Fonds - J.W. Hiscock Sons Limited fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

J.W. Hiscock Sons Limited fonds

General material designation

  • Textual record

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  • Source of title proper: Supplied title based on provenance

Level of description

Fonds

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Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

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Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1907-1982 (predominant dates, 1940-1980) (Creation)
    Creator
    J.W. Hiscock Sons

Physical description area

Physical description

10.6 m of textual records

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1894-)

Administrative history

J. W. Hiscock Sons Limited was a Newfoundland fish merchant firm which engaged in the production and export of salt fish in Brigus, Conception Bay. In the 1930s, a plant was built in Brigus where the firm's schooners could offload fish to be stored and packed for subsequent shipment. Following the 1930s, the firm diversified, becoming involved in the general coasting trade. Shortly after incorporating in 1941, the firm invested in technology that made J. W. Hiscock Sons Limited one of the largest producers of dried salt cod in the province.

The business was founded in 1894 by Edmund Hiscock (d.1918) and his sons William J. Hiscock and John Wilcox Hiscock at Comfort Bight, Labrador, with a branch at nearby Hilton. After a few years, the firm was reorganized, with William acquiring the Hilton branch and John operating at Comfort Bight along with newer branches at Hiscock Islands and American Harbour. In 1910, John moved the headquarters of the firm to the newly purchased Frederick G. Jerrett property in Smokey, Labrador. Some time later, John turned the Comfort Bight operation over to William's son, Edmund, who operated it as a separate business. Ned, John's son, took over the Comfort Bight branch in 1941.

In 1969, a larger plant was built in Brigus that could accommodate both salt fish and fresh frozen production. In the next few years, the firm expanded its sphere of operation, establishing buying centres at many locations where fish was purchased from fishermen and shipped to Brigus for production. The firm also opened a plant at Trout River on the island's west coast, where fresh fish was purchased from local fishermen and salted before being sent to Brigus for washing, drying, and packing.

The firm moved into fresh frozen production in 1978, converting a portion of the plant for that purpose. The grandsons of John W. Hiscock also formed Hiscock Enterprises Limited to deal in frozen squid, caplin, mackerel, and dried squid. At about the same time, J. W. Hiscock Sons Limited also entered into a partnership with Oxford Frozen Foods Ltd., a Nova Scotia Company, to produce and export blueberries and partridgeberries, a move that lengthened the plant's production season. The imposition of the groundfish moratorium in 1992 eliminated the supply of codfish and terminated that aspect of the business. The firm is currently a seasonal operation (2003).

Custodial history

Mr. John Walsh, a local stamp dealer and collector, made arrangements with David G. and Charles A. Hiscock to have the company records donated to the Archive.

Scope and content

The fonds consists of the accumulated business records of the firm J.W. Hiscock Sons Limited which operated a fish business at Brigus with branch operations at Smokey Labrador and Trout River on the island's west coast. The majority of the records cover the period from the 1940s through to the 1980s with the earliest material being from 1907.

The fonds contains financial records including ledgers, journals, banking records, fishermen's accounts, fish books giving the amount and value of each fisherman's yearly catch, customer orders, inventory records and statements on account for all areas of operation including Labrador, Gooseberry Cove, Grand La Pierre, Hr. Mille and Little Hearts Ease; Hiscock's accounts with Harvey & Company Limited and Beothic Fish Processors; general correspondence files containing invoices, plant output summaries, payroll statements, records of employment and saltfish inspection certificates; Newfoundland Fish Trades Association circulars, Bulletin published monthly by the Fisheries Council of Canada and Memo published by the Fisheries Council of Canada and other published material from various fishery related organizations and government agencies; labour records of the firm's store employees and its fishermen as well as fishermen's earning records including earning summaries which include incomes by species caught; Insurance records relating to the firm's own insurance policies and its insurance sales as agent for W.A. Munn & Co.; fish collection books containing the quantity, grade and price of fish purchased from individual fishermen, fish shipment records documenting the quantity and cull for individual shipments, plant output reports compiled by the Canadian Salt Fish Corporation listing the production and markets for each shipment; expense accounts for the firm's vessels Mary Ruth, Harriet and Vivian and Lady MacDonald and a salt barge used for storage; records of the sale of coal; Records of the firm's membership and affiliation with the Newfoundland Associated Fish Exporters Limited (NAFEL); income and expense records for the firm's Blueberry Division; files relating to the Newfoundland Department of Fisheries Gear Subsidy Program, many of which were later seized as part of an RCMP investigation into that program.

Two photographs which were in this fonds have been removed and are filed in MHA photograph file PF-308. The fonds is arranged in eleven series: Financial records, 1907-1982; General office files, 1930-1980; Newfoundland Fish Trades Association circulars and enclosures, 1960-1968; Labour records, 1940-1979; Insurance records, 1950-1976; Fish purchase and shipment production books, 1950-1980; Vessel records, 1946-1976; Coal sales records, 1941-1963; Published material; Accounts, 1910-1921, 1949-1976; Miscellaneous records 1912-1917, 1944-1978.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Donated by David and Charles A. Hiscock, 1994.

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

    Location of originals

    Availability of other formats

    Restrictions on access

    No restrictions

    Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

    Copyright is held by the creator or his/her heirs.

    Finding aids

    No finding aid available

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    Status

    Draft

    Level of detail

    Partial

    Dates of creation, revision and deletion

    Created - May 1, 2013

    Language of description

    • English

    Script of description

      Sources

      Accession area