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Newfoundland Tourism Region : Avalon
Brigus: Located on the western shore of Conception Bay, Brigus is "just" around a point from Cupids, in the next bay.
According to the town's website the town was named after the town of Brickhouse, an old town in England; whereas some have suggested that the original name came from either "Brighouse" or "Bridge", also in England. Howley suggested, as far back as 1901 that it came from "Brig Harbour".
Others suggests that Brigus comes from the French word brigue which mean "intrigue" or "plot". The first meaning maybe plausible; the second sounds very mysterious. Another suggestion has been that it was named after the town of "Bruges" in Spain, but that theory has not been widely endorsed.
It is believed that the town was settled shortly after Cupids and that a family who went by the name Spracklin, purchased half the harbour from John Guy (the founder of Cupids) in 1612 Even though it had a turbulent history (being burnt by Testard De Motigny's forces at the turn of the 18th century), the community of Brigus rebounded and became a port for both the cod and the seal fishery.
In the most recent census of 2016, there were 723 residents (a decrease of 3.6% from 2011). Brigus and Brigus South are two very different communities. Brigus South, located in a small cove between Witless Bay and Cape Broyle, is on the eastern coast of the Avalon Peninsula, is referred to, in the ENL article, as an "ancient fishing settlement".
There it is stated:
According to E.R. Seary (1971) the earliest extant record of Brigus South is a map naming it Abra de Brigas, 1636, which he translates as "the harbour or roadstead of tumults, confusion." Seary conjectures that the name stems from the old French word brega of southwestern France, meaning corruption and intrigue; he claims a French origin of the name, despite its apparent Portuguese form, because both Brigus and Brigus South are located "in areas of French interest which contain other French names."
To avoid confusion, the Brigus in Conception Bay has always been referred to as "Brigus"; whereas the Brigus near Cape Broyle has been typically been referred to as "Brigus South" or "Brigus by South", however, in the ENL it is stated that variants of Brigus South have included Bercekus, Breacas, Brecast by South, Briga and Brittus.
In an attempt to solve the on-going conundrum, Brigus South was changed in 1960 to Hillsdale but "local residents, however, refused to acknowledge the new name and it was officially changed back to Brigus South six or seven years later".
Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill
Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/Brigus