![]() In later years she was amazed that someone had put in stair rails there had never been any when she was working at the lighthouse. At the lighthouse she would transfer the oil again to a smaller container and carry it up the steep steps to the top. She was a small woman and some jobs were too heavy for her, Cecil and Preston Hardy helped her load oil barrels on a stand so she could transfer the oil into a 23 l (5 gallon) can to take to the lighthouse and range light. Maisie always said she could not have done the job if it wasn’t for the fine people in the French River area. The range light was further still and had to be tended as well. She walked to the lighthouse each afternoon to light the lamp and again in the morning to put it out. She lived in the lighthouse for a year after Claude died, but later moved to a small house several kilometres from the lighthouse so that Robert would be closer to the school. She kept the lighthouse for a total of fourteen years, from 1940 to 1956. She had no other means of support and had been doing the work all along, so she was certainly capable. Beer was also the doctor who cared for Maisie’s husband Claude, who died of cancer on January 23, 1943.Īfter Claude’s death several men from the area went to the office of the Department of Transport and recommended that Maisie be hired as official lightkeeper. Beer arrived at the lighthouse and delivered his first baby there at 8:35 pm during the midst of a blackout order, which were frequently given during the World War Two period to confuse enemy submarines. At the same time, Maisie sent her son Robert to contact the local doctor. He brought Aunt Jane, the midwife, to the house in the late afternoon. Nearing the end of her third pregnancy on October 2, 1941, during their first year at the lighthouse, Harris Blakney stopped by on his mail route and noticed that Maisie was not looking well. Robert and Gertrude were born before the couple moved to the lighthouse. ![]() It must have been a daunting task for the twenty-nine year old woman – looking after two small children, a sick husband, a lighthouse and a range light. ![]() When Claude Adams took over as keeper on December 1, 1940, he was already ailing, and his wife Maisie assumed most of the duties of lightkeeper. He was temporarily replaced for a month by his brother, Charles Earle MacRae. Hugh John MacRae was the keeper of the New London Light from 1931 until he went on military leave on October 31, 1940. In August, 1934, she married Claude Adams of Seaview. She was born May 22, 1913, and was the youngest daughter of Hugh John and Mary Lamont of French River. Her story is a fascinating one that she was always willing to share. Maisie Adams was Prince Edward Island’s only female lightkeeper and Canada’s first female keeper. Four are museums having collections of lighthouse-related artifacts.Īll information in the History section of this website was provide from the Lighthouses of Prince Edward Island - Beacons of Light website Visitors can climb right into their Lantern Rooms to view the working light. Architect Isaac Smith designed the 18.2 m (60 foot) round brick lighthouse that is one of the last of its kind in Canada.Īt present there are seven lighthouses on Prince Edward Island open to the public. The first lighthouse built on Prince Edward Island was the Point Prim Lighthouse in 1845. With all the marine activity, it was inevitable that numerous shipwrecks occurred with loss of lives and cargoes. Fishing vessels from Europe and the United States fished the rich waters surrounding the Island. Shipbuilding became a booming industry with hundreds of sailing vessels being launched from our shores, destined for all parts of the world. Thousands of immigrants arrived by ship and farm produce and lumber were exported. Strategically located along the sandy beaches, or standing sentinel atop high red cliffs, there are approximately forty-five beacons (lighthouses) still guiding mariners away from dangerous reefs and into safe harbours.ĭuring the 19th Century, the Island's waters were very busy. Although it is only 224 kilometers from North Cape to East Point, the undulating coastline stretches for 1,760 kilometers. Nowhere is their presence more valued than on Prince Edward Island. For centuries, lighthouses have been symbols of hope, safety and refuge.
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