William Davidson is best remembered as the man who started settlement and industry on the Miramichi. Davidson was born in Scotland in 1740. Scotland was a poor country at the time. At the age of 24, Davidson left his home for Halifax, Nova Scotia. He and his friend, John Cort, hoped to get into the fishing industry. At that time there were lots of fish and money could be made in the fishing industry.
The Nova Scotia government agreed to let Davidson and Cort start their fishing business. The two men found that the Miramichi River was a great place to start. It must be remembered that the Miramichi area was still a part of Nova Scotia in 1765. The men arrived in 1765 and spent the summer here. The Nova Scotia government placed only one limiting factor on Davidson and Cort. They had to take settlers with them to the Miramichi. In 1765, the Miramichi was a wood-covered land. Only a few Micmac Indians lived here. Also there were a few French-speaking Acadians still living on Beaubear’s Island near Nelson.
Davidson agreed to take settlers with him. In return, he was given a large piece of land to share with the new settlers. The piece of land given to Davidson took in the land where Newcastle stands today. The next year he returned with about thirty settlers. He set up his fishing industry about twelve miles upriver from Beaubear’s Island. Davidson was soon faced with many problems. There were no markets to sell fresh fish. They had to be salted and shipped to Europe. As well, some of the first shiploads were lost in storms. But Davidson kept trying.
He began a new industry on the Miramichi in 1773. That was building ships. This was done because the men had nothing to do all winter long. But Indian raids began against the settlement in 1775. Shortly after, the American Revolutionary War began between England and the United States. The settlement was no longer safe. Davidson left the Miramichi until 1783 when the war ended. When he returned there was nothing left of his first settlement. He had to begin again. He brought new settlers and built a sawmill and three ships. By 1786, forty families were living in Davidson’s settlement.
Just when things were going so well, Davidson died suddenly at the age of fifty. He had been caught in a winter storm one night. He became sick and died in June, 1790. Mr. Davidson’s grave is found at Wilson’s Point. The graveyard is found where the Northwest and Southwest Miramichi River meet. William Davidson was the first to bring settlement to the Miramichi. He also began the industries of fishing and shipbuilding. For years, these were the heart industries on the Miramichi.