Overview of the presence of the Kirkes in Newfoundland, including the granting of the island and the legal battles between the Kirkes and the Calverts.
Much of our knowledge of daily life in outport Newfoundland in the late 18th and early 19th century comes from the pens of visitors. They were typically missionaries, explorers, naturalists, and geologists whose work brought them to outlying communities not often visited by outsiders or even the local government.
During the 1650s, French Basque fishermen began to overwinter in Placentia Bay, a practice that was encouraged when the French crown decided to sponsor a colony.
Extract from a letter to John Winthrop, Jr. from Rev. Richard Blinman, dated August 22, 1659, and dealing with religion, the Puritan Church, cod, fisheries, ships, and servants.