Shelburne RCMP charge alleged Black Loyalist arsonist

Shelburne RCMP charged Gaylord Avery Perry, 41, now in the Southwest Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, on Nov. 29.

His first court appearance is Feb. 28 in Shelburne Provincial Court.

Society president, Richard Gallion said, in recognizing Perry is innocent until proven guilty, that it will be a “relief� to members when the guilty party is sentenced.

“It’s been awhile.�

He added he expects more information will be available within a week about when a project manager will be hired and the office re-built.

On March 31, around 10 p.m., a fire was discovered on the wooden deck at the front of the Birchtown building.

“When I got here, the railing was burning and falling off and it was just getting up under the eaves,� society member Everett Cromwell said at the time.

The next morning, the front wall of the building was burnt but still standing and the roof had collapsed into the structure.

Inside were the melted remains of computers and scorched metal filing cabinets.

The cause was later determined to be arson.

The office held 18 years of research, both on computer and in the filing cabinets.

The office also served as a centre for research projects and archive activities and as a meeting centre.

Since that time, however, after society members vowed to rebuild, donations and fundraisers both in Shelburne Co. and across Nova Scotia and Canada have been offered and held. A computer expert even found a way to save much of the information members thought was lost forever.

Perry is well known to RCMP for his activities, especially those involving a motor vehicle.

On Aug. 4, RCMP called off a pursuit as Avery closed in on the Town of Shelburne at a high speed. Instead, they picked him up the following day at a home on Roseway Beach Road.

On Oct. 18, he was sent to prison for charges that covered a Jan. 1-Aug. 4 date-range, according to Yarmouth Provincial Court records.

They include charges of assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, criminal assault, uttering threats, criminal harassment, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle (two charges), committing an offense while operating a motor vehicle, a breach of undertaking, causing a disturbance, and evading a peace officer.

He is serving 300 days in jail between the consecutive and concurrent sentences he received.