An ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in Burin, Newfoundland
Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1994. Anthropology Bibliography: leaves 191-194 This thesis attempts to describe the multiplex fisher- merchant relationships as they were experienced in the Burin, Newfoundland, area during the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. My aim is...
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ftmemorialunivdc:oai:collections.mun.ca:theses3/364 2023-05-15T17:23:31+02:00 An ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in Burin, Newfoundland Williams, Brian G., 1967- Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dept. of Anthropology Canada--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Peninsula--Burin 1994 x, 196 leaves : ill., some col. Image/jpeg; Application/pdf http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/364 eng eng Electronic Theses and Dissertations (26.60 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Williams_BrianG.pdf 76221211 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/364 The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries Fishers--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Merchants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Social classes--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Text Electronic thesis or disseration 1994 ftmemorialunivdc 2015-08-06T19:17:37Z Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1994. Anthropology Bibliography: leaves 191-194 This thesis attempts to describe the multiplex fisher- merchant relationships as they were experienced in the Burin, Newfoundland, area during the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. My aim is to demonstrate, using Burin as a basis for examination, that contemporary local opinion and scholarly generalizations, while often fundamentally correct, have oversimplified and ignored the diversity of actual practices that occurred in the conduct of fisher-merchant relationships around Newfoundland's coasts. The information on which this thesis is based is derived primarily from informant recollections, and is supplemented by private, public, and archival information sources. -- As a means of enabling the reader to envision the context in which this paper is set, the thesis first presents an overview of the history and geography of the Burin area. It is followed by descriptions from several writers of the general functioning of the credit system in Newfoundland during the study period. This background information is supplemented by informant descriptions of the inshore and banks fisheries, and the work routines that were required on shore. -- Biographies of two important fish merchant firms, typical of the Burin area, are then presented, to illuminate the analysis of fisher-merchant relationships that follows in the ensuing chapters. This analysis concentrates on three local and scholarly perspectives of the pre-Confederation period in Burin, history that appear inaccurate or simply in need of qualification: that merchants and fishers were socially quite distant groups, with few social bonds; that cash and cash transactions were non-existent or rare in this era; and that the merchant class in Newfoundland was supposedly doing little more than exploiting the fishing class, with no hint of concern for the welfare of those who caught,, landed, and processed the fish they traded in. -- A discussion of three different economic periods during the twentieth century closes the analytical section of this paper, and focuses on the similarities and disparities in the effects of these periods on the merchant and fisher classes. Text Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland: Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) Canada Newfoundland |
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Memorial University of Newfoundland: Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) |
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ftmemorialunivdc |
language |
English |
topic |
Fishers--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Merchants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Social classes--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin |
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Fishers--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Merchants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Social classes--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Williams, Brian G., 1967- An ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in Burin, Newfoundland |
topic_facet |
Fishers--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Merchants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Social classes--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin |
description |
Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1994. Anthropology Bibliography: leaves 191-194 This thesis attempts to describe the multiplex fisher- merchant relationships as they were experienced in the Burin, Newfoundland, area during the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. My aim is to demonstrate, using Burin as a basis for examination, that contemporary local opinion and scholarly generalizations, while often fundamentally correct, have oversimplified and ignored the diversity of actual practices that occurred in the conduct of fisher-merchant relationships around Newfoundland's coasts. The information on which this thesis is based is derived primarily from informant recollections, and is supplemented by private, public, and archival information sources. -- As a means of enabling the reader to envision the context in which this paper is set, the thesis first presents an overview of the history and geography of the Burin area. It is followed by descriptions from several writers of the general functioning of the credit system in Newfoundland during the study period. This background information is supplemented by informant descriptions of the inshore and banks fisheries, and the work routines that were required on shore. -- Biographies of two important fish merchant firms, typical of the Burin area, are then presented, to illuminate the analysis of fisher-merchant relationships that follows in the ensuing chapters. This analysis concentrates on three local and scholarly perspectives of the pre-Confederation period in Burin, history that appear inaccurate or simply in need of qualification: that merchants and fishers were socially quite distant groups, with few social bonds; that cash and cash transactions were non-existent or rare in this era; and that the merchant class in Newfoundland was supposedly doing little more than exploiting the fishing class, with no hint of concern for the welfare of those who caught,, landed, and processed the fish they traded in. -- A discussion of three different economic periods during the twentieth century closes the analytical section of this paper, and focuses on the similarities and disparities in the effects of these periods on the merchant and fisher classes. |
author2 |
Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dept. of Anthropology |
format |
Text |
author |
Williams, Brian G., 1967- |
author_facet |
Williams, Brian G., 1967- |
author_sort |
Williams, Brian G., 1967- |
title |
An ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in Burin, Newfoundland |
title_short |
An ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in Burin, Newfoundland |
title_full |
An ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in Burin, Newfoundland |
title_fullStr |
An ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in Burin, Newfoundland |
title_full_unstemmed |
An ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in Burin, Newfoundland |
title_sort |
ethnohistorical study of fisher-merchant relationships in burin, newfoundland |
publishDate |
1994 |
url |
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/364 |
op_coverage |
Canada--Newfoundland and Labrador--Burin Peninsula--Burin |
geographic |
Canada Newfoundland |
geographic_facet |
Canada Newfoundland |
genre |
Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland |
op_source |
Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries |
op_relation |
Electronic Theses and Dissertations (26.60 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Williams_BrianG.pdf 76221211 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/364 |
op_rights |
The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. |
_version_ |
1766113029639897088 |