Category Archives: Archival Moments

“Eight girls disguised came and sang carols…”

Archival Moment

December 23, 1914

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: B 4-158; Mummering in St. John’s, Newfoundland

Governor Walter Davidson and Lady Margaret were just a little surprised to hear the rap at their door on Tibb’s Eve (December 23, 1914). Government House on Military Road, St. John’s was typically off limits to the public, the proper protocol was that guests would only show by appointment.

It was for the couple and their young family a pleasant surprise, the guests at the door were “mummers”. In his diary for December 23, 1914, Governor Davidson wrote:

“In the evening eight girls disguised came and sang carols to us in the hall. They sing delightfully and stayed for mince pies and coffee.”

As is the Newfoundland custom with “mummers” Governor and Lady Davidson immediately began to try and identify their disguised guests.

In the tradition of mummering, friends and neighbours conceal their identities by adopting various disguises, covering their faces, and by modifying their speech, posture and behavior.

He was pleased to write in his diary that he was able to discover the identity of five of the eight. He wrote:

“We made out Mrs Colvill, Nell Job: Mary Rendell and the two Miss Andersons’s, all young girls.”

Governor Davidson was quite pleased that the young ‘mummers’ had come to Government House, he wrote:

“It is a tribute to the present regime that they picked up the courage to face Government House of which all stand in awe.”

The reality was that most of the residents of St. John’s were in ‘awe’ of Government House and it is likely that the young women who did show up in disguise were not your typical young ladies. Each of the women, who the Governor identified, from the Job, Rendell and Anderson families, came from some of the more affluent homes in St. John’s. It is also true that a good mummer would never venture out until the afternoon of the Feast of St. Stephen (December 26), and continued every evening and night till the end of the Old Twelfth Day. These young girls that went to visit Government House were not your typical mummers.

The Governor concluded his diary entry with the note “the attitude (of awe) is always most correct towards Government House per se: but they are no longer afraid.”

Perhaps we should all grab a disguise and head down to Government House. We have a 100 year old standing invitation.

Recommended Archival Collection: The Rooms Provincial Archives: GN5 /3B/19 Box13, File Number 3

Recommended Song: Mummer Song: Original 1987 uncut TV broadcast. Newfoundland Christmas tradition inspired this hit Simani song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8OPy7De3bk

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: B 4-158; Mummering in St. John’s, Newfoundland

Terms of union with Canada signed

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

11 December 1948

On December 11, 1948, following two months of discussions the Newfoundland and Canadian negotiating teams signed the terms of union that would eventually see the country of Newfoundland become a province of Canada.

The Newfoundland negotiating team that went to Ottawa to discuss the terms of union was composed of National Convention members Gordon Bradley, J.R. Smallwood, Albert Walsh, Chesley Crosbie, Gordon Winter, John McEvoy, and Philip Gruchy. They met with representatives from the Department of External Affairs, including Louis St. Laurent and Lester Pearson, as well as Prime Minister Mackenzie King.

The teams worked for a period of approximately two months in 1948, using the draft terms from 1947 as a starting point. Although for the most part the process went smoothly, there were a few stumbling blocks, such as the provision of transitional payments to offset Newfoundland’s deficit. The Canadian government was also reluctant to make firm commitments without a legislature present in Newfoundland. Eventually a mutually satisfactory agreement was completed and on December 11, 1948 the terms of union were signed by all except Chesley Crosbie.

Crosbie had been the leader of the Economic Union Party, a party that proposed a free trade agreement with the United States as an alternative to Confederation. He believed that if Newfoundland could export its resources to the United States the economy would be strong enough for responsible government to succeed. He did not sign these terms because he felt that the financial clauses would not allow Newfoundland’s provincial government to balance its books.

The irony is considerable, his son John Crosbie, the former Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, became a prominent politician, serving as a cabinet minister in the government of Brian Mulroney. As the Newfoundland representative in the Canadian federal cabinet he fulfilled his father’s dream and became the architect of the Canada – U.S. Free Trade Agreement.

