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It
is immediately evident that these family names are quite different
from those of the Acadians. It is true that over the years there
has been a mingling of the two traditions, with Acadians settling
on the peninsula and Frenchmen moving to the Stephenville area;
but the distinction between the two groups holds true, since the
"French from France" distinguish themselves from the "Stephenville
French: that is, the Acadians.
Looking
at the list of French family names, one notices a certain number
of changes in their spelling. This is due in part to the absence
of a literate tradition, in part to the effects of assimilation.
The Acadians, for example, who have been most susceptible to the
pressures exercised by a predominantly anglophone culture, have
straightforwardly anglicized many family names. Thus Leblanc becomes
White; Benoit (without the circumflex accent in Newfoundland),
Bennett; Aucoin, O'Quinn; Lejeune, Young; Alexandre, Alexander.
But some families had more urgent reasons to disguise their identities.
We know that most of the first French settlers on the peninsula
had deserted from the French fishery, and had a real fear of being
captured by the authorities and sent back to France.
A
family by the name of Rioux, from Mainland, was known formerly
as Boloche, according to oral testimony. Even today the name Leboloch
exists in St. Pierre. It is likely that the name change was prompted
by the desire to conceal the bearer's identity. One old lady told
how, when she was about six years old, she saw a squad of armed
French sailors come ashore from a warship. They asked her if she
knew where certain men were to be found; she did not, but learned
subsequently that the men being pursued had deserted and hidden
in the woods behind Mainland until the sailors left. This took
place in 1900.