Pacquet: Located on the North Shore of the Baie Verte Peninsula, about halfway between Baie Verte and La Scie, the community of Pacquet has a history in both the fishing and logging industries.

Originally there were two communities, North East Pacquet and South West Pacquet, approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) apart, however as mentioned previously, as in the case of many communities with similar names, confusion in the Post Office, resulted in South West Pacquet becoming known as Woodstock (according to ENL sources to recognize its importance as a site for winter logging and the site of a number of sawmill operations), and North East Pacquet referred to, as simply Pacquet.

In the ENL it is written that after the Treat of Utrecht in 1713 Pacquet became the "base" for the French migratory fishery and continued to be of major importance until the late 1800s.

While the harbour was used on a season basis, it was not until 1857 when it was recorded that there were two year-round inhabitants, most likely "gardiens" whose job was to protect the property of the French fishermen- one a female of 10 to 20 old, the other a male, over 70.

The relationship between them is unknown. By 1869 there was a community that had a population of 9, including Peter Dowdy and John McKay and their respective families.

How Pacquet got its name is a bit of a mystery, with several theories having been suggested.

The first comes from The Emerald Zone Corporation (EZC), a project that, according to their website, was made "possible through funding by the Government of Canada, in partnership with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, under the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Market Development Agreement."

On their website it is stated that in French, pacquet refers to a "hideaway". It is known that French fishermen used the sheltered harbour for many years during the fishing season (i.e., Spring to Fall).

Brooks (2013) suggested that some of the French fishermen might have stayed illegally, in a "confined cove", instead of returning to France, and according to the EZC, there is "an old cemetery is located in the community lending credence to the belief that the French did indeed live there at some time if not for the whole year.

Various artifacts have been found in the area, several of which were corn cob pipes". Definitely the presence of French fishermen would make the connection between a "hideaway" and the town's name a possibility.

A second possibility according to Brooks gives another translation for the French word pacquet, saying that "others contend" that pacquet may have come from French for "big wave", however continues by saying that he was unable to find the word "in any modern French or English dictionary".

Further research that this possibility is not as far fetched as he suggested as the Online Collins Dictionary defines a paquet de mere as a "big wave" and is used in the expression embarquer des paquets de mer meaning "to take on a lot of water".

It should be noted that it is widely known that Paquet would have been the usual French spelling for "Pacquet".

A third possibility, also from Brooks (2013), is that the town's name may have come from a different translation of the word paquet, that which is translated to refer to a package or parcel.

In his book, Brooks wrote "the word "parcel" is a close reference to a place name since the term sometimes refers to a tract of land".

So, now we have three possibilities of the origin of the name of the community, all derived from possible translations from the French words, pacquet or paquet. However, it appears, from further research that there may be other possibilities.

As is in the case of so many communities, there is always the possibility that the town's name may come from the name of an original settler. Researching the surname, another couple of possibilities popped up.

The first comes from another translation of the word paquet. According to information from the House of Names (HON) Website "the Pacquet surname comes from the personal name Pasquet, which was a form of Pascal.

The Old French word, pacquet, meant "bundle of kindling", thus in some instances, the name may have originally been an occupational name for a gatherer or seller of firewood or kindling".

Given that it is known that from early on, that logging was a major source of income, as suggested by writers cited in the ENL where it is written "as the settlement became established the area's timber stands were increasingly exploited".

The second possibility comes from the "history" behind the surname Pacquet. From the HON website:

Early Origins of the Pacquet family

The surname Pacquet was first found in Limousin where they held a family seat in the seigneurie of Salaignac, and were members of the distinguished aristocracy of that region.

The family also moved across the border into Belgium in the province of Namur, and there the family flourished and were elevated to the nobility in 1770 as Lords or Seigneures, continuing to 1819, and as Barons in 1844, where they held a family seat at d'Acos.

They also had domains in the region of d'Angoulème in Belgium. Meanwhile in France they branched to Dauphiné, Brittany, and to Lorraine where they became Seigneurs in 1708.

While Limousin is an area in the central part of France (i.e., with no coastal area) it was not known as an area where French fishermen would have come from, however, as we have seen earlier, Brittany (where some of the family settled) that from as early as 1510, many of the early migratory fishermen came from Brittany (and Normandy) and settled in the French Shore.

Interestingly, the HOM website also gives information regarding the Pacquet family's migration to Canada:

Isaac Paquet, son of Mathurin and Marie (née Fumillon), travelled from Poitou, France to Canada in the 17th century. He married Elisabeth Meunier on 30th June 1670 at Château-Richer, Quebec.

Isaac passed away on 1702 and was buried at Saint-Laurent-de-l'ile-d'Orléans, Quebec on 18th June 1702....

The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Pacquet has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France.

The website offers the name of "Madam Pacquet" as being one of the early settlers in Canada as it is known that she "landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia" sometime between 1749-1752.