Recommended Archival Collection: In appending their names to the Terms of Union each of the signatories were given a copy. Did you know that the original provincial copy of the Terms of Union with Canada is held at the Rooms Provincial Archives.

Recommended Exhibit: Here, We Made a Home in The Elinor Gill Ratcliffe Gallery – Level 4. has a copy of the Terms of Union on exhibit.

Recommended Reading: Confederation: Deciding Newfoundland’s Future, 1934 to 1949 by James K. Hiller, St. John’s, Nfld: Newfoundland Historical Society, reprinted with minor corrections 1999.

Recommended Reading: Don’t Tell The Newfoundlanders: The Story Of Newfoundland’s Confederation With Canada by Greg Malone. Knopf Canada (2012).

“Symbolic but important recognition of Labrador”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

December 6, 2001

: Labrador on the map.

On December 6, 2001, an amendment to the Canadian Constitution officially approved a name change from the province of Newfoundland to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The process of the name change began in 1964 with the passage of the Labrador Act an act that permitted the province’s government to refer to itself as the Government of Newfoundland andLabrador.

In April 1999, the Newfoundland House of Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing the Governor General of Canada to issue a proclamation amending the Constitution of Canada to change the name of the province to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Then, a year and a half later (October 2001), the Government of Canada introduced a resolution in the House of Commons to change the province’s official name. At the time, the then Premier Roger Grimes stated,

“Labrador is an important and vital part of this province. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is firmly committed to ensuring official recognition of Labrador as an equal partner in this province, and a constitutional name change of our province will reiterate that commitment.”

Subsequently the province’s postal designator was changed from NF to NL.

John Cabot first used the term “new found isle” in 1497. The name Labrador is generally understood to have originated from the Portuguese word “lavrador” or “small landholder”, and is probably attributable to João Fernades, a Portuguese explorer.

Recommended Archival Collection: At The Rooms Provincial Archives take some time to read MG 8. The collection consists of textual and cartographic records compiled by P.T. McGrath in preparing the Newfoundland Government’s arguments in the Labrador Boundary Dispute (1906-1926). Some of the maps of the province of Quebec continue include Labrador.

Recommended Museum Visit: At the Rooms Provincial Museum take some time to enjoy the exhibit: From this Place: Our Lives on Land and Sea: The Husky Energy Gallery – Level 4: A rich tapestry of cultures exists in Newfoundland and Labrador: Strong ties to the land and the sea are the threads running throughout. Four Aboriginal Peoples – Innu, Inuit, Southern Inuit and Mi’kmaq – have lived in Labrador or on the island of Newfoundland for centuries. Europeans (livyers) – settled both places beginning in the early 1600s. The stories presented in this gallery highlight how the province’s peoples connected, and are connected. It is a story of how this place shaped its peoples and how different cultures have shaped and continue to shape this place.

Recommended Book: A Short History of Newfoundland and Labrador. Edited by Newfoundland Historical Society, Boulder Publications, 2008

“A derelict schooner, drifted ashore at St. Bride’s … “

Archival Moment

December 7, 1884

With so many barrells of flour this could be a good Christmas.

As Christmas 1884 approached, the people of St. Bride’s, Placentia Bay, were thinking it would not be a prosperous Christmas. It had been a bad year in the fishery. Their fortune was however about change, unhappily born on the pain of other families from Placentia Bay.

On December 7, 1884 residents of St. Bride’s stood on ‘the bank overlooking Placentia Bay watching as a “a derelict schooner, drifted ashore at St. Bride’s, dismasted and waterlogged…”

There was much excitement in St. Bride’s, it was quickly realized that “Sixty three barrels of flour and six puncheons of molasses” was aboard the vessel. It was theirs to salvage, they would take it home.

