Category Archives: Archival Moments

The “White Plague”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

February 10, 1907

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: A 118-164.6 Patients Outdoors

On this day February 10, 1907 parents and guardians of children, and especially school teachers throughout Newfoundland and Labrador were urged by local media to ensure that children “do not spit on the floors of houses, as it spreads the “White Plague“.

The “white plague” was the term used to refer to tuberculosis. It was also called “consumption” and later “TB”.

In 1899 the population of Newfoundland was 212,000. In that year 655 people died of tuberculosis. This was the highest death rate in North America. It caused considerable public concern but it would still be years before the fight against TB finally began.

In 1907, the first steps to form an association to fight tuberculosis were taken. In February, 1908, the Newfoundland Association for the Prevention of Consumption was formed. Church and health officials began encouraging Government to provide funding for a sanatorium to treat tuberculosis. One of the treatments of the day was that patients be moved outdoors to “enjoy” the benefits of the fresh air.

From 1901-1975, just under 32,000 people died of TB in Newfoundland. Often the victims were males aged 15 to 45. These men were the breadwinners of their families, the social and economic costs of TB were great.

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives ask reference staff about the many collections that make reference to tuberculosis including information about the Tuberculosis Sanitarium and the Convalescent Hospital.

Recommended Reading: Cuff, Harry. Take a deep breath: reflections; lives touched by tuberculosis; creative works by ex-tubercular patients: battles in the war against tuberculosis.St. John’s: Harry Cuff Publications, 2002.

Princess on a Newfoundland postage stamp

Archival Moment

February 6, 1952

In Newfoundland the first recognition given to the future Queen occurred in 1933 with the young Princess Elizabeth appearing on a Newfoundland postage stamp. This was the first portrait of the Princess on any postage stamp.

Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952, her coronation was held on June 2, 1953. The 16 month span allowed for a mourning period following the death of her father King George VI, and also for preparations for the coronation ceremony held in Westminster Abbey.

Queen Elizabeth, since her accession to the throne in 1952, has made 22 official Royal visits to Canada, usually accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and sometimes by her children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Queen Elizabeth has visited every province and territory in Canada.

In Newfoundland the first recognition given to the future Queen occurred in 1933 with the young Princess Elizabeth appearing on a Newfoundland postage stamp. This was the first portrait of the Princess on any postage stamp. Robson Lowe, the philatelist, says “this was for some years one of the most popular stamps in the world”

The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh, made their first appearance in Newfoundland in 1951, on behalf of her ailing father.

In June 1959 the Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, was welcomed to St. John’s by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Premier J. R. Smallwood the Royal couple crossed the island to Stephenville and detoured through to Labrador.

Other visits included the official visit in 1978 that included her majesty attending the St. John’s Regatta and her most recent visit in 1997 marking the 500th anniversary of John Cabot’s arrival in Newfoundland. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited St. John’s, Bonavista, North West River, Shetshatshiu, HappyValley and GooseBay.

Other short stop over’s in Newfoundland by the Queen have included.

1953 Newfoundland
1974 Gander, Newfoundland
1985 Gander, Newfoundland
1986 Gander, Newfoundland
1991 Gander, Newfoundland

The designation “Royal” has been given to number of institutions in the province including:

Royal Newfoundland Regiment (1917)

Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club (1965)

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (1979)

Royal St. John’s Regatta (1993)

Recommended Archival Collection: The Rooms Provincial Archives holds a number of small collections that relate to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Recommended Web site: http://www.govhouse.nl.ca/

First meeting of the Benevolent Irish Society

Archival Moment

February 5, 1806

The headquarters of the BIS is now located at 30 Harvey Road.

On February 5, 1806 the first meeting of the Benevolent Irish Society (B.I.S.) was held at the London Tavern, St. John’s. The Society was founded for the relief of the poor by a group of 78 Irishmen.

