Image Credit: Allan Stoodley. Retrieved from cbc.ca
Sixty years ago, Gaultois — an isolated island community on Newfoundland’s south coast — had a population of approximately 600. Now fewer than 100 people live there.
Gaultois has gone through many changes in its more than 200-year history — from being home to many Indigenous people to eventually being settled by the French and British pursuing the fishery in the area. The fishery there was so lucrative that British merchants Newman and Company, by the mid-1800s, had set up shop providing its citizens with basic amenities, including groceries, clothing and fishing equipment.
They also established trade with the Mi’kmaw community at Miawpukek, at Bay D’Espoir, also long referred to as Conne River. According to Doug Jackson, writing in his book On the Country, the Micmac of Newfoundland, “Trading patterns altered in the 19th century, from historical connection with the French to English settlements along the south coast. By mid-century most furs went to Newman and Company at Gaultois.”
Newman and Company moved out of the community and out of Newfoundland in 1900. Six years later, Thomas Garland — another British merchant — started a business there and before long became the main employer in the town.
Gaultois was also the site of a shore-based whaling station during the 19th century. It was on Whale (Lamy) Island at the entrance to Gaultois Harbour, about 150 metres northeast of the town’s public wharf. Preliminary archival research indicated it was a successful and long-lasting operation.