Poster Subject: Historical Archaeology

Poster Title: Lords of the Land: Exploring the Mansion House in Ferryland, Newfoundland

Bio: Jordan Hollahan (He/Him) is a hard-of-hearing doctoral student in the Department of Archaeology researching Colonial North America. He is passionate about community/public archaeological research practices and accessible/inclusive education. He is also a Research Assistant working in the CARES Lab of Memorial’s School of Social Work, where he is helping to create a Community of Practice and develop a basis for Universal Design for Learning in the province. 

Abstract: George Calvert’s Mansion House at Ferryland, Newfoundland (CgAf-02), has been subjected to limited archaeological research, primarily focusing on a handful of artifacts, faunal remains, and associated outbuildings. This has left the broader importance of the structure’s role within the context of seventeenth century Ferryland to be overlooked. This doctoral research project will conduct an examination of the many thousands of objects associated with the Mansion House to showcase it as the epicentre of religious, economic, and social control at Ferryland. The continued occupancy of Calvert’s ‘Colony of Avalon’ (1621-1637) and Sir David Kirke’s ‘Pool Plantation’ (1638-1696) will be conceptualized through the manorial model and company town frameworks, which sees the landlord (an individual, group of people, or company) profit from a capitalist enterprise as a way of having social control. To better understand the applicability of these frameworks at Ferryland, I will compare the site to George Calvert’s earlier manors in North Yorkshire (England), Wexford (Ireland), and Longford (Ireland). As thousands of tourists visit the Ferryland site each year, I will create an accessible, interactive digital map of Ferryland and its structures between 1621 and 1696 to promote accessibility. This map will be layered to show temporal and spatial changes throughout the site’s history. 

Corresponding Author's Email: jdvhollahan@mun.ca 

Jordan Hollahan Poster (2024) [PDF]