To Employ and Uplift Them is a social and economic history of the Newfoundland branch of the Royal Naval Reserve. Established in 1900, the Newfoundland reserve provided part-time employment to fishermen and trained them to be Royal Navy sailors during war. Imperialists and the Newfoundland government hoped that the unit would alleviate outport unemployment and make Newfoundlanders better subjects. But the system had to contend with the British Treasury Office's scrutiny and the Admiralty's strategic objectives. In the end, Newfoundland reservists filled many roles during World War I, but London's post-war fiscal restraint terminated the Newfoundland reserve in the 1920s.

Mark Hunter is a maritime historian of the Atlantic world. He specializes in economic history and the relationship between the civilian and naval labour markets, recruiting, employment and training. Dr. Hunter has published essays in the Journal of Military History, Mariner's Mirror, Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, and other venues.

Mark C. Hunter's profile page

"Mark Hunter has succeeded in rescuing the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve from an undeserved oblivion."

James E. Candow, International Journal of Maritime History

"A history of an organization in the context of its social role in its community and its affect thereon.”

Fraser M. McKee, The Northern Mariner