Melville Island, Nova Scotia
Prison island fun fair, escape attempts, and a little history about where I grew up
Hi everyone!
It’s very like me that while I’m on hiatus from Vulgar History: The Podcast, I started figuring out ways to work on Vulgar History: The Newsletter. I called this A La Carte randomly, but actually, that’s the perfect description of what I’d like to do here. Share short tidbits, randomly, that aren’t enough to turn into a full episode, but that I think are worth discussing.
That being said, I’ve been rereleasing episodes while on hiatus, so if you haven’t heard the podcast before please enjoy the latest one: Elizabeth Bathory and why she (probably) isn’t really the most-killingest female serial killer
So anyway. I’m originally from Nova Scotia in Canada, a place with L O T S of history. And one way to give a brief outline of some of that history is by talking about part of it I’ve only recently learned about: Melville Island. Please note that the main source for all of this is Wikipedia, whose editors used lots and lots and lots of other sources if you’d like to learn more.
Nova Scotia 101
Just so we’re all clear, Nova Scotia is a peninsula on the East Coast of Canada. When Europeans started coming over, this was one of the first places they stopped because it’s right on the East Coast. Sometimes people think Nova Scotia is an island, but it’s still connected to the rest of Canada by a tiny bit of land.
Melville Island, you may assume, is an island. But it’s also a peninsula, connected by a bit of land to mainland Nova Scotia. Specifically, to part of Halifax, which is the capital city of Nova Scotia. The first inhabitants of the whole area now known as Halifax were the Mi’kmaq people, who lived in this area starting around 7000 years ago. There hasn’t been evidence (yet) found to indicate they lived on Melville Island, though. And why would they? It’s a random strip of land, not great for agriculture. But you know who found use for this “island”? French and English colonists!
Halifax: British Military Era
So Halifax, the city, was founded in 1749 by British for military purposes. Three years later in 1752, an English guy was given permission to build a storehouse on Melville Island. Because his name was Cowie, it was first called Cowie’s Island. He died twenty years later, and the island was sold to a guy named Kavanagh, who renamed it Kavanagh’s Island.
In 1794, some British people captured a French ship in the Dominican Republic and brought the prisoners to Halifax. People in Halifax were like, “not in our backyard, these prisoners probably have diseases.” They were so serious about this that there were concerns the population of Halifax would burn down whatever barracks the prisoners were put in. So, Melville Island was rented for a makeshift prison hospital for the most sick and injured (those in better health were kept on a prison ship).
The land was officially renamed Melville Island in late 1804 or early 1805 in honor of guess who: some guy called Melville1 . The cornerstone of the wooden barracks-style military prison from this era is still preserved as a monument.
Prisoners were given yellow clothing that clearly identified them as prisoners of war, which I’d like to know what those looked like in more detail as yellow can be a tricky colour to maintain (it fades easily doesn’t it?). The prison sounds like not the worst of prisons, as our friend Wikipedia says:
“Some of the prisoners were allowed to send trade goods to Halifax, or even work in the city as domestic servants or handymen. There were also prisoner-run shops and a "small town fair" on Melville Island, frequented by British officers and residents of Halifax.
Other prisoner pursuits included prison lotteries, model shipbuilding, beer-brewing, fishing, and making molasses candy. Some prisoners were known to have pets or keep chickens.”
Yet, prison is still prison and in 1805 a group of guys escaped. This led, maybe unsurprisingly, to a new rule restricting prisoners’ ability to sell their handmade goods to the people of Halifax. And maybe it was partly not having an outlet for their old timey Etsy shop that led a prisoner named Pierre Poulin to stab another inmate to death. (He was tried and hanged for murder).
Prison Democracy
The prisoners continued to develop, Lord of the Flies/Yellowjackets-style, their own society. They maintained their own Grand Council, whose job included ordering anyone who spilled the beans re: escape attempts to the guards would be stoned to death2 (though historian Brian Cuthbertson disputes the likelihood of this claim). Escape attempts were frequent, and those who attempted to escape were regarded by the others as cool guys, like the guys in The Great Escape and/or Chicken Run.
The War of 18123 brought an influx of American prisoners to Melville Island. Again, as per Wikipedia:
“Most of the French prisoners were released or paroled to make room for the Americans, who were seen as more of a risk. Early in the war, many Americans were exchanged for British prisoners in Boston or Salem, Massachusetts, in an arrangement known as a "cartel"; 1,981 of the captives taken before October 1812 were thus exchanged, while another seventeen, accused of killing a Canadian farmer and raping his wife, were sent to England and imprisoned. Black captives were never considered for exchange, and were instead commonly released under the 1807 Abolition Act.”
Melville Island Changes Hands
The island prison/city became overcrowded by the end of 1812, exacerbated by attempts to segregate remaining French and Black prisoners from the white Americans. One loves to see (?) the new American majority pick up the French prisoner lifestyle of establishing prison-based shops. One prisoner-entrepreneur counterfeited Spanish coins, which found their way into Halifax. They also continued with the relentless escape attempts, which led to increased security.
Melville Island was decommissioned in May 1815. It briefly used as a receiving depot for Black refugees fleeing America post-Revolution, then starting in 1818 was used as a quarantine hospital for immigrants arriving with diseases. In 1847, Irish refugees fleeing the Great Family were held on Melville Island for quarantine.
In 1907, the name was changed from “military prison” to “detention barracks” as the land was granted to the Canadian Government.4 When World War I kicked off in 1914, German nationals living in Canada were detained brought to Melville Island. As per ever, there were escape attempts, and a procedure was implemented to count prisoners twice a day to try and keep track of them. After some inmates successfully escaped by sewing a hole through the floor of the decaying wooden building, repairs were made to the structure.
The wooden barracks were destroyed in a fire in 1935, meaning that by the time World War II started in 1939, Melville Island couldn’t be used to house prisoners. The island was used to store ammunition for the army. When World War II ended, there were celebratory riots in Halifax and rumors spread that revelers might break into the depots to deploy hand grenades; they did not.
In 1947, the Armdale Yacht Club leased Melville Island, and went on to do some renovations. Then nobody really talked about this place (other than, one presumes, historians of the yacht club), which is why I assume that people like me who grew up in Halifax in the 1980s and 1990s and weren’t involved with yachting never knew any of this.
In 2005, the adjacent Deadman’s Island Park was established. Deadman’s Island is (say it with me) not an island, but a peninsula, near Melville, which is where the bodies of dead prisoners of war were buried when they died on Melville Island. It is now a heritage site commemorating the unmarked graves of 195 American soldiers and sailors who died in British captivity during the War of 1812. The US government has erected a memorial on Deadman’s Island commemorating the men interred there.
Until next time! xoxo Ann
If you really want to know, his name was Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville
Historian Brian Cuthbertson disputes the likelihood of this claim
tl;dr this war was the US + Indigenous allies vs the UK + Indigenous allies
Canada became its own country in 1867 btw, no longer just an arms-length military settlement for the British