Named after Lord Shelburne, who was Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1782-1783, Shelburne County was established in 1784. That name had been applied by Governor Parr to a rising loyalist settlement the previous year, and now it was also given to a new county in which that settlement was the County town. The boundaries of Shelburne County were afterwards established by Governor and Council on December 16, 1785. In 1824, at a time when the lines of a number of counties were being cut out and marked, the boundary between Queens and Shelburne Counties was surveyed. Nine years later, in 1833, the Township of Argyle was established and its limits were defined. Subsequently, in 1836 Shelburne County was divided into two separate and distinct counties with Yarmouth County being formed out of what had been part of Shelburne County and with Shelburne County being thus reduced in size. When in 1837, Annapolis County was divided and Digby County was created out of what had formerly been part of Annapolis County, modification in the wording of the description of Shelburne County became necessary. This was achieved by An Act Relative to the Boundary Line between the Counties of Shelburne and Yarmouth. Eventually, in 1854, Shelburne County was divided into two districts - the District of Shelburne and the District of Barrington. It was declared that the District of Shelburne would comprise the Township of Shelburne and the District of Barrington would comprise the Township of Barrington.