Chesley W. Sanger

Professor Emeritus
Department of Geography
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL
A1B 3X9

Office: SN 2024
Tel: (709) 864-8992
Fax: (709) 864-3119

Home: P.O. Box 478
Ocean Pond
Whitbourne, NL
Canada
A0B 3K0

Tel. (709) 682-4887
E mail: csanger[at]mun[dot]ca

Research Interests

  • Historical geography and marine resources
  • Scottish Arctic whale fishery, 1750-1801.
  • Newfoundland seal fishery, 19th and 20th centuries.
  • Newfoundland shore based whaling.
  • Northern and Scottish whaling.

Selected Publications

Categories (not mutually exclusive): i) Scottish Arctic Whaling; ii) Newfoundland and Labrador Whaling; iii) Newfoundland Harp Seal Fishery; iv) Newfoundland: History/Culture/Heritage; and v) Miscellaneous

Scottish Arctic Whaling

  • 2020 Scottish Arctic Whaling (1750-WWI): A Digitized Statistical Profile - whalinghistory.org
  • 2016 Scottish Arctic Whaling, Edinburgh, John Donald.  Winner of the "Keith Matthews Award-Best Canadian Book, 2016," Canadian Nautical Research Society; and short-listed for the "Best Researched Book, 2016," Saltire Society Award, Scotland.
  • 2012 “The Rise of Scotland to a Position of Dominance in British Northern Whaling: 1802- 1840,” International Journal of Maritime History, 24, No. 1, 173-202.
  • 2010 “The Role of Foreign Experts in the Revival of Scottish Northern Whaling, 1750-1784,“Mariners Mirror, 96, No. 3, 295-302.
  • 2008 “Prologue to Scottish Domination of Northern Whaling: The Role of the French Revolutionary War (1793-1801),” International Journal of Maritime History, 20, No. 1, 97-114.
  • “Scottish Northern Whaling and Sealing” in Coull, J.R., Fenton, A. and Veitch, K. (eds.), Boats, Fishing and the Sea, Vol. 4, Scottish Life and Society: A Compendium of Scottish Ethnology, Edinburgh: John Donald, 389-458.
  • 2007 “Scottish Over-Wintering Whaling at Cumberland Gulf, Baffin Island: 1853-90,” International Journal of Maritime History, 19, No. 2, 161-99.
  • 2003 “’Oil is an Indispensable Necessity of Life’: The Impact of Oscillating Oil and Baleen (Bone) prices on Cyclical Variations in the Scale and Scope of Northern Commercial Whaling, 1600-1900,” International Journal of Maritime History, 15, No. 2, 147-158.
  • 2000 “The Impact of the American Revolutionary War on Scottish Northern Whaling: The Dunbar Factor,” Northern Scotland, Vol. 20, 71-86.
  • 1997 “The Greenland Right Whale (Bowhead) – An Assessment of the Biological Basis of the Northern Whale Fishery during the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries” in Wheatley, H. (ed.), Agriculture, Resource Exploitation and Environmental Change, Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
  • 1995 “The Origins of British Whaling: Pre-1750 English and Scottish Involvement in the Northern Whale Fishery,” The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord, 5, No. 3, 15-32.
  • 1994 “’Dodging in the Bight, A Good Place for a Whale’: Environmental Factors Affecting 18th and 19th Century Whaling at Davis Strait,” The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord, 4, No. 1, 17-33.
  • “’We are now in a Splendid Position for Whales’: Environmental Factors Affecting 19th Century Whaling in Baffin Bay,” The Mariner’s Mirror, 80, No. 2, 159-77.
  • 1991 “’On Good Fishing Ground But Too Early for Whales I Think’: The Impact of Greenland Right Whale (Bowhead) Migration Patterns on Hunting Strategies Employed in the Northern Whale Fishery during the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries,” The American Neptune, 51, No. 4, 221-40.
  • Environmental Factors Affecting 17-19th Century Whaling in the Greenland Sea,” Polar Record, 27(161), 77-86.
  • “Changing Resources and Hunting Locations of Scottish Whaling-Sealing Vessels in the Second Half of the 19th Century,” Scottish Geographical Magazine, 107, No. 3, 187-97.
  • “’Saw Several Finners but No Whales’: The Greenland Right Whale (Bowhead) – An Assessment of the Biological Basis of the Northern Whale Fishery during the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries,” International Journal of Maritime History, 111, No. 1, 127-54.
  • 1988 “The Dundee-St. John’s Connection: Nineteenth Century Interlinkages between Scottish Arctic Whaling and the Newfoundland Seal Fishery,” Newfoundland Studies 4, No. 1, 1-26.
  • 1986 “The Origins of the Scottish Northern Whale Fishery,” Ph.D. thesis, Geography, University of Dundee.

