A woman who cared

Archival Moment

March 25, 1843

Typhus Epidemic

Typhus Epidemic

Maria Nugent, a native of Waterford, Ireland, made her profession of vows on March 25th, 1843 in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the first Sister of Mercy professed outside the British Isles.

The Sisters of Mercy are a religious order of women that were involved primarily in health care and teaching.  The order was established in Dublin, Ireland in 1831. The first convent of these Irish women was established in Newfoundland in 1842.

Maria Nugent (in the convent she was known as Sister Mary Joseph) was the sister of reform politician John Nugent. She was an accomplished author and musician and was comfortable in a number of languages including Greek, Latin, French and Italian.

In June 1847, a severe epidemic of typhus broke out in St. John’s.  All the schools were closed as a preventative measure. Conditions in the St. John’s Hospital were deplorable, with crowded, inadequate facilities and unskilled nursing staff.  Rather than follow the strict quarantine regulations established during the cholera epidemic some 15 years earlier Sister Nugent insisted on being with the sick and dying.  She walked fearlessly into this hotbed of contagion. Every day she walked two miles back and forth to the hospital where she spent the day, easing the discomfort and pain of the victims, and assisting the dying.

It was almost inevitable that the frail Sister Mary Joseph Nugent would not be strong enough to withstand the infection. She contracted the disease and for two weeks she lay dying at Mercy Convent. On June 17, 1847, Sister  Nugent died, she was  buried in the place reserved for typhus victims.

Recommended Archival Collection:  At the Provincial Archives:  GN 2.17. A  series of letters written by James Crowdy, colonial secretary, relating to the response of the Newfoundland government to the outbreak of Asiatic cholera in 1832-1833. The letters focus on the preventive measures endorsed by government, including the proclamation and enforcement of quarantine regulations on incoming vessels, crew and passengers; activities and termination of the boards of health in St. John’s and in the outports; and the financial costs of the preventive measures. The volumes also include instructions related to the prevention of a cholera outbreak on the Labrador coast.

Recommended Reading: Kathrine E. Bellamy rsm. wrote the definitive  history of the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland. Weavers of the Tapestry,  published by Flanker Press, St. John’s 2006.

Recommended Website:  The Sisters of Mercy in Newfoundland:  http://www.sistersofmercynf.org/index.cfm

The sound of an Irish organist

Archival Moment

March 24, 1878

porganOn March 24, 1878, Thomas Mullock, brother of Bishop John Thomas Mullock of St. John’s, Newfoundland died at Clonmel, Ireland. Thomas’s claim to fame was that he was the first organist at the Roman Catholic Cathedral (now Basilica) of St. John the Baptist in St. John’s.

Thomas an accomplished organist in Limerick, Ireland came to St. John’s at the invitation of his brother (the bishop). He stayed in St. John’s and remained as organist for about fifteen years. The organ that he played was constructed by Messrs. Robsons of London, England.

For much of his life, Thomas remained in the shadow of his brother. He lived quietly supplementing his income by teaching music and raising his young family. In December 1854 he was devastated when his only child Charlotte Mary died at the age of 2 years, 10 months.

Upon returning to Ireland he was employed as the organist at St. Mary’s, Irish Town, Main Street, Clonmell. He knew the town well as he was married to Charlotte Frances O’Brien daughter of Daniel O’Brien of Clonmel.

Due to deterioration this “Grand Organ” in the Roman Catholic Cathedral in St. John’s, it was dismantled in 1938 under the direction of (Sir) Charles Hutton and was replaced by a Hammond electronic organ.

This, in turn, was replaced in 1954-55 by the organ that is presently used in the Cathedral Basilica. The new organ has 66 stops and a total of 4050 pipes.

The installation actually comprises two organs; the main organ of 51 stops located in the organ gallery, and the sanctuary organ of 15 stops arranged behind the main altar. Each organ may be played from the main organ gallery either separately, or, if desired, simultaneously with the main organ. The organ was built and installed by Casavant Freres Limited of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec.

