Newfoundland History Research Papers

Anderson House at 42 Powers Court, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, is a familiar sight for those going up and down Signal Hill. The building was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and... more

Booklet of memories of growing up in Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove based on field work including audio recordings and photography.

Fishing nets, cod traps, and sails would be dipped into a barking pot filled with a solution of bark and other materials. The use of bark mixtures for the preservation of nets was brought to Newfoundland by English migrant fishermen... more

Henri Brunet was a migrant merchant who operated seasonally in French Newfoundland; based out of La Rochelle in the early 1670s and subsequently out of Boston, Brunet journeyed seasonally to Newfoundland to sell food and supplies to... more

Today, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, an archaeological site known as “L’Anse aux Meadows” occupies the northernmost tip of the Great Northern Peninsula. It has been dated as far back as 4000 CE and has origin ties to The Vinland... more

The motto of Memorial University of Newfoundland, Provehito in Altum, remains immensely popular almost 90 years after it was selected. Like many mottos that are quotations, it invokes the weight of an ancient text to establish the... more

UPDATE: April 6: Adding new TED weblink and editing links page; April 5: Only adding a table of contents (mainly to aid media requests for images and/or caption details); April 4: Three sessions with a most recent addition of some good... more

UPDATE: April 6: Adding new TED weblink and editing links page; April 5: Only adding a table of contents (mainly to aid media requests for images and/or caption details); April 4: Three sessions with a most recent addition of some good links, plus previous final edits to photo caption credits, some minor text edits, and a few additional recommended key sources on L'Anse aux Meadows; April 3 two sessions with some minor edits and revisions only; April 2: Adding some broader contextual information on the potential time period and setting (e.g., L'Anse aux Meadows; Little Passage Indians), a selected bibliography, plus a "potential significance" statement on Point Rosee issued to the press (added after the project team's summary statement (posted earlier).
ABSTRACT: March 31: The recent processing of satellite imagery data, magnetometer surveys (October 2014; June 2015), preliminary excavations (June 2015), and the initial, albeit ongoing, analysis of an archaeological site and its associated, potential “Norse” materials at Point Rosee/Rosie in southern Newfoundland have revealed traces of: (a) a few suggestive rectilinear features in processed satellite imagery (albeit only partly excavated), (b) some probable and highly suggestive roasting of bog iron ore (analyzed by T. Birch and J. Still), (c) limited exposure of turf-type remains (i.e., evidence of turf cutting [assessed by D. Bolender]), (d) some promising magnetometer readings (e.g., a few “hot spots” suggest potential hearths and/or additional metal/metal-working), (e) a series of thirteen associated AMS radiocarbon dates, some of which fall between the early 9th century AD and late 13th century AD (excluding two later berries from contaminated contexts), and (f) a total absence (so far) of either any indigenous materials (i.e., Palaeoeskimo and Amerindians) or any historical remains that are otherwise typically present at such sites. Although the preliminary indications are thus somewhat promising for both a “Norse” date (i.e., ca. 1000–1450 AD in Greenland) and a potential “Norse” affiliation (see 2016 documentaries by the BBC and Pbs/Nova, and other media), further excavation, analysis, and multi-specialist input are absolutely crucial before determining and expanding upon the site’s time period(s) and cultural affiliation(s). Likewise, the specific occupation span (i.e., longevity) and nature of the overall site at Point Rosee, which has been postulated publicly to be a “settlement” (versus a “camp,” or some other site-type), also remain unclear as of yet, requiring yet again broader exposure, context, material culture, and analysis. Much on-site recording and post-excavation research, processing, analyses, and other work have been and are still being conducted (e.g., TL/OLS dating pending), all of which have generated many reports, notes, and other findings dispatched regularly to the Newfoundland Provincial Archaeology Office (PAO). These preliminary records and reports are listed further below (and listed via Academia), and will form the main basis for the pending publications on the initial season at Point Rosee, and a much needed/desired follow-up season –ideally later this summer. In brief, a “Norse” date and “affiliation” do look rather promising, at this still early stage in the project, but we simply need more work at this site and more specialist input and peer-reviewed data before being confidant in stating this as “fact.” SPECIAL THANKS to the Newfoundland Provincial Archaeology Office (PAO), the people of Newfoundland, our funders (BBC; Pbs/Nova; National Geographic), and many consultants and others (listed within the online paper).

