What came to be known as the French Shore was created by the Treaty of Utrecht, signed by Britain and France in 1713. It brought to an end the War of the Spanish Succession, sometimes known as Queen Anne's War.

So far as North America was concerned, the treaty contained a number of French concessions. France agreed to hand over to Britain both Hudson Bay and mainland Acadia - that is, modern Nova Scotia, but without Cape Breton Island which remained in French hands. France also agreed in article 13 that the island of Newfoundland would be recognized as British territory, and that French troops and colonists would leave Plaisance. However, France gained an important concession from the British in the same article: French fishers could continue to use the Newfoundland coast between Cape Bonavista and Pointe Riche during the fishing season. This was an area which the French called "le Petit Nord", and had frequented for 200 years. It was not used at that time by the English fishers at Newfoundland.

TREATY OF UTRECHT, 1713.