Newfoundland and Labrador Shore-Station Whaling: 1898-1972 (with A.B. Dickinson, Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland)

  • 2018 After the Basques: The Whaling Stations of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, NL: DRC Publications.
  • 2016 “The Whaling Station at Hawke Harbour, Labrador: A Case Study in the Unsustainable Exploitation of Marine Natural Resources,” Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, 31, No. 1.
  • 2010 “Interfamilial Relationships in Early 20th Century Whaling: A Newfoundland-Norway Case Study” in Jan Erik Ringstad (ed.), Whaling and History 111, Kommandor Chr. Christensens Hvalfangst Museum, Sandefjord, Norway, 149-60.
  • “20th Century Whaling in the Western North Atlantic: The Labrador Industry” in Jan Erik Ringstad (ed.), Kommandor Chr. Christensens Hvalfangst Museum, Sandefjord, Norway.
  • 2009 “Newfoundland Involvement in Early 20th Century Shore-Station Whaling in Japan” in Hayato Sakurai (ed.), The Last Harpooner: The End of Old Whaling, and an Introduction of American and Norwegian Whaling, Taiji, Japan, 52-60.
  • 2005 Twentieth-Century Shore-Station Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador, Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press (Winner of the Keith Matthews Prize – Best Canadian book, Canadian Nautical Research Society).
  • “Commercial Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador: An Historical Overview,” Newfoundland Quarterly, 98, No. 2, 28-31.
  • 2000 Norwegian Whaling in Newfoundland: The Aquaforte Station and the Ellefsen Family,1902-08, St. John’s, NL, International Maritime Economic History Association, Research in Maritime History No. 20.
  • “Newfoundland and Labrador Shore-Station Whaling: Over Expansion and Decline: 1905-1917.” The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord, 10, No. 4, 13-38.
  • 1999 “Newfoundland and Labrador Shore-Station Whaling: The Final Demise, 1951-1972,” The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord, 9, No. 3, 39-52.
  • “Newfoundland and Labrador Shore-Station Whaling: The Third Major Phase, 1937-1951,” International Journal of Maritime History, 11, No. 1, 101-16.
  • “Commercial Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador,” Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website (NLHWS), http://www.heritage.nf.ca.
  • 1998 “Trinity Involvement in Modern Shore-Station Whaling,” The Newfoundland Quarterly, Vol. XC11, No. 1, 2-6.
  • 1997 “The Construction and Display of the First Full-Scale Model of a Blue Whale: The Newfoundland Connection,” Acadiensis, 27, No. 1, 67-84.
  • 1995 “Renewal of Newfoundland and Labrador Shore-Station Whaling, 1918-1936,” International Journal of Maritime History, 7, No. 1, 83-103.
  • 1994 “Adolph Nielsen-Norsk innflyatelse pa Newfoundlands fisherinaering ved oluttaen av det 19. og begynnelsen av deat 20. arhundre,” Saertrykk av NORSK SJOFAARTSMUSEUM, Oslo (with M. Baker).
  • 1994 “Commercial Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador” in Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, 5, 546-51.
  • 1993 “Modern Shore Station Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador: The Peak Season, 1904,” International Journal of Maritime History, 5, No. 1, 127-54.
  • “The Origin and Development of North American Modern Shore Station Whaling: Newfoundland and the Norwegians, 1896-1916,” Basberg, B.L. Ringstad, J.E. and Wexelsen, E. (eds.) Whaling and History: Perspectives on the Evolution of the Industry, Sandefjord, Norway, Kommandor Chr. Christensens Hvalfangstmuseum, 91-100.
  • 1992 “Adolph Nielsen: Norwegian Influence on Newfoundland Fisheries in the Late 19th -Early 20th Century,” Newfoundland Quarterly, 27, No.2, 25-35 (with M. Baker).
  • 1991 “Expansion of Regulated Modern Shore-Station Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1902-1903,” The Northern Mariner 1 No. 2, 1-22.
  • “Newfoundland Involvement in 20th Century Shore-Station Whaling in British Columbia, Newfoundland Studies, 7, No. 2, 97-122.
  • “A Newfoundland Floating Factory Whaling Expedition,” Polar Record, 27 (161), 125-28.
  • “They Were Clannish as Hell”: Origins of Modern Shore-Station Whaling in British Columbia – The Newfoundland Factor, Halifax. Oceans Institute of Canada.
  • 1990 “Modern Shore-Based Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador: Expansion and Consolidation, 1898-1902,” International Journal of Maritime History, 2, No. 1, 83-116 .
  • 1989 “The Origins of Modern Shore Based Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador: The Cabot Steam Whaling Co. Ltd., 1896-98,” International Journal of Maritime History, 1, No. 1, 129-57.

