" Discover the Heritage of the Baccalieu Trail "


Bay de Verde - History Timeline


1662 - Isaac Dethick settled at Bay de Verde after being deported from Placentia by the newly arrived French garrison.

1675 – Seven families and their servants , numbering about 150 people total, 11 rooms and stages in the harbour are listed as occupying Bay de Verde Family names include: Taverner, Jefferys, Bennett, Hill and Batten.

1677 – Residents are attracted by the increasing fishery. Community produces 1,700 quintals of fish.

1693 – Community expands to produce 4,450 quintals of fish.

1697 ( February 2) - The journal of Abbe Baudoin noted that "there were in this harbour fourteen settlers well established and ninety good men".

1714 - William Taverner, born at Bay de Verde, surveys the south coast of Newfoundland for the english crown.

1729 – Bay de Verde becomes one of the six judicial districts created by Governor Henry Osborne. These districts are responsible for the erection of stocks and the administration of logging for minor crimes.

1738 - Seventeen ships are engaged in the fishery from the harbour.

1823 – Newfoundland School Society under the direction of Samuel Codner establishes its first free school.

1830’s (late) – Father James Duffy begins his ministry from Northern Bay Roman Catholic Parish.

1837 – Population drops as a result of the failure of the fishery.

1839 – First denominational school is started by John Lynch and William Pippy of the Church of England.

1841 - Church of England wardens James Morris and William Barter establishes their Bay de Verde parish.

1843 – School master Morrissey begins a Roman Catholic school.

1846 – Reverend John Roberts is appointed to the Church of England mission of Grates Cove – Bay de Verde.

1870 – Bay de Verde’s geographical isolation reduced when the newly constituted Road Board began to establish a road.

1872 – Road completed to Red Head Cove, Grates Cove and Old Perlican.

1902 – 1915 – Thomas Moore operates one of the first lobster canning ventures in the community.

1911 – The community has 762 residents. Fisherman’s Protective Union Store is open.

1915 – Railway branch-line from Carbonear to Bay de Verde is completed.

1931 – Railway branch-line is phased out.

1946 – Fisherman’s Protective Union Store fails as does an attempt to establish a co-operative.

1950 – Patrick Noonan becomes the first mayor of Bay de Verde’s community council, which was established in July to provide services, including, a municipal water supply system.

1967 – Quinlan Brothers fish plant operates six of the twelve longliners fishing from the settlement and continues to process crab, salmon, turbot, and cod.

1981 – Quinlan Brothers expands to four other communities around Newfoundland. During the peak of this season the plant employs over 300 people from Bay de Verde.