Researcher looking for stories and memories of Nish Rumboldt, Newfoundland’s Pied Piper of song.

 Music has always been central to everyday life in Newfoundland and Labrador. From work songs to hymns, fiddle tunes to symphonies—music expression plays an important part in the cultural life of this province. Choral director Ignatius Rumboldt proved that folk and classical singing alike could be enjoyable and accessible for people across the province. Through his role as a choirmaster and music educator in the 1930s-1970s, he was essential to the creation of a choral music community that flourished in communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

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By Ellen Power

Ignatius “Nish” Rumboldt was born in 1916, one of seven children in a fishing family from Curling. Upon his mother’s death in 1921, the family split up and six year old Nish was sent with his brothers to the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John’s. Despite the upheaval, Nish thrived in the arts and music classes offered at the orphanage. His talent caught the eye of Basilica organist and local businessman Charles Hutton. Hutton mentored young Nish and helped him get advanced lessons in voice and music theory. Nish was only 15 years old when Hutton offered him the position of assistant organist at the Basilica in 1931. Hutton retired 5 years later and Nish took over his position as the chief organist and choirmaster. He held the post for the next 16 years. During this time, Nish organized choral and orchestral concerts for St. John’s audiences, to great acclaim. He also taught choirs at Catholic schools across the city and was an early supporter of the Kiwanis Music Festival competition.

Image: Nish Rumboldt (front row, far left) with the other MUN Extension Faculty, 1961. Photo courtesy of MUN Digital Archives Initiative

Nish Rumboldt is probably best known for his work in establishing choirs across the province in the 1950s and 1960s.  He was one of the first musical directors to add Newfoundland folk songs to the choral repertoire, first with the CJON Glee Club and then with MUN Extension choirs across Newfoundland and Labrador. His spirited interpretations of traditional Newfoundland songs were popular with choristers and audiences alike. Nish hoped hearing the music would inspire people to learn more about the province’s folk music traditions. “I used every opportunity I could,” he later recalled. “[I]f we were asked to sing at a government banquet and we had distinguished visitors, we’d sing a little of every type of music, but I’d be sure to finish up with Newfoundland music.”

Nish believed anyone could join a choir, as long as they were eager to learn. “I met a few people who couldn’t sing at the time but I never discouraged them,” he once said. “One chap came, give him a note and he’d sing anything but. And he became one of my soloists later.” One former soloist in a choir of Nish’s remembered his kindness to choir members. “He was so gentle with his singers,” she recalled.  “Even if they couldn't sing that well, he never put anybody down, he kind of lifted you up”.

 

Image: Nish Rumboldt conducts the MUN Glee Club in concert, c. 1960s-1970s. Photo courtesy of MUN Digital Archives Initiative

Nish Rumboldt was admired across the province for what one writer described as "the ability to transfer his verve and love of life to a choir and on to an audience." His work with choirs eventually resulted in his 1975 recognition as a Member of the Order of Canada. Nish retired in 1980, the same year he was awarded a honourary doctorate from Memorial University in recognition of his tireless work to promote choral music in the province. This work lives on, despite his death in 1994. The Department of Music, which owes its creation in part to Nish’s advocacy, now carries a scholarship in his name. And the active choral community in this province today certainly owes a debt to the lifelong efforts of Nish Rumboldt.

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Were you in one of Nish Rumboldt’s choirs, or did you work with him in the choral community? Share your stories, memories, and photos with us at commemorations@heritagenl.ca

Sources

Dunsmore, Douglas. "Nish Rumboldt: Newfoundland’s beloved Pied Piper of song." In Sharing The Voices: The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium I, St. John’s, NL, June 1997, 107-114. St. John’s, NL:  Memorial University.

Morgan, Bernice. “Ignatius Rumboldt—Mr. Music.” MUN Gazette, August 28, 1978.

Pathways. "Ignatius Rumboldt." Produced by MUN Extension Services. Aired 1983, on MUN Education Television Centre.  https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/extension/id/859/rec/1

The Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "Ignatius Rumboldt," by Paul Woodford and Betty Nygaard King, accessed Nov. 6, 2020, https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ignatius-rumboldt-emc

Woodford, Paul G. “Nish” Rumboldt: the life and contributions of Ignatius Rumboldt to music in Newfoundland. St. John’s, NL: Creative Publishers, 1984.