Is it a "stretch" to think that some of the Paquet's might have "hopped" off in Newfoundland en route to Quebec or Nova Scotia?

The only place where information on the names of the early settlers was found is from an article in the periodical "Decks Awash" in a special on the Baie Verte Peninsula, published in 1990, from that article the following names were listed as some of the early settlers:

James Seymour, Richard Griffin, James Mitchell and a Mr. Lacey are reputed to have been among the first English and Irish settlers; Mark Sacrey settled in 1888; By 1891, Henry Norman, Jim Simms, Esau Burton, Simon Loveman, Jacob Elms, Arch Gillingham and Eleazar Burton had also settled.; but there were no Pacquets or Pacquettess or Paquets, for that matter, were listed so who knows if they were among the early settlers.

The possibility that the town's name comes from the name of an original settler cannot be ruled out completely, however, research to date does not prove that it does.

However, there may be some other possibilities. As we have seen, many place names in Newfoundland are named after "non-living entities" (e.g., Noggin Cove and Rose Blanche are two examples given earlier).

While many ships are named after towns (e.g., HMCS Goose Bay, HMCS St. John's) finding place names, particularly towns, that are named after ships proved to be more difficult, but there are some, albeit in other parts of Canada (e.g., Columbia River, named in 1792 by the American explorer Robert Gray for his ship, the Columbia Rediviva.

In Newfoundland, there is one example, that of the town, Happy Adventure, which as noted early may have be named after a pirate's ship. Interestingly, the idea that the town of Pacquet was named after a ship is not that preposterous.

Needless to say, research into this possibility, was quite unexpected.

From the Search for Ancestors website, it was found that on September 29, 1769 a ship by the name of "Pacquet" did actually sail from Europe to North America, with twelve passengers and what was almost a "heart-stopping" moment was to read that the captain went by the name of "James Cook", from Lisbon Portugal.).

From this site, the list of passengers was found. Is this the same James Cook, known to be surveying in Newfoundland in the early 1760s?

In a word, "NO" as Cook had left Newfoundland and was, in fact, on that date, en route to New Zealand. A similar citation showed that another ship, this time by the name of "Packet" left two years later, on September 19, 1771 again with the same "mysterious" James Cook.
Sept. 29, 1769. Ship London Pacquet, James Cook, Captain, from Lisbon, Portugal.
Sept. 29, 1769. Schiff London Pacquet, Capitain James Cool, von Lissabon, Portugal.
Wentzel Serb, Martin Long, Johannes Miller, Thomas Brüst, Martin Gütt, Friederich Diess, Adrian Brüst, Pitre Incler, Hermanus Cazo, John Henry Block, Hen. Michael Dhämer, Joseph Schmeuell, Frantz Gamb, Joel Franciscus Todf, Joh. Her. Fried. Lippenkan.

Sept. 19, 1771. London Packet, Cook, Captain from Lisbon, Portugal.

As much as the research team tried to figure out who "this" James Cook was, it was not successful.

The easy possibility would be that James Cook, Newfoundland explorer had a son by the same name - but that would be too easy!

It is known that James Cook had six children, James (1763-94), Nathaniel (1764-80), Elizabeth (1767- 71), Joseph (1768-68), George (1772-72) and Hugh (1776-93) and while one was actually James Cook Jr. in 1969, he would have been only 6 years old!

It is known that of all of his children all died before they actually could have had children of their own, there are no direct descendants of Cook.

It should be noted that it is believed that the "Pacquet" and/or "Packet" were taking German emigrants to North American, specially to Pennsylvania, of course it is possible that the ship, on one or both trips have stopped in Newfoundland to replace supplies, such as food and water.

However, no proof was turned up that such was the case.
Not to give up, now the search was to find a ship by that name might have landed in Newfoundland around that time that might have been the "namesake" of the town.
A bit more research uncovered a website known as "NL GenWeb". There it was listed in the "Shipping News 1771-1780 Voyages, to and from Newfoundland", the Mar 11, 1777 edition the following was found:

Mar 11, 1777 edition. *****Arrived at Dartmouth, from London, the vessel "Diana", Captain Gosling.

*****Sailed from Dartmouth for Limerick, the vessel "Phoenix", Captain Neil/Neal.

*****Sailed from Poole for Newfoundland, the vessel "Pacquet", Captain Andrews,

*****Sailed from Waterford for Jersey, the vessel "Corbet", Captain Neal.

So, there was proof that there was a ship, by the name "Pacquet" that actually sailed to Newfoundland; where it landed is unknown, but, again, is it a stretch to think that it could have taken shelter in Trinity Bay and "local" were there to greet it?

Possible, yes - probability, unknown. The most recent census of 2016 showed that the town of Pacquet had 164 residents, a 10.9% decrease from 2011 when there were 184.

As mentioned earlier, South West Pacquet is now known as Woodstock. Woodstock has a population of an additional 190 residents (which remained constant between 2011 and 2016).

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/Pacquet