Placide Gaudet

Placide Gaudet (November 19, 1850 – November 9, 1930) was a Canadian historian, educator, genealogist and journalist. He signed his name as Placide P. Gaudet. Gaudet is noted for his research into the history and genealogy of the Acadian people and played an important role in the preservation of their history.

Biography

Early years

He was born at Cap-Pelé, New Brunswick, the son of Placide Gaudet and Marie Vienneau dit Michaud. Gaudet's father died shortly before his birth and his mother returned to her father's farm. She moved to her father-in-law's farm in Dorchester in 1862.

Education and career

Gaudet was educated at St. Joseph's College in Memramcook. He began studies for the priesthood at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal but left in 1874 due to poor health, returning to New Brunswick. From 1874 to 1882, he then took on a number of short term teaching positions at schools in Saint-Louis de Kent, Tracadie, Neguac, Shédiac and Cocagne. It was during this time, combined with the oral history that he learned from his maternal grandfather, that Gaudet furthered his interest and research into the genealogy and history of the Acadian people. He began to write articles on his findings. From 1883 to 1885, he was given a contract by the Canadian archives to copy church archives in Acadian areas, supplementing his income by teaching. This gave Gaudet the opportunity to have access to information for his research.

Gaudet worked for several newspapers including the ''Courrier des provinces Maritimes'', ''Le Moniteur Acadien'' and ''L'Évangéline''.

He taught at the Collège Sainte-Anne from 1895 until the college was destroyed in a fire in 1899. Later in 1899, he was hired by the Canadian archives to copy Acadian parish archives from Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. In 1906, Gaudet published ''Report concerning Canadian archives for the year 1905'', a genealogy of Acadian families. As a result of his work and his own private research into local history, he became a noted authority and speaker on Acadian genealogy and history. Gaudet published ''Le grand dérangement'' in 1922.

Personal life

In 1890, Gaudet married Marie-Rose Arsenault. The couple had three daughters and one son. Two of their daughters died young.

He retired on a small pension in 1924, moving to Moncton. Gaudet died at a hospice in Shediac at the age of 79.

Honours

Gaudet was declared a Person of National Historic Significance in 1955 as part of the Acadian Men of Letters.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaudet, Placide
1850 births
1930 deaths
20th-century Canadian historians
Canadian male non-fiction writers
Politicians of Acadian descent
19th-century Canadian historians
Historians from New Brunswick
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)