Placentia

Placentia is a town on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador, consisting of the amalgamated communities of Jerseyside, Townside, Freshwater, Dunville and Argentia. Common family names include Caul, Nolan, Power, O'Keefe, Collins, O'Reilly, Murphy, Williams, Gambin, Hatfield, Wyse, Barry, Mooney, and Careen. In the 2006 census, Placentia's population was reported as 3,898, down significantly from the 2001 figure of 4,426. This population decline has been ongoing since the early 1990s; in the 1996 census, Placentia was, proportionately, the 2nd fastest shrinking town in Canada, dropping from 5,515 to 5,013 between 1991 and 1996. It is unclear when Placentia was first settled by Europeans, but Basque fishermen were fishing in the...