orth in the Treaty of Versailles must not
be omitted:

"His Britannic Majesty ... that the fishermen of the two nations may
not give cause for daily quarrels, was pleased to engage that he would
take the most positive measures for preventing his subjects from
interrupting in any measure by their competition, the fishing of the
French during the temporary exercise thereof which is granted to them
upon the coasts of the island of Newfoundland, and that he would for
that purpose cause the permanent settlements which should be formed
there to be removed, and that he would give orders that the French
fishermen should not be incommoded in the cutting of wood, necessary
for the repair of their scaffolds, huts, and fishing boats."

In the time of Governor Milbanke, in 1791, an Act of Parliament
tardily created "the Court of Civil Jurisdiction of our Lord the King
at St. John's in the island of Newfoundland," which Court was
empowered to try all civil cases except those relating to land, and
which usually began actions by the peremptory procedure of arresting
the defendant and attaching his goods. The following year a supreme
Court of Civil and Criminal Judicature was instituted which superseded
the Court erected the previous year, put an end to the authority of
the "fishing-admirals," of the Courts held in summer by surrogates
(naval commanders visiting the island) and of the Courts of Session
held in winter by local justices of the peace, and was empowered to
try all persons charged with criminal offences and determine civil
suits, including those relating to land, and to make arrest and
attachment in civil suits discretionary and alternative. The
jurisdiction of the Court was renewed annually, then triennially; and
John Reeves, to whose history all writers on Newfoundland owe so much,
was appointed the first Chief Justice; but he remained in the island
only till 1792, when he was succeeded by ex-surgeons, collectors of
customs, and merchants. In 1809 a perpetual Act was passed, which
purported to abolish definitely the diverse and sporadic
jurisdictions; but such is the force of old customs and practices that
it was not till 1824 that the old Session Courts, Courts of Surrogates
and of fishing-admirals were finally extinguished, and at the same
time two assistant judges were appointed to aid the Chief Justice, and
all three judges were to be English or Irish barristers. A Court of
Civil Jurisdiction was also created for Lab