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Newfoundland | |||||||||||
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| 1610–1907 | |||||||||||
.jpg) Map of Newfoundland Colony (1891) | |||||||||||
| Status | Colony ofEngland (1610–1707) Colony ofGreat Britain (1707–1801) Colony of theUnited Kingdom (1801–1907) | ||||||||||
| Official languages | English | ||||||||||
| Minority languages | Newfoundland French • Newfoundland Irish | ||||||||||
| Religion | Church of England | ||||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||||
• 1610–1625 | James I(first) | ||||||||||
• 1901–1907 | Edward VII(last) | ||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• English Colonization ofNewfoundland | 1610 | ||||||||||
• Dominion of Newfoundland established | 1907 | ||||||||||
| Currency |
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| Today part of | |||||||||||
Newfoundland was anEnglish, and later British, colony established in 1610 on theisland of Newfoundland. That followed decades of sporadic English settlement on the island, which was at first only seasonal. Newfoundland was made aCrown colony in 1824 and adominion in 1907.[1] Its economy collapsed during theGreat Depression. On 16 February 1934, the Newfoundland legislature agreed to the creation of a six-memberCommission of Government to govern the country. In 1949, the country voted to join Canada as the province ofNewfoundland.
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Indigenous people like theBeothuk (known as theSkræling inGreenlandic Norse), andInnu were the first inhabitants of Newfoundland and Labrador. During the late 15th century, European explorers likeJoão Fernandes Lavrador,Gaspar Corte-Real,John Cabot,Jacques Cartier and others began visiting the area. From around the beginning of the 16th century, fishing vessels withEnglish,Portuguese,French andSpanish crews started visiting on a seasonal basis. At some point during the early 16th Century, some of these fishing crews founded an informal settlement atPlacentia. The Beothuk gradually became extinct as a people, as they experienced a population decline as a result ofinfectious diseases introduced by European colonists and the loss of their ancestral territory due to colonial settlement.[2]
From 1610 onward, English colonists established colonial settlements in Newfoundland, led byproprietary governors, as England tried to create North American footholds.John Guy wasgovernor of the first settlement atCuper's Cove. Other settlements wereBristol's Hope,Renews,New Cambriol,South Falkland andAvalon, which was organized as a province in 1623. The first governor given jurisdiction over all of Newfoundland was SirDavid Kirke in 1638. During this period, France had also established settlements in the region, particularly to the west in what is nowQuebec. It had strong trading ties to many of the indigenous peoples along the Atlantic Coast, including theMi'kmaq and otherAlgonquian-speaking peoples.
The rivalry between England and France in Europe was played out in conflicts in North America, where they struggled for predominance. This was particularly true in Newfoundland, where the English colonial settlements on the eastern coasts were in close proximity to the French claims in Southern Newfoundland, which the French dubbedPlaisance. The Newfoundland colony was nearly obliterated during theAvalon Peninsula Campaign ofKing William's War, the North American theatre of theNine Years' War (1688–1697). In 1696, the French and allied Mi'kmaq armed forces wiped out all but a handful of English settlements on the island of Newfoundland. Over the next year, the English repopulated and rebuilt the colony. TheTreaty of Utrecht in 1713 ceded all of Newfoundland to the British Crown.
Given the Newfoundland colony's isolation from the more southern British colonies in America (and proximity to the still-loyalcolony of Nova Scotia), it did not become involved in the colonial rebellion of the 1770s. After theAmerican Revolutionary War ended in 1783 with the independence of the United States, Newfoundland Colony became part ofBritish North America. The Crown resettled someLoyalists in Newfoundland, but most were given land inNova Scotia and present-dayOntario. In 1809, the British Imperial government detachedLabrador fromLower Canada for transfer to the Newfoundland Colony.
It became an officialCrown colony in 1825, andThomas John Cochrane, an officer of theRoyal Navy, was appointed as its first governor.[3] He directed the construction ofGovernment House, which is located between the sites of Fort William and Fort Townshend.[3] All three have been designatedNational Historic Sites.[4] The colony was granted a constitution in 1832, and Cochrane became its first civil governor.
The colony was granted self-governing status in 1854.Philip Francis Little was the firstpremier of Newfoundland between 1855 and 1858. The country rejectedconfederation with Canada in the period between 1864 and 1869.[5] In 1907, Newfoundland became theDominion of Newfoundland, adominion of the British Empire. Due to economic hardship in 1934, the Newfoundland legislature accepted rule by a Commission Government comprising six members (three from Britain and three from Newfoundland) appointed by theBritish government. Intwo national referendums, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians voted to become part of Canada in 1948. On April 1, 1949, it became theProvince of Newfoundland.
| Colonial prime ministers and premiers (1855–1907) | |
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| Dominion prime ministers (1907–34) | |
| Chairmen of the Commission of Government (1934–49) | |
| Provincial premiers (1949–present) | |
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