Newfoundland (island)

Newfoundland (Talamh an Éisc, Talamh an Èisg/Eilean a' Trosg, Terre-Neuve, Ternua,, Terra-Nova or Terranova, Vínland), is a large Canadian island off the east coast of the North American mainland, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The province's official name was also "Newfoundland" until 2001, when its name was changed to "Newfoundland and Labrador" (the postal abbreviation was later changed from NF to NL).

The island of Newfoundland (originally called Terra Nova, from "New Land" in Latin) was visited by the Icelandic Viking Leif Eriksson in the 11th century, who called the new land "Vinland". The next European visitors to Newfoundland were Portuguese, Spanish, French and English migratory fishermen. The island was visited by the Italian John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), working under contract to King Henry VII of England on his expedition from Bristol in 1497. In 1501, Portuguese explorers Gaspar Corte-Real and his brother Miguel Corte-Real charted part of the coast of Newfoundland in a failed attempt to find the Northwest Passage. Cabot's landing is considered the initial foundation of the British Empire – a fact solidified on August 5, 1583, when Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I of England, thus officially establishing a fore-runner to the much later British Empire. Newfoundland is considered Britain's longest serving colony. According to 2006 official Census Canada statistics, 57% of responding Newfoundland and Labradorians claim British Isles ancestry, with 43.2% claiming at least one English parent, 21.5% at least one Irish parent, and 7% at least one parent of Scottish origin. Additionally 6.1% claimed at least one parent of French ancestry. The island's total population as of the 2006 census was 479,105.

The island of Newfoundland is separated from the Labrador Peninsula by the Strait of Belle Isle and from Cape Breton Island by the Cabot Strait. It blocks the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, creating the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. Newfoundland's nearest neighbour is the French overseas community of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

With an area of 108860 km2, Newfoundland is the world's 16th largest island, and Canada's fourth-largest island. The provincial capital, St. John's, is located on the southeastern coast of the island; Cape Spear, just south of the capital, is arguably North America's easternmost point. It is common to consider all directly neighbouring islands such as New World, Twillingate, Fogo and Bell Island to be 'part of Newfoundland' (as distinct from Labrador), and by that measure, Newfoundland and its associated small islands have a total area of 111390 km2.

Newfoundland has a dialect of English known as Newfoundland English and a dialect of French known as Newfoundland French. It once had a dialect of Irish known as Newfoundland Irish, as well as an Amerindian language, Beothuk. Scottish Gaelic was also spoken on the island during the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the Codroy Valley area by settlers from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The island's Scottish Gaelic name Eilean a' Trosg literally means "Island of the Cod".

L'Anse aux Meadows was a Norse settlement near the northernmost tip of Newfoundland (which is actually Cape Norman) which has been dated to be approximately 1000 years old. This makes it the only undisputed evidence of Pre-Columbian contact between the Old and New Worlds, if the Norse-Inuit contact on Greenland is not counted. It is a likely location of Vinland, although this has been disputed.

First inhabitants
The first inhabitants of Newfoundland were the probable ancestors of the Beothuk inhabitants at the time of European contact. Beothuk means "people" in the Beothuk language. The origins of the Beothuks are uncertain, but it appears that they were a native group that came from Labrador. The culture is now extinct, remembered only in museum, historical and archaeological records. Shanawdithit, the last known full-blood Beothuk (a woman), died in St. John's in 1829 of tuberculosis. Santu Toney (Born around 1835) was a woman of Mi'kmaq and Beothuk descent. Her father being a Beothuk and mother being Mi'kmaq, both from Newfoundland. Santu died in 1919.

It is probable that the natives described by the Norsemen as skraelings were Beothuk people of Labrador and Newfoundland. The first conflicts between Europeans and native peoples may have occurred around 1006 at L'Anse aux Meadows when parties of Norsemen attempted to establish permanent settlements along the coast of Newfoundland. According to the Icelandic sagas, the native skraelings responded so ferociously that the newcomers eventually withdrew and apparently gave up their original intentions to settle.

