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25-482: In 1832 when the Colony of Newfoundland governed itself by representative government there was not a formal building assigned to house the legislature . The first home of the legislature was a tavern and lodging house on Duckworth Street owned and operated by a Mrs. Mary Travers . The stay was brief as in the legislature's haste and inexperience it forgot to vote approval for the funds to pay rent. The first building

50-467: A 15-month prison sentence for forgery received a one-month reduction in his sentence for the immaculate fresco painting work he completed at both Colonial Building and Government House . Worthy of note is the fact that the governing party had chosen to sit on the left side of the House of Assembly as opposed to the traditional right side of the speaker because that's where the heaters were located, and it

75-579: Is 64 metres (210 ft) tall. It was completed in 1960 at a cost of $ 9 million to replace the Colonial Building . A lantern is located at the top of the copper roof of the central tower and acts as a beacon when turned on at night. In 1982, construction began on the West Block extension, a modern 7-storey structure, which is a six-storey building, with a gross floor area of 34,838 square metres (374,990 sq ft). The original building

100-459: Is decorated with the Royal Arms sculpted in deep relief. The interior hall is screened with ionic columns supporting a quadrangular lantern dome. the two legislative chambers, each with a ceiling height of twenty eight feet, are decorated with corinthian pilasters . The whole structure was built at a cost of £18,335. In 1880 Alexander Pindikowski , a Polish fresco painter, then serving

125-780: Is now Quebec . It had strong trading ties to many of the indigenous peoples along the Atlantic Coast, including the Mi'kmaq and other Algonquian -speaking peoples. The rivalry between England and France in Europe was played out in conflicts in North America, where they struggled for predominance. This was particularly true in Newfoundland, where the English colonial settlements on the eastern coasts were in close proximity to

150-730: Is now considered the East Block of the Confederation Building. A third building on the legislature campus is the Service Building Annex a two-storey building housing a day care centre and garage for some provincial government vehicles. The complex consists of two buildings that house most departments of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. It also contains the provincial legislature, and offices for elected members. The original and tallest of

175-486: The Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives (ANLA) , and The Newfoundland Historical Society . Colony of Newfoundland Newfoundland was an English and, later, British colony established in 1610 on the island of Newfoundland , now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador . That followed decades of sporadic English settlement on the island, which was at first seasonal, rather than permanent. It

200-675: The British government . In two national referendums , Newfoundlanders and Labradorians voted to become part of Canada in 1948. On April 1, 1949, it became the Province of Newfoundland . Confederation Building (Newfoundland) The Confederation Building serves as the home of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly . It is located on Confederation Hill overlooking Newfoundland and Labrador 's capital city, St. John's . The brick- and concrete-clad building has 11 stories and

225-468: The Royal Navy , was appointed as its first governor. He directed the construction of Government House , which is located between the sites of Fort William and Fort Townshend. All three have been designated National Historic Sites . The colony was granted a constitution in 1832, and Cochrane became its first civil governor. The colony was granted self-governing status in 1854. Philip Francis Little

250-604: The English repopulated and rebuilt the colony. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 ceded all of Newfoundland to the British Crown. Given the Newfoundland colony's isolation from the more southern British colonies in America (and proximity to the still-loyal colony of Nova Scotia ), it did not become involved in the colonial rebellion of the 1770s. After the American Revolutionary War ended in 1783 with

275-736: The French claims in Southern Newfoundland, which the French dubbed Plaisance . The Newfoundland colony was nearly obliterated during the Avalon Peninsula Campaign of King William's War , the North American theatre of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697). In 1696, the French and allied Mi'kmaq armed forces wiped out all but a handful of English settlements on the island of Newfoundland. Over the next year,

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300-536: The ceilings of the two chambers. The Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development currently has its Provincial Historic Sites of Newfoundland and Labrador offices located in the Colonial Building. Since late-2005, there are also three other non-profit organizations operating from the Colonial Building, including the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (MANL),

325-513: The early 16th Century, some of these fishing crews founded an informal settlement at Placentia . The Beothuk gradually became extinct as a people, as they experienced a population decline as a result of infectious diseases introduced by European colonists and the loss of their ancestral territory due to colonial settlement. From 1610 onward, English colonists established colonial settlements in Newfoundland, led by proprietary governors , as England tried to create North American footholds. John Guy

