The first English settlement on the St John was formed by some families from Massachusetts, who, having obtained from government the grant of a township on that river, immediately established them- selves in the district now known as the County of Sunbury.

At different times during the war they were joined by Ame- rican loyalists and refugees The first com- mission of the peace for this settlement is dated llth of August, 1766, and the Courts of Common Pleas were held in Sunbury until 1783, when Fredericton was made the seat of government.

The population at this period amounted to 800 souls In 1783 several thousands of disbanded troops were removed from New England to New Brunswick, and a number of Acadians who had established themselves at Frede- ricton were removed to Madawaska to make room for them.

Even here the Acadians have not escaped the vicissitudes of fortune ; for according to the boundary line laid down in 1842, one part of Madawaska district is assigned to Great Britain, and the other to the United States, and the divisional line has consequently placed the same people under two different governments In 1784, New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia, and made a distinct pro- vince.

General Carleton was appointed governor, and by his judicious his paternal administration for nearly 20 years, he raised the country from almost the state of a wilderness to comparative civilization.