Duke William (ship)

The Duke William was a ship which served as a troop transport at the Siege of Louisbourg and as a deportation ship in the Île Saint-Jean Campaign of the Expulsion of the Acadians during the Seven Years' War. While the Duke William was transporting Acadians from Île St Jean (Prince Edward Island) to France, the ship sank in the North Atlantic on December 13, 1758, with the loss of over 360 lives. The sinking was one of the greatest marine disasters in Canadian history.

Captain William Nichols of Norfolk, England, was the commander and co-owner of the Duke William when it sank. Nichols survived the sinking and received international attention when his journal recounting the tragic incident was published in popular print throughout the 19th century in England and America. Several years after the sinking of the Duke William, Nichols also received international attention when he was taken captive by American patriots during the American Revolution.

Noel Doiron (1684 – December 13, 1758) was one of over three hundred people aboard the Duke William who were deported from Île St. Jean. William Nichols described Noel as the "head prisoner" and the "father of the whole island", a reference to Noel's place of prominence among the Acadian residents of Île St. Jean. For his "noble resignation" and self-sacrifice aboard the Duke William, Noel was celebrated in popular print throughout the nineteenth century in England and America. Noel Doiron also is the namesake of the village of Noel in Hants County, Nova Scotia.

Jacques Girrard was a priest who also sailed on the fatal voyage. Girrard had been the parish priest for Noel Doiron and other Acadians who lived on Île St. Jean. He was one of the few who survived the sinking of the Duke William.

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