Posts - Page 3 of 15 - The History of Little Bay

McKinnon

Joseph Justis McKinnon (1849-1936) was known to his friends as Joe. He was the machinist who oversaw the hoist engine, pumps, and other surface equipment for the Little Bay mine. He was described as a hardworking and intelligent fellow.Joe had been born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to Scottish immigrant parents. He likely acquired his trade there before moving to Newfoundland with fellow Nova Scotians Joe Deluchery and John Stewart. I’d guess an arrival around 1880 when the British took over oper ...

Grey

Richard Grey (1823-1907) was an Irishman who worked the dressing floor of Little Bay’s mine as the right-hand-man to Walter Spinney. He was known for his wit and was a popular character among the working men (St. John’s Daily News, May 13, 1955).He is involved in Newfoundland mining very early with my first reference to him in Newfoundland connected to the Terra Nova operation near Baie Verte in 1860. He went from there to Tilt Cove before finding his way to Little Bay. I can't put him in town u ...

1891 RC parishioners

I made a fortunate discovery recently. In January of 1891 the Colonist published the list of parishioners for Little Bay’s Catholic Church. This was in response to Father O’Flynn thanking them for the gift of a new horse. This was a fortunate find in a couple of ways. The first concerns demographic information as there was a census in 1891 as well. So now we have a parishioners list giving us a total number of 200 and a census putting the total number of Catholics at 1104. To account for the di ...

Spinney

Walter Spinney ran Little Bay mine’s dressing floor along with his right-hand-man: a witty Irishman named Richard Gray. Mr. Spinney was from Cape Breton; he worked under another Nova Scotian: Mine Manager Whyte. Walter Spinney was a member of Little Bay’s Rifle Club, its Billiards and Reading Room Club, and he was on the committee for fire relief after the 1888 fire. He also played the cornet. My last reference to him in Little Bay comes from 1892 in which him and Magistrate Blandford harmonize ...

Rollings

Spelling variants: Rollings, Rollins, Rollin, and RollmsWalter M. Rollings (1853-1926) was Little Bay’s driver and tireman. He was an Englishman, a Methodist, and the child of Henry Rollingsway and Sarah Hodder. Walter Rollings could read and write having had 8 years of schooling in England. As an adult he showed a continued passion for books and literacy.Walter and Amelia Rollings had married before crossing the pond and they brought with them two small children. One a girl named Nellie and the ...

Howson

Spelling variants: Howson, Hawson, Housen, HousonJoseph Beckett Howson (1838-1905) was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England in 1838 to Richard Joseph Howson and Ann Worth. He immigrated to Newfoundland as a young man and is recorded first in Burgeo at his wedding to Mary Avery in 1865. He’d relocated to the Northern mining region by 1882 when the Voter’ List places him in Betts Cove. I can’t put him in Little Bay until 1887, however, the presence of an Annie Howson there in 1885 may suggest an ...

Mining shafts

I'd like to address the how and why of my work so if you're just here for the shaft data just jump ahead to the bolded words. If you do read this one to the end… who knows, you might just get rich!The Little Bay Heritage Society has asked me to figure out the names and start dates for the shafts of Little Bay Mines for information signs to be placed on their upcoming el Dorado hiking trail which will see its grand opening on August 12th this year (you better come!). I’ll first address the diffic ...

Drummond

The case of William Drummond is a curious one.On the morning of June 12th 1882 a punt with sail was observed adrift off of Little Bay Islands. Two boys set out to investigate. They found no one onboard but the boat appeared to have recently held two people. The boat contained a jar of spirits, a box of tobacco, and biscuits. From the boat they noticed one of the ship’s oars floating in the water. Attached to the oar was the stiffened body of one William Drummond. No other body was found and no o ...

Rapter

Rapter is an odd one. I have one singular reference to the name in Little Bay found in the Twillingate Sun from March of 1882. It lists Rapter, Esq, as manager of the mine among those of note found in audience during the first performance of Little Bay’s Choral Society. I’d previous thought that the Mine Manager’s job had gone directly to EC Wallace from Adolph Guzman but it appears Mr. Rapter held the post briefly in between. Wallace was certainly in town already as my earliest reference to him ...

Little Bay’s population numbers

I’m occasionally challenged on the claim that Little Bay was once one of the biggest spots on the island. This isn't surprising considering the contrast between a current population of 100 and the 19th century hub I describe. I’ve decided to list my sources for the total population numbers.I’ve made a list of all the references to the population of Little Bay I’ve collected so far which you’ll find below. I’ve included the number of men employed at the mine with the total population numbers wher ...

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