Author Archives: Larry Dohey

Have you got a case of “Grenfellitis”

Archival Moment

February 28, 1865

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives . IGA 13-62 Sir Wilfred Grenfell

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives . IGA 13-62 Sir Wilfred Grenfell

In an interview with a Grenfell worker in St. Anthony in 1934 the worker was asked if she had found Labrador a healthful climate. She replied:

“Yes, BUT there is one thing that we all get, something incurable, which gets into your system and keeps returning , but it is never fatal. It is called “GRENFELLITIS” and its most dangerous symptoms is lasting enthusiasm for the North.”

There has been a number of episodes of “Grenfelltitis” that have overtaken  individuals over the past number of years and the only cure for “Grenfelltitis”   is a good exhibit to speak to the history of the work of Grenfell in our North.

Recommended Archival Collection: The records of the International Grenfell Association (IGA) were donated to the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL) by IGA representatives in June 1985. http://www.exhibits.therooms.ca/panl/exhibits/  

Recommended Reading: The Grenfell Obsession an anthology [edited by] Patricia O’Brien St. John’s, Nfld.  Creative Publishers, 1992.

 

Happy Birthday, Sir Wilfred Grenfell

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

February 28, 1865

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives. IGA 13-62 Wilfred Grenfell Painting.

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives. IGA 13-62 Wilfred Grenfell Painting.

Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, was born February 28, 1865. He was an English physician and missionary, famous for his work among Labrador fishermen. Dr. Grenfell came to Labrador in 1892.

During more than 40 years of service in Labrador and in Newfoundland, he built hospitals and nursing stations, established cooperative stores, agricultural centers, schools, libraries, and orphanages, and opened the King George V Seamen’s Institute in St. John’s, in 1912. Grenfell cruised annually in the hospital steamer Strathcona II, keeping in touch with his centers of missionary work.

Over the years Grenfell received many awards from universities and other institutions. In 1907 he was appointed a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George; in that year Oxford University awarded him the first Honorary Doctorate of Medicine ever granted by that University and in 1928 he was chosen as Fifth Honorary Knight for Life of the Loyal Knights of the Round Table.

Grenfell’s health failed during the 1920’s and he suffered a heart attack in 1926 and again in 1929. He retired in Vermont, U.S.A.  in 1935 at the age of 70. He made his last trip to Labrador in 1939 after his wife died from cancer. He brought her ashes to be interred on Fox Farm Hill overlooking St. Anthony. Grenfell died two years later at his home in Vermont and his ashes were brought to Labrador and placed next to his wife’s.

Recommended Archival Collection: The records of the International Grenfell Association (IGA) were donated to the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL) by IGA representatives in June 1985.   More at The Rooms: http://www.exhibits.therooms.ca/panl/exhibits/

Recommended Reading: Grenfell of Labrador: A Biography. Ronald Rompkey. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991.

Archival Moment

February 23, 2018 

Kaetlyn Osmond will be bringing home to Newfoundland and Labrador a bronze medal from the PyeongChang, Winter Olympics and her team gold medal.

Who were some of the Newfoundlander’s and Labradorian’s that participated in earlier Olympics?

Newfoundlanders have  been associated with the Olympics since 1904.

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives 1.507.002; Robert (Bob) Fowler, The first Newfoundland-born athlete to compete in the Olympic Games.

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives 1.507.002; Robert (Bob) Fowler, The first Newfoundland-born athlete to compete in the Olympic Games.

The first Newfoundland-born athlete to compete in the Olympic Games was Robert Fowler born in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, in 1882.  Fowler in 1904 was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and competed in the marathon for the USA at the Olympics in  St. Louis in 1904. Fowler, failed to finish either race. The marathon was the most bizarre event of the Games. It was run in brutally hot weather, over dusty roads, with horses and automobiles clearing the way and creating dust clouds.  Although he was on the American team,  he did not claim American citizenship until 1906.  At the 1904 Olympics he carried the Dominion of Newfoundland passport.

