Calvert is a local service district and

designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the ...

in the Canadian province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...

in the

Southern Shore Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

region of the province. It is 72 kilometres south of the provincial capital St. John's, 7 kilometres south of Cape Broyle, and 3 kilometres north of Ferryland. The population in 2001 was 355, a decline of 17% since 1996.

History

Settlers were recorded at Cap(e)lin Bay, what is now Calvert, as early as the 1670s. Prior to January 30, 1922, Calvert was known as Caplin Bay, sometimes spelled Capelin Bay. It is said to have been named for the large number of

capelin The capelin or caplin (''Mallotus villosus'') is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin ...

that were fished by its early settlers. As several other Newfoundland communities had similar names, and in light of the necessities of the postal service, the Newfoundland Nomenclature Board, in the early 20th century, made efforts to reduce duplication of place names. It responded favourably to a 1922 petition collected by the parish priest of Ferryland, Father Alfred Maher to change the name of the settlement in honour of Sir George Calvert, First Baron Baltimore, and founder, in the early seventeenth century, of the Colony of Avalon at what is now nearby Ferryland. A book about the community was written by Gerald Pocius, titled ''"A Place to Belong: Community Order and Everyday Space in Calvert, Newfoundland"''.

Geography

Calvert is in Newfoundland within Subdivision U of Division No. 1.

Demographics

As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Calvert recorded a population of 219 living in 103 of its 177 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 255. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Government

Calvert is a local service district (LSD) that is governed by a committee responsible for the provision of certain services to the community. The chair of the LSD committee is Adrian Sullivan.

Notable people

Loyola Sullivan Loyola Sullivan (born April 3, 1949) served as Canada's Ambassador for Fisheries Conservation from 2007 until 2011 and is a former Member of the House of Assembly in Newfoundland and Labrador. Sullivan represented the district of Ferryland from ...

, the former provincial Minister of Finance and Member of the House of Assembly for Ferryland District, and former Canadian ambassador for Fisheries Conservation, is from Calvert.

References

External links

Google Maps satellite image of Calvert Bay Demographic, Economic, and Social profile of Calvert from the Government of Newfoundland and LabradorFamily Names of Calvert (Caplin Bay), NewfoundlandGenealogical information on Ferryland District (including Calvert) from Newfoundland's Grand Banks
{{Coord, 47.053, N, 52.9107, W, display=title Designated places in Newfoundland and Labrador Local service districts in Newfoundland and Labrador