Early Settlement

Lot 53

In 1765, Captain Samuel Holland surveyed Prince Edward Island, divid- ing it into 67 townships. The government of England decided that the townships should be granted to men who deserved recognition for military or public service. For fairness sake, lots were drawn to determine who received which township and the townships were referred to by lot number.

The lots were drawn on July 23, 1767 in London, England. Lot 53 was granted to Richard Huck, a physician; John William, a merchant; and Lieutenant George Campbell.

One condition of the grants specified that if one-third of the land on a township was not settled within four years, the whole town would be . forfeited.

Cardigan

A survey drawn up at the time showed the present village of Cardigan and surrounding districts situated on the central east shoreline of Kings County within‘ Lot 53.

The native Indian people named this area Samkook, meaning ‘a sandy shore’. Samkook was named Cardigan by the British in 1765 after George Brudenell, Fourth Earl of Cardigan and only child of the Duke of Mon- tague. The Earl was married in 1730 and in 1766 became the Duke of Montague.

It was not until 1803- when Lot 53 was divided into thirds and passed on to Lord Selkirk, The Earl of Westmoreland and David Dundas, Esq.- that

settlers came to this area. Settlers

These earliest settlers of the nineteenth century came mainly from Scot- land. However, a census taken in 1841 shows people also came from Eng- land, Ireland, and other British colonies.

The first settlers faced almost insurmountable odds and suffered unex- pected hardships. Their most immediate concerns were to build shelter and clear the land to plant potatoes for the coming spring. Lord Selkirk supplied them with flour and oatmeal. Fishing and hunting helped provide the necessary food to keep them alive those first few years. The waters of the Cardigan River supplied salt-water trout, eels, and Smelts. When the first settlers arrived, and for many years after, the Cardigan area had much

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