Author Archives: Larry Dohey

Seven Placentia Giants at the Regatta

Archival Moments

August 9, 1877

Seven Placentia Giants, 1877.

The talk in St. John’s in the days approaching Regatta Day in 1877 was all about a crew of fisherman from Placentia daring to compete for supremacy on the historic waters of Quidi Vidi Lake.

In 1877, Mr. Edward Sinnot a businessman of Placentia, assembled a crew of six strapping fishermen, all over 6 feet tall. Phillip Morrissey, Daniel Morrissey, Patrick Morrissey, John Morrissey, Moses Morrissey, and James Whelan. Sinnott would act as coxswain.

On Saturday night, August 4th, the crew hoisted their boat on their shoulders and left Placentia to walk the 90 miles to St. John’s. The trail was a rough one through the woods, as there was no road. The press in St. John’s and the public anxiously awaited their arrival.

The St. John’s newspaper the Morning Chronicle reported on, August 7, 1877

“We have no doubt that their brother fishermen in St. John’s and the neighbouring outports will accord to them a hearty welcome, and in the friendly contest of Thursday (Regatta Day) next willingly concede to them all the immunities of honorable rivalry.”

Expectations on how the ‘Placentia Giants” would do was low. In a letter to the Editor of the Morning Chronicle on August 9^th it was written:

“As they have had pluck to start I trust they will make a favorable show; but it is hard to expect men who have had no practice, and who are unaccustomed to the pond, to match men like you have here in St. John’s – well practiced and acquainted with the race course. I merely mention this to show that they will be contending against big odds. I do not mean to throw anything like disparagement on the men; they are good strapping fellows, no doubt, and deserve great credit for breaking the way for others to follow their plucky footsteps in the future.”

The great Race of Regatta day, August 9th, was the “Fisherman’s Race.” Seven boats entered, the competing crews came from Torbay, Outer Cove, Harbour Grace, Placentia, St. John’s and a British Warship that was in port.

The Morning Chronicle of August 11th describes the race:

“The Placentia crew in their own boat walked beautifully over the course and won the Prince of Wales first prize. The famous Outer Cove crew of last year were left far away behind, and proved that even their magnificent rowing could not retrieve the reputation of a boat whose natural propensity to push all before her seem insuperable.”

For rowing the quickest time of the day, the crew of the “Placentia” were awarded a bonus of $10. The victory was the cause of great excitement and Governor Musgrave asked to have the seven visitors brought to him so he could give each a gold sovereign.

With their moment of glory over, the victorious crew lifted their boat to their shoulders and walked home with it.

The Placentia crew quickly became known as as the ‘Seven Placentia Giants’.”

This tremendous feat was replicated in 1977 by the Placentia Lions who once again carried a boat to St. John’s and won the Championship. It marked the second straight year that the Lions Crew had won the Triple Crown of Rowing, meaning they had won the men’s senior Championship in all three fixed-seat rowing Regattas (Placentia, Harbour Grace and St. John’s.)

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives Division take some time to look at “The Rowing” Series which consists of 212 b&w photographs predominantly of the Royal St. John’s Regatta races and crews, The photographs include team portraits, races underway, presentation of awards and views of the people along the shore of Quidi Vidi Lake.

Recommended Museum: Special tours and visitation to the Royal Regatta Museum are available upon request. If you wish to make a special appointment to visit the Museum, please call the Boathouse at: (709) 576 – 8921. (Note: Research and writing for this Archival Movement was completed by John O’Mara.)

Recommended Web Site: The Royal St. John’s Regatta: http://regatta.nlpl.ca/php/home.php

Recommended tune (Listen): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNVQdwzMKpA

Catholics eat meat at St. John’s Regatta?

Archival Moment

August 6, 1964

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives 1.502.050A; Regatta crowd on the north side slopes of Quidi Vidi Lake during Come Home Year Regatta

On Thursday, August 6, 1964, Father Dermot O’Keefe, Secretary to Archbishop Patrick J. Skinner, Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. John’s contacted all of the local radio stations and newspapers with the important announcement that he (the Archbishop)

“has granted a general dispensation from the law of abstinence from meat on tomorrow (Friday, August 7^th) to all Roman Catholics in all parishes of the Archdiocese of St. John’s.”