Help us out with this quick cemetery training survey!

Newfoundland and Labrador: Help us out with this quick 3-second survey - What part of cemetery conservation do you need to know more about? 

https://strawpoll.com/bybdzy5ka 

New Research into the mystery cannon of Harbour Main.

At a recent meeting of the Town of Harbour Main-Chapel’s Cove-Lakeview Heritage Committee, it was decided to investigate a local cannon on top of a hill whose origins, despite being a local landmark, are unclear.
 

Photo: Catherine Ann Kelly of Harbour Main (left), and
Maryssa Barras from HeritageNL (right) inspect the cannon, 25 November 2020

In order to find the story behind the cannon, we first need to figure out what type of cannon it is and when it dates to. By measuring key parts of the cannon and taking photos of visible features on the cannon we were able to compare our cannon with others to determine its calibre and likely dates of use.

There are a few key features that helped guide us in identifying the cannon. First, the cannon measures approximately 230cm, or 7½ft, long and the bore (the tube for the cannonball) measures 11cm, or 4.3in, in diameter. Based on these dimensions we can determine that this cannon is likely a 9lb gun - with 9lb referring to the caliber of the cannonballs it would have shot. 

 

Photo: A close-up image of a broken trunnion on the cannon,
as well as the chase astragal, the iron band to the right of the photo.

In terms of shape, the cannon has a tulip-shaped muzzle and a spherical button at its breech (back) end. Spaced across the cannon as well are raised bumps, called reinforce rings. Notably, this cannon has an extra ring in its center called a chase astragal which largely fell out of use after circa 1810. Based on these, and other, details, we believe the Harbour Main cannon is most likely an  Armstrong-Frederick pattern cannon, which was the primary British model produced between 1760/4 and 1792. This means the cannon was likely produced sometime in that time period, and that its arrival in Harbour Main must date to after 1760-1764.

Photo: Diagram of Armstrong Pattern 9 lb gun of 7 1/2 feet,
courtesy of Dr. A.R. Collins. 

Heritage NL is following up with these findings with the Town of Harbour Main-Chapel’s Cove-Lakeview Heritage Committee. We'll post more info as the story unfolds. The cannon is an archaeological object as defined under the Historic Resources Act, and so the Province has title to it as per section 11 of the Act. 

UPDATE: 1 December 2020

Our preliminary report on the Harbour Main cannon site is now up online! We've tentatively dated the cannon to the early 1760s. Read more at:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yux28qVivjd37RlyUgM-O9DmTH2y3AaZHn31dmSso_Q/edit?usp=sharing

 

Living Heritage Podcast Ep195 Making Spruce Root Baskets

The weaving of traditional baskets using spruce roots is an Indigenous artform with a long and complex history. Renowned Mik'maq basket maker Anthony White, together with his son Danny, have been credited with reviving the tradition of Mi'kmaq spruce root basket weaving in Newfoundland. We look back at a 1981 recording of the Whites making baskets, and then features interviews with educator Eileen Murphy about the legacy of Mr. White, and with Jane Daly and her memories of her step-father, the west-coast basket maker Edward Young. 

Photo: A  round spruce root basket with diamond wrapped ears made by Anthony White of Bay St. George. Constructed c1960. Photo by Nicole Penney, 2012. 

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Do you have family roots in Salvage, Newfoundland? Help us map out traditional family neighbourhoods!

Maryssa in the Heritage NL ICH office has been working on some of the map information that came out of our recent Salvage workshop, and based on what we collected, she's drawn up the attached map, indicating which neighbourhoods families lived in, during the pre-Confederation period. 

This is a very rough draft of the map. What are your thoughts? Are there names missing, misspelled or in the wrong place? Are the neighbourhood breakdowns accurate, or should they be changed? 

Let us know! We'll take all your suggestions and make a more accurate version 2! Comment here, or email research@heritagenl.ca

Quick Reads in NL Vernacular Architecture: What is a Side Span?

