List of counties of New Brunswick
Template:Infobox subdivision type The Canadian province of New Brunswick has 15 counties, originating in the British tradition of local courts for civil and judicial administration that were officiated by the colony's appointed magistrates.
Counties, parishes and shiretowns are delineated in the Territorial Division Act.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While no longer administrative divisions,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> they continue to define regional communities and have many legacy functions and provincial applications. They figure prominently in residents' sense of place and continue as significant threads in the Province of New Brunswick's cultural fabric (i.e., most citizens always know which county they are in).
Counties are used as the basis of census divisions<ref group=lower-alpha>When municipalities extend into two counties, the entire municipality is assigned to one census division.</ref> by Statistics Canada in the national census, while their parishes are the basis for census subdivisions.
HistoryEdit
The push for responsible government would see the municipal system of elective local government replace the magistracy, and in 1877 it was made mandatory that the province's county courts of sessions would municipalize.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Refn
"Sweeping" reforms of the Robichaud premiership in 1966 ceased all county local government function, consequent to the government's New Brunswick Equal Opportunity program which brought about dissolution of county entities in favour of a ministerial upper tier, among other reforms local government related or otherwise.
Counties were not replaced with another form of regional local government. Instead, many small village municipalities were created, with the surrounding predominantly rural areas financing local services and facilities through local service districts until the reform of local governance in 2023.
OriginEdit
The partitioning of Nova Scotia at the close of the American Revolutionary War was discreetly attributed by the British to the distance between the St. John river communities and the administrative centre at Halifax.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The arrival of American Loyalist refugees saw the population in the colony grow abruptly, with many directed to Sunbury county's Wolastoq/Saint John river.
Initially, when Nova Scotia's authorities established counties for the first time in 1759, the vast territory of former Acadia to the north of Kings County was erected as Cumberland, until in April 30, 1765, when the county was sectioned for the residents of the townships along the coastline and in the lower Saint John River valley.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The new county was called Sunbury.
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. On the east the boundary with Cumberland ran north by the magnet from a point 20 miles up from Mispec.Template:Sfn No further changes would be made until 1785, when the recently partitioned New Brunswick province's government established new counties.Template:Sfn
CreationEdit
New Brunswick was created on June 18, 1784.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The province was divided into eight counties by decree of Governor Carleton: 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn
The county lines were strategically drawn to align with the watersheds, a logical decision given that New Brunswick's settlements were developed along waterways.Template:Sfn Additionally, the counties were able to be divided into three groups: the Bay of Fundy, the Saint John River and the North Shore.Template:Sfn
ListEdit
See alsoEdit
- 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
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
External linksEdit
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