The first French settlers settled here ca. 1746.
Surveyor-General Samuel Holland in a November 28, 1764 letter to Lord Hillsborough, described the plight of the 30 or so families of Acadian fishermen who were residing at Fortune Bay.
The Lovely Nelly arrived from Scotland in 1775 with the Aitken family among the emigrants. By the early 1800's, several descendants have settled in the Bay Fortune area.
The French speaking community at Bay Fortune owned at least five schooners in 1786. They included the Joseph and Mary, Betsy, Felicity, The Seaflower and Me Mary.
The second of two petitions was filed with the colony on June 4, 1787 by the French inhabitants of Bay Fortune. The families of Bourg, Michel, LeBlanc, Doucet, Daigle, Longaphie and Pitre were seaking permanent leases to their land.
In 1787, Governor Edmund Fanning ventured out from Charlottetown in June and visited "the beautiful little village" at Fortune, as well as Annandale.
The first Bay Fortune Presbyterian Church was built ca. 1806.
Land agent Edward Abell appeared before John Plaw J.P. and Frederick B. Holland J.P. on June 8, 1814 with complaints against Nicholas Falla J.P. regarding Falla's reluctance to issue summons to tenant farmers for back rents on the properties they are leasing.
In 1819, Edward Abell's wife wanted a black carriage horse owned by one of Lord James Townshend's tenants, Patrick Pearce of Red House. Failing in that, she prevailed upon her husband to immediately demand payment of the rent. Pearce attempted to raise the money from among his neighbours. On his return home, he discovered one of Abell's men holding his horse, and a constable present. Abell refused the money. Pearce entered his home and returned with an old musket and stabbed Abell in the arm and the groin. Abell returned here and died several days later. Earlier in the day Abell had been at Valentine Needham's and was able to collect the rent there, thus discharging Needham of debts due to Lord Townshend. Despite a substantial reward offered by the Colony for the murder, Pearce was hidden by his neighbours until spring, then fled the colony in a ship for the port of Annandale. Click on the link for a digital article, published in December 1901 by C. P. Flockton, entitled Murder of Abel. The late Adele Townshend wrote an article for the Island Magazine, entitled Drama at Abells Cape.
Tourism got an early start here in 1820. Walter Johnstone of Dumfries, Scotland described the hospitality extended to him by a Highland family on a cold wintry night. The family willingly welcomed him and gave up their bedding for the night, so that he might be warm.
The second Presbyterian church was built here ca. 1834.
Joseph Coffin chaired a land tenant's meeting, in 1836, held at Bay Fortune, where a strongly worded resolution is passed accusing the majority of the House of Assembly of abusing the trust reposed in them.
The current Bay Fortune United Church was completed in 1877.
American actor Charles P. Flockton purchased Abells Cape from William Conohan in 1894 and brought his Comedy Company with him for the summer months. Included among the group is former Gibson Girl, Elsa Warwick-Kelvey. Click on the link for an adventurous tale in digital format, Kidd's Treasure, by the actor Charles Kent, regarding Abel's Cape. Click on the link for a play entitled The Ghost for a play based on the same adventure.
Area farmers Douglas Aitken, C. H. Townshend of Bay Fortune and W. H. Townshend of Rollo Bay West swept the prizes for foundation stock seed potatoes at the State Fair Dec. 17 & 18 at Forest City, Iowa, in 1942.
Capt. Carl F. Burke 1913-1976, founder of Maritime Central Airways, of Charlottetown had his roots here. He was named a member of the
Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.
Charles Coghlan was born at London, England or in Ireland, ca. 1849. He was an Actor and a Playwright. As an actor he was known as the John Barrymore of his day. He was flamboyant, a friend of the Prince of Wales and was a prominent part of a bigamy scandal in Paris, France in the mid 1890's. He, his wife and daughter summered briefly on the Fortune River in P.E.I. in the late 1880's, then returned to rent property on Abell's Cape. He wrote the play,
The Lion and The Mouse while here. Gertrude Coghlan, his daughter, starred in the play in Boston performances. He died at Galveston, Texas in 1899 and was buried there in the Lakeview Cemetery. There is a story told in
Ripley's Believe It Or Not about his casket being washed out to sea during a hurricane. The casket supposedly washed ashore at Bay Fortune 10 years later. His descendants state emphatically that this story is
not true and should be treated as
NOT.
