par "On 21 July 1713 Taverner was commissioned as “Surveyor of such part of the coast of Newfoundland and the Islands adjacent as the French have usually fished upon and wherewith our subjects are at present unacquainted.” Frequently consulted by the Board of Trade during the next eight months, he was able to pass on useful information as well as advice about the situation in the newly acquired territories. When Taverner arrived at Placentia on 27 June 1714, Lieutenant-Colonel Moody, who had been designated deputy governor of Placentia, put a ship at his disposal to begin the survey. On 23 July Taverner set out to discover the nature and extent of the outlying French settlements on the island of Saint-Pierre and elsewhere, to report what French ships were fishing, and to carry through a charting operation designed to provide sailing information for English fishermen.
The transition from French to British control was difficult; the French under the supervision of Philippe Pastour* de Costebelle were evacuating the population to Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) and threatening those who remained and took the oath of allegiance that they would be treated as traitors. At Saint-Pierre Taverner had a lively summer trying to impose the oath of allegiance on the French. He had some trouble too with one William Cleeves of Poole over the sale of salt, and was accused by him of charging the French for surveying their plantations, of compounding with French ships which came to trade, and of engaging in trade on his own account, sending home, for example, ten hogsheads of oil to Poole. On 22 Sept. 1714 Taverner returned to Placentia and made a full and interesting report. He thought the possibilities of exploiting the salmon fishery were good and was most optimistic about building up a fur trade, having engaged a Canadian with a knowledge of Indian languages to make contacts for him."
Source : http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=1678
Taverner, William. Captaine anglais, inspecteur de Terre-Neuve, informe le roi Georges que tous les français qui se trouvaient dans la colonie avaient prêté serment au roi d’Angleterre. Il dressera la carte de Saint-Pierre qui sera publiée dans l’English Pilot. Il dit dans ses relations que 150 français étaient restés dans les îles, contrairement aux déclarations de Costebelle. Tous auraient prété serment au roi George Ier.
