Salvage, Newfoundland

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Salvage, Newfoundland

Contents 1 About 2 Early History 3 First famililes 4 Peak population and decline 5 Sources

About

Salvage is located in central Bonavista Bay, at the tip of the Eastport Peninsula It has been described as "... perhaps the most picturesque of all Newfoundland fishing villages, in a perfect little gem of a harbour among bare headlands and surf-washed islands" (Horwood). The inner harbour at Salvage provides admirable shelter from all winds for small boats, being an almost enclosed cove on the southeast side of a more open harbour, known as Bishop's Harbour. While Salvage Harbour is difficult of access for larger vessels and Bishop's Harbour is somewhat open, just to the southeast of Salvage are the ship harbours of Broom Close and Barrow Harbour.^[1]

It was the lucrative fishing grounds off these headlands and islands which made Salvage one of the earliest harbours to be employed by migratory fishermen from England.

Early History

As early as 1676 there were six English masters (family names: Chambers, Knight, Pett, Pritchard, Stocks and Warren), making a summer population (with their families and servants) of 66 people. In the early eighteenth century it would seem that Salvage was a minor fishing post, but as the fishery of Bonavista Bay was increasingly exploited by West Country merchants it became a trading centre.

Meanwhile, Barrow Harbour was established as a winter base, for sealing, furring and the laying up of ships — as some of the centres for the fishery on the south side of Bonavista Bay (such as Bonavista and Tickle Cove) had poor harbours for larger vessels.

First famililes

The planting of a permanent population in the Salvage-Barrow Harbour area in the period from the 1780s up to the 1820s was undertaken by families who came into the area initially to fish for cod. Most came from older established communities to the southward, principally Bonavista, Kings Cove and Keels. The specific origins of some immigrants are revealed from parish records and other documents. Indeed most married into the families of earlier planters. The wives came from the daughters and female servants brought out by some of the more affluent settlers (the planter class). The process of new surnames being introduced into Salvage came mainly from the marriage of males, both from Newfoundland and directly from England, with locally born Salvage females. This process continued well into the 19th century.^[2]

The first family at Salvage was that of William Dick (Dyke) of Bonavista and Mary Handcock (Hancock) of Kings Cove. Dyke had been fishing at Salvage by 1804 and moved his wife and family there by 1813. William was probably accompanied by his older brother Henry. About the same time came also from Bonavista, Richard Dyke and his wife Susan/Hannah Abbot and John Dyke and his wife Elizabeth. The Dykes were soon joined by the Oldford family of Bonavista or nearby Bird Island Cove (modern Elliston). By the early 1820s the Dyke, Oldford, Brown, Hunter and Burden families were all settled in Salvage as "planters", meaning owners of fishing rooms, fishing boats and employing servants and share men. Other early families at Salvage included Hancocks, Hefferns, Hunters, Mosses and Oldfords — most of whom have family traditions that they came to Salvage after having been brought to Newfoundland as fishing servants by merchants at Bonavista.

A more comprehensive analysis on the origins of Salvage shows that Bonavista was the main source area of founding families. There was also a significant contribution from places such as Bird Island Cove (now Elliston), Kings Cove, Keels, Open Hall, Gooseberry Islands, as well as the Greenspond area and nearby Barrow Harbour and Broomclose. Pioneer surnames with prior residence or paternal roots at Bonavista were Dyke, Oldford, Hunter, Burden, Squire, Steed, Denty, Flinn/Fling and Hapgood. The Dykes and Browns had earlier ties with both Bonavista and Kings Cove. The Moss family was settled initially at Keels and Open Hall, the Lanes at Barrow Harbour and the Babstocks (Thomas and Sarah Stockley) at Barrow Harbour and Broomclose.

As far as can be determined most of the family patriarchs (the first resident married males) and matriarchs (their wives) were Newfoundland-born. William Dick/Dyke, for example, was born at Bonavista about 1773, his brother Henry at Bonavista in 1755. A court record also confirms the Dyke name at Bonavista in the 1750s. Meanwhile, William's wife Mary (nee Handcock) was born at Kings Cove and pioneer George Oldford's spouse was Jane Porter of Bird Island Cove.

By 1836 there were 181 people, increasing to 453 by 1869. By this time the community had a school, a Church of England church (St. Stephen's) and was the parish centre for central Bonavista Bay.

Peak population and decline

The 1869 Census notes that the community sent 10 vessels to the spring seal hunt, while 73 men made the summer voyage to the Labrador fishery. Not only was Salvage dependent on the Labrador fishery to employ many of its citizens directly, but the community's status as a mercantile centre was also based on supplying Labrador vessels out of other communities nearby, such as the Flat Islands, Eastport and Happy Adventure.

The peak population of Salvage (591 people in 1891) coincided with the peak years of the Labrador fishery. As the Labrador fishery declined and ultimately collapsed in the early twentieth century the population of Salvage declined as well: to 411 people by 1911, to 249 by 1945 and to less than 200 in the early 1960s.

Sources

1. ↑ Memorial University of Newfoundland - Digital Archives Initiative, Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 5, Extract: letter S, pp72-72 "Salvage". Poole, Cyril F. Cuff, Robert, 1959- eds. Harry Cuff Publications Ltd., St. John's, 1994. Accessed 2023.
2. ↑ The Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website, Eastport Peninsula: Family Origins. Accessed 2023.