The history of municipal government in Richmond County does not necessarily begin in 1879 when the county was incorporated. Pre-1820, committees were convened each spring and fall to provide local government.
In 1820, the entire island of Cape Breton was classed as one county. Years later, four townships – Arichat, Port Hawkesbury, Maitland, and Lennox – were created.
The first meeting for the Township of Arichat was held on February 19, 1829. Arichat’s first doctor, Andrew Madden, presided over the session and continued in this capacity until his death in 1858. He was succeeded by William Creighton of West Arichat.
The districts in 1880:
1. Arichat: C.J. Fuller Jr.
2. Petit de Grat: J.R. Thompson
3. D’Escousse: William LeVesconte (warden)
4. River Inhabitants: Edward Proctor
5. West Bay: Alex Matheson
6. River Bourgeois: M.J.T. MacNeil
7. St. Peter’s: Duncan Cameron
8. Hay Cove: John MacDonald
9. Grand River: John Murchesn (sub-warden)
10. L’Ardoise: William Brymer
11. West Arichat: William LeBlanc
12. William Chisolm (sub-warden)
13. Norman McAskill
Councillors F-M
Ferguson, Roderick: District 10 Lower L’Ardoise Warden 1917
Finlayson, Alexander: District 9 Grand River
Forgeron, George: District 3 West Arichat 1982-85
Fougere, Walter: Districts 6, 7 River Bourgeois-Cannes 1956-1976
Fuller, Charles Jr.: District 1 Arichat 1879
George, Clinton: District 3 West Arichat
Gerroir, Joseph W.: District 8 Johnstown 1964-1970
Goyetche, James: District 2 Petit de Grat 1982-1991, 1994-2004, 2015-present
Gracie, Leo: District 10 Lower L’Ardoise 1959-1960
Groom, William P.: District 15 Grand Greve 1937
Holmes, Dan E.: District 12 Lochside
Holmes, Daniel H.: District 12 Lochside 1958-1967
Holmes, Daniel J.: District 12 Lochside 1937
Holmes, Samuel J.: District 9 Grand River 1917
Holmes, Samuel T.: District 9 Grand River
Jean, W.G.: District 2: Petit de Grat
Johnson, Gail: District 8: Johnstown-Red Islands: 1994-2105 (warden)
Johnston, James J.: District 8 Johnstown-Red Islands 1937, 1953-1958
Kyte, Patrick J.: District 7 St. Peter’s
Landry, John A.: District 2 Petit de Grat-Boudreauville 1930
Landry, Margot: District 3 D’Escousse 1976-1982
Langley, Byron S.: District 14 Point Tupper 1953-1967 (warden)
Langley, John H.: District 7 Barra Head
Latimer, John Jocelyn: District 1Arichat
LeBlanc, Jeffrey: District 11 West Arichat
LeBlanc, J.C. (Joe): District 3 D’Escousse 1964-1970
LeBlanc, Raymond: District 3 D’Escousse 1982-88
LeBlanc, Rudolph.T.: District 11 West Arichat 1937
LeBlanc, Simon: District 1: Arichat 1959-1960
LeBlanc, William: District 11 West Arichat 1880
LeBrun Harold: District 2 Arichat 1959-1967
Lelacheur, Colin P.: District 11 West Arichat
LeVesconte, William: District 3 D’Escousse1880
Libbus, Madeline: District 7 River Bourgeois-Cannes 1985-1997
Lynch, Albert: District 14 Port Malcolm 1973, 1978
MacCormack, Hector: District 13: Framboise Int. 1959-1963
MacCuish, Archibald J.: District 12 Loch Lomond
Macdonald, Daniel J.: District 13 Framboise
MacDonald, H.E. (Harry): District 3 D’Escousse 1956-1963
MacDonald, John A.: District 8 Irish Cove 1917
MacGillivray, Elmer: Fourchu
MacKaskill, John Alex: District 13 Framboise-Sterling: 1953-1958, 1964-1967
MacKay, D.A.: District 9 Grand River 1953-1954
MacKenzie, N. Gladstone: District 9 Grand River Falls 1930
MacKintosh, James H.: District 5 Dundee/West Bay 1917-1934
MacLean, Peter: District 6 River Bourgeois/Cannes 1917
MacLeod, Donald: District 12 Lochside 1953-54
MacLeod, William A.: District 12 Loch Lomond West 1930
MacNeil, Elizabeth
MacNeil, Joe: District 3: West Arichat: 1973-1982
MacNeil, Steve: District 7: St. Peter’s 2008-2016
MacPherson, John J.: District 8 Johnstown
MacRae, Allan: District 5 West Bay 1885-1886, 1890-1894, 1896-1904, 1910-1913