Newfoundland to Manitoba, through Canada's maritime, mining, and prairie provinces

Front matter

NEWFOUNDLAND to MANITOBA

THROUGH

CANADA'S MARITIME, MINING, AND PRAIRIE PROVINCES

CHAPTER I. England's oldest colony

PARE

Earliest !N'otices of ^Newfoundland 3

Products of the Island 5

Rich in Minerals • • 7

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Mission 9

Daniel discovers Silver • 11

Result of Mineral Discoveries 13

"Whitbourne's Account , , 15

First Colonists 17

Laws of Charles I. ,19

Settlement Impeded 21

Condition of the Fishermen 23

Increase of Pauperism 25

Responsible Government granted . . . . . • 27

Yiews of the Islanders 29

The Capital of Newfoundland 31

Public Buildings 33

Legislative Assembly 35

The Soil and Climate . 37

Newfoundland Railway .,,....• 39

Agricultural Prospects 41

Opposition to a Railway . 43

Newspaper Press ......... 45

Notes on Newspapers 47

Compulsory Education ........ 49

Principal Imports ......... 51

Mines and Mining . . , . . . ' . . . 53

French Claims 55

Fish, Game, and Dogs 57

CHAPTER IL

THE LAND OP THE " BLUE NOSES."

The Founder of Nova Scotia • • • • • • 61

The *' National Pohcy " 63

"Old Fossils" 65

Gold-Mines 67

Vlll

Contents

PAGE

ISTova Scotian Collieries • i , 69

Scenery and Climate ........ 71

The Capital of Nova Scotia . . , ... • . 73

Halifax Hospitality . . , . " , , , . 75

Governor Archibald • • 77

^ CHAPTER IIT.

THE PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK

The Puritans and New Brunswick Foundation of St. John . , , New Denmark . • • •

The St. John River^ Churches in Fredericton Headquarters of the Intercolonial A Forest on Fire ....

New Brunswick Land Laws . • Cattle-Eearinor • . . •

CHAPTER TV.

PEINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

Oysters, Mackerel, and Lobsters .

Yield and price of Potatoes ....

Highland Settlers .....

Subdivision of the Land ....

Landlords and Tenants ....

Settlement of the Land Question . . . Summerside . . . . . . .

Charlottetown and its Suburbs . . . Governor John Ready's Administration .

81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97

CHAPTER Y.

INTEKCOLONIAL, GEAND TRUNK, AND NOETHEHN RAILWAYS.

Intercolonial : Origin and Character .....

Workshops at Moucton

Scenery along thesLine ........

Newcastle

Mr. Justice Henry

Mr. Hickson's Management of Grand Trunk . . . ,

Glut of TraflBc

Murkoka Lakes

Future Prospects of Northern Railway .....

CHAPTER YL

ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR.

The North Shore Route .

A Landlord's Career , ,

121 123 125 127

129 131 133 135 137

139 141

Contents.

IX

PAGE

Tempestuous Weather , • . • * • • .143

The Bruce Mines 145

Homes for Indian Children » 147

Fishing in the Eapids 149

A Historic Ceremony ,161

Panegyric on Louis XIV. ....••; 163

Micliipicoten Island ,165

Discoveries of Copper 167

Value of Native Copper . . . . , . • 169

Copper Mining Companies 161

Mineral Eiches . . . 163

Silver, Copper, and Iron Deposits 165

CHAPTEH VII.

DULUTH TO WINNIPEG.

Mr. Proctor Knott's Speech 169

Delights of Dulnth 171

Geographical Ignorance 173

Manufactures and Trade 175

Land SiDccnlators . 177

A Hint to Emigrants 179

CHAPTER VIII.

ON THE RED KIVER OE THE NORTH.

Course of the Red River 181

Mammoth Farms 183

By Water to Winnipeg . • ,186

Lake Minnetonka .....•••• 187

Stern Wheel Steamers 189

Onslaughts of Insects 191

Scenery on the Banks #193

First View of Winnipeg 195

CHAPTER IX.

THE CITY OE WINNIPEG,

Historical and Scientific Society

Public Markets

Fruit and Flowers .

A Journalistic Experiment

The Hudson Bay Company

Mr. Brydges .

St. Boniface . . •

Archbishop Tache . •

Advice to Electors . •

A French Newspaper

X Contents,

CHAPTER X.

