These communities have a shared history in that they were settled by people from England, predominantly from the West Country - Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Hampshire.
Cape Freels, on the northern point of Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, is said to have been visited as early as 1506.
On Gull Island, Cape Freels in 1924, a gas lamp was erected to help aid mariners with their navigation.
[1] In 1836, 35 of the 46 inhabitants in Cape Freels were Church of England and eleven were Roman Catholic.
[3] - Hutchinson's Newfoundland Directory for 1864 lists some of the inhabitants of Middle Bill Cove:[4] - Lovell's Newfoundland Directory for 1871 describes Middle Bill Cove as the most northern settlement in the Bonavista district, distant from Greenspond about 15 miles by boat and a population of 161.