In the days following the salvage effort, St. Bride’s fell silent. James E. Croucher, the Wreck Commissioner stationed at Great Placentia had arrived in the town on December 10th. He immediately began a search for the cargo of the ill-fated schooner, but to his dismay only found “Twenty Four (24) barrels of flour broken and in a damaged condition, and two (2) puncheons of molasses …”

Thirty nine (39) barrels of flour and four (4) puncheons of molasses were not accounted for.

Croucher, as the Wreck Commissioner was obliged by law, under the Consolidated States of Newfoundland to travel to St. Bride’s to investigate the loss of the Schooner, he could only conclude: “the remainder of the property being distributed amongst salvors by a person or parties who had no authority from me to do so.”

As he sailed out of St. Bride’s for Great Placentia, the residents of St. Bride’s, no doubt celebrated. With their newly acquired abundance of flour and molasses, it would be a good Christmas.

The people of St. Bride’s also mourned, they knew that their gain came at the loss of the crew of the Schooner Stella, a crew of nine men out of nearby Oderin, Placentia Bay. It is said that she was wrecked in the “terrific gale of November 1884.”

Ever respectful of the dead, it is reported that “All the clothes that had belonged to the lost men (that had been taken from the Schooner) were carefully dried and forwarded to their families.”

Recommended Exhibit: At the Rooms: Here, We Made a Home: At the eastern edge of the continent, bounded by the sea, the culture of Newfoundland and Labrador’s livyers was tied to the fisheries and the North Atlantic. A rich mix of dialects, ways of life, food traditions, story and song developed here. The Elinor Gill Ratcliffe Gallery – Level 4.

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

A cake sale for the benefit of the soldiers

Archival Moment

November 27, 1914

Newfoundland women made cakes that they posted to their son’s in the trenches of France.

It was for many Newfoundlanders living in the United States disappointing that their ‘new’ country remained neutral during the first couple of years of the First World War, 1914 -1918. It was particularly difficult for the Anglophile Newfoundlanders that supported the notion of ‘King and Country’ and their British heritage.

A number of women, born in Newfoundland but in 1914 were newly minted American citizens wanted to do some small part to support the old country. The local St. John’s newspaper The Evening Telegram wrote: “Although being American citizens their sympathies are still with Old England and they express the earnest wish that success will soon crown the efforts of the allied forces.”

In Everett, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, a number of women originally from Newfoundland decided that they wanted to do something constructive; they decided to hold “a sale of pies and cake” at a local convenience store Booth’s Cash Market. The proprietor, Mr. Boot, an Englishman, was very accommodating.

It was announced that “the proceeds of the sale, will be devoted, to the European War Suffers Fund.”

The choice of the phrase “European War Suffers Fund” was quite interesting. From 1914 – 1917 America as part of its neutrality propaganda used the phrase ‘European War” the rest of the World was using the phrase “Great War.”

The ladies who were all making the cakes and pies for sale were all originally from Harbour Grace; among their lot were Mrs. A. W Parsons, Mrs. Edward Tuolls, Mrs. J. Sheppard and Mrs. A. Sheppard.

The Newfoundland ladies of Everett, Massachusetts, “carried on the affair most successfully”, doing brisk business, declaring at the end of the day “a very successful sale.”

The success of the sale was almost guaranteed, the Harbour Grace ladies would have likely been supported by the many other Newfoundlanders that were living in Everett, Massachusetts and the general Boston area. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts census for 1915 reports that there were 13, 269 Newfoundlanders in the Boston area.

The United States’ entry into World War I came in April 1917, after two and a half years of efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States neutral during World War I.

The sentiment for neutrality was gradually abandoned, driven in some small part by these Newfoundland born women who were very aware of the great effort that the people of their home country, Newfoundland, were giving to the effort.

The American people were eventually swayed to join the fight after news of atrocities in Belgium in 1914, and the sinking of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania in 1915 in defiance of international law began to prick the conscience of America.

