Description of Historic Place

Protestant Cemetery, located on Principale Street in Tracadie-Sheila, is a small rural cemetery that was used from 1825 to 1950. It is thought that about 25 persons, all Protestants having lived in the area, are buried there. However, only seven tombstones survive.

Heritage Value

Protestant Cemetery is designated a Local Historic Place because it represents the Protestant Anglophone minority that contributed to the socio-economic and cultural development of Tracadie-Sheila. These Anglophones came from Ireland, Scotland, England, or English-speaking parts of the province. However, many of them are not buried in this cemetery for they converted to Catholicism before their death.

The graves that can be seen in the cemetery bear the names Young, Smith, Turner, and Archer. This Anglophone community contributed substantially to the region’s economic development since its members owned most of the businesses for many years. They also had their Protestant church, the Evangelical Church, built around 1895 and destroyed in 1969. The Protestants who died prior to the construction of the church and the existence of the cemetery were buried either in another community or on their own land. The arrival of these Anglophone Protestants introduced linguistic duality, thereby defining the history of Tracadie.

Source: Town of Tracadie-Sheila, Heritage file #8

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe Protestant Cemetery include:
- seven surviving tombstones;
- archaeological remains of up to 18 persons not represented by tombstones;
- landscape of the cemetery surrounded by a wooden fence.