Located in Battle Harbour and Bonavista are structures that would have
formed part of the mercantile complex that would have existed in most
communities where the mercantile class established their trade.
Similar premises would have also existed in other communities such as
at Trinity and Twillingate. The extent of these properties illustrates
the wide variety of facilities that were needed for a successful
commercial operation in the fishing industry. Typically, the fish
merchant complexes were, like old world estates or colonial
plantations, basically self sufficient units. They included a large
dwelling house of the merchant, or his agent, accommodations for
employees, warehouses, storehouses, workshops, barns, gardens and
docks. The principal buildings of a salt fish mercantile establishment
included the salt store, a “dry provisions” store for items such as
flour, bread and tea, and a “wet provisions” store, sometimes simply
called the “pork store,” for salt pork, salt beef, butter, and
molasses. There were also a variety of stores for fish, (cod, salmon,
and herring), oil and seal skins. Other structures included a
Shop/Office building, flakes for drying cod, and facilities for
processing.
The main aesthetic qualities of such establishments included a sense
of strength and security, the unity and completeness of the building
assemblage, and the functional utility and efficiency of the
structures, both individually and as a unit. The merchant structures
were, along with the church, among the best built buildings in a
settlement.
The General Store was usually centrally located within the mercantile
complex and not only sold “shop” goods, but also housed the manager’s
and bookkeeping offices. It was the focal point of all business
transactions.
The Cookhouse was also a feature of the earliest seasonal fishing
stations in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was a communal building used
to house and feed fishing crews or servants. Cookhouses were common on
merchant premises as long as the firms relied upon external labour
however once people started to permanently settle and they erected
their own dwelling houses the need for a cookhouse dwindled.
In general, mercantile settlements developed in the more spacious and
better situated harbours and, in the process of evolution, often
became regional centres. These were the sites where well-capitalized
and aggressive fishing firms established trading premises, built
warehouses and stores, stored supplies and fishing equipment,
undertook processing of both marine and terrestrial products, carried
out ship repair, and engaged in an exchange trade under the truck or
credit system with nearby inhabitants and fishing crews.
Such businesses were established by the merchant houses of Poole and
Bristol at various locations around Newfoundland and were among the
first, in the 1760s and 1770s, to open sub-establishments in coastal
Labrador. Mercantile centres such as those established in Trinity,
Carbonear, Fogo, and Twillingate in Newfoundland earlier on, and
others such as Forteau, Cape Charles, Battle Harbour and Venison
Island in Labrador later, had, in their respective regions, a number
of basic functions. Firstly, they were major ports for overseas ships
consigned with food supplies, clothing, fishing gear, and other
manufactures, especially vast quantities of salt for use in the
fishery. Secondly, they were sites from which staples (cod, salmon,
furs and oils) harvested and processed within the respective regions
were dispatched to foreign markets. Thirdly, the mercantile centres
functioned as focal points and conduits in a migration system both
inward from labour source areas to places of employment, and outward
from the resource and settlement hinterland to the original homeland
areas or elsewhere. Fourthly, the merchant establishments provided the
financial and exchange mechanisms linking primary producers (planters,
fishing crews) with external and long-distant sources of supply
(including labour) and markets for their produce. Fifthly, the
mercantile centre was also usually involved in a variety of fishery
and shipping support activities such as ship building and repair,
coopering, blacksmithing, and gear making and repair, all of which
provided employment for artisans and tradesmen.
Please see the diagram of what the Slade plantation looked like in
Trinity based on the 1833 map that was completed by Rev. William
Bullock. No known paintings or photographs exist of the property.
Please also refer to other sections of this virtual exhibit to get an
idea of what the Slade premises looked like in other communities where
they operated.
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
Agenda Paper on Battle Harbour, Labrador by Dr. Chesley W. Sanger,
1996.
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