James Edward Branch

1907-1980

Father James Branch was born 26 November 1907 at Burnsville, NB was a priest, journalist, and author, and is the first native Acadian dramatist whose works have survived. Branch attended Bathurst’s Collège du Sacré-Cœur, where his three best-known plays were written and performed while he was still a student: L’Émigrant acadien (1929), Jusqu’à la mort… pour nos écoles (1929), and Vivent nos écoles catholiques! Ou La Résistance de Caraquet (1932). Branch attended seminary school in Halifax, NS, and was ordained as a priest on 21 May 1933. He then moved to the Canadian West, spending 25 years ministering in Gravelbourg, SK. He was editor of La Voix Catholique from 1937-1939, radio commentator from 194-1952, and editor of the Prairie Optimiste newspaper from 1941-1956. After a brief return to Burnsville in 1956, he moved to Ottawa, ON. He retired in 1967 and died on 2 November 1980.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Burnsville, Bathurst