The Rev. Norman McLeod was an influential Scottish preacher who settled three separate Scottish communities. He started one outside of Pictou, one at St. Anns and finally one in New Zealand.
McLeod was born at the Point of Stoer in Scotland in 1780. In his early years in Scotland, he worked as a farmer and fisherman. A religious man, he began to doubt his religion and his own salvation. At the age of 27, he enrolled in the University of Aberdeen and he graduated in 1812 with a gold medal in moral philosophy.
He attempted to continue his studies at the University of Edinburgh, but he broke with the Church of Scotland instead. From 1814-1817 McLeod taught school in Ullapool and was vocal in the local church. Teachers with the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge often served as lay ministers when resident clergy were away on business.
McLeod was critical of the local clergyman, Dr. Ross. They were in such conflict that McLeod travelled 40 miles to baptize his son in another parish. McLeod attracted a large following but his refusal to attend local services put him at risk of losing his job. He soon lost his teaching position and he returned to fishing to earn a living.
In July of 1817, he had made the necessary arrangements to move to Pictou where there was a significant Highland community. He settled in Loch Broom, just outside of Pictou. The Highland clearances sent another 150 followers to Pictou to settle with McLeod. McLeod continued preaching and amassed a significant following, they called them Normanites.
Sadly, McLeod was unable to secure enough land to develop the religious community he wanted for his Normanites, so he agreed to move his colony to a Scottish settlement in Ohio. They built an 18-tonne schooner that was commonly referred to as ‘The Ark’ for the journey.
On the way, the group decided to test the boat by following the coast of Cape Breton rather than run through the Strait of Canso. The ark stopped in St. Anns Harbour and the group was so taken with the area that they abandoned the idea of Ohio and decided to move the group to Cape Breton instead.
The men selected land along the shore and began building cabins for their families before they returned to Pictou for the winter. Once in Pictou they sold the ark and built seven smaller boats to move their families to the new settlement.
By 1820, 700 people from Pictou and Scotland arrived in the area and began clearing land and building homes. Soon St. Anns was a Gaelic speaking area filled with crofters and fishers. This settlement has been referred to as ‘the most theocratic community in the history of Nova Scotia.’ McLeod himself held the parcel of land is the present Gaelic College property.
McLeod was in his glory. He established the first Calvinist Church in the district, built a school in 1822, became Magistrate in 1823, a licensed teacher in 1827, and was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in 1827.
He was now a fully licensed minister and independent of any Presbyterian body in Canada. He would no longer have to tolerate the interference of any other clergy.
He received fees for teaching and those who could not pay tuition paid with labour. He had his Normanites clearing land, planting and harvesting crops, building houses, barns and ships. St. Anns flourished. It was claimed that “his congregation in St. Anns was the most temperate moral and orderly that ever existed in Cape Breton…”.
McLeod was obsessed with moral perfection and he expected all the members of his congregation to strive for such high standards. He was even known to have criticized his own wife during his sermons. He had full control over the people. He could address a resident’s drunken behaviour in church on a Sunday and then, as magistrate, fine them for this behaviour on Monday. As a result, many residents left the area and his church.
In the 1840s Cape Breton experienced the failure of its grain and potato crops and as a result, the residents of St. Anns experienced famine. Alienated from surrounding communities and fellow Scots, St. Anns had little aid in this crisis. His oldest son was living in Australia at the time and McLeod became convinced that moving to Australia was the best option for his family and his congregation.
From October 1851 to December 1859 six ships left St. Anns for Australia with over 800 people onboard. The first ship built for this purpose was the Margaret, a barque of 236 tons. The next ship to arrive in Australia was the Highland Lass.
In April 1852, McLeod, his family and 150 Normanites landed in Adelaide, Australia. Adelaide was in a gold rush and the resulting greed and violence of the gold rush made Australia an unacceptable home for McLeod.
By 1833, the majority of this group settled in Waipu, New Zealand. Here McLeod was once again the only voice for his people to hear. It was here that McLeod died on March 14, 1866.
McLeod’s legacy was three large Scottish settlements: two in Nova Scotia and one in New Zealand. He created Gaelic communities that embraced Scottish culture and traditions. In St. Anns, McLeod’s memory is kept alive by a memorial monument.
Vanessa Childs Rolls is a local historian who lives in Sydney. Her column appears monthly in the Cape Breton Post. She can be contacted at [email protected].