List of counties of New Brunswick
Counties of New Brunswick | |
---|---|
Location | Province of New Brunswick |
Number | 15 |
Populations | 10,998 (Queens) – 163,576 (Westmorland) |
Areas | 1,461 km2 (Saint John) – 12,843 km2 (Northumberland) |
Government |
|
Subdivisions |
|
The Canadian province of New Brunswick has 15 geographic counties defined by the Territorial Division Act.[1] While no longer local governments,[2] they continue to define a regional community.
With the reorganization of local government legislation contained in the Robichaud government's reforms, collectively called the New Brunswick Equal Opportunity program, county municipalities ceased to function in 1966 and their councils were dissolved.
Another form of regional local government did not replace the county. Instead, many small village municipalities were created, with the surrounding predominantly rural areas remaining unincorporated.
They serve as the basis for federal census divisions and provide convenient map subdivisions of the province for purposes other than local governance.[3] They figure prominently in residents' sense of place and continue as significant threads in the Province's cultural fabric (i.e., most citizens always know which county they are in), and they still appear on some maps.
History
Origin
The territory of what is now New Brunswick was previously part of the colony of Nova Scotia, which, in 1759, separated into counties for the first time. As part of this, all territory north of Kings County, including all of present-day New Brunswick, was erected as Cumberland County,[b] until on April 30, 1765, when the Saint John River valley was erected as Sunbury County, although it would not be until 24 May 1770 that a boundary would be established between the two counties. Sunbury’s western boundary was described as starting at the head of the St. Croix River, following the north line to the Saint John River and then to the southern Canadian border. This description actually overlapped a part of Maine’s territory, as you would have needed to go far west, towards the area near the source of the Chaudière River.[4] No further changes would be made until 1785, when, now being a British colony, New Brunswick had new counties established for itself.[5]
Creation
In 1784, New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia to be established as its own colony. Within the next year, the new colony was divided into eight counties: Charlotte, Kings, Northumberland, Queens, Saint John, Sunbury, Westmorland and York. In January 1786, the first session of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly was held in Saint John, at which the MLA’s passed An Act for the better ascertaining and confirming the Boundaries of Several Counties within this Province, and for subdividing them into Towns or Parishes.[6] As the council worked on developing the original county lines, they desperately needed maps of the province, which, at the time, they seemingly lacked. As a result, they relied on two maps by Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres from 1780, the best candidates for a map of New Brunswick at the time.[7] As the new boundaries were established, the former counties of Cumberland and Sunbury were disregarded, with the exception of the starting point of the boundary between Westmorland and Northumberland counties, which shared a resemblance to the old boundaries, though this might have been a coincidence.[8]
The county lines were strategically drawn to align with the watersheds, a logical decision given that New Brunswick's settlements were developed along waterways.[9] Additionally, the counties were able to be divided into three groups: the Bay of Fundy, the Saint John River and the North Shore.[10]
List
County[11] | Shire town[11] | Established[12] | Origin[12] | Etymology | Population (2021)[13] | Population (2016)[13] | Change[13] | Land area (km2)[13] | Population density (per km2)[13] | Map |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albert County | Hopewell Cape (Now part of Fundy Albert) | 1845 | Erected from Westmorland County | Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. | 30,749 | 29,158 | +5.5% | 1,806.23 | 17.0 | ![]() |
Carleton County | Woodstock | 1831 | Erected from York County | Thomas Carleton, the first Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. | 26,360 | 26,178 | +0.7% | 3,309.06 | 8.0 | ![]() |
Charlotte County | Saint Andrews | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. | 26,015 | 25,428 | +2.3% | 3,418.24 | 7.6 | ![]() |
Gloucester County | Bathurst | 1826 | Erected from Northumberland County | Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, fourth daughter of King George III. | 78,256 | 78,444 | −0.2% | 4,734.30 | 16.5 | ![]() |
