[3] Settled in the 18th century primarily by Loyalists fleeing the United States,[4] its economy is built around fishing and aquaculture, especially its well-known herring weirs.

[5] Although it has only a third the population it had before the 1950s,[6][7][5][8] Deer Island is the main centre of West Isles Parish and falls under the Southwest NB Regional Service Commission.

[9] There are "traces" of visits to the island by indigenous Passamaquoddys, although no settlement by either the natives or French appears to have ever been attempted[10][11][12][13] In 1604, Samuel de Champlain noted that a crewmember, Mssr.

[8] Josiah Heney, John Frost, Alexander Hodges and James Parsons were among the first Loyalist settlers in 1763, building homes near Pleasant Point although legally squatters without title.

[5] The government assigned formal ownership of Deer Island to Joseph William Gorham on August 21, 1767 on condition that he settle families there as per an agreement of Dec 2 1766.

[10][19] Farrell led a multifaceted life, gifting land and selling cheaply on the island to families that would settle there - regaling them with tales of his marriage to a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Charlotte, his duels and time in battle as a British lieutenant.

[5] Six months after signing the purchase of Deer Island from Gorham, Farrell listed his Montreal property for sale and in later claimed to have relocated to Deer Island as his "general residence" by 1772 although again it is contested as he was not listed among residents when the government surveyed all early settlers to ascertain which local river had been commonly named St. Croix to settle a boundary dispute.

[7][25] Thomas Farrell re-settled in New Brunswick post-Revolution, as the southwest corner of the province was notably fluid in its allegiance between the two nations and not concerned with his American service,[8] seeking to have Deer Island re-granted to him and not gifted in title to a number of local families now petitioning the government for relief.

[8] He claimed that Reed had never paid him in full before his death, so the earlier sale was null - and that he had been unaware of any obligation to register his initial purchase from Gorham for which he could produce the uncontested papers.

[5][8] Patrick Flinn held in 1805 that he'd been undisturbed as a squatter improving a family farm and controlling Bar Island since the 1780s, other than a brief period a Thomas Doyle had spent a season building a fishing camp on the southern tip which Flinn later sold to Warren Hathaway, claiming at no time did Thomas Farrell play any role on Bar Island.

[8] Farrell's neighbours on the island did not participate in the lawsuit seeking title deeds, while 22 others, including boys not yet adults, collectively sought 200 acres apiece guided by lawyer Ward Chipman including ironically threatening that if not granted title deeds by the British government in Canada they would remove themselves to the United States and swear loyalty there - while still seeking to impress upon the Crown Farrell's disloyalty in having done the same.

[8] However, since his return Farrell had now been named a Captain in the Charlotte County Militia, and was promoted to Major in January 1805 re-affirming his loyalty back to British Canada.

[26][8] Ultimately the government re-granted the land back to Thomas Farrell in 1810, denying the families' petitions - leading author Martha Barto to surmise it may have been to protect the large tracts of land held by lumber and shipping magnates in St. Andrews on the mainland, as non-petitioners, John Wilson, Thomas Wyer, Dr. John Calef, Robert and William Pagan each had a vested interest in Farrell retaining ownership.

[8] This led to the sale of the lands on Deer Island for approximately 1,000 pounds sterling, allowing settled families to finally obtain legal title.

[19][8] In 1866, in response to the ongoing Fenian Raids meant to destabilise and drain British forces which resulted in a brief paramilitary venture to seize Campobello, the 3rd Battalion of Charlotte County Militia were stationed on Deer Island although primarily overseen by those from Grand Manan.

[5] The 1869 Saxby Gale destroyed a vast wharf infrastructure that covered much of the Leonardville harbour in a complex of buildings, sheds, and smokehouses; the area never recovered to the industry it had been prior to the storm.

[5][19] Notable guests to attend the island formally included Governors-General Freeman Thomas Willingden and Vincent Massey, as well as William Lyon Mackenzie King.

[5] In the 1920s, when Grace Helen Mowat was gaining fame in St. Andrews for her Cottage Craft wares, she employed Deer Island residents Floyd Doughty and James Stuart to operate the pottery wheel and kiln.

[5] In 1925, James S. Lord became the first island resident to reach provincial legislature as the representative for Charlotte County; he was also a key figure in the Ku Klux Klan's operations in Atlantic Canada.

[41] The Quoddy Tides newspaper was initially typeset on Deer Island in the 1960s, with material then being sent on fishing boats to Eastport, Maine for final production.

[5] The Loyalist George Leonard was originally put in charge of the suppression of smuggling on the Fundy Isles, which at the time was largely coordinated by David Owen "who professed that to believe that he was, by condition of his grant, exempt from the operation of New Brunswick law.".

[44] Owen, who served as a justice of the peace, wrote to judge Edward Winslow in 1802, noting his concern that "the influx of strangers...on Deer Island they have actually defied the proprieter Capt.

[5] The island is covered in pine trees,[10] and wildlife includes partridges, rabbits, waterfowl and historically foxes which were later eradicated to protect poultry flocks.

[10] Between Richardson and Lord's Cove is a hill locally known as Daddy Good's Mountain, after the quaint gentleman who used to own the property which offered a fire-scarred peak from which to view the Bay of Fundy.

[19] Hannah Dow Hill sits in Leonardville, named for a woman who became lost and froze to death finding her missing cow in a 4-day snowstorm in the mid-19th century.

[19] Following his father's success, a son of Grand Manan's John Cook opened a satellite lobster factory on Deer Island but it soon faltered.

The island has a undeveloped traditional Clark Gregory Nature Preserve, spanning 73 acres in Chocolate Cove which contains a 19th century gravesite west of the shelter.

[55][19] On March 28, 1830, a two-mast schooner was destroyed in the whirlpool drowning brothers Robert, James and William Stover whose widowed mother lived in Fairhaven.

[19] Other adventurers were prone to imagine buried pirate treasure, even from Captain Kidd locally pinpointed as somwhere behind Alonzo Calder's house, but with little historical backing.