Posts - Page 9 of 15 - The History of Little Bay

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Simms

I have very little on the Simms family, sadly. They are in town by 1879 and represented by Alfred and John who are likely brothers. Alfred and his wife Caroline had a son named John in a place called Nimrod in Green Bay Newfoundland in 1877. John is listed as a labourer so I’d imagine the two arrived from Nimrod together to find work at Little Bay mines. 1879 - Birth of Archibald William Simms to Alfred and Caroline (Vit Stats) 1882 - Birth of Thomas Simms to John and Elizabeth (Vit stats) 18 ...

Sinnott

The Sinnotts came to Little Bay from Placentia to work as miners. They were Catholic. Peter was born in 1850 and David was born in 1851. The first record of the name associated with Little Bay is from July of 1880 when Little Bay’s mine manager, Adolph Guzman, sent a prospecting party to Brigus to investigate a gold find there. The chief was a Mr. Sinnott who hoped “to find the lode in a day or two” (Harbour Grace Standard, July 17 1880).There's a David Sinnott listed at Little Bay Bight in 1882 ...

Furey

The Furey family came to Little Bay from Harbour Main and are first found in my records in 1882. They left Little Bay for the mine in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia after the 1904 fire. The family consisted James and his sons. They worked as fishermen and resided on Otter Island. Two of his sons were named James and Edward. There is also a Peter Furey present who worked as a labourer whose parentage I cannot confirm. According to a My Heritage page Edward is found in Glace Bay, NS by 1907 but his father ...

Kennedy

The Kennedy family were present in Little Bay by 1879. They were Catholic. They came from the Avalon. The Kennedys largely left Little Bay after 1904, likely a result of the fires. Many returned to the east coast but some went to Glace Bay, Nova Scotia to work the mine there. Thomas and Mary Ann Kennedy are pictured. The family genealogy is a little unclear. There are a lot of men named Hugh! I have one reference to a Mr. and Mrs. M.R. Kennedy in Little Bay in 1948 with ties to the Head family. ...

Hayes

The Hayes family are present in my Little Bay records by 1888. They arrived from Bay Roberts via the mining communities of Tilt Cove and Bett’s Cove. They came sometime after 1882. The first generation consist of Willam, Thomas, and Mary Ellen. The subsequent generations in town descend from William. I believe they moved for logging work with the mine at first but records from 1894 onwards list them as fishermen. The family was Catholic. Spelling variants: Hayes, Hayse, and Hays. James Hayes pic ...

Benson

The Benson family arrived in Little Bay from St. John’s in 1879. Johnathan J. Benson may very well have been the first shopkeeper in town. He owned several fishing schooners which employed people from Little Bay to serve as fishermen off the cold coast of Labrador. The dangerous work cost Benson a ship called the Victor in 1886. Another of his ships, the Sarah Jane, would have been lost that year as well were it not for the heroic wits of a young stewardess named Elizabeth Pilgrim. Benson’s prov ...

Burke

Patrick Burke was born in Fogo in 1859 to Myles and Margaret Burke. He traveled to Little Bay with his widowed mother and was present in the town by 1888. I have reference to a Margaret Burke in Little Bay in 1883 which could place the family there earlier. According to a student interview with Leo Hayse in the 1980s the Burkes and Hearns were the first two families to operate stores in Little Bay. If accurate that would put Patrick Burke in Little Bay almost immediately. I can confirm that he i ...

Colbourne

The history of the Colbourne family and the history of Little Bay are intertwined. When the Colbourne family arrived in Newfoundland they set up shop in Twillingate but many relocated to Wild Bight (known now as Beachside). It began in the 1850s. The Colbourne family were among the first families there. Robert Colbourne and his brother cleared the forest there for farming. They worked there as fisherman farmers.Thomas Colbourne built the 18-ton schooner Annie Laura (Evans). According to the obit ...

Armstrong

The Armstrong family of Witless Bay immigrated to Little Bay via Betts Cove at some point prior to 1886. I’d guess it was after 1882. One of my first records of them is the obituary of Rosanna Armstrong. She died in Little Bay in 1886. It reads “At Little Bay Mines, on the 9th Dec., Rosanna, relict of the late Mr. James Armstrong. and eldest daughter of Mr. Michael Cahill, of Newtown, aged 76.” I believe Rosanna was with her adult sons, among which was Michael. The following generations of Armst ...

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Anstey

OverviewThe Anstey family first appears in my records for Little Bay in 1880. They were Methodists. According to information derived from a MyHeritage family tree ran by Hubert Glyn McKay and a sign at the Springdale Heritage Centre sourced to Chelsley Anstey the family came from Twillingate with some lineages ending up in Springdale and Little Bay Islands following the loss of the Little Bay mine. Sources FoundBelow is what I have on the Anstey family in Little Bay. 1880 - Birth of Elsie Jane H ...

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