The sheer weight of curing fish could cause the outer walls of a fish stage to bulge outwards, or even collapse over time. This necessitated an architectural innovation called a side span. A side span is similar in function to a buttress on a stone building and consisted of a wooden exterior brace on the side of a stage. Regarding the stages of Tilting, Fogo Island, folklorist Gerald Pocius writes,

According to Dan Greene, many stages in the past had a "side span" for support. This brace kept the side of the stage from breaking out when a large amount of salted fish was stored inside. These were essentially timbers that spanned out past the normal plane of the flooring, and braced diagonally on the wallplate to counteract any pressure. According to Dan, the typical sixty foot stage had three of these spans on each side. 

Above is a Tilting example, showing the side span on the Michael Greene Stage (photo credit: Heritage NL). 

For more on side spans, read the full article in our November 2020 "Heritage Update" newsletter. 

 

Researching the Burgess Registered Heritage Property, Whiteway

 

The Burgess Property in Whiteway, Trinity Bay, is a registered heritage property which has been passed down through 6 generations of the Burgess family. The property consists of 6 buildings each with buildings used their own distinct purpose. The diversity of the buildings used by the Burgess family speak to the diversified functions of outport life throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and the different sources of income families accessed to make a living.

The Burgess family history certainly reflects a diversity of trades undertaken on the property. While many of the Burgess men were listed simply as fishermen in early censuses, there is strong evidence suggesting that Charles Burgess initially came over to Whiteway as a sailmaker, and later evidence suggests that the family was involved in shipbuilding at a nearby dockyard in addition to fishing and logging. Notably, the women of the Burgess family also played important and diverse economic roles in the family. Naomi Burgess, for example, was an active midwife and Jane Mave Burgess participated in the Labrador fishery in the early 1900s, and continued to impress young boys with her cod-splitting skills well into her '70s.

Research into the Burgess Property is currently being conducted by HeritageNL as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Project, and is currently seeking community and family participants to share stories and memories about the Burgess Property in Whiteway. 

Elizabeth Burgess carrying water from Jimmy Rowe’s Pond, courtesy Burgess family.

If you have a memory of the Burgess family or property, comment below or email research@heritagenl.ca

Whiteway - What's in a name?

"Whiteway resident nibbles at his lunch." - Decks Awash photo collection

 

If you try searching for the early history of the town of Whiteway, in South Trinity Bay on the Baccalieu Trail, you might be hard-pressed to find anything prior to the 20th century about the town. Instead, you’re more likely to come across information on Witless Bay, or a great deal of information on Sir William Vallance Whiteway (1828-1908) who was a member of Parliament for Trinity and Prime Minister of Newfoundland from 1873 to 1885, and again from 1889 to 1894. 

This is because prior to the turn of the century Whiteway was actually known as Witless Bay, Trinity Bay - and prior to that, it was known as Witler’s Bay. How and when exactly Witler’s Bay turned into Witless Bay isn’t clear, but in saying the words aloud its easy to see they sound very similar, so it isn’t hard to see how they eventually got mixed up. 

Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections (Coll - 026), Queen Elizabeth II Library,
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL.

By the early 1900s, confusion between Witless Bay, Trinity Bay, and the present-day Witless Bay just south of St.John’s became an issue. Whiteway was renamed after the former Prime Minister, the longstanding representative for Trinity Bay and a notable historic figure, around the time of his death in 1908. 

Living Heritage Podcast Ep194 Lighthouses and Lighthouse Keepers

We're all about lighthouses and lighthouse keepers this week on Living Heritage. Grab a cup of tea, and listen to tales told by Barry Porter, as well as by archival audio from Jack Roberts and Theresa Colbourne, who were both born at lighthouse stations. Plus, an archival recording of Cyril Myrick and a mystery involving the Cape Race lighthouse, plus news of a very strange phenomenon said to happen at the Long Point Light in Twillingate. 

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

News from Harbour Grace and Salvage. Plus posters, pound holes, and police!