THE PROVINCE OP MANITOBA. PAGE

Opinions about the Eegion • • 221

Extent of the Province 223

Farming in Manitoba ....'..•• 225

Red River Farmers 227

Prairie Grasses • 229

GrasshopjDers . . , , . . , . • 231

Manitoba Homesteads • . • 233

CHAPTER XL

MENNONITES AND ICELANDEES IN MANITOBA.

Mennonite Homes 237

Mennonite Doctrines and Habits •••••• 239

Failings of the Mennonites .•••••• 241

Mennonite Exclusiveness • • ^43

ISTew Iceland . . . ■ 1^45

Discord among the Icelanders •...•• 247

CHAPTER XII.

THE NOETH-WEST TEEEITOEIES.

Western Roads 249

Mudholes 251

Prairie Hotels 253

Royal Commissioners in Manitoba • . • • • 255"

Journalism at Rapid City •••..•• 257

Successful Farmers . • . • « • . • 259

Home of the Buffalo 261

Sale of Intoxicants Prohibited , 263

CHAPTER XIIL

THE CANADIAN TAE WEST.

Western Winters 267

Chmate, Soil, and Minerals .,.,.,, 269 Sir George Simpson's Prophecy . • • , • ,271

Canadian Pacific Railway . • • • • • • 273

Hudson Bay Route . . 275

Rival Regions 277

Perfect Wheat Plants . . . ... . . .279

The "Land of Misery'* 281

A Terrestrial Paradise , , 283

Canada's Future , 285

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER.

WEEDS IN NOETH AMEEICA.

Weeds in North America ....... 287

MAPS AND II.LUSTRATIONS,

TAGB

1. Map of Newfoundland. • • • . Fruntispiece

2. Do. Manitoba 233 '^

3. Do. Dominion of Canada 295

4. Winnipeg as it was in 1870 ..,,•. 19j/<? ^

NEWFOUNDLAND TO MANITOBA.

CHAPTER I.

England's oldest colony.

Newfo[JNDland was discovered in the reign of Henry the Seventh and incorporated with the English realm in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is an Island presenting many and marked contrasts to the Fiji Islands which have been added to the British Empire in the reign of Queen Victoria. In Fiji every prospect pleases and man does the reverse, owing to a taste for eating his fellows. Nature often wears a rude and forbidding aspect in Newfoundland ; the aborigines, on the other hand, were too mild and inoffensive to survive the invasion of savage Mic-Mac Indians and the effects of civihzed vices imported by white men from Europe.

B

Money is made in Fiji by growing and crushing sugar-cane ; in Newfoundland fortunes have been accumulated by catching and curing fish. The colonists of Fiji are envied for basking in summer weather all the year round, while the Newfoundlanders are pitied for having to sustain a struggle for existence amid the icy gales and fogs of the Northern Atlantic. If the lot of the latter were as sad as is commonly supposed, they would be pardoned for repining and complaining that it was intolerable. Though not more contented than other mortals or reluctant to exercise the truly British prerogative of grumbling, yet their grievances are not those for which Nature can fairly be held responsible. They are proud of their Island despite its fancied drawbacks, loving it with a devotion which nothing can impair. The intensity of a Newfoundlander's patriotism is a striking and admirable trait in his character. His patriotism is evidently as genuine as it is profound. Even new comers soon learn to vie with the native-born inhabitants in extolling the Island's charms. Life in Newfoundland has many compensations and enjoyments which are unsuspected by a stranger.

. For many years after the month of June, 1497, when John Cabot discovered this Island, nothing was done by Englishmen to profit by its

Earliest Notices of Newfoundland. 3

natural advantages. The earliest notices of it are to be found in tlie records of Henrj the Seventh's privy purse expenses ; the first of these references is dated the 10th of August, 1497, and is to the effect that lOL were given '' to hym that found the new Isle ; " the last is dated 25th August 1505, and is a reward of 13.9. 4(i. to Clays for going to Eichmond " with wilde catts and popingays of the Newfound Island." Entries between these dates relate to two payments of 20Z. and one of 30Z. made to merchants that had voyaged to Newfoundland, and to a reward of IZ. "to one that brought hawkes from the Newfounded Island." It was not till 1540 that Englishmen sailing from the ports of Biddeford, Barnstable and Bristol systematically engaged in the Newfoundland fisheries. As early as 1504, the Portuguese had begun to catch cod there; fifteen years later, the crews of forty vessels belonging to Portuguese, Spaniards and Frenchmen were thus employed. In 1578, England had 50 vessels, Portugal 50 and France and Spain 150 occupied in reaping the harvest of the sea in the North Atlantic.