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: VA 37-35.1; Group of Newfoundland soldiers taking part in athletic events. L-R (Front row): Eric Robertson (Regiment # 497).

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: VA 37-35.1; Group of Newfoundland soldiers taking part in athletic events. L-R (Front row): Eric Robertson (Regiment # 497).

Another Newfoundland athlete to make his way into the Olympic Games was Eric Mackenzie Robertson. He was born on Maxe Street in St. John’s.  Robertson would have been the first Newfoundland “born and bred athlete” to compete in the Olympic Games, in Antwerp in 1920.  Robertson one of the few survivors of the great First World One battle at Beaumont Hamel (1916) was so determined to go to the Olympics that he petitioned the Newfoundland government to release his 30 pound pension that he used to pay for his Olympic fees.  In Antwerp, Roberton found out that he could not represent Newfoundland, since the country of Newfoundland, had no Olympic committee and no athletic association to certify his amateur status.  Even though Newfoundland was a separate Dominion at the time, he competed for Great Britain, the “Empire’s oldest and most loyal colony.”

Harry Watson, of St. John’s can lay claim to being the first Newfoundlander to have participated in  the ‘Winter Olympics.’  The first winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France and Watson  (known to his friends as Moose ) arrived with a Canadian Hockey team.  Harry “Moose” Watson, and his team were the gold medal winners. The Canadians beat Czechoslovakia 30-0 and Sw .itzerland 33-0, a game in which Watson himself scored 13 goals.

Ferd Hayward of St. John’s had an international race walking career that included a large number of first place finishes. He was the first Newfoundlander to participate in the Olympics Games for Canada in the 1952 games in Helsinki, Finland.

An amazing five appearances in a Canadian uniform as a race walker in the Olympics places Alex Oakley  (originally from St. John’s )  among the finest athletes to come out of Newfoundland and Labrador. With five Oylmpic races to his credit between 1956 and 1976, he has competed in more Olympics than any other Canadian male athlete. He made the decision on his own not to enter the 1968 Olympics. His record includes a disqualification in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia, ninth in the 20 kilometer race in 1960 at Rome, 14th in the 50 kilometer event in 1964 in Tokyo, 31st in the 50 kilometer race in 1972 at Munich, Germany and, at the age of 50, 35th in the 20 kilometer event in 1976 at Montreal.

Weightlifter, Bert Squires of Grand Bank was in the 1984 Olympics in  Los Angels.  He also qualified to compete at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, but a boycott by Canada and several other countries kept him from competing as a weightlifter.

The 1980 boycott  that was spearheaded by the United States, which had taken issue with the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was devastating for another Newfoundland athlete.  Paula Kelly in 1980 became the only Newfoundlander and youngest swimmer to qualify for the Canadian Olympic Swim Team. Kelly would have been the first Newfoundland swimmer to represent Canada at the Olympics in 1980 but the Canadians boycotted, she missed her opportunity to compete.

The 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea featured two Newfoundlanders, Paul McCloy and Frank Humber.

St. John’s athlete Paul McCloy enjoyed an illustrious career competing in athletics and many consider him to be the greatest middle and distance runner that Newfoundland has ever produced. Paul dominated the sport locally, winning the St. John’s Tely 10 road race five times.  In 1988 he represented at the Olympics in Seoul, Korea.

Frank Humber of Corner Brook competed as a relief pitcher for Canada’s baseball team at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. 1988 was an especially important year for international amateur baseball since the sport had been added – on a demonstration basis – to the roster for the Summer Olympic Games. Humber secured his spot as one of eight pitchers on Canada’s Olympic team during a July, 1988 tryout camp.  Canada went 1-2 at Olympics and never made it to the medal round, but that single victory came against the Americans, who would go on to win the gold medal with a starry lineup that included a bevy of future Major Leaguers.

Carl Dwayne Norris from St. John’s  is perhaps best remembered  for scoring the winning goal to help Team Canada beat Czechoslovakia and win the gold medal in the 1990 Junior World Hockey Tournament in Helsinki. In 1994, he  won a silver medal in Ice Hockey with Team Canada at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics.

