Category Archives: Archival Moments

The Great Fire of 1892: Panel Discussion

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

July 8, 1892

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: B4-49; St. John’s East in ruins folloing the Great Fire. (note the Basilica in the background)

Late in the afternoon of 8 July 1892, a small fire broke out in a St. John’s stable on Freshwater Road after a lit pipe or match fell into a bundle of hay. Although containable at first, the flames quickly spread due to dry weather conditions. Within hours, the fire had destroyed almost all of St. John’s.

The fire burned into the night and did not end until about 5:30 the following morning. Many people camped out in Bannerman Park or on property surrounding the Roman Catholic Cathedral (now Basilica), which was one of the few buildings the fire did not destroy.

As the sun rose on 9 July, more than two-thirds of St. John’s lay in ruins and 12,000 people were homeless; many had lost everything they owned, except the clothes they were wearing.

One of the accounts written about the fire was penned by W.J. Kent who wrote:

“All the arteries which led from the water to the higher portions of the town were crowded with the terrorised mob and the screams and cries of the women mingled with the wailing of children, the shouts intensified by the ever-freshening masses of livid fire and the glare of the burning buildings, contributed to make a scene the like of which it is not often given to the lot of many to witness…. Few there were who closed their eyes that night.”

Four persons were burned to death. The devastation that struck the city was recorded by one of the priests on staff at the R.C. Cathedral (the Basilica) who wrote on Sunday July 10, 1892”

“There was no publications today in consequence of the great calamity that has happened in our city on Friday evening and night, when the best part of St. John’s east was entirely destroyed by fire which caused such a panic that everyone is excited and frightened and nearly 12, 000 persons are left homeless, over 2000 houses were burned besides stores, wharfs…”

At the Last Mass, Father Scott preached a very touching sermon about the fire and those who were its sufferers from its effects. Four persons were burned to death, namely:

Mrs. Catherine Stevens }lived on Meeting House Hill

Her daughter Louisa Stevens

And the servant girl – name not known

Also Miss Catherine Molloy, Bulley’s Lane, and elderly girl not married

RIP

The Great Fire of 1892

Rev. Moses Harvey at St. Andrews Free Presbyterian Church on the day following the fire walked about the city, he presents a similar description of the devastation and plight of the victims of the fire.

“The next morning I took a walk around the awful scene of devastation. It was heart-rending. Nothing visible for a mile from Devon Row but chimneys and fallen and tottering walls. The thick smoke, from the smouldering ruins still filled the air… The wrecks of the fanes of religion stood out, then [sic] broken walls pointing heavenward, as if in mournful protest against the desecration that had been wrought.

And the poor inhabitants, where were they? It made the heart ache to see the groups of men, women and children, with weary, blood-shot eyes and smoke begrimed faces, standing over their scraps of furniture and clothing — some of them asleep on the ground from utter exhaustion — all with despondency depicted on their faces. They filled the park and grounds around the city. Many hundreds escaped with nothing but the clothes they wore… .”

Presentation: The history and consequences of the Great Fire

Location: The Rooms,Theatre

Date: Sunday, July 9, 2017

Time: 2:00pm – 3:30pm

Cost: Included with the cost of admission

Join panelists Larry Dohey, Emily Campbell, Charles Henley, and moderator Jason Sellars for a lively discussion of the history and consequences of the Great Fire of 1892. Stay after the discussion for an interactive imagination session in partnership with the City of St. John’s and The Rooms.

Recommended Archival Collection: What do we have in the ‘Rooms Archives’ on this subject? Type “Great Fire” in the search bar here: http://gencat1.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=The+Rooms+Public&UserName=wa+public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_3355&bCachable=1&MenuName=The+Rooms+Archives

“More money than Dan Ryan”

Archival Moment

July 6, 1934

“The House”
(Rennie’s Mill Road and Monkstown Road, St. John’s)

Daniel Ryan was born in 1851, the son of Michael Ryan and Mary Ellen Fleming and was at the time of his death on July 6, 1934 considered one of the wealthiest men in Newfoundland. The other person of considerable financial wealth was his brother James.

