Links of Interest...

...to the descendants of Burke and Longhurst ancestors.

Last modified 9/8/2023...


Pages of interest for general Longhurst and Burke ancestry...


Pages of interest for French/Acadian/Burke ancestry...


The Cape Breton art of "styling" by John DeMont, from an article in Maclean's magazine...

For more than 200 years, the residents of Cape Breton Island have made "styling" - the practice of nicknaming - an art form. On the isolated, close-knit island, which has an unusually shallow pool of first and last names, memorable monikers have long been a necessity.

Sometimes the handle refers to a physical characteristic - Alex the Clock for a miner with one arm shorter than the other. The Colorado Smiths are so named because an ancestor reputedly rode with Jesse James. And the Pickle Arse Macleans can't shake the name given to a family member in the first half of last century who liked to sit on the pickle barrel at the mining company store.

Frequently, Cape Bretoner's nicknames provide a rollcall of ancestors. Neilie Dixon Donald Grace MacDonald sports his given name (Neil), his father's name (Dixon), which also happens to be where his grandfather worked (Dixon, Mont.), his grandfather's name (Donald and his grandmother's name (Grace). When MacDonald, 43, who lives in Colindale, NS, introduces himself, he unfurls his lineage like a banner. "It's all four generation in one breath", says the married father of four. His eleven-year-old daughter, by the way, is known locally as Heather Neilie Dixon's daughter.


Sites of interest for English/Ontarian/Longhurst ancestry...


This file last modified 9/8/2023...

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