When other Europeans arrived, beginning with John Cabot in 1497, contact with the Beothuks was established. Estimates of the number of Beothuks on the island at this time vary, ranging from 1,000 to 5,000.

As European settlement became year-round and expanded to new areas of the coast the area available to the Beothuks to harvest the marine resources they relied upon was diminished. By the beginning of the 19th century there were few Beothuks remaining, many having been killed by settlers or having died as a result of starvation and diseases brought on by the European settlers which their immune systems could not handle. Government attempts to open a dialogue with the native peoples of Newfoundland came too late to save them.

Some Newfoundland residents can trace a clear Native American ancestry, mostly Mi'kmaq.

European discovery, colonization, and settlement
Newfoundland is the site of the only authenticated Norse (mostly Greenlandic Icelanders) settlement in North America, discovered by Norwegian explorer Dr. Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Dr. Anne Stine Ingstad, at L'Anse aux Meadows in 1960. The site of multi-year archaeological digs in the 1960s and 1970s, the settlement dating to more than 500 years before John Cabot, contains the earliest known European structures in North America. Named a World Heritage site by UNESCO, it is believed to be the Vinland settlement of explorer Leif Eiriksson (the Icelandic Skálholt Vinland Map of 1570 refers to the area as "Promontorium Winlandiæ" and correctly shows it on a 51°N parallel with Bristol, England). The Norse stayed for a relatively short period of time, believed to be between 999 and 1001 AD. Other speculative discoverers of the island would fall to other nationalities of Europe. The Irish Saint Brendan, who has been popularized in Newfoundland song 'Saint Brendan's Voyage’, is noted among possible discoverers of Newfoundland. Welsh folklore makes note of explorer and Prince Madoc who landed in America in 1170. No detail is given of his route or the lands that was attributed to his discovery. Then there is the Scottish claim that the Earl of Orkney, Prince Henry Sinclair had discovered the New World in the late 14th century. The Portuguese also lay claim to discovering the New World in 1431 when Prince Henry the Navigator discovered the Azores, by virtue of the existence of the Paris Map c. 1490 which depicts a group of three islands southwest of Iceland at roughly the same latitude as Ireland, Newfoundland and possibly some other, nearby islands (such as Cape Breton). These three islands are known as 'Islands of the Seven Cities' and 'The Isle of Brasile' said to be discovered by seven bishops. Documents from the voyages made by Bristol merchants in 1480 speak of a trip in search of the Isle of Brasile, to no avail.

After the departure of the Norse, the island would be left to the aboriginal populations for nearly 500 years until the island was rediscovered in 1497 by the Italian navigator John Cabot (Zuan/Giovanni Cabotto), working under commission of King Henry VII of England. The exact place where John Cabot landed is unknown, but popularly believed to be Cape Bonavista, along the island's East coast, although other sites along the East coast also have significant claims. Perhaps the site with the best claim is Cape Bauld, at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula. It is supported by a document found in the Spanish National Archives written by a Bristol merchant which reports that the crew landed 1800 mi west of Dursey Head, Ireland (latitude 51° 35'N) which would put Cabot within sight of Cape Bauld. Also in this document is mention of an island that Cabot sailed past to go ashore on the mainland. This description fits with Cape Bauld theory, Belle Isle being not far offshore.

After Cabot, the first European visitors to Newfoundland were Portuguese, Spanish, French and English migratory fishermen. In 1501, Portuguese explorers Gaspar Corte-Real and his brother Miguel Corte-Real charted part of the coast of Newfoundland in a failed attempt to find the Northwest Passage. Late in the 17th century came Irish fishermen, who named the island Talamh an Éisc, meaning "land of the fish", or "the fishing grounds" in Irish Gaelic. This was to foreshadow the centuries of importance of Newfoundland's offshore fishing waters.

In 1583, when Sir Humphrey Gilbert formally claimed Newfoundland as a colony of England, he found numerous English, French and Portuguese vessels in St. John's. However there was no permanent population and Gilbert was lost at sea during his return voyage, thereby ending any plans of settlement.

