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NEWCHURCH. 



NEWHAVEN'. 



870 



Until the constmction of the High-Level Bridge the railway accom- 

 inoHatioD was very incomplete. When that was erected, and the 

 various railways on both sides of the Tyne were connected with each 

 other, the town was placed in direct communication with moat of the 

 ports and principal towns of England and Scotland. A central terminus 

 for all the lines was at the same time built, on a magnificent pcate, in 

 a convenient part of the town. The building is a Roman Doric edifice 

 of polished stone, having a principal front nearly 600 feet long, with 

 a portico in the centre 200 feet long. 



NEWCHURCH. (Lancashire.] 



NEWENT, Gloucestershire, a market-town, and the seal of a Poor- 

 Law Union in the parish of Newent, is situated in 51° 55' N. lat., 

 2° 24' W. long., distant 8 miles N.W. from Gloucester, and 110 miles 

 W. by N. from London. The population of the liberty of Newent 

 town in 1831 was 1547. The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry 

 of Gloucester and diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Newent Poor- 

 Law Union contains 18 parishes and town'hips, with an area of 45,281 

 acres, and a population in 1831 of 12,575. The parish church i« ancient, 

 but has been much altered at various times. The Independents have 

 a chapel, and there are National schools. Coal abounds in the vicinity. 

 The Hereford and Gloucester Canal passes the town. The market is 

 held on Friday : fairs are held on the Wednesday before Easter, 

 Wednesday before Whitsuntide, and August 12th. 



NEWFOUNDLAND, an island belonging to Great Britiin, is 

 situated in the Atlantic Ocean, between 46° 40' and 51° 37' N. lat., 

 62° 25' and 59° 15' W. long. It forma a sort of barrier across the 

 greater part of the entrance to the Gulf of St Lawrence. The northern 

 extremity of the island is separated from Labrador by the Strait of 

 Belle Isle, which is 60 miles long and 12 miles wide, and afibnls a 

 deep and safe passage to and from the Gulf of St Lawrence. Cape 

 Kays, the south-western point of the island, is about 70 miles from 

 the North Point, in Cape Breton, and the wide expanse of water 

 between these two points forms the opening from the Gulf of St 

 Lawrence to the Atlantic on the south side of the island. The area 

 ia estimated at about 60,000 square miles. The population in 1853 

 was estimated at 106,000, all of whom with the exception of about 

 8000 are fishermen and fishing servants and labourers, with a small 

 number of families engaged in agriculture. The population is com- 

 posed in nearly equal proportions of Protestants and Roman Catholics. 



The shores are rocky and high, and indented by broad and deep 

 bays, which enter from 40 to 60 miles into the body of the island. 

 The lands adjacent to the sea are rugged and baro, but at the heads 

 of the bays and near the mouths of the rivers there are plains of 

 soma extent covered with trees. The interior of the island seems to 

 contain many lakes, and to be full of swamps and bogs. The hills do 

 not form ridges, but are isolated, and towards the eastern coast they 

 are low, and covered with trees of small growth. The most elevated 

 part is the northern peninsula which lies along the Strait of Belle Isle. 

 The inhabitants are mostly established on the south-eastern coast, 

 especially on the peninsula of Avalnn. which is united to the main 

 body of the island by a low isthmus little more than tlirre miles wide. 

 This isthmus sepamtes Trinity Bay from the Bay of Placentia. The 

 settlements on the other coasts are few and at a considerable distance 

 trnm one another. 



The climate of Newfoundland ia much influenced by its geographical 

 position, by its exposure to the atmosphere of the Atlantic, and by 

 the large fields of ice which, during March, and the two succeeding 

 months, ore on their way from the polar regions towards the south, 

 and covrr the sea adjoining the island to a great extent Great 

 humidity prevails whenever the wind blows from the Atlantic, The 

 cold in winter ia great, but it is not quite so severe as it is on the 

 opposite continent During the summer months the days and nights 

 are generally pleasant. 



Considerable attention has of late years been paid to agricnltnre ; 

 wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips, have been produced of the 

 best quality. Large supplies of seed (wheat, barley, and oats) have 

 been imported by the local government, as well as vegetable and 

 garden seeds, and bare been distributed among the cultivators of the 

 soil ; prizes have also been given for the best crops and the best speci- 

 mens of cattle. Roads are being constantly extended ; 9001. having 

 been spent on them in 1852, and a provincial act was passed in 1852 

 for the establishment of an electric telegraph company, the line to 

 extekd across the inland from east to we*t, and to be connected by a 

 submarine cable with the continent of America. 



Deer and foxes are numerous, but beavers have become scarce. 

 Fishing is almost the only occupation of the inliabitants. Seals are 

 taken, for the sake of the skins and the oil produced from the fat, 

 either by means of nets along the shores or by vessels proceeding to 

 the floating flelds of ice in the spring. About 360 veesels, of an 

 aggregate tonnage of about 35,000 tons, and carrying about 13,000 

 men, are employed in catching the seals. A large number of other 

 persons find employment in preparing the skins and extracting the 

 oil. The estimated value of the seals caught in the spring of 1852 

 was about 250,000/. The co<l fishery is prosecuted in the summer 

 along the eastern and southern shores of the island, on the coasts of 

 Labrvlor, and on the Great Bank. The cod-liver yields a large 

 quantity of oil, which is extracted by merely putting the livers into 

 casks, and when they are fully decayed drawing off the oil. The 



shores of Newfoundland swarm with herrings from March to Decem- 

 ber, but the curing is not well attended to, and the fishery is in 

 consequence of much less value thau it might be. The salmon fishery 

 is of considerable importaooe. A great number of the salmon are 

 sold on the coasts of Labrador and piirts of Newfoundland to American 

 traders, the remainder are cured and packed in barrels for exportation. 



