The Newman Building was built in 1848 and was occupied by a number of different companies/organizations prior to today. It is now owned by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador - Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation and space is provided to MANL, the Arts Council of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Newfoundland Historic Trust.

The following is a brief history of some of the tenants. If you have information to fill in any of the gaps, please e-mail us. Newman & Company (1848-1882) The Newman family were merchants from Dartmouth where in the fourteenth century had established themselves in the import and export trade, chiefly in cloth and wool though the firm purchased everything from train oil to seal skins and supplied everything from wine to a fire engine.

By 1503, Thomas Newman was importing wines by exchanging fish and salt. Thus began the Newfoundland fish trade relationship with the Newman family. By the seventeenth century, John Newman controlled the whole process of catching and marketing fish. By the middle of the fifteenth century, the Newman family and the fishery were inseparable.

Marketing connections were made with Portugal, the largest consumer of salted cod, and in Spain. Seasonal fishing stations or plantations had been set up in Pushthrough, Harbour Breton, Gaultois and Hermitage. The firm also traded with the planters and Micmac of the south coast and carried on whaling and sealing expeditions to Greenland from Newfoundland.

Newman and Company's practice of sending shipments of port wine to Newfoundland to mature began during the latter half of the seventeenth century when in 1679 one of their ships left Oporto bound for London with a shipment of port. When the ship carrying the Portuguese port was chased by a French vessel and blown off course, the captain then made way for Newman's Plantation on the Island where the ship waited out the winter. When the wine was later sampled, the contents were found to be further improved. It was deduced that the rolling motion of the Atlantic voyage and something in the air, or climate of Newfoundland had matured the wine, giving it a special character and a high degree of perfection. In 1847, wine vaults were built on the corner of Springdale and Water streets. The wine which was shipped from Newfoundland to England became very popular as a high quality wine in English pubs and amongst the aristocracy.

The Newman's practice of sending large quantities of port to Newfoundland for maturing developed a busy trade between Oporto, St. John's and London. By the 1850's, offices of the Newman & Company were at Burgeo, Gaultois and Harbour Breton were handling the fish trade, while the St. John's office operated the wine business.

But the Company was experiencing increasing problems with its Newfoundland business. In the 1850's, it became increasingly concerned about the quality of the salt fish it was trading and the competition from St. John's based firms posed a problem as they became more involved in the outport trade. In 1864, the small Burgeo operation was closed. The larger Gaultois operation was sold in 1900 and in 1907, the Harbour Breton branch was sold - ending over 300 years of Newman's involvement in the salt fish trade.