On July 5, 1610, John Guy set sail from Bristol, England with 39 other colonists for Cuper's Cove. This, and other early attempts at permanent settlement failed to make a profit for the English investors, but some settlers remained anyway, forming the very earliest European population on the island. By 1620, the fishermen of England's West Country had excluded other nations from most of the east coast of Newfoundland, while fishermen from France dominated the island's south coast and Northern Peninsula.

After 1713, with the Treaty of Utrecht, the French ceded control of south and north shores of the island to the British, keeping only the nearby islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon located in the fish-rich Grand Banks off the south coast. Despite some early settlements by the English, permanent, year-round settlement of Newfoundland of migratory fishery workers was discouraged by the British. Thomas Nash (Newfoundland) was an Irish Catholic fisherman who permanently settled in Newfoundland despite English rule. He created the fishing town of Branch, Newfoundland and Labrador. He and his cousin Father Patrick Power of Callan,County Kilkenny further spread Catholicism in Newfoundland. This settlement started a major migration of Irish immigrants making their mark in Newfoundland.

But with the geographic remoteness of its isolated harbours and convenience of year-round access to the fish stations without having to make the bi-annual voyage across the ocean, permanent settlement increased rapidly by the late 18th century, peaking in the early years of the 19th century.

The French name for the island is Terre Neuve, while the name "Newfoundland"' is one of the oldest European place names in Canada in continuous geographical and cartographical use, dating from a 1502 letter, and clearly stated in the following early poem:

A Skeltonicall continued ryme, in praise of my New-found-Land


 * Although in cloaths, company, buildings faire
 * With England, New-found-land cannot compare:
 * Did some know what contentment I found there,
 * Alwayes enough, most times somewhat to spare,
 * With little paines, lesse toyle, and lesser care,
 * Exempt from taxings, ill newes, Lawing, feare,
 * If cleane, and warme, no matter what you weare,
 * Healthy, and wealthy, if men careful are,
 * With much-much more, then I will now declare,
 * (I say) if some wise men knew what this were
 * (I doe beleeue) they'd live no other where.


 * From 'The First Booke of Qvodlibets'
 * Composed and done at Harbor-Grace in
 * Britaniola, anciently called Newfound-Land
 * by Governor Robert Hayman – 1628.



The European immigrants who settled in Newfoundland brought their knowledge, beliefs, loyalties and prejudices with them, but the society they built in the New World was unlike the ones they had left, and different from the ones other immigrants would build on the North American mainland. As a fish-exporting society, Newfoundland was in contact with many places around the Atlantic rim, but its geographic location and political distinctiveness also isolated it from its closest neighbours, Canada and the United States, so much so that this isolation can be felt even today. Internally, most of its population was spread widely around a rugged coastline in small outport settlements, many of them a long distance from larger centres of population and isolated for long periods by winter ice or bad weather. These conditions had an effect on the culture the immigrants had brought with them and generated new ways of thinking and acting, giving Newfoundland and Labrador a wide variety of distinctive customs, beliefs, stories, songs, and dialects.

The First World War had a powerful and lasting effect on the society. From a population of about a quarter of a million, 5,482 men went overseas. Nearly 1,500 were killed and 2,300 wounded. On July 1, 1916, at Beaumont-Hamel, France, 753 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment went over the top of a trench. The casualties were staggering; the next morning, only 68 men answered the roll-call. Newfoundland had lost about one-quarter of its young men in WWI and it has been suggested that this loss of so many men, proportionally speaking, in the prime of their lives contributed to the economic collapse that was to ultimately influence confederation with Canada. Even now, when the rest of Canada celebrates the founding of the country on July 1, many Newfoundlanders take part in solemn ceremonies of remembrance.

World War II also had a lasting impact on Newfoundland. In particular, the war ushered in an American presence at the military bases at Argentia, Gander, Stephenville, Goose Bay and St. John's.

Newfoundland and Labrador is the youngest province in Canada, which existed as a British colony until 1949, self-governing from 1855–1934, holding Dominion status from 1907–1949 (see Dominion of Newfoundland). In late 1948, the population voted 52.3% to 47.7% in favour of joining Canada, with opposition to Canada being concentrated in the capital, St. John's, and on the Avalon Peninsula. Newfoundland joined Canada on March 31, 1949. Union with Canada has done little to reduce Newfoundlanders' self-image as a unique group, with 72% identifying themselves as being primarily Newfoundlanders, secondarily Canadians, in 2003. Separatist sentiment is low, though—12% in the same 2003 study.

The referendum campaign was bitterly fought and interests in both Canada and Britain favoured and supported confederation with Canada. This is exemplified in the role of Jack Pickersgill, a western Canadian native and politician, who worked with the confederation camp during the campaign. Religion played a significant role in the final analysis as well with the Catholic Church lobbying for continued independence. Financial incentives played their part, particularly the "baby bonus" which promised Newfoundlanders a cash sum for each child in a family. The Confederates were led by the charismatic Joseph Smallwood, a former radio broadcaster who had developed socialist political inclinations while working for a socialist newspaper in New York. His policies as premier would assume a form closer to liberalism than socialism. Smallwood led Newfoundland for decades as the elected premier following confederation and achieved a "cult of personality" amongst his many supporters that persisted long after his political defeat. Indeed, some homes actually had pictures of Joey in their living rooms in a place of prominence. It has been suggested that some members of the public regarded financial incentives like the baby bonus as the direct products of Smallwood's benevolence rather than their right as Canadian citizens.

Pre-confederation and current provincial anthem
The pre-confederation and current provincial anthem is the Ode to Newfoundland, written by British colonial governor Sir Charles Cavendish Boyle in 1902 during his administration of Newfoundland (1901 to 1904). It was adopted as the official Newfoundland anthem on May 20, 1904. In 1980, the province re-adopted the song as an official provincial anthem, making Newfoundland and Labrador the only province in Canada to officially adopt a provincial anthem. The Ode to Newfoundland continues to be heard at public events in Newfoundland and Labrador to this day, however, only the first and last verses are traditionally sung.


 * When sun rays crown thy pine clad hills,
 * And summer spreads her hand,
 * When silvern voices tune thy rills,
 * We love thee, smiling land,
 * We love thee, we love thee
 * We love thee, smiling land.
 * When spreads thy cloak of shimm'ring white,
 * At winter's stern command,
 * Thro' shortened day and starlit night,
 * We love thee, frozen land,
 * We love thee, we love thee,
 * We love thee, frozen land.
 * When blinding storm gusts fret thy shore,
 * And wild waves lash thy strand,
 * Thro' sprindrift swirl and tempest roar,
 * We love thee, windswept land,
 * We love thee, we love thee,
 * We love thee, windswept land.
 * As loved our fathers, so we love,
 * Where once they stood we stand,
 * Their prayer we raise to heav'n above,
 * God guard thee, Newfoundland,
 * God guard thee, God guard thee,
 * God guard thee, Newfoundland.
 * God guard thee, Newfoundland,
 * God guard thee, God guard thee,
 * God guard thee, Newfoundland.

Flags of Newfoundland
The first flag to specifically represent Newfoundland is thought to have been an image of a green fir tree on a pink background that was in use in the early 19th century. The first official flag identifying Newfoundland, flown by vessels in service of the colonial government, was the Newfoundland Blue Ensign, adopted in 1870 and used until 1904, when it was modified slightly. In 1904, the crown of the Blue Ensign was replaced with the Great Seal of Newfoundland (having been given royal approval in 1827) and the British Parliament designated Newfoundland Red and Blue ensigns as official flags specifically for Newfoundland. The Red and Blue ensigns with the Great Seal of Newfoundland in the fly were used officially from 1904 until 1965, with the Red Ensign being flown as civil ensign by merchant shipping and the Blue being flown by governmental ships (after the British tradition of having different flags for merchant/naval and government vessel identification). On September 26, 1907, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom declared the Colony of Newfoundland, after having enjoyed responsible government since 1854, the status of an independent Dominion within the British Empire, and from that point until 1965, the Newfoundland Red Ensign was used as the civil ensign of the Dominion of Newfoundland with the Blue Ensign, again, reserved for government shipping identification. The Newfoundland National Assembly, however, did not write national flag legislature until 1931, at which time the Union Jack was legally adopted as Newfoundland's official national flag, with the Red and Blue Ensigns retained as ensigns for shipping identification.

On May 15, 1931, the Union Jack was legally declared to be the national flag of Newfoundland by the Newfoundland National Flag Act, Chapter 3, which states, "Union Flag or Union Jack is hereby declared to be the National Flag of the Dominion of Newfoundland." The Newfoundland Red Ensign was given the legal status of "National Colours" (for civil shipping identification), and the Newfoundland Blue Ensign reserved for "all vessels which are in the official service of His Majesty's Government in Newfoundland". On March 31, 1949, Newfoundland became a province of Canada but retained the Union Jack in legislature, still designating it as the "national" flag. This was later reaffirmed by the Revised Statutes Act of 1952, and the Union Jack remained the official flag of Newfoundland until 1980, when it was replaced by the current provincial flag. By the mid-1960s, however, largely spurred by mainland Canada's refusal to recognize the Union Jack as specific to Newfoundland, its display as the provincial flag decreased dramatically. ("Repeatedly, delegations from Newfoundland would discover to their embarrassment that the mainlanders would just refuse to reserve the use of the Union Flag to represent their island province. Either Newfoundland would be left unrepresented, or one of the flags devised for the Garden of the Provinces in Ottawa would be used.") The subject of a unique provincial flag became a recurring theme in Newfoundland politics after this, until Newfoundland and Labrador's present provincial flag, designed by Newfoundland artist Christopher Pratt, was officially adopted by the legislature in 1980. Labrador has its own unofficial flag, created in 1973 by Mike Martin, former Member of the Legislative Assembly for Labrador South.

The design of the current provincial flag of Newfoundland and Labrador was adopted by legislature on May 28, 1980 and first flown on June 20, "Discovery Day" (commemorating John Cabot's discovery of the island in 1497), of that year. Very symbolic, the blue is meant to represent the sea, the white represents snow and ice, the red represents the efforts and struggles of the people, and the gold represents the confidence Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have in themselves and in the future. The blue triangles are a tribute to the Union Flag, and represent the British heritage of the province. The two red triangles represent Labrador (the mainland portion of the province) and the island itself. In Pratt's word's, the gold arrow points towards a "brighter future".

There is also what some consider to be an unofficial flag of Newfoundland. The "Pink, White and Green" is a flag of 19th century origins that enjoyed popularity on portions of the island in the late 19th century and was flown on some vessels into the 20th century. Never adopted by the Newfoundland government, however, its candidacy for official status was laid to rest in 1907 just after Newfoundland attained dominionship when an official mail steamer entered St. John's harbour flying the "Pink, White and Green" – the vessel was forced by authorities to replace the flag with the Newfoundland Red Ensign, the government recognized identification for vessels of Newfoundland registry. In a legend first appearing in the July 1976 issue of the Roman Catholic archdiocese's newsletter "The Monitor", it was claimed that the tricolour flag was created in 1843 by then Roman Catholic Bishop of Newfoundland, Michael Anthony Fleming and that the colours represent the symbolic union of Newfoundland's historically dominant ethnic/religious group – English, Scottish and Irish, respectively. Though popular, there is no historical evidence to support the legend and it is most likely false. Recent scholarship suggests that the flag was first used in the 1870s or later by the Roman Catholic "Star of the Sea" fisherman's association and was likely based on the very similar flag of Ireland (then also unofficial). The flag remained relatively unknown outside of St. John's and the Avalon peninsula southern shore area until its resurgence in recent years as a trendy emblem on a multitude of items in St. John's gift shops and, thereafter and to a lesser extent, the rest of the province, though it is mistaken by many tourists as the Irish flag. The "Pink, White and Green" has developed into a symbolic gesture of one's ties with one's Newfoundland heritage as well as a political statement. The flag remains controversial, however, as it has long been considered by many of the province's Protestants, who make up approximately 60% of the province's total population (with 57% claiming British Isles descent), as a Catholic flag, having first appeared flown by Catholic fishermen on the Avalon Peninsula and bearing a strong resemblance to the Irish flag. Likewise, many of the province's Catholics, approximately 37% of the total population (with roughly 22% of the population claiming Irish descendancy), have long contended that the Union Jack, Newfoundland Ensigns and even the current provincial flag do not satisfactorily represent them. A government sponsored poll in 2005 revealed that 75% of Newfoundlanders did not support adoption of the Tricolour flag as the province's official flag.

