There was a new Sergeant in town. It was 1883. Sergeant Thomas Wells of the Newfoundland Constabulary arrived in Little Bay on August 3rd. He arrived during the town’s annual regatta but made no mention of it in his journals. He wasn’t there for tha ...
With the rise of digital resources, more and more people are researching their family histories. This has led to a surge of interest in Newfoundland history. Much of this interest comes from people looking to place an ancestor of theirs into their l ...
I should warn you that this starts with a grave. It’s only fitting, it’s a tragic story after all. There is a modest cemetery in The Bight where I’d walk, reading the names on the aging gravestones. That’s all they were to me then, just names. This ...
I'm building timelines to cover the lives of Little Bay's prominent historical figures in a series of Facebook notes. It's an attempt to keep track of some of my sources both publicly and chronologically while also potentially drawing the attention o ...
The following is an excerpt from Admiral Kennedy's 1885 text "Sport, Travel, and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies" in which he recounts his visit to Little Bay in 1881. Soon after we had anchored, the " oldest in- habitant" came on boa ...
https://youtu.be/vTiqLNid-YYBuildings are strange and social things. Churches have especially complicated relationships. Little Bay’s Catholic church and its first priest are entwined. Their relationship exemplifies this project as a whole. I uncover ...
https://youtu.be/Jrp__Ihhx0Q
The story of Little Bay’s first photographer is incomplete. It’s an unfinished puzzle which hints at a fascinating whole if it could only be put together. The pieces I’ve assembled, however, resist joining neatly. The first piece was the name Otis ...
The first tinsmith in Little Bay was a man named Robert Malcolm. He is first documented in the town in 1882. He was married to Catherine Morisey and the couple had four children. In the late 1880s Little Bay was experiencing something referred to as ...
Little Bay was a prosperous and cosmopolitan town in the 19th century. It was unusual for its time and place. However, while there was variety in its resident’s nationalities and a mixture of languages could be heard spoken on its streets, the popula ...
