Brindley Town was a black community located about 3 kilometers south of Digby, in the area now known as Jordantown. Brindley Town was probably the second largest community of blacks in Nova Scotia, containing approximately 100 families.

Brindley Town was unique in certain respects. Very few people belonged to the dissenting faiths such as Methodism and Baptism. Almost all of it's inhabitants followed Joseph Leonard in his own peculiar brand of Anglicanism. Leonard was only supposed to serve as a lay preacher and lead the blacks in prayers, but he was quite willing to perform baptisms and communion without having been ordained.

None of the people of Brindley Town were ever granted farm lots, but this was sadly typical of the region. People had to pay their surveyors to have land granted to them, and there was a great deal of corruption surrounding land distribution. While a survey was made for the blacks near today's Upper Clements Park, the grant was never made. Most of the whites in Digby had to wait until 1800 to have their grants finalized; by then most of the blacks were gone.

Thomas Peters was initially settled at Annapolis Royal, but soon traveled to Brindley Town and was appointed by the people to petition the government for land and support. History makes no mention of a dispute between himself and Joseph Leonard, the other community leader, even though Peters was a Methodist.

About half of the Blacks in Brindley Town left for Sierra Leone in 1792. Those that remained mostly scattered through the area, into the land behind Digby in areas like Jordantown and around Weymouth.

Brindley Town was located just south of Digby.

Story: Arrival

Other Communities

People

Joseph Leonard

Thomas Peters

Isiah Limerick

Documents

Survey of Brindley Town