Hillsborough is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in Albert County in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 ...

. The village is situated on a hill overlooking the

Petitcodiac River The Petitcodiac River is a river in south-eastern New Brunswick, Canada. Referred to as the "chocolate river" by local tourist businesses, it is characterized by its brown mud floor and brown waters. The river has a meander length of and is lo ...

near the intersection of Route 910 and Route 114. Hillsborough is the largest settlement in Hillsborough Parish.

History

Originally established around 1700 as "Blanchard's Village" by Acadian farmers, they lived here for sixty years, building dykes that are still in use. Before the

Great Expulsion The Expulsion of the Acadians, also known as the Great Upheaval, the Great Expulsion, the Great Deportation, and the Deportation of the Acadians (french: Le Grand Dérangement or ), was the forced removal, by the British, of the Acadian pe ...

of the

Acadians The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the des ...

in 1755, the area was almost 100% French. Now, few Acadians live there, though there are several Acadian settlements on the opposite bank of the Petitcodiac River, such as

Pre d'en Haut, New Brunswick Pre or PRE may refer to: Places *Preston railway station, UK National Rail code PRE *Prince Edward station, on Hong Kong's MTR People *Steve Prefontaine (1951–1975), an American runner nicknamed "Pre" Arts, entertainment, and media *Pre (ba ...

. On September 4, 1755, the

Battle of Petitcodiac The Battle of Petitcodiac was an engagement which occurred during the Bay of Fundy campaign of the French and Indian War. The battle was fought between the British colonial forces from Massachusetts and Acadian militiamen led by French officer C ...

was fought near Hillsborough. After the capture of

Fort Beausejour A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, in an attempt to gain control over the region, the British sent a

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...

consisting of two companies of British colonial troops into the

Valley to destroy the Acadian settlements located there. While the main body finished their operation on the eastern bank, a detachment was dispatched to the western bank. When the detachment under Major Joseph Frye approached Blanchard's Village, located near where Hillsborough now stands, it encountered French forces under the command of Captain

Charles Deschamps de Boishébert Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

and was driven off with heavy losses. The site is marked by a National Historic Sites and Monument plaque. In 1766, a group of settlers arrived in the area led by Matthias Somers, Michael Lutz, Jacob Trietz (Trites), Charles Jones, and Heinrich Stieff (Steeves). Heinrich Steeves had seven sons and the name Steeves is still common among residents.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Hillsborough had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Places of note

*Hillsborough is home to the Albert County Chamber of Commerce and the historic New Brunswick Railway MuseumNew Brunswick Railway Museum website
/ref> and the Hon. William Henry Steeves House Museum. *Grays Island is a cemetery. *

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

was amalgamated into Hillsborough.

Education

Caledonia Regional High School Caledonia Regional High School is a Canadian secondary school in Hillsborough, New Brunswick, Hillsborough, New Brunswick. It is a “Centre of Academic Excellence” according to the local news media and the least populated high school in all of ...

* Hillsborough Elementary School

Notable people

William Steeves William Henry Steeves (May 20, 1814 – December 9, 1873) was a merchant, lumberman, politician and Father of Canadian Confederation. Life and career Born and raised in Hillsborough, New Brunswick, William Henry Steeves was a descendant of Hein ...

, one of the

Fathers of Confederation The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conference of 1866 (16 attendees), preceding Canadian ...

* Hugh McMonagle *

William James Lewis William James Lewis (September 23, 1830 – June 22, 1910) was a physician and political figure in New Brunswick, Canada. He represented Albert County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1879 to 1896 and Albert in the House o ...

Neil McNeil Neil McNeil (November 23, 1851 – May 25, 1934) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934. Early life McNeil was born in Hillsborough, Inverness County, Nov ...

, former Catholic archbishop of Toronto, was a native of Hillsborough. * Burpee L. Steeves Lieutenant Governor of Idaho

References

External links

Village of Hillsborough
{{coord, 45, 55, N, 64, 39, W, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, name=Hillsborough, display=title Communities in Albert County, New Brunswick Villages in New Brunswick Communities in Greater Moncton Mining communities in New Brunswick