Scanning St. John’s!

St. John's Harbour. IGA photograph collection. VA 94-105.1. June 1934. Photo courtesy of The Rooms.

Scanning St. John’s!

Are you a townie? Do you want to share family photos on Mother’s Day? Did you grow up in Georgestown or Rabbittown? Did you hang out on Ropewalk Lane, or shop at W.J. Murphy’s? Did someone in your family own a shop? If you did, and have photos of any of those things, Heritage NL’s Intangible Cultural Heritage office would love to see your snaps!

Of interest are old photos of St. John’s, anywhere from the 1880s to the 1980s. Photos could be family snapshots, old photos showing parties, games or sporting events, cars decorated for weddings, or of any of the old shops and stores that once dotted the town.

“We want to see those photos Nan kept in the old biscuit tin in the closet,” says folklorist Dale Jarvis with Heritage NL. “Sometimes photographs from the 1970s and ‘80s include things like storefronts or shop signs that are now long gone, so even if they aren’t ancient, they can still help us document changes to the neighbourhoods.”

Heritage NL will be hosting two scanning parties in St. John’s. The first on Sunday, May 12th in the Community Room at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market at 2pm, and the second on Tuesday, May 14th at the Lantern at 7pm.

Heritage NL staff will be on site to scan the photographs and ask questions about who or what is in the photo. If you bring your own USB flash drive, you can take home a digital copy as well as your original photographs.

Photos will also be shared online with the owner’s permission, and a copy will be uploaded to Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative, which is indexed and archived for history buffs everywhere.

Questions? Call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 x 2 or email dale@heritagenl.ca

Sunday, May 12th at 2:00 p.m. at the Farmers’ Market
245 Freshwater Rd, St. John’s, NL A1B 1B3

Tuesday, May 14th at 7:00 p.m. at the Lantern 35 Barnes Rd, St. John's, NL A1C 3X1

Photo of the Newfoundland Brewery Ltd. colourized by http://www.thephotomender.com

Drown'd by the stroke of a whale, 1782: the grave of Jonathan Webber

Recently, I came across an intriguing headstone inscription on the Stone Pics website, for the community of Harbour Grace, Conception Bay. It was for a young man who was killed by a whale, and who lies buried in St. Paul's Churchyard. The stone reads:

In memory of Jonathan the son of Henry & Elizabeth Webber. This stone is erected by his sorrowful parents. He was a dutiful child, a loving brother, his parents chief hope of children, was drown'd by the stroke of a whale the 12th & found 16th July, 1782, aged 18 years and 9 months, and lies interr'd here.

I asked Matthew McCarthy, the Economic Development Officer for the  Town of Harbour Grace if he knew about it, and he ventured out to the churchyard and took the attached photos. The stone lies approximately here.  Thanks to Anne Gosse, who sent along the entry on findagrave.com, which you can view here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179594281/jonathan-webber

"Whaling was an exceptionally dangerous business both physically and economically," reads the New Bedford Whaling Museum website, "In the Yankee whale fishery injuries and death were common to almost every voyage" (1).

As one example, the brig Emeline, of New Bedford, sailed from port on the 11th of July, 1841. The captain, Captain Wood, was killed by a whale in July, 1842 (2).  Consider also this dramatic report published in The Patriot And Terra-Nova Herald 1851-12-22, about the fate of the whaleship Ann Alexander, also of New Bedford, on 20th of August, under the command of Captain Deblois:

...while in pursuit of whales, two of his boats that were out in pursuit were attacked by a large sperm whale, and completely demolished. The captain promptly ordered a third boat, and proceeded to the assistance of the men, who were thrown into the sea by the destruction of their boats. He succeeded in rescuing all of them, and reached his ship in safety. But the whale becoming  more frantic with rage, immediately directed his course for the ship, and struck her abreast of her foremast, injuring her so badly that she instantly filled. All hands took to the boats on the 22nd, and were subsequently picked up by the ship Nantucket... (3)

While it isn't explicitly stated on the stone, it is likely that young Jonathan Webber was engaged in the whale fishery of the time. The whale fishery was well-established in 18th-century Newfoundland.  By 1750, the Webber family of Boston set up business in Harbour Grace and made strenuous efforts to promote a whale hunt in Conception Bay; in 1766 Governor Hugh Palliser oversaw regulations for preventing disputes amongst whalers that arose from claims to a share in any whales. The whaling factory in Harbour Grace closed circa 1913, but memories of it lived on well past that date: the Harbour Grace Regatta was established using whale boats for the races, a tradition that persisted up to 1971.

Works cited:

(1) https://www.whalingmuseum.org/learn/research-topics/overview-of-north-american-whaling/whales-hunting

(2)  http://mysite.du.edu/~ttyler/ploughboy/starbuck.htm page 149.

(3) http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/the_patriot/id/1638/rec/9 page 3.


Got a whaling story from your community? Let me know at dale@heritagenl.ca

Another handmade rolling pin for #FoodwaysFriday, this one from Labrador

We are on a roll with these photos of hand-made rolling pins! So far, we've seen ones from St. Phillip's and Sibley's Cove.

Today's is from Labrador, with a possible Harbour Grace connection. Cindy Gibbons (a former Heritage NL board member) sent me the above picture, and writes,

My mom, Linda (Yetman) Gibbons inherited this from my great grandmother Eliza (Ryan) Gibbons. Great grandmother was born at L’Anse au Claire and married great grandfather Walter Gibbons in Red Bay in 1908. Mom says she remembers grandmother saying it was already in the house when she moved in, meaning that it was used at least by my great great grandmother Janet (LeGrow) Gibbons. She was from Harbour Grace and married James Gibbons at Red Bay in 1879. She died in 1898.