Newfoundland War Cake Recipe 1914-1918

During the First World War women in Newfoundland would bake and post their “War Cake” to loved ones on the front lines. Some traditional cake ingredients were hard to come by. The “War Cake” recipe that was encouraged by the Women’s Patriotic Association (WPA) of Newfoundland and approved by the Food Control Board including the following:

Ingredients

Mix

1 cup of sugar

1 ½ tablespoons of salt

1 teaspoon of cloves

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of mace

2 cups of boiling water

Boil five minutes and cool

Add 1 ¾ cups of flour

I teaspoon of soda

Add I cup of seeded raisins

Bake in a moderate oven.

Give the recipe a try !!

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 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

Recipe Books: Do you have any Recipe Books and or recipes that have some connection to the Newfoundland Regiment and the First World War?

The ladies knit, for our soldiers

October 23, 1914

Archival Moment

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: A 51-112; A work committee in the Ball Room of Government House. Note that some of the women are sewing by hand and machine; others are knitting.

Following the declaration of war in August 1914 Lady Margaret Davidson, wife of the Governor of Newfoundland, called upon “the women of Newfoundland to assist in aiding the British Empire in the present crisis by providing the necessities needed by our soldiers at the front. ”

Seven hundred women attended the first meeting. Those in attendance passed a resolution to form a “Patriotic Association of the Women of Newfoundland” with the object of helping the men of Newfoundland in the defense of the British Empire.

The first gathering of the women for their ‘sewing and knitting sessions’ was held at Government House, St. John’s on September 17, 1914.

A month later, on October 23, 1914 the ladies satisfied with the amount of work that they had completed invited the residents of St. John’s for “an exhibition of the articles of clothing made by the different workers throughout the Island, for our soldiers at the front.”

Those who visited Government House saw in the exhibit “socks, shirts, pillows, pajamas, hospital jackets, knitted caps, and hand kerchiefs.” Lady Davidson explained that the articles came from “Spaniard’s Bay, Carbonear, Fermeuse, Stephenville and Twillingate.” She was particularly pleased with the women of Twillingate who had contributed 1, 144 pairs of socks.

She was also quick to point out that in many other outports the workers “are busy sewing and knitting, and their contributions will be received in due time.”

Photo Credit: Government House, St. John’s. On October 2, 2014 Her Honour, Patricia Fagan, hosted a reception at Government House in Honour of the 100th Anniversary of the formation of the Patriotic Association of the Women of Newfoundland, later to become known as the WPA

Lady Davidson explained that “in the city about 800 ladies are engaged four days a week making garments.” Throughout the Dominion of Newfoundland she said “the various church guilds are working steadily and the members of first aid classes and nurses are making bandages.”

A special project of some of the younger women was the “making garments for the Belgian children.”

Lady Davidson and her lady friends from the Women’s Patriotic Association were proud of their work and insisted that “of the clothing received it is of the best material and workmanship.”

The first shipment of the material was made on the S.S. Tabasco a British Steamer responsible for general cargo. In January 1917 carrying a similar load the Tabasco was torpedoed by a German Submarine.

Recommended Archival Collection: Patriotic Association of the Women of Newfoundland Description number MG 842.5 This fle consists of printed publication prepared by Women’s Patriotic Association (WPA), with introduction by Lady Margaret Davidson. Instructions for knit wear and convalescent clothes for soldiers included.

Recommended Reading: “A Pair of Grey Socks. Facts and Fancies. Lovingly dedicated to the boys of the Newfoundland Regiment. And to every woman who has knitted a pair of grey socks” by Tryphena Duley, Verses by Margaret Duley.

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.

Knitting Socks: Demonstration: Sock Knitting: In just two years, the women of Newfoundland and Labrador knit 62,685 pairs of socks for the troops in the First World War. Come to the Collecting the Great War: Enlisting Your Help exhibition to watch a pair of grey socks being made, using the original pattern, and try your hand at knitting. Demonstrations are ongoing on level 2 Wednesday’s from 6:30-9:00 until December 10^th.

One-day symposium on the historical significance of Grenfell

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives. IGA 13.62 (Dr. Wilfred Grenfell painting .)

The impact of British physician-missionary Sir Wilfred Grenfell (1865-1940) was widely recognized during the first half of the twentieth century. Grenfell’s lifework in Newfoundland and Labrador began in the early 1890s with the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. By 1914 the International Grenfell Association (IGA) was formed to focus on his work in this region. This one-day symposium will explore the historical significance of Grenfell, the IGA, and the delivery of healthcare in Newfoundland and Labrador over the last century and address issues concerning the present and the future. All are welcome, with refreshment breaks provided.

The Rooms, St John’s, Saturday, October 18, 2014, 9 am to 5 pm

Programme and Schedule

9:00 am-9:10 am

Session 1—Introduction Welcome

Chair, Jennifer Connor

9:10 am-10:20 am

Jeff Webb: “Newfoundland in the age of Grenfell”

Jim Connor: “Primary medical care and health in Newfoundland during the Grenfell era: Were they that bad?”

10:40 am-11:30 am

Anne Budgell: “Opera, lunch, and tea: New York high society and the Grenfell Mission”

Heidi Coombs-Thorne: “‘Heroines’: Nursing with the Grenfell Mission, 1939-1981”

11:30am-12:30pm

Ronald Numbers: “The gospel of right living: Wilfred Grenfell’s collaboration with John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek.”

1:30pm-2:45pm

Jennifer Connor: “Two British physicians and their ‘flits’ on the Grenfell mission in Newfoundland before 1930”

Larry Dohey: “It is called ‘GRENFELLITIS:’ Archivists look at the Grenfell Collection and its artistic and historical significance”

Monica Kidd: “‘If we can make a cure of him’: Lyrical Grenfell in the St. Anthony casebooks, 1906”

3:05pm-3:55 pm

Bill Bavington: “Reflections on the IGA in a time of transition–1974-1982”

Maria Mathews: “Back to the future – Primary care reform in rural Newfoundland and Labrador”

3:55 pm-4:25 pm

Concluding Remarks

Chair, Jim Connor

Norman Pinder

Edward Roberts

All sessions are free and open to the public. The Rooms, St John’s, Saturday, October 18, 2014, 9 am to 5 pm

For more information contact: Dr. Jim Connors: jconnor@mun.ca or 709.777.8729.

We will march and sing with the First 500 tomorrow!! It’s a long way to Tipperary.

Archival Moment

October 4, 1914

Cover page of sheet music published in 1914.

As the “First 500” or “Blue Puttees” marched from the tent city in Pleasantville, St. John’s, where they had completed their basic military training, they sang.

As the they marched through the streets on October 4, 1914 to the troopship the S.S. Florizel, that awaited them in St. John’s Harbour, to take them to fight for ‘King and Country” they sang a song that was new to many of them.

Marching towards the unknown, the young soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment broke into this new marching song, the song, they were singing with great enthusiasm was “It’s a long way to Tipperary.”

The song, in the opening days of the Great War (August 1914) had quickly become ‘Britain’s Marching Song’ the London newspapers reported “it has become the marching song of the British Army.”

The St. John’s newspapers were determined that the young soldiers of Newfoundland Regiment should also know the song, reporting that because “it is not widely known in this country” (Newfoundland) the words should be published.

The Evening Telegram published the lyrics for all to learn on 19 September 1914.

Up to mighty London Came an Irishman one day.

As the streets are paved with gold

Sure, everyone was gay, Singing songs of Piccadilly, Strand

and Leicester Square,

Till Paddy got excited, then he shouted to them there:

CHORUS

It’s a long way to Tipperary,

It’s a long way to go. It’s a long way to Tipperary

To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester

Square!

It’s a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart’s right there.

(repeat chorus)

Paddy wrote a letter To his Irish Molly-

Saying, “Should you not receive it,

Write and let me know!” “If I make mistakes in spelling, Molly,

dear,” said he,

“Remember, it’s the pen that’s bad,

Don’t lay the blame on me!