Dan and his older brother James established a salt fish firm at King’s Cove in 1875 under the masthead, James Ryan & Company. Dan moved there to manage the operation and eventually became sole proprietor. James also established a separate firm at Trinity in 1906 in partnership with Dan known as Ryan Brothers. The firm’s chief goal was to profit from supplying Trinity involved in the Labrador fishery.

In 1895 the two firms known as James Ryan, Bonavista, and James Ryan and Company, King’s Cove, exported nearly 100,000 quintals of codfish, approximately ten percent of Newfoundland’s total exports for the year.

Dan Ryan’s wealth has given rise to the Newfoundland expression “more money than Dan Ryan” or some variation.

Over the years fishing methods changed and ways of preserving the catch improved. As the quick freezing of fish became more popular in the 20th century, the salt fish trade declined. In the years following the Second World War, the Ryan family continued to take fish, but decided to put more emphasis on other aspects of their business, primarily the retail store. The company took its last salt fish in 1952 and eventually closed its doors in 1978, ending an era.

In St. John’s, the Ryan Brother’s are remembered for the construction of a property known simply as “The House,” built between 1909 -1911. It was considered to be the most extravagant and modern for its time, theRyan Mansion featured the first telephone switchboard system, a fresh air exchange system, a main floor kitchen, and a carriage house built to house the first motor vehicle inSt. John’s. Oral tradition has it that this motor vehicle contraption arrived 3 months before there was fuel in the city to power it so James and family would sit in the vehicle while neighbours looked on.

Dan Ryan who left a portion of his estate to the Roman Catholic Church has his memory preserved on a column in the west transept in the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. A tablet to the memory of the Hon. Daniel A. Ryan.

The inscription reads as follows:

Erected
to the memory of
Hon. Daniel A. Ryan
Knight Commander, Order of St. Gregory
A Benefactor of the Cathedral
Died July 6, 1934
Requiescat in Pace

Recommended Archival Collection: James Ryan Limited (Bonavista) fonds, Maritime History Archive, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Architectural History: Ryan Premises National Historic Site of Canada, Bonavista; Lester-Garland Premises Provincial Historic Site, Trinity, purchased in 1906 by the Ryan Brothers from the Lester-Garlands. http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/PlacesToGo/RyanPremisesNationalHistoricSite

Architectural History: For more information on The House: http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/rhs/rs_listing/196.html

International Airport Proposed for Trepassey

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

June 21, 1928

International Airport at Trepassey, Newfoundland

On June 21, 1928 the prestigious New York Times newspaper declared that Trepassey, Newfoundland would be the site of a great international airport.

The newspaper headline declared:

“Miss Earhart Predicts Great Airport at Trepassey for Transocean Flights.”

The headline came about as a result of an interview that Amelia Earhart had with the international press shortly after landing at Burry Port, Wales becoming the first woman to make the Atlantic crossing.

Earhart and her crew had departed fromTrepassey, Newfoundland the morning of June 17 landing “across the pond” on June 18. Prior to departure from Trepassey she has spent twelve days in the town meeting many of the local people.

Earhart told the New York Times reporter:

“Trepassey ought to be some day a great airport for transoceanic travel. It processes the finest harbor, perhaps the only harbor, adapted naturally for seaplane takeoffs in its part of the world.”

But she cautioned that Trepassey needed to develop an infrastructure to sustain this new industry that was emerging. She told the reporter:

“…there are very few trains from the outside world into Trepassey and absolutely no facilities for taking care of a plane or repairing them. … If someone would build a seaplane station in Trepassey it would be a great help to aviation, for there is going to be more transatlantic flights from there so many that they will not even be of interest to the public.”

