While it was still inhabited, Great Brule was a small, close-knit outport community typical of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Newfoundland.[2] Its residents lived by the sea and relied almost entirely on the inshore fishery, using small wooden boats to harvest cod from the surrounding waters of Placentia Bay.[4] The settlement reached its peak population of 108 in 1951,[5] but within five years it was abandoned under the province's early resettlement programs, which encouraged the movement of families to larger, more accessible communities.[1] Today, the harbour and surrounding slopes where homes once stood are overgrown, and only traces of foundations and stages remain visible.[4]
History
Permanent settlement at Great Brule began in 1813, when families of Irish and English origin established homes on the northern shore of Merasheen Island.[2] They were part of the broader movement of settlers who migrated to Placentia Bay during Newfoundland's early nineteenth-century fishery expansion. Like neighbouring communities on Merasheen Island, Great Brule developed around the inshore cod fishery, with small-scale herring and lobster fisheries supplementing household incomes.[1] Families dried and salted cod on wooden flakes near the shoreline, while during the winter months they repaired boats, split firewood, and tended small gardens to provide food for the coming year.[2]
Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Great Brule remained a modest but stable settlement.[2] Census data from 1869 to 1951 record a population that fluctuated between several dozen and just over one hundred residents, which was typical of the small outports that depended on the sea and seasonal labour.[5] Extended families often lived side by side, and surnames were repeated through generations. Church and school life formed the heart of community activity, though educational opportunities were limited to what could be offered locally.[4]
Isolation shaped both the character and the challenges of life in Great Brule. The community had no road access and relied on small boats for transport and communication.[1] Supplies came from merchants on the mainland, and visits from clergy or government officials were infrequent. Despite these difficulties, Great Brule remained self-sustaining and cohesive. Its people adapted to the changing conditions of the fishery and preserved traditional practices central to Newfoundland's coastal identity.[4]
Following Newfoundland's Confederation with Canada in 1949, the provincial government introduced policies to centralise scattered populations and improve access to education, healthcare, and employment.[6] These programs became collectively known as the resettlement or centralization schemes. They were controversial and deeply divisive, as families were often split between those who wished to remain and those who accepted government assistance to move.[7]
Between 1951 and 1956, Great Brule, also called Bruley, Brewley, or Brule, was vacated under this early centralization program, administered by the Department of Welfare.[1] Residents were offered financial support, generally between $150 and $600, to move their homes and possessions to larger centres such as Placentia and Argentia.[6][1] Houses were sometimes floated across Placentia Bay on rafts or dismantled for timber reuse.[4]
By 1956, the last families had left Great Brule.[1] The harbour was abandoned, marking the end of more than a century of habitation. In subsequent decades, former residents and their descendants returned to Merasheen Island for periodic reunions that commemorated the lost outports of Placentia Bay and the shared history of communities such as Great Brule.[1][7]
Geography
Great Brule occupied the northern end of Merasheen Island, one of the largest islands in Placentia Bay.[2] The island measures approximately 35 kilometres in length and up to nine kilometres in width, with a coastline composed of inlets and sheltered harbours that supported small-boat fisheries.[3] The surrounding inlet, Great Brule Harbour, is recorded in the Canadian Geographical Names Database maintained by Natural Resources Canada.[3]
Legacy
Although uninhabited today, Great Brule, also called Bruley, Brewley, or Brule, exemplifies the experience of many coastal communities affected by Newfoundland's mid-twentieth-century resettlement programs.[4][6] Between the 1950s and 1970s, more than 7,500 people from over 100 outports relocated to designated growth centres throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.[6] The story of Great Brule has become part of this broader narrative, preserved through academic research, archival photographs, and community reunions held on Merasheen Island since the 1980s.[1][7]
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