Points of interest and major settlements
Being one of the first places in the New World to which Europeans travelled, Newfoundland has a rich history of human settlement. St. John's is considered to be the oldest city in Canada and the oldest continuously settled location in English speaking North America. The St. John's census metropolitan area also includes 12 suburban communities, the largest of which are the city of Mount Pearl and the towns of Conception Bay South and Paradise. The west coast of the island hosts Corner Brook, the province's third largest city, is situated on the Bay of Islands which was discovered by Captain James Cook.

The island of Newfoundland has extraordinary natural beauty and hosts numerous provincial parks such as Barachois Pond Provincial Park, considered to be a model forest, as well as two national parks.


 * Gros Morne National Park is located on the west coast of Newfoundland and was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987 due to its complex geology and remarkable scenery. It is the largest national park in Atlantic Canada at 1805 km2. It continues to be a popular tourist destination within the province for campers and hikers.


 * Terra Nova National Park, on the island's east side, preserves the rugged geography of the Bonavista Bay region and allows visitors to explore the historic interplay of land, sea and man.


 * L'Anse aux Meadows is an archaeological site located near the northernmost tip of the island (which is actually Cape Norman), which is the only known site of a Norse village in North America outside of Greenland and also was named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The site remains the only widely-accepted instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, and is notable for possible connections with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Ericson around 1003, or more broadly with Norse exploration of the Americas.

The island has many eco-tourism opportunities, ranging from sea kayaking, camping, fishing and hunting, to hiking. The International Appalachian Trail (IAT) is being extended along the island's mountainous west coast. On the east coast, the East Coast Trail extends through the Avalon Peninsula for 220 km, beginning near Fort Amherst in St. John's and ending in Cappahayden, with an additional 320 km of trail under construction.

The Marble Mountain Ski Resort near Corner Brook is a major attraction in the winter for skiers in eastern Canada.

Other major communities include the following towns:


 * Gander, home to the Gander International Airport.


 * Grand Falls-Windsor, a service centre for the central part of the island.


 * Channel – Port aux Basques, the "Gateway to Newfoundland", as it is the closest point on the island, to the Province of Nova Scotia, as well as the location of the Marine Atlantic Terminal connecting the island to the rest of Mainland Canada.


 * Stephenville, former location of the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base and currently the Stephenville Airport.



Cultural attractions include the provincial university, Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's and Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, along with the College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville and other communities.

Bonavista, Placentia and Ferryland are all historic locations for various early European settlement or discovery activities. Tilting Harbour on Fogo Island is a Provincial Heritage District as well as a National Cultural Landscape District of Canada, one of only two national historic sites in Canada so recognized for their Irish heritage.

Entertainment opportunities abound in the island's 3 cities and numerous towns, particularly during summer festivals. For nightlife, George Street, located in downtown St. John's, is closed to traffic 20 hours per day, and is widely understood to have the most pubs per square foot of any street in North America. The Mile One Stadium in St. John's is the venue for large sporting and concert events in the province.

In March, the annual seal hunt (of the harp seal) takes place.

