AVON RIVER HERITAGE CENTRE
  • About
    • Avon River Heritage Society
    • Artifacts & Archives
    • The Avon River
    • Meet the People in our Neighbourhood >
      • Dawn Allen, August 21st, 2020
      • Sara Beanlands, July 22nd, 2021
      • Carolyn Connors, July 30th, 2020
      • Carolyn Connors, July 21st, 2021
      • Louis Coutinho, August 13th, 2020
      • Sean Coutinho, January 13th, 2021
      • Eva Evans, July 24th, 2020
      • Elizabeth Ferguson, July 27th, 2020
      • Nicholas Hughes, August 6th, 2020
      • Olwynn Hughes, August 11th, 2020
      • Kim Lake, January 18th & 21st, 2021
      • Trudy Lake, March 13th, 2022
      • Raymond Parker, August 12th, 2020
      • Raymond Parker, July 7th, 2021
      • Zacchary Paul, August 21st, 2021
      • Tacha Reed, August 27th, 2020
      • Allen Shaw, January 18th, 2021
      • Carolyn vanGurp, July 16th, 2020
      • Abraham Zebian, August 24th, 2020
    • Avondale Walking Tour
    • Fundraising
    • Book an Appointment
  • History
    • Natural History >
      • Highest Tides in the World
      • Tidal Bore
      • Avon Peninsula Ecology
      • Birds of the Avon
      • Marine and Freshwater Species of the Avon
      • Karst Environment
      • Gypsum
      • Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society >
        • Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society, Interview with President, Raymond Parker
    • Mi'kmaq >
      • Mi'kmaq Birch Bark Canoes
      • Mi'kmaq of the Avon River >
        • Treaty Truckhouse 2 & Zacchary Paul
    • The Coming of the Europeans
    • The North American Colonies
    • Acadians >
      • Pisiquit
      • Acadians of the Avon River >
        • Babin
        • Breau
        • Cheverie
        • Forest
        • Landry
        • LeBlanc
        • Rivest
        • Thibodeau
        • Trahan
        • Vincent
        • Other Families
      • Village Thibodeau (Poplar Grove)
      • Acadian Families After Expulsion >
        • Broussard
        • Brun
        • Comeau
        • Deveau
        • Girouard
        • Johnson
        • Leger
        • Pellerin
        • Poitier
        • Robicheau
        • Suret
    • New England Planters >
      • New England Planters in Avondale >
        • Genealogy
        • Samuel Bentley
        • Benjamin Borden
        • John Chambers
        • James and John Harvie
        • Caleb Lake
        • James and Lydia Mosher
        • Nathaniel Reynolds
        • Benjamin Sanford
        • James Smith
        • Henry Tucker
        • James Weedon
    • Loyalists
    • African Nova Scotians
    • Local Home Histories >
      • 28 Chip Hill Road
      • 51 Avondale Road
      • 38 Avondale Road: The Clifford Mosher House
      • 58 Avondale Road
      • 60 Avondale Cross Road
      • 71 Avondale Road: The John A. Harvie House
      • 354 Belmont Road: The Yellow House
      • 603 Belmont Road: Wallace Point
      • 801 Avondale Road
      • The Acadia House
      • The Avondale Church
      • The Avondale Parsonage
      • The Church Farm
      • The Fred Robart House
      • The Henry Lyon House
      • The House Across From The Church
      • The John E.F. Mosher House
      • The Knowles Homestead
      • The Mounce Mansions >
        • Captain George R. Mounce House
        • The Thomas A. Mounce House (Honeymoon House) >
          • Interior of the Honeymoon House
      • The Mrs. Dunham Hotel
      • The Old Newton Mosher House
      • The Old Stone House >
        • The Mystery of the Fieldstone House
      • The Roley Mosher House
      • The W.H. Mosher House
    • The Avondale School
    • Avondale Wharf & The Landing
    • The Avon Spirit
    • Golden Age of Sail >
      • The Rise and Fall of the Golden Age of Sail in Newport
      • The Mosher Shipyards
      • Sailing Ships, Sugar, and Salt
      • Vessels of the Avon River
      • Shipbuilding Process
      • Shipbuilding Tools
      • Ship Directories
      • Kings Wharf
      • The Hamburg >
        • Obituary Capt. Andrew B. Coldwell
        • The Hamburg and Alice Coalfleet’s Diary
      • Captain George Richard Mounce Sr
      • Annie Armstrong Mounce Correspondence 1875-1892
      • Captain Daniel William Dexter & The Emma Payzant >
        • Captain Daniel William Dexter and Family, Interview with Debbie Siler, July 21st, 2021
        • Diary of Sarah Dexter, 1892-1893
      • The Rotundus
    • Community Orchard
    • Edmund McCarthy
  • Arts & Culture
    • The Great Little Art Show >
      • Great Little Art Show 2021 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2021 - Artwork
      • Great Little Art Show 2022 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2022 - Artwork
      • Great Little Art Show 2023
      • Great Little Art Show 2024 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2024 - Artwork
      • Great Little Art Show 2025 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2025 - Artwork
    • Artists Landing Art Gallery
    • Open Studio
    • Full Circle Festival >
      • Sofa Sundays
      • Solstice Market
    • Paint Avondale
    • Avondale Wharf Day
    • Honey Harvest Festival
  • Events Calendar
  • Planters Sea Chest Gift Shop
  • Lydia & Sally Cafe
  • Rentals
  • Volunteer and Employment Opportunities
    • Summer Employment Opportunities
    • Volunteer Teams
    • New Horizons for Seniors
  • How to find us!

