New-Wes-Valley: Located in the northern end of Bonavista Bay just south of Cape Freels, New-Wes-Valley is a well established community with a population of more than 2,000 residents. The Census of 2016 recorded a population of 2,172, compared to 2,265 reported in 2011 (a 4.1% decrease).

The origins of the names of the three towns are quite complicated since the communities are small, relatively remote and in some cases, islands. Here is a simplified version of the derivations of each one:

Newtown is located on the west shore of Bonavista Bay, southeast of Lumsden, Newtown was originally known as Inner Pinchard's Islands or Inner Islands, and was actually, according to ENL sources, "scattered over several islands and the adjacent mainland".

While it is not known how Pinchard Island was named, a great deal of information about the community can be found in an article entitled "Pinchards Island Family Reunion, 1993".

From this source one can learn that David Burry built the first house on Pinchard's Island in 1801, in which he and his family settled into it in 1802. By 1827 the population was recorded at 120 (one Roman Catholic, remainder Anglican); and it continued to grow at a steady rate (1839 - population was 171; 1857- population 359) but by 1874 the population had declined to 264 because people had started, as early as the 1850s, to move to the settlement that was known as the Inner Islands, a series of smaller islands which were closer to the mainland.

Interestingly, none of the earlier settlers, listed in this article, had the surname of "Pritchard". Over time more and more families moved to the area where, according to the information presented in the ENL "the narrow tickles between the islands offered shelter for the Labrador and sealing schooners which were becoming increasingly important to the area's economy".

Dubbed the "Venice of Newfoundland" as it was built on a series of tiny islands, history has it that "it was at the school Christmas concert in that year [1892] that John Haddon, operator of a local lobster factory, made a surprise announcement that the community was to be renamed.

The new name [Newtown] was quickly accepted... but the name of the post office was not changed from Inner Islands until 1903". Unfortunately, with the collapse of the Labrador fishery in the 1920s and 1930s, the population of Newtown, decrease from a peak of 632 in 1921 to only 359 in 1945.

What saved it from total abandonment was the building of roads and bridges that linked the town to the nearby community of Wesleyville in 1952. Wesleyville is located east of New-Wes-Valley on Bonavista Bay, Wesleyville was formerly known as Coal Harbour.

The community was settled as early as the 1850s, however it wasn't until the 1870s and 1880s, that there was major growth in size that resulted from a noticeable influx of people who had been previously been living on Swain's Islands.

Since most of these early settlers were of the Methodist faith, the town was renamed Wesleyville in honour of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. It was written in the ENL that "by 1885, when the Rev. James Lumsden was posted there, the community already had the reputation of being a prosperous place, and strong Methodistically".

Valleyfield is located south of New-Wes Valley, the third community, Valleyfield should be referred more correctly referred to as the incorporated settlement of Badger's Quay- Valleyfield-Pool's Island, which according to information given in the ENL was "composed of the contiguous settlements of Valleyfield, Pool's Island, North West Arm, Southwest Island and Tinker's Island... including residents of the resettled community of Safe Harbour.

Badger's Quay-Valleyfield-Pool's Island was first constituted a rural district rather than a town because part of it, namely Pool's Island, was not connected by land with the rest".

In 1891 Badger's Quay (aka Badger's Key) had a population of 87, where nearby Valleyfield (aka Northwest Arm) had eleven families. One would assume that Valleyfield got its name from the area in which the early settlers lived (1.e., the north and south side of the inlet).

Eventually, by the early 1980s "all the grassy, rock strewn islands and coastlines of Badger's Quay-Valleyfield-Pool's Island were connected by bridges, and most roads were paved" and eventually, as mentioned above, New-Wes-Valley was "created" when the three major towns were amalgamated in 1992.

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/NewWesValley