Ferryland Information

In 1617 Vaughan sent out his first colonists to Glamorgan, a site which was probably around Renews. The colony was idealized in his book "The Golden Fleece". By 1619 it was reported that "the Welch Fooles" had abandoned the colony and left the island.

Sir William Vaughan disposed of part of his territory to Lord Falkland and at the instigation of his brother the Earl of Carberry he turned over a further portion to Sir George Calvert. This small tract of land which included the harbours of Caplin Bay (now Calvert) and Ferryland stretched south to Aquaforte, where Falkland's patent began.

George Calvert was born in the Yorkshire town of Ripling in 1582 and was educated at Trinity College, Oxford. He entered public service as secretary to Robert Cecil, Lord High Treasurer, and chief minister to Queen Elizabeth. In 1617 Calvert was knighted by KingJames I and in 1619 was made one of the principal Secretaries of State. In an age of Militant Protestantism he converted privately to Catholicism but the action does not seem to have blighted his esteem or career. At court he was in a position to be informed about the new plantations such asJohn Guy's Cupids Colony of 1610 and it was probably the speculation which he heard about courtiers that prompted him to purchase part of Vaughan's patent and turn to colonization.

In 1621 Calvert sent out his first group of colonists to settle at Ferryland, a place name corrupted from the Portuguese word "fortillon" meaning a cape or point of land. He called his colony Avalonia.

These settlers were much more industrious than Vaughan's and between their arrival on September 5th and Halloween they erected a substantial home for the Governor 44 feet by 15 feet, comprising a hall, a cellar, and four other chambers. By Christmas they had completed a stone kitchen with a room above it. Captain Winne, the man in charge, was able to report to Sir George Calvert 28July 1622 "the good tydings of all our healths, safety and good success in our proceedings." He said they had passed the winter in fortifying the harbour against pirate raids, planting wheat, and preparing the ground for sowing barley, oats and vegetables in the spring. It was hoped to finish work on a "prittie street," paved with cobblestones and lined with cottages.

A second group of settlers which included the wives of some of the men was sent out in the spring of 1622. The Ferryland colony now had a population of seven women and 25 men. On the 17 August 1622 (captain Winne wrote to Master Secretary Calvert that they had a kitchen garden as plentiful as any seen in England and a meadow of about three acres for the cows and horses. The news from Newfoundland was so encouraging that Calvert, who held his plantation from a patentee of the Newfoundland Company, decided to put his tenure on a more secure footing. The original grant he received from the Crown in December 1622 wasfor "the whole country of Newfoundland." Obviously the Newfoundland Company objected and this was amended three months later and the charter of Avalon was granted in April 1623. It extended Calvert's claim beyond the territory he acquired from Vaughan as far north as Petty Harbour and west to Conception and Placentia Bays. The Monarch granted to his state Secretary, "Civil rights as full as the Bishop of Durham . . . That the region may be eminent above all other parts of Newfoundland and graced with larger titles, we have thought fit to erect the same into a Province to be called the Province of Avalon." Calvert was able to proclaim complete religious liberty in his colony.

In 1625 Sir George Calvert resigned as Secretary of State and declared himself privately to be a Roman Catholic. He was given the Irish title of Baron Baltimore of Longford, a pension of 2,000 pounds per annum, and was now free to devote himself to the flourishing little colony of 100 settlers at Ferryland. It was not until 23 July 1627 that Lord Baltimore, accompanied by two Catholic priests, Fathers Anthony Smith and Longville, finally set eyes on his Avalonia. He was encouraged by what he saw to return the following year with his wife, Lady Joan, and all his children except his eldest son, Cecil, who remained behind to look after family affairs in England. He was also accompanied by his sons-in-law Sir R. Talbot and William Peasley and a third priest, Father Hackett.

Besides problems with French privateers who raided the colony Lord Baltimore was soon involved in a religious dispute. On his arrival in Newfoundland in 1627 the two Roman Catholic priests he brought with him offered the first mass in British North America at Ferryland in thanksgiving for a safe voyage. Rev. Erasmus Stourton, the first Church of England Clergyman in Newfoundland, made it his business to check out the rumors of Popish practices at Ferryland. When his worst fears were realized Stourton had an acrimonious meeting with Lord Baltimore which resulted in his Lordship using the powers of his charter to have the clergyman banished from the island. Back in England Stourton lost no time in pouring into Puritan ears the frightful news that His Lordship was encouraging Popery among English subjects at Ferryland. Perhaps because of George Calvert's reputation for liberality and enlightenment no one apparently took any action about the complaint.

In November 1628 the mild winters of the previous half dozen years came to an abrupt end and one of the most bitterly cold winters imaginable began with high winds and snow. For six ms onths frost, snow, sleet and storms battered the colonists. Lady Baltimore suffered agonies from the cold and there was a shortage of food. With the coming of spring she begged her husband to send her to a kindlier climate so she was embarked with the younger children for Jamestown, Virginia.

An investment of between 20,000 pounds and 30,000 pounds, was lost when plans for the province of Avalon were given up. King Charles I advised his father's former State Secretary to abandon his colonial plans altogether. Baltimore did not take the advice but sailed from Ferryland to Jamestown where he was rudely received because of being a Roman Catholic. Before being deported to England he noted the amenities of the Chesapeeake Bay area and decided to seek a grant of land in the vicinity. His wife and children followed him in another ship which was tragically lost at sea with all hands.

This great personal tragedy did not stop him from appealing again for a new grant. The charter for Terra Mariae, or St. Mary's, as it was called, was similar to the one by which he governed Avalon. However, Lord Baltimore was never to see his new colony. III and worn out from his tribulations George Calvert died in England 15 April 1632. He was 53 years of age. Two months latef the charter for St. Mary's, or Maryland, was granted to his son Cecil on June 20.

In 1638 Sir David Kirke, who had captured Quebec from the French, took over Ferryland and the province of Avalon on a patent from his close friend, Charles I. The Calverts brought a suit against Kirke who was recalled to England during the Interregnum of Oliver Cromwell to answer charges. Sir David died in prison but Lady Kirke continued to occupy Ferryland with her sons. She is said to have died in St.John's and was buried in the Church of England cemetery on Duckworth Street.

Avalonia, Baltimore's haven for Roman Catholics and religious dissenters, can claim to be the first place in the new World where freedom of religion was proclaimed by law. It failed because its idealistic proprietor was unprepared for coping with its sometimes severe climate, poor soil and few readily available resources, but the colony did not die. In 1652 in evidence taken by commissioners sent from Maryland to Ferryland there were still settlers living there who had come out with Lord Baltimore. Their descendants such as the Carter family are still living in Newfoundland today.