Ferryland was originally established as a station for migratory fishermen in the late 16th century but had earlier been used by the
French,
Spanish, and
Portuguese. By the 1590s it was one of the most popular fishing harbours in Newfoundland and acclaimed by Sir
Walter Raleigh. Ferryland was called "Farilham" by the Portuguese fishermen and "Forillon" by the French—it later became anglicized to its current name "Ferryland." (This should not be confused with the
Forillon National Park in
Quebec, which still keeps its French name.) The land was granted by
charter to the
London and Bristol Company in the 1610s and the vicinity became the location of a number of short-lived
English colonies at
Cuper's Cove,
Bristol's Hope, and
Renews and adjoined the colony of
South Falkland. In 1620 the territory was granted to
George Calvert, 1st
Baron Baltimore who had obtained the holdings from
William Vaughan. Calvert appointed
Edward Wynne to establish a
colony which became the first successful permanent colony in
Newfoundland growing to a population of 100 by 1625. In 1623, Calvert's grant was confirmed and expanded. The Charter of Avalon was granted to
Lord Baltimore by James I. Dated 7 April 1623 it created the
Province of Avalon on the island of Newfoundland and gave Baltimore complete authority over all matters in the territory. That same year Baltimore chose Ferryland as the principal area of settlement. In the 1660s, the colony was attacked by the Dutch. The town was destroyed by New France in 1696 during the
Avalon Peninsula Campaign of
King William's War. Virtually forgotten for centuries, excavations of the original settlement began in earnest in the late 1980s and continue to this day. ==Historic designations==