HomeMy Public PortalAbout2019-08_NR_MR_Commemorative Barrel port of Chester
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EVENT:
UNVEILING COMMEMORATIVE BARREL CELEBRATING ROSS FAMILY AND FENCIBLES ARRIVAL
IN PORT OF CHESTER ON THEIR WAY TO SETTLE SHERBROOKE (NEW ROSS).
PROMOTING INSTITUTIONS:
ROSS FARM MUSEUM, NOVA SCOTIA MUSEUM, MUNICIPALITY OF CHESTER.
EVENT DATE:
AUGUST 7TH 2019, 9:30 AM
EVENT LOCATION:
36 WATER ST. (PARK TO THE RIGHT OF GOVT. WHARF)
COMMUNIQUÉ:
CHESTER MUNICIPALITY and ROSS FARM MUSEUM CELEBRATE 203 YEARS OF NEW ROSS
Connections are fundamental. They create and keep our collective story. Today, on the 203rd
anniversary of the founding of New Ross, Ross Farm Museum, the Nova Scotia Museum and the
Municipality of Chester are pleased to present to the community a commemorative barrel
marking the importance of this anniversary and the importance of the historical connection
between New Ross and Chester.
Two hundred and three years ago today, August 7, 1816, Captain William Ross, his wife
Mary and their children, and 172 disbanded soldiers of the Nova Scotia Fencibles regiment settled
lands granted to them in the area of Sherbrooke by the Governor of Nova Scotia, George Ramsay
- 9th Earl of Dalhousie. 203 years later, the settlement of Sherbrooke thrives under the name
New Ross and characterizes the hard work and respect for heritage of the upland people of
today’s Municipality of Chester.
Landing here at the port of Chester on July 25, 1816, Captain Ross and the newly arrived
settlers marched inland to the area of Sherwood before trekking across the forest to take
possession of their grants. Over the first few years the settlers of Sherbrooke cleared the land
4568 Highway 12,
P.0. Box238
New Ross, Nova Scotia
Canada B0J 2M0
In Partnership with the New Ross
District Museum Society
Tel: 1-877- 689-2210
Fax: 902 689-2264.
http://rossfarm.novascotia.ca
E-mail :rossfarm@novascotia.ca
and built their farms with hard work and perseverance, and always with resupply and trade
through the ports of Chester and Chester Basin. As Sherbrooke prospered throughout the 19 th
century, renamed New Ross in 1863, the relationship between the inland village and the port
town remained strong, and remains strong to this day. Son of William Ross, Edward Ross
frequented the ports of Chester and Chester Basin on a regular basis as a merchant trading
through Chester to Halifax and the North Atlantic cities of the United States. The mills of New
Ross produced lumber, and its coopers, barrels for the apple industry, traded through the coastal
ports to customers and shippers in Halifax and other areas of the province.
Today, the old trade routes have new names and configurations - Route 12, Route 14,
Highway 103 - and the old Annapolis Road that Sherbrooke was settled to oversee as it passed
through the province’s heartlands recalls its origins in names Lake Ramsay and Dalhousie. The
economy has changed greatly from the days of the fishing schooner and the apple barrel, but the
people of the uplands still work closely with those on the coast, to trade and do business, go to
school, take time for family enjoyment, and connect to the rest of the world. The connections
between the uplands and the coast are stronger than ever.
With the placement of this commemorative barrel, Ross Farm Museum, the Nova Scotia
Museum and the Municipality of Chester recognize the importance and the historical significance
of our connection to each other and the world. From the first days of the settlement of
Sherbrooke and forward to the future, may these connections always remain strong. Thank you
to the Municipality of Chester and to the Nova Scotia Museum. Happy 203 rd Anniversary New
Ross!
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Peter Cullen
Executive Director,
Ross Farm Museum
Warden Allen Webber
Municipality of Chester
902-275-8373
awebber@chester.ca