Photo of the Cable Staff Houses, taken from the side of #2, with the Superintendent's House in the background (Heritage NL, 2023)
This week I went to Heart’s Content to visit and interview Joan Smith, a long time resident of Heart’s Content. She is one of the last people in the community to remember the Cable Staff Houses #1 and #2 as they were when they were owned by the Cable Station and employees of
the station lived in them.
She had many stories and memories of the houses, specifically house #1 as she was friends with Ann Bonfield who lived in there with her father, Mr. Bonfield, and sister Eileen. Mr. Bonfield was originally from England and came over here to work in the Cable Station. His first wife died during childbirth and his second wife died when Ann was very young. So it was just the three of them in the house, along with their housekeeper who would do the washing and cooking. Joan says she was the “grandmother type” and would stay there overnight to be able to get up early and get the girls ready for school. The Bonfield’s lived there from 1945 to the early 1950s.
It was well known in the community that people who lived in these houses previously were different, or as Joan described them, “snobbish”. They thought they were superior to the locals. No one from the community was ever allowed into the Cable Staff Houses, unless they were hired as a housekeeper for example. But Joan said Mr.Bonfield was different. She was welcomed into their home and she remembers having many meals there and spending time with Ann. Joan remembers one instance where in highschool she and Ann were to sing in a concert and Mr. Bonfield trained them. They sang ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful”. She said that they sang the song so many times she will never forget it, in both English and Latin! Mr. Bonfield was also trained as a watchmaker when he lived back in England so when he moved to Heart’s Content he would repair peoples watches and clocks, and he would never charge them. Mr. Bonfield did keep to himself, but Joan said he was always nice to the children in the community.
During the interview Joan brought out a bowl of gooseberries, which were a light green colour. She explained that they were actually from a European gooseberry tree, as the berries are green when they are ripe, rather than the regular red colour we see from the gooseberry trees here in Newfoundland. Joan said Mr. Bonfield told her brother to go up to the Cable Staff House and take the gooseberry tree. Now it resides in Joan’s yard. They are a bit bigger than Newfoundland gooseberries and were very flavourful! The tree must have come over from England when the other trees, such as the huge copper beech trees and maples, were brought over to be planted in the yard of the Cable Houses. Joan remembers the trees in the yard always being big, she would see them as she and her family walked up the hill to church.
Joan also remembers the Rendell family who lived in house #2. Mr. Rendell was originally from Heart’s Content and was able to get work in the Cable Station. His wife was from Newfoundland, so they were different from previous people who had lived in the houses. They had three children, two boys, Roland and Wallace, and a girl, Phyllis. Unfortunately, Wallace, the youngest boy, passed away two years ago and Joan said it would have been great if I could have spoken with him since he actually lived in one of the houses. But I was able to listen to a clip from the Heart’s Content Cable Conference in 2016, where Wallace Rendell and Ted Rowe discuss their memories of growing up in a cable town. Rendell discusses a lot of his memories about living in the cable staff houses. Here is a link to that discussion if you are interested!
https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/ich_avalon/id/6146/rec/2
A couple of years ago, when the houses were owned by Ed and Lynda Woodley, they had an open house where people from the community could go inside and see the houses. Joan remembers going in. She said they did a good job restoring the house to what she remembers, with the only differences being the bathroom downstairs and the bathroom on the landing. Joan says that many people back then didn't have a bathroom inside, and if they did they were upstairs. Originally the downstairs bathroom was a butler’s pantry and the one on the landing was a small room, which could have been a number of things like a sewing room for example. The houses are incredible and if you ever get a chance to visit I highly recommend!
The time I spent with Joan was impactful as I was able to learn about her and her childhood, but also her memories of the Cable Staff Hoses and Heart’s Content. I enjoyed learning about the people who lived in the houses and the memories that still surround them. We are always open to more stories about the Cable Staff Houses so do not hesitate to reach out to us!
If you’d like to learn more about the Heart’s Content Cable Staff Houses #1 and #2 click the link below and you’ll be directed to our field note on them!
https://heritagenl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Hearts-Content-Cable-Staff-Houses-1-and-2-Fieldnote.pdf