Newfoundland Harp Seal Fishery

  • 2008 “Changing Technologies and Personnel Patterns in 19th Century Newfoundland Sealing,” ASPECTS, a Publication of the Newfoundland Historical Society, Newfoundland Quarterly, 101, No. 2, 50-3.
  • 2008 “Sail Versus Steam: Post 1863 Technological and Spatial Adaptation in the Newfoundland Seal Fishery,” Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, 23, No. 2, 139-69.
  • 2000 “The Newfoundland and Labrador Commercial Seal Fishery,” Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website (NLHWS), http://www.heritage.nf.ca.
  • 1998 “Seal Fishery in the Twentieth Century,” NLHWS.
  • “Seal Fishery Hunting Methods,” NLHWS.
  • “Seal Fishery Equipment, Technologies and Products,” NLHWS.
  • “Seal Fishery Background,” NLHWS.
  • 1988 “The Newfoundland Seal Fishery and Scottish Whalemen in the Nineteenth Century” in Tanioka, T. and Ukita, T. (eds.), Proceedings of Historical Georgraphy – 24th International Geographical Congress (Tokya, 257-62.
  • 1980 “The 19th Century Newfoundland Seal Fishery and the Influence of Scottish Whalemen,” Polar Record, 20, No. 126, 231-52.
  • 1977 “The Evolution of Sealing and the Spread of Permanent Settlement in Northeastern Newfoundland” in The Peopling of Newfoundland: Essays in Historical Geography, J.J. Mannion (ed.), University of Toronto Press, 136-51.
  • 1973 “Technological and Spatial Adaptation in the Newfoundland Seal Fishery during the Nineteenth Century,” MA thesis, Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Newfoundland and Labrador: History/Culture/Heritage

  • 2010 Williams, A.F., John Guy: His Life, Times, and Legacy, St. John’s, NL, Flanker Press (Editor with W.G. Handcock).
  • 2002 The Sanger Family in Newfoundland: Timothy and Violet – Roots and Offshoots. St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (with D.S. Sanger).
  • 1998 “Signal Hill, St. John’s, Newfoundland,” Agenda Paper (C2333-97-0005), Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Heritage Canada, Ottawa.
  • Resources,” Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website, http://www.heritage.nf.ca.
  • 1997 “Cold Ocean,” Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website, http://www.heritage.nf.ca (with W.G. Handcock).
  • 1996 “Battle Harbour, Labrador,” Agenda Paper (C2336-96-0001), Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Canada Heritage, Ottawa.
  • 1991 “Cultural Ancestry,” Atlas of Newfoundland and Labrador, Breakwater Press: St. John’s, Newfoundland. Plate 7 (with W.G. Handcock).
  • “Cultural Patterns,” Atlas of Newfoundland and Labrador, Breakwater Press: St. John’s, Newfoundland. Plate 8 (with W.G. Handcock).
  • Atlas of Newfoundland and Labrador, Breakwater Press: St. John’s, Newfoundland. Content Committee.
  • 1981 Outports on the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland: A Field Guide. Post-Conference Field Excursion, Canadian Association of Geographers, Corner Brook, August (with W.G. Handcock).
  • 1975 The Newfoundland Outport – Pouch Cove: A Case Study, Provincial Department of Education – Rural Settlement Field Research Project. Distributed to all Newfoundland High Schools.

Miscellaneous

  • 2012 “Who are the Ice Whales?” The Circle, No. 4, 6, 89.
  • 2005 “Index,” O.M. Meehan, The Canadian Hydrographic Service from the Time of its Inception in 1883 to the End of the Second World War (published in The Norther Mariner/Le Marin du Nord, Vol. 14, Nos. 1 and 2), The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord, 15, No. 2, 299-357 (with Dennis R. Dawe).
  • “The Origins and Development of Shore-Based Commercial Whaling at Spitsbergen during the 17th Century: A Resource Utilization Assessment,” The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord, 15, No. 3, 39-52.
  • 1999 “In Pursuit of Leviathan: Technology, Institutions, Productivity, and Profits in American Whaling, 1816-1906, L.E. Davis, R.E. Gallman and K. Gleiter (1997). A Roundtable Review Essay, International Journal of Maritime History, 11, No. 2, 163-9.