Beresford is a town in Gloucester County,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada. It is situated on the shore of

Nepisiguit Bay Nepisiguit Bay (from the Mi’kmaq word , which means "rough water") is located in northern New Brunswick, Canada on the southern part of the Chaleur Bay (French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or rela ...

, part of Chaleur Bay immediately north of the city of Bathurst. 79% of the town's residents are francophone. The community is slated to be dissolved into the amalgamated new town of

Belle-Baie Belle-Baie is a town in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It was formed through the 2023 New Brunswick local governance reforms. History Belle-Baie was incorporated on January 1, 2023 via the amalgamation of the former town of Beresf ...

on January 1, 2023.

History

In March 1813, the municipal council of Northumberland decided to regroup the territories north of Miramichi into two districts: one being from

Neguac Neguac is a Canadian village in Northumberland County, New Brunswick. Geography Situated on the north shore of Miramichi Bay at the southern end of the Acadian Peninsula, the village is located 44 kilometres northeast of Miramichi. Approxima ...

to Pokemouche, the other from

Caraquet Caraquet ( ) is a town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. Situated on the shore of Chaleur Bay in the Acadian Peninsula, its name is derived from the Mi'kmaq term for ''meeting of two rivers''. The Caraquet River and Rivière du Nor ...

and including the whole north-east region of

. In 1814, this re-organisation continued and the territory was subdivided into parishes. Some examples of those were

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

(

and Tabusintac), Saumarez (from Tracadie to

), and Beresford (from Nepisiguit to Restigouche). Names were then given to these new civil parishes honouring naval and military men (

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, and Carleton, for

Thomas Carleton General Thomas Carleton (c. 1735 – 2 February 1817) was an Irish-born British Army officer who was promoted to colonel during the American Revolutionary War after relieving the siege of Quebec in 1776. After the war, he was appointed as L ...

). Beresford was named for the British general

William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford General William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior, (; 2 October 1768 – 8 January 1854) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. A general in the British Army and a Marshal in the Portuguese Army, he fought ...

, who commanded the Portuguese troops that were part of Wellington's army in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

from 1808 to 1814.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Beresford had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Language

Attractions

One of Beresford's main attractions is its beach. Renovated in the late 1990s, the beach features an observation tower overlooking the marshes, a boardwalk and change room, restroom and shower facilities. A popular tourist attraction, it is not rare to find local musicians featuring their talents at the beach on warm summer nights. Every year a carnival called "Carnaval du Siffleux" is held in Beresford. Sculptures made of snow collected by ploughing parking lots are presented all around town. This is one of the many activities available to Beresford residents during this carnival. However, in recent years, fewer sculptures have been seen around the time of the festival.

Notable people

Ray Frenette Joseph Raymond Frenette (April 16, 1935 – July 13, 2018) was a Canadian politician in New Brunswick. He was a Liberal representative for the riding of Moncton East in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1974 until 1998 when he reti ...

- Former Premier of New Brunswick.

References