English Harbour East
Town
Location of English Harbour East
Country Canada
Province Newfoundland and Labrador
Government
 • MayorLaura Lee Labour
 • ClerkCourtney Fizzard
Population
 (2021)
 • Total117
Time zoneUTC– 3:30 (Newfoundland Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC– 2:30 (Newfoundland Daylight)
Area code709
Highways Route 211

English Harbour East is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the northeast side of Fortune Bay. Settled first by the Mi’kmaq of Newfoundland which used land on the "Neck" of the Harbour,[1][2] they were joined in the early 1800s,[3] by the English Dodge family[4] and by Irishman Thomas Hynes Sr.[1] European fishermen were first brought to the small community by English merchant family of Newman and Co. based in Harbour Breton, the firm of merchant John Gorman, and the Jersey firm of Nicholle and Co.[3][5] The town had a population of 117 in the Canada 2021 Census.[6]

Geography

Its boundaries are established by the Town of English Harbour East Order under the Municipalities Act (Newfoundland and Labrador).[7]

History and Economy

Used by the Mi'kmaq in the years prior to European settlement, English Harbour East was permanently settled by the 1830s.[3] In 1831, prominent Newfoundland fisherman Thomas Hynes, who defied the Bait Act, was born in English Harbour East.[1] George Dodge of England and his family were residents by 1835.[4]

English Harbour East's steady growth in the mid to late 19th century coincided with the success of the cod and herring fishery in Fortune Bay.[3] Its residents were primarily fishermen and planters at the time.[8] English Harbour East also significantly prospered in conjunction with the herring fishery and the sale of bait to United States traders.[3] This was despite laws forbidding such action and the patrol of Fortune Bay waters by wardens who frequently (with little success) warned residents of the law and were on the receiving end of their ire. One such case was where the patrolling officer warned an offender named Hackett and reported in annoyance: “got a fair share of slang (abuse) here from sea-lawyer Hackett; 2 seines, 5 crafts."[9] During this period, a Way Office was established in 1883 on July 1, and a post office was created with the first Postmistress being Annie Hackett in 1891.

Beginning in the 1890s, the lobster fishery (including lobster factories) became a staple of income for many families in the town.[3] In the first two decades of the 20th Century, salmon was also tinned by ambitious merchants.[3] Many people moved to the area from such remote communities as Conne and New Harbour in the early to mid 20th Century.

Mass Exodus to Woods Island, Bay of Islands

Between 1897 and 1902, several dozens of families migrated from English Harbour East to Woods Island, Newfoundland and Labrador on Newfoundland's west coast in search of a better herring fishery and living conditions.[10]

20th century

By the mid-late 20th century, many workers of English Harbour East were forced to commute to work from outside the town. This pushed five families from 1965 and 1975 to resettle to the nearby towns of Harbour Mille, Harbour Breton, and Terrenceville.[3] Road construction to connect English Harbour East to nearby Grand le Pierre for a distance of 6 miles[11] began in 1970[12] and completed shortly thereafter at an estimated cost of $200,000.[3][13] The community was incorporated as a town in 1973[3] with residents mostly being employed in the fishery and a government wharf was built.[14][3] This coincided with the addition of telephone service to the town that same year.[14] Vandalism became a serious problem in the small town in the mid-late 1990s as the school, several houses, and other buildings were broken into or damaged.[15] In 1996, in response to various vandalism complaints, the community adopted the COPs program which was operated in July 1996 by resident Shirley Kearley.[15] Kearley would patrol around the town and visit various buildings and vacant houses to help deter vandalism in the program which was the first of its kind for the Burin Peninsula.[15] In 2003, a complete waterfront infrastructure project was completed in the town to revitalize the fishing premises and government wharf area. This $600,000 retrofit including a concrete foundation rather than a wooden one.[16]

In the first decade of the 21st Century, several fishing sheds from abandoned communities elsewhere in Newfoundland were moved to English Harbour East and restored.

