Erica Clark Kenny's ancestors - the Bungay Family - came from Rose Blanche, Newfoundland. Her paternal grandmother was Vivienne Jane Bungay (Mrs. Charles William Clark), whose parents were Alexander and Flora Bungay.
Rose Blanche is a town located on the southwest coast, about 35 km east of Channel-Port aux Basques. The harbour was used by French migratory fishermen on the Rose Blanche Bank, just offshore. The name Rose Blanche is a corruption of roche blanche (white rock), a reference to outcroppings of white quartz in the area. (The white rock is most spectacularly visible at Diamond Cove, on the west side of Rose Blanche Bay, which lies outside the municipal boundary.)
Rose Blanche harbour is on the east side of a small bay and provides
good anchorage for fishing vessels close by a narrow peninsula. It
is well sheltered
by Caines Island and by Rose Blanche Point. Historically, the population
and the mercantile activity of Rose Blanche have been concentrated
around the main harbour, but there have also been smaller fishing
premises at
Crow Cove (to the northwest) and at the shallow basin known as
Big Bottom, to the southeast. Caines Island and Rose Blanche Point
(the Neck) were
also inhabited until the 1960s, while in the past a few people
also lived on Hopkins Island and Duck Island, further out Rose Blanche
Bay.
The first permanent settlers of Rose Blanche probably arrived about 1810. Local traditions have it that among the earliest settlers were families named Caines, Currie and Payne, supplied by Jersey merchants at Harbour Breton. In the 1836 Census a population of 47 was recorded at Rose Blanche, and this increased to 108 by 1845. When Rev. William Marshall visited in 1840 he recorded meeting Caines, as well as a man named Brown (then living in Bay LeMoine). Marshall performed a marriage during his visit between the daughter of Francis Payne and one Richard Sweet, who also settled at Rose Blanche. (Marshall observed what he considered to be undue levity at the wedding, noting that "such a fondness for dancing etc. prevails on this shore as I never saw manifested before".) Other family names of Rose Blanche by the 1850s include Buffett, Rose and Shears. Jonas Shears was probably at Rose Blanche in the 1820s, but the family would appear to have moved to Harbour le Cou in the 1840s, where they were joined by George Thomas, who came out from Sherbourne, England.
Lovell's Newfoundland Directory for 1871 described Rose Blanche as a "flourishing settlement, with a large mercantile establishment", with two merchants (Benjamin Smith and Philip Sorsoliel), a Church of England clergyman and a doctor. In large, part the prosperity of the town lay in its being the centre of an emerging winter fishery on the southwest coast. In addition to local traders and suppliers, vessels from Nova Scotia and Massachusetts were also trading and fishing in the area. While many people fished local waters in the summers, Rose Blanche fishermen also participated in the Labrador and bank fisheries. One of Newfoundland's earliest lighthouses was erected at Rose Blanche Point in the 1870s. and has been recently restored. A second lighthouse was built on Caines Island in 1904.
From Another Source . . .
Rose Blanche is a small community located on the south west coast of Newfoundland, about 45 kilometers east of Port-Aux-Basques on route 470, Trans-Canada Highway. This small community is located in a rugged, barren area on the east side of a small bay. In this bay there are two harbours that were mainly used to provide shelter for fishing vessels, so today the community it built around there rocky shores.
Rose Blanche used to mainly be a fishing community, until the Moratorium on Cod Fish was brought on in 1992. Though Rose Blanche seems to be an old, worn down community, it has some of the greatest scenery and tourist attractions on South West Coast. Some of the scenery includes the rugged coastline (most easily viewed in an area that the locals call "The Neck") the amazing white and rocky cliffs of "Diamond Cove". The restored light house is also a great attraction.
There are many sights to see here. And with a moderate climate with warm summers and cool winters it is great all year round.
The first permanent settlers in Rose Blanche probably arrived was first settled in 1810 , though the French had probably held seasonal premisses in the area in the 1700's. Rose Blanche was first settled because of its sheltered harbours and its close location to fishing grounds. Locals have it that the first few families that settled here were Currie, Caines, and Payne. These families fished of the coast of present day Burgeo for a number of years until later, they moved to either Burnt Islands or Isle aux Mortes.
By the 1869 census, the population had grown to 663, and the area continued to attract new settlers from England and the Channel Islands to participate in the fishery. By the 1870's the community had a number of businesses which participated in the local winter fishery and the Labrador fishery. The community continued to flourish through 1921 as the population reached over a 1000.
The 1950's and 1960's brought significant changes to the community with the opening of a fresh-frozen fish plant , resettlement of outlying communities in Rose Blanche., as a result of the road connection that was completed between Rose Blanche and Port aux Basques in 1961.
Statistics show that in 1991 the population of Rose Blanche was about 900 people, this dropped down to about 800 in 1996. Now Rose Blanche is mainly an area of retired fishermen with grown up families. In fact, now there are less then a hundred students in its Elementary School. The majority of the people in Rose Blanche over the age of twenty five have a education of under grade nine. This is because most people grew up as fishermen and didn’t see the need for it. However, the new generation is a bit different, there are over 50 students attending high school from Rose Blanche (this is nearly all the youths living there).
In the past, the mean economic and traditional activity of Rose Blanche was fishing. This remained the same from the first settlement in 1810, right up to the collapse in Cod stocks in 1992. Now the main jobs of the locals are in the tertiary industries. Many residents are employed in service industry in the nearby town of Port aux Basques while others have been forced to leave their community for work shipping on the Great Lakes. Despite the failure of the fishery, some still manage a living harvesting different species of fish and selling to nearby fish plants while hoping the the once rich fishery will return.
A Major piece of Rose Blanche history still remains today. This would be the light house. First constructed in 1873 (they began building it in 1856 and never completed it until then), it went years through weather, vandalism and other things that what you would think would demolish this building. But the tower and part of the living quarters were still standing even in 1997 when the town started a project of restoring it. This project cost a total price of 1.5 million dollars. Now it stands a full structure again and is a major tourist attraction of the south west coast of Newfoundland.
The Name Rose Blanche is said to have come from either it’s french meaning "white rose", or some say that is was once "Roche Blanche" and was probably over a period of time changed through speech of locals and foreigners. The name Roche Blanche means "white rock". This name is reasonable for the area due to the high concentration of the mineral "quartz" around its shore. This crystal-like mineral is a white colour and can be viewed in areas around Rose Blanche such as "Diamond Cove" and "The Neck."