Shelburne County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) 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. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

History

Shelburne County was founded in 1784 shortly following the influx of

Loyalist 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 C ...

settlers evacuated from the newly independent

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. It was originally named Port Roseway, until it became a very busy town and was considered to be the capital of Nova Scotia, in which the name was changed to Shelburne in an attempt to please

Lord Shelburne William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, (2 May 17377 May 1805; known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history), was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first ...

, the British Prime Minister from 1782 to 1783. The boundaries of Shelburne County were established by Governor and Council on December 16, 1785. The first Loyalists arrived in May 1783. They were faced with a somewhat bleak environment in which to make their homes. The land is very rocky with acidic soil. There is also a lot of forest. The area had previously been settled by French-speaking

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 de ...

, many of whom had been deported to British Colonies. The new arrivals included

Black Loyalists Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with the Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term refers to men who escaped enslavement by Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because of the ...

who were given substandard land, particularly around Birchtown. In 1796 about 600

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

were deported to this area of Nova Scotia as well. In 1824, at a time when the lines of a number of counties were being cut out and marked, the boundary between

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

and Shelburne Counties was surveyed. In 1836 Shelburne County was divided into two separate and distinct counties with

Yarmouth County Yarmouth County is a rural county#Canada, county in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It has both traditional Anglo#Canada, Anglo-Scottish Canadians, Scottish and Acadian French culture as well as signific ...

being formed out of what had been part of Shelburne County. In 1854, Shelburne County was divided into two districts for court sessional purposes - Shelburne and Barrington. In 1879, these districts were incorporated as district municipalities.

Demographics

As a

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...

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 cultu ...

, Shelburne County 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. Population trend Mother tongue language (2011) Ethnic Groups (2006)2006 Statistics Canada Census Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada: Shelburne County, Nova Scotia
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Communities

;Towns * Clark's Harbour * Lockeport * Shelburne ;District municipalities *

Municipality of the District of Barrington Barrington, officially named the Municipality of the District of Barrington, is a district municipality in western Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district. Geography ...

Municipality of the District of Shelburne District of Shelburne, officially named the Municipality of the District of Shelburne, is a district municipality comprising the eastern section of Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Canada, but does not include the Towns of Shelburne or Lockeport. St ...

Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county boundary:Atlantic Canada Back Road Atlas Page 89 *Highways ** *Trunk Routes ** *Collector Routes: ** ** ** *External Routes: **None

Notable people

* James Bagnall * John Alexander Barry *

John Brecken John Brecken (February 23, 1800 – November 2, 1847) was a businessman and political figure in Prince Edward Island. He represented Charlottetown in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1829 to 1834. He was born in Charlot ...

Mal Davis Malcolm Sterling Davis (born October 10, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Davis played for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and its American Hockey League farm team, the Rochester Americans, and later wit ...

* David George (Baptist) *

Jody Holden Jody Holden (born August 20, 1968) is a Canadian beach volleyball who won the gold medal in the men's beach team competition at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, partnering Conrad Leinemann. He represented his native co ...

* Asa McGray *

Nehemiah McGray Nehemiah Doane McGray (June 29, 1838 – October 14, 1887) was a ship's captain, merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Shelburne County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly as a Conservative member Early life ...

* Donald McKay * Thomas Robertson *

Wishart McLea Robertson Wishart McLea Robertson, (February 15, 1891 – August 16, 1967) was a politician in Nova Scotia, Canada. Robertson's paternal grandfather, Robert Robertson, was a member of Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1854 until 1878. His father, ...

* Nathaniel Whitworth White * Gideon White

References

External links

Photographs of historic monuments in Shelburne CountyDiscover Shelburne CountyShelburne County TodayWestern Counties Regional Library WebsiteThe Loyalist Link: The Forest and The Sea

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