The native tribes seem to have left the island, or have become 

 extinct The last was the Micmac tribe. 



Newfoundland, together with the Bahamas, forms a Church of 

 England bishopric. The Protestants on the island include Episco- 

 palians, Wesleyan Methodists, Presbyterians, Independents, and some 

 others. There is no state provision for the support of any particular 

 religious denomination. For educational purposes a grant of 8400/L 

 a year is made by the legislature, and is distributed, according to their 

 numerical proportions, between Protestants and Roman Catholics. 



Si. John's, the capital of Newfoundland, is situated in a bay on the 

 south-east side of the island, in 47° 33' N. lat, 52° 43' W. long. The 

 entrance to the harbour is narrow, and has only 12 feet of water in 

 mid-channel, but the harbour itst-lf is spacious, is sheltered on all Kides 

 by high rocks, and is defended by several forts. The town suffered 

 severely from a conflagration in June, 1846. The damage was estimated 

 at l,000,000i. sterling. A new custom-house, a building for the 

 meetings of the legislature, and a Protesttnt cathedral have since been 

 built ; two large tanks have been constructed in the centre of the town, 

 and rendered frost-proof, so as to afford at all times a supply of good fresh 

 water; besides which a water company has been established, and .-tlao a 

 gas company ; and a cemetery has been formed outside the town. The 

 population is about 27,000. The town next in importance to St John's 

 is Harbour Grace, on the west side of Conception Bay, 20 miles N.W. 

 from St John's, which has a well-sheltered harbour. 



The Great Bank, on the south-east side of the island, is the most 

 extensive submarine elevation known to exist in any ocean. It is 

 600 miles long, and in some places 200 miles wide. The whole appears 

 to be a mass of rock, with abrupt edges, which deepen suddenly from 

 25 to 90 fathonu. There are about 4 fathoms of water on the shoalest 

 parts. The principal fishing grounds are over the Bank, between 42° 

 and 46° N. lat 



The affairs of the colony are administered by a governor, a legisla- 

 tive assembly, and an executive council. The total reveuuo in 1850 

 was 82,6252. 0«. Srf.; in 1852 it was 80,4792. 19». lOrf., and the total 

 expenditure 102,3362., the customs duties having fallen off from a 

 diminution of imports, and the expenditure having been increased by 

 the necessity of affording extensive relief, in consequence of the 

 failure of the cod-fishing and of the potato crop. The estimated 

 value of the importa in 1850 was 867,3162.; in 1852 it was 795,758i. 

 The imports consist chiefly of provisions, coals, woollen, cotton, linen, 

 and silk manufactures, cordage, fishing-tackle, and various other 

 necessary articles, from Great Britain, the British colonies in North 

 America, and the United States. The estimated value of the exports 

 in 1850 was 975,7702., the exports from the fisheries alone amounting 

 to 928,4272., the remaining articles of export being chiefly molasses, 

 sugar, and wine, which are imported for subsequent exportation to 

 Great Britain aud the British colonies in North America. In 1852 the 

 exports were somewhat more than 980,0002. The number of ships 

 inwards in 1850 was 1220 (138,628 tons) ; the number of ships out- 

 wards was 1102(129,832 tons). The amount of the customs duties 

 in 1850 was 64,5242. 7>., but in 1852 there was a considerable decline. 



Newfoundland was first discovered before the year 1000 by the 

 Norwegians who sailed from Greenland on a voyage of discovery, and 

 visited several parts of the coast of North America. It was again 

 discovered June 24th 1497 by John Cabot, then in the service of 

 England. The name Newfoundland was given by him to the whole of 

 the territories which he discovered, but was subsequently restricted 

 to the island to which it is now applied. After several attempts had 

 been made to form settlements without success. Sir George Calvert, 

 afterwards Lord Baltimore, in 1623 formed a colony on the south- 

 eastern part of the iitlaud, which he called Avalou, and appointed his 

 son governor. He and his followers were liomau Catholics. Other 

 colonies were established in 1633 by Lord Falkland, and in 1654 by 

 Sir David Kirk. In 1708 the French attacked and obtained possession 

 of nearly all the colonies, but by the treaty of Utrecht the island was 

 declared to belong wholly to Great Britain, the French being allowed 

 a certain limited right of fishing. 



NEWHAVEN, Sussex, a small sea-port town, and the seat of a Poor- 

 Law Union, in the parish of Newhaven, is situated on the right bank 

 of the navigable river Ouse, near its mouth, in 50° 47' N. lat, 0° 3' E. 

 long., distant 8 miles S. from Lewes, 66 miles S. by E. from London 

 by road, and 664 miles by the Brighton aud South Coast railway. 

 The population of the parish of Newhaven in 1851 was 1358. The 

 living is a rectory in the archdeaconry of Lewes and diocese of 

 Chichester. Newhaven Poor-Law Union contains 16 parishes and town- 

 ships, with an area of 28,462 acres, and a population in 1851 of 6248. 



Newhaven was formerly called Meeching. The parish church stands 

 on a hill to the west of the town : the nave is modern, but the chancel 

 is of Norman date. There are a chapel for Baptists and a National 

 school The harbour is the best tidal harbour between Ports- 

 mouth and the Downs. It has been considerably improved of 

 late years. The railway ia carried dow# to the quay. Sine* 