The value of Newfoundland as a fishing station having been demonstrated, it was resolved to send colonists thither. The first essay towards carrying out this resolve was made by Mr. Robert

B 2

Thorne of Bristol, in 1527; the second, bj Mr. Hore of London, a man wlioni Hakluyt describes as ''of goodly stature and great couraga and given to the study of Cosmography." Mr. Hore persuaded many gentlemen and others to join with him in an undertaking which Henry the Eighth regarded with approval. The party to the number of " about six score persons whereof thirty were gentlemen " embarked at Gravesend, towards the end of April 1536, in the Trinity and Minion. Before embarking, the entire party '* mustered in warlike manner and received the Sacrament." They returned home in October after visiting Newfoundland, getting a glimpse of the natives, observing that the land was covered with fir and pine trees, undergoing such great privations through lack of provisions that the strong killed the weak and ate their flesh. The survivors took forcible possession of a French ship and sailed in it to England. It is related by Hakluyt that Mr. Thomas Buts, one of the party, " was so changed in the voyage with hunger and misery " that his father and mother Sir William and Lady Buts, of Norfolk, " knew him not to be their son, until they found a secret mark which was a wart upon one of his knees."

The subsequent action of the French crew, whom the English had shamefully used, gave

Products of the Island. 5

Henry the Eiglitli an opportunity to display the better side of his character. Hakluyt records that these Frenchmen reached England certain months after " and made complaint to King Henry the Eighth : the King causing the matter to be examined, and finding the great distress of his subjects, and the causes of the dealing so with the French, was so moved with pity, that he punished not his subjects, but of his own purse made full and royal recompense unto the French." 1

The most detailed account of ISTewfoundland as it appeared to the early visitors is contained in a letter of Mr. Anthony Parkhurst of Bristol to Mr. Richard Hakluyt of the Middle Temple, dated 13th of November 1578. Parkhurst had made several voyages to the Island, and Hakluyt having applied to him for information, Parkhurst said in reply that he hoped Hakluyt would use his influence to induce men in power to help in christianizing Newfoundland or rather, as he phrases it, " to redeem the people of Newfoundland and those parts from out of the captivity of that spiritual Pharaoh, the devil." He gives a glowing picture of the Island. He says that the soil is good and fertile, that, in sundry places, he had '' sown wheat, barley, rye, oats, beans, peas, and seeds of herbs, kernels, plumstones, nuts, all of wliich liave prospered as in England. The country yieldeth many good trees of fruit, as filberts in some places, but in all places cherry trees, and a kind of pear tree meet to graft on. As for roses they are as common as brambles here; strawberries, dewberries and raspberries, as common as grass. The timber is most fir, yet plenty of pineapple trees ; few of these two kinds meet to mast a ship of three score and ten [tons] ; but near Cape Breton, and to the Southward, big and sufficient for any ship. There be also oaks and thorns, there is in all the country plenty of birch and alder, which be the meetest wood for cold, and also willow, which w^ill serve for any other purposes. As touching the kinds of fish beside cod, there are herrings, salmons, thornebacke, plaice, or rather we should call them flounders, dog fish, and another mosjb excellent of taste called by ns a cat, oysters and muscles, in which I have found pearls above forty in one muscle, and generally all have some, great or small. I heard of a Portugal that found one worth 300 ducats. There are also other kinds of shell fish, as limpets, cockles, wilks, lobsters and crabs ; also a fish like a smelt which cometh on shore, and another that hath the like property, called a squid." He calls the climate temperate and far pleasanter than might be supposed from the tales of " foolish mariners.'* He depicts the land as being intersected with rivers and covered

Rich in Minerals. 7

in places witli lakes full of fish : " There are plenty of bears everywhere, so that you may kill of them as oft as you list ; their flesh is as good as young beef, and hardly you may know the one from the other if it be powdered but two days. Of otters we may take like store. There are seagulls, murres, ducks, wild geese, and many other kind of birds store, too long to write, especially at one island named Penguin, where we may drive them on a plank into our ship, as many as shall lade her." Deer, hares, foxes and wolves abounded. In addition to possessing a fruitful soil, and many varieties of trees, animals and fish, the Island was believed by Parkhurst to be rich in minerals; he had found and brought home with him specimens of iron and copper ore.

