Discovering Cape La Hune

The approach to La Hune Bay (July 2024)

Having spent the winter in the Caribbean with my sailing buddy Mick, I headed north, firstly to Bermuda and then Nova Scotia with my youngest son Vincent. Vince then flew home to the UK from Halifax whilst I continued north east up to Cape Breton, exploring the beautiful Nova Scotia coast on the way. After a couple of weeks on the Bras d'Or Lakes I decided I had enough time left before laying up the boat at St Peter's in August, to venture further north, to what for me was the wild and mysterious island of Newfoundland. It had become my goal for the year after reading Paul Trammell's  book "Sailing to Newfoundland". His account of arriving at Deadman's Cove in La Hune Bay the previous year, was so evocative that I was determined to follow in his footsteps - or rather 'in his wake'

"Deadman's Cove is only a mile in, while the fiord continues for another four miles. As I turn into the cove, it becomes clear that my expectations will be exceeded as I am stunned by the magnificence and mysterious beauty of the scene before me. I've apparently navigated into another realm, where might roam dragons, elves, trolls, hobbits and the like.

Before me is a deep green valley bordered on the left by a smooth rock wall that gently curves upwards and reaches into the clouds. The valley is U-shaped like it was scooped out of the Earth  by a giant spoon, and a stream runs down the middle and empties into the cove at the beach. Massive grey boulders stand in the dark water around the stream. To the right stands a bright green meadow and rolling hills topped with bare rock leading to a rocky headland overlooking the bay. Behind this is another mountain whose top is obscured by clouds On the mountain are tight clusters of trees and curious grey fields of what looks like gravel, but is probably massive boulders.

To my left, a rock wall of unknown height rises out of the still water and into the clouds, and from the clouds emerges a waterfall that cascades in a jagged white line from top to bottom.....The scene is magical and even more spectacular than I imagined."

I anchored in Deadman's Cove opposite the Cape La Hune settlement site. My sailing guide mentioned that there was an abandoned settlement over there and so I got my binoculars out and examined the far shore about one mile off on the other side of the bay. I could see absolutely no evidence of a settlement and slightly disappointed, I thought to myself that it might still be worth going over to look around. The following day I explored the hills above Deadman's Cove and took in the gorgeous views in the equally gorgeous summer weather.

The view across La Hune Bay from the hills above Deadman's Cove looking towards the settlement site

The following day I rowed across the bay and landed on the beach to begin my exploration of the settlement site. You can read a full account of my exploration of the site here, on my sailing blog - 'Bonny's Travels and Travails' 

At first I was disappointed to find there was so little left of the settlement - nothing except for the pile foundations of buildings, the footprint of the Anglican church and the graveyard. The discovery of the painting got my interest however, and I decided to try and find out more about the place once I got home.

After a few weeks at home I started my research. The internet was of course an invaluable tool and it's doubtful that I would have got very far without it. During my early searches I discovered an article that included a reference to one, Hugh Bagg, being the founder of Cape La Hune. The name was familiar and I went through the photographs I had taken of my exploration of Cape La Hune and found the one of Samuel Bagg's gravestone. Quite by chance I had photographed the gravestone of the great grandson of one of Cape La Hune's founding fathers - see the page 'Cape La Hune 2024' on this blog. Now I was well and truly hooked - perhaps "obsessed" would not be over stating it. 

In the following weeks I found a significant genealogical data set on the website "Familysearch" - see the page 'Cape La Hune Families' on this blog.  Later I found further genealogical information on the Wikitree website. Taken together, these data sets provide a comprehensive record of the families that lived in the settlement from its inception in the late 18th Century to its final abandonment in the 1960s. 

Then I stumbled on the invaluable website of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Digital Archives Initiative. The good people at the University have digitised a vast historical record of Newfoundland's history including pre-colonial and colonial UK government reports, Canadian government reports, academic historical accounts, and the back editions of early Newfoundland Newspapers. 

Another of my online wanderings led me to the website of the UK National Archives which in turn resulted in a visit to the Archives where I was able to explore fascinating original documents relating to Newfoundland's history. 

During yet another haphazard wander around the internet I came across the 'Captain Cook Society'. Like, I suspect, most people with an interest in maritime history I was well aware of Cook's south sea voyages but I hadn't appreciated that in his earlier career he had completed the first accurate  survey of the entire coastline of the island of Newfoundland. The Society  has been most helpful and their website summarises Cook's survey of the south coast in of the island in 1766, including the fact that the Grenville (Cook's ship) anchored in a Bay identified then as Lance Cove, but which today is named Deadman's Cove - the very bay in which I had also anchored!  

Thanks to the above and other sources I have been able to piece together a partial narrative of some of the history of Cape La Hune - albeit one which, due to gaps in the historical records I have found to date, depends on a number of guesses and assumptions. I've summarised the kernel of the story so far below (without reference to the wider historic context which will be included in my full account later) and will update it with further posts as I continue my research and in light of responses received. 

I would be most grateful to anyone who may be able to offer corrections, suggestions or additions. I'm hoping to be able to publish a full account of my findings sometime in 2026.

Captain Cook surveys the coast in the vicinity of Cape La Hune in June 1766, but his log makes no mention of a settlement in the area. Given his reputation for thoroughness my conclusion is that no settlement existed prior to that date.

The birth of Sarah Bagg in 1784, daughter of Hugh Bagg the reputed founder of Cape La Hune, is the first birth recorded at Cape La Hune (that I have been able to find).

I've concluded that the settlement must therefore have been established at some point after 1766 and before 1784.

A short series of articles in one of Newfoundland's early newspapers reported on the reminisces of one Joseph Bagg of Corner Brook, Bay of Islands on Newfoundland's west coast. Joseph recounted the exploits of his ancestors Joseph and Jim Bagg who emigrated from England to Birchy Cove (now Curling) on the west coast Newfoundland in 1765. He explained that the Brothers were very well equipped and had enough materials and equipment to build two Briggs (sizable two masted sailing vessels of the same type as Cook's Grenville). He went on to tell the paper that Joseph subsequently settled at Cape La Hune and narrowly escaped being executed for treason when, in ignorance of the fact that America and England were at war, he piloted an "American" ship to her destination further down the coast from Cape La Hune. The reference to an "American" ship means this must have been the war of 1812 (1812-1815) and not the earlier war of indepedence.

When Joe and his brother arrived in Newfoundland in 1765, Hugh Bagg was only 6 years old and his father Frank, born at Lamaline on the Burin Peninsula would have been 32. His Grandfather John was, according to information on 'Familytree', born around 1700 but no place of birth is given. 

As yet I have found no hard evidence of a family connection between Joe and Hugh and the founding of Cape La Hune, but I think there is a strong circumstantial case.... 

For Joe and his brother to be sufficiently well equipped to build two Briggs, they must almost certainly have been from a Merchant family. Given his date of birth, Hugh's Grandfather John, was probably born in England- very few English people had settled in Newfoundland by then. His son Frank, was however, born in Lamaline and so John clearly lived there for at least part of his life. Settling in Newfoundland was actively discouraged in the early 18th Century thanks to the Fishing Merchants who strictly controlled the seasonal fishery to ensure that as much as the catch as possible went to the lucrative overseas markets of southern Europe and the Caribbean. My supposition therefore is that John and his family were able to settle there because they too, like Joe and his brother, were members of a fishing merchant family and were managing the Newfoundland end of a fishing merchant enterprise.

Does anyone have any information or suggestions that may help corroborate or rule out this supposition? Finding more information about John Bagg - probably born in the south west of England around 1700 would be a big help.

Whilst I have not yet found any direct evidence of Joe being a key partner in the founding of Cape La Hune, establishing the new fishing settlement there would have required the significant maritime and fishery expertise and logistical resources that Joe Bagg and his brother clearly possessed. I therefore think that given that Joe and Hugh share the same surname, it's plausible that they were also members of the same extended family and that the founding of the Cape La Hune was a joint enterprise by Hugh and Joe and was facilitated and supported by the two branches of the family. As an already established player in a fishery merchant business, Hugh's father Frank would have been well placed to have both eased the path through Newfoundland's pre-colonial 'corridors of power' dominated by the English fishing merchants, and to have helped source the resources required to establish a new fishing settlement. Joe, as I have already mentioned, brought the necessary logistical resources and maritime expertise to the venture.

I intend to write about this more comprehensively in the full account I intend to publish in 2026, but if anyone has any information that may help substantiate or disprove the relationship between the two Bagg families and the joint enterprise to found the Cape La Hune settlement, please do get in touch via the Contacts page.