A cemetery visit on Orangeman's Day - the grave of William Janes

Yesterday was Orangeman's Day in Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the curious provincial holidays that some people get off work, and other people know nothing about.  While the Heritage Foundation office was closed, I headed off to Carbonear for a meeting about a possible future oral history project, and a visit to St. James Anglican to meet with their committee about their cemetery cleanup project. We'd blogged about St. James Anglican before (read here) and today was the first day their student workers in place. So off I went to help them make a plan for removing brush, and to prioritize which sections of the cemetery they should work on first.

When I arrived, the students had already cleared away some of the brush from around the memorial stone for William Janes, work appropriate, perhaps, for Orangeman's Day. William Janes was killed in the notorious Harbour Grace Affray, and his marker reads:

SACRED

TO THE MEMORY OF

WILLIAM JANES

AGED

22 YEARS

Who was shot dead whilst

walking in an Orange Pro

cession at Harbour Grace

ON DEC 26TH 1883.

There is a detailed account of the affray here:
http://canadianorangehistoricalsite.com/HabourGraceAffair.php

#CollectiveMemories Monday - "The first thing I did was climb the mizzen..."

Patricia Cumby, May 2017.

On May 15, 2017, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Patricia Cumby about her memories of moving to Newfoundland from the UK, living in Heart's Content, and some of the trouble she got into as a child.

Patricia arrived in Gander in a snow storm and had to spend a couple of nights there before the family could make their way to Heart's Content where her father was stationed to work as a doctor. She told the story of getting fitted out for the Newfoundland winter and in this audio clip you can hear about her first adventure in Heart's Content - climbing the mizzen. Patricia explained the mizzen is a small hill in Heart's Content named because ships entering the community could see it from the mizzen-mast up in the crow's nest. Patricia's full interview can be found on Memorial's Digital Archives Initiative.

~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep079 The Isaac Mercer Mummer Murder

Joy Fraser is Assistant Professor of English and Associate Director of the Folklore Studies program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, USA. She is completing a book tracing the cultural history of haggis as a contested symbol of Scottishness, provisionally entitled Addressing the Haggis: Culture and Contestation in the Making of Scotland’s National Dish. For the past several years, she has also been researching the relationship between Christmas mumming, violence, and the law in nineteenth-century Newfoundland.

In this episode, we focus on the murder of Isaac Mercer in Bay Roberts, who was beset upon by mummers, hit with a hatchet, and who died of his wounds. We explore the background of mummering traditions in Newfoundland, differences in mummering traditions in different communities, the events surrounding the murder case, her research using court case records at local archives, the licensing and eventual banning of mummering, and the link between mummering and violence in the historical period.

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/714/rec/1

The Goats of New Perlican Booklet Launch

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and Heritage New Perlican present a booklet launch at Veteran's Memorial Community Centre, New Perlican on Saturday July 8, 2017 at 1:00pm. This launch is part of the community's 10th Annual Heritage Day Celebrations.

"The Goats of New Perlican" is the first booklet in the Oral History Roadshow series produced by the Heritage Foundation. This booklet focuses on the memories of goats in New Perlican and includes stories about laughing goats, stinky bucks their stubborn nature, using goats to haul wood, the benefits of goat milk, and keeping goats as pets!

"They would all roam the roads," described Susie Smith. "You would never know when you would go for a walk in the road at night and no lights on the pole you would never know if you were going to bump into a goat or a horse or a cow or something on the road."

Smith was one of several residents of New Perlican who was interviewed as part of the oral history project completed by HFNL in conjunction with Heritage New Perlican.

“This booklet developed as a result of an event in New Perlican in May 2016,” says Terra Barrett, a researcher with the foundation. "At this workshop the topic of goats kept coming up again and again. So after discussions with Heritage New Perlican we decided to record stories about the goats of New Perlican."

"The Goats of New Perlican" is part of the foundation’s Oral History Roadshow. This project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the HFNL made possible with assistance from the New Horizons for Seniors program. The Oral History Night Roadshow will see us travel from community to community, hosting a series of Oral History Nights, open-mic storytelling sessions led and inspired by seniors in that community.

The booklet launch at New Perlican's Heritage Day is open to the public and will include light refreshments. There will be copies of the booklet for sale by Heritage New Perlican available at the launch as well as a PDF version which will be placed online. For more information please call Terra Barrett at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5 or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Great Fire of 1892

Women making hay at Ross' farm, Quidi Vidi.
Series Item E 6-7. Parsons Family Collection.
S.H. Parsons and Sons sous fonds. Summer 1911.
Photo courtesy of The Rooms.

On April 19, 2017, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Roberta Bugden about her memories of growing up in St. John’s. She told stories about riding the street car twice for the price of one trip, buying braces of rabbits from Mercer’s and fish from the harbour front, and her father’s work as a buyer for the Royal Store.

Roberta also told stories about her grandfather Ross’ move to Newfoundland from Scotland and recounted stories her mother, Queen Victoria (Ross) Young, had told her about the Great Fire of 1892. The Ross family farm was located on the North Side of Quidi Vidi Lake adjoining Mount Carmel near the temporary accommodations built by the government after the Great Fire of 1892.

Roberta was born August 16, 1931 and her mother was Queen Victoria (Ross) Young born March 23, 1885. In the following clip Roberta describes her mother’s memories of the Ross farm and of the Great Fire of 1892. Roberta's full interview can be found on Memorial's Digital Archives Initiative.

