Port Burwell, Nunavut

Port Burwell is a harbour on western Killiniq Island, formed as an arm of Ungava Bay, at the mouth of Hudson Strait.[1][2] Previously within Labrador,[3] and then the Northwest Territories,[4] it is now situated within the borders of Nunavut, Canada. Cape Chidley is 25 mi (40 km) to the northeast.

Transporting supplies to the HBC post at Port Burwell, 1919

History
Going ashore at Port Burwell, July 1923

A Dominion Government Meteorological Station was established at Port Burwell during an 1884 voyage led by Commander Andrew R. Gordon, R.N., a retired Naval Officer, and assistant director of the Dominion Meteorological Service.[5] Gordon named it in honor of one of the expedition's meteorological observers, Herbert M. Burwell of London, Ontario.[6] Burwell was left in charge of Observing Station No. 1 in the port's harbour on the western side of Gray Strait until it closed in 1886.

Gordon returned to Port Burwell with a Hudson's Bay Company expedition in 1885 on the Alert,[7] and established an HBC trading post within the harbour.[8] In 1904, Moravian missionaries established a mission and trading post at the northwest corner of the harbour.[9] Twelve years later, the HBC moved one of their trading posts to the northeast area of the harbour.[9]

In the 1920s, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment was set up at Port Burwell. The Royal Corps of Signals (RCCS) built a radio station, and the Coast Guard built a base.[10]

The settlement of Killiniq grew around the port. In 1978, all the residents were re-settled from the deep port community[11] to host communities of Nunavik.

References
  1. Robertson, Gordon (2000). Memoirs of a very civil servant: Mackenzie King to Pierre Trudeau. University of Toronto Press. pp. 178. ISBN 0-8020-4445-X. port burwell nunavut.
  2. Shelagh, Shelagh Grant (2005). Arctic Justice: On Trial For Murder, Pond Inlet, 1923. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 224. ISBN 0-7735-2929-2.
  3. Brethren (1905), pp. 478
  4. Canada. Parliament. House of Commons. Standing Committee on Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Parliament, House of Commons, Canada. Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence: Procès-verbaux Et Témoignages (Digitized Sep 15, 2008 ed.). Queen's Printer. p. 1.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. de Trémaudan, Auguste Henri (1916). The Hudson Bay Road (1498-1915) (Digitized: Jul 10, 2008 ed.). Dutton. pp. 53. port burwell Gordon.
  6. Report of the Hudson's Bay under the Command of Lieut. A. R. Gordon, R.N , 1884. Toronto: Meteorological Office. 1884.
  7. "A Hudson's Bay Expedition" (PDF). The New York Times. May 21, 1885. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
  8. Low, Albert Peter (1906). Report on the dominion government expedition to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Islands on board the D.G.S. Neptune 1903-1904. Canada. Dept. of Marine and Fisheries (Digitized Aug 11, 2006 ed.). Govt. Print. Bureau. pp. 7. port burwell trading post.
  9. Gray, David H. (January 2005). "Grenfell and the Labrador Coast" (PDF). The Northern Mariner. cnrs-scrn.org. XV (1): 16.
  10. "Port Burwell, Labrador Assorted Detail - 1920-1929". pinetreeline.org. Archived from the original on 2006-07-09. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  11. "4.7. Port Burwell". ualberta.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2009-10-07.


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