Thank you for those details Thomas. Having ancestors who were involved in the Newfoundland trade makes that sort of information doubly interesting. I wonder if any of 'mine' may have been interlopers! Liz Davidson Suffolk UK DFHS no 14023 [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Cole" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 18, 2006 6:18 PM Subject: [DEV] Boatkeepers in Newfoundland 1678 > The following Boatkeepers in St. John's, Newfoundland 1678: > Tho Cutterford from Plymo. > Elias Andrews from Stokeintiny. > Geo Bale from Dartmo. > Richard Sellman from Stokeintiny. > Lawrence (H?)aven from Dartmo. > Robt Denels from Stokeintiny. > Rich Cose from St Mary Church. > xpher Toplings from Stokeintiny. > Jno Tapper from Stokeintiny. > > These were fishermen who preferred to reside in Devon rather than take up > residence in Newfoundland. A class of men who were too independent or too > darn cranky to work with others. In the wintertime prearrangments were > made > with a fishing master for transportation from Devon to Newfoundland, their > small boats being transported with them. Our archival documents also refer > to them as "interlopers". Departing Devon on March 1st and depending on > the > weather they would arrive in Newfoundland by April, set up their > operations > independently, spend all summer fishing alone off the Newfoundland shores > and curing their salt cod. > > In the Fall, as prearranged with the fishing master, they loaded their > produce and their small boats unto the master's ship and went to market in > Portugal, Spain or Italy - wherever they could get the best price. There, > they also made purchases of fruits, wines, olive oils, etc to replenish > the > family larder in Devon. By December they would have been back home with > their families in Devon, with only about two months in which to recaulk > their boats, perform the minor repairs and prepare for the next season. > > If the north Atlantic crossing wasn't dangerous enough, after arriving in > Newfoundland, they were ever vigilant for Britain's traditional enemies - > at > different eras being Portugese, Spaniard, Dutch or French, ever watchful > for > pirates in a time when they could have been captured and sold as slaves in > North Africa, depending on where they were, ever subject to attack by the > Newfoundland natives and having their equipment stolen by them, and always > on the alert for Newfoundland fog and storms. > > To my fellow Devon listers: If you discover a fisherman in your ancestry, > do > not assume that he had fished in some idyllic creek or stream in Devon - > he > may have been a Newfoundland interloper! > > > > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > ( http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/ ) > and > the Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > >