Woods Island
History of Woods Island
Woods Island is located in the mouth of the Humber Arm and is the largest island in the Bay of Islands.
1504
The French were among the early Europeans to migrate to Newfoundland, with the first documented French fishing trip to Newfoundland in 1504. French settlers were attracted to Newfoundland and Labrador, mainly due to the prosperous cod fishery.
1534
The Bay of Islands was discovered by Jacques Cartier. He named the bay “St. Julian’s” and the islands “Dove-Cots”, as the round islands reminded him of dovecots, which are shelters for domesticated pigeons.
1600s
Canada was colonized by France. Basque fishermen were migrating to Newfoundland. The western shores were known as “La Cote Des Basques” (“The Coast of the Basque” or “The Basque Coast”). There is no known Basque influence on Woods Island. However, there are stories that the remnants of an old bakery are on French Island.
1713
The Treaty of Utrecht forced France to cede Newfoundland to Great Britain. The treaty stated that the French were permitted to fish in season, but not to settle.
1760s
Captain James Cook mapped Woods Island and named it “Harbour Island”.
1769
Early settlement on Woods Island was occurring. People of English origin began to settle in the Bay of Islands. Woods Island had a small population of 136, most of whom were involved in the fishery, with 36 boats in use by the men of the Island.
1836
The early settlers of Woods Island were Mrs. Lake from 1836 to 1839, and the Park family, who lived near the Harbour in 1836.
1849
The O’Connell and Perry families were pioneer settlers on Woods Island and were involved in the Labrador fishery out of Carbonear. The population of the Bay of Islands was 129, with no known church, school, or industry, except the fishery.
1854
Large schooners and vessels from the United States, mainly Gloucester and Boston, Massachusetts, started coming to the Bay of Islands to load salt or frozen herring and take back to the USA.
1869
There was an increase in American schooners coming to Woods Island. The Treaty of 1818 between the United States and Great Britain gave the US the right to take fish of every kind from the West Coast and the South Coast from Cape Ray to the Ramea Islands. Often, the ships would come to Newfoundland from Gloucester with a skeleton crew of 8-10 men, and then 25-35 additional Newfoundland men would be hired. These men would row out to the schooner and tie on; they were paid piece-meal (a certain amount for each barrel of herring they caught). They settled up once the schooner was at capacity, and their fishing gear was deducted from their wages.
1873
The first known mail service in the Bay of Islands started. The first mailboat to service the area was the S.S. Port Saunders with Captain Westbury Kean. It delivered mail on Tuesdays and Fridays. On Woods Island, mail was delivered twice a week to two post offices, one in the Harbour and one on the East End. The S.S. George L., owned by Edward Barry, delivered the mail.
Several men took up the responsibility after the S.S George L. They delivered by boat in spring, summer, and fall, and by walking over the Bay ice in the winter. Once people started getting their own outboard motors, the need for this mailboat diminished. The S.S. George L. was hauled up on the Summerside beach and eventually deteriorated.
1878
The first telegraph came to the Bay. A submarine cable linked Woods Island to Frenchman’s Cove and the telegraph system. The telegraph station was located on the East End.
There was an influx of out-of-province people to the Bay of Islands after 1875, who set up businesses in Corner Brook, Curling, Summerside, and Meadows Point, as these were the leading communities. Two Silver and Fisher sawmills, Carter’s, Barry’s, Petipas, and Brake’s owned key businesses.
1880
Loughlan MacLean opened the first business on Woods Island. He built a fish wharf and store. Loughlan, a businessman from Nova Scotia, purchased the property from the Jennox family a few years earlier.
1887
Business on Woods Island was increasing. The Carter Lobster Canning Factory, owned by Thomas Carter, opened in the spring of 1887 on the waterfront of Woods Island. Thomas Carter also had a hotel. It was a two-story building with six bedrooms. It had a tower, and stained-glass windows and doors. Carter’s Hotel on Woods Island was a sign of early tourism. Thomas Carter had a daughter, Maud, who married a Murray man from Conception Bay. They continued the business after Thomas’s death. Maud’s husband and children later died from bad health. She later married Captain Charles Stewart from Gloucester, Massachusetts. There was another lobster factory on the island operated by two men named Angwin and Hacala.
1883
More people arriving at Woods Island caused a need for schooling. Two schools opened, an Anglican and a Roman Catholic. The Anglican school doubled as the Anglican church and was located in the Harbour. The Roman Catholic school was midway between the East End and the Harbour.
1889
Lobster canning was an important industry, with 5 factories in the Bay, two of which were located on Woods Island.
1890s
People migrated to the Bay of Islands from Fortune, especially Terrenceville, as the herring fishery was failing. Most of the people from Fortune Bay settled around the Harbour. The Families who migrated from Fortune Bay are: Barnes, Boland, Hackett, Hickey, Lavhey, McCarthy, and Stewart, among others.
In 1899, Woods Island was the main centre of the herring fishery in the bay, with schooners from the United States carrying salt and herring. It is said that in one year, the customs office cleared 120 vessels on Woods Island.
1900
The herring fishery was an attraction for tourists. There are reports of as many as 80 American vessels in the Bay of Islands during the fall herring fishery, and that “American millionaires” came to the Bay of Islands for tourism, which often included hunting and fishing.
1903
The Roman Catholic church opened. The priest was Reverend Andrew Sears, who was instrumental in setting up the school and roads on Woods Island.