The sound of an organ was first heard in North America, in a Québec church in 1660-61. Records show that 2 organs were in use in Québec Cathedral by 1663-64.

Recommended Archival Collection:  Take some time to explore MG 590 at The Rooms Provincial Archives; MG590 is the Charles Hutton and Sons fonds. It consists of textual records relating to the business interests of Charles Hutton & Sons in St. John’s 1930-1938.  The collection consists of correspondence between the company and patrons in Newfoundland and Canada, requesting songs, musical instruments and other enquiries.

Recommended Reading: An introduction to the Pipe Organs in Newfoundland and Labrador by Dr. David Peter’s, 2012 (unpublished)

“As innocent … as an unborn child”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

MARCH 22, 1834 

Richard Snow was baptized on March 22, 1834 at the Old Catholic Chapel on Henry Street. His mother sat in prision – she would be hung for killing her husband,

On  March 22, 1834 James Kelly and Gera Purcel  stood at the baptismal font  in the small Roman Catholic Chapel on Henry Street in St. John’s,  the  baptismal sponsors  for a new born child. The child was the talk of  Newfoundland.  He was little Richard Snow – his father had been murdered a few months previous. His mother Catherine Manderville Snow had been convicted of the murder.

Catherine Mandeville Snow was the last woman hanged in Newfoundland.

Snow as a young woman moved from Harbour Grace  to Salmon Cove near Port de Grave where she took up residence with  John William Snow, a native of Bareneed. Together they had seven children, and married on October 30, 1828.

It was not a happy union, there were reports of frequent fights. According to reports, Catherine would fight back and throw things at him. On the night of August 31, 1833, John Snow disappeared. The local magistrate launched an investigation. With the discovery of blood on John Snow’s fishing stage, the investigation became a murder investigation.

Murder charges were laid against Catherine and her first cousin Tobias Mandeville (25)  and Arthur Springer, (28) one of Snow’s indentured servants.

The twelve hour trial took place at St. John’s on January 10, 1834.  The jury returned a guilty verdict  after thirty minutes of deliberations  for all three.

On  January 31, 1834, Arthur Springer and Tobias Mandeville were hanged.

During the trial it was discovered that Catherine Snow was pregnant with her eighth child.  The local newspaper the  Royal Gazette reported:

 “Twelve respectable Matrons should be empanelled to decide on the truth or falsity of the Prisoner’s allegation;  (that she was pregnant)  the twelve matrons  met on Saturday morning, and returned a verdict  that the Prisoner was in the situation stated in her plea.”

Many in Newfoundlandwere determined that Catherine Snow  should not hang.  Bishop Michael Fleming, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Newfoundland made Snow a cause célèbre. The governor, Thomas John Cochrane delayed her hanging until the baby was born.

On July 21, 1834, as crowds gathered on Duckworth Street,  Cathwerine Snow walked out on the platform.  At her side was Rev. Thomas Waldron the same priest who had baptized her child.  The local newspaper  The Newfoundlander  reported:

“Rev. Mr. Waldron, was unceasing and assiduous in affording her the soothing consolation of religion, and preparing her for the last awful moment.”

Her last words were,

“I was a wretched woman, but I am as innocent of any participation in the crime of murder as an unborn child”

The St. John’snewspaper the Public Ledger reported:

 “The unhappy woman, after a few brief struggles, passed into another world.”

Recommended Reading:  The local newspapers of the day – The Newfoundlander and Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser reprinted much of the testimony that can be found  on microfilm  at the Rooms  Provincial Archives Division.

Recommended Reading:  (Historical -Fiction)  Catherine Snow by Nellie P. Strowbridge, Flanker Press,St. John’s, 2009.

 

“He would have to take command of the Bellaventure”

Archival Moment

March 9, 1914

S.S. Newfoundland articlesThe St. John’s daily newspaper the Evening Telegram in March month ran a column during the sealing season under the banner “Sealing Notes.”  The column was eagerly read by the hundreds of men who were arriving in St. John’s looking for berths on the sealing vessels that were tied up in St. John’s harbour. These men were reading the newspaper column looking to see when and where they had to go to get their ‘ticket’ or ‘sign the articles’ to go to the ice.

On March 9, 1914, the Evening Telegram reported:

“The S.S.  Newfoundland sailed last midnight (March 8) for Wesleyville. Captain Wes Kean went in charge, though it was expected he would have to take command of the Bellaventure owing to the illness of Captain Robert Randell, but the latter is now sufficiently recovered to go to the icefields.”

The next day the S.S. Newfoundland pushed through the loose ice towards Wesleyville where the young Captain picked up the remainder of his crew.  On March 12th, the S.S. Newfoundland left for the ice-field.

Wes Kean was headed to the ice fields where he was keeping a look out for the S.S. Stephano under his father, Captain Abram Kean, a veteran sealer. Although the two ships worked for competing firms, the father and son had agreed to alert the other of any seals they spotted by a prearranged signal.

On March 30 the S.S.  Newfoundland found that it was jammed in the ice and could not proceed. Wes Kean ordered his men off the ship the following morning (March 31) He instructed them to walk to the Stephano, believing the sealers would spend the night onboard his father’s steamer after a day of hunting.

The men did not stay on the Stephano, they were ordered to get back on the ice to start scullin.  What resulted was that for two days, 132 sealers were stranded on the ice in blizzard conditions and without adequate shelter. 77 men died on the ice, rescuers found only 69 bodies; the remaining eight had fallen into the water. Most of the survivors lost one or more limbs to frostbite.

Wes Kean went to his bunk thinking that his men were on the Stephano, his father made the assumption that the men had returned to the S.S. Newfoundland.  The two men could not communicate with each other the owner of the S.S. Newfoundland,  A.J. Harvey and Company, had removed the ship’s wireless, the firm was interested in the radio only as a means of improving the hunt’s profitability  and did not view it as a safety device.

Sealing Notice, HarveyIf Captain Robert Randell had remained ill, Wes Kean would not have been on the S.S. Newfoundland, he would have been on the sealing vessel the Bellaventure that was equipped with a Marconi wireless operated by George Serrick of Bay Roberts.

On April 4, hundreds of anxious spectators lined the St. John’s waterfront as the Bellaventure steamed through the Narrows carrying the 69 corpses stacked on its deck. The Evening Telegram reported:

“The vision sent a shudder through the crowd,  the bodies had been laid there just as they were brought in from the ice, many of them with limbs contracted and drawn up in postures wh

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives see GN 121 this collection consists of the evidence taken before the Commission of Enquiry regarding the S.S. Newfoundland. The collection includes the Sealers Crew Agreement and the evidence given by the surviving members of the crew. Evidence entered concerning the loss of the SS Southern Cross is also included on this collection.

Recommended Exhibit:  Death on the Front:  The Sealing Disaster 1914.  March 26 – November 16 – Level 3 Museum Alcove. This small display features artifacts from the Rooms Provincial Museum and archival imagery from The Rooms Provincial Archives connected to these tragedies. One of the artifacts featured is a flag that was once flown on the Southern Cross. The National Film Board’s documentary 54 Hours written by Michael Crummey, using animation, survivor testimony and archival footage will be running as part of the Death at the Front exhibition. You can also view the short film from your own home at https://www.nfb.ca/film/54_hours

Crew List: In the days and months following the loss of the S.S. Southern Cross and the tragedy of the loss of the men of the S.S. Newfoundland there was much confusion about the names and the number of men that did die. You will find the definitive list of all those that did die as well as the survivors at http://www.homefromthesea.ca/

Recommended Reading:  PERISHED by Jenny Higgins (2014) offers unique, illustrative look at the 1914 sealing disaster through pull-out facsimile archival documents.  A first for the Newfoundland and Labrador publishing industry, as readers turn the pages of Perished they’ll find maps, log book entries, telegrams, a sealer’s ticket for the SS Newfoundland, and more that can be pulled out and examined.  These are the primary source materials that ignite the imagination of history buffs and students alike and are among more than 200 rarely seen archival photos and documents that illustrate this amazing book. (NEW PUBLICATION)

ich the cold had brought about.”

 

Orphan Asylum School

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

January 30, 1876.

The Orphan Asylum School, Queens Road, St. John’s

On January 30, 1876 the Irish Christian Brothers opened their first school in Newfoundland known locally as the Orphan Asylum School.  The school had previously been under the jurisdiction of the Benevolent Irish Society. (BIS).

The arrival of the three Christian Brothers implied far more than the arrival of a few more teachers.  It meant the introduction of a group of teachers who taught as a unit, were all trained in the same teaching methods, used the same graded text books and employed the same code of discipline.

Attendance shot up from 66 at the former Orphan Asylum School in November to 300, the full limit of the space available.

The Orphan Asylum was built on Queen’s Road on the side of the hill overlooking St. John’s, across the street from the Basilica. The building featured a prominent tower observatory that was one of the most prominent architectural features of the city in its day.

After a year of teaching at the school, the BIS and Christian Brothers decided that the fifty-year-old wooden structure was no longer suitable and plans were made for a new stone building on the same lot. The Orphan Asylum School was sold for thirty-five pounds and was torn down.

Recommended Archival Collection:  Archives of the Congregation of the Christian Brothers, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Recommended Web Site:  The History of Catholic Education in Newfoundland. http://fromslatetochalk.ca/

Recommended Reading: Nobel to the View, The Saga of St. Bonaventure’s College  by Brother J.B. Darcy, Creative Publishers, St. John’s. 2007

The French fishermen in Labrador and Grenfell

Archival Moment

January 13, 1938

Newfoundland Postage stamp, 1941 issue, showing Wilfred Grenfell (1865-1940), a medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland Postage stamp, 1941 issue, showing Wilfred Grenfell (1865-1940), a medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador

The Reverend Umberto Mozzoni, (later Cardinal Mozzoni) secretary of the apostolic delegation to Canada  wrote to Archbishop Edward Patrick Roche  of St. John’s on 13 January 1938  with concerns about the “The necessity of providing to the spiritual assistance of the fishermen who come every year from France to the coast of Labrador”

Rome was seeking information “about the number of these fishermen and what is done to protect them in their faith.”

Archbishop Roche responded to the Apostolic Nuncio’s secretary that “With regard to the French fishermen, he does not know their number, as Labrador is in the jurisdiction of Harbour Grace Diocese.”  (Now known as the diocese of Grand Falls)

Archbishop Roche also suggested in his letter that it may be the priests of St. Pierre and Miquelon who are providing to the spiritual assistance of the fishermen who come every year from France to the coast of Labrador and suggests he contact the Prefect Apostolic of St. Pierre and Miquelon, for more information.

Officials in Rome, Mozzoni noted were aware of the existence and the work of the Grenfell Institute in Labrador and the fact that the French fishermen are assisted “From the social point of view” by the Grenfell Institute. (later the International Grenfell Association. IGA)

He laments however that “the Greenfield [sic: Grenfell] Institute, is, unhappily, of Protestant inspiration.”

The International Grenfell Association (IGA) was incorporated in Canada on January 10, 1914, under the Companies Act of 1899. Sir Wilfred Grenfell, the founder of IGA, came to Newfoundland to attend to the needs of fishermen in northern Newfoundland and on the coast of Labrador. The IGA maintained hospitals, nursing stations, medical steamers, boarding schools, and an orphanage.

