NEWFOUNDLAND

Fishing was one of the hardest and most dangerous occupations on earth and the overseas migratory fishery was very demanding, risky work. 

In addition, the seasonal migrants endured the ice-infested waters off the Newfoundland coast each spring, and risked their lives twice a year crossing the Atlantic in small wooden sailing vessels. Despite this, the fishery was for many a temporary adventure which offered the prospect of good wages.

The Newfoundland fishery had important social and economic effects throughout southwestern England, particularly in South Devon and Wessex where migration was most intensively concentrated.

Being a ship owning merchant  was a risky business too.  Aside from the hazards of piracy and war,  merchants faced all the usual risks associated with a speculative and unpredictable occupation, and the sea.  Ships disasters, fraud, poor fish catches and congested markets were all possibilities and made the life of a merchant-venturer  insecure.   He might easily prosper in the fishery, only to lose his money in other activities.  

Every year in April Men  from the West Country   cross the Atlantic in their tiny fishing boats  to fish in icy seas of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland  for cod .  For 6 months of the year they caught and processed the fish, drying it  out of doors and or salted it to send it to Europe.   
Fishing in Newfoundland gave an opportunity to poor men in the West Country to earn money, it also gave lawbreakers a refuge from the law.  

These men were not all fishermen. Some were sailmakers, carpenters, farm labourers and craftsmen of all kinds. 
Some ended up with two families , one on each side of the Atlantic, effectively a summer family in NFL, with a winter family back in the West Country.  

Those who remained on the island year round became known as Planters, & William Pomeroy who died in 1893 was one such.
The Newfoundland fisheries continued to provide the main employment for many of the poorer West Country coastal settlements  & this continued  into the early 19th century when the fisheries declined.
Destinations Here

The Fisheries of Newfoundland - The lifestyle

The story of the Riseover  by John P Here

War Dead 

AML   From the (Newfoundland) FPU newsletter.  

In 1916 the F.P.U (Fishermens Protective Union) was an article that the President (Coaker) of the Union,  although age 46 , considered it his duty to do his bit to help the Empire. The F. P. U. Convention considered the President could aid the Empire and Country best by remaining at home (so) offered to raise 50 young men to take the President's place at the front. 

Seventy- eight enlisted as COAKER RECRUITS and did service in the trenches in France.  Twelve of those brave heroes made the supreme sacrifice and their bones lie with the millions who rest in the soil of France.  The names of the 78 recruits will be found on another page of this book. The twelve who did not return, whose graves are scattered over Northern France and Belgium, will forever be remembered by the members of the F. P. U. 
Their names are

FURTHER INFORMATION FOR RECORD REF 1/360/74

• Repository: Plymouth Archives, The Box.   Ref 1/360/74.  Date 1667
  Title: Plymouth Borough records: Depositions before the Commissioners at Totnes, regarding Newfoundland and its Fisheries, by Devon Mariners

• description: Depositions, taken at Totnes, by John [Cutt] of Dartmouth, mariner; Nicholas Luce of Dartmouth, mariner; Thomas Pitcher of Dartmouth, mariner; Richard Parker of Dartmouth, mariner; Christopher Selman of Dartmouth, mariner; Thomas Fowles of St Marychurch, Devon, mariner; Thomas Cruse of Ashprington, Devon, mariner; Gabriell Viddomas of Berry Pomeroy, Devon, mariner; touching Newfoundland and the fisheries thereof, taken at Totnes, before Sir Edward Seymour, Sir William Courtney and Sir Thomas Reynell, John Hall, Thomas Boone and Gilbert Eveleigh, esquires, Commissioners. The deposition of Thomas Cruse of Ashprington states 'yt above 50 years last past he went to ye Newffdland in a ship of Topsham in a ffishing voyadge, att which time there was noe Govrnour there, or above 2 or 3 poor people yt inhabited there, and such salt boates, staiges and other Materialls of the ye ffishing trade, lefft by the ships the fformer year, they usually found in ye like Condition without any diminution ye ffollowing year. And Aboutt 32 yeares past he went from London to the Newfld and arrived there in ye harbour of Bay of bulls, wheare he inhabited 18 yeares, which was about 4 yeares before Sir David Kirke, the ffirst Governour that Came there after ye Lord Baltemore [Baltimore], who was there only one winter and then left the Countrey, saying itt was an unffit place for man or beast to live in. During all which time of this deponent aboade there noe nation did ever in ye Least attempt to molest or trouble ye English there in thare ffishery, neither were thare any ffortiffications Erected untill the Coming there of Sir David Kirke, who planted some ffere [fire] gunns att fferiland [Ferryland] and 2 or 3 other places And that before Sir David Kirke Came there, noe one paid any Custome or Tax Concerning the said ffishery or otherwise, butt all was free. But after Sir David Kirke arrived there (who brought with him about 30 servants), he imposed taxes on all ye inhabitants to pay a greate ffine and yearly rents ffor the houses and ground by ye water side, in severall harbours and ffishing places, as this deponent did ffor a house and some ground Graunted to him by ye said Sir David Kirke as by writing made in the year 1640, ffor which he paid the yearly rent off £3 6s 8d and a ffatt hog or 20s in lew thereoff. And the said Sir David Kirke did summon ye Inhabitants of ye severall harbours in ye Newfoundland to repaire at fferiland, and Compelled them to take Estates in land in severall harbours, for Erecting of houses and ffishing-places by ye waterside and to pay greate ffines and Rents of the same, and in case of reffusall threttned to expel them out off ye land; and alsoe enticed them to take licences off him ffor ye sellling off wine and other liqours, and made them pay greate rents yearly ffor the same, and made this deponent take and pay for such a licence £15 per annum. And ye said Sir David Kirke himselfe did keepe a common Taverne, in his own house, which did drawe and keepe ship-masters, ffishermen and others ffrom theire ffishing imploymentw to the great prejudice and hinderance of their voyadges'.

