Les gardiens de phare / The Lighthouse Keepers

Lighthouse keepers carried out demanding work that often required them to stay awake for several days during storms. In all weather, they lit and kept the beacon alight, lit it early in fog or rain, wound the weighing system controlling the beacon’s rotation every six or seven hours, cleaned the parabolic reflectors and glass prism, replaced and cleaned the lantern glass, polished the brasses, kept a log of ship movements and the weather, operated the telegraph, and prepared the fuel needed for the beacon. One keeper said this list did not include everything required for daily survival and that families helped and supported them. The keepers named here were François-Xavier Dionne from 1877 to 1879, whose career ended with his suspension on May 16, 1879 after several days of absence; Octave Desjardins from 1879 to 1897, who was 48 when appointed and earned $250 a year; Joseph Banville from 1897 to 1926; Jules-André-Octave Morin from 1926 to 1936, who had fought in World Wars I and II and later joined the Royal 22nd Regiment as a sergeant major; André Rioux from 1936 to 1937, who had served in France with the 189th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, returned to Canada on March 1, 1919, re-enrolled in 1940-1941, and had previously repaired ships; and Camille McKinnon from 1937 to 1951, whose family remembered that each son took a week of duty lighting the beacon, rewinding the weights in the evening, relighting the fire if it went out, extinguishing it in the morning, and handling cleaning and maintenance during school holidays.

Quebec · Canada