COMPANY'S FOUNDATION (1765-1783)
In 1766, Charles Robin of the Jersey islands visited the Gaspé Peninsula to assess the commercial potential. The following year, he moved to Paspébiac on behalf of Robin, Pipon and Company. This family business was founded in 1765, uniting Charles, John and Philip Robin, who also operated a facility in Arichat, on the island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
In the Baie-des-Chaleurs, Charles Robin built relationships with the Acadians and the Micmacs. He traded in various products such as salt, salmon, furs and whale blubber. But it would be cod fish industry that was to make the company's fortune. Thus, from the 1770s, the comany already shipped thousands of quintals of dried cod to Europe. Percé constituted the main establishment with over 400 committed fisherman during the summer.
During the War of Independence (1775-1783), American privateers attacked the company's facilities. They seized cargoes, comandeered vessels, and burned everything they couldn't take back with them. Taken prisoner, Charles Robin managed to escape and eventually fled to Jersey, where he stayed until the end of the conflict.
CHARLES ROBIN AND COMPANY (1783-1886)
After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Charles Robin returned to the Gaspé Peninsula to found a new company, Charles Robin and Company. The company expanded a lot and stood out from its competitors. At the turn of the 18th century, it managed to take advantage of increase of prices in Europe, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, his business also extended to the US, West Indies and South American markets.
In the mid 19th century, Charles Robin and Company constituted the largest Eastern Canadian Fishing Company. Its vessels carried the "Gaspé Cured", dried cod renowned for its high quality, mainly in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Brazil. From the ports of Cadiz, Lisbon, Naples or Rio de Janeiro, captains shipped products that were then sold in the company's stores: salt, molasses, rum, wine, coffee, spices, tobacco, etc.
On Paspébiac's bank, its facilities constituted a business complex of thirty buildings: docks, shops, warehouses, workshops, homes ("cookrooms"), forges, shipyard, farm, etc. Some of the oldest establishments were added thereafter. Those of Grande-Rivière (1833), Caraquet (1839), Newport Point (1854) Pabos (1867), L'Anse-à-Beaufils (1870), Rivière-au-Renard (1869), Cape Cove (1876), Anse-au-Griffon (ca 1880) and, on the North Shore, Magpie and Natashquan (1870).
CREDIT SYSTEM
Fishermen sold their cod to fishing companies but generally did not receive cash for their catch. Instead, they were given credit at the company's store, where they obtained fishing equipment, clothing, food, drinks, tools and other items of domestic use. Fishermen often found themselves more or less in debt, which ensured their commitment to the company.
This system, akin to that used under French rule, was used by all fisheries companies in Gaspé. It was also in use elsewhere in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and other economic sectors.
CRISES AND RESTRUCTURING (1886-1910)
In the second half of the 19th century, financial crises affected the company. The most important occurred in 1886 following the Jersey Banking Company's bankruptcy. At that time, Charles Robin and Company and its rival, LeBoutillier Brothers, are also driven into bankruptcy. Unable to obtain their supplies, the people of Paspébiac broke into the warehouses and took food and flour with them.
The event started a period marked by the restructuring, merging or disappearance of Jerseyan companies. In March 1886, the company founded by Charles Robin passed into the hands of another Jersey company formed by Gervaise Legros, Edward De La Parelle and Elias Collas. After a first reorganization, it finally adopted the name of Charles Robin, Collas and Company in 1891. With this merge, the company acquired the Gaspé, Malbay, Pointe Saint-Pierre and Sheldrake establishments. On the North Shore, in the late 19th century, it was also represented in Moisie, Dock, Ridge Point and Rivière-Saint-Jean.
ROBIN JONES AND WHITMAN (1910-2006)
In 1910, the company was the subject of a new merger, this time with Canadian companies A. G. Jones and A. H. Whitman. Having become Robin, Jones and Whitman, its headquarters left the Island of Jersey to be set up in Halifax. New positions were created during this period, especially in Barachois, Bonaventure and Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé. So that, in the early 20th century, it owned thirty institutions in three Canadian provinces: Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The period was marked by the upheavals of the global economy during the two world wars and the crisis of the 1930s. In addition, the Robin, Jones and Whitman company seemed to have difficulty adapting to technological changes in the fisheries sector. Meanwhile, there emerged the fishermen's cooperatives, grouped in the Federation of Quebec United Fishermen who benefited from governmental support, especially for the modernization of fishing vessels. Finally, in 1964 a fire destroyed most of the Robin company's buildings in Paspébiac.
In this context, Robin, Jones and Whitman abandoned fishing to focus on their store network, a sector marked by the arrival of the big chains. In 1998, they announced the closure of their Chandler store. In 2004 it was placed under the protection of the law on arrangements with creditors. The six existing stores in Gaspésie and Nova Scotia thus closed their business.
PASPÉBIAC, A SITE OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
The site of the Paspébiac shoal, now a center of interpretation on the history of fisheries, was named a historic site of national importance by Canadian Heritage in 2003. In his discourse, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps said that the Paspébiac fishing bank "was the center of the first real fishing industry of Canada."