Patrick Curran (1845–1930)

I am attempting to reconstruct the Curran family of Little Bay. This entry remains a work in progress. Some connections are reasonably certain while others remain speculative, and I welcome information from descendants who may be able to help fill in the gaps.

Patrick Curran was born in Ireland in 1845. Around 1883 he arrived in Little Bay with a man named William Curran, who I suspect was his brother. Their movements before arriving in Newfoundland are somewhat unusual. One genealogy account places William Curran’s birth in Ontario in 1860, and a Patrick Curran of the correct age appears in the 1871 census at Hamilton, Ontario. William later returned to Ontario after leaving Little Bay in 1890 and eventually settled in the United States, where records show his Irish-born parents living at the time.

The Curran brothers likely came to Little Bay during the mining boom, although I have not found a record directly describing them as miners. Patrick is listed as a fisherman by 1894, but this does not rule out earlier mining work. Many former miners turned to fishing during the slowdown of the early 1890s, and William’s departure from the town around that time may reflect the same shift.

The Ontario connection may offer a clue to the family’s earlier movements. During the late nineteenth century mining communities across North America were closely linked through a mobile workforce. Skilled miners and labourers frequently moved from one district to another as new mines opened and others declined. Ontario mining centres such as those around Hamilton and later the northern districts often fed workers into emerging operations elsewhere, including Newfoundland. The later movements of Patrick Curran’s sons—travelling west through Canada and eventually working in major mining centres such as Butte, Montana and the Rossland–Trail district of British Columbia—fit well within this broader pattern of migrant mining families following opportunity from one camp to the next. In this sense the Curran story reflects a wider reality of Little Bay itself: a town whose population was constantly changing as miners arrived from many regions and later moved on again when the industry slowed in the 1890s.

Patrick and his wife Margaret initially lived at Indian Bight in Little Bay and remained there until at least 1894. By 1904 they had moved to the nearby settlement of St. Patrick’s, where Patrick was still listed as a fisherman. The couple had at least one daughter, Sarah Curran (born 1887), who remained closely connected to the household. The 1911 census records Patrick and Margaret living with Sarah in St. Patrick’s. Sarah later married Terry Martin in 1918.

The 1921 census shows Patrick and Margaret living with two American-born grandsons, Edmund Curran and William M. Curran. Family information shared by Paul Curran, a descendant of the family, indicates that these boys were the sons of Edmond Patrick Curran, who was born in Little Bay in 1884 and was likely one of Patrick and Margaret’s children.

According to Paul, Edmond and his brother Michael J. Curran both left Newfoundland and travelled across Canada. Edmond eventually settled in Spokane, Washington, where he married Maude, while Michael settled in British Columbia. Edmond and Maude both died during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, leaving two young sons. Michael brought the boys back to Newfoundland, where they were raised by their grandparents Patrick and Margaret in St. Patrick’s.

Additional details about Michael James Curran (1883–1951) were later shared by his son Jim Curran through the Little Bay Heritage Society. Jim recalled that his father began working underground in the Little Bay mine as a young man and spent more than forty years in mining. His career eventually took him to mining operations across North America, including Butte, Montana, and later to Rossland–Trail and Britannia in British Columbia, where he worked for the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company (Cominco). Jim also confirmed the family story that Michael brought his brother’s orphaned sons back to Little Bay after the deaths of Edmond and Maude in 1918.

Patrick Curran died in St. Patrick’s in 1930. His wife Margaret died there the following year at the age of eighty-one. Two Curran men, Edward Curran (22) and William Curran (20), were still living in Little Bay in the 1935 census. It seems likely that many of the Curran families remaining in the area today descend from these two men.

If anyone from the Curran family has additional information or photographs—particularly of Patrick Curran (1845–1930)—I would be very interested to hear from you.

Special thanks to Paul Curran for sharing family records that helped clarify this branch of the Curran family, and to Jim Curran for preserving and sharing the story of Michael James Curran through the Little Bay Heritage Society.