Largest Municipalities (2006 population)
 * 1) St. John's (100,646)
 * 2) Mount Pearl (24,671)
 * 3) Conception Bay South (21,966)
 * 4) Corner Brook (20,083)
 * 5) Grand Falls-Windsor (13,558)
 * 6) Paradise (12,584)
 * 7) Gander (9,951)
 * 8) Stephenville (6,588)
 * 9) Portugal Cove – St. Philip's (6,575)
 * 10) Torbay (6,281)
 * 11) Marystown (5,436)
 * 12) Bay Roberts (5,414)
 * 13) Clarenville (5,274)
 * 14) Deer Lake (4,827)
 * 15) Carbonear (4,723)
 * 16) Channel – Port aux Basques (4,319)
 * 17) Placentia (3,898)
 * 18) Bonavista (3,764)
 * 19) Bishop's Falls (3,399)
 * 20) Lewisporte (3,308)

Modern literature

 * Sean T. Cadigan. Newfoundland and Labrador: A History (2009) search and text excerpt
 * Peter Neary. 1996. Newfoundland in the North Atlantic world, 1929–1949. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, Quebec.
 * Henry K. Gibbons. 1997. The Myth and Mystery of John Cabot: The Discoverer of North America, Marten Cat Publishers, Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland.
 * Michael Harris. 1992. Rare Ambition: The Crosbies of Newfoundland. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-023220-6
 * Kevin Major, As Near To Heaven by Sea, (Toronto, 2001)
 * John Gimlette, Theatre of Fish, (Hutchinson, London, 2005). ISBN 0-09-179519-2
 * E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News, (Simon & Schuster, 1993). ISBN 0-7432-2540-6
 * Bernice Morgan, Random Passage, (Breakwater Books Ltd, 1992). ISBN 1-55081-051-0
 * Bernice Morgan, Waiting for Time, (Breakwater Books Ltd, 1995). ISBN 1-55081-080-4
 * Bernice Morgan, The Topography of Love, (Breakwater Books Ltd, 2000). ISBN 1-55081-157-6
 * Wayne Johnston. 1999. "The Colony Of Unrequited Dreams". Vintage Canada, Toronto, Ontario. ISBN 978-0-676-97215-3 (0-676-97215-2)
 * Kenneth J. Harvey, Blackstrap Hawco, (Random House Canada, 2008).
 * Michael Crummey, Galore, (Other Publishers, 2011). ISBN 1590514343

Vintage literature

 * Barnes, Capt. William Morris. "When Ships Were Ships (And Not Tin Pots) 1931. Available in digital format at Memorial University site.(http://collections.mun.ca/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/cns&CISOPTR=80667&REC=4)
 * Birkenhead, Lord. The story of Newfoundland (2nd ed. 1920) 192pp edition
 * Joseph Hatton and Moses Harvey, Newfoundland: Its History and Present Condition, (London, 1883) complete text online* MacKay, R. A. Newfoundland: Economic, Diplomatic, and Strategic Studies, (1946) online edition
 * Millais, John Guille.  The Newfoundland Guide Book, 1911: Including Labrador and St. Pierre (1911)? online edition; also reprinted 2009
 * Moyles, Robert Gordon, ed. "Complaints is Many and Various, But the Odd Divil Likes It": Nineteenth Century Views of Newfoundland (1975).
 * Neary, Peter, and Patrick O'Flaherty, eds. By Great Waters: A Newfoundland and Labrador Anthology (1974)
 * D. W. Prowse, A History of Newfoundland (1895), current edition 2002, Boulder Publications, Portugal Cove, Newfoundland. complete text online
 * Charles Pedley, History of Newfoundland, (London, 1863) complete text online
 * Philip Tocque, Newfoundland as it Was and Is, (London, 1878) complete text online
 * Arnold Kennedy, Sport and Adventure in Newfoundland and West Indies, (London, 1885) complete text online
 * Moses Harvey, Newfoundland, England's Oldest Colony, (London, 1897) complete text online
 * F. E. Smith, The Story of Newfoundland, (London, 1901)
 * Beckles Wilson, The Truth About Newfoundland, The Tenth Island, (second edition, London, 1901)
 * J. P. Howley, Mineral Resources of Newfoundland, (St. John's, 1909)
 * P. T. McGrath, Newfound in 1911, (London, 1911)