Prime Berth

Olaf Uwe Janzen is an associate professor of history at Sir Wilfred
Grenfell College, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

This is a modest attempt to trace the history and development of
Bonavista, Newfoundland, from its unrecorded origins somewhere in the
16th century to 1832, when the introduction of representative government
caused Newfoundland to enter “a new era.” The author concedes that
he is neither a historian nor writer, but explains that he was drawn to
his subject by the rich documentation available. His self-defined role
is that of “editor more than author.” This is reflected in the
narrative, which relies heavily on descriptions of incidents and events
out of Bonavista’s past, with little or no attempt to provide an
analytical context.

The book has many of the hallmarks of an amateur effort: a stolid,
antiquarian approach, where color is provided by descriptions of events
based on summaries of the documentary record that sometimes border on
the sensational. Whiffen’s dependence on the documents is reflected in
the undue attention he gives to judicial proceedings, administrative
history, military events, and religious developments.

To his credit, Whiffen recognizes that certain “facts” are more
myth than truth and cannot be proven. Thus, he concedes that there is no
evidence that Cabot made his landfall in the “new founde lande” at
Bonavista—a brave admission with the quincentenary of the Cabot voyage
fast approaching. He also recognizes that settlement was a natural
outgrowth of the migratory fishery, and was only rarely discouraged by
fishing interests in Newfoundland. Yet there is a great deal of
secondary literature that Whiffen never consulted, and that would have
enhanced his obvious desire to place his extracts from the manuscript
record within the framework of current scholarship.

The text includes some illustrations and photographs, and within the
limits of Whiffen’s sources, there is a good bibliography. Those
wishing to use the book as a starting point for further research will be
frustrated by the absence of notes.