It is said that French fishermen noticed an island at the northeast entrance to Notre Dame Bay and were pleasantly surprised at its resemblance to a French island near the harbor of Brest, a French seaport. They named the Newfoundland island Toulinguet after the French island they knew so well. Toulinguet appears on a French map of Newfoundland for the first time in 1720 and continued to be used after that date.
Around 1700 the French decided to discontinue fishing in Notre Dame Bay. Fearful of the Red Indians who were numerous in Notre Dame Bay and annoyed by English fishermen who were beginning to use the area, they moved their summer fishing operations westward into White Bay and along the Northern Peninsula. At the same time English settlers in Bonavista Bay and many other eastern areas of Newfoundland had suffered several years from poor fishing and overcrowding. Notre Dame Bay, recently vacated by the French, offered much needed fishing grounds to these people and soon after 1700 English settlers from eastern Newfoundland began to move to Toulinguet and another nearby island known as Fogo. Toulinguet soon became Twillingate to the English settlers who, of course, could neither read or write French.
We know little of the first residents of Twillingate. A diary found on the island in 1870 states that the first settlers were four Englishmen named Moore, Smith, Young and Bath. These men were said to have settled at different parts of the island around 1700 where they fished independently of each other. However, a different story is told in a letter written in 1764 to Captain James Cook who was mapping the Newfoundland coast at this time. Mr. Davis writes:
"Dear Sir:
When I last had the pleasure to see you, I promised at my arrival here to make enquiry and inform you when Twillingate and Fogo was settled by the English. I did not get here till the 10th, having taken a tour in my way and made it my business to find Mr. Thomas Tizzard, who was the first person that ever drove a nail at Twillingate, or settled here as an Englishman, which was in the year 1732..."
Mr. Tizzard was born at Bonavista and was followed by other people from his home town. Bonavista's first minister, Mr. Henry Jones, complained several times between 1732 and 1736 of the large number of his congregation who had been attracted to Fogo and Twillingate by the good fishing there. Twillingate had now replaced Bonavista as the most northerly English settlement in Newfoundland. In 1732 the naval governor of Newfoundland was instructed to include Twillingate and Fogo in his records of the fishery. This was finally done in 1738 when Governor Van Brugh wrote: "I have altered the scheme (of the fishery) beginning at Placentia so proceeding northwards into Twillingate which place with Fogo is now added"
The records taken by Governor Van Brugh in 1738 show 12 families had settled at Twillingate. With the help of 114 servants, who had been brought from England, the settlement's 14 fishermen had caught and dried 8000 barrels of fish. In the same year a number of British fishing ships caught 4000 barrels of fish during the summer and 3 cargo ships were required to carry home the large catches. When the fishing ships from England returned to their home ports in the fall 152 people remained in Twillingate for the winter.
Over the next one hundred years Twillingate would increase its population tremendously and develop into one of Newfoundland's most prosperous seaports. Twillingate's growth was made possible by two things - its closeness to excellent fishing grounds and its fine harbor. Twillingate is in fact two islands separated by a narrow channel which runs between them for a distance of two miles and is just one-eight of a mile wide. It is this channel which forms the harbor at Twillingate. Because the water is quite deep throughout and the entrance to it is safe Twillingate harbor soon became used by large ships. Only during the late winter from January to late March when northern ice packs the harbor are ships obliged to find anchorage in other ports. Besides its excellent harbor Twillingate had an ideal position at the mouth of Notre Dame Bay near rich fishing grounds. These two advantages soon attracted fishermen, settlers and businessmen to the new community.
English and Irish fishing servants played an important role in the early life of Twillingate. The resident fishermen depended on servants to catch and dry the bulk of their fish. Each settler hired as many as 10 to 20 youngsters, as the men were called, for the fishing season. Since the population of the town was quite small it was necessary to bring the men from England and Ireland where they signed up for a work term of from one to three years. They were paid at the end of the summer fishing season. The fisherman usually divided one third of the value of the summer's catch equally among his servants. While at Twillingate the fisherman's family would also provide the servants with food and lodging. Many of the settlers also kept a woman servant to help with the work of the house. A few of these servants remained in Twillingate to live but most came only to make some money before settling down in England or Ireland.
