While it is unknown when Oak Island was first discovered, the tribe had a presence in the overall area which included the entire island of Newfoundland.[10] The earliest confirmed European residents date back to the 1750s in the form of French fishermen, who had by this time built a few houses on the future site of the nearby village of Chester, Nova Scotia.[11] Following the Expulsion of the Acadians during the Seven Years' War, the British government of Nova Scotia enacted a series of measures to encourage settlement of the area by the European-descended New Englanders.[11] Land was made available to settlers in 1759 through the Shorham grant, and Chester was officially founded that same year.[11]