SOME writers have
affirmed that Newfoundland was discovered by the Scandinavians in the
year 1001, while others assert that this alledged discovery by the
Northmen is not worthy of credence: “The error appears to have been the
work of some designing interpolator of the old Icelandic MS.
Chronicles.” We, therefore, pass over the mists of romance and fable for
the facts of history.
The discovery of the
West Indies by Columbus in 1492; and of Newfoundland by the Cabots, in
1497, is detailed in almost every book written on America. Without then
attempting to go over the same ground, we shall proceed at once to
state, that John Cabot (or Cabota, his Italian name), a Venetian, and
his son, Sebastian, under a commission granted by Henry VII, of England,
sailed from Bristol with a fleet of five small vessels, and discovered
Newfoundland on the 24th of June, 1497, near Cape Bona-vista, and to
which they gave the name of Terra Primum Vista, the land first seen
(happy sight or view), because this was the place that first met their
eyes in looking from the sea. Cabot called Newfoundland as well as the
American continent Baccalaos, that being the name by which the Indians
called the cod-fish. The writer found several ancient histories of
Newfoundland in the library of Harvard University,- United States; by
Hackluyt, Whitbourne and others; but as extracts from these old writers
have been given by various modem historians of Newfoundland, it is
unnecessary to repeat them here. It is not the writer’s intention to
give a minute detail of every event connected withthe earlier settlement
of Newfoundland, but rather to bring before the notice of the reader the
most interesting and important circumstances. The best modern histories
of Newfoundland have been given by Macgregor, Martin, and Sir Richard
Bornycastle, Anspach, Reeves, Murray, Buckingham, Lyel, Jukes,
Cartwright, Chappelle. Carson an/ Morris have also written on
Newfoundland, and more recently the Rev. C. Bedley and McRea. A correct
account of the country has been given in the “Edinburgh Cabinet
Library.” There has also been a very interesting “ Catechism of the
History of Newfoundland,” written by Mr. St John. But the best sketch of
Newfoundland I have ever seen is by Bayard Taylor, the great American
traveller. Newfoundland lies between the latitudes of 4fiº 40' and 51º
37' north and between the longitudes 52" 25' and 59° 15' west, and
approaches to a triangular form. It is separated from Cape Breton by the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and from Labrador by the Straits of Belle Isle. It
therefore affords a northern and southern entrance to the Gulf of St.
Lawrence. The surface of the island comprises an area of 36,000 square
miles, which is nearly as large as England; 7,000 square miles larger
than Scotland, and 4,000 square miles larger than Ireland. It is 50
miles long, and 200 broad, or 2,800,000 acres, and has a line of coast,
including the indentations of the numerous bays, of about 2,000 miles.
Newfoundland is nearer to Europe than any of the islands, or any part of
America. The distance between S+ John’s and the harbour of Valencia, in
Ireland, being-only 1656 miles, and from Liverpool, England, about 2,000
miles.
In the year 1500,
Emmanuel of Portugal commissioned Gasper de Cortereal to discover
Baccalaos, which Cabot had three years previously coasted. He
accordingly visited the island, gave to Conception Bay the name that it
bears, and coasted along the American continent, all of which was then
called Baccalaos. It is said that Gasper de Cortereal and his brother
Michael perished in a second attempt to visit Baccalaos. In 1502, the
Bortuguese established the first regular fishery on the shores of
Newfoundland, who were subsequently followed by the Biscayans and
French. In 1517, the Portuguese, French and Spaniards employed forty
sail of vessels in the cod-fishery. In 1534, Jacques Cartier, the
celebrated French navigator, visited Newfoundland with two small
vessels; he touched at Cape Bonavista, and then sailed along the coast
and entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. After exploring the Gulf, he
returned to France. The next year he discovered Canada, and sailed up
the St. Lawrence.
The English began to be
aware of the importance of Newfoundland in the twenty-eighth year of
Henry VIII.’s reign. So early as 1536, Robert Hore and others sailed
from England to colonize Newfoundland and Cape Breton. There were 120
persons. They, however, failed in their design, and returned to England
after great privation and suffering. In 1540, Francis the First of
France appointed Roberval, Viceroy of all the newly-discovered lands. He
accordingly sailed with five ships, having Jacques Cartier as chief
commander. An attempt at this time was made to colonize Cape Breton,
Saguenay, Terre Neuve, or Newfoundland, and Labrador, but without
success. Newfoundland was not yet discovered to be an island. Roberval
subsequently sailed with a greater number of ships, but his fate has
never been known. In 1540, the English first began to prosecute the
Newfoundland fisheries, from the ports of Bristol, Biddeford and
Barnstaple. In 1576, Frobisher is said to have been forced by the ice
upon the Newfoundland coast, when some of the Indians came on board his
ship. He sent them ashore in a boat with five sailors, but neither the
boat nor men were ever seen again. Frobisher seized one of the Indians
and took him to England, where he soon afterwards died.
