History of Merasheen

The major portion of this History is taken directly from a paper researched and written by the late

Sister Alice Wilson when she was studying at Memorial University in St. John's.

Merasheen Island in Placentia Bay was settled, it seems before 1836, since the census of the year shows a population of 167 people. In 1836, there were already 25 houses there and each of these employed a servant. Tombstones also show dates which extend back to the seventeenth century. In 1836, Merasheen's population is from a single settlement on the island. However, in 1845, we find that Merasheen Island had three settlements:

• Little Merasheen - Population 159
• Great Merasheen - Population 105
• Virgin Cove - Population 42

These divisions continued, as can be seen in the census, until 1891. Oral sources show that the \/irgin Cove settlement remained until after 1900. The people there then moved to Merasheen Proper. Though not in any official way, the division of Little Merasheen and Big Merasheen remained there until 1967. It is important to note that no one in the community seemed to know exactly where Little Merasheen ended and Big Merasheen began.

Both Merasheens have good ice-free harbours and fishing could be done on a year round basis. Little Merasheen was the centre of activity in 1890 and early 1900’s since the school, church, and merchants resided in this area. Later, this did not exist, but the names always remained.

Many legends suggest that Merasheen may have been settled in the early sixteenth century by French people who were trying to settle there or by the English people who desired to remain in Newfoundland during the winter. Mr. Bill Pomroy, an 80 year old gentleman related that Soldier’s Point got its name because it was the scene of a French and English battle before 1783. Tombstones, as stated earlier, date back to the 1700’s. Another legend states that Merasheen was discovered and settled by two Frenchmen, one named “Mere” and the other “Jean”. Later it became Merasheen. In Little Merasheen, the whole settlement is over a graveyard. This was known orally by all Merasheeners. People installing water lines in 1950 found skulls and bones of humans. It is difficult to show where the people came from at Merasheen. Most people said their immediate family heads were born in Merasheen or other sections of Newfoundland. Only one person in Merasheen in 1849 was not born there, and he was from a British Colony. Many of the people came from Branch, Fox Harbour, Long Harbour, and any other areas where men from Merasheen went to fish. These and other facts seem to indicate that the census of 1836 is listing not the first settlers of Merasheen, but perhaps second generation of a second settlement which did not come from Europe as the first settlers did, but came from settled sections of Newfoundland. The population growth was of a steady rise from 167 in 1836 to its peak of 380 in 1921. In 1953, the survey stated it was steady at 348. It declined in the 196O’s and by the end of 1968 no one remained.

The economy of Merasheen has always been dependent on the fishery. It is surrounded by the best fishing grounds in Placentia Bay - i.e. Merasheen Bank. The White Sail, Bennett's Bank, Iron Skull, etc. which were used for trawls, nets, and jigger. There were also numerous trap berths from Buckle Cove, the Wild Cove and Fox Point down in the Bight to the Long Point, the Dirty Rocks and the Point of Merasheen on the end of the land, which year after year yielded good voyages of fish. The fishery in Merasheen went through the changes of history ranging from the small punt fishery to the bank fishery in the schooners, to the traps and gillnets of recent years, but up to this day, those with the energy and initiative who go back year after year to the grounds they know so well, manage to make a living as they did when they lived and worked there in years gone by.