350-402: The first inhabitants of Newfoundland and Labrador. During the late 15th century, European explorers like João Fernandes Lavrador , Gaspar Corte-Real , John Cabot , Jacques Cartier and others began visiting the area. From around the beginning of the 16th century, fishing vessels with English , Portuguese , French and Spanish crews started visiting on a seasonal basis. At some point during

375-693: The independence of the United States, Newfoundland Colony became part of British North America . The Crown resettled some Loyalists in Newfoundland, but most were given land in Nova Scotia and present-day Ontario . In 1809, the British Imperial government detached Labrador from Lower Canada for transfer to the Newfoundland Colony. It became an official Crown colony in 1825, and Thomas John Cochrane , an officer of

400-717: The legislative chambers, the Colonial Building contained offices, apartments for the caretaker and legislative librarian, and the Newfoundland Savings Bank. On the night of November 30, 1850, thieves broke in to the Colonial Treasurer's office through a ground floor window and stole £413 from an iron chest belonging to the Savings Bank. A £100 reward and pardon to accomplices was offered for information leading to an arrest. Two men, James Kavanagh and Michael Whelan, were caught, convicted and most of

425-469: The money was recovered. Legislative librarian Sarah Perchard eventually received the reward, after petitioning the Governor . On July 28, 1959, the provincial legislature had its last working session in the building before relocating to the newly completed Confederation Building on Prince Philip Drive. From 2010 to 2015 restoration work in the interior of building was undertaken to stabilize and restore

450-485: The second session of the House's fourth general assembly. James Purcell was the main architect and Patrick Keough was the contractor. Colonial Building, built in the style of neoclassical was constructed of white limestone specially imported from Little Island , Cork , Ireland . The facade features a massive portico consisting of six ionic columns supporting an entablature triangular pediment . The pediment

475-455: The two buildings. It is home to these provincial government departments, agencies, and offices: Opened in 1985, this building is to the west of the East Block and contains most other provincial government departments, and various offices and agencies: Remaining departments of the provincial government are located in other offices in St. John's: A number of statues and landmarks are located near

500-400: Was governor of the first settlement at Cuper's Cove . Other settlements were Bristol's Hope , Renews , New Cambriol , South Falkland and Avalon , which was organized as a province in 1623. The first governor given jurisdiction over all of Newfoundland was Sir David Kirke in 1638. During this period, France had also established settlements in the region, particularly to the west in what

525-452: Was also the site of a number of political riots and disturbances. One of those was the public protest on April 5, 1932 , for maladministration and corruption in government when all the windows were broken, doors smashed and furniture destroyed, which cost $ 10,000 to repair. The prime minister , Sir Richard Squires , barely escaped the building at that time. The building was also the site of Newfoundland's first bank robbery, in 1850. Besides

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550-459: Was destroyed in city fire of 1846. For the next seventeen years they would meet in various temporary quarters including the local courthouse . In 1846 an act was approved authorizing the construction of the Colonial Building as a permanent home. On May 24, 1847, the cornerstone was laid by the Governor, Major-General Sir John Gaspar Le Marchant . The official opening of the Colonial Building took place on January 28, 1850, by Governor Le Marchant for

575-736: Was made a Crown colony in 1824 and a dominion in 1907. Its economy collapsed during the Great Depression and on 16 February 1934, the Newfoundland legislature agreed to the creation of a six-member Commission of Government to govern the country. In 1949, the country voted to join Canada as the province of Newfoundland . Indigenous people like the Beothuk (known as the Skræling in Greenlandic Norse ), and Innu were

600-554: Was the first premier of Newfoundland between 1855 and 1858. The country rejected confederation with Canada in the period between 1864 and 1869. In 1907, Newfoundland became the Dominion of Newfoundland , a dominion of the British Empire . Due to economic hardship in 1934, the Newfoundland legislature accepted rule by a Commission Government comprising six members (three from Britain and three from Newfoundland) appointed by

625-657: Was the warmest part of the house. To this day the ruling party in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly continues to sit on the left side of the speaker of the house . It was the site where responsible government was given Newfoundland in 1855. It was at this building that Newfoundland entered in the Commission of Government in 1934 and the location of the Newfoundland National Convention from 1946–1948 then in 1949 when Newfoundland entered into Confederation with Canada. It

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