In 1578, England had 50
ships engaged in the fishery; France and Spain, 150 sail; whilst the
Portuguese had 50.
In 1583, in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh engaged
in an expedition to Newfoundland, having five vessels under their
command; but the “Raleigh," commanded by Sir Walter, after being some
time at sea, was obliged to put back to England, in consequence of an
infectious disease breaking out among the crew. Sir Humphrey was created
viceroy, admiral, and sole judge for six years. Sir Humphrey, with the
remaining four ships under his command, arrived at St. John’s on the 5th
August, 1583, which he took possession of, with all the land within the
circumference of 600 miles, in the name of his sovereign, Queen
Elizabeth. In August, during the same year, he despatched one of his
vessels, the “Swallow,” to England with some of his followers who wished
to return home, after which Sir Humphrey sailed from St. John’s on a
voyage of discovery to the westward. During a heavy gale of wind and a
thick fog they fell in upon land, probably Sable Island, when the
“Delight" wont on shore, and out of 110 persons only 14 were saved. A
few days after this occurrence, the other two vessels bore away for
England. During the passage a heavy storm arose, in which the “Squirrel
” (commanded by Sir Humphrey) sunk, together with her crew. The “Golden
Hind, the only remaining vessel of the fleet, arrived in England
thirteen days after. These vessels were all small, the largest being 120
tons, two of 50 tons each, and the smallest (the one in which Sir
Humphrey was lost) being only 10 tons, and insufficient to weather a
heavy gale. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was brother-in-law of Sir Walter
Raleigh. Just before the “Squirrel” sank, Sir Humphrey was seen reading
on deck.
After the fate of his
brother-in-law, Sir Walter Raleigh directed his attention to the
American continent, and eventually established a colony in Virginia.
In 1610, John Guy, a
Bristol merchant, under the patronage and assistance of the great Sir
Francis Bacon, Lord Northampton, and Sir Francis Sanfield, to whom, with
forty others, letters patent were granted by James Guy, with his
followers, sailed from Bristol in 1610, in three ships, and after a
short passage, arrived in Conception Bay, where he established a colony
and opened a promising intercourse with the Indians. After remaining two
years, Guy and the remainder of the colony returned to England. Captain
Richard Whitbourne, of Exmouth, in the County of Devon, published a
history of Newfoundland so early as 1622, which was dedicated to James
I. Whitbourne was employed in a ship of his own against the Spanish
Armada, in 1588. He visited Newfoundland as early as 1578, and in his
second voyage to Newfoundland, in 1583, met with Sir Humphrey Gilbert at
St. John’s, and in his third voyage, in 1585, he saw Sir Bernard Drake,
who had been sent to St. John’s from England with a fleet by Queen
Elizabeth, to assert her sovereignty. Drake seized several Portuguese
vessels, with their cargoes on board, which he carried to England.
In 1615, the Court of
Admiralty commissioned Whitboume to impanel juries, and to rectify
various abuses and disorders amongst the fishermen. Agreeably to his
commission, Whitbourne arrived in Newfoundland, and opened the first
regular court ever held in the island. One hundred and seventy masters
of English vessels are said to have submitted their complaints to his
jurisdiction. In 1618, Whitbourne was appointed Governor of a small
colony which had been sent out by Doctor Vaughan, a Welsh gentleman, in
1616, who it appears had purchased part of Northampton’s patent, granted
in connection with Guy by James I. Whitbourne finally returned to
England in 1622.
In 1623, James I., gave
his principal Secretary of State, Sir George Calvert, all the South-east
part of the island lying between the Bays of Placentia and Trinity,
which he erected into a province, under the name of Avalon, this being
the ancient name of Glastonbury, where Christianity was first preached
in the British Isles. Sir George a short time after was created Lord
Baltimore. He established a colony at Ferryland, where he resided
several years, but subsequently removed to England and obtained a grant
of land in the State of Maryland, where he founded the City of
Baltimore, which still bears his name. For a more detailed account of
Lord Baltimore, the reader is referred to the District of Ferryland, in
another part of this volume.
In 1626, the French
established a colony in Placentia, which led to constant disputes
between them and the English settlers. The permission of the French
colony was considered a matter of favour on the part of the English
Government, to which the French fishermen paid a yearly tribute of five
per cent, on the value of the fish taken. This payment was relinquished
by Charles II., in 1675.