Colleen Dewhurst was born in Montreal in 1924. She was an Actor. She owned, and summered for several years (late 1970's, early 1980's) on the property which is now The Inn At Bay Fortune. She starred on stage, in television shows and feature films. Some of her film credits include Anne of Green Gables, Annie Hall, Ice Castles, Road to Avonlea and Tribute. Her television credits included appearances on Ben Casey, The Love Boat, Dr. Kildare, Moonlighting and Murphy Brown. She won two Obie Awards, two Tony Awards and four Emmy Awards. She was married and divorced twice from fellow actor George C. Scott. Mr. Scott did not have an interest in the property, nor did he ever visit here. One of her sons, Campbell Scott, is a notable actor in his own right, appearing in the movie Dying Young with Julia Roberts. She played on Broadway in a play opposite him, in 1988. Her other son, New York stage director Alex Scott, was married to a descendant of several Prince Edward Island families. Ms. Dewhurst served as President of Actors Equity. She died at South Salem, N.Y. in 1991.
Henry P. Duchemin was born at Charlottetown in 1869. He was a Teacher, a Lawyer and a Newspaperman. He was married to Caroline Dingwall of Bay Fortune and spent the summer months vacationing on Abell's Cape. He was appointed editor of The Sydney Post in Sydney, N.S. in 1914. He rose through the ranks to where by 1938 he became President and Publisher of the Post-Record properties. Mr. Duchemin served as president of the Canadian Press and served on several volunteer Boards of Directors. He passed away in 1950.
Flockton | 
Kent | 
Stevenson | 
The Sundial |
Charles P. Flockton was born ca. 1859 in London, England. He was an Actor and a Playwright. He was an actor past his prime when he purchased Abell's Cape in 1894 for a summer home to escape the summer heat of New York City. He brought his C.P. Flockton Comedy Company to P.E.I. with him. Stars of the time such as Reginald Carrington, Charles Kent, and Charles Stevenson accompanied him and visited here regularily. He died while appearing in a play at San Francisco, California in 1904. After cremation, his ashes were buried at Abell's Cape, on what is today private property, beneath a sandstone monument and sundial. The late
Adele Townshend wrote an article for the
Island Magazine, entitled
The C. P. Flockton Comedy Company.
Mark Haines is a Multi-Instrumentalist Musician and a Recording Artist. He is a permanent resident of the area. He has performed all over Canada, parts of the United States, England and Scotland as part of the duo Haines & Leighton. They have been featured in many folk festivals and societies, workshops, small hall, coffee-houses and pubs. They have also performed and been interviewed on Canadian radio stations and television specials.
Playwright Elmer Harris was born in Chicago in 1878. Beginning in 1908, he summered at Bay Fortune for the next half-century. In 1940, he turned the story of a local deaf-mute girl into Johnny Belinda. The film version won a Best Actress Oscar for Jane Wyman in 1948. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1966.
Elsa D. Warwick-Kelvey was born in Sweden in 1882. She was an Actor, Singer and a Model for the famous Gibson Girl pictures. She summered in P.E.I. at the Actor's Colony and participated fully in the community. She sang at many weddings that were conducted in the area. She died in 1955 and was buried in St. Alban's Churchyard in Souris.
Today . . .
Fortune Harbour Fishing Vessels
Late Riser
Cheryl Louise C.
Tracie Nicole II
Millar Time I
Ashley, Brooke, Luke & Wayne
Fortune Flyer II
Fortune Bay 1
Reel Turmoil
| Top Notch '04
Candace and Courtney
Ice Lady
Knot Wanted
Ship Of Fools 1
Canadian Honker
Undaunted
| Sea Panther
Early Mornings
Ocean Dream
Ocean Wanderer
Aeolus VI
Southern Schooner
Chauntelle & Cody
|
|
A River Runs By CottageBay Fortune Harbour Authority
Fortune Bridge Gallery
War Memorial in the Bay Fortune United Church Cemetery
Connections to our area . . .Images from the Past & Present . . .
The Comet
built here in 1858 by Daniel Flynn
Copyright
Waldron H. Leard 
