Hey all,

This is just a little note outlining Little Bay’s British connection and an update on what’s going on with the project as a whole.

Newfoundland was a British colony when Little Bay was founded in 1878 by the German Baron Franz Von Ellershausen. Much of the town’s early population were German. The town was not assigned a Magistrate until 1880 when the mining company started changing hands.

The town was an international port with both international media attention and globetrotting residents. Little Bay was cosmopolitan. The first Mine Manager was German, the second Australian, and the third Scottish. The doctor was from Ceylon. There were three main languages spoken; German, English, and French. The last one due to the town’s proximity to the French Shore. However, its connection to the United Kingdom is the most relevant politically.

The British connection is palatable. Little Bay was visited by three Governors; Glover, Blake, and O’Brien. It hosted the ships of the Royal Navy including the HMS Druid under Kennedy, the HMS Foam under Higgins, the HMS Pylades under Rolf, the HMS Tenedos under Fane, and the HMS Canada under Durrant. The last is especially significant as it was carrying Prince George – a fact I first found in the police diaries but have since confirmed with the Royal Archives. Later on, during his coronation tour, King George was gifted the last ore from Little Bay’s mines in the form of a heraldic shield in 1902. Both the Royal Archives and the British Museum have been super helpful with requests. Due to their interest I’ve reached out to inquire if they’d be interested in contributing to a sign covering the town’s connection to the Royal family.

Any funding that can be found would help. The town is looking to fundraise for heritage signs. As you likely know, the town has formed a Heritage Society and a Trail Committee which together built a hiking trail called the “el ‘Dorado trail” named after one of the town’s historic nicknames from the St. John’s newspapers. It was also called “the gem of the island” which I feel is telling. Little Bay’s heyday was brief but while it boomed it held quite the spotlight. A sizeable chunk of unusual Newfoundland history has been nearly lost here that, I believe, is worth finding again. It’s why I do what I do! The town is doing some wonderful work to reclaim it and I’m optimistic about everything coming from that. I’m hopeful that as attention on Little Bay continues to grow funding becomes more easily available for the town to have tourism infrastructure – and maybe if I’m really lucky some funding can be found for this research. Here’s to dreaming!

I suspect that what is obvious to the people of Little Bay and less obvious to others that are following my work is just how unusual Little Bay’s history is. My connection to the town is through my mother’s family. I was just doing her genealogy when I stumbled upon all of this. I am not from Little Bay. My interest in uncovering its history is motivated largely by just how unusual that history is. If you know Little Bay today you’re aware of the stark contrast between the tiny outport that exists and this cosmopolitan hub that’s found during the late 19th century. Where there are 100 residents now there was once over 2,000. A population of over 2,000 at a time when the island held less than 200,000 is by itself noteworthy but further significant is the reputation that comprised it. I am able to do what I do because there was so much coverage of the place during its start and the brief boom years that followed. This is, in a way, a lost media project because after the fires all that documentation stopped and what had been written went largely unread for 150 years. Little Bay went from having international media attention and daily coverage from multiple journalists to being mostly unknown even in Newfoundland. It is only due to the recent mass digitization of old media and the availability of online archives that I’ve been able to draw this altogether.

I am grateful to everyone for following my work so far and I hope you’ll show the same support to the town of Little Bay as they endeavour to apply it. I’ll be sure to let you all know when the el Dorado trail officially opens to the public – I fully expect to see you there!

Cheers,

Ian

If you’d like to help by sponsoring a heritage sign you can email the Little Bay Heritage Society – littlebayheritagesociety@gmail.com