Sources

Attached photo: Michael James Curran (right) and his brother Edmond, taken in the early 1900s

1845 – Birth of Patrick Curran in Ireland inferred from ages recorded in the 1911 Census of Newfoundland, 1921 Census of Newfoundland, and Patrick Curran’s 1930 death registration.

1860 – Birth of William Curran in Ontario (MyHeritage).

1869 – Christening of William Curran in Ontario (MyHeritage).

1871 – Patrick Curran residing in Hamilton, Ontario (1871 Census of Canada).

1882–1889 – Absence from the 1882 Newfoundland voter’s list and appearance in the 1889 voter’s list suggests the Currans arrived in Little Bay around 1883.

1883 – Birth of Michael James Curran to Patrick and Margaret Burke (BC Marriage Registrations, 1859-1932; 1937-1938)

1883, Aug 8 – Patrick Curran witnessed an assault on Alexander Martelle by Thomas Walsh and was summoned to testify by Constable Thomas Wells (All Quiet, Doyle Wells).

1883, Sept 21 – Patrick Curran served on the Grand Jury (Twillingate Sun).

1884 – Birth of Edmond Patrick Curran in Little Bay (reported in Idaho County naturalization records).

1887 – Birth of Sarah Curran, daughter of Patrick and Margaret Curran (1911 Census of Newfoundland).

1887 – Birth of James Patrick Curran, son of William Curran and Anastasia (Young) Curran (U.S. WWI Draft Registration Card).

1889, Oct 11 – Mary, William, John, and Patrick Curran donated to the Harbour Grace Cathedral Fund (St. John’s Colonist).

1889 – William Curran and Patrick Curran listed as residents of Indian Bight, Little Bay (Newfoundland Voter’s List).

1890 – Immigration of William Curran and Anastasia (Young) Curran to the United States (MyHeritage).

1891 – P. Curran parishioner of Her Lady of Carmel Parish

1892 – Birth of James Martin Fahey, son of James Fahey and Margaret Curran (Newfoundland Civil Birth Records).

1893 – Death of James Curran, aged one day (Newfoundland Vital Records).

1894 – Patrick Curran listed as a fisherman at Little Bay Harbour (McAlpine’s Newfoundland Directory).

1904 – Patrick Curran listed as a fisherman in St. Patrick’s (McAlpine’s Newfoundland Directory).

1911 – Patrick Curran and Margaret Curran living with daughter Sarah Curran in St. Patrick’s (1911 Census of Newfoundland).

1913 – James Patrick Curran living in Massachusetts (U.S. Naturalization Records).

1915, Aug 24 – Birth of William Curran (Buchans employee list).

1916, May 22 – Marriage of William Knight and Mary Curran (Year of Events).

1918 – Death of Mary Curran, age 37, during the Spanish influenza at Little Bay (Newfoundland Vital Records).

1918 – Marriage of Terry Martin and Sarah Curran (Newfoundland Vital Statistics).

1921 – Patrick and Margaret Curran living in St. Patrick’s with American-born grandsons Edmund Curran and William M. Curran (1921 Census of Newfoundland).

1930 – Death of Patrick Curran (Newfoundland Death Records).

1931 – Death of Margaret Curran at St. Patrick’s, age 81 (Newfoundland Vital Records).

1935 – Edward Curran (22) and William Curran (20) living in Little Bay (1935 Census of Newfoundland).

Family information – Paul Curran – Paul Curran reported that Edmond P. Curran, Michael J. Curran, and Sarah Curran were children of Patrick Curran and that Annie Curran was likely another child. He also reported that Edmond settled in Spokane, Washington, that Michael settled in British Columbia, and that after Edmond and his wife Maude died during the Spanish flu, their children were brought back to Newfoundland by Michael to live with their grandparents Patrick and Margaret Curran.

Family information – Jim Curran, via the Little Bay Heritage Society – Jim Curran described the life of Michael James Curran (1883–1951), including his early work in the Little Bay mine, his later mining career across North America, and his role in bringing Edmond Curran’s orphaned sons back to Little Bay after the 1918 influenza pandemic.