Conche is located on the Northen Coast of Newfoundland, and the entrance to the harbour is marked by a bold headland called Cape Fox. There is a indraft of about two miles from its entrance to the extreme head of the harbour. It is formed on the west and north by rugged cliffs which rise perpendicularly to majestic heights. At one point there is a splendid waterfall. The houses and stages of the inhabitants are built in a semicircle near the shore, with a fine church, a modern school, and a parish hall built on a rise in the background.
This little settlement has had a very checkered and interesting history. For a long time it was a French fishing station where ships from such ports as St.Maio, Berck and Rouen came each spring, returning in the fall when the fishing season ended. Its name suggests that at one time it was inhabited by settlers from the Channel Islands.
The first permanent settlers were Irish emigrants who came to work as caretakers of the French fishing rooms. They occupied sections of land which they cultivated and where they raised cattle, sheep, and other livestock. In addition to fishing for salmon and cod, the seal fishery in winter played an important role in the economy. All kinds of game were plentiful. Seabirds in particular were numerous, and the people of Conche, right from the earliest times to the present day, are noted for their skill with firearms and as hunters.
The earliest settlers came shortly after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Later other There are old gravestones in our cemetary with name such as Berke, O'Neill, and Dower, with birthplaces such as Kilkenny, Cork, Waterford, and Tipperary.
In the middle of the nineteenth century many people from other parts of Newfoundland began to move in. They came mostly from various places in Conception Bay, but many came from the southeast coast and some from St.John's. Those settlers were also of Irish descent. They were a hardy folk,used to toil and hardship, with a true pioneer spirit that went well with their new surroundings. Soon the population grew. A church was built, a school was started. The first priest to spend a winter in Conche was a French priest named Father John Gore, who was a chaplain with the French fishermen during the summer. He stayed three years. It was he who was responsible for the building of the first church. The timber was cut and hauled from the forest by the residents and the building was done by free labour.
The French fishermen continued to come until they gave up their rights in 1905, but even today there is much evidence of their occupation. There are several French graveyards scattered around the settlement and many people have old articles around their homes, such as statues and religious pictures, etc. that were purchase or received as gifts from the French generations ago.
It has been said that man takes on the characteristics of his environment. This is indeed true of the people of Conche, moreover, the older generation. Right from the beginning the people had to contend with hardship and danger, to struggle against the forces of nature in their quest for a living . They had to battle the elements at every turn. Being so isolated, they could depend only on their own resources and ingenuity for survival. This fact developed in our people a sturdy and self reliant, stubborn determination which sets them apart. Even in their social life they gad to depend upon themselves for entertainment. Nowhere was there greater evidence of their Irish descent than at any social function where their dances, songs, and tunes all bore a strong Irish flavour. In recent years this has changed, giving way to modern forms of entertainment. But it would be a pity to lose the old customs and songs completely.
There were some among the early settlers, and also many of those who moved in later, who were well educated and cultured people. Right up to the present time this is evident in the number of men and women whose only formal education was received in a the one-room school house who went forth from Conche and became prominent in almost every walk of life in various parts of the world. For it wasn't until the early 1940's that a modern school was built. Since then educational facilities have been continually increased until the present high level was reached.
I have already said, and I repeat, that isolation played a vital part in shaping the character of our people. The only means of transportation until recently was by small fishing boats in the summer and by dogteam in winter. To anyone living in urban centers, it is next to impossible to get a clear understanding of what this meant in the way of danger and hardship. It is only those who lived with those conditions who can appreciate them. In times of accident or illness, there were no medical services at first. Then in the 1890's the Grenfell mission established a hospital at St. Anthony which is a distance of about forty miles by sea, but more than twice that distance overland, which was the only route in winter. Countless journeys were made by dogteam with sick or injured people, often under the most severe of weather conditions. The lives of many were saved this way. It is difficult to imagine the hardships endured on many of those mercy trips. there was never a lack of men to undertake them. Nor did they, whenever the came call, hesitate to volunteer. Someone would cheerfully harness up a dogteam and set out to bring a doctor or nurse or priest to a sick person, or to take a patient to hospital. Night or day, fine weather or foul, made no difference. All enmities and old grudges were forgotten.
Dogteams were of vital importance to the people, as their very lives depended on them. Many of those journeys mentioned above, if they took place in other lands, would be classed a drama. In real life, many a tale of heroism could be told about mercy trips in small boats when our men braved raging storms and the hazards of drift ice in spring in an effort to save a life. But sometimes the most valiant efforts were in vain, and the tragedy of arriving too late to save a life had to be borne.
Those conditions prevailed until just a few years ago when an airstrip was made and an ambulance plane was provided. A nursing station was built in 1960 at Conche with a nurse in charge ever since. A highroad was completed last fall linking Conche with the isolation is no longer a problem.
It is a well known fact that adversity is a molder of character. This was proven by the people of Conche during the Great Depression of the thirties. For many years prior to that they enjoyed a good measure of prosperity brought about by the boom following WWI. Everyone was comparitively well off. They worked hard, but reaped an abundant harvest as the fruits of their labour. Suddenly the Depression struck. A large number of the population found themselves in financial difficulties never before experienced. To a proud and independent people being reduced to near destitution, this was tragic. Many were forced to seek welfare which was a far cry from what we know as welfare today. It was a mere subsistance. At first it seemed to crush them. They quickly rallied, and that determined spirit which always marked them rose to the rescue. Both men and women strove nobly to overcome the obstacles in their path.
In the autumn of 1933 a contract for pulpwood was secured by a firm at Canada Bay, about twenty-five miles from Conche. About half the families left home and moved there to earn a winter's food. No one who did not take part in this removal can ever come close to realizing the toil and hardship suffered by those people who took all their possessions and with their families of small children went in small fishing boats over rough seas to Canada Bay, where they had to live in small cabins erected hurriedly before winter set in. A lot of them who had no boats to take them were brought there by the steamer, Prospero. They were taken on board at night. The people who grew up in those times are middle-aged residents of Conche today, and they have little patience with anyone who complains fo want. Now they are apt to be comtemptous of those who whine about high prices or low pay. They say all anyone needs to make a living is health and strength.
Times were hard until the outbreak of WWII. Then the price of fish went up, and other byproducts reached and all-time high. There were noticeable improvements. Since confederation there have been a number of local services.
Note by the authors of the Web Page-Since the moratorium, many people have
been forced to leave the community, and the activities of the people living here have been
forever altered, perhaps ending a traditional way of life for good.