Unfortunately for Trepassey no infrastructure was established.

In Newfoundland, the town of Harbour Grace became the airport of choice. The Harbour Grace airfield, built on the summit of this hill by the local people became starting point of many early flights from West to East. Amelia Earhart the next time she was in Newfoundland by passed Trepassey that she had spoken so highly about and completed the world’s first transatlantic solo flight by a woman after taking off from Harbour Grace, on 20 May 1932 and landing at Northern Ireland about 13 hours and 30 minutes later.

Recommended Archival Collection: (International) George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers: The Amelia Earhart papers offer a rare glimpse into the life of America’s premier woman aviator. In 1928 she was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. The online collection includes more than 3,500 scans of photographs, maps, documents, and artifacts relating to Earhart. http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/aearhart/

Recommended Reading: East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart By Susan Butler. Da Cappo Press, 2009. (A chapter is devoted to her time in Trepassey.)

Mary Imelda Dohey, C.V.R.N. Canadian Hero

MARY IMELDA DOHEY, C.V.R.N.

September 22, 1933 – June 12, 2017

Mary Dohey was originally from St. Bride’s, Placentia Bay

Mary Dohey, was a Newfoundland born flight attendant who was the first living person to receive the award Cross of Valour, Canada’s highest award for bravery, for her conduct during the hijacking of a commercial DC-8 aircraft in 1971.

At the risk of losing her life, Dohey declined an offer of a safe release from an Air Canada DC8 to remain with her fellow crew members and pacify hijacker Paul Cini, on flight 812 from Calgary, Alberta on November 12, 1971. During eight hours of terror, the hijacker, with a black hood over his head, was armed with a shotgun and two bundles of dynamite. Mary had to hold on to the wires of the dynamite and not let them touch.

Cini threatened to take the lives of the crew and all the passengers on board the airplane. Although continually threatened with the gun, Miss Dohey spoke to the aggressor and succeeded in discouraging him from undertaking violent measures which would have killed many people. When the aircraft was diverted and landed in Great Falls, Montana, she was able to persuade the hijacker to allow all the passengers and part of the crew, including herself, to disembark. With absolutely no assurance that she would come out of the ordeal alive and because of her concern for the welfare of the remaining crew members, Mary Dohey turned down the offer of release. The hijacker wanted $1.5 million.The plane landed and the demands were passed over. There was only $50,000 in that briefcase unknown to the hijacker. Mary continued to appease the hijacker until the drama was brought to an end.

Mary Dohey graduated years earlier as a psychiatric nurse and that training and experience proved invaluable. Because of the courage she displayed during the hijacking, Dohey was awarded the Cross of Valour in December 1975.

Mary was the youngest of 14 children A celebration of Mary’s life will be held from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., on Sunday, June 25^th, 2017 on the main floor at 350 Princess Royal Drive, Mississauga, ON L5B 4N1.

Mary Dohey, 1975 receiving the Cross of Valour

Online condolences/tributes can be made at http://www.forevermissed.com/ Mary-Imelda-Dohey. – See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestar/obituary.aspx?n=mary-imelda-dohey&pid=185830092#sthash.agnyX9Uz.dpuf

There is a merit award named in her honour, administered by the Friends of Cape St. Mary. See more: http://www.friendsofcapestmarys.ca/

Newfoundland Nurse: Letter from the trenches

Archival Moments

June 13, 1915

Newfoundland Nurse: Letter from the trenches

On June 13, 1915 Maysie Parsons, 26 years old, originally from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland wrote to her father Edward Parsons from L’Hopital de L’Ocean, a field hospital in La Panne, Belgium. In her letter she wrote frankly about war and what she was witnessing. She wrote:

“My Dear Father

Although we are only six miles from the trenches, we never hear any war news. The only thing we do know is when there is a battle on this end. We can hear the guns and see the flashes and lightening, and tonight, oh, it is simply terrible. It is just the same as thunder and lightning and to think that every flash means so many deaths!

