Ryan Premises (Bonavista)
Ryan Premises (Bonavista)![[Ryan Premises: Image]](032.jpg)
The Ryan's were principal merchants on the Bonavista-Trinity Peninsula from about 1850 onwards. James Ryan, for whom the business is named, was probably born in Ireland and came out to Newfoundland with his father as a child. He began his business as supplier for the inshore fishery and eventually expanded, with his Newfoundland-born brothers, into Trinity, King's Cove, Elliston and Catalina. Surviving the bank crash of 1895 the Ryans built a very prosperous trade which lasted into the Twentieth Century. The shop shown here is part of a large group of Ryan buildings which includes the main house, a company house, several barns and outbuildings as well as the waterside premises. The store itself is a very fine working example of a Nineteenth Century Newfoundland store. The old ledger and tally desks can still be found in the offices, the windows retain their large panelled wooden shutters.