New Brunswick Historical Tidbits

Campobello

By Mitch Biggar

In 1767 a Welsh immigrant named Captain William Owen was granted the outer island of Passamaquoddy Bay. In 1770 Owen took possession of the grant. He brought with him thirty-eight indentured servants. The indentured servants who were all from Liverpool, England agreed to work for several years in order to pay off the cost of their passage to British America.

Captain Owen was a retired British naval officer who had a colorful career. Owen had lost an arm in India and an eye in England during an election riot. As a reslt he ran Campobello as a military affair even to the extent of having prison stocks and a whipping post.

William Owen left the island in 1771 and was killed at Madras, India. With his death his nephew David Owen inherited the island. Eventually Campobello became a popular tourist resort.

This page was designed by Irene Doyle September 1999