Pay Day at the mine. Likely taken around 1886. My guess on the photographer is Otis Boyden. The house in the background was the home of the Lind family.

Mine Manager Andrew Whyte

I am going to tell you about Andrew Whyte, Little Bay’s third mine manager. I’d like to put his position in its proper context first so let's explore the mine manager job itself.Little Bay was a company town. It had a company store and the miners wer ...

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McGrath

The tailor Richard J. McGrath arrived in Little Bay from St. John’s in 1886. His business’s first location in the mining town was found above the Redden Brother’s shop. He wasn’t satisfied with renting his workspace and had acquired his own location ...

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Selby Dow

Selby Allan Dow (1844-1893) Selby Dow (sometimes recorded as Dawe) was born in 1844 at Harbour Grace. He was the son of a doctor and likely educated as he was working as a bookkeeper between 1864 and 1871. He was first employed by the Mining Company ...

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The rum-runners McLean: a Christmas story

“Oh Wells, you are a hard man! The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have their nests, but you hath not a friend anywhere. Wells, your name is a terror to me.” - Mary McLeanIn tonight’s tale I will tell you about the exploits of Michael and ...

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Curran

Patrick Curran (1845-1930)I am trying to flush out the Curran family. This one was challenging. The references were few and far between and what I have I really had to dig for. I have a lot figured out but there are still some holes in this story. I’ ...

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Sutton

Michael J. Sutton (1861-1918)Constable Michael Sutton was 25 years old when he arrived in Little Bay. The Irish born policeman had been ordered to the unofficial capitol of the northern mining region by Inspector Fawcett on December 1st 1886. He trav ...

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Sculley

Someone asked me to compile my references for the last name Sully but when I looked into it I only had one reference to a Mr. W.T. Sully in the RC school reports. I found a handful of references to a Mr. W.T. Sculley in the newspapers and realized th ...

Taverner

Captain Joseph Henry Taverner (1845-1920) arrived in Little Bay in 1883 with his new wife Mary Elizabeth. They’d travelled by steamer from Twillingate where they had been married the pervious year. J.H. Taverner was originally from Trinity Bay wher ...

Patrick and Katherine (Foran) Dunphy

Dunphy

The Dunphy family first appears in my Little Bay records in 1884. They are Roman Catholic and seem to have come from the Avalon. They relocate to Nova Scotia in the mid 1890s likely for mining work at Glace Bay before finally ending up in the United ...

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Connors

The Connors family first appear in my sources for Little Bay in 1881. They were Roman Catholic and came to the mines from Sound Island. They remain in town until at least the early 1920s before appearing in Buchans. 1881 John Connors present (Lind ...