In Saint John, as in other cities, residents’ sense of geography is based on streets and neighbourhoods, but few stop to ponder why streets were given certain names or, in some cases, re-named. It turns out that many of the names of the city’s thoroughfares are a direct link to the colonial past and reflect the priorities of Saint John’s elite, as well as reflecting the power structure at the time. Simply put, the names of streets, parks and public buildings can tell us much about who dominated a community in the past and who was excluded.
Saint John, located on unceded Wolastoqey land at the mouth of a majestic river whose European name had been bestowed by French explorers and traders in the early 1600s, was incorporated as a city in 1785 in the new British colony of New Brunswick. Most of the first inhabitants were American-born Loyalists, mainly from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, who had been evacuated from New York City in 1783. That year, Paul Bedell prepared a town plan for the new community, which initially was named Parr Town after the governor of Nova Scotia. Bedell’s plan, which included a number of squares or parks, superimposed a grid pattern on Saint John central peninsula south of Union Street.
In this episode, we explore street naming in the Loyalist era (1783 to 1815) as well as the post Napoleonic Wars era when the British Empire was expanding and immigrants from England, Scotland and Ireland were settling in New Brunswick in increased numbers. In addition to the British monarchy, Britain’s involvement in the American Revolutionary War and the resulting Loyalist migrations inspired most of the first street names in a city founded by Loyalists. As new streets were laid out, new names had to be found. In 1889, the adjacent town of Portland, now known as the North end, amalgamated with Saint John. Using examples from the city’s South and North ends, as well the West side (across the harbour), we explain how a number of street names honoured controversial British political, military, naval and diplomatic leaders, some of whom opposed the abolition of slavery. We end with a brief discussion of the issue of changing street names and who should be recognized by new street names in the future.
Sources:
n.a,, “SACKVILLE (afterwards GERMAIN), Lord George (1716-85), of Stoneland Lodge, Suss. and Drayton, Northants,” History of Parliament Online: https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/sackville-lord-george-1716-85
n/a., “BAKER HOLROYD, John, 1st Baron Sheffield [I] (1735-1821), of Sheffield Place, Suss. and Grave Hall, Yorks,” History of Parliament Online: https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/baker-holroyd-john-1735-1821
n.a., “WATSON, Brook (1735-1807), of East Sheen, Surr.,” History of Parliament Online: https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/watson-brook-1735-1807
Bedell, Paul, Plan of Parr-Town, 1783
Elgin, Lord, Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan, 1857-8-9 (2 volumes), Laurence Oliphant, 1859 (reprinted by Oxford University Press, 1970)
Goss, David and Wright, Harold, Historic Saint John Street Names (Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 2013).
Hiscocks, Richard, “George Brydges Rodney 1 Baron,” THE ROYAL NAVY 1776-1815
A BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY AND CHRONICLE: https://morethannelson.com/
Holroyd, John Baker, First Earl of Sheffield Observations on the Project for Abolishing the Slave Trade and on the reasonableness of attempting some practicable mode of relieving the Negroes (London, 1790)
Jack, ,D.R., Centennial Prize Essay on the History and County of St. John (St. John: J and A McMillan, 1883)
Lawrence, J.W., Foot-prints, or Incidents in the early History of New Brunswick (St. John: J. and A. McMillan, 1883).
Murphy, Chris, China from the Ruins of Athens and Rome: Classics, Sinology, and Romanticism, 1793-1938 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020).
New Brunswick Historical Society, Loyalists’ Centennial Souvenir (St. John: J. and A. McMillan, 1887)
Peters McDermott, Brenda, Historic City Blocks: Saint John New Brunswick, 2 volumes (Brenda Peters McDermott, 2024).
O’Shaughnessy, Andrew, The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014).
Upton, L.F.S, “Watson, Brook,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume 5: https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/watson_brook_5E.html
Ward, Clarence, “The Story of Brook Watson,” New Brunswick Magazine, Volume 1, (1898): 97-103
Willett, John, “Epitomized History of Saint John, N.B: Menaquashi (Parrtown and Its Streets, 1927,” Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society, Number 11 (1927): 142-205.
コメント