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Folks

My first record of the Folks family being at Little Bay is for 1883. They’d arrived from Betts Cove following the German mining operations. The men worked as miners when mining operations were lucrative and otherwise switched into fishing. Some were ...

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Sexton

I don’t have very much for the name Sexton. The name is absent from the 1882 Voter’s list and my first record of them in Little Bay appears in the summer of 1888. They were living on the New Line Road about a mile from the shore. I feel it’s safe to ...

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Osbourne

The Osbourne family moved to the mining region from the east coast at the start of the boom. They were composed of the families of brothers Richard and Thomas. It is likely that they arrived by schooner and families arriving together often traveled b ...

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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 ...