The foregoing particulars, which Parkhurst communicated to Hakluyt, were doubtless known to many persons and increased their desire to colonize the Island. In the year that Parkhurst's letter was written, Sir Humphrey Gilbert procured Letters Patent from Queen Elizabeth authorizing him to search for and occupy unknown lands or places which were not in the occupation of the subjects of any Christian potentate. In those days, as at a later time, the natives of a country whose skins were dark and who had never heard of Christ, were denied any rights wliicli wMte-faced Christians were bound to respect. The Christians considered themselves justified in taking possession of the lands of these heathen barbarians on the plea that they would teach them to read the Bible and rescue them from the dominion of Satan.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's first attempt at exploration failed after he had collected a fleet and persuaded many persons to join him. He returned to England without accomplishing anything, and with the loss of a vessel. Sir Walter Raleigh, his half-brother, who was associated with him in the enterprise,was to have accompanied him when he set out the second time, from Causet bay near Plymouth, on the 11th of June 1583 ; but Ealeigh did not go and the vessel which he had fitted out put back to port shortly after sailing. However, Raleigh sent a letter to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, immediately before the latter sailed, containing a message from Queen Elizabeth to the effect that she wished him " as great good hap and safety to his ship as if she herself were there in person," this letter being accompanied with a jewel from the Queen in the form of an anchor guided by a lady. A narrative of the expedition has been written by Captain Hayes, one of the few survivors. He says the fleet consisted of five vessels, tlie JDeligU^ 120 tons burden, the Baleigh

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Mission. 9

200 tons, the Golden Rind 40 tons, the Srvalloto 40 tons, and tlie Squirrel 10 tons. The party numbered about 260, " among whom we had of every faculty good choice, as shipwrights, masons, carpenters, smiths and such like, requisite to such an action ; also mineral men and refiners. Besides, for solace of our people, and allurements of the savages, we were provided of music in good variety : not omitting the least toys, as morris dancers, hobby horses and Maylike conceits to delight the savage people, whom we intended to win by all fair means possible. And to that end we were indifferently furnished of all pretty haberdashery wares to barter 'with those simple people."

Their first mischance, as has been stated, was that the Raleigh parted compauy soon after sailing, and put back ; their second was that the crew of tlje Swallow engaged in piracy. However, they reached the harbour of St. Johns, Newfoundland on the 3rd of August. The next day being Sunday, Sir Humphrey and his company went on shore under the escort of the English merchants, " who showed us their accustomed walks unto a place they call the Garden. But nothing appeared more than Nature itself without art, who confusedly hath brought forth roses abundantly, wild, but odoriferous and to sense very comfortable. Also the like plenty of raspberries, which do grow in every place." On the following lo EnglancTs Oldest Colony,

day, Sir Humphrey Grilbert read Ms Letters Patent and took possession of the country in the Queen's name. A fortnight was spent in exploring the country and in trying to communicate with the aborigines. It was found that there were no natives in the Southern part, and it was supposed that this arose from the south coast " being so much frequented by Christians." In the Northern part they found savages who were " altogether harmless."

The country pleased them. They liked the climate ; they were struck with the abundance of fish and game and with the fine flowers which grew luxuriantly. Indeed, Captain Hayes expresses his thankfulness to God for having superabundantly replenished the earth with creatures for the use of man, though man hath not used a fifth part of the same, and this consideration, in his opinion, '' doth aggravate the fault and foolish sloth in many of our nation, choosing rather to live indirectly, and very miserably to live and die within this realm pestered with inhabitants, than to adventure as becometh men, to obtain a habitation in those remote lands, in which Nature very prodigally doth minister unto men's endeavours, and for art to work upon.'* Captain Hayes notes that there are traces of minerals in many places, that iron is plentiful, and that lead