It is horrible. We do get terrible cases in. I know if you saw the poor patients, you would wonder how they could possibly live. It is impossible to sleep lots of nights.

War certainly is HELL

Tonight I am writing by the light of candle. We can’t get any sleep. And have been watching the flashes off the guns, etc., all along the lines for hours. It really seems that the fighting is all around us. I am glad I came but it certainly seems strange.

Wherever we go we very seldom meet anybody that can speak a word of English, and then if we go for a walk about every few yards we are held up by a sentry and have to produce our passports.”

Maysie was frustrated that she could not speak the language of the soldier boys that she was treating. When war broke out, Belgium did not have enough nurses so were dependent on nurses sent from British Commonwealth countries including Canada and Newfoundland. Masie signed up with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She wrote:

We get a lot of cases in here that only live a few hours. It seems terrible, they have not a person belonging to them, and I wish I could speak French. It is certainly hard to nurse every sick patient when you have to guess at what they want, and then not to be able to speak to them. Kindly and sympathize with them. I think a kind word often means a lot.

Maysie was also conscious that all of her letters would be read by censors and was careful not to disclose details that would result in her letter being delayed and or not delivered.

Yesterday we had quite a lot of patients come in, 61. I could write for hours about how thy have been treated, but you see, our letters are censored, and there are lots of interesting things we cannot tell.

Like other letters that were sent by sons and daughters from the trenches of Europe to parents back home in Newfoundland the letters would always make reference to other Newfoundlanders that they had encountered, their Newfoundland patriotic fervor was always evident.

The other day a man came and asked me what part of Canada I as from, so I told him not Canada, but Newfoundland, he told me he knew Sir Edward P. Morris quite well, and how he had to study up about the fisheries, for the Convention of the Hague. He was asking me about Newfoundland, and afterwards I found out he was the Editor of the London Times.

We found an English newspaper today, and you should see the bunch get around it, it was about a month old, but we read everything in it, even the advertisements. It was good to see something in English.

I sent some cards home, hope they get them.

Love too all,

From your Loving daughter

Maysie

Recommended Archival Collection: What do we have in the ‘Rooms Archives’ on this subject? Type Great War Photograph Collection in the search bar here: http://gencat1.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=The+Rooms+Public&UserName=wa+public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_3355&bCachable=1&MenuName=The+Rooms+Archives

Recommended Exhibit: BEAUMONT-HAMEL AND THE TRAIL OF THE CARIBOU

Where: Level 2 The Rooms: 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.

The ruins of St. John’s watered with tears: The Great Fire

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

June 9, 1846

St. John’s previous to the fire of June 9, 1846

The origin of the fire, which broke out on June 9, 1846, in St. John’s, has generally been attributed to the carelessness of a cabinet maker who lived on George Street.

By 7:00 p.m., when the fire had finally run its course, over 2,000 buildings had been burned and about 12,000 people, or 57 per cent of the town’s total population, left homeless. The total amount of property loss was estimated at £888,356. Altogether, there were three casualties: one soldier died as a result of the demolition ordered on Water Street; one citizen collapsed while attempting to carry his possessions to safety; and one prisoner died in his cell when the gaol burnt. A few days after, two labourers clearing away ruins were killed by a falling wall.

Homeless Seek Shelter

On June 10, 1846 many of the 12,000 refugees from the fire could be found in make shift tents in this neighborhood (Fort Townshend) now the site of The Rooms. Others found shelter on the grounds of the new R.C. Cathedral (now Basilica) that was under construction, others in the area now called Bannerman Park on Military Road.

One of the Presentation Sisters who stood witness as her convent and school (located on Long’s Hill) burnt wrote:

“the ruins of our convent (and St. John’s) were well watered with their tears.”