“At a meeting held at the London Tavern, St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Wednesday the 5th February 1806, a number of Irish Gentlemen desirous of relieving the wants and desires of their Countrymen and fellow-creatures at large. It was unanimously agreed, that a Society formed upon true principles of Benevolence and Philanthropy would be the most effectual mode of establishing permanent relief.”

The Society was constitutionally established on February 17, 1806.

As the seal and motto, the BIS founding members, chose the figure of the patron saint of their old country , St. Patrick bearing the cross surrounded by the inscription “he that gives to the poor, lends to the Lord.”

The Benevolent Irish Society was unique in that it was nonsectarian and offered assistance to the needy regardless of their religion.

“all denominations of Christians were admissible to its ranks the only qualifications required being one that one should be an Irishman or the descendant of an Irishman. “

At the time “the needy” were referred to as “the wretched and distressed.”

The founders of the Society were among the first generation of permanent residents in Newfoundland. They included politicians, businessmen and clergy who played significant roles in the political, economic and spiritual growth of the developing colony.

The headquarters of the BIS, fronting on Queen’s Road, backing on Military Road opposite of the R.C. Basilica, was converted into a condominium residence in the late 1990’s. (see photo)

The headquarters of the BIS is now located at 30 Harvey Road.

The very popular London Tavern showed no denominational bias, the free Masons met in the fine establishment from 1774 -1832. Located at the corner of what is now York and Wood Streets it’s proprietors Mr. Cornelius QUIRK (1770’s -1810) and later James PHEALAN (1810 -1830’s) liked to have a drink with anyone.

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives discover the Benevolent Irish Society [BIS] fonds, MG 612. This collection includes 12 microfilmed reels of documents including minutes (1822-1933, 1938-1970, 1973-1979); agendas (1964-1970); Centenary Volume (1806-1906); loan receipts (1905-1906); journal (1910-1920); cash book (1920-1931); ledger (1939-1944).

Recommended Archival Collection: “Rules and constitution of the Benevolent Irish Society: February 17th, 1806”. Recounts the establishment of the Society in February 1806 and presents the rules and constitution drawn up by the founding committee. Read More: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/cns/id/17588

Recommended Web Site: http://www.bisnl.ca/main/node

Archivists and Artists Create

Reception Open to the Public

Photo Credit: Tanya St-Pierre. Collage Series (2014). Digital print.

The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery will be hosting a reception on Friday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m. to formally open five new exhibits.

Two of the exhibits, Tanya St. Pierre’s, “Collage Series” and Daniel Young and Christian Giroux’s, “Infracture Canada” borrow from the collections of the Rooms Provincial Archives

The “Collage Series” features thirty-two composite images by Quebec-based artist Tanya St-Pierre. St-Pierre’s collages interpret, while rendering poetic, the work of Newfoundland and Labrador women during the First and Second World Wars. Researching intensely in The Rooms Provincial Archives for a two-week period in August 2014, St-Pierre carefully looked over hundreds of archival documents and selected the primary material for the collages. By cutting out fragments of history from archival sources, and blending the two time periods, the collages operate like a metaphor for the disruption that occurs during wartime, and the lives torn in the context of these moments of strong cultural tension and social transition.

“Infracture Canada” critically explores the built environment. For the exhibition, the artists incorporate architectural images from the Provincial Archives collections, speaking to the built vernacular found in this province. This exhibit was co-produced with Oakville Galleries.

The other exhibits that will officially open are St. John’s-based multidisciplinary artist Audrey Hurd’s exhibit ‘’Until it Remembers” and Lyne Lapointe’s, Perches/Perchoirs organized and circulated by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal and “Folklore and other Panics”

Immerse yourself in our culture at Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest public cultural space. It’s the place where it all comes together – our history, heritage and artistic expression. The Rooms unites the Provincial Archives, Art Gallery and Museum. A place for people, The Rooms is a portal to the many stories our province has to tell.

