Fischot (on Fischot Island): Fischot (also spelt Fishot) was used as a fishing station by the French, particularly fishermen from Brittany, seasonally right from the beginning of the French fishery.

According to the material presented in the ENL, there are different theories about how the name of the island and the community evolved: Fishot Islands appeared on French maps as "Ille de ficho" as early as 1547 and the unusual name has had many cartographic variations such as "fico" (de fogo) (Jode, 1953; Wytfliet, 1597), "Y Fichot" (Vasseur, 1601), "I Feeke" (Briggs, 1625) and "Trois Fidiot" (Lan- gren, 1625) (E.R. Seary: 1960).

According to Seary and M.F. Howley (n.d.), the name "Fis[c]hot" is of French origin and most likely derived from the French family name Fichot. Howley suggested a further possible meaning by stating that "Fishot" may also have meant "a post or signal staff fixed in the ground." Presumably Howley was thinking of the French noun fiche (stake or peg) or the verb ficher (to drive in).

A British surveyor (Kitchen) noted c. 1760 that at Fishot, "Here the French fishing vessels rendezvous" (Seary). An English naval captain reported in 1858 that "Isle de Fishot" was known by the English name "Fishroad Island" (JHA: 1859, App. 14, p. 258).

The English name "Fishroad Island" or simply "Fishroad," by which it appears in numerous government reports of the period, may be a phonetic rendering of the French name.

T.B. Windross (1954) suggests that the romantic legend of Marguerite Roberval, who was marooned on the fabled "Isle of Demons," actually took place on what was known "to French mariners ... as L' Isle de la Demoiselle and to modern sailors as Fishet Isle, in the Straits of Belle Isle." It seems, however, that Windross was confusing Fishot Islands with Belle Isle, the more commonly acknowledged location of the "Isle of Demons."

During the King George's War (1744-1748), which was waged in several spots in North America, the town was attacked during the Newfoundland Campaign. The battle lasted for 5.5 hours and 11 British crew of the English fleet were killed and 30 wounded, however, French casualties were double, and 70 were taken prisoner. Regardless of their defeat, the French continued to fish there.

During the 1800s, however, when the French were preoccupied by the looming wars, Newfoundlander settlers started to move up the east coast, moving into predominantly French areas so that French captains had to hire more caretakers (or in French "guardiens') to look after the equipment while the seasonal fishermen returned to France for the winter.

Henry Bromley (an Irish man by birth) was one of the first hired, and after he got married, the population (of Irish Newfoundlanders) began to grow, and residents (both English, and Irish) built churches and schools. The 1856 List of Resident Population documents 6 dwellings, with a population of 45 (all Roman Catholic).
When Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, it was deemed that the residents of Fischot were sorely lacking essential services, to the point that under the first resettlement program many of the residents were relocated to the south, most to Goose Cove, and one family was relocated to St. John's.

However, the community has not been abandoned: in 2016, the population of Division No. 9, Subdivision F. (Fischot, Grandois and St. Juliens combined) was 71, a reported 7.8% decrease from 2011.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

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