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At some
point in the early 1840s, Owen Stentiford left his home in Torquay and
set sail for Newfoundland. He was a carpenter and like many a young man
at this time, he must have seen the place as a fine opportunity - a
chance to have a better life than ever could be his in Devon. His
parents kept what was then called a "beer house" - not a pub,
just their own cottage where by purchasing a simple licence they were
allowed to sell any surplus beer that they brewed themselves.
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The river Fleete still ran above ground in Torquay then and along its
banks were rows of cottages in what is called Pimlico, where fishermen
and their families lived. Here, in the evenings, they must have talked
about one of the most important topics of the time - the Newfoundland
fishing trade.
Close to
Torquay were a number of small ports which to a large extent were
totally dependent on a seasonal visit across the Atlantic to fish for
cod off the coast of Newfoundland. Each Spring, the fishermen of
Kingswear, Dartmouth, Shaldon and Teignmouth sailed off in flotillas of
small wooden boats to the ice-bound waters off Newfoundland in search of
that most prized catch - cod.
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Fishing stations were established on shore and the men stayed out
there throughout the summer, catching all they could. The fish was gutted,
split and salted before being left on wooden racks in the clear cold air
of Newfoundland to dry out. In the early days of Autumn, the tiny vessels made the return trip to
England loaded with dried salt cod - a most welcome addition to the winter
dinner tables.
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Carpenters
were highly prized at the fishing stations - if things went smoothly
there, the boats could land their catch and get back to the fishing
grounds in as short a time as possible. Owen's job would have been to
provide and maintain a constant supply of wooden drying racks as the season
progressed.
At first, he probably returned with the boats each Autumn but in 1845
he married Harriet Hiscock in Newfoundland and put down roots. Not a
good catch so Harriet's family thought, and, family gossip has it, they
promptly disowned her. Five of their six children were born there before
the family returned to England in 1861. |
Cod drying out
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