Spelling variants found: Whelan, Whealen, and Whealan.

The Whelan family were Methodists. They make their first appearance in my Little Bay records in 1882. The family follows the trend of switching between mining work and fishing which may suggest they had arrived on a family owned a schooner. My last reference to their presence comes from 1904 which suggests they may follow another of the town’s patterns. With the mine closed and the area struck by two back-to-back fires in 1903 and 1904 many simply decided not to rebuild there and vacated the area for greener pastures. I haven’t tracked this family beyond the town yet but if you get to it before I do know that many of those who left at this time are afterward to be found either mining in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, mining on Bell Island, Newfoundland, or working for the paper mill at the newly established town of Grand Falls, Newfoundland.

Sources:

1882 – Michael Whealen at Little Bay, Bight (Voter’s list)

1887 – Miss Whelan (TS)

1888, July – Miss [[Gould]] and Miss Whelan took the Leopard to St. John’s (Lind ledger)

1894 – John Whealan fisherman at Little Bay Harbour (McAlpine’s)

1889 – John Whealan living at Otter Island, Halls Bay (Voter’s list)

1895, May 11 – Thomas Whelan married Sarah Ann Card. He was a fisherman. They were [[Methodist]].

1898 – John and Michael Whealan are labourers at Indian Bight (McAlpine’s)

1904 – John, Michael, and James Whelan are fishermen at Indian Bight (McAlpine’s)