According to "Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland" by E. R. Seary and according to the 1794-95 census, which can be seen at the NF GenWeb site, the early instance of the name Tapper in Torbay was Charles Tapper, planter in possession of property. Charles had been in NF for 30 years at the time this census was taken.

83 year old George Tapper, who lives in Calif., is the son of a different Charles ... Charles Tapper & Mary Dunn born in Torbay. Charles came to New York and owned many fishing vessels in NY and Conn. Many of your ancestors knew Charles and worked on his vessels. Unfortunately I have not been able to tie Charles into this tree. He was the son of Charles Joseph Tapper born abt. 1840 and Mary Ryan. Mary, born about 1840, was the daughter of William Ryan and Judy McGrath. If you know who the parents of Charles Joseph Tapper were please contact me.