servant1 n OED ~ 2; cp DC 'employee of the Hudson's Bay Company' (1690-). Man or woman indentured or engaged on wages or shares for a period in the fishery; FISHERY SERVANT, FISHING ~ . Cp DIETER.
[1652 (1895) PROWSE 153 These were for the most part, either young men who came over as Servants and never had over much shew of religion in them, or fishermen of Marblehead feared to be profane persons, divers of whom were brought from Newfoundland for the fishing season.] 1699 Act of Wm III, 10 & 11 ... and other Necessaries for themselves and their Servants. [1712] 1895 PROWSE 273 No wine nor brandy brought from New England, only rum and molasses, which is the liquor drunk by servants. 1793 Report on Nfld Trade [Appendix] Winter Inhabitants [of Newfoundland]: Men Servants—Men who do engage as Servants in the Fishery [and] Women. [1772] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 265 At daylight we found ourselves between Youghall and Dungarvon, and hauled close up to the mouth of the latter place in hopes of a boat coming off to take the servant passengers on shore. [1794] 1968 THOMAS 170 If any Master becomes insolvent the Servants he has employ'd in the Fisherys have a prior claim to the Oil, Blubber and Fish to satisfy their Wages. [1810] 1971 ANSPACH 3 It would be advisable that the passage-money ... to be deducted out of the wages of every servant hired or employed in the fisheries should, according to the current prices of a Man's passage from or to His Majesty's European Dominions, be deducted out of the Servant's wages or earnings and paid ... into the hands of persons appointed for that purpose. [1880] 1898 Nfld Law Reports 218 It is said that the wages-servant in the fishery runs no such risk as the shareman; that he has certain wages, and the result of the voyage is immaterial to him. I cannot go the whole length with this argument, seeing that all servants in the fishery are as a rule very much dependent upon the success of the voyage as security for their earnings. [1896] SWANSBOROUGH 12 "October": The summer servants get their pay, / Their time is up on the last day. 1898 PROWSE 304 Females engaged as servants in the fishery or as Passengers between Newfoundland and Labrador must have separate cabin accommodation. 1937 Seafisheries of Nfld 75 All the men engaged in the fishery are not fishing on their own account; some are in the service of persons who own, or operate vessels, boats, traps or gear. This type of fisherman is usually described as a servant or shareman. The servants are paid a fixed wage for the season, or a monthly wage, with or without board and lodging. 1954 INNIS 296 After 1789 servants on ships became fewer, dropping from 4,799 to 2,438 in 1792; servants in boats from 7,323 in 1789 to 7,138 in 1792; and servants on shore from 6,152 in 1789 to 4,465 in 1792. 1969 HORWOOD 171 They are the men of the south coast, whose ancestors were expelled from Placentia when the English took it from the French, hired as servants in the Channel Islands when the great Newman Company went out to trade in fish and oil. 1975 BUTLER 60 A [merchant] who employed a large number of servants usually had a cook and a bunkhouse for the servants to live in... The servants were usually paid a very low wage.