In the days following the fire the traditional resilience of Newfoundlanders was well displayed. One of those present described the scene:

“The very next morning some of the citizens were at work excavating among the ruins of their dwellings and preparing to erect temporary sheds, thousands were ruined, but everyone there was hopeful, determined that St. John’s would rise again …”

Recommended Archival Collection: What do we have in the ‘Rooms Archives’ on this subject? Type Fire in the search bar here: http://gencat1.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=The+Rooms+Public&UserName=wa+public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_3355&bCachable=1&MenuName=The+Rooms+Archives

Recommended Reading: The Great St. John’s Fire of 1846 by Melvin Baker (c)1983 Originally published in the Newfoundland Quarterly, vol. LXXIX, no. 1 (Summer 1983) http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~melbaker/1846fire.htm

Recommended Archival Collection at the Provincial Archives in the Rooms: MG 50.2: Map of St. John’s, Newfoundland, showing all the buildings erected since the fire of the 9th of June 1846 from actual survey (MG 50.2)

Fly over your home town from The Rooms.

Photo Credit: The Rooms; St. John’s Harbour, Aerial view VA 15b 24.3

Lee Wulff (1905-1991) was a well-known sports fisherman and hunter, conservationist, author, photographer and film producer. He initially visited Newfoundland in 1935 on a fishing expedition as a guest of the Commission of Government of Newfoundland. The government was inviting photographers to visit Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1930’s with the goal of boosting tourism. Wulff an avid fisherman promoted salmon and blue fin tuna fishing, establishing two world records. He also ran fishing camps on the Great Northern Peninsula.

Over the next three decades, Wulff served as a consultant on sports fishing, hunting and tourist resources in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Wulff introduced several innovative techniques for sports fishermen, which received international recognition. These included the short wading vests worn by fly fishermen and hair-wing dry flies for the salmon fishery.

Wulff favored the designation of salmon as game fish, and promoted the conservation of Newfoundland and Labrador’s sports fisheries by utilizing the “catch and release” method. He also established angling schools in conjunction with his wife Joan Wulff.

Wulff made twenty films about fishing and hunting in Newfoundland. His articles and photography were published in numerous magazines including Maclean’s, Outdoor Magazine, Field and Stream, American Sportsman, Atlantic Salmon Journal, and the Atlantic Advocate. His autobiography, Bush Pilot Angler: A Memoir was published in 2000.

The Rooms is now making available on line GN 186 a series of 741 aerial views of Newfoundland and Labrador communities photographed by Wulff. The community photographs were taken by Wulff in the 1940’s from his own plane; the photographs are arranged alphabetically.

Find an aerial view of your community here:

http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/therooms_permalink.html?key=32152

Was that a hoar frost last night?

Archival Moment

Was that a hoar frost last night? Enough to “barber” a person !

June 6, 1890

1 Bonaventure Avenue, St. John’s (The Observatory) was equipped as a weather Observatory

Many Newfoundland weather sayings are the traditional weather sayings of the British Isles and Ireland from which much of ancestral folk heritage arises. Newfoundland weather is unpredictable and changes quickly. Therefore, many weather sayings are locally based, derived from years of weather observations from the land and the sea.

One such expression is “hoar frost in autumn is a sign of south wind and rain.”

There was a time when meteorologists reported without any blush such descriptions as:

“At four o’clock this morning the hoar frost stood thick as snow on the roof.”

It “hoar frost” is not a phrase that is often used by our weathermen today but it is a meteorological phenomenon that technically means “a white coating of ice crystals formed by sublimation of atmospheric water vapor on a surface. Also called white frost.

In Newfoundland and Labrador it is also known as “barber frost.” The Evening Telegram reported on May 10, 1881 that “the temperature fell to seven degrees below zero’ and the cold was aggravated by piercing winds and the dense hoar frost, or “barber” as the seamen aptly term it. Seeing it cuts them like a razor. “

On June 6, 1890 the local “The official meteorological report stated that there were ten degrees of frost last night. At four o’clock this morning the hoar frost stood thick as snow on the roof.”