The Archbishop stated “Meat is therefore permitted as often as desired on this Friday, whether the Regatta is held or not.”

In the Roman Catholic Church their are certain disciplinary observances that were encouraged. On Friday’s, Christians are encouraged to fast. That fast takes the form of avoiding meat in the diet.

With the Regatta cancelled because of inclement weather on Wednesday, August 5, 1964 and the weather not looking good for Thursday, August 6, 1964 Archbishop Skinner insisted that the “law of abstinence from meat on Friday, August 7, 1964 be dispensed.”

With the law dispensed Roman Catholics could stand at Quid Vidi Lake enjoying the Regatta with hotdogs and hamburgers in hand with the rest of the population.

Recommended Reading: A Day at the Races: Mysteries of the Royal St. John’s Regatta, 2003 by Jack FitzGerald

Recommended Archival Collection: At The Rooms, Provincial Archives Division take some time to look at VA 61: Souvenir 1912 Regatta, St. John’s, Newfoundland / photographed and published by P.H. Cowan (St. John’s, N.L)

100,000th View to Archival Blog

I have hundreds of stories in these archival boxes for you!

(St. John’s, NL, July 31, 2013) we reached a milestone today, recording 100,000 page views!

The site was designed less than a year ago to bring attention to the extensive archival collection of material that is held in archives throughout the province.

“Archival Moments’ takes an archival document that has some relevance to a particular day, and then writes a synopsis of the document which is then posted. The posting includes reference to the particular archives that holds the original document and includes suggested reading material.

The goal of ‘Archival Moments’ was and remains to encourage those who come to the blog to do some further research on the topics that are posted. This site is all about bringing attention to the great stories and traditions that are found in archives.

In the last few months ‘Archival Moments’ posted stories about the oldest man in the world, a Newfoundlander, we’ve talked about the significance of Memorial Day, imported moose, mysterious icebergs, and we’ve even solved a mystery. We learned about the proposed international airport for Trepassey, bonfire night, giant squid and public bath houses!

Be sure to stay tuned in the next few months as Archival Moments will let you learn about jail conditions in the old city (not much has changed), a bigamist in the town, (the descendants will be surprised!) an attempted assassination on a Catholic bishop, and the employment of cats!!

It’s certainly been a busy year. Thanks to everyone who have stopped by and who have shared with others.

You can sign up to receive ‘Archival Moments’ by entering your email in the Subscribe box in the sidebar. You can also follow ‘Archival Moments’ on Facebook and on Twitter @LarryDohey.

Page views refer to the number of times visitors to the site have looked at the pages that I have created. Every time a visitor loads one of the pages, a page view is counted.

Here’s to the next 100,000 views!!

“Desertion” and the quality of the butter

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

July 11, 1879

When Denis Walsh of Renews signed up to prosecute the fishery with Messrs. Goodridge and Company of Renews in July 1879 it is likely that he would have signed a standard agreement known to many as the ‘Masters and Servants Agreement.’

This agreement that would have stipulated among other things that:

“The said (Messrs. Goodridge and Company) agrees to find and provide for the said (Dennis Walsh of Renews) and supply him during the voyage with provisions in qualities per week that is to say: 2 lb’s Bread ; 1 gallon of molasses; 1 gallon of flour; 5 lb’s of Pork or Beef; 2 oz of tea and 1 lb of butter… “

Denis Walsh, like many of the fishermen of his day, like many of our ancestors, prosecuted the fishery in a craft with two others. Denis would have remained unknown to history except he liked his butter. He liked his butter so much that the local St. John’s newspaper the Evening Telegram described him as “being rather epicurean in his taste”.

It appears that Dennis opened his supply box, looked at the supplies that had been given to him as part of the contract to find ‘rotten butter.”

Denis approached (John) Beavis of Renews who was responsible for the boat and told him he would have got along alright with the supplies that he had been given, only for “the quality of the butter” with which the “bread box” was supplied. With that he told Captain Beavis he was “clearing out till the grievance was removed.”

John Beavis was not amused; on behalf of his employer Allan Goodridge and Company he had Walsh arrested and dragged before Judge Henry Renouf where he was charged with “deserting his Masters Service”. It was not a charge that was taken lightly, under the Masters and Servants Act, fishermen if convicted could spend from 30 – 60 days in jail.

Alan Goodridge & Son was one of the most successful fishing firms in Newfoundland. The firm had branches throughout the colony of Newfoundland including their home port of Renews. The Registry of Newfoundland Vessels reveals that the Goodridge’s were one of the largest vessel owners in that era, registering 197 vessels between 1834 and 1917.

Walsh was ready to defend himself before the good judge producing a sample of the butter in the court.

The newspaper reporters in the court were sympatric too Walsh, the reporter for The Telegram wrote:

“but we didn’t taste it (the butter) didn’t care to, because we might run the risk of being expected to taste the cause of nearly all the trouble …”

The reporter was suggesting that one of the greatest causes of discontent and increased desertions from the many fishing vessels was the quality of the food.

Judge Renouf upon seeing the quality of the butter also proved to be sympathetic. Rather than the standard sentence of 30 -60 days in jail he ordered Dennis Walsh to return to his occupation and further ordered the supplying merchants, Messrs. Goodridge and Company, to promise to provide ‘new butter’ for the crew.

A happy compromise!!

Recommended Archival Collection: The Maritime History Archive, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, holds 70% of the Crew Agreements from 1863-1938, and 80% of the Agreements from 1951-1976. The crew agreements include particulars of each member of the crew, including name (signature), age, place of birth, previous ship, place and date of signing, capacity and particulars of discharge (end of voyage, desertion, sickness, death, never joined etc). http://www.mun.ca/mha/

Recommended Reading: Bannister, Jerry: The Rule of the Admirals: Law, Custom, and Naval Government in Newfoundland, 1699-1832. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003.

Recommended Reading: The Newfoundland Bank Fishery: Government Policies and the Struggle to Improve Bank Fishing Crews’ Working, Health and Safety Conditions. Fred Winsor, B.A., M.A. Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1996.

A beach as justification for the invention of the automobile

: Gooseberry Cove on the beautiful Cape Shore

A cove of inner peace on Newfoundland’s Cape Shore

The beauty of the Cape Shore, in particular Gooseberry Cove Beach, stirred Rex Murphy the CBC host and commentator to write in the Globe and Mail, October 6, 2001:

“It is a small cove, and it has a beach, which Newfoundlanders are willing to claim is a sandy beach, though the effete who have tasted Florida littoral, or the great expanses of Tofino or Hawaii, might quarrel with the description. Sand in these places is small, smooth and sultry. Gooseberry Cove’s sand is much more masculine.”

He continued:

“The going to it, (Gooseberry Cove Beach) and the coming from it, over the splendid wilfulness of the Cape Shore road itself, is the only thorough justification for the invention of the automobile that has yet been hit upon.”

Recommended Reading: A cove of inner peace on Newfoundland’s Cape Shore: Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-cove-of-inner-peace-on-newfoundlands-cape-shore/article763554/

Lovers and fighters in Bannerman Park

Archival Moment

July 8, 1879

Bannerman Park, located on the north side of Military Road, St. John’s next to Government House and the Colonial Building has long been the home to many events some planned some quite spontaneous. A place for lovers and fighters!

On the night of July 8, 1879 three young lads decided they were going to resolve their differences with a round of ‘fist a cuffs’ in the park.

A member of the constabulary walking about the city on his rounds was not amused that the “young lads” were up to their shenanigans. He was particularly not happy that they were causing the disturbance at 11:30 at night!!

The next morning the three lads found themselves in the docket before Judge Henry Renouf.

The St. John’s newspaper ‘The Telegram’ reported that the three were charged with practicing “the noble art of self-defense.”

They were cautioned and discharged.

Bannerman Park is however best known as scenic setting for courting lovers in St. John’s.

In 1947, Douglas Black, a sailor on the Royal British Navy vessel HMS Sheffield, arrived in St. John’s. Walking through Bannerman Park, he met 17 year-old Adelaide Byrne of Placentia Bay, who had also just arrived in the city. During the ship’s ten days in port, the two regularly met Bannerman Park before eventually losing touch after the ship’s departure. In 1990, 70 year-old Douglas Black placed a letter in The Evening Telegram, hoping to find Ms. Byrne once again. The letter reached her brother, who informed him that, sadly, Adelaide had died of tuberculosis two years after his ship left St. John’s

Bannerman Park takes its name for Governor Alexander Bannerman, who in 1864, donated land in the vicinity of Government House for a public park for the use and enjoyment of the citizens of St. John’s.

In April 1887 city officials began to seriously consider what to do with the land that had been left by Governor Bannerman. In 1891, the City of St. John’s funded the design and development of the Park as a formal Victorian Garden.

The rest is history evolving.

Recommended Reading: Stories About Bannerman Park: http://www.bannermanpark.ca/stories/

Recommended Action: Support the Garden of Memories in Bannerman Park: People who enjoy the park can contribute to the park‘s revitalization through by sponsoring various fixtures, flower gardens, and commemorative granite stones, which will be used for the pathways in the Garden. For more information: http://www.bannermanpark.ca/the-garden-of-memories-open-to-the-public/

Do you have a story to tell about Bannerman Park?

Here, We Made a Home

Reception July 6, 2013, 7:30 p.m.

The Rooms

Here, We Made a Home

At the eastern edge of the continent, bounded by the sea, the culture of Newfoundland and Labrador’s livyers was tied to the fisheries and the North Atlantic. A rich mix of dialects, ways of life, food traditions, story and song developed here. Shaped by the unique combination of location, history, and cultures – English, Irish, French, and Scottish – the gallery shares many of these traditions and stories. Some are personal and local; others reflect roles and achievements on the world stage. Running through most of them are qualities of perseverance and innovation, courage and generosity.

Join us tonight for the official opening!!

“Forget-Me-Not” before the Poppy

Archival Moment

July 1: In Newfoundland and Labrador is Memorial Day.

Forget me Not. The Flower of Newfoundland soldiers.

Legend has it that when God was naming flowers that a plant called out to God saying ”Forget-me-not, O Lord!” God replied, “That shall be your name.”

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the “Forget-Me-Not” was used to commemorate “our nation’s dead” those who had died in WWI or WWII. The small flowers were pinned in the same way that the poppy is used on Remembrance Day. In Newfoundland and Labrador the tradition of wearing a ‘Forget Me Not’ is still in limited use today. Following Confederation with Canada the tradition of wearing the ‘Forget Me Not” was displaced by the poppy.

The “Forget-Me-Not” are used internationally to remind people to reflect over something worthwhile that has been given.

Recommended Song: “Little Blue Forget Me Not” written and performed by Bud Davidge; music by Sim Savory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrfWQl_n28w

Recommended Action: On July 1 wear a ‘Forget Me Not’.

Follow related stories and traditions about Newfoundland and Labrador on Archival Moments at www.archivalmoments.ca sign up at the site or follow Archival Moments on Facebook or on Twitter @LarryDohey

The Oldest Man in the World is a Newfoundlander

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

June 18, 2013

: James Foster McCoubrey
“The oldest man in the world.”

James Foster McCoubrey originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland is 111 years old and became the oldest man in the world upon the death of a 116-year-old man in Japan last week.

McCoubrey was born in St. John’s on September 13, 1901. He was baptized at St. Mary the Virgin Church, St. John’s on September 29, 1901.

The baptismal register identifies his father as George Andrew McCoubrey and his mother as Jennie Isobel (Chafe). The family lived on Water Street.

On May 23, 1904, McCoubrey lost his father, the second engineer on the Virginia Lake, a coastal mail streamer running from St. John’s to St. Anthony. His father obituary reads that “he was ill for about three months of pneumonia caused by a heavy cold.”

George A. McCoubrey left to mourn his wife Jennie and two children James and Charles. He is buried in the Old Anglican cemetery on the shores of Quidi Vidi Lake in a family plot.

James moved with his mother and brother Charles to Halifax, Nova Scotia shortly following the death of his father.

The family later relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts. The state of Massachusetts is known to most Newfoundlanders as the ‘Boston States’ and one of the favored destinations for Newfoundlanders in the early 1900’s seeking work. It is likely that that James and his family would be joining family already established in the Boston area. The 1915 Commonwealth of Boston census reports that 13,269 residents of the Boston area claimed Newfoundland as their place of birth.

McCoubrey married in 1929 and worked as a motorcycle insurance salesman. Then he got into the stove burner business until he retired at the age of 62.

Mr. McCoubrey has one daughter, Mrs. Patricia Salveson. He currently lives in Walnut Creek, California in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mr. McCoubrey is a member of an exclusive club known as the “Supercentenarians” His membership in the club was verified by the Gerontology Research Group. Founded in 1990, the GRG are physicians, scientists, and engineers dedicated to the quest to slow and ultimately reverse human aging within the next 20 years. The group is the world authority on validating Supercentenarians, persons 110 years old or older.

Mr. McCoubrey will have to keep an eye to the Guinness World Book curse. The Japanese gentleman (Kimura) who has moved on at age 116 is just the latest to die after being picked by Guinness as the world’s oldest person.

Significant Events in 1901, the year that James Foster McCoubrey was born in Newfoundland.

January 1, 1901: The world celebrates the beginning of the 20th century.

January 1 The birth of Pentecostalism at a prayer meeting at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas.

January 22 Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom dies at age 81.

Jan 10th – Oil discovered in Texas

January 28 – Baseball’s American League declares itself a Major League

February 6 – First public telephones at railway stations in Paris.

Safety Razor , King C. Gillette and William Emerson Nickerson found the American Safety Razor Company to begin mass producing Safety Razors.

April 25 – New York State becomes the first to require automobile license plates.

May 23rd – Ottawa Mint Act receives Royal Assent

Jun 2nd – Benjamin Adams arrested for playing golf on Sunday (NY)

Jun 24th – 1st exhibition by Pablo Picasso, 19, opens in Paris

August 30 – Hubert Cecil Booth patents an electric vacuum cleaner in the United Kingdom.

October 2 – The British Royal Navy’s first submarine.

Oct 12th – Theodore Roosevelt renames “Executive Mansion,” “The White House”

November 25 – Auguste Deter is first examined by German psychiatrist Dr Alois Alzheimer, leading to a diagnosis of the condition that will carry Alzheimer’s name.[3]

December 10 – The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.

December 12 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signal, sent from England to Newfoundland.

Recommended Archival Collection: The Rooms Provincial Archives: Marriage, Baptismal Registers. St. Mary the Virgin Parish, St. John’s.

Recommended Website: GRG: Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers dedicated to the quest to slow and ultimately reverse human aging. http://www.grg.org/

The Portuguese White Fleet in St. John’s

Archival Moment

April 10 at 7:00 p.m. (Presentation at The Rooms)

The Portuguese White Fleet in St. John’s

Photo Credit: A 34-28, Portuguese White Fleet, St. John’s, NL

Join local business man, Jean Pierre Andrieux at The Rooms as he shares a collection of images surrounding the Portuguese White Fleet in Newfoundland. From the evolution of the White Fleet to the end of an era, these images capture memories of three and four-masted ships moored two and three abreast in St. John’s Harbour, playing soccer on the waterfront, parades, decks piled high with wooden dories and so much more.

St. John’s became the primary port of call for the White Fleet, which fished for approximately six months of the year. When the ships made scheduled and unscheduled calls to replenish supplies, make repairs, provide shore leave, land sick or injured men or seek shelter from bad weather, the sailors and fishermen became a prominent part of St. John’s life.

The presentation is presented by Engaging Evenings at The RoomsTheatre, Wednesday, April 10 at 7pm.

Recommended Reading: Port O’ Call, Memories of the Portuguese White Fleet in St. John’s, Newfoundland, by Priscilla Doel (Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, 1992).

Recommended Website: The White Fleet – Portuguese Fishermen on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zpMPmhPdWI