Search for ""

Displaying 1-20 of 72 results
Article

Allan Gilmour

Allan Gilmour, shipbuilder, timber merchant (b at Craigton, Mearns [Strathclyde], Scot 29 Sept 1805; d at Glasgow, Scot 18 Nov 1884).

Article

Fishing Admiral

Fishing Admiral, a position of authority claimed by the first fishing ship's captain to enter each Newfoundland harbour every year, although in some harbours in the 1500s each ship's captain may have taken a turn during the fishing season.

Article

Robert Ferguson

Robert Ferguson, businessman (b at Logierait, Scot 17 Apr 1768; d at Campbellton, NB 10 Aug 1851). He came to the RESTIGOUCHE RIVER in 1796 and was soon the most prominent merchant and largest landowner in the region.

Article

Nicolas Denys

Nicolas Denys, trader, colonial promoter (b at Tours, France 1598; d 1688). A young La Rochelle merchant, Denys sailed for Acadia in 1632 with Isaac de RAZILLY, and spent the next 40 years trying to develop the colony.

Article

Edward Cornwallis

Edward Cornwallis, founder of Halifax in 1749, governor of Nova Scotia from 1749-52, military leader and governor of Gibraltar from 1762-76, (born 22 February 1713 in London, England; died 23 January 1776 in Gibraltar).

Article

Laurence Coughlan

Laurence Coughlan, missionary (b at Drummersnave, Ire; d in London, Eng 1784?). Ordained a Church of England priest in 1765, Coughlan sailed to Newfoundland that same year under the auspices of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

Article

Benjamin Bowring

Benjamin Bowring, silversmith, watchmaker, merchant (b in Devonshire, Eng 1778; d at Liverpool, Eng June 1846). One of a large number of Devonshire tradesmen who immigrated to St John's, Bowring first visited Newfoundland in 1811; in 1815 he sold his shop in Exeter and opened a store in St John's.

Article

George Calvert

George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English colonizer (b at Kipling, Eng 1579/80; d at London, Eng 15 Apr 1632). In 1621 he established a colony at FERRYLAND on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula, which became, by royal charter

Article

William Jackman

William Jackman, sealing captain, sailing master (b at Renews, Nfld 20 May 1837; d at St John's 25 Feb 1877). William, like his famous brother, Capt Arthur JACKMAN, was at an early age involved in the Labrador cod fishery and in the seal hunt.

Article

Richard John Uniacke

Uniacke, Richard John, lawyer, politician (b at Castletown, Ire 22 Nov 1753; d at Mount Uniacke, NS 11 Oct 1830). After a turbulent early career in the Cumberland district of NS as a trader and a sympathizer with the American

Article

Hugh Palliser

Hugh Palliser, naval officer, governor of Newfoundland (b at Kirk Deighton, Eng 26 Feb 1722/ 23; d at Chalfont St Giles, Eng 19 Mar 1796). He was a naval officer at the siege of Québec in 1759, and was appointed governor of Newfoundland 1764.

Article

Karlsefni

Thorfinn Karlsefni (Old Norse Þórfinnr Karlsefni), explorer and trader (born c. 980–95 CE in Iceland; year of death unknown). Born Thorfinn Thordarson, this Icelandic aristocrat and wealthy merchant ship owner led one of the Norse expeditions to Vinland, located in what is now Atlantic Canada. He is usually referred to by his nickname, Karlsefni, meaning “the makings of a man.” Karlsefni appears in several historical sources. A long passage in The Saga of the Greenlanders is devoted to him, and he is the chief subject of The Saga of Erik the Red. There are also short accounts in the Old Norse manuscripts known as the Arni Magnusson codex 770b and Vellum codex No. 192.

Article

Marc Lescarbot

Besides being a vivid account of early colonizing attempts in Acadia, the Histoire is a remarkable plea for realism in harvesting the colony's natural resources, as against a futile search for quick profits.

Article

Pierre Maillard

Pierre Maillard, priest of the Séminaire des missions étrangères, missionary (b in the diocese of Chartres, France c 1710; d at Halifax 12 Aug 1762). Missionary to the MICMAC, Maillard was a brilliant linguist who perfected a system of written symbols for the Micmac language.