The Gouldsboro Historical Society will present “A Tale of Two Bells, 7:00 p.m. Monday May 6, at the Society’s headquarters, 88 Old Route One in Gouldsboro. The story includes the formation of the Canadian federation, a shipwreck and rescue, and the casting of a duplicate of the wreck’s bell, to be displayed in Nova Scotia while the original remains in Gouldsboro.

The steamship Queen Victoria was the site of 1864 negotiations that led to the uniting of separate British colonies into a Canadian nation. Two years later, the ship was caught in a hurricane off Cape Hatteras, and began to sink. Just in time, the sailing brig Ponvert, captained by a Gouldsboro native, happened along, and was able to save all but two of the Queen Victoria’s crew. In gratitude for the rescue, the captain of the Queen Victoria and some of his crew muscled their ship’s bell off the vessel and onto the Ponvert, presenting the bell to the sailing vessel’s captain as a token of their gratitude. The bell came back to Gouldsboro, where it served as a school bell for decades before going on display in various locations around the town. As a token of international friendship, the town and its local foundry US Bells cast a duplicate of the bell and presented it to Charlottetown, Nova Scotia, where it hangs near the site of the Queen Victoria’s long-ago visit, in what is now known as “Confederation Park. The original bell, and a large scale model of the Queen Victoria, will be at the May 6 presentation.