On fish, and the selling of
Feb. 7th, 2011 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xenithI might have grumbled last year about my inability to find anything about fishing/fish markets in early Hobar. Obviously, being on the coast and with the problems supplying the growing population with farmed meat, fishing would have been a important industry. Yes?
The extract below is from a longer article about a new market being established, with a list of those taking up stalls. Fish selling, it seems, was not a large scale enterprise at the time.
And here we cannot but remark the pleasure we feel in seeing so many respectable persons commence dealing in fish, which has so long been as it were a forbidden article except to gourmands and the improvident. Fishermen had in truth no encouragement to embark in their labourious work when they could not ensure themselves a ready or a fair sale, however fortunate their catch, and even then not without hawking the fish all about the streets until they were worn out with fatigue and disappointment, and obliged to spend half their gains for refreshment in the public house, in many cases leading to excess. But now by regular shops being opened, the public will know where to go when they want to buy, and the fisherman will be encouraged to go farther out to sea to procure newer and better species for a market that they will be sure of when they bring them up the river.
Hobart Town Courier, 14 February 1834
(I might have to rethink this bit of story.)
Never was the town so plentifully supplied with fish, as it has been this present autumn, formerly a small salmon was eagerly purchased at a shilling, whereas we observed the other day, a man hawking about a cart load of these delicacies, and offering them at the rate of a shilling a dozen : at that price fish is a much cheaper food than any meat that can be purchased in Hobart Town. The good supply of fish is no doubt owing to two different causes, the increase of population, causing a certain market, at which sales can be effected, and an increase of competition on the part of our hitherto lazy fishermen. We understand that at the present time, some thirty industrious men are obtaining a comfortable livelihood by the business, and a business it has now become in every sense of the word.
It is a pity that enterprise has not yet induced some of those more particularly interested to attempt a discovery of the cod banks, which we are perfectly convinced must be at no very great distance from the island; the rock-cod both of this place and Sydney are pretty generally acknowledged to be similar in every respect to the young, of the excellent Newfoundland cod, which are known to frequent the bays and inlets on the North American coast, until they attain a sufficient size to venture among their ravenous species. Those persons who are at all acquainted with the fish of which we are speaking, are fully aware that the further from our shore these fish are caught, the larger they generally are ; or to come more to the reasoning faculty of some of our fishermen--the rock cod which are caught at the Paddok Point are mere sprats in size to those caught off the south eastern coast of Bruné island. We do hope that before long, the discovery of the banks in question will be made, and considering the very great importance a fishery of that description would be to the Colony, we conceive the Local Government ought to offer some kind of reward to the first discoverer whoever he may be. At some future period we shall again bring this subject before the public, when we trust we shall be enabled to lay down certain interesting information respecting several almost un known various species of fish with which our coast so plentifully abounds.
Colonial Times, 30 April 1833
Four prisoners of the Crown, without any indulgence, are employed as fishermen, they have in charge a Government whale-boat, in which they are constantly employed without being under any control whatever. These men supply fish for Colonel Arthur and his establishment, and we believe several of Colonel Arthur's men receive their regular supplies gratis from these said prisoners. When these Authorities have the fish they require, the men sell the remainder for their own benefit! Now, a private individual is not allowed to have prisoners without either a free or ticket-of-leave overseer or superintendent over them, neither is he allowed to employ them as sailors or on the sea without a special permission, and further, no prisoner of the Crown without indulgence is allowed by the Government to be possessed of money or property. And yet these four men violate, under sanction we presume of the Authorities, these three most important prisoner regulations.-So much for Prison Discipline.
Colonial Times, 30 December 1834
In our last, we mentioned that the prison discipline system allowed a fishing boat to be manned only by prisoners, whose duty it was to provide fish for Colonel Arthur, Captain Montagu, and Captain Forster. We then stated these men were under no control what ever, and that they proceeded down the river, and amused themselves with catching fish, the surplus quantity of which they were permitted to sell for their own benefit. It appears, however, we were wrongly informed, it is true there is a fishing boat so manned with prisoners, whose duty it is to supply fish to those persons mentioned, and it is also true, that they occasionally do proceed to catch the fish - themselves, but we are told these men are good workmen at various trades and that they usually employ themselves at such trades, and three times a week purchase of the free fishermen, sufficient quantities of fish for the supply of Government House, Montagu Palace and Forster Villa.
Colonial Times, 20 January 1835
The extract below is from a longer article about a new market being established, with a list of those taking up stalls. Fish selling, it seems, was not a large scale enterprise at the time.
And here we cannot but remark the pleasure we feel in seeing so many respectable persons commence dealing in fish, which has so long been as it were a forbidden article except to gourmands and the improvident. Fishermen had in truth no encouragement to embark in their labourious work when they could not ensure themselves a ready or a fair sale, however fortunate their catch, and even then not without hawking the fish all about the streets until they were worn out with fatigue and disappointment, and obliged to spend half their gains for refreshment in the public house, in many cases leading to excess. But now by regular shops being opened, the public will know where to go when they want to buy, and the fisherman will be encouraged to go farther out to sea to procure newer and better species for a market that they will be sure of when they bring them up the river.
Hobart Town Courier, 14 February 1834
(I might have to rethink this bit of story.)
Never was the town so plentifully supplied with fish, as it has been this present autumn, formerly a small salmon was eagerly purchased at a shilling, whereas we observed the other day, a man hawking about a cart load of these delicacies, and offering them at the rate of a shilling a dozen : at that price fish is a much cheaper food than any meat that can be purchased in Hobart Town. The good supply of fish is no doubt owing to two different causes, the increase of population, causing a certain market, at which sales can be effected, and an increase of competition on the part of our hitherto lazy fishermen. We understand that at the present time, some thirty industrious men are obtaining a comfortable livelihood by the business, and a business it has now become in every sense of the word.
It is a pity that enterprise has not yet induced some of those more particularly interested to attempt a discovery of the cod banks, which we are perfectly convinced must be at no very great distance from the island; the rock-cod both of this place and Sydney are pretty generally acknowledged to be similar in every respect to the young, of the excellent Newfoundland cod, which are known to frequent the bays and inlets on the North American coast, until they attain a sufficient size to venture among their ravenous species. Those persons who are at all acquainted with the fish of which we are speaking, are fully aware that the further from our shore these fish are caught, the larger they generally are ; or to come more to the reasoning faculty of some of our fishermen--the rock cod which are caught at the Paddok Point are mere sprats in size to those caught off the south eastern coast of Bruné island. We do hope that before long, the discovery of the banks in question will be made, and considering the very great importance a fishery of that description would be to the Colony, we conceive the Local Government ought to offer some kind of reward to the first discoverer whoever he may be. At some future period we shall again bring this subject before the public, when we trust we shall be enabled to lay down certain interesting information respecting several almost un known various species of fish with which our coast so plentifully abounds.
Colonial Times, 30 April 1833
Four prisoners of the Crown, without any indulgence, are employed as fishermen, they have in charge a Government whale-boat, in which they are constantly employed without being under any control whatever. These men supply fish for Colonel Arthur and his establishment, and we believe several of Colonel Arthur's men receive their regular supplies gratis from these said prisoners. When these Authorities have the fish they require, the men sell the remainder for their own benefit! Now, a private individual is not allowed to have prisoners without either a free or ticket-of-leave overseer or superintendent over them, neither is he allowed to employ them as sailors or on the sea without a special permission, and further, no prisoner of the Crown without indulgence is allowed by the Government to be possessed of money or property. And yet these four men violate, under sanction we presume of the Authorities, these three most important prisoner regulations.-So much for Prison Discipline.
Colonial Times, 30 December 1834
In our last, we mentioned that the prison discipline system allowed a fishing boat to be manned only by prisoners, whose duty it was to provide fish for Colonel Arthur, Captain Montagu, and Captain Forster. We then stated these men were under no control what ever, and that they proceeded down the river, and amused themselves with catching fish, the surplus quantity of which they were permitted to sell for their own benefit. It appears, however, we were wrongly informed, it is true there is a fishing boat so manned with prisoners, whose duty it is to supply fish to those persons mentioned, and it is also true, that they occasionally do proceed to catch the fish - themselves, but we are told these men are good workmen at various trades and that they usually employ themselves at such trades, and three times a week purchase of the free fishermen, sufficient quantities of fish for the supply of Government House, Montagu Palace and Forster Villa.
Colonial Times, 20 January 1835
