Newfoundland in transition : the Newfoundland trade and Robert Newman and Company, 1780-1805

• Main Author: Chang, Margaret Ann
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1974
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/7465/; https://research.library.mun.ca/7465/1/Chang_MargaretA.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/7465/3/Chang_MargaretA.pdf

Between 1775 and 1805, the Newfoundland fishery changed from being primarily "migratory" - carried on by transients from Britain - to being almost completely "sedentary" - carried on by permanent residents of the island. Such a fundamental change called for extensive adaptations on the part of the merchants and traders involved, and indeed, many of them failed to survive. However, the oldest established family in the trade, the Newmans of Dartmouth, not only survived but actually expanded. By 1806 their operation was larger than it had been in 1776 and they controlled a larger share of the entire trade. -- Before the outbreak of the American War in 1775 the larger merchants had performed many functions, supplying the local planters, the by-boat men, and the smaller merchants, but concentrating mainly on the operation of fishing vessels and crews on their own account. To a large degree, the changing structure of the fishery can be attributed to the specific conditions of the American War for by ending the traditional drain of population to America during unfavorable periods, the population of the island became more and more permanent. With the operations of the migratory fishery interrupted by the hostilities, the sedentary fishery expanded to fill the gap. The merchants reacted by concentrating on the supply trade to these resident fishermen, and focused more and more on trading with them for fish rather than fishing for themselves. -- The boom that occurred after the end of the American War helped revive both branches of the fishery, and to the casual on-looker, the migratory fishery seemed to have again become dominant. The crash and depression of the late 1780's and early 1790's, however, made it clear that those who resided on the island (the sedentary fishermen) were now a permanent feature of the Newfoundland fishery. If there was to be any reduction in production, it had to be at the expense of the migratory fishery, for there were enough fishermen resident on the island to catch what could be sold and ...