Carbonear Island, Conception Bay
Carbonear Island is an uninhabitated island located in Carbonear Harbour in Conception Bay. Island Charter Tours leave from the Carbonear public wharf to take visitors to the island.
Carbonear Island is best known for the role it played in the battles between English and French for control of North America, including the Island of Newfoundland. The Island offers visitors an opportunity to observe birds, sea mammals, and vegetation which are not being disturbed by human settlement.
Carbonear Island from
Harbour Rock Hill
History of Carbonear Island
Background to the Battles
Both England and France claimed rights to Newfoundland and the fishing grounds around it. Salt fish which came from Newfoundland was an essential part of the diet in Europe, especially Catholic countries where fish was eaten every Friday. Also, European naval fleets relied on the waters off Newfoundland to train men for their fighting forces.
Salt Cod Fish
Fishermen of many nations participated in a migratory fishery - they fished and cured their fish in the spring and summer and returned to their homes in Europe in the fall and winter. The French fishery was larger than the English fishery though most of the 16th century; however, in the 1570s, the English fishery began to expand. By 1600, the English controlled the area between Trepassey and Bonavista, which is known as the English Shore.
Sir Percival Willoughby
Financed Nicholas Guy's
Carbonear Colony in 1631
The English were the first to establish year round settlements. In 1610, King James I of England issued a charter to a group of London and Bristol merchants to set up a colony in Newfoundland. John Guy and his settlers established the first colony that year in Cupers Cove [Cupids], Conception Bay. By 1631, Nicholas Guy wrote to Sir Percival Willoughby, who financed colonists in Newfoundland, that he was well established in Carbonear. Over the next 65 years the English population of Newfoundland grew slowly. By 1675, there were 1,655 English settlers living on the English Shore.
Threat to English Colonists
The French fished mostly along the northeast coast which they called le Petit Nord and in St. Mary's Bay and Placentia Bay. In 1662, the government of Louis XIV set up the first French colony in Newfoundland at Placentia. One of the reasons was to protect ships going between France and Acadia and New France. It was also believed that the Placentia colony would encourage trade and economic growth in the colonies and the fisheries. Over the next twenty years a number of small settlements grew up around Placentia and on the island of St. Pierre. By 1687, there were about 1000 French settlers in Newfoundland and St. Pierre. These French settlers soon became a threat to the English Shore settlements, including Carbonear which provided supplies to most of the English colonists.
In 1679, because of this threat, William Downing and Thomas Oxford, two St. John's merchants, called for the fortification of Carbonear Island to protect the English settlers.
Attack by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
In 1697, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, one of French Canada’s fiercest fighters, was sent to take Newfoundland for the French. Abbé Jean Baudoin, who kept a journal during the attack, referred to the town as Carbonnière when writing about the attack on Conception Bay. After the residents of Carbonear and Harbour Grace had escaped to Carbonear Island, Abbé Baudoin wrote in 1697 [English translation]: |
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We have plenty of fresh meat here; because we eat the cows from Carbonear and Harbour Grace where they were in great numbers... All of these people are very well-established. Their properties are the best-built in all of Newfoundland; however, we found nothing in them but stores of cod, oil and bread. There was no furniture. These two places supply the other English settlements with everything they need, so a lot of people from other communities come and go from those two places. There are people there with as much as £100 000 of goods, but they did not leave them here... These two places are situated on the northwest coast of Conception Bay, on fairly pretty little coasts.
The French found the homes empty because many of the settlers from Carbonear, Harbour Grace, and other parts of Conception Bay and Trinity Bay had escaped to Carbonear Island. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville attempted to conquer Carbonear Island in a number of ways, but the rocky cliffs of the island and the ingenuity of fortification of the settlers forced him to leave without success. Later that year, d'Iberville was recalled to Quebec. Although a great deal of property was burned, as soon as the threat was removed, settlers were able to return to their homes and rebuild.
Carbonear Island Plays Role in Other Battles
Although the fighting had ended, residents knew it would soon
begin again. The settlers in Carbonear submitted petitions to Queen Anne describing d’Iberville’s
raids, and demanding more arms from the Crown to fortify Carbonear Island. In March 1705, the
French came again to Carbonear and they found the settlers had moved to Carbonear Island. William
Pynne and George Davis bravely defended Conception Bay from a fortified Carbonear Island. As happened in 1697, the French fighters failed to conquer Carbonear Island, but burned the communities that the settlers had left.
French Fighters Burned
English Settlements
in 1697 and 1705
Although the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713, making peace between the English and the
French, there continued to be skirmishes between the English settlers and the French in which
Carbonear Island played a prominent role. In 1762, it fell briefly to the French, but was retaken by
Sir William Amherst.
Attacks on Carbonear did not end with the French. In 1812 Mr. H. C. Watts
asked Governor Duckworth to give Carbonear three guns to protect itself
from American privateers. The biggest gun was called "Watts Long Tom" and
was mounted on Harbour Rock Hill.
Cannon on Harbour Rock Hill
Today, two cannons can be seen on Harbour
Rock Hill.
In 1981, Carbonear Island was designated a National Historic Event Site. On
Harbour Rock Hill, a plaque details the history of Carbonear Island.
Plaque at Harbour Rock Hill
Ecology of Carbonear Island
View from Carbonear Island
Photo: Island Charter Tours
Carbonear Island home to many
different bird populations,
including the bald eagle. The
waters around the island are
inhabited by various species of
fish and other types of marine
life that frequent Conception
Bay. Whales, including minke
whales, can be observed
swimming and feeding around
the island.
Approaching Carbonear Island
Photo: Island Charter Tours
Much of the information about Carbonear Island comes from Baccalieu: Crossroads for Cultures - www.crossroadsforcultures.ca
Tourism Association Members
Island Charter Tours provides a full range of charters & tours, including tours of scenic Carbonear and Harbour Grace Islands with their rich history, and the stories of Peter Easton, the pirate, Princess Sheila, and Gilbert Pike. For information, contact: Dean J. Penney 107 Valley Road, Carbonear, NL A1Y 1A7. Tel: 709-596-4479 Cell: 709-589-8574 Web Site: www.islandchartertours.com
LOCATION: Carbonear |
