Settlement of Shelburne Shelburne Harbour has the third best
natural harbour in the world. The native Mik'maq traversed the
Roseway River and used the surrounding lands for summer
encampments long before our shores were visited by Spanish,
Portuguese and French fishermen. In the spring of 1783, 5,000
settlers arrived on the shores of Shelburne Harbour from New
York and the middle colonies of America. Assurance of living
under the British flag, and promises of free land, tools, and
provisions lured many to the British Colonies at that time. Four
hundred families associated to form a town at Port Roseway,
which Governor Parr renamed Shelburne later that year. This
group became known as the Port Roseway Associates. In the fall
of 1783, a second wave of settlers arrived in Shelburne. By
1784, the population of this new community is estimated to have
been at least 10,000; the fourth largest in North America, much
larger than either Halifax or Montreal. Although much smaller
today, Shelburne remains the capital of