• Admin History: Sir David Kirke is believed to have visited Ferryland, as he published a report on the island of Newfoundland in 1635. In November 1637 Kirke and his partners were granted a royal charter for co-proprietorship of the entire island. A portion of Newfoundland, the Avalon Peninsula, had already been granted to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, but he was accused of abandoning his colony before his death in 1632, and the lands were transferred to Kirke. The charter of this new grant had stipulations designed to reduce conflict with migratory fishermen; there was to be no settlement within six miles of the shore, fishing rooms were not to be occupied before the arrival of the summer fishing crews, and a five per cent tax was to be collected on all fish products taken by foreigners. Kirke was installed as the Proprietary Governor and arrived in 1638 with one hundred colonists. The original governorship of the Avalon Peninsula had passed to Baltimore's son, Cecilius Calvert, who had installed William Hill as governor. Kirke seized the governor's mansion, then occupied by Hill. In January 1638, the king also granted Kirke a coat of arms, "For the greater honour and splendour of that Countrey and the people therein inhabiting … to be used in all such cases as Armes are wont to be by other nations and Countries." In 1639, Kirke renamed the colony the Pool Plantation. Over the next several years, he built forts at Ferryland, St. John’s, and Bay de Verde. He collected tolls from all fishing vessels. Kirke was granted the rights to "the sole trade of the Newfoundland, the Fishing excepted." The latter words resulted in considerable trouble. At the time the Grand Banks of Newfoundland were being fished by many European nations, and Kirke's 5% tax gave an advantage to the English fishermen in the area. A number of West Country merchants thrived on the fish trade. Represented in London by Kirke, Barkeley, and Company, with several of his brothers in control, Kirke used his land rights to support the fish trade, in conflict with the terms of his charter. By 1638, strong links between Ferryland and Dartmouth, Devon, had already been established. Kirke brought the entire trade network south of St. John's under the control of a growing family commercial empire. These actions aroused strong animosity from the West Country merchants. The planters and migratory fishermen agreed that Kirke was reserving the best fishing rooms for himself and his friends. In addition, he was accused of opening taverns, which were disruptive to the settlers' work. But before these charges could be investigated, in 1642 the English Civil War broke out between the king and parliament. The Civil War ended in 1651, and the Kirkes, as royalists, were on the losing side. Although the merchants' complaints were put aside during the war, they were revived at the end of it, and the Kirkes were no longer protected by the crown. In 1651 a team of six commissioners, led by Maryland merchant John Treworgie, was sent to Ferryland to seize Kirke and bring him to England to stand trial. His lands were acquired by the Commonwealth of England. Found not guilty, in 1653 Kirke re-purchased the title to his lands. His wife, Dame Sara Kirke, returned to Newfoundland to oversee his business and reclaim his property, but Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, brought new charges against Kirke over the title of the lands around Ferryland. Kirke is thought to have died in the original Southwark jail, The Clink, as early as January 1654, while awaiting trial.

• Date: 27 Nov 1667

• Level: Item

• Format: Manuscript