There have been various spellings over the years – Bouche, Bouchet, Bushee and Boucher, and various explanations for the name. One version is that it is derived from the French bouche (blocked or closed) because the harbour entrance is almost blocked by an island. Another tradition is that Captain Francois Boucher from Quebec took refuge there in the winter of 1759. In 1785 a tract of land measuring 170 acres was granted to the first known permanent settlor Paul Bushee. In that grant and all succeeding grants of the period, the harbour is marked as Harbour a Bushee. Over the years, the name in land grants changed to Harbour au Bouche and eventually Havre Boucher. Accordingly, the harbour probably took its name from the first permanent settlor but the name Bushee is obviously a computation of the French Boucher.
