Ten Historic Towns Bonavista Information
Bonavista Was an important place in Newfoundland from its sighting by Cabot in 1497 through the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Until the f irst quarter of the Eighteenth Century it was the most northerly point of English settlement. By 1677 it was the second most populous town in the island having eighteen houses to St. John's forty-five. With a good inshore fishery as a foundation it was used as a departure point for both the more northerly fishery grounds as well as for the seal fishery.

Bonavista's early importance can also be gauged from the fact that the town had three small forts in 1696 and that in 1725 an aisle to accommodate a hundred people was added to the existing Church. In 1730 the town was prosperous enough to build a new church and to bring out both workmen and materials from England.

This importance made Bonavista a prominent target for the French who attacked it a number of times. In 1704 it was ably defended by the New England trader Captain Michael Gill whose courageous resistance encouraged the local populace, who had fled to the woods, to come to his assistance and save the town from being burnt.

A feature of Bonavista which sets it apart from most early Newfoundland communities is that it is laid out on fairly flat ground, not in a steep cove. This produces a different street pattern from the kind normally encountered and lanes and fences meander and intersect all over the town face. Of interest too are the old district names that survive from the beginning of the Eighteenth Century; names such as Mockbeggar, Canaille and Bayley's Cove.


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