I visited Newfoundland about 35-46 years ago.
I recall talking with an senior citizen who was staffing a museum/historic site in St. John's. He expressed the opinion that the last Governor General for Newfoundland was sent from London with specific instructions to get the population to vote to enter the Canadian Confederation. Maybe from the same gentleman, I got the impression that the Government in London felt that the Crown Colony was too much a drain on them in the Post WWII era.
And yes, some of the English spoken on the Island goes way back to when the time the first year-round fishing settlements were established. I had to listen very carefully to one of the older men who was on the cross-island bus to Port aux Basques (the train was gone by my visit).
The bus trip was interesting. Lunch stop at Gander airport and the dinner stop at Corner Brook.
Brian