Thanks to archaeological work at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, evidence suggests that the Norse did make it to Newfoundland before John Cabot.

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.

The first Europeans known definitely to set foot in Newfoundland were the Norse.

Considerable uncertainty surrounds our understanding of daily life in Newfoundland during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.