Ship Harbour is a community in
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
located on the eastern shore of
Placentia Bay
Placentia Bay (french: Baie de Plaisance) is a body of water on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It is formed by Burin Peninsula on the west and Avalon Peninsula on the east. Fishing grounds in the bay were used by native people long ...
.
Adjacent to
Argentia
Argentia ( ) is a Canadian commercial seaport and industrial park located in the Town of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by a triangular shaped headland which r ...
, the waters off Ship Harbour are best known as the site of
Atlantic Conference
The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued on 14 August 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II. The joint statement, later dubbed the Atlantic Charter, outlined the aims of the United States and ...
between
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
on August 14, 1941. While and were secretly anchored in the entrance off Ship Harbour, various dignitaries and the two heads of government discussed the terms of what would become known as the
Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued on 14 August 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II. The joint statement, later dubbed the Atlantic Charter, outlined the aims of the United States and ...
. The community has a site dedicated to the meeting and also has a museum located in the Community Center.
Ship Harbour has a population of about 200 people. It is west of
St. John's and can be reached on the
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
and exiting at the Argentia Access Road.
History
Ship Harbour has been settled since at least 1835 when it was included in the Argentia Parish. By 1845 there were 2 families of 13 people, and the community did not appear again until 1869 when the population moved upward to 38 (two of the residents being born in Ireland). In the census of 1874 with 6 families and in 1884 it boasted 116 people. By the turn of the century there were four
lobster
Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...
factories operating in Ship Harbour and some
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
was
tinned
Tinning is the process of thinly coating sheets of wrought iron or steel with tin, and the resulting product is known as tinplate. The term is also widely used for the different process of coating a metal with solder before soldering.
It is most ...
. Merchant Alberto Wareham outfitted local fishermen for the lobster and herring fisheries. In the 1921 Almanac of Newfoundland Edward Power is listed as the Post Master in Ship Harbour. Through oral history he is said to have operated out of his home. Ship Harbour's major surnames include
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...
,
Griffiths
The surname
Griffiths is a surname with Welsh origins, as in Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr. People called Griffiths recorded here include:
* Alan Griffiths (born 1952), Australian politician and businessman
* Alan Griffiths (cricketer) (born 1957), ...
, Sparrow,
Power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
,
Meade,
Newman,
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
,
Ledwell, and
Upshall.
Education and religion
By 1884, there was a school built according to the census that year. In 1891 a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church was built. By the early 1900s the one-room school-house built before 1884 was still in use with a Ms. Mary Sullivan as the schools only teacher. The community hall was once Little Flower School, that had been built in 1946. When the school was closed, portable classrooms were set up down the road at another site. In 1966 the first group of high school students were bussed to
Fox Harbour, a community away. Two years later a new high school opened in
Placentia and both Ship Harbour and Fox Harbour students went to Laval High School.
Presentation Sisters
The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by the Venerable Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The Sisters of the congre ...
taught girls in one wing and
Irish Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice.
Their first school was opened in Waterford, Ireland, ...
taught boys in the other wing of Laval High School. In 1986 the portable school was permanently closed in Ship Harbour and all students, to this day are bussed to
Dunville Dunville may refer to:
*Dunville, Newfoundland and Labrador, a place in Newfoundland, Canada
*Dunnville, Ontario, a place in Ontario, Canada
*John Dunville, an Irish founder of Dunville & Co
*John Dunville
John Spencer Dunville, (7 May 1896&nbs ...
to St. Anne's Academy for
kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
to Grade 6 and to Placentia for Grade 7 to Grade 12.
See also
*
Swells Cove
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ship Harbour, Newfoundland And Labrador
Populated places in Newfoundland and Labrador