Manchester is a rural community in the

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

province of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, located in the

Municipality of the District of Guysborough Guysborough, officially the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, is a Canadian List of district municipalities in Nova Scotia#District municipality, district municipality in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Guysborough County, Nova Scoti ...

in Guysborough County.

Geography

Manchester lies along Route 344 on the northern side of Chedabucto Bay. It sits between the communities of Boylston and Port Shoreham.

History

In October 1765, Manchester was part of the 20,000 acres granted to Benjamin Hallowell of Boston for settlement. No significant progress on surveying or settling these lands were made until it passed to his two sons, Benjamin Hallowell Jr., and

Ward Nicholas Boylston Ward Nicholas Boylston (1747–1828; born Ward Hallowell), a descendant of the physician Zabdiel Boylston, was an American merchant, a philanthropist, and benefactor of Harvard University. Biography Boylston was born in Boston, Province of ...

. Surveying was completed in 1786, with the Manchester area divided up into 150 acre lots. Settlers were primarily

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, but early settlers also came directly from England, Scotland, and Ireland. At this time, the name Manchester applied to neighboring areas such as present day Boylston, Port Shoreham, and Manassette Lake. This area was collectively known as the Manchester Township. The settlers of Manchester relied on subsistence farming. The road running through the community was known as the "Mulgrave Road" as it went from Boylston to Mulgrave. This road was paved and turned into Route 344 in the late 1960's.

References

Communities in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia {{GuysboroughNS-geo-stub