(SELECTED) WEB LINKS TO VARIOUS MEDIA REPORTS:
BBC News Magazine (March 31, 2016):
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35935725

BBC One Vikings’ documentary, airing Monday, April 4, 8:30 pm (U.K.):
On TV in United Kingdom

National Geographic Vikings’ story (online; by Mark Strauss, March 31, 2016):
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160331-viking-discovery-north-america-canada-archaeology/ Please note: The materials analyzed do not represent “slag” (mentioned in one photo caption), but are roasted bog iron ore (T. Birch & J. Still).

New York Times (online; by Ralph Blumenthal, March 31, 2016):
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/science/vikings-archaeology-north-america-newfoundland.html?_r=0

Pbs/Nova Vikings’ documentary, streaming online, 3:30 p.m., Eastern time, Monday, April 4 (U.S.A.):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

Pbs/Nova Vikings’ documentary airing Wednesday, April 6, 9 pm on Pbs:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

UAB announcement/post (March 31, 2016):
https://www.uab.edu/news/faculty/item/6707-birmingham-space-archaeologist-uncovers-ancient-civilizations-teaches-the-world

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- by Gregory Mumford and +4
  douglas bolender
  Thomas Birch
  Chase Childs
  David Gathings
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- 22
  Ancient History, Archaeology, Medieval History, Metallurgy

This project examines the Second World War (WWII) history of the Newfoundland Airport (Gander, Newfoundland), with a focus on civilian and military life on the base, and the potential for aviation archaeology to enhance the historical... more

Nicolas Landry surveys historical data on relations between Basque fishermen and French colonial authorities at Placentia. The French colonial archives he has studied show Basque ships sailing from Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Bayonne in the... more

In Plutarch's book On the Apparent Face in the Orb of the Moon, the interlocutors develop a dialogue about a trip to the ''great continent'' beyond the North Atlantic Ocean. By applying modern scientific data, the present reappraisal of... more

In Plutarch's book On the Apparent Face in the Orb of the Moon, the interlocutors develop a dialogue about a trip to the ''great continent'' beyond the North Atlantic Ocean. By applying modern scientific data, the present reappraisal of the astronomical and geographical elements within this dialogue has produced a novel interpretation of the date and place of the meeting and a journey to the northern Atlantic Ocean. A described solar eclipse is dated to AD 75, making use of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Espenak/Meeus list, as well as historical information. The described peculiar, recurrent trips take place every 30 years (when the planet Saturn reaches the Taurus constellation) from the Mediterranean Sea to the Cronian Open Sea, which is identified with northern Atlantic Ocean coasts. It has been suggested that the last mission had returned homeland in April AD 56. The information provided concerns, distances between coastal sites and islands, duration of sea paths in days, and the reported setting and size between the destination place and its gulf with regards to Azov (in Crimea) and the Caspian Sea. Implications of sea currents and the coastal geomorphology of those lands are given. Following strictly the Gulf Stream current, as well as other known sea currents in the northern Atlantic Ocean, and introducing estimated speed for the ship, the geographical location of destination of the Greek settlers is proposedly identified with St. Lawrence Gulf and Newfoundland island. Other unnamed islands mentioned in this dialogue are identified with Norway's islands, Azores, Iceland, Greenland, and Baffin islands. It has been shown that the journey is made with good knowledge of sea currents but by using bright stars and stellar configurations as astronomical nightscape markers that determine the exact orientation of the sailing toward the Iberian Peninsula and back to the eastern Mediterranean, making the current working hypothesis a plausible event.

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- by IOANNIS LIRITZIS and +2
  Konstantinos Kalachanis
  Chris G Tzanis
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- 47
  Cultural Studies, Geography, Historical Geography, Classical Archaeology

This paper studies fishing in Newfoundland during the second half of the sixteenth century. It analyses 415 maritime insurance contracts, all of which were registered at the Burgos Consulate, which was then one of the major insurance... more

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- by Hilario Casado Alonso
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- 7
  Economic History, Naval History, Fisheries, Risk Management

This paper discusses the First World War as a, defining event for Newfoundland arguing that The War continues to be a living part of its continuing cultural framework as seen by living memorials such as Memorial University and others.

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- by Andrew Heffernan
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- 13
  Archaeology, Social Archaeology, World War I, First World War

Arriving at the turn of the 20th century, immigrant Chinese men in St. John's faced unique challenges and barriers. At the General Protestant Cemetery in St. John's, a small grouping of headstones tells a portion of their story. Using... more

The end of the Napoleonic wars in Europe effected changes on many levels in North America. The shrinking of international markets for Newfoundland saltfish and changing consumer demands created a fluid social milieu that saw the... more

The history of indigenous-settler relations and recognition in the province of Newfoundland has followed a trajectory very distinct from that of the rest of Canada, due at least in part to the territory’s late entry into Confederation and... more

Over the past decade, the Heritage Foundation’s
Intangible Cultural Heritage office, alongside our
many community partners, has been working
to document, celebrate, and transmit the living
heritage in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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- by Thomas Brochard
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- 7
  Early Modern History, Maritime History, Scottish History, Shipping

Abstract World War II aviation archaeology is a dynamic subfield of conflict archaeology, which has developed through the need to conserve twentieth-century military heritage resources. Like battlefield archaeology (: iii–vii), it has... more

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- by Michael Deal
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- 9
  History, Actor Network Theory, Second World War, Conflict Archaeology

I merluzzi sono tutti uguali…ma alcuni sono più uguali degli altri. Così, parafrasando Orwell, si possono esporre gli esiti opposti, lungo le coste della Norvegia, dell’Islanda e sui Banchi di Terranova, della gestione della pesca al... more

I merluzzi sono tutti uguali…ma alcuni sono più uguali degli altri. Così, parafrasando Orwell, si possono esporre gli esiti opposti, lungo le coste della Norvegia, dell’Islanda e sui Banchi di Terranova, della gestione della pesca al merluzzo. Una comparazione che ci offre un chiaro esempio del rapporto che lega l’equilibrio ecologico allo sviluppo economico.
L 'Europa scoprì l'importanza del merluzzo solo per caso. Nel 1431, una cocca veneziana partita da Candia (la Creta dei veneziani) e diretta nelle Fiandre, dopo una serie di tempeste e disavventure, naufragò su un'isola delle Lofoten, Røst. Sulla nave era imbarcato Pietro Querini, che apparteneva all'omonima famiglia patrizia veneta che dette tanti personaggi illustri alla Repubblica. Dopo il naufragio, i sopravvissuti furono raccolti con spirito caritatevole dai pescatori locali. Ecco come Querini ci ha tramandato la vita su quelle isole: "Tre mesi all'anno, cioè giugno, luglio ed agosto, sempre è giorno, né mai tramonta il sole; nei mesi opposti sempre è quasi notte, e sempre hanno la luminaria della luna. Prendono fra l'anno innumerabili quantità di pesci, e solamente di due specie: l'una (che in maggior, anzi incomparabili quantità sono chiamati stochfisi), l'altra sono pàssare, ma di mirabile grandeza, dico di peso di libre dugento a grosso l'una. I stochfisi seccano al vento e al Sole senza sale, e perché sono pesci di poca humidità grassa, diventano duri come legno. Quando si vogliono mangiare, li battono col rovescio della manara, che gli fa diventare sfilati come nervi, poi compongono butiro (burro) e spezie per dargli sapore. E poi nel mese di maggio si partono di quel scoglio con una sua grapparia (nave) grandetta di botte 50 (cinquanta tonnellate) e cargato detto pesce, conduconlo in una terra di Norvegia per miglia oltre 1000 chiamata Berge (Bergen), dove vengono navi di portata di botte 300 e 350, cariche di tutte le cose che nascono in Alemagna, Inghilterra, Scocia (Scozia) e Prussia, dico necessarie al vivere e al vestire, e quelli che conducono detto pesce lo barattano in cose a lor necessarie, né hanno né maneggiano moneta alcuna." La relazione di un personaggio in vista come il Querini ebbe una rapida circolazione e nel di Giovanni Panella Osserviamo gli esiti, lungo le coste della Norvegia, dell'Islanda e sui Banchi di Terranova, della gestione della pesca al merluzzo.

