which Governor Parr renamed Shelburne later that year, after Lord Shelburne, the British prime minister. This group was led by the Port Roseway Associates, who had formed while still in New York and petitioned Governor Parr for the land. A large group of Africans who had escaped American slavery arrived in Shelburne Harbour at the same time where they founded Birch town next to Shelburne as North America's largest free Black settlement.
In the fall of 1783, a second wave of settlers arrived in Shelburne. By 1784, the population of this new community is estimated to have been 17,000, making it the fourth largest city in North America. However, the initial prosperity was short-lived as a lack of agricultural land, poor inland transportation links, and lack of some necessary skills for settlement, soon curtailed economic growth. The population fell sharply by the 1790s, leaving many abandoned buildings. However, the remaining residents gradually developed the harbour potential as a fishing and shipbuilding centre