CHORUS

Molly wrote a neat reply To Irish

Paddy-O,

Saying “Mike Maloney Wants to

marry me, and so

Leave the Strand and Piccadilly Or you’ll be to blame,

For love has fairly drove me silly:

Hoping you’re the same!”

REPEAT CHORUS

The irony was that many of the “First 500” or the “Blue Puttees” who were singing the song “It’s a long way to Tipperary” as they marched would die in what they called “Tipperary Avenue”, a communications trench, at Beaumont Hamel on 1 July 1916.

It was the custom in the “Great War” battlefields to name the roads and trenches with names that were familiar. At Beaumont Hamel two names that were familiar to The Newfoundland Regiment were St. John’s Road and Terra Nova Street.

In September 1916 Padre Thomas Nangle who was tasked with finding and identifying the bodies of the Newfoundlanders who died at Beaumont Hamel wrote:

“On Sunday, September 24^th after saying Mass in a roofless barn within 800 yards of the German line, I started out on my quest … to find the bodies of the Newfoundlanders. I trampled on through Tipperary Avenue a communications trench from which our heroes “went over” on that fateful day (July 1). This (Tipperary Avenue) was the exact spot on which was made the most glorious event in the history of far off Newfoundland.”

It is a long way from Pleasantville, St. John’s, Newfoundland to Tipperary Avenue, Beaumont Hamel, France.

“It’s a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart’s right there.”

The song was originally written by Jack Judge and Harry Williams as a music hall and marching song in 1912. In 1914 columns of Irish marching soldiers made the song known and popular first in the British Army, then on the whole Western Front. The world first heard about the song from the London newspaper Daily Mail. Their correspondent, George Curnock witnessed the Irish soldiers marching and singing in Boulogne, France on August 13th, 1914. The song quickly became the definite song of the Great War.

Recreating the March to the Florizel: Commemorating the departure of the ‘First 500’ from St. John’s. On Sunday, October 5, 2014 approximately 500 individuals, from across Newfoundland and Labrador, will take part in a recreation of the historic march to the Florizel. Participants will march the actual route, taken by the original recruits, from Caribou Park, Pleasantville to the St. John’s harbour front, culminating with a special ceremony at the Harbour front. The march departs Pleasantville at 1:00pm and arrives at the Harbour front at approximately 1:45pm. More Information: http://honour100.ca/recreating-the-march-to-the-florizel/

Recommended Archival Collection: “Distinguished Service: the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the Great War”, this on line exhibition documents the lives and experiences of the province’s soldiers and aims to encourage interest in research on the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. The service records of the First 500 and others are available at the Provincial Archives at The Rooms. Many of the service records (but not all) are on line at http://www.therooms.ca/regiment/part1_entering_the_great_war.asp

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.

Military training exercises taking place in Pleasantville

Archival Moment

September 23, 1914

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: Training grounds at Pleasantville, St. John’s, ca. 1914. E-22-44), St. John’s, Newfoundland. Holloway Photograph.

In St. John’s and the surrounding area in September 1914 residents were very aware of the military training exercises taking place in Pleasantville in order to prepare the volunteers of the Newfoundland Regiment for Foreign Service.

Young men had gathered from all over the colony, at Pleasantville on the shores of Quidi Vidi Lake, in a hastily constructed tent city to train to fight for “King and Country’. The public was fascinated by what was happing at the camp and the local media were only too happy to report on the smallest details.

The Pleasantville camp had been established on September 2 with government, businesses, and private citizens donating the tents. Other shelters for the men of the Newfoundland Regiment were made from sails taken from vessels in St. John’s harbour.

On September 23, 1914 the St. John’s newspaper, The Evening Telegram reported:

“Yesterday afternoon (September 22, 1914) a squad of the Volunteers went country wards and engaged in skirmishing and marching in double quick time. The lads, who had their rifles with them, covered the different hills and woods from Virginia to the top of Signal Hill.”