Recommended Archival Collection: The records of the International Grenfell Association (IGA) were donated to the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL) by IGA representatives in June 1985. The IGA magic lantern slides form the most colourful pieces of the IGA fonds. These records are now available at the Rooms Provincial Archives. http://www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/panl/exhibits/

Recommended  Reading: Grenfell, Wilfred T. FORTY YEARS FOR LABRADOR. Houghton Mifflin Company. 1932, Boston:

The ‘Carpet Question’ and the Colonial Building

January 9, 1888

Archival Moment

The Carpet Question? Carpet missing from the Colonial Building.

The Carpet Question?
Carpet missing from the Colonial Building.

The Colonial Building, Military Road, St. John’s is arguably the most significant historic building in the province.

At the official opening of the Colonial Building on January 28th, 1850, Governor Sir John Gaspard  LeMarchant  stated it was, “dedicated to the future advancement and well-being of the country, a building which from its magnificence and extent will henceforth invest our legislature with and additional degree of interest and veneration.”

The Colonial Building has had a storied history, if the walls could speak, they would tell us of events such as Newfoundland gaining Responsible Government in 1855, the Riots of 1932 that saw Prime Minister Sir Richard Squires hiding from the mob. It was the building that was a witness to the  national Convention debates that saw the Dominion of Newfoundland  dragged into Confederation.

After Confederation in 1949, the Colonial Building was the seat of the Provincial Legislature until the Confederation Building opened in 1959.

The Colonial Building was also in the eye of the storm because of less significant incidents.

In early January 1888 the talk in the town of St. John’s and throughout the province was all about a carpet, not you’re run of the mill carpet, the talk was about a very expensive carpet allegedly stolen from the ‘Colonial Building.’

The government of the day (Premier Robert Thorburn) had purchased the carpet at the great expense of $300.00 (three hundred dollars) a carpet that was put down on the Assembly Chamber in the Colonial Building the year previous. In today’s currency the carpet would cost approximately $7,000.00 dollars. It would have been a large carpet, the Assembly Chamber is a substantial room measuring  29’6” X 49’.

The editor of the local newspaper the Evening Telegram was furious. Where was the carpet? Why was there no one in the government concerned about the missing carpet? The Editor boldly suggested that the government of the Colony of Newfoundland was holding a double standard.  He wrote:

“Why should the poor fisherman be sentenced to 30 days imprisonment with hard labour for stealing a tam o’ shanter cup worth only 25 cents while a sleek and well paid government official is allowed to steal valuable property from the people’s house with the utmost impunity!”

The newspaper refused to let go of the issue and soon discovered that not only was one of the carpets stolen but also “it will be necessary to talk about the valuable windows hangings stolen from the Clerk’s Office and the chairs and the desk spirited away from the Assembly Chamber ..”

The ‘Carpet Question’ was never resolved. Mr. Richard Holden the Assistant Clerk for the House of Assembly was the only person who offered any comment on the missing carpet suggesting that the government  “says they are not going to have any carpet on the Assembly Room next season, but are going to have the floor painted in squares as a chess board.”

Currently the Colonial Building is closed for interior and exterior renovations and is slated to re-open in  late 2015 with a restored interior, exterior and new exhibits to bring to life the people and political events of our past.  It will be the home of our political history.

Alas, the interior will not feature the ornate carpet, the valuable windows hangings stolen from the Clerk’s Office and the chairs and the desk.

Have you seen this carpet? Will the floors be painted in squares as a chess board?

Lost phrase:  “tam o’ shanter cup” associated with the Scottish tradition, a cup that was stolen that may have been a trophy cup.  (Love to hear from you on this!)

Recommended Website:  http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/colonial/default.html

Recommended Museum Visit:  At The Rooms Provincial Museum visit the exhibit ‘Here, We Made a Home’ in The Elinor Gill Ratcliffe Gallery – Level 4. This exhibit highlights some of the events associated with the political history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Howard Brown: “He was always there, constant as the tides.”

Howard Brown 1945 - 2014

Howard Brown
1945 – 2014

The archival community of Newfoundland and Labrador was saddened to learn last evening of the passing our friend and colleague Howard Brown. His colleagues at The Rooms Provincial Archives extend their condolences to Howard’s family.

