The background photo for this panel is a general view of the dig. The longevity of the Kirke's stay and their influence at Ferryland, lends itself to this general view as a vast number of site artifacts can be attributed to their time period.

The star artifact photo, the "PK" seal, is representative of the Pewter Seal displayed in the case. It provides a strong link to the many glass artifacts found at the site, and to the wine merchant theme.

Other insets show a merchant's wife (suggesting Lady Kirke), glass artifacts, and a mounted gentleman, linking to the cuff links displayed in the Status case.

Theme Text
Lord Baltimore feared he might lose his investment "for other Men to build their Fortunes upon". This actually happened in 1637, when Charles I made a grant of The Newfoundland Plantation to Sir David Kirke and a syndicate of aristocratic investors, backed by the London wine merchants Kirke, Berkeley and Co.

The Kirkes became the original Newfoundland fish merchants, supported by fisherfolk who traded fish for supplies. Parliament's victory in the English Civil War (1642-1646) doomed Sir David, a Royalist. Recalled to London, he died in 1654, leaving Lady Sara Kirke to manage the Pool Plantation until her retirement about 1680. Ferryland remained an important settlement, with large households and herds of cattle and swine, while the Kirkes continued to dominate the region as a kind of local gentry.

Star Artifact
Pewter Seal, marked "KK" was used for sealing letters with wax. It likely belonged to one of the Kirkes, the South Avalon's premier merchant family from the 1630s to the 1690s. (CgAf-2: 67208, Waterfront, before 1673.)

Display Case
See Artifact List.

"Onion" Wine Bottle Bases and Mouths - CgAf-2: various, Waterfront & Smithy, 1660-1700

Bronze Spigots - CgAf-2: 182035 150886 55433, Waterfront and below Holman's Fort, 1640-1700

Medicine Vial - CgAf-2: 38832, Waterfront, 1690-1715

Sir David Kirke and Nicholas Shapley, "Invoice of Goods shipped aboard the DAVID of Ferryland...", 8 September 1648. (From James P. Baxter (ed.), Documentary History of the State of Maine, vol. 6, The Baxter Manuscripts (Portland, Maine, 1900), 2-4.)

Drawer 1

Earthenware Urinal - CgAf-2: 66101 - Restored Vessel #10, Planter House, 1650-1690

Wine Merchants - The Kirkes traded fish for wine, which they supplied not only to planters and fishing crews in Newfoundland, but also to the growing New England colonies.
See Artifact List.

Drawer 2

Rim South Somerset Coarse Earthenware Milk Pan

Gender, Age and Health - Some artifacts hint at the people who once used them. Anyone who sewed used a thimble, but sewing was normally women's work. Were these gaily coloured ceramics Lady Kirke's? Who needed medicine bottles and drug jars?
See Artifact List.

Drawer 3
The Dairy/Byre - Excavations at the Waterfront Premises uncovered a dairy or cattle byre, destroyed in the Dutch raid of 1673. Next to this structure, excavators uncovered coarse earthenware milk pans, in a deposit which also contained the remains of several rats. Some of these milk pans are exhibited here, with more from other 17th century contexts.
See Artifact List.

© 1999, Colony of Avalon Foundation.

Revised March 2002.