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- by Giovanni Panella
- •
- 15
  Marine Ecology, Environmental Sustainability, Iceland, Norway

The Dorchester Review, Volume 6, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2016 "Newfoundland and Canada, separate countries for so long, exist as two solitudes within the bosom of a single country more than 65 years after Confederation. They do not... more

This article provides an overview and analysis of the context of the Newfoundland fishery problem (1713−1904) and its importance for the signing of the Entente Cordiale, which is often overlooked by historians dealing with the... more

This paper addresses concepts of modernity in the vernacular architecture of Newfoundland and Labrador, taking as a case study the restoration of Victoria Hall, the Loyal Orange Lodge on Gower Street in St. John's.

This 2019 collection (McGill-Queen's University Press) examines American influence and support of the International Grenfell Association in Newfoundland and Labrador. Chapters by contributors include examinations of: Wilfred Grenfell's... more

This essay by Emma Lang and Katherine Side, examines the International Grenfell Association's clothing exchange, in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is part of an edited collection, eds. Jennifer J. Connor and Katherine Side, The Grenfell... more

Final permit report for the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Archaeology Office that discusses in detail the results of a year-long investigation on Newfoundland winter housing - a semi-migratory, non-pastoral transhumant tradition... more

"In the urban communities of nineteenth-century Conception Bay, Newfoundland, groups of men and boys donned disguises and roamed the streets each Christmas, in a local variant of the popular seasonal masking tradition known as mumming.... more

Like a game of chess, have the results of the 2018 New Brunswick elections created a Legislative Assembly that is in a true stalemate that can produce no winner and must be dissolved prompting a new election? Or is the minority Gallant... more

Like a game of chess, have the results of the 2018 New Brunswick elections created a Legislative Assembly that is in a true stalemate that can produce no winner and must be dissolved prompting a new election? Or is the minority Gallant Government in fact in political checkmate, where any maneuver ultimately results in its defeat?

Our analysis shows that Gallant is likely in check rather than a stalemate but that he faces the strong possibility of being put into checkmate. From this, he only has two rational choices with a limited chance of success:

1) Not allowing any Liberal MLAs to become candidates for Speaker. As no other party will put forward a candidate, this will cause the Assembly to go without a Speaker and be unable to conduct any other business. The Assembly would become deadlocked. Historical precedents shows that Gallant will remain Premier, and that the Lieutenant-Governor should allow a reasonable amount of time for the Assembly to attempt to elect a Speaker. This process could allow for a political resolution. In the meantime, within the Assembly, Gallant could continue to negotiate for support from the Alliance and Greens to survive a Throne Speech vote. Outside, Gallant could use the procedural confusion to try and shift public opinion towards supporting his Government.

2) Putting a Liberal MLA forward as Speaker and then presenting a Throne Speech for the purposes of political posturing, daring the other parties to vote against it. As the precedents from Ontario in 1985 and British Columbia in 2017 demonstrate, this option is political suicide for a government wishing to remain in power.

Our article provides an overview of the political circumstances resulting from the recent election. We use constitutional principles, historical precedents, notably deadlocked Assemblies that were unable to put forward a Speaker (Prince Edward Island in 1859 and Newfoundland in 1908-09) to show that only Premier Gallant, and not the Legislative Assembly, can cause an early election by advising Lieutenant-Governor Roy-Vienneau to dissolve the Legislature. However, we will show that under these exceptional circumstances in New Brunswick, the Lieutenant-Governor is not bound to accept the advice from the Premier. Instead, depending on the path that Premier Gallant chooses, he will be forced to resign as Premier, enabling Lieutenant-Governor Roy-Vienneau to appoint Blaine Higgs as the New Brunswick’s 34th Premier since Confederation.

CBC Land and Sea Episode, 08 February 2015 During World War II, the skies over Gander were alive with planes. They stopped to refuel, and took off again to join the front lines of the air battle in Europe. Some didn't make it. Planes... more

While the importance of cod for the economic survival of European settlers in Newfoundland cannot be understated, the seasonal nature of this resource required fishers to pursue other tasks during the long and cold winter off-season. One... more

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Fifty years before Confederation, the land we now call “Canada” consisted of the colonies of British North America: Upper Canada (southern Ontario), Lower Canada (southern Quebec), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince... more

Link requires subscription. Review in the Times Literary Supplement of "Theatre of Fish: Travels through Newfoundland and Labrador" by John Gimlette. 365pp. Arrow. £7.99. ISBN 0 09 945325 8.

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Newfoundland History

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