Shigawake

Shigawake
Municipality
Saint Paul Church in Shigawake
Location within Bonaventure RCM.
Shigawake Location in eastern Quebec.
Coordinates: 48°06′N 65°05′W
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Gaspésie– Îles-de-la-Madeleine
RCM	Bonaventure
Settled	Late 18th century
Constituted	December 15, 1924
Government
• Mayor	Rolande Beebe
• Federal riding	Gaspésie— Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• Prov. riding	Bonaventure
Area
• Total	75.40 km2 (29.11 sq mi)
• Land	76.82 km2 (29.66 sq mi)
	There is an apparent contradiction between two authoritative sources
Population  (2021)
• Total	333
• Density	4.3/km2 (11/sq mi)
• Pop 2016-2021	14%
• Dwellings	167
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G0C 3E0
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Highways	R-132
Website	municipalityshigawake.com

Shigawake is a municipality in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of the province of Quebec in Canada. Shigawake is bordered to the west by Saint-Godefroi and to the east by Port-Daniel-Gascons.

The place name is taken from the river that flows through the village and is of Mi'kmaq origin, meaning either "land of the rising sun" or "white water".

The community of Shigawake is an eight kilometre stretch of coastline behind high red cliffs on the Gaspe Coast in the province of Québec. It has been officially designated as an Anglophone community among the largely Francophone population of Québec. Although it boasts a town council and mayor, it only hosts, among many small houses, a municipal building, the Anglican church of St Paul's, built in the 1860s, and a former Rectory converted to the Community Centre. The United Church was decommissioned in 2012, formerly the site of a temperance hall.

Shigawake has held the Shigawake Fair annually since 1909, also now paired with the Shigawake Music Festival which has showcased local talent.

Shigawake is also the site of Seagro, an organic fertiliser and composting firm.

The oldest farmhouse on the entire coast continuously inhabited by one family, the Old Homestead, was built early in the first decade of the 1800s. The founding of Shigawake is described in The Alford Saga, an eight book series of a romantic adventures by the late Paul Almond, an officer of the Order of Canada.

The area's fields, once so productive, are now used mainly for hay and the woods behind for harvests of sawlogs and firewood.

Demographics

Population

Canada census – Shigawake community profile

	2021	2016	2011
Population	333 (14.0% from 2016)	292 (-13.6% from 2011)	338 (-5.3% from 2006)
Land area	76.82 km2 (29.66 sq mi)	76.82 km2 (29.66 sq mi)	75.68 km2 (29.22 sq mi)
Population density	4.3/km2 (11/sq mi)	3.8/km2 (9.8/sq mi)	4.5/km2 (12/sq mi)
Median age	49.6 (M: 52.4, F: 48.0)	55.1 (M: 55.6, F: 54.3)	52.3 (M: 53.5, F: 51.2)
Private dwellings	167 (total)	171 (total)	163 (total)
Median household income	$55,600	$42,560	$.N/A

Notes: 2011 income data for this area has been suppressed for data quality or confidentiality reasons.
References: 2021 2016 2011 earlier

Historical Census Data - Shigawake, Quebec

Year Pop. ±% 1931 578 —     1941 642 +11.1% 1951 604 −5.9% 1956 609 +0.8% 1961 550 −9.7% 1966 493 −10.4%

Year Pop. ±% 1971 462 −6.3% 1976 516 +11.7% 1981 549 +6.4% 1986 492 −10.4% 1991 430 −12.6% 1996 302 −29.8%

Year Pop. ±% 2001 372 +23.2% 2006 357 −4.0% 2011 338 −5.3% 2016 292 −13.6% 2021 333 +14.0%

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 58.2%
• French as first language: 37.3%
• English and French as first language: 4.5%
• Other as first language: 0%

Notable people

Major S.V. Radley-Walters of The Sherbrooke Fusiliers was born in Shigawake, Quebec and in World War II was credited with 18 enemy tanks and assault guns put out of action. Tank-to-tank combat was rare in North-West Europe where tanks were more commonly used for infantry support missions. German armour, especially after the Battle of Normandy, was usually only found in small numbers opposite Canadian formations - certainly the flooded terrain in the Scheldt and the Rhineland was not often considered "good tank country."

Nonetheless, Major Sidney Radley-Walters, who commanded "A" Squadron of The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, was credited with knocking out approximately 18 German tanks and assault guns during his wartime service.

Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment landed as the reserve tank battalion on D-Day. The next day, D+1, they underwent their baptism of fire. Rad would win the Military Cross for actions at Buron, Normandy in July, and the Distinguished Service Order for a number of actions later in the war.

War correspondent Ross Munro reported on Major Sidney Radley-Walters and his tank crew for the Canadian Press in August 1944.

Twenty-four-year-old Maj. S. V. (Woppy) Radley-Walters from the Gaspé Coast and his crew of four in their Sherman tank named "Caribou" are the leading tank destroyers in the Canadian armored units in France.

Their score now is 12 German tanks knocked out and the Caribou is still rolling with the same crew.

Radley Walters and his men are members of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers, a regiment which has made a fabulous name for itself in this Normandy campaign. They landed on D-Day with the regiment and have fought with it in every battle since.

The youthful major, who lived most of his life at Shigawake, Que., and whose father, Rev. A. R. Radley-Walters, now is rector of St. Peter's in Quebec City, said they got their first German tank near Buron in the action there the day after landing. This was believed to be the first enemy tank destroyed in the battle of France.

See also

• List of anglophone communities in Quebec
• List of municipalities in Quebec