Tag Archives: St. Mary’s Bay

Lawlessness blamed on St. Mary’s Bay Rum

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

June 27, 1884

Lawyers Claim “ST. MARY’S RUM IS OF SO DELETERIOUS A CHARACTER”

On  June 27, 1884 an outrage against the population in St. Mary’s, St.  Mary’s Bay, Newfoundland  was considered so offensive that it made the newspaper headlines internationally. The North Otago Times, in New Zealand   featured this account of the event in St. Mary’s, St. Mary’s Bay. The article reads:

“An outrage was perpetrated on Saturday, June 27, 1884 by the crew of the barque Lady Elibank. The crew broke into the Catholic church of St. Mary’s in St. Mary’s Bay, and demolished the furniture and appointments of the sanctuary, destroyed the tabernacle, abstracted the chalice, and other sacred vessels, smashed the candelabra, and strewed the debris about the streets, and in various ways desecrated the church. Five men were arrested.

As soon as the knowledge of this desecration of the church spread amongst the Catholic population, not less than 500 boats were manned for the purpose of firing and scuttling the vessel ; but the influence of the parish priest  and the supplying merchants prevented revenge.”

In Newfoundland, the local newspapers the “Newfoundlander” and “Evening Telegram” carried every detail of the story. 

The “Newfoundlander” on July 1st, 1884 described the event as:

“An act of monstrous desecration and sacrilege was committed at St. Mary’s. Five of the sailors – four of whom are Germans (later to be determined Norwegian) and one a Negro – broke into the Roman Catholic Chapel at a late hour of the night, knocked down the altar furniture, tore up one or more vestments, and even made away with the chalice. The perpetrators of the shocking outrage have all been arrested, …  it is the first act of scoundrelism of the kind that has taken place in this country. As yet, there are no further particulars than those given above, and it is assumed that drink has been the prime mover. “

 “ST. MARY’S RUM IS OF SO DELETERIOUS A CHARACTER”

The hint that St. Mary’s rum was involved gave rise to an unusual defense by Mr. George Emerson the lawyer for the sailors, said to the learned gentlemen:

St. Mary’s rum is of so deleterious a character that not my unfortunate clients, but the vendors of such poison, should be placed in the dock.”

He argued the sweeping charge should be made against the liquor sellers of St. Mary’s.

Judge Philip Little was not receptive to the argument.  He gave his instructions to the Grand Jury. The jury returned; Kenner was to be sentenced to two years, Gustafsen to one year and ten months, both with hard labour in the Penitentiary.

Recommended Archival Collection:    Read the many great stories that is our history in The Evening Telegram: [1879-1886]-1978 Microfilm and in the Newfoundlander  [1827-1835], 1837-[1846-1849, [1851]-[1855-1856]-[1858]-[1860]-[1863]-[1865]-[1868]-[1873]-[1877]-1884 microfilm

 

“The vendors of St. Mary’s Bay rum, should be placed in the dock”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT
August 22, 1884

St. Mary’s rum is of so deleterious a character that not my unfortunate clients, but the vendors of such poison, should be placed in the dock.”

On August 22,1884 an outrage against the Catholic population in St. Mary’s, St.  Mary’s Bay, Newfoundland  was resolved by the courts.  The outrage was considered so offensive that it made newspaper headlines internationally. The North Otago Times, in New Zealand  account of the event in St. Mary’s, St. Mary’s Bay reads:

Lawlessness In Newfoundland
“An outrage was perpetrated on Saturday, June 27, 1884 by the crew of the barque Lady Elibank. The crew broke into the Catholic church of St. Mary’s in St. Mary’s Bay, and demolished the furniture and appointments of the sanctuary, destroyed the tabernacle, abstracted the chalice, and other sacred vessels, smashed the candelabra, and strewed the debris about the streets, and in various ways desecrated the church. Five men were arrested. As soon as the knowledge of this desecration of the church spread amongst the Catholic population, not less than 500 boats were manned for the purpose of firing and scuttling the vessel ; but the influence of the parish priest  and the supplying merchants prevented revenge.”

—North Otago Times, in New Zealand

In Newfoundland, the local newspapers the Newfoundlander and Evening Telegram carried every detail of the story:

Newfoundlander, July 1st, 1884:

An act of monstrous desecration and sacrilege
“An act of monstrous desecration and sacrilege was committed at St. Mary’s on Saturday night last. The barquentine LADY ELIBANK arrived there a short time ago was discharging a cargo of salt. Five of the sailors – four of whom are Germans and one a Negro – broke into the Roman Catholic Chapel at a late hour of the night, knocked down the altar furniture, tore up one or more vestments, and even made away with the chalice. The perpetrators of the shocking outrage have all been arrested, and the Sacred Vessel, which had been desecrated has been restored to the Church. As far as we can remember, this is the first act of scoundrelism of the kind that has taken place in this country. As yet, there are no further particulars than those given above, and it is assumed that drink has been the prime mover. But, whatever the cause, we do trust that the miscreants may receive the exemplary punishment that the law can give them.”

