Beaumont

Lushes Bight / Beaumont is a fishing community on Long Island in western Notre Dame Bay. On the western side of the Island is the harbour of Lushes Bight; on the eastern, the inlet of Cutwell Arm, containing the communities of Beaumont South and Beaumont Central; and on the northeast corner, Beaumont North, in Ward Harbour.

Local History

The 1836 Census recorded 14 people living at Wards Harbour (renamed Beaumont soon after 1918, for Beaumont Hamel). By 1845 there were 31 people living at Wards Harbour, Cutwell Arm (now Beaumont Central) and Quintons Cove, near Wards Harbour. A church had been constructed by 1853 and was consecrated that summer by Bishop Edward Field. The church and graveyard were both located near Paddock's Cove. When a Methodist church was built at Cutwell Arm in 1891, the older church was floated to Leading Tickles. In a 1901 census, two schools were reported at Wards Harbour.

Lushes Bight appeared for the first time in the 1874 Census with 110 people living there and in Cutwell Arm, there were also nine people on Oil Island just off the mouth of Lushes Bight harbour. By 1884, when the community was first listed separately in the Census, it had a population of 59. A Wesleyan church was built by 1884 and the first school was reported in 1901.

Although there were families originally from the West Country of England, the Island was said to have been settled by fishermen from older centres in Notre Dame Bay, such as Twillingate. The community was nearly all Church of England at first except for seven people who had converted to Methodism by 1891. Two other denominations, the Salvation Army and the Pentecostal Assemblies, came to the Island in 1901 and 1970 respectively.

The fishery is the mainstay of Long Island . The local waters were fished mainly for cod, but it is reported a salmon factory producing 20,000 tins annually, while the 1891 Census recorded two lobster factories. When cod became scarce the fishermen moved during the summer to the French Shore or to the Strait of Belle Isle and the Labrador coast. Fish was sold to Nippers Harbour , replacing Twillingate as the commercial centre for the Island, and later to Little Bay Islands . During the 1970's fishermen sold there catches to the fish plant at La Scie and after the 1980's to the Triton Seafood's plant. Residents have been supplied by several local merchants over the years, most notably the Co-op Store in Beaumont and W. A. Rideout and Son in Lushes Bight. In the 1950's Springdale became the regional centre.

The most important connection to the mainland by boat was with South Brook, which had been connected by road to the railway at Badger since the 1890's. Another important early link was through the coastal boat service operating out of Lewisporte. Between the late 1960's until 1982 Long Island and Little Bay Islands were connected to the mainland by a ferry service from St. Patrick's. In 1982 the ferry service was improved by a connection with Pilley's Island , a five-minute trip.

Census indicate that the population for the Island had increased to 679 by 1935 -- 223 at Lushes Bight, 304 at Beaumont South, and 152 at Beaumont North -- and gradually declined thereafter. In recent years many families have moved to such centres as Roberts Arm and Springdale. Besides the lack of employment, the single most important contributing factor has been a lack of educational opportunities, for many years there was no school offering the senior high school grades. (In 1980 Long Island Academy at Beaumont South became an all grade school.) Another factor in the population decline was the lack of modern conveniences. Since incorporation, however, Long Island has received an electrical service, roads, telephones, a new post office, a weekly medical clinic, a fire department, a recreation centre and a water system.