BELVIN, Cleophas – The Forgotten Labrador, Kegashka to Blanc-Sablon
BELVIN, Cleophas. The Forgotten Labrador, Kegashka to Blanc-Sablon. Montréal, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006, 202 p.
p.68 Most came to the region because of its
unlimited freedom, its abundance of resources, and the possibility of
making a fortune from the seal and salmon fisheries. For instance,
Samuel Robertson informed John James Audubon, the pre-eminent American
naturalist, in 1833, 'The country around is all my own, much farther
than you can see. No fees, no lwyers, no taxes here. I do pretty much as
I choose. My means are ample through my own industry. These vessels
come for selskins, seal oil, and salmon, and give me in return all the
necessities, and indeed comforts, of the life I love to follow.'
p.71 Although the English- and French-speaking
settlers occupied different areas of the coast, they had similar
lifestyle. The majority owned both a summer and a winter dwelling.
p.75 Modes of transportation Dogs and Komatik (Cométique)
p.85 The Quest for Law and Order - Warships 1826
p.85 Samuel Robertson, owner of the La Tabatière fishing post. (around 1826)
p.92 [...] English-speaking settlers from
Newfoundland from the 1870s through to the end of the nineteenth
century. The newfoundlanders came from places such as Bonne Bay, Bay of
Islands, Basque Harbour, Heart's Desire, and Trinity Bay. [...] Some of
the Newfoundlanders came to the area as employees of William Henry
Whitelay, a fishermanwho owned a large fishing station on the Island of
Bonne-Espérance. Whiteley who hailed from Boston, established a fishing
post in Bonne-Espérance around 1855.
p.93 By the end of the nineteenth century there were
French-speaking settlers principally in the La Romaine region,
Tête-à-la-Baleine archipelago, and Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon region. The
English-speaking residents, on the other hand, had settled in mainly at
Blanc-Sablon, Bradore Bay, westward to Mutton Bay, Harrington Harbour to
Wolf Bay, and Kegashka Bay. As a result, the french language now became
of secondary importance with many of the French-speaking residents
capable of speaking English.
p.94 The Establishment of Church Missions