Education

A Roman Catholic school was operating in English Harbour East by 1878.[3]

Throughout the later part of the 20th century, the community was formally served by St. George's School, which in 1981 had students from Kindergarten to Grade Nine, and high school students were bussed to the nearby St. Joseph's school in Terrenceville.[3] St. George's School closed in 2006.[17][18]

Culture and Religion

Despite beginning in 1836 as a majority of Church of England settlement, by 1874, English Harbour East's population was of majorly Roman Catholic residents.[3]

In 1975, resident Margaret Bolt explained that once a month the community would have a "time" or party where all of the residents would gather to socialize.[14]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, English Harbour East had a population of 117 living in 48 of its 66 total private dwellings, a change of -15.8% from its 2016 population of 139. With a land area of 2.81 km2 (1.08 sq mi), it had a population density of 41.6/km2 (107.8/sq mi) in 2021.[19]

Census of English Harbour East[20][3][21]
  Population in 2016    139  
  Population in 2011    145  
  Population in 2006    170  
  Population in 2001    220  
  Population in 1996    250  
  Population in 1991    290  
  Population in 1986    300  
  Population in 1945    210  
  Population in 1921    166  
  Population in 1891    138  
  Population in 1869    101  
  Population in 1857 (Including English Harbour West)    38  
  Population in 1836    19  

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "A Fortune Bay Revolution". People of Newfoundland. December 17, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  2. ↑ Griffin, Devon (May 5, 2017). "Fortune Bay NL". dorothystewart.net. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Smallwood, Joseph Roberts; Pitt, Robert D.W. (1981–1994). Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador (1st ed.). St. John's, Nfld., Canada: Newfoundland Book Publishers. ISBN 9780920508145. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Seary, E. R. (1998). Family names of the island of Newfoundland (Corr. ed.). St. John's, Nfld.: J.R. Smallwood Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland. ISBN 9780773517820.
  5. ↑ Matthews, Keith. Keith Matthews Name Files, 1500–1850 (PDF). St. John's, NL, Canada: Maritime History Archive.
  6. ↑ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (February 9, 2022). "Census Profile, 2021 Census – English Harbour East, Town [Census subdivision], Newfoundland and Labrador and Division No. 2, Census division [Census division], Newfoundland and Labrador". Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Town of English Harbour East Order under the Municipalities Act (O.C. 97-621), Newfoundland and Labrador Regulation 108/97". House of Assembly, Newfoundland and Labrador. September 2, 1997. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  8. ↑ Lovell's Canadian Dominion directory for 1871 : containing names of professional and business men, and other inhabitants, of the cities, towns and villages, throughout the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island ... corrected to January, 1871. Montreal: J. Lovell. 1871. ISBN 9780665091438.
  9. ↑ Journal of the Legislative Council of Newfoundland. St. John's, NL. 1879. p. 644. Retrieved November 8, 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ Parsons, Robert Charles (1995). Toll of the sea : stories from the forgotten coast. St. John's, Nfld.: Creative Publishers. p. 48. ISBN 1895387515.
  11. ↑ "A massive roads programme". Newfoundland Bulletin. 4 (2): 10. February 1971. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  12. ↑ Annual report of the Department of Social Services and Rehabilitation 1971. St. John's, NL, Canada: Dept. of Social Services and Rehabilitation. 1971. p. 170. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  13. ↑ Local Roads Report 1971 (July 15 – October 15 ). St. John's, NL, Canada: Newfoundland. Department of Highways. October 15, 1971. p. 10. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  14. 1 2 3 "Mrs. Margaret Bolt, English Harbour East". Decks Awash. 4 (6): 13. December 1975. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 "COPs Program". Daily Express. July 10, 1996.
  16. ↑ "Infrastructure Project". The Southern Gazette. December 2, 2003.
  17. ↑ "NCARP/Tags: Occupation, St. George's School – English Harbour East – Community Accounts". nl.communityaccounts.ca. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Eastern school board angers parents with school closures". CBC News. April 12, 2006.
  19. ↑ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Newfoundland and Labrador". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  20. ↑ "2001 Community Profiles". Archived from the original on December 22, 2005.
  21. ↑ "English Harbour East Profile – Community Accounts". nl.communityaccounts.ca. Retrieved November 8, 2021.

47°38′00″N 54°54′00″W / 47.63333°N 54.90000°W / 47.63333; -54.90000

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