To Brenda Young —
I’m new here, but discovered my Newfoundland roots a little while ago. My grandmother’s surname was Bonia, from St. Mary’s. I am connected to the Sarah Bonia O’Reilly under discussion–my grandmom was Sarah’s brother Patrick’s granddaughter. I’m also discovering my Power roots.

I am interested in your comment: “Does anyone know why some of the people in Placentia spoke French-sometime only french -in their younger days-say around 1870-1880. Perhaps the Bonia family. Several mentions of it.”

Placentia was inhabited by indigenous Beothuk people, then Basques, then French (calling it Plaisance in mid 1600s), then British in 1713. My earliest Bonia trace in Newfoundland is Patrick in 1785. I’ve been trying to determine where my Bonia ancestors originated. The search is complicated by wild variations in the spelling. I’ve seen suggestions the Bonia surname was French or maybe from the Midlands of England. So maybe they came to Newfoundland speaking French, or maybe French was still a dominant language in Placentia. But where did they start?

Any insight you have into why the Bonias spoke French would be much appreciated by this newbie.
–Alice