1904
France gave up its right to fish the French (Treaty) Shore in exchange for British territory in Africa. This resulted in a decline in French settlement in Newfoundland.
1905
The first customs office was established in 1905 on Woods Island. The collector was Timothy M. Costello. Before this, a collector from Curling came by, but with the increase in schooners from the United States, a permanent office was established on the island and remained until Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949. Mr. Costello had retired in 1938 at the age of 69.
1908
The first resident Doctor, Dr, Jim Whelan, arrived on Woods Island from Prince Edward Island. Dr. Jim Whelan and his wife, Rosemary, from Lunenburg, stayed on Woods Island until 1916. This was also the year Woods Island appointed its first resident priest, Reverend Peter Pineault.
1911
The population of Woods Island is 500: 186 in the Harbour, 247 in the East End, 45 in Seal Cove, and 23 in Tibbos Cove.
The largest business to operate on Woods Island was Gorton-Pew. The property was purchased from Loughlan MacLean. The Gorton-Pew company processed pickled herring in barrels, bulk salt cod, dried salt cod, and smoked herring. The fish was loaded on schooners and transported back to the home base for distribution out of Gloucester.
Barry's operated out of Curling and Summerside and included shipbuilders, agents, merchants and ship’s captains. James, David, and Edward Barry, along with Chaney Hall of Gloucester, were known as the Big Four Company and were closely associated with Woods Island and the Gorton-Pew Company.
Many fishermen from the Bay of Islands were employed on its vessels, in the fishing plants, and in supplying fish to the company.
1913
Woods Island welcomed its first Parish Priest, Rev. Stephen Callen, who came from Dundalk, Ireland. He resigned in 1931.
1914
Jim Barry took over the Gorton-Pew Company on Woods Island, renaming it “Bay of Islands Fisheries”.
1917
A second school opened on Woods Island. Miss Catherine Wade was the first high school teacher on Woods Island.
1918
The Spanish flu was raging across Newfoundland and other parts of the world, although no deaths were reported from Woods Island.
1920s
The Carters/Stewarts business started to slow down; Thomas Carter's daughter, Maud, and her husband, Charles Stewart, sold the old Carter property to Thomas Hackett. The end of the Carter and Stewart influence on Woods Island.
1921
“The Bay of Islands Fisheries” store, plant, and smokehouse closed.
1922
The Woods Island telegraph office closed and was replaced by the telephone. There were two telephones on the Island, one in the Harbour and one on the East End.
1923-4
The Gorton-Pew vessel, S.S. Alcona, was destroyed by fire on November 5th.
On December 31st, the Donald Silver vessel was loaded for a voyage to Gorton-Pew, in Gloucester. On the morning of January 2nd, the Donald Silver went aground. All crew members perished in the early morning hours. It was one of the great tragedies for the Bay of Islands.
1925
The pulp and paper mill was built by the Newfoundland Power and Paper Co. With the decline in the fishery, some people moved from Woods Island to Corner Brook.
1929
Oral history states that the first motor car was driven out on ice to Woods Island.
1937
The Fisherman’s Co-op formed. One of the first co-ops, which illustrated how co-operatives across Atlantic Canada changed the lives of fishermen and their families after years of poverty and exploitation.
1940
Weeball Fisheries on the East End of Woods Island exported cod and herring to the United Nations Relief Rehabilitation Association. Still, the company failed at the end of the boom that was created during the war years of the early 1940s.
1949
Newfoundland joined Confederation with Canada. The west coast, particularly Corner Brook and the Bay of Islands, swung the vote in favour of Confederation.
1950
Rob McCarthy operated a small herring pickling plant at Woods Island Harbour.
1951
312 people were living on Woods Island, 32 of those were church of England, and the other 280 were Roman Catholic.
Frances Pennell of Woods Island travelled to St. John’s to study midwifery and become the island’s first trained midwife.
1952
The herring fishery was failing.
1954
The Newfoundland government started its resettlement program.
1956
The population of Woods Island was 521, 56 families, and 44 fishermen.
The Government wharf was built on Woods Island.
1960
Luke Woodrow, the Roman Catholic priest on Woods Island, was advocating for the resettlement.
On March 3rd, 1960, approximately 90 families began to resettle from Woods Island.
1961
The MHA Hon. C.H. Ballan turned on the switch to bring electricity to the communities.
The road from Frenchman’s Cove to Lark Harbour was completed.
1962
Most families have relocated to Benoit’s Cove, Halfway Point, and Frenchman’s Cove.
1963
The population of Woods Island is now 2. Two brothers who refuse to leave their home.
1970
A dairy and sheep farm was in operation on Woods Island. It was owned by Clarence Parsons, who was originally from the United States.
Resources:
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Basha, F. (1976). A return visit from Woods Island. The Humber Log.
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Elaine Hackett Oral History
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Hackett, J.B. (1992). Heartbeat Bay of Islands, Newfoundland.
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Higgins, J. (2009). French Settlement, 1504-1904. Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage.
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https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/society/french-settlement.php
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Jacques Cartier (n.d.) Cabox Geopark. https://caboxgeopark.org/jacques-cartier/
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Parsons, W., & Memorial University of Newfoundland. (1973). History of Woods Island in the Bay of Islands.
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Poole, C. F., & Cuff, R. (1994). Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, 5, 493–640.
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Richard Furlong Oral History
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Settlement in Bay of Islands. (1979). Decks Awash, 8(6), 3-4.
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Velita McCarthy Oral History