FOREWORD

One of the most exciting developments in historical study in recent years has been a renewed interest in the family and community. Nowhere has this trend been more in evidence than on Prince Edward Island, which has experienced a veritable explosion of publications dealing with these subjects, usually within the context of the history of particular localities. Perhaps significantly, many of these studies have been not merely of the local community, but by it, as residents interested in the past have banded together. to prepare historical accounts and family genealogies of their home territory. The people of Stanhope have been part of this concern for capturing their community’s past, and the result is presented in the pages which follow.

Stanhope is a community which holds a particular fascination for me, since it was the site of the first well-documented venture in settlement by a proprietor of Prince Edward Island (or the Island of St. John, as it was known in 1770). While I worked away on the eighteenth-century origins of Stanhope, I often wondered what had become of the descendants of those pioneer settlers from Scotland, and what transpired in Stanhope in the intervening years. I was not alone in these questions, for I have met personally and corresponded with people from all parts of Canada and the United States Whose North American origins can be traced back to those early arrivals and who have been interested in knowing what had become of the community. Indeed, the husband of the Chancellor of my own university here in Manitoba is descended from‘ the Auld who first landed on the Island in 1770.

While every reader will undoubtedly find his or her own illumination in these pages, I was particularly interested in the chapters which deal with the transition of Stanhope in recent years from an agrarian community to one dominated by the tourist industry and season. Such a change is not unusual on the Island, but it has not often been so well discussed. While Stanhope remains a “rural community”, the meaning of that term is obviously quite different from what it would have been half a century ago.

The people responsible for this book have worked extremely hard on it. Only its readers can really comment on their success. In my judgement, it deserves to be read, enjoyed, and appreciated.

J .M. Bumsted, St. John’s College, VII University of Manitoba.