There were in the hills and woods about St. John’s approximately 600 volunteers. The young men were all determined that they would be chosen for Foreign Service. They were also aware that the work of selecting would begin in the following week.

The reporter also noted that: “While the Volunteers were going through some various evolutions yesterday at the camp grounds some excellent photos of them were taken.” 100 years later, many of these photographs that were taken by (Lieut.) R.P Holloway are on exhibit at The Rooms. (see “From Recreation to Military Installation”. Level 2 Atrium, The Rooms.) Lieut. R. P. Holloway was later named the official photographer for the First Newfoundland Regiment.

After a month of training, the First Five Hundred (537 soldiers), also known as the Blue Puttees, were ready to head overseas. On October 3, 1914, they marched from their training camp to board the SS Florizel, a steamer and sealing vessel that had been converted into a troopship. They were cheered on by a large gathering of citizens. The next day, the troops began their journey overseas.

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.

“Archbishop, spinning in his grave”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

September 23, 1950

: Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: A 23-129; Archbishop Edward Patrick Roche

Edward Patrick Roche was born in Placentia on February 14, 1874 son of Edward Roche and Mary Riely (O’Reiley) He was educated at St. Patrick’s Hall School and St. Bonaventure’s College, both in St. John’s, and studied for the Roman Catholic priesthood at All Hallows College, Dublin, Ireland, being ordained there June 24, 1897.

In 1907 he was transferred to St. John’s where he became Chancellor and Vicar-General of the Archdiocese under Archbishop Michael F. Howley.

On February 26, 1915 Pope Pius X appointed him Archbishop of St. John’s. He was consecrated as Archbishop at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, St. John’s, on June 29, 1915.

It was as a supporter of the return of Newfoundland to responsible government and as a determined opponent of Confederation with Canada he gained much notoriety in the late 1940s. The campaign for confederation found in him one of its fiercest opponents.

He was convinced that no good could come to Newfoundland from Confederation. The archbishop argued through the pages of The Monitor, the monthly Roman Catholic newspaper that before confederation could be thought of, responsible government— as promised by Britain — was the way to go. He was actively involved in the 1948 referenda campaigns, encouraging all Newfoundlanders, but particularly Roman Catholics, to vote for the return of responsible government.

Roche died on September 23, 1950, a little less than a year and a half after Confederation, after having served as Archbishop for over 35 years.

He was buried in the crypt under the main altar of the Basilica Cathedral.

Even in death, some Roman Catholics argue, Archbishop Roche was not reconciled to Confederation. When Archbishop Roche’s great foe the Confederate Premier Joseph R. Smallwood died in December 1991 the provincial government approached the Roman Catholic Basilica Cathedral to host a state funeral for him. The Basilica has the larger seating capacity of any church in the city. The irony of having Joey Smallwood in the Roman Catholic Basilica was not lost on some parishioners. It is said, that one of the Basilica Parishioners was urged to go into the crypt during the funeral service because the suspicion was that “Roche was spinning in his grave because Smallwood was in his church.”

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives explore GN 154 Newfoundland Delegation to Ottawa fonds. This series consists of letters to the Chairman and the Secretary of the Newfoundland Delegation to Ottawa from various societies, business firms, unions, and government agencies concerning the ramifications of confederation with Canada for Newfoundland interests. The series are arranged by subject.

Recommended Publication: Confederation: Deciding Newfoundland’s Future, 1934 to 1949 by James K. Hiller, St. John’s, Nfld: Newfoundland Historical Society, 1998; reprinted with minor corrections 1999 75p. : bib, illus, map

Recommedned Reading on Line: ‘The True Father of Confederation’?: Archbishop E. P. Roche. Term 17, and Newfoundland’s Confederation with Canada by John Edward FitzGerald. Newfoundland Studies 14, 2 (1998) http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/NFLDS/article/view/787/1141

Recommended Song: Joan Morrissey, The Anti Confederation Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLpWCiFyHT0