In 1773 a wealthy Quaker merchant from London, England named Robert Clark launched an ambitious, idealistic settlement at the entrance to New London Bay on Prince Edward Island's north shore, at what is today the end of the Cape Road in French River. He brought skilled Quaker tradespeople and their families to the wilderness of the 1770s with the dream of building a bustling commercial outpost on the door of the new world. Clark named this settlement "New" London, after the city he had left. For almost twenty years New London survived and occasionally thrived, despite the harsh weather and living conditions of PEI's north shore in winter, before colliding headlong with the realities of political and economic life in an infant colony during a time of war. Drawing upon fresh resources and squeezing insight from existing accounts, author John Cousins delivers this remarkable piece of Island history, little known until now. He recreates the life--and death--of New London and its Quaker settlers, complete with heroes and villains, hope and disenchantment, miscalculation and ill fortune, and provides a fascinating portrait of early British settlement on Prince Edward Island.

John Cousins is descended from John Cousins and Mary Townsend, whose families were among the first settlers at New London. John is an historian and folklorist, and has published numerous works on P.E.I. history.

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