The productive cod fishery at Twillingate soon attracted the interest of English businessmen who fitted out fishing ships and sent them to Twillingate to catch cod. Like the inhabitants of the settlement, the English merchants used large numbers of hired men. In addition to sending fishing ships to Twillingate these wealthy businessmen also owned large sack ships which carried dried cod from Twillingate to ports in Spain or Portugal where the fish was sold. These same merchants brought food, salt, and fishing gear from Europe and provided the people of Twillingate with all their supplies in exchange for their dried fish. This system of exchange between merchant and fisherman continued at Twillingate into the twentieth century and the average Newfoundland fisherman never saw money from one year to the next.
The first merchant to set up a business in Twillingate was a firm by the name of Noble. Records show that in 1760 they bought large amounts of nets, lines, and cord which they sold at Twillingate. This company like all other Twillingate merchants also had large fishing operations in the town which brought in as much as 1000 pounds in one year (this would be about $3000). The Slades of Poole, England were the main supplying merchant for Twillingate from 1785 to 1848. They owned stages, many houses for their servants and agents, a large number of boats and ships, several warehouses, and stores, and opened branch operations in other Newfoundland outports.
Merchants like the Slades made small fortunes from their business at Twillingate and retired in great wealth in England. At the same time Twillingate grew and prospered because of enterprising men like John Slade. The Twillingate fisherman could not get his dried cod to Spain without merchant ships or go to Ireland to pick up his salt port. Merchant ships brought many settlers to Twillingate and provided jobs for them when they arrived. The merchants of Twillingate were, of course, the most important members of the community socially and were most often appointed to important offices such as that of magistrate. At the same time their interest in the community's well being was often expressed in generous gifts to the church they attended or a community project.
John Peyton was appointed the first Justice of the Peace for Twillingate District in 1818 and became the magistrate for the area in 1836. His greatest contribution to the town of Twillingate is the information about the town which he recorded in his diary and the many papers he kept which are still preserved by his family today.
The small Methodist congregation who first met in a follower's home in 1831 received their first minister in 1842. The church and minister's home were burned in 1868 and the new church built in its place served the United Church congregation of Twillingate until just a few years ago.
The community's first Church of England school was conducted in 1829 by Mr. Walker. An Education Board was organized by the Methodists in 1875. Their first school opened in their Sunday School building in Twillingate with the help of the people who gave every second day of labor free. We will see more of this community cooperation in later chapters of Twillingate's history.
"Many a good tale has been told in connection with the Newfoundland seal fishery but among the number perhaps there is neither one more marvelous than the Great Haul which took place at Twillingate in the spring of '62. The seals first struck land on the tenth of March. Some few men secured that day as high as seven or eight each but owing to a change of wind had to slip their tows and run for life when within a mile from land...(A week later northeast winds had blown the ice and seals to shore again) Then the harvest really commenced and for four consecutive weeks there was little else but seals, seals, seals...Many men made that spring more than one hundred pounds each. One woman whose husband had been ill for several years... actually took a rope and a gaff and earned many pounds towards feeding her little ones. Another woman of twenty summers, followed suit and with her rope and pluck landed no less a sum than one hundred pounds."
As a thank you offering for the tens of thousands of seals which were brought to land the men of St. Peter's Anglican congregation had a bell cast in England which was hung in the tower of the Church. The bell bears the following inscription "In memory of the great haul of seals 1862".
The fishing voyages of the schooners to the Labrador coast were usually very profitable to the town's merchants. however, the men who worked on the schooners faced many dangers and worked hard. Only hardy men could spend several lonely months away from their families on board the small sailing ships which provided cramped and less than ideal living accomodations. Ice storms, and accidents were common and sometimes a man did not return home alive. The following poem written by Rous Lench describes the fate of one unfortunate Labrador fisherman:
Last year John Williams was drowned
On the Labrador, out fishing
Getting grub for his children and missus
For the winter.
They disemboweled him
Put shovelfuls of salt in his insides,
Then salted him down in a box
And put him in a store all summer
And brought him home in the autumn
When the voyage was over.
