Crosses from New Zealand shipwreck sent to Quebec in honour of 19th-century Patriot

Sam Pineault holds a pair of wooden crosses made from a shipwreck in New Zealand in his studio in St. Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., Friday, June 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

A pair of wooden crosses made from a shipwreck in New Zealand have been sent to Quebec to honour the 185-year-old wish of a francophone man who rebelled against British rule.

Francois-Xavier Prieur was one of dozens of Patriots who were exiled to Australia aboard the HMS Buffalo as punishment for their part in the 1837-1838 uprising in Lower Canada, now Quebec. He later wrote in his memoir of his desire that pieces of the ship be sent to his home as a reminder of what he had suffered.

Last month, his wish was granted, thanks to a Quebec-Australian film crew and officials in New Zealand, where the HMS Buffalo was wrecked in 1840 shortly after Prieur arrived in Australia, which used to serve as a British penal colony.

Kurt Bennett, who works for Heritage New Zealand and is a member of the HMS Buffalo Re-examination Project, helped organize a ceremony in April to mark the start of the crosses' journey to Canada. He said it was an emotional moment, in part because of the attendance of one of the prisoners' descendants.

"I think it was that sudden realization that we're now granting someone's wish 185 years on; also knowing that family connection, I think it was quite a moving day," he said in a recent interview.

On May 22 -- National Patriots' Day in Quebec -- the two small crosses were presented to Prieur's descendants at a church in Saint-Polycarpe, Que., west of Montreal, in an hour-long ceremony that included speeches, a historical re-enactment and symbolic gunfire.

The plan was put in motion after a 2022 screening of a documentary called "Land of a Thousand Sorrows Revisited," which tells the story of Prieur and the 57 other Patriots who were exiled to Australia on board the ship.

The documentary by Canadian-Australian filmmaker Deke Richards captured the imagination of Bill Edwards, the manager of the Northland office of Heritage New Zealand, who then read a translation of Prieur's memoir and was moved by his words.

"A wounded man preserves as a memento the bullet or piece of shrapnel that has been extracted from his lacerated flesh," Prieur wrote. "Well, I too would like to possess a little cross made from wood from which is constructed this frigate, within whose sides my heart and my body were lacerated by unworthy treatments."

In the journal, Prieur described the gruelling five-month journey on the ship, where prisoners were kept in cramped, unventilated quarters below deck and had to contend with vermin, scurvy, and violent seasickness.

Edwards decided to help put the plan in action, "to get some crosses made, which should have been made 180 years ago," he said.

Bennett said three crosses were made from pieces of wood that were washed ashore from the wreck of the HMS Buffalo, which sits in Mercury Bay, off Whitianga, New Zealand. One was kept in New Zealand, while two were sent to Quebec.

The May ceremony in Quebec was an emotional moment for Gilles Boismenu and Ronald Prieur, who are descendants of Francois-Xavier Prieur. Boismenu, 72, said he was proud to learn more about his family history, and described the ceremony as "pretty incredible."

"This is a thing of pride in my family," he said in a recent phone interview. "This is part of my history."

Sam Pineault, the co-producer of the documentary, which is known in French as "La baie des exiles," says the story highlights the influence the Patriots had on Australia and New Zealand during the years they spent there.

Because literacy levels were low in those areas at the time, the exiled men's journals are some of the few written accounts that exist from the period, he said. Furthermore, the arrival of well-educated people from abroad "brought a little inspiration for the people, including in New Zealand, for them to develop their own democracies," he said.

Pineault said the documentary took several years to make, adding that he was waiting for funding to get the permissions it needs to be widely released.

After the ceremony, the crosses were given to Pineault, who says they will eventually be offered to museums. Both he and Boismenu say they hope relics can be used to raise awareness of a little-known chapter in Quebec's history.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2023.