Daniel Discovers Silver, 1 1

and copper are to be met with. Sir Humphrey Gilbert's avowed desire was to discover silver or gold. " Amongst other charges given to inquire out the singularities of this country, the General (Sir Humphrey) was most curious in the search of metals, commanding the mineral man and refiner, especially to be diligent. The same was a Saxon born, honest and religious, named Daniel, who after search brought at first some sort of ore, seeming rather to be iron than other metal. The next time he found ore, which with no small show of contentment he delivered unto the General, using protestation, that if silver were the thing which might satisfy the General and his followers, there it was, advising him to seek no further : the peril whereof he undertook upon his life (as dear unto him as the Crown of England unto her Majesty, that I may use his own words) if it fell not out accordingly." Captain Hayes avows that he was sceptical about the value of the '^ mineral man's " discovery, and adds Sir Humphrey was so thoroughly satisfied that he took precautions to keep the discovery a secret lest the Portuguese and French, who were in force there, might seize the DeligJit freighted with the precious ore. The Delight was lost soon after on Sable Island, the island on which the Cunard steamer Britannia grounded for a short time when Charles Dickens crossed the Atlantic in 1842. A man of letters, who was a passenger on board the Delight, perislied when that vessel was wrecked. This was Stephanus ParmeDius, a learned Hungarian who, in the language of Captain Hayes, " of piety and zeal to good attempts, adventured in this action, minding to record in the Latin tongue, the gests and things worthy of remembrance, happening in this discovery, to the honour of our nation, tlia same being adorned with the eloquent stjle of this orator and rare poet of our time." The only record of the voyage, which this learned Hungarian has left, is a Latin epistle writtenat St. Johns and addressed to Hakluyt who has turned it into English. What impressed Parmenius the most was the incredible abundance of fish, " whereby great gain grows to them that travel to these parts : the hook is no sooner thrown out, but it is eftsoones drawn up with some goodly fish : the whole land is full of hills and woods. The trees for the most part are pines and of them some are very old, and some young : a great part of them being fallen by reason of their age, doth so hinder the sight of the land, and stop the way of those that seek to travel, that they can go no whither : all the grass here is long and tall, and little differeth from ours. It seemeth also that the nature of this soil is fit for corn : for I found certain blades and ears in a manner bearded, so that it appeareth that by manuring and sowing, they may easily be framed for the use of man : here are in the woods bush berries or rather strawberries, growing up like trees, of great sweetness. Bears also appear

Result of Mineral Discoveries, 1 3

about the fishers' stages of the country, and are sometimes killed, but thej seem to be white, as I conjectured by their skins, and somewhat less than ours."

Another passenger whose loss was even more lamented was Daniel, ^' our Saxon refiner and discoverer of inestimable riches." Sir Humphrey Gilbert deeply mourned the loss of Daniel and of the ore on board the DeUght as well as of his own notes and books. The discovery of ore had altered his opinion as regards Newfoundland and he intimated that, whereas he previously had a great predilection for the southern part of the ISTorth American Continent, now he was wholly in favour of the northern. Had he been spared, it is probable that the colonization of Virginia might not have taken place for a longer space of time. The failure of his expedition to JSTewfoundland directed all the thoughts and efforts of Sir Walter Raleigh and others towards effecting the settlement of Virginia. Sir Humphrey's confidence was so extreme that he believed he could persuade Queen Ehzabeth to lend him 10,0001. wherewith to prosecute his enterprise the following spring. His hopes were destined to die with him and that speedily.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's death is one of the tragic episodes in the annals of adventure. He resolved to sail home in the Squirrel a cockle shell of 10 tons. He was entreated to leave that vessel and take passage in the Golden Hind, being urged to make the exchange on the ground that he ran great risk by remaining in the Squirrel, His admirable reply was " I will not forsake my little company going homeward, with whom I have passed so many storms and perils." Soon after he had. thus spoken the wind blew a gale and the sea raged tumultuously so that both vessels were in extreme peril. On the afternoon of Monday the 9th of September 1583, the Squirrel nearly foundered, but the vessel recovering. Sir Humphrey was seen by those in the Golden Hind seated on the deck with a book in his hand, and he was heard exclaiming, whenever the vessels approached within speaking distance of each other, " we are as near to heaven by sea as by land." Captain Hayes adds : " The same Monday night, about 12 of the clock, or not long after, the Squirrel being ahead of us in the Golden Hind, suddenly her lights were out, whereof as it were in a moment, we lost the sight, and withal our watch cryed, the General was cast away, which was too true."

