significant
woodland, the other islands having been largely deforested since the nineteenth
century.
The most commonly accepted explanation for the name Ramea is that it is
an anglicized version of Rameau and refers to the area's many inlets and
waterways. Another explanation is that the name derives from the French
for vetch, and refers to vegetation on the islands. In the nineteenth century
census returns Ramea is also spelled Rameaux, Rameau and Rameo. The islands
were known to Europeans as early as the 1500's. Portuguese fisherman
called
them
Ilos Santa Anna, suggesting that they were first sighted around the feast
of Saint Anne. French fisherman also frequented the area until they were
expelled from the south coast by the Treaty of Utrecht which concluded
Queen Anne's War in 1713. Captain James Cook charted the islands in 1766.
"In this Harbor and about these Islands," he noted, "are many convenient
places for erecting of stages and drying of fish and are well situated
for the cod fishery". These features would encourage settlement in the
nineteenth century. In 1818 American 
fisherman
were given fishing privileges in the waters surrounding Ramea.
The first recorded settlers on the islands were two unnamed families noted
by William Epps Cormack in 1822. Four years later, Judge J.W. Molloy sent
a letter to W.C. Kippen at Ramea. Based on this evidence and the existence
of early grave markers, Kendall and Kendall suggested that the first families
were the Keeping's and the Moores. Harbor Island, with its fine harbor
and beach, seems to have been settled before the other islands. Twenty-
nine 
people
were living on the islands in 1836, engaged in the fishery and subsistence
agriculture and supplied by either American ships or the south coast firm
of Newman and Company. John Kendall, originally of Dorsetshine, and his
wife Sarah moved to Ramea in 1864. By 1857 the population had reached 111.
All of these settlers belonged to the Church of England. Many had come
from White Bear Bay, which continued to be a "winter house" for many Ramea
fishing families. Others were from Hermitage Bay or were employees of Newman
and Company at Burgeo or Harbor Breton. Among the settlers were two merchants,
Thomas Jeans and another man, possibly Henry McDonald. Northwest, Southwest
and Harbor islands were soon occupied but
there was no permanent settlement at Big Island, which lacked a suitable
harbor. Supplies could be obtained from the French islands of St. Pierre
and Miquelon or from the Nova Scotia vessels prosecuting the herring fishery.
After 1862 the firm of Clement and Company of Lapoile was the major supplier
for Ramea. People had relatively easy access to medical care in Burgeo,
where a doctor was resident as early as 1860. The first school opened in
1865, with Alexander Pitcher as teacher. In subsequent years the school
opened when a teacher was available. By 1873 there were no resident merchants
in Ramea. 
Fisherman
experienced several poor years in the fishery, and the population dropped
from 185 in 1869 to 141 in 1874.
In 1871, after Thomas Jeans had become a wealthy man, he sold his property to a man named George Penny, and he and his brother, John, started "John Penny & Sons" as a fish business.
George Penny was a very skillful and progressive business man, and within
a few years, the enterprise became a prosperous and growing concern. He
had saw mills set up in Grey River, White Bear Bay, and Ramea. He had a
small ship yard erected in Ship Cove so that his company could construct
its own fishing fleet. Among the ships built in Ramea were the Cabot, Marie
Penny, Rattler, Shamrock, and Vignette. The Rattler was a little steamship
while
the Shamrock was
the first vessel on the south coast to be fitted with a gasoline engine.
Penny also bought large foreign-going schooners to carry his company's
fish to market in Europe, the West Indies, and Brazil. The most famous
of these ships, the Edith Cavell, and the Faustine, would still be remembered
by many of the older citizens in Ramea today.
Gardening and sheep raising was important for many years, and in 1891,
when the population had reached 236, the total yield consisted of 90 barrels
of potatoes, 8 barrels of turnips, and 13 ton of hay. The record for the
same year shows that there were 88 sheep, 2 cows, and 140 fowl on the islands.
Farming activities in 
Ramea
diminished with the beginning of the fishery on a year-round basis and
ceased entirely with the opening of the fish plant in the early 1940's
When George Penny died in 1929 his nephew, George Penny Jr. took over the
ownership and business. He nursed the company through the depression of
the 1930's and, in 1942, converted the business into a fresh fish operation.
Fish for processing was at first supplied by individual owned boats and
a small fleet of company owners. However, because of the increasing demand
for fresh fish, the company began to acquire a fleet of modern draggers.
In August, 1949, George Penny was appointed to the Senate 
unfortunately,
he died in December of that same year. His widow, Marie Penny, carried
on the business and with the aid of her daughter Margaret, presided over
its continuing expansion until her death in 1970. Mrs. Spencer (Margaret)
Lake then assumed control of the company which continued to grow until
1981 when it was struck by the same problems that beset the fishing industry
generally. In 1982, John Penny & Sons, which had existed for over a
hundred years and which had exerted such a great influence over the development
of Ramea and the lives of its citizens, became a part of Fishery Products
International (FPI).
During
the 1960's and early 1970's the community prospered and basic municipal
services such as water and electricity were improved. In 1968 a ferry began
operating regularly between Ramea and Burgeo. Within a decade, however,
catches of commercially important redfish and cod declined considerably.
The processing plant reduced operations to six months a year, and once
again some residents were obliged to leave. The fish plant was closed in
the early 1990's, and in 1992 there was some doubt as to whether it would
reopen. In 1992 residents of Ramea continued to rely on the cod fishery,
despite the fact that stocks had become greatly reduced. Ramea maintained
it's own churches, and schools, as well as a resident doctor, while most
other services could be found in Burgeo
On
November 23rd, 1993, the already falling community suffered another tragic
blow. St. Boniface All Grade School burned to the
ground, luckily no one was injured but the damage had been done. Students
were forced to attend class's in three different buildings. The Community
Center, Orange Lodge, Church Basement, and St. Pats Hall were transformed
into the classrooms. Students of all ages had to go from building to building
for each class, in all sorts of weather. Four years of graduating class's
held their graduation dinner and ceremony at the local club. Then, in February
of 1997, after almost four years of fighting with the government
Ramea had a beautiful brand new school.
There still is fishing in the waters of Ramea, but no where near the scale that it once was. The fish plant is an eye sore, that is in need of serious repair, and a facility that most people only use to reminisce about days to gone by. The once booming economy is gone, and the population is hovering around the 700 mark, only half of what it was 20 years ago. But the residents of Ramea are proud, proud of a rich past, and some who still believe to be a rich future.
