LIFELINES | Cross Currents | The Cod Rush | Swales and Whales |
Possessions | A Lobster Tale | The Lure of the River | Nova Scotia Motor Fishing Boats



Lifelines: Canada's East Coast Fisheries

The Cod Rush
The European Fishermen, 1497-1763
 
The Fishing Community
The Cod Rush: The European Fishermen, 1497-1763

The Surgeon and the Chaplain


The Surgeon | The Chaplain



The Surgeon

Fishing vessels with a crew of 20 or more men had to have a surgeon on board.

For the green fishery, shipowners often got around this by limiting the number of men on the crew to 19. Surgeons did not have a good reputation. In the green fishery, they were forced to help with the fishery if no one was ill.

When the ship did not have a surgeon, the captain or one of the sailors had to know how to draw blood and administer what little medication was available. In the eighteenth century, a short manual containing basic medical and pharmaceutical information was available for ships' officers.

See " Excerpt from a report on the inspection of surgeons' kits, 1695 "
and " Excerpt from a report on the inspection of master surgeons' kits, 1695 "



Medicine bottle - 
Photograph: Steven Darby - 990.25.2

Medicine bottle, 18th century
Earthenware
Photo: Steven Darby
(Canadian Museum of Civilization, 990.25.2)


Bleeding bowl - 
Photograph: Steven Darby - 990.25.1

Bleeding bowl, 18th century
Pewter
Photo: Steven Darby
(Canadian Museum of Civilization, 990.25.1)


Design

The Chaplain

God's representative on the ship, the chaplain ensured compliance with religious practices and customs. He looked after the souls.

Ordinances required that ships with crews of 40 or more men have a chaplain on board, so green-fishery vessels rarely had priests. Only dry-fishery vessels with large crews had to comply with such ordinances, if a chaplain was available.

Chaplains were usually members of mendicant orders. The Franciscans and the Récollets from Brittany also worked in the fishing colonies in Newfoundland, Acadia and, later, Isle Royale and Isle Saint-Jean.


Instruction of youth in Christian piety - 
Photograph: Steven Darby - RARE BV 4530 G6 1780

Instruction of youth in Christian piety, taken from the Holy Scripture and the writings of the holy fathers..., 1780
By Charles Gobinet (1613-1690) (Paris: Ch. P. Berton)
Paper, leather
Photo: Steven Darby
(Canadian Museum of Civilization, Rare Book Collection, RARE BV 4530 G6 1780)


Design


THE SHIPOWNER | THE CAPTAIN AND THE PILOT
THE SURGEON AND THE CHAPLAIN | THE FISHERMEN


 

 
Menu - Lifelines Menu - The Cod Rush

Back