Chatham is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in
Northumberland County,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
For governance purposes it is divided between the city of
Miramichi and the
local service district A local service district is a type of designated place in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. In the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, a local service district is a defined area led by an elected committee responsible for the deliv ...
of the parish of Chatham, both of which are members of the
Greater Miramichi Regional Service Commission (GMRSC).
Origin of name
The parish was named in honour of the
Earl of Chatham
Earl of Chatham, of Chatham in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1766 for William Pitt the Elder on his appointment as Lord Privy Seal, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Pitt, of Burto ...
, a title held at the time by General
John Pitt, or for his father, former
British Prime Minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
Pitt the Elder
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...
.
The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick gives British Prime Minister
Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
as the inspiration of the name, but erroneously gives him the title of Earl of Chatham, which he never held. He died in office in 1806.
Six of the nine Northumberland County parishes erected simultaneously in 1814
were named for military figures of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
or British politicians associated with the military.
The strongest case might be for the parish's
eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
might be General Pitt, who was
Master-General of the Ordnance
The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...
for most of the Napoleonic Wars and closely involved with planning Britain's coastal defenses. General Pitt was influential enough to be offered the Portugal command that later went to
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...
.
History
Chatham was erected in 1814 from
Newcastle Parish but did not include the modern Douglasfield and Chatham Head areas, which were in neighbouring
Nelson Parish until 1850.
[ Book was poorly proofread, resulting in title typo and reuse of page numbers 145–152.]
Boundaries
Chatham Parish is bounded:
[ Remainder of parish on maps 61, 69, and 70 at same site.][ Remainder of parish on mapbooks 190 and 204 at same site.]
* on the northwest and north by the
Miramichi River
The Miramichi River is a river located in the east-central part of New Brunswick, Canada. The river drains into Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The name may have been derived from the Montagnais words "Maissimeu Assi" (meaning Mi'km ...
;
* on the east by Napan Bay;
* on the south by a line beginning at the mouth of
Napan River and running upstream to the westernmost corner of a grant to Henry Coils in
Glenelg Parish, about 300 metres east of the junction of Searle Road and North Napan Road and about 400 metres north of the junction of Hannah Hill Road and Weldfield Collette Road, then running south 68º west to a point about 375 metres east of Sutton Road and about 75 metres north of Carding Mill Brook;
* on the southwest, beginning north of Carding Mill Brook, then running northwesterly along the prolongation of the southwestern line of a grant to William Brown Sr. and the grant itself to a cove northeasterly of the junction of Rasche Street and St. Patrick's Drive, then into the Miramichi River;
* including Middle Island in the Miramichi.
Evolution of boundaries
In 1814 the western line was about 300 metres west of Harper Road, along the western line of a grant to William McCallum and its prolongation inland.
The southern boundary ran eight miles up the River from its mouth, "or until it intersects the before mentioned line
..forming the rear of the said Parishes of
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
and
Carleton".
[Uses of ]long s
The long s , also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaism, archaic form of the lowercase letter . It replaced the single ''s'', or one or both of the letters ''s'' in a 'double ''s sequence (e.g., "ſinfulneſs" for "sinfulness" ...
in the text have been modernised for readability. If the line continues along the Northwest Branch rather than the main body of the river then eight miles from the mouth of the Napan is roughly where the prolongation of the McCallum grant strikes the Napan.
In 1850 the parish was extended west to its modern boundary and the southern boundary was altered slightly, establishing the modern boundaries.
Several pieces of territory on either side of the river were exchanged with Glenelg.
Communities
Communities at least partly within the parish.
bold indicates an incorporated municipality
*
L ower Napan
*
Upper Napan
*
Miramichi
** Bushville
**
Chatham
**
Chatham Head
*
Miramichi
** Curtis Park
** Douglasfield
**
Loggieville
** Lower Chatham Head
** Morrison Cove
Bodies of water
Bodies of water
[Not including brooks, ponds or coves.] at least partly within the parish.
*
Miramichi River
The Miramichi River is a river located in the east-central part of New Brunswick, Canada. The river drains into Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The name may have been derived from the Montagnais words "Maissimeu Assi" (meaning Mi'km ...
*
Napan River
* Chatham Lake
* Chatham Reservoir
* Napan Bay
Islands
Islands at least partly within the parish.
*
Middle Island
Other notable places
Parks, historic sites, and other noteworthy places at least partly within the parish.
*
CFB Chatham
Canadian Forces Base Chatham or CFB Chatham was a Canadian Forces Base located immediately south of the town of Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada. Parts are now operating as Miramichi Municipal Airport since 1974 with a partial runway available ( ...
*
Miramichi Airport
Miramichi Airport is located south of Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada.
The runway was originally but was shortened to ; in 2012 it was re-extended to and is maintained year-round. It has a pavement overlay (from 1998), new approach lights a ...
Demographics
Parish population total does not include portion within
Miramichi
Population
Population trend
[Statistics Canada: ]1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, 2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
census
Language
Mother tongue (2016)
See also
*
List of parishes in New Brunswick
The Canadian province of New Brunswick is divided by the ''Territorial Division Act'' into 152 parishes, units which had political significance as subdivisions of counties until the Municipalities Act of 1966. Parishes still exist in law and inclu ...
Notes
References
{{coord, 47, 02, 42, N, 65, 22, 12, W, name=Chatham Parish, New Brunswick, display=title, region:CA-NB_type:adm3rd_scale:100000
Parishes of Northumberland County, New Brunswick
Local service districts of Northumberland County, New Brunswick