41 



Guy, a merchant of Bristol who pubhshed several pamphlets, and in- 

 duced a number of commercial men of that city, and several persons of 

 influence at court, to join him. Among the latter class were the cele- 

 brated Lord Bacon,* who was then sohcitor general ; Lord Northamp- 

 ton, keeper of the seals; and Sir Francis Tanfield, chief baron of the 

 exchequer. The patent states, that "divers" of the king's " subjects 

 were desirous to plant in the southern and eastern parts of Newfound- 

 land, whither the subjects of the realm have for upwards of fifty years 

 been used annually, in no small numbers, to resort to fish," &c. The 

 patentees, nearly fifty in number, were designated as "The treasurer 

 and company of adventurers and planters of the citie of London and 

 Bristol, for the colony and plantation of NeM'foundland." The limits of 

 their territory were fixed between Capes St. Mary and Bonavista, 

 comprising that part of the eastern and southern coasts which had been 

 hitherto the chief seat of the fishery. 



The privileges granted were as liberal as could be desired ; the only 

 reservation being, that all British subjects should be allowed to fish at 

 will, and free of tax or restraint, on the coasts. 



The conception was a grand one, and connects Lord Bacon with our 

 annals ; but no results, such as were anticipated, followed. Yet, I sup- 

 pose that Whitbourne, of whom we shall have occasion to speak par- 

 ticularly, alludes to this colony when he says, "Divers worshipfidl citi- 

 zens of the city of Bristol have undertaken to plant a large circuit, and 

 they have maintained a colony of his Majestie's subjects there any time 

 these five yeares, who have builded there faire houses, and done many 

 other good services ; who live there very pleasantly ; and they are well 

 pleased to entertaine, upon fit conditions, such as will be adventurers 

 with them." Whitbourne also mentions by name in the same paper, 

 wliich I conclude was written in 1621, the "WorshipfullJohn Slany, of 

 London, merchant, who is one of the undertakers of the Newfoundland 

 plantation, and is treasurer unto the patentees of that society, who have 

 maintained a colony of his Majestie's subjects there above twelve years;" 

 but I find no other account of Slany or his associates. It appears, too, 

 tliat another company, having obtained a grant of land at Newfoundland, 

 sent out a party who wintered there in 1613 ; but soon becoming weary 

 of their attempts for settlement, they transferred their grant to other ad- 

 venturers. Among the obstacles to colonization at this period, piracy is 

 not to be overlooked. Whitbourne fi-equently suffered at the hands 

 of freebooters, and in 1612 Peter Easton, a noted pirate, with ten 

 well-appointed ships, made himself complete master of the seas, levied 

 a general contribution on the vessels employed in fishing and impressed 

 from those at Concepcion Bay one hundred men for his own fleet. 

 Pirates continued to harass and plunder the fishermen for several years. 



In 1613 we notice the birth of the first child of European parents. 

 Two years later, Richard Whitbourne, already mentioned, who had 

 made many voyages to Newfoundland, arrived at that island with a 

 commission from the admiralty to empannel juries and correct abuses 

 and disorders among the fishermen on the coast. He summoned a 



*Francis Bacon, Baron of Veralura, one of the most remarkable of men, was boni in Lon- 

 don, in 1561. He was created Lord High Chancellor of England in 1619, and died in 1626. 