Join us and meet some of the artists in this free event that is open to the public. For more information contact The Rooms by calling 757-8090 or visit http://www.therooms.ca/pdfs/visitor_guide.pdf

“The mate has been drunk all day”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

January 31, 1892

What to do with a drunken sailor?

One of the great sources of archival information about the men who have made their living from the sea can be found in the “Crew Agreements and Log Books.” English logbooks survive from as early as the mid-17th century and a few more general journals from even earlier. By 1730, the British Admiralty identified the need for consistency and issued the order in their Naval Instructions of 1731 that a log book had to be maintained on all vessels.

Prior to departure from any port crew members signed the crew agreement and the Captain would designate one of the crew members, typically the “first mate” to keep a log of the trip.

These logs were treated as sacred, the logs provide considerable information on the vessel, including the port of registry, tonnage, owner and intended voyage. The information relating to the individual crew members includes the person’s name, year and place of birth, capacity, previous vessel served on, and date of signing on and off the vessel.

The St. John’s newspaper, The Evening Herald, reported on January 31, 1892 about an incident on one vessel that involved an entry in the ship’s log book.

The newspaper reported:

“A good story is told of a well-known sea captain who has more than once visited this port. (St. John’s). He always allowed his mate to keep the log. On one particular occasion the mate became intoxicated, and was unable to attend to his duty. As the mate very rarely committed the offence the captain excused him and attended to the log himself, concluding with this: “The mate has been drunk all day.” Next day the mate was on deck and resumed his duties.

Looking at the log he discovered the entry the captain had made and ventured to remonstrate with his superior.” What was the need sir””, he asked, “of putting that down on the log?” “Wasn’t it true?” asked the captain. “Yes sir; but it doesn’t seem necessary to enter it on the log””. “Well” said the captain, “since it is true it had better stand, it had better stand.”

The next day the captain had occasion to look at the log, and at the end of the entry which the mate had made was found the item: “The captain has been sober all day.”

The captain had the mate summoned and thundered “What did you mean by putting down that entry? Am I not sober every day?” “”Yes sir, but wasn’t it true?” “Why of course it was true.” “Well then sir”, said the mate, “since it was true, I think it had better stand, it had better stand.”

Recommended Archives: One of the best collections of “Crew Agreements and Log Books” in the world can be found at the Maritime History Archive, Memorial University of Newfoundland. https://www.mun.ca/mha/index.php

Recommended Song: What to do with a Drunken Sailor: Great Big Sea: http://www.elyrics.net/read/g/great-big-sea-lyrics/drunken-sailor-lyrics.html

Canadian fish sent to England, an opportunity for Newfoundland

Archival Moment

January 29, 1915

In the early days of the First World War, Newfoundland businessmen began to look for opportunities, especially opportunities to expand the fish trade.

With the declaration of war in 1914 the North Sea, the traditional fishing ground for England was closed. The local papers reported:

“The North Sea fishing fleet has been badly hampered and almost put out of action this season through the menace of mines and the result has been a serious depletion of the fish supply so large a part of the food of the British people.”

The famine assumed such dimensions that Cardinal Francis Bourne, the leader of the Catholic Church in England, granted a dispensation to the Catholics of England allowing they may eat meat on Fridays and Fast Days, the Cardinal explained that the step was necessary because of the high price of fish.

The first group to respond to the famine being experienced in England was the fish merchants of the Pacific Coast of Canada. The Canadians were well placed strategically because just months previous the grand trunk Pacific Transcontinental Railway line had been completed allowing fish from Prince Rupert, British Columbia access to markets in Eastern Canada and the United States.

In an experiment to help feed the British three Canadian express refrigerator cars carrying thirty tons of halibut taken from the waters of the Pacific Ocean off Prince Rupert passed through the city of St. John, New Brunswick, where the fish was then shipped by the steamship to the British market. The fish would be carried over 6,500 miles before it reaches the consumer.

