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 on their cornets together during a musical performance. That’s all I can say about him with confidence. I hit a wall after this. The existence of a popular composer at the time with the same name didn’t help.
I expected Walter Spinney returned to Nova Scotia along with other men from Little Bay mine seeking work in Glace Bay but I had no luck placing him there. I eventually found the immigration of a Nova Scotian born man named W. Spinney to Boston in 1896. I lack biographical details necessary to say that that this was him with any certainty but if so it unlocks the following: he was born in 1852. He’d moved to America twice going there from Nova Scotia before Newfoundland and returning again after Newfoundland and finally he settled in Boston.
Sources:
- Walter Spinney was in charge of the dressing floors for the Little Bay mine. He had come from Nova Scotia. His right hand man was Richard Gray (Daily News, May 15, 1955).
- 1882 – Absent from voter’s list
- 1887, Oct – Walter Spinney was a member of Little Bay’s Rifle Club (TS/ET)
- 1888, April – Mr. Spinney performed a duet with Mr. White (TS)
- 1888, June – Mr. Spinney was on the committee for fire relief (DC)
- 1888, Oct – Walter Spinney was on the committee on fire relief (TS)
- 1889 – Walter Spinney living in Little Bay (Voter’s list)
- 1890, Jan – Walter Spinney was lieutenant in Little Bay’s Rifle Club (ET)
- 1890, Jan – Walter Spinney was a member of Little Bay’s Billiards and Reading Room Club (ET)
- 1890, Oct – Mr. Spinney returned to Little Bay from Twillingate on the Conscript (TS)
- 1892, March – Mr. Spinney played the cornet (TS)
- 1894 – Absent from McAlpine’s list
- 1896 – Immigration of W. Spinney of Nova Scotia to Boston (Passenger lists)