Swain's Island, Newfoundland, is actually a group of eight islands on the north side of Bonavista Bay, southeast of Wesleyville. All of these islands once had inhabitants but eventually all of them were resettled, mostly to Wesleyville.
The earliest parts of Swain's Island to be settled were the Outer Swain's Islands, which were close to good fishing grounds and provided excellent shelter for vessels. The first settlers were two Englishmen, William Tiller and John Winsor, who arrived in 1810. Other families soon followed, including the Brentons, Mulletts, Stockleys, Dykes, and Hills. By 1836, the islands had 85 inhabitants among them, and a Church of England school-chapel had been built on one of them — Hill's Island. By the 1860s, Swain's Island was prospering: It had a successful inshore fishery; it participated in the Labrador fishery; and residents had begun to participate in the seal hunt.
By 1869 the population had reached 265, and it stayed stable for a few years, but after that people began moving to the mainland, and to places like Wesleyville. In 1896, Swain’s Island was unable to find a schoolteacher willing to teach there, and so a ferry service was established to take children to attend school in Wesleyville. By 1930, the islands had been completely abandoned.[1]
When Swain's Island was first settled, the entire population belonged to the Church of England. Swain's Island was often visited by missionaries from Greenspond. For example, the Rev. N. A. Coster visited in June 1830 and baptized over 40 people Robert Dyer and Julian Moreton described their visits to Swain's Island in their diaries and reports.[2] The first record of a layreader, and also of a teacher, was a Mr. E Churnside Bishop, who began teaching and layreading on the island in 1843. Bishop also helped organize the building of a new school which was opened in 1848. A Church of England church was built on Swain's Island and was consecrated in 1861.[1]
The first teaching done on the islands was by a fisherman, John Feltham, who was asked by William Tiller to stay ashore rather than fish to teach his boys. Feltham agreed to this, and sometime later, in 1829, he was appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (S.P.G.), to be a teacher. In 1830 there were about 25 students, but this school was discontinued in 1834. The next record of school was by the teacher Edward Churnside Bishop under the Newfoundland School Society from 1843 to 1883. In 1869 a new school house was built; and the last teacher to teach at Swain's Island was Annie Alice Hall in 1901.[2]
Swain's Island was settled because of its prime location and advantages in the various fisheries. Its entire economy, like so many other communities in Newfoundland at this time, depended upon the fisheries. In 1874 there was a peak number of fishing rooms on Swain's Island, totalling 19 altogether, in 1884 there were still 10 fishing rooms in use.
Some of the vessels in the cod fishery on Swain's Island:[2]
Sealing nets and boats on Swain's Island:[3]
| 1836 | 1845 | 1857 | 1869 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sealing nets | 82 | 130 | 78 | ||
| Large boats for sealing | 4 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
Sealing steamer captains born on Swain's Island:[4]
| 1836 | 1845 | 1869 | 1857 | 1874 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| population | 85 | 103 | 265 | 171 | 354 | |
| inhabited houses | 8 | 8 | 34 | 17 | 35 | |
| families | - | - | 44 | 27 | 54 | |
| Church of England | 85 | 103 | 251 | 170 | 161 | |
| Wesleyan/Methodist | - | - | 14 | - | 190 | |
| Catholics | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | |
| - | 40 | 34 | 42 | 27 | |
| can read/write | - | - | 101 | - | 148 | |
| people catching/curing fish | - | - | 80 | 140 | 167 | |
| seamen/fishermen | - | - | - | 49 | 56 | |
| total boats | 7 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 12 | |
| boats/vessels built | - | - | - | 2 | ||
| sealing vessels | - | 2 | 10 | 4 | 12 | |
| men on board | - | - | 135 | 138 | 85 | |
| tonnage | - | 86 | 350 | 382 | 388 | |
| nets/seines | - | 5 | 73 | 27 | 86 | |
| sealing nets | - | 82 | 78 | 130 | 59 | |
| seals caught | - | - | - | 2669 | 1654 | |
| cod fish cured (qtls) | - | - | - | 3800 | 4550 | |
| herring (Bls) | - | - | - | 50 | - | |
| oil produced (gals) | - | - | - | 13 tuns | 2750 | |
| fishing rooms in use | - | - | 15 | 11 | 19 | |
| stores/barns/outhouses | - | - | 17 | 14 | 18 | |
| barrels of potatoes produced | 504(busl) | 102 | 310 | 190 | 446 | |
| barrels of turnip | - | - | 15 | 16 | 30 | |
| tons of hay | - | 1/4 | - | - | - | |
| cows/oxen | - | - | 2 | - | - | |
| sheep/swine/goats | - | - | 32 | 21 | 68 |
Hutchinson's Directory of 1864 lists four residents of Swain's Island:[5]
Lovell's Directory for 1871 describes Swain's Island as an island on the north side of Bonavista Bay with a fine harbour but difficult to access. It is distant from Greenspond by 6 miles in boat and has a population of 265.[6]