Showing posts with label shipwrecks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shipwrecks. Show all posts

Monday, February 18, 2019

Living Heritage Podcast Ep145 The Loss of the Truxtun and Pollux

The USS Truxtun (DD-229) during the 1930s. Photo from the collection of Donald McPherson, courtesy U.S. Naval Historical Center (Charles Haberlein Jr., NHC and Chris Cavas, RoundTower Productions)

On this date, 18th of February, 1942, over 200 American sailors died when the USS Pollux and USS Truxtun ran aground during a winter storm near St. Lawrence, The two ships, accompanied by the USS Wilkes, were headed for Argentia  American navy base carrying war supplies. Due to the rescue efforts of the people of St. Lawrence and Lawn, 186 men survived the ordeal.

In this episode of the Living Heritage Podcast, we chat with local historian and tour guide Carl Slaney about the dramatic event, and the work happening now to ensure that the memory of the Truxtun and Pollux disaster is not lost.

Download the podcast 


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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Friday, July 13, 2018

Memory Mug Up - Bell Island U-boat Attacks & Sinkings, July 20


The two German U-boat attacks in 1942 sank four ore ships off Bell Island and left 70 sailors dead. Do you have memories or family stories you can share of the attacks or the sinkings? Or of the care of the survivors or the funerals for the dead? If so, then we would like to invite you to a Memory Mug Up at the Bell Island Community Museum on Friday, July 20 at 7:00 p.m.

The Memory Mug Up is an informal story-sharing session, where people gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories. The goal of the program is to help participants (especially seniors) share and preserve their stories.

Join folklorist Dale Jarvis of the NL Heritage Foundation and members of the Bell Island Heritage Society for an evening of memories. This event is part of a larger project which the Bell Island Heritage Society is working on with the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland & Labrador, to create a new website on the WWII sinkings and how they affected Bell Islanders.

To register for the Memory Mug Up, please call Teresita McCarthy at 709-488-2880 or email bellislandhs@nf.aibn.com

Friday, March 2, 2018

Living Heritage Podcast Ep102 Faces of the Florizel On Air


In February 1918, the S.S. Florizel left St. John’s on what would be its last journey. Blizzard conditions and miscommunication between the bridge and the engine room caused the vessel to crash into the rocks near Cappahayden, Newfoundland. Of the 137 souls on board, only 44 survived. One hundred years later, Heritage Foundation of NL folklorist Dale Jarvis and special guests Heather Elliott and Deanna Walter met at Admiralty House Communications Museum for a live audience recording of the Living Heritage radio show and podcast to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the shipwreck.

In this podcast, we talk about the history of the S.S. Florizel disaster and the behind-the-scenes work that went into preparing the Faces of the Florizel exhibit.






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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HFNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Heritage Week - Cape Race Collective Memories #NLheritage

VA 55-3.4; Cape Race [lighthouse], Newfoundland.  Photo courtesy of The Rooms.
As part of the Collective Memories project the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is helping community organizations, municipalities, and church groups digitize their oral history collections to make them accessible for future generations. Collected stories are made available through Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative, which is a free, public website where the HFNL stores the photos, videos, and interviews it collects.  If you have something to be digitized - get in touch!

One of the collections we have digitized is the Cape Race collection which consists of nine interviews from the area.  These interviews focus on some of the communities on the southeast tip of the Southern Shore such as Portugal Cove South, Drook (Druke), and Long Beach.  There are a number of stories about fishing, farming and keeping animals, shipwrecks, and memories of working at the Cape Race Lighthouse.  If you want to hear stories about cases of beer and whole hams being salvaged from shipwrecks then have a listen to the Cape Race Collection.

~Terra Barrett

Friday, November 18, 2016

#CollectiveMemories Booklet Launch - The Story of the Spar: An Oral History of the Hazel Pearl

Left to Right: Roy Hiscock, Ben Hiscock, Minnie Hiscock, Albert Hiscock, and Sarah Hiscock. 
On Tuesday afternoon the Heritage Foundation and the Champney’s West Heritage Group Inc. launched the booklet The Story of the Spar: An Oral History of the Hazel Pearl. The booklet launch took place in the Ella Freeman Heritage House in Champney’s West, Bonavista Peninsula. There were twenty community members who came out for the launch including four of the people who were interviewed about the wreck of the Hazel Pearl. The Heritage House provided tea, coffee, and some treats for everyone to enjoy.