Preserving a dead person in salt was a common practice on the Labrador. It may seem crude to us but it did allow the bereaved family the small comfort of burying the man at home.
Occasionally the serious business of owning and operating a schooner had its lighter side as this story of a Twillingate man illustrates. John Hillier was the owner and captain of a small schooner named the Myra. After returning from the Labrador with his summer's catch of fish, Skipper Hillier was hired by Mr. Ashbourne, a Twillingate merchant, to sail to St. John's for winter supplies. Mr. Ashbourne particularly wanted him to make it back to Twillingate before Christmas with raisins for Christmas puddings, apples and oranges for the children's stocking and other things to make sure that the people of Twillingate would have a merry Christmas. Four days before Christmas Captain Hillier had his supplies and left St. John's to return home. However, when the schooner reached Gander Bay, a sudden wind broke off the ship's mast and the schooner was left helpless without its sails. Another schooner saw their distress and offered to take the crew. The four crew members went but Captain Hillier refused to leave his vessel. By himself he managed to put up temporary masts and some small sails. Three days later the Myra reached Cape Bonavista and put into Catalina for repairs. Meanwhile, at Twillingate Christmas had been temporarily postponed and the children of the town could not understand why the schooner, the Myra, had delayed Santa Claus that year.
The children of Twillingate were kept busy with school work and helping at home but they had their leisure interests too. Everyone enjoyed boat rides to nearby communities or picnic spots. The late summer was berrypicking time and the seemingly barren hills of the islands produced gallons of blueberries and partridgeberries. The long hard winters on Twillingate Islands provided plenty of snow and ice for skating, ice football, sliding, and snowball fights. In the spring of the year when the harbor was filled with pieces of ice the boys spent many dangerous hours jumping from one pan of ice to another, or copying as it was called.
The hospital was indeed a tribute to the community spirit and cooperation of the people of Twillingate and Notre Dame Bay. Most of the money used to construct the hospital came from donations by the area's citizens. Many hours of free labor were also given during its construction. The Twillingate Sun was a firm supporter of the hospital and for years ran ads in its publication appealing for donations to the hospital. During the 1940's ads like the following appeared regularly:
All arrangements have been now finalized for the Fish Appeal Campaign this season. Instituted last year by the Directorate of Notre Dame Bay Memorial Hospital as a means of securing funds for that hard pressed institution it proved so successful that it will no doubt be continued...Although emphasis is placed on fish, donations of vegetables or cash will be welcomed.
In 1974 a lovely new hospital was built at Twillingate just behind the old one. It no longer serves the whole of Notre Dame Bay but the doctors who practice there are kept busy and continue to serve the people of Twillingate and nearby New World Island.
One of these events was the building of the railway across Newfoundland. This railway allowed goods to be brought across Newfoundland from St. John's instead of by the older method of schooner and steamer. The community of Lewisporte at the bottom of Notre Dame Bay was conveniently located near the railway. As more and more goods were shipped by this method Lewisporte began to replace Twillingate as the main supplier of goods and services to Notre Dame Bay. The building of a highway across Newfoundland had the same effect. People travelling from Notre Dame Bay now went to Lewisporte to catch the train to St. John's or hired a taxi to take them to the airport at Gander if they were leaving the province. Twillingate, once in the center of Notre Dame Bay, was now an isolated community miles from everywhere.
The fishery at Twillingate changed as it did in other Newfoundland ports. Drying codfish spread out on flakes became a thing of the past. The local fish plant processed the fish right from the boats. While some fishermen continued to fish from small boats, most of the fish used by the plant, now closed, was brought in by large trawlers and longliners. The recent moratorium on northern cod has pretty much closed the fishery on Twillingate Islands.
No doubt a most welcome event in Twillingate's history was the building of a highway from Lewisporte to New World Island. The "Road to the Isles" made it possible for residents of Twillingate Islands to drive from their homes to other parts of Newfoundland by car. A modern ferry named the John Peyton was put in service to carry cars and passengers the short distance between New World Island and Twillingate South Island. Today Twillingate is virtually a part of mainland Newfoundland for a modern causeway now joins it to New World Island.