Town of Torbay

About Torbay

The name Torbay, Newfoundland & Labrador, comes from an area of the same name in Devon, England, and was first mapped in 1615 by John Mason. The word "Tor" refers to a rocky outcrop at the summit of a hill or moor, as is found on Dartmoor in Devon. Both places are geographically similar with wide-open bays (Torbay, Newfoundland, is pictured at left) that face in a generally northeasterly direction. An extract from Bishop Field's Journal states, "indeed there seems to be a little colony of Devon folk in Torbay."

The community of Torbay experienced three French Campaigns the first of which occurred in December 1696. These invasions contributed to the eventual construction of the Torbay Battery in 1781, which was manned by 25 troops from the 71st Regiment and Royal Artillery. The ordinance was eventually withdrawn in 1795.