History of Newfoundland and Labrador - Population History

Population History

In 1654 the number of permanent inhabitants was 1,750. In 1680 it reached 2,280; in 1763, 7,000; in 1804, 20,000. Immigration boosted the 1832 total to 60,000 in 1832 and 75,094 in 1836, and 124,288 in 1857. Growth continued at a slower pace reaching 161,374 in 1874 and around 100,00 in 1901 (including 3947 in Labrador). The capital of St John's, doubled from 15,000 in 1835, to 29,594 in 1901. The religious census of 1901 reported: Roman Catholics, 76,000; Church of England, 73,000; Methodists, 61,000; Presbyterians, 1,200; Congregationalists, 1,000; Salvationists, 6,600; Moravians, Baptists and others, 1,600.

From the 1770s to the 1880s Moravian missionaries, Hudson's Bay Company agents, and other pioneer settlers along central Labrador's coastline learned to adapt to its rocky terrain, brutal winters, and its thin soil and scant sunshine. To maintain good health, to avoid the monotony of dried, salted, and tinned foods, and to reduce reliance on expensive imported food, they created gardens, and succeeded after much experimentation in growing hardy vegetables and even some fragile crops.