By 1620, the <answer>fishermen</answer> of England's West Country controlled most of Newfoundland's east coast. In 1627, William Payne, called St. John's "the principal prime and chief lot in all the whole country". The population grew slowly in the 17th century and St. John's was the largest settlement in Newfoundland when English naval officers began to take censuses around 1675. The population would grow in the summers with the arrival of migratory <answer>fishermen</answer>. In 1680, fishing ships (mostly from South Devon) set up fishing rooms at St. John's, bringing hundreds of Irish men into the port to operate inshore fishing boats.
Who controlled most of Newfoundland's east coast by 1620?
fishermen