Greg Walsh, the Director of The Rooms Provincial Archives in a memo to staff said: “Howard as the long-time Manuscript Archivist worked with many of our current staff and researchers and was responsible for the initial acquisition and preliminary work with many of the most important collections we now hold.  He will be remembered for his service to Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives (ANLA) as long-time treasurer and for his passion for discovering and uncovering gems of Newfoundland and Labrador history within our holdings.”

Howard retired in February 1999 but maintained his ties to the ‘archival community’ with regular visits to the Rooms Provincial Archives as a researcher. His passion for all that he loved about Newfoundland and Labrador he expressed in his contributions to such publications as the Ancestor ( a publication  of the Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador) and The Shoreline News, his community newspaper.

Melanie Tucker, Reference and Access Archivists at the Rooms Provincial Archives said  Howard’s “dropping by to research the next article, to pay into his lotto fund or just to catch up with ‘the crowd’, always wanting to hear that everyone was doing well. I don’t think any of us realized until now how much his presence meant and how his visits kept us anchored to our archival roots.”

Brown, Howard Cecil (Obituary)

October 25, 1945 – January 8, 2014  

With a strong sense of loss and gratitude we announce the passing of Howard Brown. Loss because he was so loved by so many, gratitude because of the life he lived.

Leaving to mourn and to celebrate are his wife Valerie, his daughters, Michelle (Dean Barnes) and Heather (Matt Appleby), his grandsons Matthew and John, brother Rex (Elaine), sisters Barbara and Brenda (Bob Helleur); nieces Jill and Janine, nephews Ben and Jim, mother-in-law, Theresa Hibbs, Valerie’s brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, Aunts Bea, Gladys and Molly (nee Brown) and June (nee Butler), many cousins and a wide circle of family and friends.

Howard’s life had two distinct phases: Tack’s Beach until he was resettled at age twenty-one and Topsail where he settled and resided since 1966. Howard fully embraced both communities and nurtured both to the full extent of his resources, mind and body. His love for inner Placentia Bay was a life long one and he came to love Topsail where his roots ran deep. His writings reflect some of his passion for his place in his Newfoundland.

Howard’s love for his two daughters and two grandsons was unqualified, a love he shared with Valerie. Howard’s loyalty to his parents, Cecil and Maude and siblings all could count upon. He was always there, constant as the tides. Howard’s approach to life was moulded by the knowledge that doctors had told his mother he couldn’t live to six months. He was glad to prove their assessment flawed. He glorified in everything life offered and when Valerie and Shelley, Heather, Matthew and John came along his cup ran fuller than even he in his optimism could ever have imagined. He was a happy man.

An inspiration to all who knew him, left now to mourn and celebrate. Resting at Carnell’s Funeral home, 1045 Topsail Road. Family and friends may visit on Friday January 10th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and on Saturday January 11th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Funeral Service will take place from St. John The Evangelist Church in Topsail on Saturday January 11th at 2:00 p.m. Interment will follow at St. John the Evangelist cemetery in Topsail.

No flowers by Howard’s request. Donations may be made to the Old Church, St. John the Evangelist, Topsail or the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre.

 

Old Christmas day – first mass at the Basilica

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

January 6, 1850

R.C. Cathedral, St. John’s, 1841

Though unfinished, the Roman Catholic Cathedral (now Basilica) was opened for worship on 6 January 1850. (The Feast of the Epiphany – Old Christmas Day). Ill and exhausted by his labours, Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming who had conceived of the idea of building the massive Cathedral celebrated mass.

 “It was the last time the dying Bishop was to assume the vestments, and the first and last time he would offer mass in his new Cathedral. He was so weak a chair had to be placed at the Altar, and several times he had to stop and rest.”

His death later that year was widely attributed to his exertions on seeing that the Cathedral (now Basilica) was built.  The Patriot & Terra Nova Herald the local newspaper stated, “The Cathedral . . . has been that building upon which he seems to have staked all.”   The mass was Bishop Fleming’s last public appearance.

