Frye Island (New Brunswick)
NOAA Chart of Frye Island | |
Frye Island Location in the Bay of Fundy | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bay of Fundy |
| Coordinates | 45°03′22″N 66°50′39″W / 45.05611°N 66.84417°W |
| Area | 381[1] ha (940 acres) |
| Administration | |
Canada | |
| Province | New Brunswick |
| County | Charlotte |
| Parish | Grand Manan Parish |
Frye Island (formerly known as Cailiff Island and L'Etang Island) is a 940-acre (380 ha) island situated in the Passamaquoddy Bay, between Blacks Harbour and Letang, in New Brunswick, Canada.[2][3][4]
History
Irish immigrant Timothy O'Connor had arrived in New Brunswick after serving in the British Army and was granted 4,000 acres on Whittier Ridge; he ultimately moved to Bliss Island, where he died – leading his family to relocate to a place called Connor's Beach on Frye Island (then called L'Etang Island).[5] His grandsons Patrick and Lewis Jr formed the Connors Brothers Limited seafood company, on the mainland.[6]
From 1820 onward Jedediah Cailiff lived on the island, which took on his name as an alternate name.[7]
Dr. Henry Frye, who served on Hospital Island, also built a quarry on the mineral-rich island, which is more easily accessible to the mainland during low tide, to accompany his kiln in Letang, and the island became alternatively named for him.[4][8] Three lodes of lead ore were noted on the island, along with deposits of calc spar, heavy spar, fluor, serpentine, verde antique, asbestos, and iron pyrites.[9]
The ruins of a homestead and an 1852 grave remain on the island.[4] Spencer Fullerton Baird carried out a 19th century archaeological study of the island.[10]
In 1896 and 1900, the island was the site of the YMCA's Maritime Boys' Camp.[11][12]
In April 1928, the president of Connors Brothers Limited purchased the island for $51,200, intending to open a new sister company also specializing in seafood based on the island.[13] In 2010, Connors Brothers put Cailiff Island and 12 other islands up for sale, noting that they were no longer economically viable for aquaculture and fishing purposes.[5] Ultimately half of the island, along with Hog, Douglas, Eagle and Mink islets off its shores, formed the Frye Island Nature Preserve after the land was donated to the Nature Trust of New Brunswick by Connors Brothers.[4]
References
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20190223100756/https://www.naturetrust.nb.ca/wp/blog/frye-island-nature-preserve/
- ^ "Frye Island". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
- ^ Geological Survey of Canada. Report of Progress for 1870–1871, p. 88.
- ^ a b c d "Frye Island Nature Preserve". Nature Trust of New Brunswick. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
- ^ a b "Bay of Fundy Islands for Sale". CBC. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
- ^ "Blacks Harbour: 'Looking Back at Our Beginnings'". Retrieved 27 March 2025.
- ^ Journals of the House of Assembly of the Province of New Brunswick, 1851, Appendix
- ^ Feuchtwanger, Lewis (1866). Report on Frye's Island, Also Called L'Etang Island, N. W. Shore of the Bay of Fundy, N. B. New York: D. Murphy's Son.
- ^ Bailey, L. W. (1864). Report on the Mines and Minerals of New Brunswick. Fredericton: G.E. Fenety, 1864, p. 66.
- ^ Shaw, Christopher, "A GIS Approach to Ancestral Wabanaki Canoe Routes and Travel Times", 2016
- ^ "J.A. Irvine: The Great Outdoors, 1895–1905". Nova Scotia Archives. April 20, 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
- ^ St. John Semi-weekly Sun, Vol. 23, No. 61 (August 1, 1900).
- ^ "Whitlock Family Association" (PDF).