Brigus is a small fishing community located in Conception Bay,

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

, Canada. Brigus was home to Captain

Bob Bartlett Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett (April 20, 1904 – December 11, 1968), was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Senator. A key fighter for Alaska statehood, Bartlett served as the Secretary of Alask ...

and the location of his residence Hawthorne Cottage.Canada travel guide. Lonely Planet 14th Edition (2020). 896 pag. Brigus was incorporated in July 1964. Its first mayor was Fred Bartlett. The current mayor is Shears Mercer Jr. Rev. R. Wells was the first clergy mayor elected in the province.

Geography

Located in a sheltered bay, it has been home to many fishermen and a strategic location in early times. Brigus is located adjacent to

Cuper's Cove Cuper's Cove, on the southwest shore of Conception Bay on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula was an early English settlement in the New World, and the third one after Harbour Grace, Newfoundland (1583) and Jamestown, Virginia (1607) to endure for ...

(modern day

Cupids Cupids is a town of 699 people (per the 2021 Census) on Conception Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It has also been known as Coopers, Copers Cove, Cuper's Cove, and Cuperts. It is the oldest continuously settled official British colo ...

), an English settlement established in 1610 by John Guy on behalf of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Society of Merchant Venturers The Society of Merchant Venturers is a charitable organisation in the English city of Bristol. The society can be traced back to a 13th-century guild which went on to fund the 15th-century voyage of John Cabot to Canada. In 1552, it gained a mono ...

. Brigus is located approximately 80 km west of St. John's, and is accessible via Route 70-A just 18 km from the

Trans Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

(TCH).

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Brigus 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.

History

The name ''Brigus'' comes from the ''Brickhouse'' which was the name of an old town in England. Brigus's history dates back to around 1612, when John Guy sold half of the harbour to the Spracklin family. At this time Brigus was mostly settled by people from England, Ireland, and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. During

King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Allian ...

, this village was raided in the Avalon Peninsula Campaign. Brigus is famous for its sea captains. It was in 1819 when Captain William Munden built the schooner ''Four Brothers'', the first one hundred ton

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

(built 1819). There were many "Arctic Heroes" that came from this historic town: *Captain John Bartlett sailed with the American explorer

Isaac Israel Hayes Isaac Israel Hayes (March 5, 1832 – December 17, 1881) was an American Arctic explorer, physician, and politician, who was appointed as the commanding officer at Satterlee General Hospital during the American Civil War, and was then elected, ...

and also with Admiral

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being ...

*Captain Sam Bartlett who sailed with Peary *Captain Robert Bartlett who was in charge of the ''S.S. Roosevelt'' when Peary reached the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

, who later survived the wreck of the '' Karluk'', and who later helmed the schooner '' Effie M. Morrissey'' *Captain Arthur Bartlett *Captain William Norman who rescued Admiral

Adolphus Greely Adolphus Washington Greely (March 27, 1844 – October 20, 1935) was a United States Army officer and polar explorer. He attained the rank of major general and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. A native of Newburyport, Massachusetts, ...

*Captain Isaac Bartlett who rescued Captain Tyson and crew after drifting on an iceberg for 1500 miles *Captain William Bartlett, known as "the Commodore of the sealing fleet in Newfoundland". The HGTV Canada series ''

Rock Solid Builds ''Rock Solid Builds'' is a Canadian home renovation reality television series, which premiered February 18, 2021 on HGTV Canada. The series centres on home renovations in Newfoundland and Labrador, led by Brigus-based contractor Randy Spracklin a ...

'', centring on home renovations in the Brigus area by contractor Randy Spracklin, premiered in 2021.Greg David
"Preview: HGTV’s Rock Solid Builds is a party on The Rock"
''TV, eh?'', February 16, 2021.

Attractions

Brigus is a popular tourist stop, renowned for its scenic qualities and places of interest. Among these are the site of The Vindicator, where the Brigus newspaper was printed at the turn of the 20th century; the Convent of Mercy, built in 1860 for the Mercy Sisters who came from Ireland in 1861; the local Orange Lodge; Hawthorne Cottage National Historic Site; "The Tunnel" bored through solid rock on the waterfront in 1860 to provide access to a deep water berth for the Bartlett sailing ships; the Stone Barn Museum; Jubilee Club, the meeting place of the "Merchant Princes of Brigus" from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century; St. George' s Anglican Church, consecrated in 1845; Brigus United Church, dedicated in 1875 on the site of an earlier church; and the Roman Catholic Church, built in 1832.

References

External links

Brigus, Newfoundland and Labrador
{{Authority control , additional=Q106190252 Populated coastal places in Canada Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador Lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador