next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
1980 "A History of Newfoundland and Labrador" by. F.W. ROWE ISBN 0-07-092397-3 EXCERPTS from pages: page 127-128 "There is one presistent and irrational myth in our history; it is often offered as an explanation of the growth of small and relatively isolated settlements in Newfoundland. There is a disproportionate number of small, isolated communities in Newfoundland. Many writers believe that the original settlers went to these coves and islands to escape the watchful eye of the authorities, thus defying the anti-settlement laws. In many cases, the writers thought, the settlers were trying to evade punishment for some crime or another. A variation of this myth, or perhaps an extension of it, is that many of those coves and harbours were settled by people who had escaped from the Navy, the fishing ships or the press-gangs. Pierre BERTON, in his recent book 'My Country', refers to those "who had fled the slavery of shipboard life for the wider freedom of the North East Coast. Such men could not return to England." In his book 'Newfoundland', Chadwich repeats this charge. He says that "these small struggling fishing villages (or outports) for the most part owed their origins to fishermen absconding at the end of a season and secreting themselves inland until the last of the fleet had sailed for home". There are three logical arguments to answer this "myth". First: most of the settlements the myth attempts to explain came into being after 1820. Anti-settlement laws were not in force even technically, and press gangs had become a thing of the past in Newfoundland. Second: settlement in these small, isolated communities took place in a logical geographical direction. The Avalon Peninsula was settled, then Trinity Bay, then Bonavista Bay, the Strait Shore, Notre Dame Bay and so on. Similarly on the South West Coast, people moved for economic and social reasons--to have more room, to be near good fishing grounds or to form religion-based communities. Third: no one could live in Newfoundland in complete isolation. A settler had to have contact with merchants or trading vessels in order to sell his fish and get supplies. To run away and hide would be to court starvation." end quote Comment by lghr: It appears that Mr. Rowe was not aware of the 1794 diary of Aaron THOMAS or decided not to include references to this diary in his 1980 book. Also the only reference that the book makes to the word LOYALIST is this quote on page 237: "One of the more significant events in the new century was the founding, in 1807, of the first newspaper in Newfoundland's history. The founder ws one John RYAN, an American LOYALIST. After the defeat of his cause, he had moved to New Brunswick. It is not clear what prompted his coming to Newfoundland. The growing town of St. John's had a population of more than five thousand; near-by lived several thousand more people." end quote __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam http://mail.yahoo.com ************************************************************** Going on vacation? Prefer the digest mode? Manage your NGB Mailing List subscription http://ngb.chebucto.org/ngb-mail.shtml
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects