Category Archives: Archival Moments

“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.

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.

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.

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” 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.

“Dunning” his neighbor and friend leads to fistcuffs and assault.

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

January 20, 1885

Dunning – 17th century verb dun, meaning to demand payment of a debt.

Many people trying to manage debt problems have unfortunately experienced the added stress of dealing with persistent calls from collection agencies. Today, the collectors harass by phone but there was a time when it was much more personal, much more “in your face.”

In January 1885 Charles Coveyduck of Upper Gullies was determined to get his friend and neighbor Edward Corbett to repay £5 that he had loaned him, so determined was Coveyduck that he harassed Corbett day after day. This relentless pursuit was known as “dunning”, the word stems from the 17th century verb dun, meaning to demand payment of a debt.

Edward Corbett was fed up with the “dunning” and told his neighbor in no uncertain terms. The conversation got rather heated, Coveyduck shouted that “he had something better to do than dancing attendance upon Corbett” and “called Corbett out of his name.”

Their animosity had grown such that the local St. John’s newspaper, The Telegram reported on January 20, 1885:

“Thereupon Coveyduck caught Corbett by the collar of the coat and administered what the spruce young chap on Prescott Street would term “condign punishment.” However, it was a square game of fistcuffs on both sides, a mode of settling disputes that has a certain recommendation, in itself in these troublous times. They departed bad friends and as Coveyduck wadded through the evergreen glades of the pleasant village of Upper Gullies he vowed that he would make his antagonist “sweat for it in Mr. Prowse’s Court.”

True to his word Coveyduck with his lawyer, Mr Carty at his side and Corbett with his lawyer, Mr. Emerson at his side stood before Judge Prowse.

His worship, Judge Prowse heard the case fully but as there were certain mitigating circumstances in favor of the accused, (the excessive dunning) he fined Corbett only fifty cents and costs.

The smile was soon wiped off Corbett’s face, in the subsequent civil action for recovery of the £5, judgment was given to Coveyduck in the full amount claimed.

The two friends, Coveyduck and Corbett, should have heeded the words of Shakespeare:

Neither a borrower nor a lender be,

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 75–77

Recommended Archival Collection: At The Rooms Provincial Archives take some time to explore GN 170 Newfoundland and Labrador court records collection. (microfilm) The collection of court records looks at decisions of the court s predominantly involving debt, forgery, manslaughter, murder, property disputes, assault, smuggling, noise complaints, larceny, damages, judgments, casting away of vessels, indecent assault, rape, arson, drunkenness, etc. http://www.therooms.ca/archives/

Old Word: “Dunning” is the process of methodically communicating with customers to ensure the collection of accounts receivable. Communications progress from gentle reminders to almost threatening letters as accounts become more past due. The word stems from the 17th century verb dun, meaning to demand payment of a debt.

Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve Loss Remembered

Archival Moment

January 13, 1915

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives. A 11-165; Departure of the Newfoundland Detachment to the Great War (Naval Reservists embarking for England, 1914.

Most people associate the memorial at Beaumont Hamel, France with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment but the memorial also pays tribute to the men of Newfoundland and Labrador who served with the Royal Navy.

The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial pays tribute to all those Newfoundlanders who served in the First World War and specifically commemorates those who have no known graves. Emblazed on a bronze table at Beaumont Hamel are the names of 24 seamen of the Newfoundland Division of the Royal Naval Reserve. These men died on 13 January 1915 in the sinking of the HMS Viknor.

The HMS Viknor was built in 1888 as the Atrato for the Royal Mail Steam Co. Ltd. The S/S Atrato was a beautifully designed passenger ship, more resembling a luxury yacht than a liner. She was used in the service between England and the West Indies and could carry up to 280 passengers. Bought by Viking Cruising Co. Ltd. in 1912, she was renamed Viking.

At the beginning of WWI, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty, equipped with armament and renamed HMS Viknor. She was mainly used as a cruising patrol ship.

On 13th January 1915, while on patrol, she sank in heavy weather without any distress call. It was assumed that she was sunk by a mine, belonging to a minefield laid by the Germans. Not a single soul of the 295 crew was saved. Many of the bodies were washed ashore days after the sinking.

Among the crew were 25 Newfoundlanders. 24 bodies were never found. The body of Seaman John Bowen Mercer, Age 21 ((1034X) Son of Thomas George Mercer and Elizabeth Mercer, of Bay Roberts washed ashore and is buried in the Colonsay Military Cemetery. Colonsay is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives. E 39 – 4. Naval Reservists

The 24 men of the Newfoundland Division of the Royal Naval Reserve lost in HMS Viknor are recorded at Beaumont Hamel.

1220X Seaman Enos Barnes.Age 33. Son of Matthew and Elizabeth Barnes; husband of Jessie Barnes, of Port Union.

1219X Seaman Albert Brace. Age 20. Son of Richard and Mary Brace, of Chance Cove, Trinity Bay.

1147X Seaman George Coates, age 29. Son of Philip and Emma Coates, of Fogo.

702X Seaman Gilbert Dyke, Age 23. Son of John Martin Dyke and Louisa Dyke, of Salvage Bay.

411X Seaman James Greening, Age 28. Son of Joseph and Jane Greening, of Summerville, Bonavista Bay.

2180X Seaman Thomas Jackson, Age 21. Son of Mrs. Alice Jackson, of Brigus, Port de Grave.

1218X Seaman Levi Jerrett; Age 23. Son of William and Mary Jerrett, of 90, Boyd’s Lane, St. John’s.

874X Seaman Albert Kelly, Son of 24 John and Emmeline Kelly, Cupids, Conception Bay.

1213X Seaman Phillip Lewis, Age 20. Son of Frederick Lewis and Melina Reynolds of Caplin Cove, Bay de Verde.

1224X Seaman Alexander Martin, Age 23. Son of Rebecca Martin, of Battery Rd., St. John’s.

1209X Seaman Frederick Morgan. Age 19. Son of Joseph Morgan, of Seal Cove, Conception Bay.

1190X Seaman William George Morgan, Age 17. Son of George Henry and Sarah Morgan, of Blow-me-down, Port de Grave.

932X John Parsons, Age 23. Son of John and Mary A. Parsons, of Shearstown.

901X Seaman Harry W Peach, Age 25. Son of William Henry and Elizabeth Peach; husband of Elsie May Brinson (formerly Peach), of Arnold’s Cove, Placentia Bay.

706X Seaman Charles Ralph, Age 24. Son of Stephen and Leah Ralph, of Flat Island, Bonavista Bay.

1122X Seaman Charles Rowe, Age 21. Son of John and Ann Rowe, of Trinity.

1222X Seaman William St. Croix, Age 22. Son of Joseph and Esther St. Croix of Trepassey.

1227X Seaman Edward Smart, Age 19. Son of Samuel and Fanny Smart, of Saunder’s Cove, Alexander Bay.

862X Seaman Eli Sparkes, 24. Son of Isaac and Mary J. Sparkes, Shearstown.

1259X Seaman George Stringer, Age 21. Son of William T. and Mary Ann Stringer, of Little Heart’s Ease, Random South.

1214X Seaman Douglas Walsh, Age 20. Son of Mrs. Mary Ann Hutchings, of Cow Head, St. Barbe.

2179X Seaman Albert J Warren, Age 22. Son of Eli and Mary A. Warren, of Glovertown, Alexander Bay.

611X Seaman George Youden, Age 25. Son of Henry and Jessie Youden, of Bull Cove.

670X Seaman Thomas Youden, Age 26. Son of Henry and Jessie Youden, of Bull Cove. Husband of Alice Youden

During World War I approximately 2000 Newfoundland reservists served in the war effort; 180 men were killed in action. The reservists were not maintained as a unit but dispersed among the British Navy. The reservists also guarded the wireless station near Mount Pearl and manned the defence battery at Fort Waldegrave (reactivated summer 1916). In 1921 demobilization of the reservists was completed and the Royal Naval Reserve was disbanded.

In Bowring Park, St. John’s the caribou memorial has replica plaques of the memorial plaques at Beaumont Hamel, they list 820 names of Newfoundland soldiers, seamen and sailors who died in WW1 and have no known graves. Before this replica was erected families and friends had to travel to Europe to pay tribute to their sacrifice. Remember the men of the HMS Viknor by visiting Bowring Park.

The Newfoundland Naval Reserve is also represented by a sailor holding a spyglass on the west wing of the Newfoundland National War Memorial on Water Street, St. John’s. Give him a second look as you walk past and remember all of the young men of the HMS Viknor.

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives research the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve fonds . GB 1/3. This collection consists of 17 volumes of personnel records for the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve (1900-1919). Records include applications for enrolment, naval service ledgers and registers of payment and retainers. Includes an alphabetical listing of reservists. Microfilm reproductions are available for research. Reel content is provided with item level descriptions.

Recommended Exhibit: BEAUMONT-HAMEL AND THE TRAIL OF THE CARIBOU. 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. A section of the exhibit addresses our distinguished role in the naval services. https://www.therooms.ca/exhibits/now/beaumont-hamel-and-the-trail-of-the-caribou

Magic Lantern Shows in Newfoundland and Labrador

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

January 14, 1888

Photo Caption: Advertisement for “Electro Radiant Magic Lanterns”

There was a time in Newfoundland and Labrador, before film and television, when the most popular community entertainment was the “magic lantern” show.

In January 1888 the residents of Twillingate were most excited about a magic lantern show at the “Town Hall.” The local paper (Twillingate Sun) reported on January 14:

“We are requested to say that on Tuesday evening next, 17th inst., in the Town Hall, the scenery of “Ten Nights in the Bar-room,” “Rip Van Winkle” and other views (comic) will be shown by an Electro Radiant Magic Lantern. Doors open at 7 o’clock. Exhibition to commence at 7:30. Admission 10 cents, Nfld. currency.”

Magic lantern shows were a popular form of entertainment in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Magic lanterns were a predecessor of the slide projector and projected images from glass slides. The slides, which were frequently hand-tinted, created vivid “magical” images.

Invented in the middle of the 17 century, the magic lantern provided the first opportunities for projected storytelling and projected visual entertainment. In the 1840s, William and Frederick Langenheim of Philadelphia began experimenting with The Magic Lantern as an apparatus for displaying their photographic images. The brothers patented their invention in 1850 and called it a Hyalotype (hyalo is the Greek word for glass). The following year they received a medal at the Crystal Palace Exposition in London.

Those gathering at the Town Hall in Twillingate in January 1888 were being treated to two lantern shows.

“Ten Nights in a Bar-Room” originally published in 1854 was turned into a lantern show in 1880. The show was a ”temperance” show the story of a small-town miller who gives up his trade to open a tavern, the lantern slides trace the physical and moral decline of the proprietor, his family, and the town’s citizenry due to alcohol. It satisfied the appetite for the sensational and the lurid, yet at the same time was endorsed by all the clergy.

The second show was Washington Irving’s ‘‘Rip Van Winkle’’ one of the best-known short stories in American literature. The character of Rip Van Winkle, the man who sleeps for twenty years and awakens to a greatly changed world and a long beard, is one of the best-known characters in popular culture. Rip Van Winkle continues to be widely recognized through his many appearances and references in books, movies, cartoons, and advertisements.

In Newfoundland and Labrador magic lantern slides were commonly used by lecturers to illustrate talks and to raise monies for their causes. The best known collection in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador would be the International Grenfell Association (IGA) magic lantern slides. Apart from their aesthetic beauty, they represent two important functions of the IGA: they formed a visual record of the IGA work and activity on the coast of Northern Newfoundland and Labrador and they were a very important tool used to advocate and fundraise for IGA mission work.

Recommended Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives take some time to go on line to look at IGA Magic Lantern Shows.