'''Scotch Ridge''' is a small settlement in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada.<ref>New Brunswick Legislative Library, Sessional Papers, 1805, Miscellaneous Papers, Report on Scotch Ridge Settlement.</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Matheson | first1=Gordon | last2=Matheson | first2=Doris | title=Home: Scotch Ridge and Gleason Road : A History of a Rural Community | date=1999 | publisher=Daniel Smith Farms | isbn=978-0-9682508-1-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0bXAAAACAAJ }}</ref><ref>Parker, Jean MacKenzie. The MacKenzie Connection of Scotch Ridge, New Brunswick. Toronto: np, 1984.</ref>
In 1803, seventeen Scottish families from Sutherlandshire "accidentally arrived" en route to North Carolina.<ref name="one"/> They were from Lord Reay's fencibles unit raised in 1796 in response to the French Revolutionary Wars.<ref name="archives.gnb.ca">{{Cite web |title=Scotch Ridge |url=https://archives.gnb.ca/en-ca/communities/charlotte/saint-james/scotch-ridge |access-date=2026-04-21 |website=archives.gnb.ca}}</ref>
The 400 settlers were discouraged by what they saw in the area and departed for Nova Scotia, but Scottish merchants from St. Andrews outfitted a vessel to pursue the departing Scotsmen and convince them to return.<ref>New Brunswick Place Names; Attractions, Legends, Characters, NB Firsts. By: Scott, David E.</ref> Robert Pagan was instrumental in settling them, raising 134 pounds sterling for their re-settlement and to bring four further Scottish families from Digby, Nova Scotia.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Campey | first1=Lucille H. | title=With Axe and Bible: The Scottish Pioneers of New Brunswick, 1784-1874 | date=31 May 2007 | publisher=Dundurn | isbn=978-1-897045-22-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sgd1dI4hWVYC&dq=%22Scotch+Ridge%22+new+brunswick&pg=PA162 }}</ref> While St. Andrews surveyor Donald MacDonald produced a land survey to settle the newcomers.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Campey | first1=Lucille H. | title=With Axe and Bible: The Scottish Pioneers of New Brunswick, 1784-1874 | date=31 May 2007 | publisher=Dundurn | isbn=978-1-897045-22-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sgd1dI4hWVYC&dq=%22Scotch+Ridge%22+new+brunswick&pg=PA162 }}</ref>
They were given land grants, where an isolated Gaelic-speaking community developed.<ref name="one">{{Cite journal |last=Acheson |first=T. W. |year=1968 |title=A Study in the Historical Demography of a Loyalist County |url=https://scispace.com/pdf/a-study-in-the-historical-demography-of-a-loyalist-county-go5wvgoxlq.pdf |journal=Social History (journal) |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=53-65}}</ref> In 1813, Scotch Ridge was removed from St. Stephen Parish, New Brunswick and became part of Saint James Parish, New Brunswick, as the Sutherland clan further settled Little Ridge to the south, and Oak Hill, Basswood Ridge and Pomeroy Ridge to the north.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Campey | first1=Lucille H. | title=With Axe and Bible: The Scottish Pioneers of New Brunswick, 1784-1874 | date=31 May 2007 | publisher=Dundurn | isbn=978-1-897045-22-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sgd1dI4hWVYC&dq=%22Scotch+Ridge%22+new+brunswick&pg=PA162 }}</ref>
By 1866, Scotch Ridge had approximately 30 families, in 1871 it had a population of 200, and in 1898 it had a church and post office though population had dwindled to 100.<ref name="archives.gnb.ca"/> The church's steeple held a geodetic triangulation marker.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Reynolds | first1=Walter Ford | title=Geodesy: Triangulation in Maine | date=1918 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9BMAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Scotch+Ridge%22+new+brunswick&pg=PA198 }}</ref> Alberta judge and unsuccessful 1911 Victoria, Alberta federal Conservative Party candidate Frederick Augustus Morrison was born in Scotch Ridge.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Mardon | first1=Austin | title=Alberta's Judicial Leadership: A Biographical Account | date=July 2011 | publisher=Lulu.com | isbn=978-1-897472-32-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g61RAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Scotch+Ridge%22+new+brunswick&pg=PA30 }}</ref>
Clark's Point Preserve is located near Scotch Ridge, and administered by the Nature Trust of New Brunswick.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clark’s Point Nature Preserve |url=https://www.naturetrust.nb.ca/en/clarks-point-nature-preserve |access-date=2026-04-21 |website=Nature Trust of New Brunswick |language=en-CA}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Communities in Charlotte County, New Brunswick Category:Charlotte County, New Brunswick geography stubs
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