The Story of the Spar: An Oral History of the Hazel Pearl is the second booklet in the Collective Memories Series produced by the Heritage Foundation. This booklet focuses on the Hazel Pearl shipwreck and includes archival research, field recording measurements of the spar, and oral history interview transcripts. The interviews were completed by Terra Barrett and Dale Jarvis, the measurements and drawing of the spar by Michael Philpott and Li Xingpei, background research by Sarah Hannon, and the booklet was edited by Heather Elliott.

As stated in The Sailor’s Word-Book:




Li Xingpei measuring the spar in July 2016.
The spar which sits outside the Heritage House was once a part of the Hazel Pearl. This spar was part what sparked the interest in the story of the Hazel Pearl and was accidentally brought ashore by fisherman Wayne Freeman when it became tangled in his capelin seine several summers back. 

If you want to learn more about the spar or the Hazel Pearl you can head to collections.mun.ca to hear the full interviews or you can check out PDF version of the booklet here!

The Hazel Pearl booklet is part of the foundation’s Collective Memories Project. This project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, with funding provided by the Department of Children, Seniors, and Social Development. The Collective Memories Project invites seniors to record their stories and memories for sharing.

~Terra Barrett
Reviewing old photographs in the Heritage House.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Booklet Launch - The Story of the Spar: An Oral History of the Hazel Pearl


The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Champney's West Heritage Group Inc. invite you to the official public launch of our new booklet:
The Story of the Spar: An Oral History of the Hazel Pearl

Tuesday, November 15th, 2016
3:00 pm
Free Admission
Ella Freeman Heritage House, Champney's West, Bonavista Peninsula


“The Story of the Spar: An Oral History of the Hazel Pearl” is the second booklet in the Collective Memories Series produced by the Heritage Foundation. This booklet focuses on the history of the Hazel Pearl and the memories of several community members about the wreck of the boat and the rescue of the spar.

“We saw the Hazel Pearl coming in around, coming in here on their full sail, fully rigged,” recalls Ben Hiscock. “She come on in and she hit the hard ice and and he holed her up, holed her upward and the water started pouring in.”

Hiscock was one of several residents of Champney’s West who was interviewed as part of the oral history project completed by the Foundation. The booklet which developed out of the interviews was edited by Heather Elliott with research conducted by Terra Barrett and Sarah Hannon.

“The booklet focuses on the story surrounding the shipwreck of the Hazel Pearl and the spar (a mast off the boat) which was retrieved by local fisherman Wayne Freeman and is displayed outside the Heritage House,” says Barrett, a researcher with the Intangible Cultural Heritage office of the Heritage Foundation of NL. “The booklet contains transcribed excerpts and portraits of community members, background research, memories of the wreck as well as a detailed drawing of the spar.”

The Hazel Pearl booklet is part of the foundation’s Collective Memories Project. This project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, with funding provided by the Department of Children, Seniors, and Social Development. The Collective Memories Project invites seniors to record their stories and memories for sharing.

The booklet launch is open to the public and will include tea and light refreshments. There will be printed copies of the booklet available at the launch and a PDF version will be placed online.

For more information please go to www.collectivememories.ca, call Terra Barrett at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5 or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca
Li Xingpei measuring the spar outside the Ella Freeman Heritage House in Champney's West.

Friday, July 29, 2016

#CollectiveMemories: Champney's West and the Hazel Pearl

Pei measuring the spar in front of the Heritage House, Champney's West.
Today I wanted to share two short video clips about the sinking of the Hazel Pearl in Champney’s West on the Bonavista Peninsula in Trinity Bay, NL.  The boat was previously known as the Coronet and was wrecked at least once before in Bonavista Bay in the 1930s.  The Coronet was salvaged from the initial wreck in the thirties, resold and renamed the Hazel Pearl.  It was used as a freighter before finally meeting its end on March 1st, 1945.

