Located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, more than eighty kilometres from the nearest landmass, the Îles de la Madeleine, if undetected, were a treacherous area for mariners. Between 1855 and 1880, over 200 vessels shipwrecked on the islands. Île du Havre-Aubert (Amherst Island) is the largest and southernmost island in the Îles de la Madeleine. A lighthouse was established on Rocher aux Oiseaux (Bird Rock), the northernmost island in the archipelago, in 1870, and Amherst Island was a natural choice for the islands’ second light.

The lighthouse established in 1870 was built on the southern cape of the island, and then in 1911, a lighthouse was built on the wharf at the eastern end of the island. The following Notice to Mariners advertised the completion of this new lighthouse:

A 6th order, dioptric, fixed red light, elevated 28 feet above high water and visible 7 miles from all points of approach by water, has been established by the Government of Canada on the outer end of the wharf at Amherst, Pleasant Bay, Magdalen Islands.

The lighthouse is a small, white, square, wooden building, supported on four steel columns and surmounted by a square wooden lantern, painted white with red roof. The height of the structure from the deck of the wharf to the top of the ventilator on the lantern is 30 feet.

J.H. Dube supervised the day’s labour that erected the lighthouse at a cost of $199.94. Goold, Shapley, & Muir of Brantford, Ontario supplied the metalwork for the foundation of the lighthouse at a cost of $298.

P.J. Brophy was hired as the first keeper for Amherst Wharf Lighthouse at an annual salary of $90. He served until John Savage took charge of the lighthouse in 1914. Keeper Savage looked after the light until 1924 . Ludger H. Boudreau was keeper of the lighthouse from 1937 until 1959.

The lighthouse was destroyed in 1963.

Keepers: P.J. Brophy (1910 – 1914), John Savage (1914 – 1924), Patrick Brophy (1924 – 1931), Pierre Verdier (1931 – 1937), Ludger H. Boudreau (1937 – 1959).

References

1. Annual Report of the Department of Marine, various years.

No light marks this location today.

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