Job Brothers & Co., Limited

Job Brothers & Co., Limited (formerly: Bulley, Job & Company, Bulley, Job & Cross, Job Brothers; commonly referred to as Jobs[1]) was a Colony of Newfoundland-based mercantile empire that spanned three centuries. The main business of the company centered on production and development of fisheries rather than trading.[2] The Job Brothers & Co., Limited letterhead, however, self describes the company as "steamship owners, general merchants, agents, and importers" as well as "exporters of dried cod fish, herring, salmon, lobsters, seal skins, whalebone fertilizers, cod oil, medicinal cod liver oil, seal and whale oil".[3] As president of Job's Brothers, Hazen Russell had the company's vessel, Blue Peter, outfitted as the first floating, frozen-fish processing factory in the world.[4]

Job Brothers & Co., Limited

Type	Private
Industry	Production and development of fisheries
Founded	1750
Headquarters	St. John's, Newfoundland
Key people	John Bulley & John Job (founders)

Early history

The business originated around 1750 with John Bulley of Teignmouth, Devon as the sole proprietor. Eventually, Bulley's son, Samuel took over the business. When his daughter Sarah married John Job (born Haccombe, Devon)[5] in 1789, Bulley made Job his partner in the newly formed company, Bulley, Job and Company. The company's main division focused on the fish trade, including the purchase and export of codfish, with fishermen or other traders as clients. Another division handled the shipping and outfitting of vessels that participated in spring seal hunting.[3]

The company and its partnerships evolved over time. In 1808, when Nathan Parker joined the company, it was renamed Parker, Bulley and Job. Within the next twelve years, when Parker retired and James Cross of Liverpool joined the company, it was renamed Bulley, Job & Cross. In 1834, at age 15, Stephen Rendell, later a merchant and politician, apprenticed with Jobs.[6] An 1839 reorganization put Robert Job and Thomas Bulley Job in charge of Bulley, Job and Company in St. John's, while Samuel Job and John Job Jr. were in charge of Job Brothers in Liverpool, England. About the same time, with the retirement of Thomas Bulley, the company was renamed Job Brothers. The partnership included the four sons of John Job: Robert Job, Thomas Bulley Job, Samuel Job and John Job. Others joined the firm in the next few years thus leading to its renaming as Job Brothers & Company. Other partnerships ensued over the next century.[3]

Between 1867 and 1872, Jobs built three large "wooden walls" (wooden-hulled naval vessels) that were used for sealing, including Neptune,[7] at the same time also establishing plants at Bay Bulls, Catalina, and L'Anse-au-Loup that converted fish offal into fertilizer. In the last century, Jobs pioneered artificial fish drying at its plants in Blanc Sablon, L'Anse-au-Loup, and Forteau. Its steamship, Blue Peter, was the first floating, frozen-fish processing outfit in Newfoundland.[4] Other diversification included manufacturing, mining,processing, and timber. Jobs bought Hector around 1871, rebuilt her and renamed her Diana.[8] By 1898, it had acquired another steamer, Nimrod.[9]

Later years

In 1909, Erik broke her shaft and had to be tugged by another Jobs' vessel, Beothic.[10] In the same year, Thomas Raffles Job (son of Thomas Bulley Job), Samuel Ernest Job, William Carson Job, and Robert Brown Job incorporated Job Brothers & Co., Limited.[3] Thomas Raffles Job, grandson of the original John Job, became its president. The other three family members, great-grandsons of John Job, became the directors. In 1912, Jobs had a new steel steamer, Nascopie.[11]

After Thomas Raffles Job died in 1917, William Carson Job became the company's second president. With William Carson Jobs retirement in 1919, Robert Brown Job became the company's third president. In 1928, the Hudson's Bay Company purchased a majority of the company's shares but these were re-acquired by Jobs fifteen years later. In 1945, Northatlantic Fisheries purchased sixty percent of Jobs' shares. Other Jobs plants were sold in the next two decades. The remaining Jobs plant in St. John's closed operations in 1967.[3]

References

1. Ryan, pp. 206
2. Story, G.M.; Kirwin, W.J.; Widdowson, J.D.A. (1990). Dictionary of Newfoundland English. G - Reference,Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series (2 ed.). University of Toronto Press. p. 165. ISBN 0-8020-6819-7.
3. "Job Photograph Collection". Maritime History Archive. Memorial University. 2005. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
4. Wright, Miriam Carol (2001). A fishery for modern times: the state and the industrialization of the Newfoundland fishery, 1934-1968. Canadian Social History Series. University of Toronto Press. p. 27. ISBN 0-19-541620-1.
5. Ryan, Shannon (1994). The ice hunters: a history of Newfoundland sealing to 1914. Newfoundland history series. 8. Breakwater Books. p. 145. ISBN 1-55081-097-9.
6. Story, G. M. "RENDELL, STEPHEN". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. University of Toronto/Université Laval. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
7. Ryan, pp. 150
8. Ryan, pp. 179
9. Ryan, pp. 181
10. Ryan, pp. 193
11. Ryan, pp. 195

Further reading

• Job, R. B. (1954). John Job's family: A story of his ancestors and successors and their business connections with Newfoundland and Liverpool, 1730-1953. S.l: s.n.