Wood Island (New Brunswick)
{{Short description|Island in New Brunswick, Canada}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Wood Island
| image_name = Wood Island wharves.png
| image_size =
| image_caption = Fishing wharves on Wood Island, 1926.
| map =
| map_width =
| map_caption = Location in the Bay of Fundy
| label_position = top
| coordinates = {{coord|44|37|21|N|66|49|21|W|type:isle_region:CA-NB|display=inline,title}}
| location = Bay of Fundy
| archipelago = Grand Manan Archipelago
| area_km2 =
| country = Canada
| country_admin_divisions_title = Province
| country_admin_divisions = New Brunswick
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = County
| country_admin_divisions_1 = Charlotte
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Parish
| country_admin_divisions_2 = Grand Manan Parish
| population =
| population_as_of =
| population_footnotes =
| density_km2 =
| module =
}}Wood Island (also called Inner Wood Island{{Cite book |last=Lorimer |first=J[ohn] G. [from old catalog |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofislands00lori/page/n5/mode/2up |title=History of islands & islets in the Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick; |date=1876 |publisher=St. Stephen, N.B., Printed at the office of the Saint Croix courier |others=The Library of Congress}}) is an island located in the Grand Manan archipelago, in the Bay of Fundy of New Brunswick, Canada.{{Cite web|url=https://www.saltscapes.com/roots-folks/1219-ties-and-traditions.html|title=Ties & Traditions|first=Scott|last=Noble|website=Saltscapes Magazine}} It is distinct from its eastern neighbour Little Wood, or Outer Wood Island. Once home to hundreds of fishing families, it has been abandoned since the 1950s.{{Cite web |title=Wood Island still cradles the remains of the community it hosted 70 years ago |url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/1.5628478 |website=CBC News}}
At its heyday in the 1950s, it housed a one-room schoolhouse, and a post office since at least 1926. {{Cite book |last=Canada. Parliament |url=https://archive.org/details/annualdept4s192627cana/page/n201/mode/2up?q=%22wood++island%22 |title=Annual departmental reports, 1926-27 |date=1927 |others=University of Ottawa - Brian Dickson Law Library}} The schoolhouse still stands, converted with solar panels and propane to a private summer cottage.{{Cite web|url=https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/on-home/|title=On home: The lost community of Wood Island|first=Shane|last=Fowler|website=newsinteractives.cbc.ca}} The Reformed Baptist church was the only building with electricity, boasting its own generator.
Geology
While most of the islands east of Grand Manan are stratified rock, Wood Island is conglomerate and fine-grained dark red sandstone.Dawson, John William, "Acadian Geology", pg751
History
File:Wood Island Social News.png
In March 1606, François Gravé Du Pont ordered a barque to travel from the Bay of Fundy to Florida however after just one day it anchored in Seal Cove between Wood Island and Grand Manan, but the winds were so furious as to damage the 17-18 tonne ship throwing it on the shore of Wood Island where the crew repaired and reloaded it for four days before returning to the settlement of Samuel de Champlain near the St. Croix River for a couple weeks before Du Pont gave up on the expedition due to the fog and wind.Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, 1604-1618, 1907 edition, pg82
It was first settled by a man named Gerrald who also settled the outer island, and in time Wood Island became the property of William Ross who deputed William Green (b.~1790) to oversee it, after Green had fallen from favour as an educator on Campobello.https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/green_william_1783_1833_6E.html Green made a deliberate effort to introduce hares to the islands, and was baptised at the age of 80 by Rev. Joshua N. Barnes.Barnes, Joshua N. "Lights and Shadows of Eighty Years", pg88 Upon Ross' death, Green took ownership of the island.https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/green_william_1783_1833_6E.html After Green's death, his sons inherited the island.
In March 1871, the schooner Anna was wrecked on the island, with two crew killed."Shipping Intelligence". Glasgow Herald. No. 9755. Glasgow. 7 April 1871.
In 1907, the population was approximately 150.The Semi-weekly telegraph : The Semi-weekly telegraph : Vol. XLVI, No. 47 (February 13, 1907)
On July 1 1918, sapper Wilfred Shepherd of Wood island was killed in Mesopotamia as part of World War I and buried in Basra.{{Cite web|url=https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/631479|title=Wilfred Shepherd - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada|first=Veterans Affairs|last=Canada|date=February 20, 2019|website=www.veterans.gc.ca}}
Other incidents include the Quebec ship Laurentian (113641) running aground due to fog and wind on April 7 1926, and May 18 1926 the CGS Laurentian blowing its boilers while inspecting lighthouses and buoys and running aground on Wood Island.
=Outer Little Wood Island=
Outer Wood Island was not settled to a large degree, but saw naturalists such as Ernest Joy conduct species studies of its flora and fauna. In 1911, the Department of Marine and Fisheries purchased a small plot on the southern tip to serve as a launching point for life-saving boats.Forty-sixth Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, for the year 1912-1913. - Marine. A coxswain and five men operated a Sorel-Tracy twin -screw motorboat built at Sorel, and a Beebe-McLellan self-bailing boat. Telephone cable was laid from Grand Manan to Wood Island, to Outer Wood Island, to Gannet Rock Lighthouse.Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, for the year ending 31st December, 1911.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{New Brunswick Islands}}
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