Posts - Page 11 of 15 - The History of Little Bay

Hanrahan

I can say very little about the Hanrahans, which is odd as I can place the name in Little Bay from the town's beginnings until into the 1930s. If remembered in living memory please reach out and let me know.1878 -John J. Hanrahan was born in Little Bay (1945 census).1889 -In June Mr. W. Hanrahan was replaced by Mr. W. T. Sully as the RC school's teacher in Little Bay. There were 75 students (RC school records).1891 -Jos. Hanrahan found on the list of parishioners of Her Lady of Carmel Parish1907 ...

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Osmond

George Osmond and his wife Victoria Wheeler came to Little Bay from Tizzard's Harbour so I'd expect some ties to the Boyde family. They moved to Little Bay between 1878 and 1881 and were still represented there into the 20th century. They arrived with the mining boom. The family appears to have held some status judging by their social associations so while fishermen from 1893 onward I suspect they may have been involved in something else prior - either mining or one of the industries it helped s ...

Hillyer

I only have one lonely reference to the name Hillyer. It’s from the police journals of Sergeant Wells which were published in “All Quiet” by his great great grandson Doyle Wells. At 9am on Feb 15 1886 Constable Meaney served James Hillyer a summons for assaulting Mrs. Alfred Rideout. The case of Rideout vs. Hillyer occupied the court the following day. 1886 was before the Rideout family converted to the Salvation Army so I suspect they were still tangled up with the rum runners which may give so ...

Crane

John William Crane and his wife Catherine arrived in Little Bay between 1878 and 1881. They're involved in the town's higher culture. They each perform at the Public Hall. Further, Catherine's sister Eliza was married to mine captain Philip McVicar. 1881 - Crane, Eliza (Twillingate Sun)Crane, John William (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)Crane, Catherine - wife of John (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)Crane, Frederick Stafford - born to John William and Catherine - he was obviously named for Little Bay's first su ...

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Census of names

The surnames for 19th century Little Bay are listed here - nearly 600 of them! I plan to link each name to its own page where my research can be sorted publicly. This will be an ongoing project. Let me know which families you're most interested in in the comment section below. I'll prioritize those families for you! You can help me find new material by sharing this page. If someone you know has a last name I've listed here pass this on to them - they might just discover their own history! ...

Little Bay’s Food Culture

In this piece I'll demonstrate how the food supply of the late 19th century town of Little Bay, Newfoundland was embedded in the larger colonial shipping system. Little Bay was a company town which grew out of a mining boom in Northern Newfoundland. It had a population that peaked at just over 2,200 making it one of the island’s largest centres. Between its founding in 1878 and its destruction by fire in 1903 it was the main copper producer in Newfoundland and one of the largest in the world. I ...

Post Office

The building was shabby: a cramped two-story thing. A notice posted on the door instructed the public that business would only be transacted out of a small side window. The Post Office was inside, sharing the space with the town’s surgery. The squat wooden hobble looked rundown but the appearance was deceiving, for while there was barely room to move inside, it could claim a telegraph. A symbol of modern progress, Little Bay’s telegraph machine was cutting-edge technology on the edge of the worl ...

Magistrate Blandford

I’d like to introduce you to somebody. His name was John Bennett Blandford. He was an Englishman who served as Little Bay’s first Magistrate and he was responsible for the largest public event in the town’s history. Newfoundland was a British colony and the Magistrate was a Justice of the Peace appointed by the Governor as a representative of the Crown. The court in St. John’s had started debating if Little Bay should be assigned a Magistrate in March of 1880 and had continued debating the ...

A Bell Named St. Patrick

Culture is made physical by the things we create. There is nothing quite like the history of an object. Artifacts connect us to a history that we can touch, see, and hear. Much of Little Bay’s physical history was lost to the fires but some historical objects are tucked away there still. They wait patiently to be rediscovered and explored. What follows is the history of such an object. Little Bay saw incredible growth immediately after it was founded in 1878 and by 1881 the Presbyterian Germans ...

Vessels of Little Bay

Little Bay was visited by a mixture of steamers and sailing vessels. Many of the steamers were the cutting edge of technology. They loaded up on ore for Swansea in Whales where they would unload it alongside ships from the other colonies. Little Bay was internationally connected to this colonial system. Ships came to Little Bay from Europe, Canada, and the United States. Altogether this kept the town well supplied with goods and information. Little Bay bustled with activity. There were church sh ...

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