Portal:Newfoundland and Labrador
The Newfoundland and Labrador Portal
Newfoundland and Labrador's capital and largest city, St. John's, is Canada's twentieth-largest Census Metropolitan Area, and is home to nearly 40 percent of the province's population. St. John's is the seat of government, home to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador and the highest court in the jurisdiction, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal.
A former colony and dominion of the United Kingdom, Newfoundland and Labrador became the tenth province to enter the Canadian Confederation on March 31, 1949, as Newfoundland. On December 6, 2001, an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada to change the province's official name to Newfoundland and Labrador. In day-to-day conversation, however, Canadians generally still refer to the province itself as Newfoundland and to the region on the Canadian mainland as Labrador.
The name Newfoundland is derived from English as "New Found Land" (a translation from the Latin Terra Nova). The origin of Labrador is uncertain; it is credited to both João Fernandes Lavrador, a Portuguese explorer, and lavrador – a title meaning "landholder".
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The city enjoys a long and vibrant history as the oldest English-founded city in North America. The last half of the 20th century has seen St. John's, with a long and prosperous history in the fishing industry, transformed into a modern export and service centre, famed for its nightlife and rich musical culture. More recently, its proximity to recently discovered oil fields has led to an economic boom that has spurred population growth, commercial development and has resulted in the St. John's area now accounting for about half of the province's economic output.
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- ...that The legend of Sheila NaGeira, the Irish Princess, claims that she was the first European woman to give birth in Newfoundland and quite possibly North America.
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Sir Hugh Hoyles (born October 17, 1814) was a politician and lawyer who served as the third premier of the Newfoundland Colony. Hoyles was the first premier of Newfoundland to have been born in the colony, and served from 1861 to 1865. Born in St. John's, he was the son of Newman Hoyles, the first leader of the Tory Party. Educated in Nova Scotia Hoyles trained as a lawyer and returned to St John's in 1842, quickly establishing a large and lucrative legal practice. He was eminent in the Natives' Society and the Newfoundland Church Society. Hoyles was elected to the Assembly in 1848.
During his term as premier, he tried to cool down sectarian tensions between Catholics and Protestants by inviting Catholics to join his administration and distributing all patronage fairly between religious groups. Hoyles also sent delegates to the Canadian Confederation Conference at Quebec in 1864. Newfoundland had not been invited to Charlottetown. Those delegates, Ambrose Shea for the opposition, and Frederick Carter, for the government, did not have the power to negotiate. Hoyles decided to leave office in 1865, before the crucial 1869 election which decided the fate of Confederation with Canada. He was succeeded by Sir Frederick Carter, and was later appointed Chief Justice of Newfoundland.
Newfoundland and Labrador category
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