I’ve been exploring the possibility that Little Bay has a missing lighthouse. It’s a dubious proposition but not without some circumstantial evidence. It concerns a man named Edward John Paddock.

Edward was born at Ward’s Harbour on August 12th 1854 to parents John Paddock and Elizabeth (Haggett) Paddock. According to a MyHeritage page ran by Christopher Paddock he is next found operating a lighthouse at Little Bay Islands in 1875. I have not been able to confirm this with any original sources nevertheless its sets our stage.

I have no real evidence for a missing Light House at Little Bay. However, there were 40 or so lighthouses built during this period and they don’t all seem to be accounted for. I can tell you that several men arrived in Little Bay from the government to tend to nearby lighthouses in 1884 and in 1887 there was public outcry stating the need for a lighthouse at Little Bay.

Edward Paddock shows up in Little Bay in 1890 from Wild Bight (modern day Beachside). His was one of the signatures found on a petition to grant the town a government wharf that year. The fact that his name was found high on that list is what first drew my attention to him as he is listed among high ranking officials. This made me curious of his occupation. I don’t yet know what he was doing in Little Bay but I can tell you he stayed there for three years doing something. He may have worked as a lighthouse keeper before he arrived and he certainly did after leaving Little Bay. It’s also notable that he showed up just after there was a demand for one to be placed there. He left Little Bay in 1893 to return to Wild Bight and there worked as a fisherman.

In 1907 work began on his last lighthouse at Little Bay Islands. It was built on Outer Shoal Tickle near the end of Mack’s Island. It was a circular iron construction with vertical stripes painted in white on its exterior. Its light occulted off and on at 2.5 second intervals and could be seen a distance of 10 miles seaward. A white painted house and stores were located near the tower and occupied by its lighthouse keeper Edward Paddock and his family. He held that position until at least 1921 and he died on Little Bay Islands in 1927. His lighthouse was listed as unoccupied in List of Lights for 1932.

Five years later in 1937, Mack’s Island, the location of Paddock’s lighthouse was flown over by the most famous airship of them all on its final flight. The Hindenburg flew over Newfoundland just one day before its famous crash in the United States. In a CBC interview, Ruth Simms, a surviving witness of the event stated “it looked like it was going to hit Mack’s Island.”

Tammy Norman provided the recent picture of a lighthouse at Little Bay Islands. I’d be curious to know if there’s another one missing closer to Little Bay. That intrigues me. It’d be quite the prize. Please let me know if you’ve ever heard of anyone stumbling across a stripped iron tower in the area!

Thanks for reading.

Sources:

• 1854 – Birth Ward’s Harbour (NGB)
• 1875 – Lighthouse Keeper at Little Bay Islands (MyHeritage)
• 1882 – Marriage to Lucy Elizabeth Roberts (MyHeritage)
• 1889 – Living at Wild Bight, Little Bay (1889 voter’s list)
• 1889 – Death of daughter Edith at Wild Bight (Vit stats)
• 1890 – Signed petition for wharf at Little Bay (Petition)
• 1892 – Death of wife Lucy Elizabeth at Little Bay (Vit stats)
• 1892 – Marriage to Esther Sarah Kendall in Little Bay (Vit stats)
• 1893 – Living at Wild Bight (1893 voter’s list)
• 1893 – George, John T., Solomon, and George B. at Ward’s Harbour (1893 voter’s list)
• 1894 – Fisherman at Wild Bight (McAlpine’s)
• 1907 – Lighthouse Keeper at Little Bay Islands
• 1921 – Lighthouse Keeper at Little Bay Islands (1921 census)
• 1927 – Dies at Little Bay Islands
• 1937 – Hindenburg visit (CBC)