While the boat was lost in a winter storm local fishermen managed to salvage several barrels of cod oil from the vessel and were able to sell the oil again.  Although the boat was wrecked in the ocean the tops of the spars (also known as masts) of the ship which were painted white were visible in the sea water for years and years following the wreck.  In the recent years one of the spars from the Hazel Pearl was dragged up by two local fishermen who were cleaning a seine net.  The spar became tangled in the net and the two brought the spar ashore.  It currently sits outside the Heritage House in Champney’s West and is the source of many local stories and memories about shipwrecks in the area. 

During our work trip to the Bonavista Peninsula we measured the spar and did a couple of interviews with people who remembered the sinking of the Hazel Pearl.  The following videos showcase two locals’ memories of the sinking of the Hazel Pearl near Champney’s West in the 1940s.  Both Sarah Hiscock and Albert Hiscock grew up in Champney’s West and have personal memories of the sinking of the Hazel Pearl

The short videos below showcase some of their memories and can also be accessed on our YouTube channel.  I would highly recommend headphones when listening to the clips in order to hear the stories better!

If you know anything about the Hazel Pearl please feel free to contact the ICH office at 739-1892 ex. 2 (Dale Jarvis) or 5 (Terra Barrett) or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca


~Terra Barrett

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Living Heritage Podcast Ep004 Shipwrecks and Social Media with Heather Elliott


On Episode 004 of the Living Heritage Podcast, we talk shipwrecks and social media with Heather Elliott.

Heather Elliott has an educational background in anthropology and museum management. Her passion for maritime history inspired her to create her own blog, www.originalshipster.com. Through it, she tells stories of ships and shipwrecks from across Canada. In this interview, we talk of ships and the sea, and share tips for navigating the waters of social media.


Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Southern Shore Ship Wrecks

Ferryland [VA 41-21] 1929
Newfoundland Tourist Development photograph collection
Views of Newfoundland by W.R. MacAskil, Halifax, N.S.
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives
Today's folklore photo is of a shipwreck in Ferryland.  I am currently listening to a number of interviews completed in the Cape Race region of the Southern Shore.  I am writing up tape logs for these interview and one reoccurring theme in the interviews are memories of ship wrecks.  There are a number of stories about men saving the people from shipwrecks.  One story in particular is about the Brave Joe Perry who saved a number of men by tying a rope around his waist and being lowered over the side of a cliff and hauled back up with a passenger by the men of the surrounding communities.

Another idea surrounding shipwrecks which is repeated is the practice of wrecking.  For anyone who doesn't know the term wrecking refers to the practice of removing valuables from shipwrecks which have landed close to shore.  One particular story which stands out is of a wrecked ship which was full of pork.  The men of the community came home with chunks of meat for their family's supper after that particular wreck.

Have you heard any stories about shipwrecks?  What about the practise of wrecking?  If so leave a comment below or shoot us an email at terra@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Friday, June 20, 2014

Looking for Newfoundland descendants of men lost in 1835 shipwreck


Does your family tree include the names Breddy, Kelson, Heytor, Miller, Sheppard, Stevenson or Swyers? Do you have roots in Trinity, Trinity Bay? Then the Willow Tree Heritage Society may be looking for you!

August 16, 2014 the Willow Tree Heritage Society of Hant's Harbour will be unveiling a plaque in memory of the seven crew members who were lost on the ship “Fanny” which was shipwrecked near Hant's Harbour in December 1835.

Read about the wreck here

The “Fanny” and crew were from Trinity, and included:
  • Skipper Ben Breddy,
  • William Kelson,Jr. (Owner)
  • John Heyter
  • Jonathan Miller
  • John Sheppard
  • John Stevenson
  • James Swyers
It is the hope of the Willow Tree Heritage Society that there may be descendants of the crew living in the province, and they would love to invite them to the official unveiling of the plaque on August 16th. If you or someone you know might be related to the crew of the “Fanny” contact Gertie Pelley at (709) 586-2355.