Bay De Verde
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Some people believe that the name Bay de Verde is French but it is actually Portuguese. Not only the French and English, but also the Portuguese and Spanish fished in the area during the 16th century. The word â??Verde' in Portuguese simply means â??greenâ?? so â??Bay de Verdeâ?? means Green Bay. In November 1610, John Guy reported that some of his men were fishing in the waters off â??Green Bayâ??. In one of his letters, Henry Crout says that the Beothuk sometimes hunted caribou on the hills above Bay de Verde.
The Indeavour
Bay de Verde Harbour. (Photo Jimmy Harris, ©2004)
On their way into Trinity Bay in October 1612, John and his men spent two nights in Bay de Verde. On their way back to Cupers Cove, on November 14, the settler's shallop was sunk at Bay de Verde while they were trying to retrieve an anchor. The five men on board survived but had to walk all the way to Carbonear.
Captain Mason reported that in 1618, a Flemish pirate arrived in Newfoundland from the West Indies and robbed many ships at Bay de Verde and Trinity harbour.
The Beginnings of Settlement
In 1637, King Charles I of England, issued his Grant of Newfoundland to Sir David Kirke and his partners. In the grant King Charles gave them the right to fishing rooms at a number of harbours including Bay de Verde. English settlement at Bay de Verde probably started around this time.
Early Settlers
By the 1650's, the Taverner family was settled at Bay de Verde. When the French established their colony at Placentia in 1662, a number of the English planters who where settled there were forced to leave. One of these was Isaac Dethick who left Placentia in 1663 and settled at Bay de Verde.
The 1675 census of Newfoundland lists 141 people living at Bay de Verde. Ten of these were listed as planters. The most prominent planter family in Bay de Verde at the time was the Taverner family. The census lists a widow named Margaret Taverner living there along with three of her sons. They were named William, Andrew and Robert. All three were planters. Each owned at least two boats and between them they employed 38 servants. We also know that Margaret had five other children. They were named James, John, Mary, Jacob and Abraham.
The Taverners were one of the most important planter families in 17th century Newfoundland. Jacob later moved to Trinity and became the most important resident of that community. William went on to explore and chart the south and northeast coasts of Newfoundland. William's daughter Sarah married John Masters Jr. who was born in Scilly Cove (Winterton) and who later was twice elected mayor of Poole in Dorset, England.
French Attacks
Bay de Verde was one of the English settlements attacked by the French in 1697. On February 4th, 1697, the French forces led by d'Iberville attacked Old Perlican. They sent orders to Bay de Verde to surrender, but 30 or 40 of the settlers escaped either by boat or into the woods. Abbé Baudoin , who referred to the town as Bay Ver, said there were 85 men, 14 planters, 16 boats, and 10,000 codfish there at the time.
On April 15th, the French returned, but the town had been warned and most of the settlers escaped to Carbonear Island . The French burned the town.
On March 28, 1705, during Queen Anne's War, French and Native American forces led by Jacques Testard DeMontigny arrived at Bay de Verde. Luckily, all of the town's people had escaped to Carbonear Island, but the French burned the town a second time.
A Determined Settlement
Bay de Verde. (© Small Craft Harbours, Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Used with permission.)
Despite all of the set backs suffered by the people of Bay de Verde, the community survived and continued to be an important fishing community. In 1753, there were 128 people living there year round.
Today Bay de Verde is one of the most successful and well known fishing communities in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Links
Cupers Cove ? Early English Settlement
The Building Blocks of a Colony
Cupers Cove's First Laws
A Year in the Life of a 17th Century Newfoundland Planter
Crout's Way
Journey of the Indeavour
John Mason in Cupers Cove
Squanto in Cupers Cove
John Berry's Census
Cupers Cove - Later Settlement
Using Archaeology to Understand the Life of a 17th Century Newfoundland Planter
Bay De Verde
Brigus
Bryant's Cove
Heart's Content
New Perlican
Old Perlican
Winterton (Scilly Cove)