Esther Clark Wright’s New Brunswick Planter List.

A spreadsheet of settlers in what became the province of New Brunswick, pre-1783, has been extracted from Esther Clark Wright, Planters and Pioneers: Nova Scotia 1749 to 1775, originally published in 1978 which includes settlement location, year of arrival, place of origin, birth/death, family details, and occupation.

Content from the published book was transcribed and entered into an Excel file format by UNB Libraries staff to facilitate use by researchers. Where possible, Clark Wright’s abbreviations were expanded for usability. The index includes information on over 350 individuals and their families. 

Some abbreviations were left as if there was no definition in the key and an educated guess could not be made. The list was sorted alphabetically by surname. Question marks indicate that Clark Wright was not sure if the information listed was correct.

Note: This index was made originally without the benefit of Internet or organizational software; errors and conflations do exist. 

Following is an explanation of each of the headings found in the document:

Surnames: Sometimes multiple spellings were found in historical documents.  See the Other field for alternate spellings. All possible versions of surname should be considered, as during the British settlement period, names were not standardized.       

Settlement Location: Includes Sackville, Maugerville, Burton, generally along the St. John River, Cumberland, Gagetown, Hillsborough, Hopewell, Burton, Miramichi, and Passamaquoddy.

Place of Origin: Lists one or more places where loyalists lived before migration to New Brunswick, including the Thirteen Colonies (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maine) and locations in Europe. Locations in the Thirteen Colonies often include county or city/town.

Birth/Parents: Includes any birth date information and family background.

Trade: See Glossary in Finding Aids.

Wife: The publication was based around male grantee heads of household, but information was provided on female settlers as well. Includes names, family background, birth information. First date listings are marriage dates followed by location if known. Abbreviations: “dau”- daughter of; “d” – death date; “m” indicates it was known man was married but not the name of the wife; “m2” – second marriage.

Children: Lists children or number of children and important information related to them when available. Abbreviation: “m2” – children from second marriage.

Other Notes: Often includes previous and later migrations, ship names they arrived on, surname variations, accounts of household numbers, military service, any other information that does not fit in other categories.