Branch, Newfoundland and Labrador
Encyclopedia
The Town of Branch is an incorporated community on the Cape Shore
Cape Shore
- Overview :The Cape Shore is a region on the southwestern portion of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.Often confused or conflated with the Southern Shore , the Cape Shore is similarly rural and populated by Irish Newfoundlanders, but is geographically distinct...

 of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and has a population of 309 (as of the 2006 census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...

). It is located on St. Mary's Bay
St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
- St. Mary's Bay :St. Mary's Bay is one of many bays in Newfoundland, where bay is taken as a regional subdivision, somewhat along the lines of county divisions...

 and can be accessed via Route 100 or Route 92. Nearby communities include Point Lance
Point Lance, Newfoundland and Labrador
Point Lance is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The town had a population of 119 in the Canada 2006 Census. It has a nearby beach.-See also:* List of cities and towns in Newfoundland and Labrador...

and St. Bride's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

History

The first settler was Thomas Nash, a fisherman and boat builder from Callan in County KiIlkenny Ireland, who in 1765 arrived in Caplin Bay (Calvert) on the Southern Shore. During the winter, they weren't allowed to get ready for the fishery as year round settlement was discouraged by the British. They had nothing to do, so Nash and his sons, decided they'd build a boat. They didn't have material enough to finish the boat, sail 'er, so when the spring came, they covered her with boughs.

The first fishing admiral that came in, he was the boss in the settlement for that year. He found the boat. Nash had to hide in the woods to avoid being caught. He was first arrested, but eventually rewarded for his skill in adapting to his new homeland."We had nothing to do during the winter so we decided to build the boat." Nash told the admiral. So the admiral said to him, "I know you're not allowed. But,"I think, you're the kind of person that should get to settle out here, industrious." So "Write down what you need to finish your boat and if it's aboard this vessel you can have it."

The skipper gave him whatever he had aboard was necessary to finish the boat. And he said, "When I go back to England, I'll report it and I might get something done for you." So when he went back to England he brought back Nash a grant of all the shoreline of Calvert. The next year Nash got the boat going and he left Calvert to go fishing up at Cape St. Mary's, up around St. Mary's Bay. They put into Branch one time and the salmon were so plentiful, that he thought that this would be a better place to fish.

During the fall of 1787. Nash was described as "an old planter" of the community. Voter lists indicate that Thomas and Tobias Nash lived in the section of Calvert known today as the Point. Oral tradi¬tion indicates that the Nashes left Calvert for Branch. He first moved to Mosquito Island in Placentia Bay in 1789 after a relative, Rev Pat Power ran afoul of Bishop O'Donnell and arrived the next year in Branch, along with an English friend. Thomas had five sons, Walter, Tom, Andy, Toby, and Paddy, and two daughters, Nora and Nellie. His two brothers Toby and Walter, joined him in Branch in 1795.

External links

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