Reform Era, 1815-1832
The period between 1815 and 1832 represents a watershed in the
history of government and politics in Newfoundland. Between the
end of the Napoleonic Wars and the grant of
representative government
in 1832, the island experienced the end of naval
government and the birth of what we now recognize as modern
Newfoundland. Fueling this remarkable growth were the massive
social and economic changes which the island underwent during the
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. From 1793 to 1815 the
Newfoundland fishery transformed into a resident operation;
massive immigration boosted the population dramatically; and new
political institutions emerged. Organizations such as the Society
of Merchants and the Benevolent Irish Society became established
and, equally important, in 1807 the island's first
newspaper, the Royal Gazette, began publication.
The Royal Gazette
Newfoundland's first newspaper.
Courtesy of the Provincial Reference Library, Arts and Culture Centre,
St. John's, NL.
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Nourished by these developments, a political reform movement
arose in the early 19th century. Led principally by
William Carson and Patrick Morris, this movement revolutionised
the nature of politics in St. John's and eventually the
entire island. After emigrating from Scotland in 1808, Carson
quickly embarked on a influential career as a writer, reformer, and
politician. He published the first political protest pamphlets in
St. John's, in which he attacked the government for abusing
individual liberties and demanded that an elected assembly be
established in Newfoundland.
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William Carson (1770-1843)
An early 19th century Newfoundland reformer and politician.
Courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL A23-91).
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In 1820 the reformers used an
incident in the surrogate courts, later known as the
“Lundrigan Affair,” to expand their political base and
to place greater pressure on the British government. They formed
a committee, sent a petition to London, and had their case
presented before the House of Commons. Throughout 1821-23 the
reformers held a series of public meetings to garner support for
their cause.
A central theme in this period is how law and
politics became intertwined. Reformers such as Carson and Morris
viewed Newfoundland's legal system as largely to blame for
the island's economic problems after 1815.
Patrick Morris (ca.1789-1849)
An influential reformer during the early 1800s.
Courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL C1-97).
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The archaic
system of naval government had, it was repeatedly alleged,
retarded Newfoundland's development. In particular, the
reform movement targeted the system of
surrogate courts and the
apparent mis-rule of the naval governors. Patrick Morris argued
that the island fully deserved institutions consistent with the
needs of a civilized society: the old system of naval government
was no longer sustainable in what had become a permanently
settled colonial society. In effect, for the first time,
Newfoundland had a type of opposition party.
Added to the growing political discourse were two important
themes: a drive for religious rights, and a reaction against the
perceived tyranny of the English fish merchants. Although the
first of these stayed largely in the political background until 1832, the
desire for religious liberties formed a vital ingredient of the
early reform movement. Until the mid-1820s the reformers were
mostly Irish Roman Catholics who remained outside the traditional
circles of power. Like their counterparts in Ireland and Britain,
they wanted the British government to repeal the laws restricting
Roman Catholicism.
With regard to the attacks on
merchants, the reformers focused on the power of those who
monopolized the island's resources yet lived elsewhere. Patrick Morris used the emotional imagery of
slavery to depict how the island's people had suffered under
the rule of monopolist merchants. Social and economic ills were inexorably linked to the
pressing need for a popularly elected legislature.
In 1824 the reform movement won a partial victory. The British
government passed the Judicature Act which, among other things,
abolished the surrogate courts and provided for a town
corporation to make bye-laws. A charter issued in 1825 finally
granted Newfoundland official colonial status, with a civil
governor and a council.
The colony's new governor, Sir Thomas
Cochrane, held private meetings with merchants and prominent
reformers in order to discuss proposals for the creation of a
local government in St. John's.
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Sir Thomas Cochrane (1789-1872)
Governor of Newfoundland 1825-34.
Courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL V27-37B).
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However, the process
abruptly ground to a halt in 1826 when a bloc of leading
merchants opposed the plans for reform. Merchants in St.
John's had, in fact, never backed the early reform movement,
and now a conservative faction publicly objected to the
establishment of a town council. This split between conservative
and reformist parties prevented further political changes; in
1827 representative government still remained a rather distant
goal.
In 1828 two factors transformed the reform movement in
Newfoundland. First, the British government announced the
imposition of new duties on imports into the colony. Such a move
contravened the traditional exemption of the fishery from
taxation and would cut directly into the operations of the St.
John's merchants. It also united the fractious merchant
interests against the proposed tax. Using George Robinson, an M.P.
in the House of Commons, the St. John's Chamber of Commerce
registered its protest in the British parliament. Second, a coalition of
groups and interests emerged to campaign against “taxation without representation.” Both merchants and reformers argued that it was
unconstitutional to impose taxation upon a colony which did not have
representative government. Driven by different impulses, then, the
island's factions came together to work for a local legislature.
This movement was
made possible by the independent newspapers—in particular
the Public Ledger and the Newfoundlander—published in St. John's. These newspapers formed the basis
of a what sociologists have termed a "bourgeois public
sphere," that is a forum in which government policies could
be publicly debated. As a leading force in the reform movement,
the press in Newfoundland exerted a formative influence over how
political discourse evolved. And although the politics of the
various newspapers shifted over time, the role of the press in
the colony's governance continued to grow after 1832.
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The Public Ledger
Co-founded by Henry Winton in 1820.
Courtesy of the Provincial Reference Library, Arts and Culture Centre, St. John's, NL.
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The Newfoundlander
First issue appeared in August 1827 and continued in weekly and bi-weekly forms until 1884.
Courtesy of the Provincial Reference Library, Arts and Culture Centre, St. John's, NL.
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From 1828 to 1832 the reform movement grew into a broad-based
organization centred on the aim of gaining an elected assembly. With representatives from outport
communities and delegations in London, the movement became
increasingly public, holding open-air meetings at which hundreds
of people signed petitions. Using a variety of arguments—such as the potential savings to the British taxpayers if the
island had its own government—the reformers gained support
in parliament and undermined the intransigence of the governor
and the Colonial Office. Faced with the reformers'
relentless campaign, and beset with domestic worries, the British
government granted Newfoundland representative government in
1832.
In less than a generation, then, the island's government
experienced momentous change. Yet it remained to be determined
how politics would evolve under the new constitution. The reform
movement had succeeded primarily because it represented a
coalition of interests united under the common goal of a local
legislature. Now that the colony had an elected assembly, the
coalition's foundation crumbled. By mid-1832 the struggle
within Newfoundland for political power had only just begun.
©1997, Jerry Bannister
Sidebar links updated November, 2008