It is suddenly November, and things are as busy as ever at HeritageNL. In this month's newsletter, we bring you up to date on what's happening with Harbour Grace’s Registered Heritage District, news on how schoolkids can take part in the 2020-2021 Heritage Places Poster Contest, a first in a series of reports on our ongoing research in Salvage, with a story and request for information about the Fisherman’s Museum/Lane-Heffern House, an architectural spotlight on fisheries heritage, pound boards, and side spans, and an article on the history of the Newfoundland Ranger Force. 

Articles by Jerry Dick, Andrea O’Brien, Maryssa Barras, Dale Gilbert Jarvis,  and Ellen Power.

• Download the Heritage Update as a pdf here

Living Heritage Podcast Ep193 Making Snowshoes with Edwin Bishop

Host Dale Jarvis travels to Heart’s Delight-Islington for a chat with boatbuilder and snowshoe maker Edwin Bishop. Listen in and learn about the process of making traditional wooden snowshoes, steaming and bending the wood by hand, the types of styles and wood Edwin uses, and which snowshoe really is the best kind to wear while checking your rabbit slips. 

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep192 Hallowe'en Special - Newfoundland Ghost Stories

Hallowe'en comes to Living Heritage! In this special spooktacular edition of Living Heritage, host Dale Jarvis has dug through the archives to unearth some of his favourite recordings of Newfoundland ghost stories. We've got strange tales from Andrew Parsons, Jack Mansfield, Mike Flynn, Jesse Rideout, Sarah Jackman, and the late, much-beloved storyteller Alice Lannon. Listen in, if you dare!

Living Heritage Podcast Ep191: Newfoundland Ponies with Libby Carew

 

Libby Carew (center) with volunteers at the Newfoundland Pony Heritage Pasture in Cupids, NL.

Libby Carew is a board member of the Newfoundland Pony Society. Libby first encountered Newfoundland ponies as a child while visiting her grandmother on the Southern Shore. In this episode, we talk about the history of the Newfoundland pony, why they are an important part of the province’s heritage, and the Newfoundland Pony Society’s hope to build a pasture where residents and tourists can visit these beautiful animals.

Volunteer Nima pets a Newfoundland pony in the pasture.

 

This episode is part of a special series about the Baccalieu Trail region of Newfoundland and Labrador. Join us as we explore the hidden gems of the Baccalieu Trail- from stories of phantom ship sightings to local art and history.

 

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep190 - Nurse, you have got to come!

 

Gwenllian (Gwen) Decil LeGrow was born in South Wales on December 10, 1912. She served as a radio operator during World War II, and became a nurse in London England. Gwen loved adventure and in 1949 went to Newfoundland to serve as a nurse in the outports. It was there she met and married the local RCMP officer and love of her life Reg to whom she was married for fifty-three years. In the 1980s, Gwen LeGrow was interviewed by Marilyn Marsh on nursing practices in Newfoundland. In this remarkable bit of archival audio, she talks about her experiences as a nurse in outport Newfoundland, London during the blitz, and her early work as a midwife. Gwen Legrow passed away in Calgary in 2009 at the age of 96 years.

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Job Posting: Historic Places Researcher - a recent graduate internship.

Are you passionate about sharing the stories of historic places in Newfoundland and Labrador? Do you have a background in oral history interviewing and historic research? A love of public history and folklore? We might have a job for you!

The Intangible Cultural Heritage office of HeritageNL is hiring a Historic Places Researcher, to help research the hidden histories of historic places, and making those stories more accessible to the general public. The position will be researching the heritage, architecture, and oral history of local historic places, with the goal that the collected information and images from the research will be featured in online collections.

The applicant must have excellent oral and written communication skills; knowledge of Newfoundland and Labrador heritage; availability to travel locally; and an undergraduate or masters level degree in history, archaeology, folklore, or architecture. 

Hourly wage: $20.00                                                                                   
The position will run for approximately 25 weeks, finishing Friday, 26 March, 2021.

Application Deadline: 5:00pm, Wednesday, 7th of October,  2020.

The position is funded through Young Canada Works at Building Careers in Heritage, and the applicant must fit the following criteria:

• Canadian Citizen, permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada
• Legally entitled to work in Canada
• Will be between the ages of 16 and 30 years of age at the start of employment
• College, CGEP, or University graduate
• Graduated from a post-secondary institution within the past 2 years
• Has not participated in the YCW program with Heritage NL in the past

Send cover letter, cv, and 3 references by email, by October 7th, to:

Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer
dale@heritagenl.ca 

Living Heritage Podcast Ep189 - Down on Bellvue Farm

Did you know that Admiralty House Communications Museum was once a farmhouse? In this episode, folklorists Shannon Bateman and Alyson Small trace the domestic history of the property, its furry inhabitants, and the legacy of the Parsons family who cultivated the land for nearly fifty years. Settle in as we share stories of blossoming young love, Saturday afternoons spent baking, and a clever cow named Swiss – which all took place at the Bellview Farm.

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep188 Venereal Disease in the First World War

Today on the Living Heritage podcast, we are in conversation with Allison Bennett, a Ph.D. Candidate at Memorial University. Her research investigates the soldiers of the British Army who contracted venereal diseases while serving in the Middle East during the First World War.  Her research interests include War and Society; Gender History; and the History of Medicine. We talk prophylactics, prostitution, and recent pandemics!

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Economy Case Study - Hiking and Heritage with Barb Parsons-Sooley

 

Our newest in our Living Heritage Economy case studies is released today: A Walk Back in Time: Hiking and Heritage with Barb Parsons-Sooley.

Barb Parsons-Sooley is an avid hiking enthusiast and owner of Wind at Your Back Guided Adventures. She has been a hiking guide for several years for Routes Adventures, touring people around the Bonavista region and sharing Newfoundland and Labrador’s history and stories. She is also the president of the Hike Baccalieu trail maintenance association.

These case studies examine the links between living heritage, traditionality, entrepreneurism, and community economic development in Newfoundland and Labrador. Barb's case study is number 7 in the series, and you can find all of them at https://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/,

For more information, email ich@heritagenl.ca 

Living Heritage Podcast Ep187 The Great War Spy Panic

 

This week, we are handing over the podcast to Admiralty House Museum, in cooperation with Memorial University Folk6740 Public Folklore students Katie Crane, Micaela Muldoon, and Mariana Esquivel.

This episode of the Pigeon Post podcast centres on (purported) German spies in Newfoundland during World War I. The hosts discuss various stories about people of German ancestry, or people who were perceived to have German ties, who fell under suspicion and the consequences of this. The hosts also discuss rumour theory, the social and political climates that breed rumours, and the dangers of believing and spreading them blindly — in World War I and at all times. 

Download the mp3 here

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep186 Carding and Weaving in Millville, Codroy Valley

Today, we are taking a trip to the community of Millville, in the Codroy Valley on Newfoundland’s west coast.  We’re going to have a chat with Edwin “Hockey” Gale, whose family started the carding mill that gave the town its name.  Joining him is Megan Samms, who is a weaver and textile artist living and working in Millville near the house she grew up in, and where she learned to spin yarns and knit them together. 

You can visit Megan's website and see some of her gorgeous work here:
https://livetextiles.online/

You can also follow her on Instagram here:
https://www.instagram.com/livetextiles/

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Economy Case Study - Living History Meets Social Enterprise: The Green Family Forge

The Green Family Forge is the focus of August's Living Heritage Economy Case Study.

The Green Family Forge. Photo by Dale Jarvis.

The Green Family Forge is a Registered Heritage Structure in Trinity. It is both a Living History museum and a fully functional forge, supporting two blacksmiths who create stunning metal crafts. The Trinity Historical Society hopes to grow this social enterprise and generate new opportunities in old traditions.

Blacksmith working at Green Family Forge. Photo by Dale Jarvis.

You can download a pdf version of the case study here.

This is part of a series of case studies examining the links between living heritage, traditionality, entrepreneurism, and community economic development in Newfoundland and Labrador. For more information, contact Dale Jarvis at dale@heritagenl.ca. Photo courtesy of Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep185 Using the BillionGraves app to document local cemeteries

Cemetery sleuths Dale Jarvis and Katie Crane introduce you to the BillionGraves app for your mobile phone.  BillionGraves is the world's largest GPS-linked cemetery data resource. As you take photos with the BillionGraves app, each gravestone is automatically marked with a GPS location. The data is then made readily available at BillionGraves.com for free for millions of families around the globe for generations to come. Dale and Katie talk about the intro workshops they've been running with communities, and give you some tips on how you can get started using your phone to document and map local cemeteries and grave markers.

