OF MORAVIANS TO LABRADOR IN THE SUMMER OF 1752
Sketch of the mission house of 1752 in Nisbet Harbour
Courtesy of Moravian Archives, Herrnhut
Sketch of the mission house of 1752 in Nisbet Harbour
Courtesy of Moravian Archives, Herrnhut
In the summer of 1752, the Moravian mariner and trade agent Johann Christian Erhardt (1718-1752) and four missionaries--Georg Wenzeslaus Golkowsky (1725-1813), Johann Christian Krumm (1719-1759), Matthaeus Kunz (1722-1775), Christian Friedrich Post (1710-1785)--journeyed to Labrador to establish a mission house and explore the possibilities for a Moravian settlement. The initiative was a joint missionary and trade venture. In August of 1752, the four missionaries built a log house on a stone foundation and planned to stay for a year. Jens Haven's identification of the location of the house in 1775 and archaeological and other evidence suggests that this house may have been built in Ford's Bight near Makkovik. Erhardt and the ship’s crew went farther north to trade for whalebone and then to return to England, but Erhardt vanished with six companions near an island north of the mission house, when they followed some Inuit in search of more whalebone. Their disappearance led to the temporary abandonment of the missionary initiative. On a search mission in 1753, one of the bodies from Erhardt's party was found. Although this mission ended in tragedy, the disappearance of Erhardt and his companions stimulated the Moravian carpenter Jens Haven to continue to explore the viability of a mission to the Inuit of Labrador. Three exploratory journeys (1764, 1765, 1770) and a land grant of 100,000 acres led eventually to the permanent establishment of Nain in 1771.
18 May 1752
Departure of the ship Hope from
London to Labrador
under the leadership of the Moravian mariner
and trade agent Johann Christian Erhardt and four Moravian missionaries
24 May
Land's End
3 July
A sailor, who died of injuries from a fall
from the topmast,
is buried at sea
11 July
Erhardt identifies the Hope's location Near Cape Charles and Belle Isle
29 July
First contact with the Inuit of labrador
31 July
Landing at "Nisbet Harbour," possibly
near today's Makkovik.
It was named after the ship's owner,
the Moravian businessman Sir Claude Nisbet
1 August
Erhardt and the missionaries explore the
area around Nisbet Harbour,where they find a freshwater lake and a large
mountain,
from which three inlets can be seen.
Erhardt calls the mountain "John's Mountain"
5 August
A suitable locale is found for building
a house
near a freshwater rivulet
9 August
The foundation stone is laid and the place
is named "Hopedale"
("Hoffnungsthal") in hope of what Jesus would
make of their endeavour.
Later, when today's community of Hopedale
was established in 1782,
it was named in honour of the first Hopedale,
which was then called "Old Hopedale."
12 August
Foundation of the house is completed
13 August
Erhardt and the Brethren celebrate the founding
festival of the renewed moravian church with a holy communion service
21 August
Roof of the house is finished and The roof covered with Juniper bark
22 August
Sealing of the house and building of doors and windows
1 September
Chimney is being built
2 September
Floor of the living quarters is finished
3 September
First Dinner eaten in the new house
5 September
Erhardt and the Hope leave for more
trade
with the Inuit and their return to England
12 SeptembeR
Last entry in Erhardt's diary
13 September
Erhardt and six companions, among them
the captain and clerk,
follow Inuit behind an island to trade whalebone.
the party is not seen alive again.
15 September
The Hope leaves for Nisbet Harbour,
where they arrive at 5:30 pm
16 september
An UNSUCCESSful attempt is made to search
for the missing men,
using the missionaries' boat
20 September
the house is boarded up and left by the
four missionaries,
who now join the crew and head toward St.
John's, Newfoundland
29 September
Arrival of the Hope near St. John's Harbour
30 September
St. John's, Newfoundland
21 October
Departure of the Hope from St. John's
with 132 passengers,
mainly Irish fishers employed in Newfoundland
16 November
Arrival of the Hope in Waterford, Ireland
24 November
Arrival in Deal, where missionaries Post
and Kunz
go as messengers by land to London
28 November
Arrival of the missionaries Krumm and Golkowsky
in Westminster,
where they are met by Count Zinzendorf and
the Moravian Brethren
Hans Rollmann