The Evening Telegram in St. John’s reported:

“ A trial shipment of 20,000 pounds of halibut proved to be successful, when opened in England it was found to be in first class condition leading to the placing of other large orders. “

Newfoundland fish merchants, aware that “large orders” for fish were being demanded by the British people, saw an opportunity. They knew immediately, “that great development in this new trade will continue till the end of the war.”

The new trade resulted in an economic boom, wartime conditions kept prices high, and Newfoundland merchants continued to supply their traditional markets in Europe, the Mediterranean, Brazil and the Caribbean. The boom lasted until 1920.

Recommended Archival Collection: From your home visit the website, The Great War: http://www.therooms.ca/regiment/part1_entering_the_great_war.asp This site contains the military files of over 2200 soldiers ( we have another 4000 on microfilm) from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment who served in the First World War. These files are searchable by name or by community and will therefore provide invaluable information for all viewers, but will be of particular interest to those who are conducting either family or community research.

Recommended Exhibit: Pleasantville: From Recreation to Military Installation. Level 2 Atrium Pleasantville before the First World War was the site of the St. John’s cricket grounds. With the declaration of war, Pleasantville quickly emerged as a tent city, the home of the storied “First 500”. It was here that the First Newfoundland Regiment recruits began preliminary military training during the months of September and October of 1914. This exhibition highlights some of the activities and training of the Blue Puttees up to their embarkation on the SS Florizel for overseas service.

Recommended Museum Exhibit: Flowers of Remembrance: Level 2 Museum Vitrine: A number of flowers are associated with the First World War by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, including the familiar forget-me-not and poppy. Such commemorative flowers and their role in the collective memory of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are profiled. Using artifacts and period imagery relating to The Great War commemoration, The Rooms staff explore the significant role these flowers played across the last century.

The Basilica Cathedral Bells

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

January 1906

Basilica Bells on the steps of the Basilica Cathedral 1906.

If you were walking past Roman Catholic Cathedral (now Basilica) in St. John’s during this week in January of 1906 you might have been curious enough to approach the steps of the church to take a close look at the Joy Bells that sat on the steps of the Cathedral awaiting shipment to Ireland. They were being sent to the famous Murphy foundry on James Street, Dublin, where they were originally cast.

The bells in their day were considered some of the best in the new world.

The bell known as “St. John” built in 1850 was the largest ever cast in Ireland at that time, and won a Gold Medal at the Dublin Exhibition of Irish Manufacturers. The bell, a massive piece, weighs nearly two tons. Upon its arrival in St. John’s in February, 1851, it was hauled by hand to the Basilica, and installed in the East Tower.

The bells sitting on the steps of the Cathedral in January 1906 were made by Murphy, the celebrated Bell maker at Dublin in 1854.

In the tradition of the Catholic Church each of the bells was christened and named before being installed. In addition to having its own name each bell when originally installed had its own sound or personality.

The bells are:

Mary – 1854 – octave D

Patrick – 1854 -octave E

Bonaventure – 1863 – F sharp

Michael -1906

Matthew – 1906

Anthony – 1906

Francis – 1906

James – 1906

These five bells completed the peal, viz.: G A B C (sharp) and D (octave)

Following their installation in 1906 the bells rang without interruption until 1988 at which time the cluster of bells was removed from the west tower of the Basilica because of structural weakness in the tower. The bells were placed in storage on site at the Basilica Cathedral. Following years of silence, the bells were again re-installed ringing out on (June 9, 2009) at noon, the first time in over twenty years.

Today you can hear the bells being rung on special “feast days” or special occasions like a wedding. The largest bell “St. John” rings at noon every day.

Recommended Reading: Tour of the Basilica Cathedral, St. John’s: http://www.thebasilica.ca/index.cfm?load=page&page=186

Recommended Website: After 21 years, the bells have been reinstalled in the bell tower of the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in St. John’s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n-ht7bQ8zA

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: http://www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/panl/exhibits/lanternslides.asp

Recommended Website: History of the Magic Lantern. http://www.magiclantern.org.uk/history/history1.html

Recommended Action: Take some time to look at archival material that you may have in your home. Perhaps you have some glass plate negatives that you might want to consider donating to an established archives.