The tangible result of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expedition was the formal addition of Newfoundland to the English realm. After he had read

Wkitdourne' s Account, 15

his Letters Patent; "had delivered tinto him (after the custom of England) a rod and a turf of soil," set up the arms of England, engraved on lead, in a conspicuous place, there could be no dispute as to which European State had professed to have taken possession of the Island. He followed the ceremony of taking possession with an act of legislation, promulgating three Laws which were to take immediate effect, the first ordaining that the public exercise of religion should be after the pattern of the Church of England; the second enjoining the pains and penalties of high treason against the persons who should question or attack the Queen's title to the country; the third providing that '' if any person shall utter words sounding to the dishonour of her Majesty, he should lose his ears, and have his ship and goods confiscate."

Captain Richard Whitbourne, the author of the first bookwritten about Newfoundland, was present on this occasion. He confirms the reports of other observers as to the fruitf ulness of the land. Fruits, flowers and herbs he saw growing in great profusion ; moreover, there was *' great store of deer's flesh in that country, and no want of good fish, good fowd, good fresh water, and store of wood. Bj wliicli commodities people may live very pleasantly." He argued with great show of reason that such a country was well adapted for settlement. He held, not only that people could make new and comfortable homes for themselves there, but also " that by a plantation there and by that means only, the poor mis- believing inhabitants of that country may be reduced from barbarism to the knowledge of God and the light of his truth, and to a civil and regular kind of life and government."

Both Captain Hayes and Captain "Whitbourne saw strange monsters during their visits to ISTewfoundland. The latter minutely describes an anim.al which he fancies to be a merman or mermaid, but which was probably a seal. The former thus describes a monster which bears a resemblance to that represented in the accounts of the sea serpent : " Upon Saturday in the afternoon the 31st of August [1583] we changed our course, and returned back for England, at which very instant, even in winding about, there passed along between us and towards the land which we now forsook a very lion to our seeming, in shape, hair and colour, not swimming after the manner of a beast by moving of his feefc, but rather sliding upon the water with his whole body (excepting the legs) in sight, neither yet diving under, and again rising above the water, as the manner is,

First Colonists, ly

of whales, dolphins, tunnies, porpoises and other fish ; but confidently showing himself above water without hiding, notwithstanding we presented ourselves in open view and gesture to amaze him, as all creatures will be commonly at a sudden gaze and sight of men. Thus he passed along turning his head to and fro, yawning and gaping wide, with ugly demonstration of long teeth, and glaring eyes, and to bid us a farewell (coming right against the Hind) he sent forth a horrible voice, roaring and bellowing as doth alien, which spectacle we all beheld so far as we were able to discern the same, as men prone to wonder at every strange thing, as this doubtless was, to see a lion in the Ocean sea, or fish in shape of a lion."2

The colonization of Newfoundland was one of Bacon's favourite projects; he believed that the country was well suited for settlement and that the surrounding sea contained even more precious treasure than that which was embedded in the mountains of Mexico and Peru. He was a partner in a company which obtained an extensive grant of land in Newfoundland from James the First, and John Guy, a merchant of Bristol, was sent forth to found a colony at Conception Bay. He sailed from Bristol in 1610 with three ships filled with emigrants, established

Hakluyt, vol. 3, p. 200.

himself and his followers at the appointed place and opened up an intercourse with the Indians. For some unexplained reason many of the colonists determined to return home, which they did in 1612. Eleven years later Sir George Calvert obtained a large grant of land from the King which he styled the Province of Avalon. Here he built himself a house and settled with his family and several followers. A French settlement had been made not far distant and the rival settlers were on terms of enmity. Sir George Calvert built a fort to protect his settlement from the attacks of the French ; he became tired, however, of the hostilities which he had to wage and returned with his family to England. He received from Charles the First a grant of land on the American Continent where he founded a highly successful colony, the land itself being now known as the State of Maryland. Lord Falkland sent a few colonists to Newfoundland from Ireland in 1628 and a few more went from England under the supervision of Sir David Kirk in 1654 and with the sanction of the Parliament.

Charles the First considered it his duty to issue a code of laws to govern the Newfoundland fishermen. According to this code any person accused of murder or theft of articles valued at 40 shillings was to be brought to England for