In 1628 a colony was
sent to Newfoundland by Lord Falkland, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland,
and in 1630, Sir David Kirk, with a few followers arrived in
Newfoundland. About this time 350 families were settled in the various
harbours along the coast, and the fisheries were rapidly progressing.
In 1633, Charles I.,
through the Star Chamber, promulgated certain laws for the better
government of Newfoundland. Some of these laws were, that all persons
who committed murder, or theft above forty shillings, were to be taken
to England for trial; that no buildings erected for prosecuting the
fishery should be destroyed at the end of the voyage; that no tavern, or
houses of entertainment, should be set up, and that according to the old
and corrupt system, the master of the first fishing vessel arriving at
any port should be Admiral of the same during the season. These Admirals
were empowered to settle all disputes among the fishermen, and to
enforce due attention to certain Acts of Parliament. The power of these
men was very great, which they abused by a partial and corrupt
administration of the laws. The shipowners and merchants in England
engaged in the Newfoundland fisheries, opposed the appointment of any
civil permanent Magistrate or of any Governor of the Island. In the
Commission granted from 1634 down to 1660, a clause was inserted to the
effect, that no master or owner of any ships should send any settlers to
Newfoundland. In 1654 there were fifteen different settlements in the
island, and about 400 families.
About 1670 Sir Josiah
Child, one of the principal merchants in England, connected with the
Newfoundland trade, induced the Government to prevent settlement by
destroying the entire colony. Sir John Berry was deputed to burn the
houses and drive out the settlers; he, however, strongly remonstrated
against this cruel edict and very reluctantly obeyed his orders.
Although John Downing, a resident, procured an order from the King in
1676 annulling the order for destroying the houses, &c.; yet at the same
time no vessel was permitted to take emigrants to Newfoundland, and all
persons were forbidden to settle. In consequence of the interference of
Sir John Berry and others no further severe measures were resorted to.
It is said the Board of Trade recommended that one thousand persons
might he permitted to remain in the island to construct boats, stages
for drying the fish, &c.
In 1696 all the English
settlements in the island were destroyed by a French fleet, excepting
Carbonear and Bonavista, which defended themselves. France and England
now struggled for the supremacy of Newfoundland till the Peace of
Ryswick in Holland, in 1698, which restored to each power all their
possessions, as at the commencement of the war. In the meantime, the
French strengthened their positions, and encouraged in every possible
way an extension of their settlements. While, on the contrary, England
as much as ever discouraged permanent settlement. The French were
therefore better prepared to defend themselves than the English.
During the reign of
Queen Ann, in 1702, a British squadron arrived in Newfoundland under the
command of Sir John Leake, who took possession of the greater part of
the island, and captured no less than twenty-nine sail of the French,
and returned to England with his prizes before the end of October.
Admiral Graydon was sent with a fresh fleet in 1703, but returned to
England without entering into any engagement.
In 1705 the French
attempted to become sole masters of the island, their garrison at
Placentia having been reinforced by an accession of 500 troops from
Canada. They made a formidable attack upon the fortified harbour of St.
John’s in which they were unsuccessful, they, however, spread their
devastation as far northward as Bonavista.
In 1706 they were again
expelled by the English from their recent conquests and many of their
men-of-war and fishing vessels were either captured or destroyed.
In 1708, a French
fleet, under the command of St. Ovide, visited and destroyed St. John’s,
and also every British fishing station, excepting Carbonear, which again
defended itself.
England and France were
so impressed with the vast importance of the fisheries of Newfoundland,
as well as being an extensive nursery for seamen, and occupying a
commanding geographical position with respect to the Canadas, that for
the eight following years, owing to the wars of Europe, in which England
was engaged, Newfoundland presented a constant scene of warfare and
depredation, being sometimes in possession of the English and sometimes
in possession of the French, until the peace of Utrecht.
The celebrated Treaty
of Utrecht was concluded in the Netherlands on the 4th of April, 1713.
By this treaty Newfoundland and the adjacent islands were declared to
belong in exclusive sovereignty to Great Britain; liberty, however, was
given to the French to catch and dry fish only on that part of the coast
lying to the north of Cape Bonavista, and stretching along the western
shore as far as Point Riche; they were not to make any fortifications or
erections, except such as were necessary for the fishery —nor were they
to remain in the island longer than the time necessary for curing their
fish.
Owing to the continual
wars with the French, England was not able strictly to enforce her laws
against her own subjects with regard to settlement. The population of
Newfoundland had therefore increased very considerably during the wars
with France.
In 1721, France
employed 400 ships in the Newfoundland fisheries. The island was at this
time under the nominal administration of the Governor of Nova Scotia. In
1728 it was established a separate colony of Great Britain. |