History

The name Bay Bulls first appears on a map drawn by Thomas Hood 1592, however, the origin of the name is a mystery. Bishop Howley believed it was originally named "Bay Boulle" by the Jersey Fishermen. Some believe the name comes from the presence of the bull walruses or the common Dovekie "Bull-Bird" which both used to frequent the area. Yet another opinion is that Bay Bulls is a corruption of the French "Baie de Bois" or "The Wooded Bay".

The harbour was probably first used by European fisherman from countries such as France, Spain and Portugal and by 1635 Englishmen were spending the winter in Bay Bulls. According to tradition, the harbour was fortified in 1638 by governor David Kirke who took over command of the Avalon Grant. He also issued the first licenses for the sale of spirits as well, he collected rent from the inhabitants .

In 1655, Bay Bulls was raided by Dutch sailors under Admiral De Ruyter. The town was looted and pillaged, but as soon as the raiders left, the community was rebuilt.

By 1681 there were over 100 semi-permanent residents there including women, children and some planters who remained year round. Provisions were obtained mainly from New England traders and several dwelling houses, warehouses, planters' ship rooms, train oil vats, and stages had been erected.

In the years between 1696 and 1796 Bay Bulls was attacked five times by the French. The attacks were from both land and sea and were often in conjunction with attacks on St. John's in part of the French effort in the early eighteenth century to drive the English out of Newfoundland.

In 1696, Monbeton de St. Ovide de Brouillan, the governor of Placentia, attacked Bay Bulls from the sea and again in 1697 Pierre Le Moyne d'lberville marched overland from Placentia and attacked Bay Bulls. During action with the French under de Brouillan a British Frigate, The Sapphire, was scuttled to avoid capture. The Sapphire is depicted in our Town Logo on the right.

In 1705 an expedition of 90 Frenchmen and 100 Indians on its way from Placentia to attack St. John's, captured Bay Bulls. Once again the town was put to the torch before the French left. Two years later Bay Bulls was again captured by the French. This time there was no resistance from the settlers.

The attack of 1707 was the last enemy evasion until June 24, 1762 when the French lead by Admiral De Terne, landed seven hundred men who occupied Bay Bulls and marched to St. John's. The French later left without trying to encounter the British forces sent against them, and Bay Bulls rebuilt yet again.

Bay Bulls suffered its last invasion on September 29, 1796, the only Newfoundland community to endure this last attack. Admiral Richery attempted to storm St. John's but finding it well defended, he attacked and burned Bay Bulls and took prisoners. Yet as with all the other invasions, the community quickly recovered.

In the summer of 1789, a unique event occurred in Bay Bulls, a prison ship unloaded 114 Irish convicts, six of whom were women in the town. However, they didn't stay long. They made their way to St. John's which proved to be a mistake. They were immediately rounded up and later most were sent back to England.

It is 1793 when three sailors from the HMS Boston deserted their ships in St. John's and set out to walk the 20 miles of wilderness between Bay Bulls and St. John's. They got within about three miles of Bay Bulls and perished from cold and exposure on a hill known as "The Ridge". They were found in the spring and brought down to Bay Bulls and buried in a lane known as "The Alley". In 1975 during some road construction in the area, the skeletons were discovered, one of them wearing a kind of breast plate.

By the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, the resident fishery was firmly established at Bay Bulls. The population had grown steadily over the preceding century and as increasing numbers of settlers arrived from Ireland, Roman Catholics began to predominate where formerly Protestants had the majority. The churches of both faiths had been burned in the 1700's but only the Roman Catholic church was rebuilt immediately. In 1864 the Church of England Church was rebuilt and consecrated by Bishop Field. By the 1820's, a Roman Catholic priest visited regularly but it was not until 1879 that Bay Bulls had a resident clergyman. In the 1890 the Roman Catholic Church, St. Peter and St. Paul was rebuilt.

At the gates of the church, serving as pedestals for statues, stand several of the guns used in the engagements with the French.

By the 1850's there was a Roman Catholic School Board in Bay Bulls. At this time Bay Bulls was considered a fairly large settlement, with 100 boats on the inshore fishery. Potatoes and hay were grown and Bay Bulls was a Port of Entry and a Postal town.

In the early part of the twentieth century, Bay Bulls was a very prosperous fishing town. There were four merchants, an extensive bank fishery and well over one hundred boats. The harbour was a very busy place.

In 1921 the Sisters of Mercy opened a convent in Bay Bulls and assumed responsibility for education , both primary and secondary, in the community. One hundred and eighty children enroled in the first year.

In 1927 the United Towns Electric Company extended its power lines to Bay Bulls, and the town got its first electricity. And in 1928 it was linked up to the Avalon Telephone Company's telephone system.

A census in 1935 showed that Bay Bulls has a total resident population of 808 persons, made up of 415 males and 393 females. Of these 729 were Roman Catholic.

Information obtained from Trail Wanderings: A Folk History of Newfoundland by Queen Maloney and The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador by Harry Cuff Publications.