Dominion of Newfoundland

Before it became Canada's tenth province, Newfoundland was a self-governing country of the British Empire in its own right. Made up of the island of Newfoundland and the mainland region of Labrador, it held dominion status from 1907 to 1949. It is remembered above all as the only dominion to surrender self-government, which it did in 1934 under the weight of debt and depression, before voting narrowly in 1948 to join Canada.

Newfoundland had a long claim to being England's oldest colony in North America, linked to John Cabot's voyage and to Sir Humphrey Gilbert's claim of 1583. It was recognised as a Crown colony in 1825, received a representative assembly in 1832 and responsible government in 1854. Newfoundlanders sent delegates to the Quebec Conference of 1864 but rejected joining the new Canadian confederation in the 1869 election. After the Imperial Conference of 1907 extended dominion status to the self-governing colonies, Newfoundland became a dominion, and its capital remained St. John's. Strictly, its official name was simply "Newfoundland".

The economy rested on fishing, paper and minerals, and the government had borrowed heavily to build a railway across the island, finished in the 1890s. In the First World War Newfoundland raised its own regiment. On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the 1st Newfoundland Regiment was almost destroyed at Beaumont-Hamel, suffering about 90 per cent casualties. The regiment later earned the title "Royal", but pensions and war debt added to a growing burden. Newfoundland sent its own delegation to the Paris peace talks, though it did not sign the Treaty of Versailles separately or join the League of Nations.

Corruption scandals shook public life. Prime Minister Sir Richard Squires was arrested on corruption charges in 1923, and his government soon fell, though he returned to office in 1928. A long dispute with Canada over Labrador's boundary was settled in Newfoundland's favour by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on 1 April 1927; Quebec has never fully accepted the line. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised the dominions as equals, but Newfoundland's legislature never adopted the Statute of Westminster of 1931.

The Great Depression hit the export economy hard. On 5 April 1932 a crowd of about 10,000 marched on the Colonial Building in St. John's and forced Squires to flee. The new government of Frederick Alderdice asked Britain for help, and a royal commission under Lord Amulree recommended in 1933 that self-government be suspended. The legislature voted itself out of existence, and from 16 February 1934 Newfoundland was run by a six-member Commission of Government, three from Newfoundland and three from Britain, chaired by the governor.

The Second World War transformed the island. Its position on the North Atlantic made it vital to the Allies, and the United States built large bases there under an agreement of 1941. Jobs, wages and revenues soared. In 1946 a National Convention was elected to consider the future. Joey Smallwood, a broadcaster and organiser, pressed to add confederation with Canada to the ballot. In the first referendum, on 3 June 1948, about 44.5 per cent chose restored dominion status, 41.1 per cent confederation and 14.3 per cent continued commission rule. A run-off on 22 July 1948 gave confederation about 52 per cent, and Newfoundland joined Canada at the end of 31 March 1949.

Our 1920, 1930 and 1938 maps show Newfoundland, with Labrador on the mainland, across the Gulf of St Lawrence from Canada, still a separate dominion of the British Empire. Today it forms the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.