“Making raids on the shebeens”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

January, 1888

Traveling about Newfoundland in the 1800’s would likely have been more of an adventure then it is nowadays, you would (if you were a drinker) have an occasion to visit a SHEBEEN operated by some very colorful characters.

A “shebeen” is an unlicensed place where illicit liquor is sold; in St. Mary’s Bay, Newfoundland, the term used was “sheveen.”

In the 1880’s you would have been welcomed to Twenty Mile Pond (now Windsor Lake, St. John’s) by the astute Peggy Rose the proprietor of a “snug shebeen.” Peggy was not known for giving credit, your attention would be brought to the existence of her premises with a sign that declared “I’ve trusted many to my sorrow. / Pay to-day and trust tomorrow.’

Shebeens in the 1880’s had become so numerous on the Island that the government authorities of the day decided that they had be eradicated. In Harbour Grace and Carbonear a special effort was being made. The local newspapers of the day reported:

“The guardians of the public peace here have been busily employed lately in making raids on the shebeens.”

In just one week in January 1888 at Harbour Grace, the newspaper correspondent wrote:

“I was informed that last week, £70 was collected in fines. (In today’s dollars that would be about $8400.00) So strictly is the law carried out that persons entering any of the suspected shops are arrested and put on oath as to the purpose for which said shops were visited.”

There was also a brisk trade in illicit alcohol in Carbonear. The newspaper correspondent reported.

“At Carbonear also, energetic measures are being taken to stamp out the evil. One woman, who refuses to pay the fine very properly imposed, has had a barrel of sugar and chest of tea seized, which might be sold by auction.”

The courts in the process of trying to prosecute the public who frequented these illicit parlors and their proprietors had to listen to listen to a number of amusing stories.

The correspondent for the Twillingate Sun reported on January 5, 1888:

“A policeman entered a shebeen and found a number of persons drinking. A panic ensued, and there was a general stampede. The transgressor of the law, on being brought before the magistrate, pleaded that he was merely entertaining a few friends. The Judge duly remarked he thought it a strange way to entertain friends, when the said friends tried to hide themselves and their drinking utensils away, on the approach of a constable.”

It is needless to say such a flimsy excuse was proved inadmissible.

Newfoundland Term: shebeen n also sheebeen, sheveen: Unlicensed place where illicit liquor is sold. [Dictionary of Newfoundland English]

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives explore the extensive newspaper collection. Read the “Letters to the Editor” to see what were the issues of the day.

“Quite a commotion arose among the people of Branch.”

Archival Moment

December 29, 1914

On the morning of December 29, 1914 there was much conversation in the town of Branch, St. Mary’s Bay about the survival of the mailman. On the previous evening with a blinding snowstorm raging, the horse of the mailman with the buggy arrived in Branch, but where was the mailman?

A resident of Branch, writing under the pen name “Com” wrote to the Editor of the Evening Telegram about the incident. The letter under the banner “Hardships of Mailmen” was printed in the newspaper on January 4, 1915. The letter reads:

Dear Sir:

To drive the daily service over the bleak country between Branch and Patrick’s Cove in winter is no soft job. On the 28 December 1914, in the full fury of the blizzard the mail couriers have arrived without the driver, leaving him in the country between Branch and St. Bride’s. The courier was proceeding on his way when he was overtaken by a storm four miles from his home, the snow falling so thick together with a gale of wind.

The horse going to near the ditch caused the buggy to overturn throwing the driver out. The horse bolted and turned homewards leaving the driver in the country, in a blinding snowstorm then raging. When the horse arrived without the driver quite a commotion arose among the people; however a search at once started and the driver was met at the entrance of the place after making his way through the blizzard.

“All is well that ends well.”

Com.

Branch, 29 December 1914

Unfortunately, the letter does not identify the mail courier? Do you know his name?