Living under one roof : household economies in the Bay of Islands, Newfoundland, 1900-1935

• Main Author: Reid Boland, Janice
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2001
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/1260/; https://research.library.mun.ca/1260/1/Boland_JaniceR.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/1260/3/Boland_JaniceR.pdf

This thesis examines household economies in the Bay of Islands from 1900 to 1935. Simple demographic and statistical techniques are used to explore changing household economies in a rapidly populated and exploited frontier region before, during, and just after the industrial revolution arrived on Newfoundland's west coast in the guise of a railway in 1898, and a large pulp and paper mill and associated power plant in the 1920s. Bay of Islands settlers had access to economic resources and opportunities that were somewhat different than those available on Newfoundland's east coast. There was considerable variation in how households in different communities used these resources to survive. The resulting patterns of resource utilization were very different on the surface than those of the east coast traditional Newfoundland economy. So too were the structures of interaction with the formal economy. -- The underlying logic from the household perspective, however, was the same on east and west coasts - to use a combination of whatever resources were at hand to ensure survival and well being - a universal logic that required the ability to continually adapt to changing needs, circumstances and resources. Newfoundland household economies have been so intricately intertwined with the local ecology that they are best understood through detailed local analysis. This is the only way to uncover the strategies that allow them to be resilient in the face of constant change.