In 1710, Colonel Francis Nicholson led the forces that captured Port Royal for the final time from the French and renamed the town Annapolis Royal in honour of Queen Anne. On October 10, 2010, the town will celebrate its 300th anniversary. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia joins this celebration with an exhibition in the Oyler Gallery.
The suite of ten watercolour drawings made by Lieutenant Richard Williams, in September 1775, will form the heart of the exhibition. Through a remarkable outpouring of generosity by the Historical Association of Annapolis Royal and various individuals throughout the province, and with further support from the federal government, through a Moveable Cultural Property grant, the Gallery purchased these drawings at auction in 2006 on very short notice.
The drawings document the original capital of Nova Scotia and some of the outposts settled by the New England Planters in Granville and Annapolis, the two newly created townships along the shores of the Annapolis River.
