David Welch (1728 - bef. 1783)

Born May 1728 in York, York, Maine

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 1783 before age 54 in Westport, Digby, Nova Scotia

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Biography

David Welch was born in 1728 in York, York, Maine. He was the son of David Welch and Katherine (Soomes) Welch.^[1] David is generally recognized as the first Anglo-American settler of Brier Island, Digby, Nova Scotia. One account has David fishing on the island in 1759, and returning with his wife to build a log cabin on the southern end of the island in 1760.^[2] There is apparently a petition to the provincial government from his son Daniel which states that his father was already on Brier Island by 1763, fishing and giving aid to wrecked seamen.^[3] Other sources have David arriving with his wife to set up a fishing post in the spring of 1769.^[4][5] He died shortly before the Loyalists arrived in 1783. Because he had not received a formal land grant the Loyalists were given the entire island, until subsequent agreements gave the Welch descendants the southern third of the island.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Shea, p. 22.
2. ↑ Shea, p. 20.
3. ↑ Shea, p. 49.
4. ↑ Wilson, p. 38.
5. ↑ Norwood, p. 40.
6. ↑ Shea, p. 23.

See also:

• Norwood, Caroline B. Life on Brier Island. Yarmouth, NS: 1995.
• Shea, Phil. Brier Island: Land's End in the Bay of Fundy. Hantsport, NS: Lancelot, 1990.
• Wilson, Isaiah W. Geography and History of the County of Digby. Halifax, NS: Holloway, 1900.