Britannia has had many names over the years, such as Porridge Cove and Ladle Cove. For many years the area from Lower Lance Cove to Middle Lance Cove was considered Britannia. As with other settlements on Random Island, Britannia had winter visitors before it was permanently settled.

Britannia’s first settlers were the Currie’s and Bowrings. It is believed that the Curries, from Wales and the Bowrings originally from England came to settle in the Porridge Cove area.After seeing slate from the Carberry’s Nut Cove quarry, being used to roof a house in St. John’s, John Currie, a professional slate cutter, obtained a land grant beside the Carberry’s quarry and moved to the area in 1860 to start a second slate quarry in Nut Cove. His cousins David and Pierce took over the operation around 1867 when John moved to St. John’s. The Curries also had a mill, store and herring factory in Porridge Cove with boats coming to the cove to load the lumber and fish to take to other places for sale. Other families settled in the area because of the good soil for growing crops, the proximity to good fishing grounds and easy access to the lush forests. Britannia became a major supply and trade center for the surrounding smaller fishing communities. As the business grew in Britannia, the Curries lost interest in the slate industry and sold it in 1899.

The Curries had the lumber mill, herring factory and also ran the slate quarry at Nut Cove. The Curries also had a general store that sold groceries and pretty well anything needed in the community.

Most people in the community used to fish but now the community is mostly made up of retired people. Those residents that are employed work in nearby communities. The town has the services of a local Volunteer Fire Department and the Local Waste Disposal Committee for garbage collection.

This tiny community offers a quiet lifestyle with lots of opportunities to walk the countryside or beach. The abundance of wildlife and birds provide opportunity for those who enjoy photography.