Hillsborough Parish

Hillsborough was probably named in honour of the Earl of Hillsborough,^[10] First Lord of Trade in 1765.

Hillsborough was originally established in 1765 as a township within Nova Scotia, a grant of 100 000 acres to Robert Cummings and four others^[11] that included modern Hillsborough Parish and most of Coverdale Parish. In 1786 the township's boundaries were explicitly used for the newly erected Hillsborough Parish.^[12]

Hillsborough Parish is bounded:^[2][13][14]

• on the north by the northern line of a grant to Albert E. Rogers on the Petitcodiac River, about 120 metres south of the mouth of Stoney Creek, and its prolongation inland to a point about 2.6 kilometres east of Little River;
• on the east by the Petitcodiac River;
• on the south by the southern line of a grant to William Carlisle on the Petitcodiac River, about 2 kilometres north of the junction of Grub Road with Route 114, and its prolongation southwesterly for to a point 12 miles (19 km) inland;
• on the west by a line running north 22º west^[a] to the prolongation of the Rogers grant.

The village of Hillsborough is on the Petitcodiac River, from south of Weldon Creek to north of Christopher Lane; the inland boundary is irregular, based partly on grant lines and partly on property lines of the late 1960s.^[18]

The local service district of the parish of Hillsborough included the entire parish outside the village of Hillsborough.^[19]

The LSD was established on 23 November 1966 to assess for fire protection^[20] following the abolition of rural governments by the new Municipalities Act. First aid & ambulance services were added on 17 November 1976.^[21]

In 2020, the LSD assessed for community & recreation services in addition to the basic LSD services of fire protection, police services, land use planning, emergency measures, and dog control.^[22] The taxing authority was 615.00 Hillsborough.

Communities at least partly within the parish;^[13][14][23] bold indicates an incorporated municipality

Bodies of water^[b] at least partly in the parish:^[13][14][23]

• Petitcodiac River
• Stoney Creek
• Turtle Creek - East Branch, West Branch
• at least seven other named creeks
• Stanyard Lake

Islands at least partly in the parish:^[13][14][23]

• Grays Island

Parks, historic sites, and other noteworthy places at least partly in the parish.^[13][14][23]

• Big Meadows Protected Natural Area
• Caledonia Gorge Protected Natural Area
• Lewis Mountain Protected Natural Area
• Wilson Brook Protected Natural Area

Highways and numbered routes that run through the parish, including external routes that start or finish at the parish limits:^[27]