What was the involvement of Jersey mariners in the Canadian cod-fisheries and the Transatlantic carrying trade? –

Since Canada’s discovery from around 1497, Europeans from early years, had their Fishermen drawn to the continents’ local seas full of fish. By the early 16th-century 10,000 European Fishermen made the Transatlantic voyage to fish in the area for cod.

Amongst these Fishermen where sailors from the Channel Islands, who by the 1750s, had set up lucrative trade routes between Europe, Canada and America. Although Jersey folk did not necessarily fish themselves some did. The majority that where involved in the Canadian Cod industry, where merchants, trading all across the globe from areas such as in central America, North Africa and Europe. Through this process, Jersey was able to gain a lot of wealth through the trade deals made with Cod for other commodities such as coffee, sugar, wines and spirits. Imported into Jersey and then re-exported free of tax this made it quite a popular location for the international markets. With wood such a Mahogany imported this benefited Jersey’s shipbuilding industry which in turn fuelled the Cod trade with more ships to obtain these items.

Which ports did Jersey ships sail to and trade with?

Voyaging from coasts such as Gaspé, here was where they salted and prepare the cod for trade and travel. All year round Fishermen could travel and fish, seas held plentiful amount of fish, nearer the coast proved harder for other fisherman but Channel Islanders experience with coastal fishing made use of their skills. Other ports included that on the Newfoundland, South America and others. Main ports which ships travelled to during their trades consisted of Bristol, London, Liverpool. Trading through both English and French ports in the Newfoundland, Jersey peoples native tongue and adoption of English benefitted them massively due to how similar they sounded. Using it also to discuss trade deals this allowed them to judge if they felt they where being scammed or not.

Charles Robin

1743 – 1824

Charles Robin, a Jersey Merchant , is one of many Channel Islanders who sailed to the Gaspé Coast as well as the grounds of Cape Breton Island.

Within his life he became the Island’s leading merchant and biggest exporter on the Gaspé Coast. Forming the family firm Robin, pipon and Co in 1765, they established links with Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and the British colony of Newfoundland. In the exchanging of control from French to British in the Newfoundland’s, Robin was sent to Seaflowerto to establish potential trading on the coast south of the St Lawrence river, which when under French control used to been the territory of St Malo merchants. Here, Robin discovered some of the best fishing grounds in the Atlantic were across the banks of the St Lawrence River by the mouth of the Gaspé Coast.

On the gravelly beaches of the banks, this proved perfect for the drying process of the Cod collected by fishermen. In the following year robin returned and established a dock within a lagoon which ships could safely anchor within. From this point onwards, Robins lucrative industry began thriving. Trading with America, Britain and many other countries this generated a lot of wealth for Robin. However due to fluctuations in the need for Cod life at the Gaspe was exactly perfect. Wars would occasionally cause trading difficulties, with the British-American war of 1812 – 1814 for example, this forced him to close for a couple of years. Annoyances such as ship seizures by privateers, lost valuable cargos and attacks from French ships caused Robin to suffer some difficulties. However being a resourceful man, during Britain’s war against France, he made his men disguise them selves as French soldiers. Speaking Jersey’s dialect of French he could deter any questionings by French warships. Due to fears of losing his men for pressures of joining into naval service, he avoided British ports, sailing to Portugal and Jersey, he recruited more workers from the Les Quennevais area. Bringing in carpenters and shipwrights this allowed him to construct his own vessels and develop his industry further and have ships docked in both Jersey and at the Gaspe. Settling back home in Jersey, Robin left the Gaspe for last time in 1802, however still ran operations. Even after his death his firm continued on in his legacy.

What type of goods did Jersey merchants exchange for cod-fish?

Throughout the Transatlantic carrying trade, Jersey Merchants received, by French and English fishermen, dried and salted cod. Providing economic benefit to Jersey, these allowed for much larger exchanges to ports in the Americas. Through these trades, Jersey folk received commodities, exotic in comparison to the food on the island. Islanders could now enjoy items such as rum from the Caribbean, molasses in the West Indies, coffee from countries in Africa, wine from brazil and mahogany from Honduras.

To what extend, has the island of Jersey benefitted from its constitutional relationship with Britain and the legacies of colonialism based on a slave plantation economy during the first Industrial Revolution (1760-1840)?

Although beneficial to Jersey’s economy at the time, these commodities received through trades in the cod industry were provided of the backs of slaves within the Americas. Goods such as mahogany were obtained through trade as a result of the Slave Trade. Harvested in Honduras through the work of forced slave workers, this wood was crafted into items such as furniture for Jersey’s richer islanders to purchase from trading merchants involved in the slave trade. Furthermore, with the importing of Mahogany into Jersey, this wood was provided to be used within Jersey’s ship building industry. With ship construction across numerous building yards In Jersey, these ships were made and sold to more traders and merchants involved in the trades. Slave traders from Britain, using purchased ships built in Jersey, would use these throughout the slave trade.

Ships from Jersey such as the ‘Neptune of Jersey’ delivered 165 enslaved people to the West Indies In May of 1762. The ship ‘Hope’ built in Jersey, 1747, departed from Bristol in 1759, to pick up 230 enslaved people, here they then disembarked 199 enslaved people in Jamaica. These are only 2 examples of numerous accounts taken of Jersey’s involvement with the slave worker.