The Arrival of the New England Planters in Avondale

After the expulsion governor Lawrence was anxious to repopulate Nova Scotia and on October 12, 1758 issued a proclamation which was published in the Boston Gazette. The proclamation offered land grants and invited proposals. After questions were raised by potential grantees about terms and conditions, Lawrence issued a second proclamation to address specific concerns.

In the spring of 1760 the first of the planters began to arrive in Nova Scotia. The term planter is an old English word for a colonist. In May the first four ships arrived at the Avon River.

Two of the ships landed on the Falmouth side. The other two ships were the Lydia and the Sally, which landed approximately at the site of the museum, along Simpson's Creek. These ships contained grantees from Rhode Island.

New Englanders were known for their independent spirit and Rhode Islanders were perhaps the most independent minded for all. Within days they held the first town meetings to hammer out the issues that faced the new colonists. The minutes of these meetings were recorded and we are fortunate that these have been preserved. A reproduction of these meetings can found in our collections here at the Avon River Heritage Society Museum.


By 1761, 60 families were granted land in Newport and 43 families were counted as living here in a 1763 census. Every family was entitled to up to 1,000 acres free of charge for 10 years. They received tools, arms, ammunition, and a bushel of corn or grain per month for one year. Through a lottery, remaining Acadian homes were divided amongst the new residents, who had until this point been cooped up within the palisades of a fort. At first the families struggled but over time became master dyke builders. They followed Acadian settlement pattern, with homes on the uplands, primary farmland on the dykeland, and woodlots for building materials and firewood. Over time, an economy based on farming, lumbering, ship-building, and gypsum-quarrying grew and the population rose.

One of the conditions they Planters gave before agreeing to come to Nova Scotia was religious freedom and elected representation. Planters were promised control over local affairs through “town meetings”, open to all male heads of households Democratic values of the Planters set the stage for responsible government in Nova Scotia. The nickname "Bluenoser" was given to Planter candidates in later elections to distinguish them from competing Loyalist candidates. 

During the mid to late 1800s the township of Newport Landing had been transformed from a northern New England frontier to a major contributors to the "Golden Age of Sail" along with other communities such as Windsor, Hantsport, Maitland and Parrsboro to name but a few who made Canada the fourth largest shipbuilding nation on earth.

As Nova Scotia’s economy declined after 1885, people began relocating to the USA or other parts of Canada. Today, millions of descendants of early Planter families reside throughout North America. Some of the lands here are still farmed by descendants of the first Planters.
Picture
​

Après l’expulsion gouverneur Lawrence voulait repeupler la Nouvelle-Écosse et le 12 Octobre, 1758 a publié une proclamation qui a été publié dans Boston Gazette. La proclamation a offert des concessions de terraines et propositions invités. Après les questions était soulevés les bénéficiaires potentiels à propos des conditions générales, Lawrence a publié une deuxième proclamation pour adresser les concernes spécifiques.        
 
Au printemps 1760, le premier des planters ont commencé à arriver en la Nouvelle-Écosse. Le terme planter est un vieux mot anglais pour un colon. En mai, les quatre premiers navires sont arrivés à la rivière Avon.
 
Deux des navires ont débarqué sur le côté Falmouth. Les deux autres navires étaient le Lydia et le Sally, qui ont débarqué  à peu près à l'emplacement du musée, le long du ruisseau Simpson. Ces navires contenaient les bénéficiaires de Rhode Island.
 
Les personnes de la Nouvelle-Angleterre étaient connues pour leur esprit indépendant et les personnes de Rhode Island étaient peut-être le plus indépendant d'esprit pour tous. En quelques jours, ils ont organisé la première réunion de la ville pour négocier les problèmes qui ont fait face les nouveaux colons. Les procès-verbaux de ces réunions ont été enregistrés et nous avons la chance que ceux-ci aient été préservés. Une reproduction de ces réunions peuvent être trouvés dans nos collections ici, au l’Avon River Heritage Society Museum.
 
Au milieu à la fin des années 1800 le canton de Newport Landing avait a été transformée d'une frontière nord de la Nouvelle-Angleterre à l'un des principaux contributeurs à l'âge d'or de la voile avec les autres communautés comme Windsor, Hantsport, Maitland et Parrsboro pour ne citer que quelques-uns qui ont fait Canada la quatrième plus grande nation de la construction navale sur la terre .
Avon River Heritage Centre, 17 Belmont Road, Avondale/Newport Landing, West Hants, Nova Scotia, B0N 2A0
Email us at [email protected]
Telephone us, May through October, at (902) 757-1718

The Avon River Heritage Society would like to thank the Municipality of West Hants and the Province of Nova Scotia for their generous support.

Picture