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Living Heritage 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.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Heritage Weaving - Condon's 100% Pure Wool Blankets, Prince Edward Island to Newfoundland

 

A while back, I got an email from Joanne Morrissey, who we've been working with on her North River project. She had just cleared out an old trunk that had been stored in her basement since 1992. Her mother used to buy sheep's wool when they were shorn in the spring, wash it, pick it and mail via Canada Post to Wm. Condon and Sons, PEI, to have blankets made. 

She writes, "They would make and return in the mail, or return a blanket in the mail, maybe not from the exact wool, but at the time I thought it was from the exact wool!"

If you have a memory of wool processing in Newfoundland, or the Condon mill in particular, email me at dale@heritagenl.ca.

Cemetery Conservation in Placentia: St. Luke's Anglican Churchyard

Last week we visited the most adorable churchyard in Placentia to teach a cemetery conservation workshop with the O'Reilly House Museum and other heritage volunteers.

St. Luke's Anglican Churchyard. Photo by Katie Crane.

St. Luke's Anglican Church has an ancient history. The current church was built between 1906 and 1908, but the original church that was on the site was built in 1689. Many of the stones in the churchyard are fieldstones, and there were a number of 17th century Basque stones which were removed for preservation, suggesting the use of the site as a burial ground predates the 1689 church. You can read more about the history of St. Luke's here.

Memento Mori stones for the Hobson family. Photo by Katie Crane.

Student workers, museum staff, and other heritage volunteers met inside St. Luke's Anglican Church to listen to Dale Jarvis and Andrea O'Brien discuss cemetery conservation. 

Dale talked about the Do's and Don'ts of cemetery conservation. Everyone was curious about how to properly clean and maintain gravestones in historic cemeteries, and how to make sure that information about the gravestones are properly documented using either written marker record forms, or apps like BillionGraves.

Andrea talked about how municipalities can designate historic cemeteries which can help protect them. She talked about the work that the cemetery committee and the Conservation Corps Green Team are doing in the Immaculate Conception cemetery in Cape Broyle. 

Afterwards, we had a short break in the rain, so we went outside and I walked people through how to use the BillionGraves app to document the inscriptions on the headstones. The recording is a work in progress, and you can check out the St. Luke's Anglican Cemetery page here.

Gravestones at St. Luke's Churchyard. Photo by Katie Crane.

If you want to learn more about the work that's going on in the Immaculate Conception cemetery in Cape Broyle, or why cemetery documentation and public engagement is important, you can check out the most recent HeritageNL newsletter here,

We'd love to visit more communities and help cemetery committees, museum workers, and heritage societies safeguard historic cemeteries. Have questions? Want us to visit your local cemetery and lead a documentation workshop? Get in touch! dale@heritagenl.ca or andrea@heritagenl.ca

Living Heritage Economy Case Study - Revitalizing Barking in Southern Labrador: The Labrador Artisans Co-operative

July's Living Heritage Economy Case Study features the Labrador Artisan's Co-operative.

Barked Labrador cossack. Photo by Cindy Colosimo Robbins.

A newly incorporated organization, the Labrador Artisans Co-operative is using old traditions in new ways to tell the story of Labrador and its history. Barking is a centuries-old tradition used by both Indigenous and settler communities to preserve animal hides, textiles, and fishing gear. The Labrador Artisans Co-operative is mixing this Labrador tradition with innovative materials dyeing techniques to create products that showcase what makes Labrador unique.

Barked hand bags. Photo by Cindy Colisimo Robbins.

You can download a pdf version of the case study here.

This is part of a series of case studies examining the links between living heritage, traditionality, entrepreneurism, and community economic development in Newfoundland and Labrador. For more information, contact Dale Jarvis at dale@heritagenl.ca. Photo courtesy of Labrador Artisans Co-operative.