colony · North America and Oceania
Colony of New Brunswick
Origins
After the American Revolution about 14,000 Loyalists settled along the Saint John River in what was then part of the Colony of Nova Scotia. Wanting a government of their own, they won partition in 1784, and Thomas Carleton became the first governor. Fredericton, inland and safer from attack, was chosen as capital over the port of Saint John.
Rule and society
The colony had an elected assembly from 1786 and won responsible government in 1848. Its economy depended on cutting pine for masts and timber exported to Britain, and on building wooden ships. Irish immigration in the 1840s, Acadians returning to the north and east, and Wolastoqiyik and Mi'kmaq communities shaped a mixed society. A boundary dispute with Maine was settled by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.
Decline and legacy
Railway hopes and fear of American invasion after the Civil War persuaded New Brunswick to join Confederation. It became one of the four original provinces of Canada on 1 July 1867.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Colony of New Brunswick was a colony of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland1801 CE – 1867 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Colony of New Brunswick. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-new-brunswick
- MLA
- “Colony of New Brunswick.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-new-brunswick. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Colony of New Brunswick.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-new-brunswick.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Colony of New Brunswick’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-new-brunswick (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