Maria Maunder  of  Logy Bay found her way on the international stage in the sport  of rowing.  She was on the Canadian rowing crew in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta winning silver behind the Romanians.

Phil Graham originally from Corner Brook was a member of Canada’s fourth place eights rowing team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He started rowing only at age 21 at Trent University.

The most celebrated  Newfoundlanders at the Olympics were members of the “Brad” Gushue Curling team along with teammates Russ Howard, (Moncton, N.B) Mark Nichols, (Labrador City),  Jamie Korab  (Harbour Grace) and Mike Adam (Labrador City).  They represented Canada in curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where they won the gold medal.

At the 2014  Olympics all eyes in Newfoundland and Labrador were on 18-year-old, Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown at the Sochi, Olympics in Russia. She  brought  home a ‘silver’ medal.

Kaetlyn Osmond in 2018 brought home  a gold  (team event) and bronze  from the PyeongChang, Winter Olympics, South Korea.

Have there been other athletes from Newfoundland and Labrador that have participated in the Olympics. If you know of any others please let me know!!

Recommended Archives:  At the Rooms Provincial Archives there is a huge collection of sports related material.  Take some time to explore the Frank W. Graham fonds, the Sports Hall of Fame fonds, and the SANL museum collection. Search the Archives:  https://www.therooms.ca/collections-research/our-collections

 

 

 

“The Untold Story of the Labrador Court.”

Labrador

The Labrador Court of Civil Jurisdiction was a short-lived experiment in long-distance justice delivery. Each summer, from 1826 to 1833, the Court departed from St. John’s for the Labrador in an ice-reinforced vessel that cruised the Coast for two or three months, stopping at numerous coves and harbours from Blanc Sablon in the South to Rigolet in Esquimaux Bay (now Hamilton Inlet), and occasionally West to Kinnemish in Carter Basin and North West River.

The Court’s Clerk, George Simms, a Justice of the Peace and merchant from Trepassey, kept a journal of these voyages, of which four, from 1830 to 1833, are known to have survived.

This lecture is based on The Journals of George Simms, J.P., and the Records of the Labrador Court, 1826-1833, 2 vols., edited by Augustus G. Lilly and Christopher P. Curran, St. John’s.

The Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2017, which contains Simms’s Journals, the complete Court Records, and a selection of archival documents, all of which add to our knowledge of legal, commercial, and Indigenous activity in Labrador.

These materials, most of them published for the first time, are supplemented by an Introduction which traces the history of the delivery of justice on the Labrador Coast from 1809 to 1863.

There are identifications for some 225 persons and places mentioned in the publication, extended biographical sketches of the Court’s Judge, Captain William Paterson, and Simms, and contemporary illustrations, showing people and places on the Coast and the politicians, administrators, and lawyers who were instrumental in setting up the Court.

Please join us on Thursday, 22 February 2018, as Rhodes Scholar Augustus G. Lilly, Q.C. presents the Newfoundland and Labrador Historical Society’s  free monthly lecture:

“The Journals of George Simms, J.P., and the Untold Story of the Labrador Court, its Origins, Operations, and Demise.”

Location: Hampton Hall, Marine Institute
Date: Thursday, 22 February 2018
Time: 7:30 pm
Parking: Free parking is available in front and to the west of the building.

“Let me treat you to a drink”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

February 16, 1909

Lips that touch liquor will never touch mine.

Lips that touch liquor will never touch mine.

On  February 16, 1909 the local St. John’s newspaper the Evening Telegram reported on a sermon given by Archbishop Michael Francis Howley, the Catholic Archbishop of St. John’s.  The newspaper account reported that “Archbishop Howley occupied the pulpit in the Cathedral” and spoke about establishing a League to be called the “Anti Treating League.”

The name chosen for the organization refers to the established practice and “habit of inviting each other to drink which is called “treating.”  We know it today in the expression “let me treat you to a drink.”

It was Archbishop Howley’s hope that this new organization

 “will have the practical effect in preventing excesses in the use of intoxicating drinks and encouraging sobriety and moderation, and the practice of the virtue of Temperance.”

Archbishop Howley proposed that members of the Anti Treating League would pledge themselves “not to take from anyone a drink of intoxicating liquor in a place where such liquors are sold.”

In short you could drink but no treating!!

The attempt by the Archbishop to curb drinking was not the only attempt to address the issue of excessive drink.  At The Rooms Provincial Archives records establish that as early as 1675 the  government  was keeping an account of the names of suppliers of liquor and wines to the inhabitants of Newfoundland.

The  Anti Treating League was established but many were deaf to the message of the Archbishop.  The year following the establishment of the League the number of Roman Catholics confined to the Police Station for being drunk was 430.  The number confined for being drunk and disorderly was 299.  He was not amused!

Recommended Archival Collection: Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese:  Howley’s Circular Letter – December 27, 1908: The Anti Treating League.

Recommended Reading: Rumrunners: The Smugglers from St. Pierre and Miquelon and the Burin Peninsula from Prohibition to Present Day.  J. P. Andrieux; Flanker Press, St. John’s, 2009.

 

 

 

 

A Newfoundland and Labrador geographical romance

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

February 14, 1918

Newfoundland and Labrador a place of romance.

Newfoundland and Labrador a place of romance.

This is a geographical romance that will take you to the many nooks and crannies of Newfoundland and Labrador.  This is a poem for Valentine’s Day!

Each of the bolded words in this poem is a place name in Newfoundland and Labrador. Please note that some of the place names have changed and or have been resettled and may no longer be on the official provincial map.  Take some time with the provincial map and travel with Annie Opsquotch about this province to try and find her true love!!

 A Newfoundland and Labrador  Geographical Romance

Annie Opsquotch just could not make up her mind. She was smitten by two men, Joe Batt  and Sam Hitches.  Little did she know that there was another who was in love with her and was determined to keep her to himself! But her mind was made up, she was determined to find her true love!

Now Annie Opsquotch got a mash,

But wasn’t very sure,

If she loved Old Sam Hitches less

Or Young Joe Batt the Moore

Bad Neighbour when he heard it,

In his Heart’s Ease felt alarm,

And sent Joe Batt to Burying Place;

Gave Sam a Bloody Arm.

Then Annie’s scornful Ha, Ha,

Was Tentamount to snubs,

When Mose Ambrose heard of her Exploit

He felt like Jack O’Clubs

 

Her Beau Bois, she then went in quest,

And traveled day and Knight,

And swore she wouldn’t Stepaside

Till she found her Heart’s Delight.

She took a Gin and Brandy,

Her Bareneed to appease,

She took a stock of Horse Chops,                           

Like wise some Bread and Cheese.                         

She started on Blue Pinions,

With the swiftness of a Hare,

She went to sleep with Heart’s Content,

But woke up in Despair.

Thru Cat’s Cove, Dogs Cove, Hogs Nose,

Thru Bear’s Cove, Lion’s Den,

Past Beaver, Seal and Badger

And Duck and Deer and Clam;

Thru Fox and Goose and Wolf Bay

Rat, Weasel, Turtle, Swan,

Thru, Salmon, Swile and Puffin,

And rested her at Lawn.

Thru Lobster, Loon and Clown Cove                                

With haste she did Pushthrough,

Thru Gouffe, Greeps and Gaggles                                    

Knife Cove and Lance au Lou;                              

Cupid’s message via Pacquet

Put an end to her alarms,

At last she got her Heart’s Desire,

Snug, Safe in Joe Batt’s Arms.

The poem  was written under a pen name, or “nom de plume” by Bald Nap.  It is  possible that the writer  was from Bald Nap  described as an outport on Bay d’Espoir located in the Trinity District.

This  poem makes reference to approximately sixty five place names.

Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives explore the Nomenclature Board fonds , Description number GN 157. This collection consists of of incoming correspondence to the secretary, Nomenclature Board (1920-1943; 1950),including petitions about proposed community name changes.

Where in the province are these places located?  WE have found most – but a few  (?)  we have not found. Perhaps you can help.

The Annieopsquotch Mountains are located in the southwestern interior of the island of Newfoundland, east of Bay St. George. Its name is Mi’kmaq and literally translated means ‘terrible rocks.’

Sam Hitches: A small fishing station on Long Island between Despair and Hermitage. Distance from Fortune Bay is nine miles, from Gaultois by boat is seven miles.

Joe Batt: A fishing settlement on north east side of Fogo Island. Distance from Fogo is five miles.

Moore’s Cove, near Shoal Tickle. Shoal Tickle was the smallest of the four communities that were settled outside the Town of Fogo.

“The Bad Neighbour” is about three quarters of a mile off Burgeo.

Heart’s Ease is primarily a shortened name for Heart’s Ease Beach (near Gooseberry Cove, Trinity Bay). The community ceased existence in the 1920s.

Indian Burying Place, Notre Dame Bay is located approximately halfway between Nippers Harbour to the south, and Shoe Cove to the north. It can be reached by boat, walking overland, or by skidoo in the winter from Snook’s Arm.

Bloddy’s Arm: A salmon river, in the Fogo division of the District of Twillingate and Fogo.

Ha Ha: Newfoundland has more than a few hahas, including Ha Ha Bay, Ha Ha Mountain, and The Ha Ha.

Mose Ambrose: Located along Route 363, Mose Ambrose, Harbour Breton area, was originally called Mon Jambe and later became known as Mozambrose. Like most communities along the south coast, Mose Ambrose was first established as fishing rooms for ventures from England.

Exploit’s River: One of the most important inlets in Newfoundland. Distance from Twillingate by boat is 24 miles.

Jack O’ Clubs is now known as Aguathuna, located in the Stephenville Western Region.

Beau Bois on the Burin Peninsula, only a 10-minute drive from Marystown.

Knight’s Cove is a village located southwest of Bonavista and west of Catalina.

Stepaside is located on the south coast of Newfoundland (on the Placentia Bay side of Burin Peninsula).

Heart’s Delight-Islington is a town on the south side of Trinity Bay.

Bear Cove can mean a number of places; there were at least eight in the province.

Lion’s Den: Fogo Island.

Beaver Cove changed its name to Beaverton in 1968.

Badger is a town in north-central on the Exploits River. It supplied pulp and paper for the mills in Grand Falls-Windsor for many years, and was famous for its large spring log drives.

Black Duck Cove, near Ireland’s Eye, Trinity Bay.

Deer: as in Deer Lake, western Newfoundland.

Clam Bank Cove, now known as Lourdes.

Fox Harbour, Placentia Bay.

Goose Bay, Bonavista Bay or Labrador.

Lower Wolf Cove, now Springdale.

Rat (Rattling Brook), now Heatherton.

Weasel Island: Mi’kmaq burial site in Hermitage District.

Turtle: ?

Swan: Swan Island, Bay of Exploits.

Salmon Cove, now called Avondale.

Swile Rock, Trinity Bay.

Puffin: ?

Lawn, Burin Peninsula.

Lobster Harbour, NDB, now Port Anson.

Loons Cove, now called Lewins Cove.

Gin Cove, north side of Smith’s Sound, Trinity Bay

Brandy: ?

Bareneed is located east of Bay Roberts, on the west side of Conception Bay.

Horse Chops is a small island off the coast of Labrador, near the mouth of Sandwich Bay or the cape near the entrance of Engliah Harbour, Trinity Bay.

Bread and Cheese, located south of Bay Bulls.

Blue Pinions: A small fishing settlement on west side of Fortune Bay, district of Fortune Bay. Distance from Bellorem is five miles by road, near St. Jacques.

Hare (Hare Bay) is a natural bay located on the eastern side of the Northern Peninsula.

Heart’s Content, a community nestled along the sea on the Baccalieu Trail.

Despair (Bay d’Espoir). It’s sometimes claimed that the name Bay Despair represents an English corruption of the French.

Cat’s Cove, on the Burin Peninsula.

Dog Cove, on St. Brendan’s Island.

Hog’s Nose: Trinity Harbour, Trinity Bay.

Clown Cove, near Carbonear.

Pushthrough: A resettled fishing community located on Newfoundland’s south coast, about 20 kilometres northwest of Hermitage.

Gouffe: ?

Greeps: ?

Gaggles: a place to which logs are hauled, preparatory to transportation by water or rail.

Knife Cove, Knife Bay (or Baie de Couteau, or Knife Cove) is a natural bay or cove. Cornelius Island is nearby.

L’Anse-au-Loup is located between Forteau and L’Anse-au-Diable.

Cupids: the oldest English colony in Canada and the second oldest English in North America! A place for lovers!

Pacquet (“hideaway” in French) is located in White Bay, on the Baie Verte Peninsula.

Heart’s Desire, south side of Trinity Bay.

Snug Harbour, approximately 30 kilometres northeast of Charlottetown.

Safe Harbour is a resettled fishing community located around a well-sheltered harbour on the north side of Bonavista Bay.

Joe Batt’s Arm, Fogo Island.

Bald Nap is an outport on Bay d’Espoir, located in the Trinity District.

 

Great day for hauling stone

Archival Moment 

February 7, 1864

St. Patrick's Church, St. John's.

St. Patrick’s Church, St. John’s.

On February 7, 1864, work officially began on St. Patrick’s Church, Patrick Street, St. John’s with the hauling of the stone taken from the Southside Hills (at Cudahy’s (also Cuddihy) Quarry) in St. John’s.  The first sleigh of stone was delivered to the site  by the Cathedral (now Basilica)  Fire Brigade.

Typically, in the construction of stone buildings, the stone was hauled during the winter, when the road surfaces were packed with snow allowing the horses to pull the very heavy loads.

It is estimated that 600 tonnes of stone was hauled from Cudahy’s Quarry  by volunteer labor for the construction of the new church.

Construction continued as funds and materials permitted.

Twenty five years later, St. Patrick’s Church was consecrated on August 28, 1881.

The hauling of the stone on sleighs from the South Side Hills to the site of the future St. Patrick’s Church resulted in the death of one child. Children would grab onto the huge mounds of stone on the sleighs as they traveled through the streets. One child was crushed when a stone slab slid from the sleigh as the child tried to grab on for a joy ride.

Most Reverend John Hughes, Archbishop of New York and Bishop John Thomas Mullock of St. John’s laid the cornerstone of St. Patrick’s Church on September 10, 1855.  The church was designed in the late Gothic Revival, also termed Neo-Gothic, style by J.J. McCarthy, a prominent Irish architect, and was built by T. O’Brien, local architect and mason.

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives: [Collection MG 956] Provincial Archives Special Items collection. Item consists of an address from the parishioners of St. Patrick’s, St. John’s, to their pastor for services rendered over twenty five years. 39 x 53 cm; watercolour floral border and illustration of St. Patrick’s church at bottom centre; main text hand-lettered with watercolour.

Recommended Reading: J.J.McCarthy and the Gothic Revival in Ireland by Jeanne Sheehy., June 1977. Ulster Architectural Heritage Society.

The Sale of Obscene Pencils in Chance Cove

Mr. Samuel ROWE, the Justice of the Peace for Chance Cove, Trinity Bay, was a very unhappy man; it was March 1953 and he had just discovered that the depraved ways of the world had found there way to his home town.

He had discovered that the proprietor of the local shop Levi John SMITH had sold and had in stock several pencils which contained the model figure of a woman in the nude. To add insult to injury the offending pencils were being passed around the Salvation Army School.

The pencils were Eversharp pencils officially known as the Hidden Nude Figure Mechanical Pencil.

Mr. Rowe felt that matter was so serious that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) would have to be called. Within days the RCMP officers from “B” Division, Whitbourne detachment was on the case.

Their first stop was at the business premises of Levi John Smith where they discovered eleven of the Eversharp pencils had been purchased. Eight had been sold, the three that did not sell were immediately confiscated, and the search began for the missing pencils.

They were next to visit the Salvation Army School where they were informed that two of the pencils had been purchased by Garland and Maxwell Brace the children of Gordon and Elizabeth BRACE.

Garland was nowhere to be found but Maxwell met with the officer explaining in his statement on Friday 20th March 1953 “I went to Levi John Smith’s shop and while I was there noticed some Eversharp Pencils he had for sale I paid $1.25. These pencils contained a fluid and in this fluid as was a model of a woman in the nude …”

With the pencils and evidence in hand Levi John Smith was charged under section 207 (2) (a) of the criminal code with knowingly, without jurisdiction or excuse selling an obscene model pencil.

Levi John Smith’ s case made it before a magistrate where he was convicted and fined $50.00 or in default to serve 30 days in Her Majesty’s Penitentiary. He was also ordered to pay costs of the prosecution amount to $62.25 or in default to serve an additional 14 days.

The Eversharp pencils taken from the boys and retained as exhibits were destroyed on 12 October 1953 upon instruction from the presiding Magistrate.

A search for Philip AUBERBACH the travelling salesman who had initially sold the pencils to the shopkeeper in Chance Cove was declared liable to be charged if and when located in Newfoundland. He was never found.

Love to have one of these pens in our collection.

Recommended Archival Collection: The Rooms; Department of Justice GN 13/1/B Box 183 File #60

If Candlemas Day be sunny and bright …

ARCHIVAL MOMENT 

February 2, 1871 

Febryary 2 is Candlemas Day - Blessing of the candles that are used during he year.

February 2 is Candlemas Day – Blessing of the candles that are used during the year.

 

Some of the best insights into the history of families and communities in this province can be garnered from the pages of the hundreds of diaries that have been deposited into archives in the province. In the diaries of Edward Morris, Mr. Morris observed on February 2, 1871.

“Fine morning, light frost, wind from the north, north west. Streets frozen again but no cold such as we have had. The day fine enough but the walking very rough.  Attended at the Cathedral in the morning at the ceremonies of Candlemas Day ….”

February 2 is “Candlemas”  Day.

The ceremony of Candlemas Day, a ritual celebrated throughout the Christian world that Mr. Morris observed was the blessing of the annual supply of the Church’s candles.  Beeswax candles were blessed by being sprinkled with holy water and having incense swung around them, and then the candles distributed to everyone in the church. Then there was a procession in which people carried lighted candles while the choir sang. The procession represents the entry of Jesus as light of the world into the temple.

In Newfoundland there is an established tradition that on this day a blessed candle would be lit and the mother of the household would bless the children in the home with the candle.  The wax was allowed to drip on the head (hat) and shoulders and on the shoes of the children.

Every fishing boat would also have a blessed candle. These candles would be taken out and lit during a gale or storm.

WINTER IS HALF OVER

This day also used to have great significance on the calendar, because the date lies half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, so it marks the day upon which winter is half over!  As Candlemas traditions evolved, many people embraced the legend that if the sun shone on the second day of February, an animal would see its shadow and there would be at least six more weeks of winter.

You may know the rhyme:

If Candlemas day be sunny and bright,Winter again will show its might. If Candlemas day be cloudy and grey, Winter soon will pass away. (Fox version)

If Candlemas day be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight. If Candlemas day be shower and rain, Winter is gone and will not come again. (Traditional)

In Branch, St. Mary’s Bay an expression that is particular to Candlemas Day was the expression:

Half your prog and half your hay,
Eat your supper by the light of the day.

The expression calls on families, now that we are half way through winter, to take stock of their (prog)  food supplies in their root cellars and feed for the animals (hay).  Just to insure  that there is enough to get you through the winter.

It is amusing that our issues back on February 2, 1871 are much the same.  Morris when writing in his diary about Candlemas –  he  also wrote:  “The day fine enough but the walking very rough.”  

To this very day people still comment that walking about St. John’s is very rough.

Recommended Archival Collection:   Edward Morris Diaries 1851-1887. Edward Morris was a businessman, politician, and office-holder; born in 1813 at Waterford (Republic of Ireland). He moved to St John’s, Newfoundland in 1832.  On January 1, 1851 he began to keep a daily diary that he continued until his death on 3 April 1887.

“Fish and Brewis is the dish that Newfoundlanders yearn …”

January 18, 1917

Archival Moment

Fish and Brewis served to the Newfoundland Regiment in the trenches of France.

Fish and Brewis served to the Newfoundland Regiment in the trenches of France.

“Fish and Brewis” has long been one of the most common meals served in Newfoundland and Labrador and during the First World War (1914 -1918) Newfoundlanders were determined to see the meal served to the ‘boys’ of the Newfoundland Regiment. The people of the Dominion of Newfoundland were so resolute that this Newfoundland delicacy be available to their ‘soldiers boys’ in the trenches of France that a “Fish and Brewis” Fund was established to purchase and send overseas the two main ingredients, dried cod fish and ship’s biscuits.

Like most people in a foreign land, the men of the Newfoundland Regiment missed the comfort foods of home. One historian reported, “Fish and Brewis is the dish that all Newfoundlanders yearn when away from home.”

Fish and Brewis (pronounced “brews”) is a combination of salt cod and hard bread, which is a small, compact cake, made with flour and water and sometimes called “hard tack.” The dish is frequently sprinkled with “scruncheons,” which are crisp fried bits of salt fat-back pork, and the scruncheons are sometimes fried with onions.

In a letter dated January 18, 1917, Charles P. Ayre, the Honorable Secretary, of the Fish an Brewis Committee, in St. John’s received a note from Captain (Rev.) Thomas Nangle expressing the thanks of the Ist Battalion, Newfoundland Regiment in France for the feed of the “Fish and Brewis.” He wrote:

“it would be hard to find in the whole British Army a more contented unit than the boys from “Newfoundland” on that Sunday morning we had Fish and Brewis for breakfast. The men enjoyed the meal to such an extent that even in the line … arrangements for them to have this ration once a week while it lasts.”

Nangle gave much of the credit for the meal to the Newfoundland cooks who cooked the “home produce” the dried fish and hard tack. He wrote:

“That it was cooked properly let it suffice to say that our cooks are Newfoundland cooks, know their business, and did it properly.”

The military historian Gerald W.L. Nicholson author of The Fighting Newfoundlander noted that there was one ingredient was missing. He wrote:

“The shipment did not include fat pork, which when fried into ‘schruncheons” added the crowning touch to the fish and brewis. The battalion’s cooks substituted with bacon, and produced a treat which evoked from every true Newfoundlander expressions of deepest satisfaction…. “

The Newfoundlanders were all very contented with their breakfast but an Essex Officer, not familiar with the delicacy was heard to say “What the hell is that?”

A young soldier of the Newfoundland Regiment writing to his mother on January 25, 1917 wrote:

“ I have been informed that the good people in dear old St John’s have gotten up what they called a “Fish and Brewis Committee”to gather funds to buy some bread and fish to send to “Our|boys to make a treat of Fish and Brewis for them. I am sure they will enjoy and appreciate it because the fish you sent me in one of the parcels was simply grand. I cannot find words to describe to you how delighted I was to get it.”

Recommended Exhibit: The First World War had a profound impact on Newfoundland and Labrador. It involved thousands of our people in world-changing events overseas and dramatically altered life at home. Our “Great War” happened in the trenches and on the ocean, in the legislature and in the shops, by firesides and bedsides. This exhibition shares the thoughts, hopes, fears, and sacrifices of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who experienced those tumultuous years – through their treasured mementoes, their writings and their memories. – – See more at: https://www.therooms.ca/exhibits/always/beaumont-hamel-and-the-trail-of-the-caribou#sthash.HNEnynnP.dpuf

Recommended Cook Book: Edward A. Jones spent decades sampling and lovingly collecting salt cod recipes from around the world. The result is Salt Cod Cuisine: The International Table, 2013 a remarkable collection of 250 step-by-step salt cod recipes that celebrates salt cod and its place in world history and culture.