In 1832 Newfoundlanders could look back on a rapid and sometimes bewildering transformation in the political and economic life of the island, which was achieved within their lifetimes. The institutions and practice of the law had not only caught up with the reality of island life, but had also begun to delineate the context in which society would function. In 1790 the legal regime still reflected the requirements of a century- old statute that reserved Newfoundland as an adjunct of the migratory fishery. At that time the island was to be used only as a summer land base upon which the staple product of an inshore fishery and that of the Grand Banks could be landed and cured. All disputes in the fishery were reserved for adjudication in English courts. Because of the flood of cases from Newfoundland, they were being inefficiently handled in English courts. Aaron Graham, secretary to each seasonally resident governor in Newfoundland between 1779 and 1791, advised Governor Mark Milbanke in 1789 to appoint a court of common pleases with a criminal as well as a civil jurisdiction. The pressure of immigration, which accompanied the unprecedented prosperity of the war years between 1793 and 1815, led to the permanent establishment of the court in 1809. Economic, social, constitutional, and political developments involved the use of the law, and the law set limits on what could be accomplished in terms of reform and a greater degree of home rule. A new Judicature Act in 1824 preceded the important change in Newfoundland's status within the empire the following year and the achievement of representative political institutions in 1832. This essay includes a discussion of why commentators have largely ignored these changes and illustrates the central role that law played during the period. 47 notes