The Evening Telegram, July 7th, 1884:

Latest from St. Mary’s
“Intelligence from St. Mary’s states that the magisterial investigation into the conduct of the five men, charged with breaking into the Roman Catholic Chapel there, was concluded last Thursday and resulted in the discharge of the Negro and the committal of the four Norwegian sailors to be tried at Placentia before the Supreme Court on Circuit there next month. The examination disclosed that the parties broke into the church through the window, wrenched off the altar rail, and with it forced open the Tabernacle, where they took away the ciborium and the chalice. They tore down the altar decorations, vases and candlesticks, etc, and flung them about. They even entered the vestry and from it took four suits of vestments, the censer and the monstrance. All these articles, they brought aboard the ship, were subsequently discovered, hidden away in various parts of the hold and amongst the bedding in the forecastle. The captains and officers of the Lady Elibank did all in their power to assist the officers of justice, and it was owing to the personal influence and popularity of Captain Lee that the people were restrained from laying violent hands on the authors of this piece of criminality, the worst of the sort ever known there.”

Newfoundlander, August 22, 1884 :

“St. Mary’s rum is of so deleterious a character”
It was shown that the conclusiveness of the evidence, as well as the confession of one of the accused, left little doubt of their criminality. The Grand Jury retired after two hours absence, returned a true bill against Gustafsen and Kenner who were remanded for trial. Mr. Emmerson being assigned for the defense. When the court sat on Friday, it was found that Kenner, who had from the first declared himself innocent, had confessed his guilt, and Mr. Emmerson, in reply to the question why sentence should not be passed, made a very forcible address. He spoke of them as coming from a barbarous land, of being ignorant waifs, uncivilized and uninstructed, but his strongest point being the sweeping charge made against the liquor sellers of St. Mary’s. Said the learned gentlemen:

“St. Mary’s rum is of so deleterious a character that not my unfortunate clients, but the vendors of such poison, should be placed in the dock.”

His Lordship, Judge Little, correcting the learned council, showed that the accused came from a civilized and Christian land, that they were not ignorant, as both could read and write well, and that they were not drunk.

Kenner was sentenced to two years, Gustafsen to one year and ten months, both with hard labour in the Penitentiary; the imprisonment to be counted from committal in July – forfeiting, in addition, the money due them by their late Captain.

Recommended Archival Collection:  At the Rooms Provincial Archives Division:    Read the many great stories that is our history in The Evening Telegram: [1879-1886]-1978 Microfilm and in the Newfoundlander  [1827-1835], 1837-[1846-1849, [1851]-[1855-1856]-[1858]-[1860]-[1863]-[1865]-[1868]-[1873]-[1877]-1884 microfilm

Partridge, jostling each other on the barrens

Archival Moment

May 1903

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives. E 53-10; Woman with roasting pan of partridges.

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives. E 53-10; Woman with roasting pan of partridges.

In their enthusiasm to lure hunters to the Cape Shore in the 1880’s the people of Branch, St. Mary’s Bay, boasted that there was no better place for fishing, trouting and birding than on the Cape Shore. In fact they let it be known to the celebrated travel writer Captain Robert William Kennedy, R.N. that the partridges were so plentiful that they were “jostling each other on the barrens.”

An avid hunter Kennedy in 1880 travelled to Branch, St. Mary’s Bay, where he enjoyed the hospitality of the townspeople and all the partridge hunting that he wanted. Five years following his experience (1885) he wrote in his book Sport, Travel, and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies that it was true ‘patterridges’ (as the Branch people pronounced the name) could be seen to “be jostling each other on the barrens.”

With such grand reports of good hunting in the area it was inevitable that other ‘birders’ should be attracted to the area. It proved to be too much!! By 1900 the partridge population was near extinction.

In May 1903 the people of Branch and Trepassey were petitioning the government to protect the partridge. The local people had “for the last year or two been witnessing their entire crop of birds, swept away prematurely … by the wanton destruction of so many immature birds… “

Sir Robert Thorburn, the former Prime Minister of Newfoundland and a member of the Fisheries Board stood firmly with the people of Branch and their petitions to the government of the day. He took to writing the local press (The Evening Herald) in May 1903 he observed:

“that in comparatively few days at opening of last season shooting, (that a certain city so called sportsman), stated he killed enough birds on Trepassey and Placentia grounds to pay his expenses and that he sold 250 (two hundred and fifty) birds to one of our city grocers.”

Thorburn went on to write:

“Assuming this statement to be true, and that it is not a solitary instance or exception to the rule, does it not emphasize the necessity of preventing if possible a repetition of this wanton destruction of so many immature birds?”

The former Prime Minister, the people of Branch and the people of Trepassey argued that the partridge should remain “undisturbed until about the first of October.“ By tradition the ‘partridge season’ did not open up until October but over the years the ‘birders’ were arriving earlier and earlier.

They argued allowing the birds to mature:

“would have afforded a fair share of sport to the legitimate sportsman, be he a city man, or one of the manor born. ”  Thorburn continued : “Put the shooting back to the first of October and allow the use of firearms on no pretext whatsoever   … and the game will be preserved …. “

It appears that the petitions of the people of Branch and Trepassey were heeded the Consolidated Statutes of Newfoundland were revised to read “ No person shall hunt, kill, take, sell, barter, purchase … any ptarmigan or willow grouse (commonly called partridge).”

 Those of “the manor born” the people of Branch and Trepassey were quite satisfied! It was their petitions in the early 1900’s that saved the partridge from extinction.

The partridge (Lagopus sp) or ptarmigan is now the provincial game bird of Newfoundland and Labrador Two partridge species, Willow Ptarmigan and the Rock Ptarmigan, are found throughout the province.

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

Recommended Reading: Sport, Travel, and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies by Captain Robert William Kennedy, R.N. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburg, Scotland, 1885.

Recommended Reading: Department of Environment and Conservation, Newfoundland and Labrador. Small Game Regulations:   http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/hunting/smallgame.html