By which so much happiness is produced’: An Analysis of the Seventeenth-Century Kirke Tavern at Ferryland, Newfoundland

Summary

One component of the Ferryland colony yet to be examined is the seventeenth-century tavern owned by the Kirke family. As affluent wine merchants, there is potential to learn not only how the Kirkes operated their tavern, but also more about the merchants, sailors, and colonists that populated the colony and frequented the tavern, as well as how this tavern relates to others in comparable contexts across seventeenth century North America. My research explores how the consumption patterns associated with the Kirke tavern can reveal information regarding tavern activities, their proprietors, and the Kirke tavern’s place in a tradition of tavern and tippling houses in the colonies of British North America during the seventeenth century. Using a combination of historical and archaeological evidence, I will also be able to understand the different decision making processes behind the consumption of goods, and how these decisions affected the tavern and the Ferryland colony.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Digging Domestic Spaces: An Exploration of Homesteads, Habitations and Farms   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-71,10