Kent County | Richibucto (Now part of Beaurivage) | 1826 | Erected from Northumberland County | Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, father of Queen Victoria. | 32,169 | 30,475 | +5.6% | 4,550.38 | 7.1 | ![]() |
Kings County | Hampton | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | To express loyalty to The Crown. | 71,184 | 68,941 | +3.3% | 3,482.35 | 20.4 | ![]() |
Madawaska County | Edmundston | 1873 | Erected from Victoria County | The Madawaska River, derived from a Maliseet word meaning unknown. | 32,603 | 32,741 | −0.4% | 3,454.97 | 9.4 | ![]() |
Northumberland County | Newcastle (Now part of Miramichi) | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | The Northumberland Strait | 45,005 | 44,952 | +0.1% | 12,843.39 | 3.5 | ![]() |
Queens County | Gagetown (Now part of Arcadia) | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | To express loyalty to The Crown and after early settlers from Queens, Long Island, New York. | 10,998 | 10,472 | +5.0% | 3,681.05 | 3.0 | ![]() |
Restigouche County | Dalhousie (Now part of Heron Bay) | 1837 | Erected from Gloucester County | The Restigouche River, derived from the Mi'kmaq name meaning five-fingered river. | 30,700 | 30,955 | −0.8% | 8,566.82 | 3.6 | ![]() |
Saint John County | Saint John | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | The Saint John River. | 76,558 | 74,020 | +3.4% | 1,461.05 | 52.4 | ![]() |
Sunbury County | Burton | 1785[c] | One of the original 8 counties. | Viscount Sunbury, the courtesy title of George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax. | 27,864 | 27,644 | +0.8% | 2,692.97 | 10.3 | ![]() |
Victoria County | Andover (Now part of Southern Victoria | 1850[d] | Erected from Carleton County | Queen Victoria | 18,312 | 18,617 | −1.6% | 5,492.85 | 3.3 | ![]() |
Westmorland County | Dorchester (Now part of Tantramar) | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | The county of Westmorland in North West England. | 163,576 | 149,623 | +9.3% | 3,659.74 | 44.7 | ![]() |
York County | Fredericton | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, second son of George III. | 105,261 | 99,453 | +5.8% | 8,095.10 | 13.0 | ![]() |
See also
- Administrative divisions of New Brunswick
- List of municipalities in New Brunswick
- List of parishes in New Brunswick
- Local government in Canada
- Local service district (New Brunswick)
- Provinces and territories of Canada
Notes
- ^ Parishes are the normal subdivision. Saint John, Fredericton, and the town of Grand Falls are also included in the Territorial Division Act, all with different boundaries than the municipalities have today. Fredericton was originally a parish, while Grand Falls Parish and the town are legally separate.
- ^ Cumberland County still exists in modern-day Nova Scotia.
- ^ The original Sunbury County was erected by Nova Scotia in 1765 to include all of New Brunswick west of the Petitcodiac River settlements; the New Brunswick version was created by letters patent after the other seven original counties of the province.
- ^ The Act erecting Victoria County was passed in 1844 but did not receive royal assent until 1850.
References
- ^ "CHAPTER T-3 Territorial Division Act". Government of New Brunswick. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ "Municipalities Act, SNB 1966(1), c 20, p.192". Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ One example is the GeoNB Map Viewer."GeoNB Map Viewer". Government of New Brunswick. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ Ganong 1901, p. 226.
- ^ Ganong 1901, p. 227.
- ^ Ganong 1901, p. 413.
- ^ Ganong 1901, pp. 413–414.
- ^ Ganong 1901, p. 414.
- ^ Ganong 1901, p. 415.
- ^ Ganong 1901, pp. 416–417.
- ^ a b "Territorial Division Act". Government of New Brunswick. June 30, 1998. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ a b "Provincial Archives of New Brunswick". archives.gnb.ca.
- ^ a b c d e Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (9 February 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada and census divisions". www150.statcan.gc.ca.
Further reading
Ganong (1901). A monograph of the evolution of the boundaries of the province of New Brunswick.
External links
- New Brunswick Parishes
- New Brunswick Communities Past and Present: County Listing
- v
- t
- e
![New Brunswick](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Flag_of_New_Brunswick.svg/23px-Flag_of_New_Brunswick.svg.png)
- Government
- Politics
- Premier of New Brunswick
- Departments and agencies
- Legislative Assembly
- more...
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/NB-Canada-province.png/120px-NB-Canada-province.png)
- Economy of Atlantic Canada
- New Brunswick based companies
- Transport
- Airlines
- Airports
- Public transport
- Provincial highways
- Acadian history
- Expulsion of the Acadians
- National Historic Sites
- Natural history
- more...
Category:New Brunswick
Portal:Canada
WikiProject:New Brunswick