The name hoar comes from an Old English adjective that means “showing signs of old age”; in this context it refers to the frost that makes trees and bushes look like white hair.

A little known fact is that in the shadow of The Rooms at 1 Bonaventure Avenue is the building known locally as “The Observatory”, it was originally owned by John Delaney, (1811-1883). His interest in meteorology led to the development of a local meteorological service under the aegis of the Meteorological Service of Canada. A regular informant of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society in 1873.

1 Bonaventure Avenue was equipped with an Observatory when it was constructed. It was a two-storey structure attached to the rear addition but has since been demolished. It was from this structure, and the attached house that Delaney studied meteorology as a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Was that a hoar frost last night? Will this be a summer of “south wind and rain” ? Your weatherman knows the answer. Give him a call.

Archival Collection: At the Rooms an excellent source for studying weather are the Telegraph Office News Ledgers (GN 18) and the Reports of Light house Keepers about the province. Series consists of photocopied reproductions of handwritten news books kept by staff of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs reporting daily on local and international events, viewed as of interest to the local audience. Subjects included are sealing reports, shipwrecks, local disasters and aviation reports. The daily news reports also included a brief synopsis of the local weather.

Sacred Newfoundland Ground in France

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

June 7, 1925

Photo Credit: NA 3106; Opening of the Newfoundland Memorial Park, Beaumont Hamel, France

Of the five memorials established in France and Belgium in memory of major actions fought by the Newfoundland Regiment, the largest is the thirty hectare site at Beaumont-Hamel, nine kilometres north of the town of Albert. This site commemorates all Newfoundlanders who fought in the Great War, particularly those who have no known grave. The site was officially opened by Field Marshal Earl Haig on June 7, 1925.

Shortly after the Great War, the Government of Newfoundland purchased the ground over which the 1^st Newfoundland Regiment made its heroic advance on July 1.

Much of the credit for this and the other memorials is due to (Reverend) Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Nangle, a Roman Catholic priest from St. John’s who as Director of Graves Registration and Enquiry and Newfoundland’s representative on the Imperial War Graves Commission, negotiated with some 250 French landowners for the purchase of the site. He (Father Nangle) had a leading part in planning and supervising the erection, at each of the five Newfoundland Memorials sites in Europe, of a statue of the noble caribou, the emblem of the Regiment, standing facing the former foe with head thrown high in defiance.

The landscape architect, who designed the sites and supervised their construction, was Mr. R.H.K. Cochius, a native of Holland living in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The caribous were the work of the English sculptor, Basil Gotto. He also executed the statue of the “Fighting Newfoundlander,” which Sir Edward Bowring gifted to the people of St. John’s.

Recommended Reading: Soldier Priest: In the Killing Fields of Europe Padre Thomas Nangle Chaplain to the Newfoundland Regiment WWI by Gary Browne and Darrin McGrath.

Recommended Archival Collection: What do we have in the ‘Rooms Archives’ on this subject? Type Beaumont Hamel in the search bar here: http://gencat1.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=The+Rooms+Public&UserName=wa+public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_3355&bCachable=1&MenuName=The+Rooms+Archives

Recommended Exhibit: Beaumont Hamel and The Trail 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. 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.

Not a trick: The Rooms hosting classic 120s game nights

Photo Credit: The Rooms VA 87-62.6; Playing cards

Not a trick: The Rooms hosting classic 120s game nights

Game dates back to 16th Century Europe, with rich history in N.L.

Date: May 31 & June 28

Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Cost: Included with price of admission, pre-registration recommended Have you always wanted to learn how to play 120’s but have never had the chance? Join our enthusiastic volunteer instructors as they share their love of this iconic card game.

Offered on the last Wednesday of the month in May and June. Spaces are limited and pre registration is recommended for each session. To register, please contact Visitor Services at 757-8090.