SETTING THE SCENE: BACKGROUND INFO

RELIEF  MAP  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND

The map above shows Newfoundland's geographical relief, and identifies its main bays and its four main peninsulas. Apart from the capital, St John's, names in red have been added to show the three main places and the two bays where most of the RIGGS families were to be found.

GEOGRAPHY  AND  CLIMATE

The large, triangular-shaped island of Newfoundland faces the North Atlantic in the northeast corner of North America. It is at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, separated from the Canadian mainland by the Strait of Belle Isle in the north and by the wider Cabot Strait in the south, and is the easternmost part of Canada. Newfoundland's coastline is varied with prominent headlands, coves, fiords and offshore islands. Its interior was deeply impressed by glacial activity, continental collision, mountain-building, and volcanoes. It forms the north eastern end of the Appalachian Mountain system, and consists mainly of a large plateau which can be subdivided into three smaller regions.

The central land mass is the remains of an ocean floor that lay between North America and Africa about 500 million years ago. The Central Lowland occupies the north central part of Newfoundland and most of it is flat or gently rolling, with almost all elevations less than 500 ft.

The west coast is part of the ancient margin of North America and the Newfoundland Highlands (sometimes called the Long Range Mountains) make up most of the western part of the island. They are the edge of the plateau, which rises abruptly on the western shore, with elevations of over 2,500 ft in the southwest sloping gently to the east.

The east coast was once part of southwestern Europe or North Africa. The Atlantic Upland forms most of the south and east of Newfoundland and is is mostly a flat or rolling plateau, with bogs, ponds, and small lakes. The average elevation is about 1,000 ft, and there are some rugged hilly sections in the southeast on the Avalon Peninsula.

Newfoundland's climate can best be described as moderate and maritime. Its winters are surprisingly mild by Canadian standards, between 0°C and -5°C, though with a high rate of precipitation, cold currents, offshore pack ice, and icebergs. The average temperature in Newfoundland in the summer is between 10°C and 20°C.

ADMINISTRATION  AND  ECONOMY

Newfoundland only became part of Canada in 1949, entering the Confederation on 1949MCH31 to form the new province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Before that it had been a British colony since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The growing colony achieved representative government in 1832 and became internally self-governing in 1855. It has its own time zone, the Newfoundland Time Zone, which is 3.5 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.

Newfoundland was initially settled because of its rich fishing grounds on the Grand Banks and the mainstay of the fishing industry has been groundfish (primarily cod). Governments began in the late nineteenth century to try to bring about economic diversification. In spite of such efforts, however, the cod fishery remained the mainstay of hundreds of outport communities. A newsprint industry consists primarily of three pulp and paper mills located in Corner Brook, Grand Falls and Stephenville. Newfoundland's agriculture industry is small with its output mainly for domestic consumption.

When fish stocks collapsed in the late twentieth century, a Moratorium was imposed on fishing levels. Consequently, those who once earned a good living and enjoyed a hazardous, though rewarding, lifestyle have been reduced to subsisting on retraining grants and make-work programs. Many have been given the dubious choice of continuing to exist at poverty level in Newfoundland and Labrador, or move to Ontario or Alberta to benefit from higher income support but with a correspondingly higher cost of living.

Following 'The Moratorium' the provincial economy had to diversify, and the discovery of offshore oil in 1979 together with the exploitation of gas resources in the surrounding sea has become increasingly important. Newfoundland's service sector has also grown substantially and in 1992 accounted for over two-thirds of provincial gross domestic product. In recent years, a solid tourism industry has also developed, with up to 300,000 people visiting the province each year and spending an estimated $400 million annually.

HISTORY  AND  SETTLEMENT

The central region of the island was once the home of the Beothuk Indians, but disease and conflicts with settlers reduced them to extinction by the early 1800s.

The first Europeans to visit were Norsemen, who arrived in the late 10th century, whilst other early visitors included the Basques, Portuguese, Spanish, British and French. In the 16th century and earlier they staged fishing expeditions into the "new founde lande". The Italian seafarer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) landed on the island on June 24, 1497, on the feast of St. John the Baptist. He called the new land "St. John's Isle" in honour of the saint and claimed it for Henry VII of England, his employer. Warfare between the British and the French shaped the history of Newfoundland during the 1600s and 1700s. In 1662 France established a fort and colony at Placentia. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 reconfirmed British sovereignty over Newfoundland and the fishing banks.

At the end of the eighteenth century the Newfoundland-based fishery grew in importance and the population increased. The vast majority of the immigrants came from the west country of England, and southeastern Ireland. After 1840, immigration slowed to a mere trickle: the great waves of European emigrants who crossed the Atlantic later in the century by-passed Newfoundland almost completely on their way to the United States and Canada. By the 1930s, more than 95 per cent of Newfoundland's people were native born descendants of the English and Irish settlers of 100 years before.

The pattern of settlement was mainly determined by the fishing industry, a population distribution that has persisted to this day. Most of Newfoundland's population was spread widely around a rugged coastline in small outport settlements, and in the past many were isolated for long periods by winter ice or bad weather. The Avalon Peninsula and northeastern Newfoundland, the traditional base for the fisheries, continue to be the most heavily populated areas. St. John's, the capital city and the historic commercial centre of the island, has a population of over 100,000.