Got a handmade rolling pin, or another handmade kitchen object? Drop me a note and photo at dale@heritagenl.ca. We'll continue to share these for #FoodwaysFriday!

Nets, Fish, and Fences - help identify these mystery photographs! #TBT

P10707 Young woman along a fence. Nets drying, looks like a riddle (wriggle) fence to the left.

The Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media, and Place (MMaP) at Memorial University is putting the final touches on a website dedicated to the folksongs collected by MacEdward Leach between 1949 and 1951 across Newfoundland and in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. We need your help to identify the people in his photo collection!

Please contact Gale at leach@mun.ca or comment below. We'll update captions here if we find out more information.

P10756 Older couple ready for an evening out (or church?). Love that bowtie!

P10777 Sailor in doorway. Note fish drying above roof.

You are invited to the Georgestown Scanning and Mapping Party!

Georgestown Scanning and Mapping Party
Tuesday, May 14th at 7:00 p.m. at the Lantern.
35 Barnes Rd, St. John's, NL A1C 3X1

Did you grow up on Barnes Road or Maxse Street? Did you hang out at Rawlins Cross, or shop at W.J. Murphy’s? Did someone in your family own one of the old Georgestown shops? If you did, and have photos of any of those things, the Georgestown Neighbourhood Association and Heritage NL’s Intangible Cultural Heritage office would love to see your snaps!

Of interest are old photos of the neighbourhood, anywhere from the 1880s to the 1980s. Photos could be family snapshots, old photos showing parties, games or sporting events, cars decorated for weddings, or of any of the old shops and stores that once dotted the area.

In addition, there will be large maps available to mark the location of informal place names and neighbourhood landmarks, everything from sweet shops and barbers to dance studios and that special spot where you met with your buddies, where you played certain games, or brought your special friend.

“We want to see those photos Nan kept in the old biscuit tin in the closet,” says folklorist Dale Jarvis with Heritage NL. “Sometimes photographs from the 1970s and ‘80s include things like storefronts or shop signs that are now long gone, so even if they aren’t ancient, they can still help us document changes to the neighbourhood.”

Heritage NL staff will be on site to scan the photographs and ask questions about who or what is in the photo. If you bring your own USB flash drive, you can take home a digital copy as well as your original photographs.

Photos will also be shared online with the owner’s permission, and a copy will be uploaded to Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative, which is indexed and archived for history buffs everywhere.

Questions? Call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 x2 or email dale@heritagenl.ca

Facebook event listing right here.

Photo of the Newfoundland Brewery Ltd colourized by http://www.thephotomender.com

Deborah Strong Squires's Rolling Pin, Sibley's Cove. #FoodwaysFriday

Last week, we posted a photo of a handmade rolling pin from Portugal Cove, and asked if anyone had one similar.  Florence Button of Carbonear responded with the photo above of a rolling pin that had belonged to her Great-Grandmother, Deborah Strong Squires.  Deborah was born 1833 at Old Perlican, and she and husband Charles later moved to Sibley's Cove.

Deborah Strong Squires passed away in 1920, but Florence didn't know of the rolling pin until she received it a year ago. Today, it is one of her most precious possessions, even if she cannot use it because of the split along the side.

Florence also sent along this fantastic photo of her GreatGranny Deborah, with two of Florence's late Aunties, taken a year or so before Deborah passed.  Pearl Squires is on her lap; Annie is standing.

Do you have an heirloom kitchen tool that you still use? Send us a pic and a story, and we'll share it in an upcoming #FoodwaysFriday post!

email: dale@heritagenl.ca

Living Heritage Podcast Ep150 Till the streetlight comes on

We are starting a new virtual museums project with our partners in the historic town of Bay Roberts. In this episode, we talk about the places and stories that make Bay Roberts special, and ask for your help in identifying locations of folkloric and historic interest in the community.

First up, we talk about children's games and Cable Avenue verandahs in an interview with best friends Wanda and Roxanne, and then sit down for a chat with Sandra Roach of Coley's Point, and Margaret Ayad of Bay Roberts. Listen to the end, and you might pick up some tips on staying safe from the fairies!

• Download the mp3

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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.

Spinning and Stables - help identify these mystery photos #TBT

P10702 Woman #2 posing with spinning wheel

Do you recognize this person? Please help us put a name to these faces!

The Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media, and Place (MMaP) at Memorial University is putting the final touches on a website dedicated to the folksongs collected by MacEdward Leach between 1949 and 1951 across Newfoundland and in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. We need your help to identify the people in his photo collection!

Please contact Gale at leach@mun.ca or comment below. We'll update captions here if we find out more information.

P10732 Woman #1 posing with spinning wheel 

P10771 Preparing to ride horse drawn cart

P10772 Two women and a man posing with horse and cart 

A handmade wooden rolling pin from St. Philips. Do you own something similar? #FoodwaysFriday

Today's #FoodwaysFriday photo comes to us courtesy of Kim Ploughman. This hand-made wooden rolling pin once belonged to Edna Picco of Witchhazel Road in St. Philips, who passed away in 1995. The maker is unknown, but we'd love to know if you have something similar. Do you have an heirloom wooden kitchen tool that you still use? Send us a pic or story, and we'll share it!

email: dale@heritagenl.ca