Henry Caldwell had purchased what had been the Foucault Seigneurie, which ran along the Richelieu River and a little over the present day frontier; Colonel Gabriel Christie was seigneur of Noyan; and Thomas Dunn was seigneur of Saint-Armand. The early loyalists settled in and around Missisquoi Bay. A popular misconception is that there was a huge influx of Loyalists to the Eastern Townships. In fact most of the immigration fom New England happened in the early nineteenth century, thirty or so years after the Revolution. Most were farmers seeking new lands, something the townships had to offer.

Some Loyalists had moved to the area during the Revolutionary War. When it ended Sir Frederick Haldimand, the governor of Quebec, expected them to move westward with the rest of the Loyalists. He cut off the rations the government had been providing. However, they resisted efforts to be moved by force and were finally permitted to stay by Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton after Haldimand's return to England.

The status of the East Townships Loyalists was resolved when the seigneurs agreed to permit them to stay on their land for a nominal fee. The exact number cannot be ascertained, but a petition they sent to the governor included 378 names. Allowing for a family of five, this could suggest a population of about 1600 or so. The land they settled on, the present-day area of Noyan, Clarenceville and St. Armand, was not part of the Eastern Townships (which were not opened to settlement until 1791), but have since been regarded as part of the Townships.

Under the terms of the Constitutional Act of 1791, the Eastern Townships were open to settlement and a land rush followed. Most of the 3,000 or so settlers came from the United States. A few were Loyalist, at least in spirit, but most simply wanted land and had no strong feeling about nationality. Many more immigrated from the British Isles, including Gaelic-speaking Scots.

English-speaking inhabitants remained a majority in the Townships until the 1870s. Even though the region is now predominantly French speaking, the influence of the Loyalists and settlers from New England can still be observed in the architecture of older buildings and the names of various towns.

Heritage sites

Heritage sites in the Eastern Townships include:

Holy Trinity Anglican Church (Maple Grove, Quebec), near Thetford Mines

Notable natives and inhabitants

Conrad Black - in 1966 became the owner of his first newspaper, the Eastern Townships Advertiser.
Reginald Fessenden (October 6, 1866 – July 22, 1932), Canadian inventor, was born in East Bolton