Tilts put up in [Bannerman] Park to shelter the poor who had been burnt out.
Series VA 152, Item VA 152-53. June 1893.
Photo courtesy of The Rooms.

~Terra Barrett

Memorial Day Service in Portugal Cove 1962

028.03.160 Memorial Day Service Portugal Cove NFLD Sunday July 1 1962.
Photo courtesy of The Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives

In April, I digitized a set of 35mm slides for the Town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's. The slides are included in the Allen and Pearl Squires fonds, which contains photographs, WW2 correspondence, and other material that accompanied a monetary donation which funded the community library. The photographs where taken on two separate summer trips, in 1954 and 1962, to visit Allen Squires hometown of St. Philip's and surrounding communities. With Allen's background in the 166th (Newfoundland) Field Regiment Royal Artillery, they took photographs of multiple war memorials around the Avalon Peninsula, including a Memorial Day service in Portugal Cove. The photographs show the large crowd in attendance, the Portugal Cove War Memorial, St. Lawrence Anglican Church, and the surrounding homes and landscape.  

028.03.158 Memorial Day Service Portugal Cove, NFLD Sunday July 1 1962.
Photo courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives.  

One of the images shows the parade heading towards the memorial, and the photographer. Pearl Squires labeled the slide as "Mr. Churchill World War I Veteran in Front,” however the man in the center has been identified by relatives as Archibald Greeley. Two men carry flags at the head of the parade. To the left is the Civil or Pilot Jack and to the right is a Royal British Legion flag. 

028.03.162 Memorial Day Service Parade Portugal Cove. Sunday July 1 1962.
Photo courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St.Philip's Archives.

The Portugal Cove War memorial can be seen in the pictures with many wreaths and the Union Jack flying. Members of the community can be seen sitting on the rocks behind the memorial, and talking to one another. Can you identify anyone in the photographs?

028.03.163 Memorial Sunday Service Monument Portugal Cove. Sunday July 1 1962.
Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives. 

For more information on the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives, contact the Town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Heritage Programs and Services Coordinator Julie Pomeroy.

~ Kelly

First Day on the Job - Fieldwork, Architecture and Running on Fumes

My name is Katie Harvey, and I began work as the Historic Places Intern with the Heritage Foundation yesterday.

I arrived at the Intangible Cultural Heritage office yesterday morning dressed for a day in the office. I underwent a tour of headquarters, and before I knew it I was on the road to Heart's Content. We were delayed only slightly by the fact that I had to return to my house to change out of my high heels and add copious amounts of sunscreen to my almost translucently white skin. As you may imagine, I was not expecting to be out in the field on my first day, but it was a welcome surprise.

I spent my first day bathing in sunshine in the beautiful heritage district of Heart's Content. My colleague, Eddy, and I reviewed some of the already-designated buildings within the town.

Western Union Operator's House in Heart's Content. Photo by me.

Being out in the field, I was reminded why I love my work so much. Surrounded by old buildings, I felt at ease; sensing the history these buildings had survived and been witness to throughout their existence.

Documenting the church. Photo by Eddy O'Toole.

The trails and tribulations of course existed. From completing paperwork for two of the wrong houses to nearly running out of gas in a highly stress-inducing and unintentional act of initiation, the day did not pass without obstacles.

Despite these minor inconveniences, I think it was the perfect first day of work. As I've learned from my training as a folklorist, it is essential to remain flexible, and be sure to always maintain a sense of humour.

"This Is Going to Be a Bad Night for St. John's" - The Great Fire of 1892 #Folklorephoto

View of the city from Duckworth Street east after the fire of 1892. Photo courtesy of MUN Archives and Special Collections (05 01 006) 

"This place is going to burn down, my boy," he remarked jovially, to an acquaintance: "go home and pack your little bundle." Still, people believed Water Street perfectly safe. I went into tea and was greeted with the news that all west of the Episcopal cathedral was burned. Scotland Row, the range of houses in front of the cathedral, was then burning. People were gradually becoming panic-stricken. I remarked to my landlord at tea: "This is going to be a bad night for St. John's." - Our Great Fire, By An Eye-Witness in the Morning Despatch July 19th 1892 

This July marks the 125th anniversary of the Great Fire of 1892, which destroyed much of St. John's and is remembered as the worst disaster to befall the city. The City's commemorative activities will take place on Saturday, July 8th and Sunday, July 9th, 2017.  Visit City of St. John's for scheduled of events.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Steve Best, Train Dispatcher and Telegraph Operator

A 19-61. Stalled! Winter scene on the Newfoundland Railway [191-?]. Originally published by Ayre & Sons (St. John's, N.L.). Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives.

One of the interviews recently digitized for Admiralty House Museum and Archives was with Steve Best, a resident of Mount Pearl. Best talks about his childhood growing up in Gambo, telling stories about his family, school, and pastimes. He also talks about moving to the growing community of Mount Pearl in the 1970's. 

Best also talks about his work with the Newfoundland Railway, as a telegraph operator and train dispatcher. He tells stories about the accidents that occurred on the railway, both minor and major, and the problems snow created on the railway.   

To listen to the interview with Steve Best visit Memorial University Digital Archives Initiative.

~ Kelly