Exploring an Anglophone presence at the French fishing room, Champ Paya, at Dos de Cheval (EfAx-09) in Cap Rouge Harbour, Newfoundland

Abstract

Recent archaeological work in Cap Rouge Harbour, northern Newfoundland, has uncovered evidence of Anglo occupation at the historic fishing room, Champ Paya. Through an examination of the recovered British ceramic assemblage, this study seeks to understand the nature of this Anglo occupation at what was a predominantly French site. Ceramic analysis, coupled with the relevant historical documents, suggests that between about 1790 and 1820—when the French fishermen were fighting in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars and so not present in Newfoundland waters—middle class Anglo-Newfoundlander families were carrying out a regional migration from the English Shore to the Petit Nord to prosecute a fishery in these newly vacant harbours.