In the spring of 1850 an ailing Fleming, in semi-retirement, moved from the Episcopal Residence on Henry Street  to Belvedere, the Franciscan house. (near what was to become known as Belvedere Orphanage building, now the MCP  building 57 Margaret’s Place (off Newtown Road) in St. John’s.)There he died a few months later on July 14, 1850.  Thousands turned out to pay their last respects as his body was interred in the cathedral he had struggled so hard to build.

Rome had appointed a coadjutor bishop, John Thomas Mullock, who had been a friend and adviser to Bishop Fleming as his successor. Bishop Mullock completed the cathedral and it was officially consecrated in September 1855.

Recommended Archival Collection:  Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming Collection, Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese ofSt. John’s.

Recommended Reading: Fire Upon the Earth: The Life and Times of Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming , O.S.F.  by Brother J.B. Darcy, C.F.C.  Creative Publishers,St. John ’s, 2003.

Recommended Website: From Cornerstone to Cathedral: http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Basilica/en/index.html

New Year’s Levee

JANUARY 1, 1859

“The Finest Room in the Colony”

The Basilica Museum Library. The “Finest Room in the Colony.”

There was a tradition in St. John’s that encouraged the leading citizens of the town to host a New Years Day Levee.  This levee was a reception that was held early in the afternoon of New Years Day, typically at the residence of the host.  Attending these levee’s was an annual ritual in the town.

The first recorded levée in Canada was held on January 1st, 1646 in the Château St. Louis by Charles Huault de Montmagny, Governor of New France (later Québec).  In addition to shaking hands and wishing a Happy New Year to citizens presenting themselves at the Château, the Governor informed guests of significant events in the Mother Country, as well as the state of affairs within the colony.  This tradition is carried on today within The Commonwealth in the form of The Queen’s New Year’s Message.

The Levée tradition was continued by British Colonial Governors in Canada, and subsequently by Governors General and Lieutenant Governors, and continues to the present day.

One of the leading citizens that was expected to host a levee was the Roman Catholic bishop. Typically citizens would call upon the bishop on New Years Day at the Episcopal Library (now the home of the Basilica Museum) to wish him a Happy New Year. Persons attending, dressed in their finest, would upon arrival stand in cue, sign a guest book and would then be introduced to the bishop.  The introduction would be followed by refreshments.

In 1859 Bishop John Thomas Mullock of St. John’s hosted his New Years Day Levee in the newly established Episcopal Library. Among the guests invited on this day was Lt-Col. R. B. McCrea, a Battery Commander and later Garrison Commander at Fort Townsend (now the site of The Rooms.)

McCrea was most impressed by the levee and the newly established library.   Ten years later in 1869 McCrea wrote a book about his experiences in Newfoundlandentitled “Lost Amid The Fogs: Sketches of Life in Newfoundland, England’s Ancient Colony.”  He wrote about the New Years Day levee

“Then to His Lordship (Bishop John Thomas  Mullock) we paid our respects and congratulations as was right and proper. A hearty reciprocation and a glass of champagne were his return for the compliments, to say nothing of taking us around his noble library, the finest room in the Colony.”

McCrea was impressed by the library but he was not so impressed by the living quarters of the bishop and priests. He wrote:

“This reception room was handsome, adorned with statuary from Italy, but for himself and the priests that lived with him, the little room below with its deal chairs and common delf would have been probably scorned by a layman. So strange is the contrast which presents in the attributes of his daily life and the profession he upholds.”

On Thursday, 01 January 2015 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., His Honour the Honourable Frank F. Fagan, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador and Her Honour Patricia Fagan will welcome members of the public to the traditional New Year’s Levee at Government House.

Recommended Reading: “Lost Amid The Fogs: Sketches of Life in Newfoundland, England’s Ancient Colony.” 

Recommended Website: The History of the Basilica: http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/basilique-basilica/en/index.htm