Fermeuse: Located at the head of a long fiord indented along its length by numerous coves and harbours, on the castem shores of the Avalon Peninsula, south of Cape Broyle, there is no doubt in the minds of most historians that Fermeuse is Portuguese in origin, however, there has been a great deal of debate as to its true provenance.

The following comes from the ENL: According to E.R. Seary (1971) the name Fermeuse derives from early Portuguese fishing, ship repair, salting and supplying activities which took place on the coast of Newfoundland in the 1500s.

It appeared on early maps as "R fermoso" (Reinel 1519), "Rio fremoze" ("Vallard" 1547), "Formosa" (Whitbourne 1588-1622), and was called "Fermous" by Robert Hayes in 1583 (in Hakluyt's Voyages: 1965), and "Firmoose" by James Yonge in 1663 (Seary: 1971, p. 210).

According to Charles de la Morandiere (1966: p. 258), the French referred to the harbour as "Frimouse" in the Seventeenth Century, and it appears on French maps ("Belle Carte du Depot," c. 1682; Chaviteau, 1698), as "Frinouse" and "Frimouze" (Seary: p. 210).

According to G.F.R. Prowse (quoted in Seary: p. 28), the Portuguese name "fermosa" was a mistranslation of the common Newfoundland coastal name "Freshwater," referring to a place where ships could replenish their supplies of fresh water. Seary disagrees, stating that Formosa (Taiwan) was named by the Portuguese for its beauty.

French cartographers used a slightly different spelling, spelling it fermous and frimouse. The anglicized spelling that is most recognized is "Fermeuse".

History shows that it was part of Lord Falkland's attempt to establish a colony in Newfoundland in 1623, however, it like others, failed as a business venture. This excerpt from the ENL sheds a bit of light on how communities were started at this time in history:

Lord Falkland, contained in A Short Discourse of the New-Found-Land (1623 cited in G.T. Cell: 1969, p. 90). Subscribers or planters with £100 were advised in this pamphlet that they could purchase "half a Harbour on the north side of Trinity Bay and Stages Room in Fermeuse or Renews, and 1000 acres of land. For £200 a whole Harbour in Trinity Bay, 4000 acres north of Trinity Harbour, and stage room for 2 Rooms at Renews and Fermeuse. Other amounts paid, to obtain benefits proportionably" (quoted in D.W. Prowse: 1895, p. 120).

Settled by predominantly English and Irish immigrants, the population increased dramatically from 409 in 1836 to over 700 in 1884, but it was the building of a fish processing plant in the 1950s that really put Fermeuse on the map. By the 1960s there were over 300 residents and by the late 1970s over 500, with many of the residents employed by the plant.

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

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/Fermeuse