Pool's Island

Last updated

Pool's Island is an incorporated community of Badger's Quay-Valleyfield-Pool's Island in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is now part of the town of New-Wes-Valley.

Contents

History

Pool's Island was named Fool's Island up until the 1850s. It was visited in the late 18th century by migratory fishermen but permanent settlement did not begin until about 1800 by seal fishermen and inshore cod fishermen. The first known resident was Anne Jeans, recorded in 1815. By 1821, a sealing captain from Greenspond, William Knee, was living on Pool's Island, and in 1823, a Jacob Preston was there. Other family names that came to Pool's Island were Kean, Ayles, Pope, Dalton, and Davis; many of these settlers came from Flowers Island. There was a rapid increase in population between 1845 and 1869 when the population grew from 177 to 524, mainly because of the Labrador seal hunt and Pool's Island was in the path of the harp seal migration route. The growth of Pool's Island eventually led to the growth of communities surrounding it, such as Valleyfield and Badger's Quay. [1]

Church history

In 1836, nine people out of the 112 on Pool's Island were Roman Catholic, the rest were Church of England. By 1845 there was a Roman Catholic school and church on the island. There was no resident minister in Pool's Island so Missionaries from other communities would visit Pool's Island for services, baptisms, burials, and marriages. In 1865 the St. James Anglican Church was built on Pool's Island and was consecrated on September 24, 1865 by Bishop Edward Feild. [2]

Education

As early as 1830 children were being educated on Pool's Island, a building on the island was used as a school until the first school was built in 1862. In 1841 there were 30 students under John Spurrell, and in 1848 there were 48 students. The next teacher was William Murch from England who taught from 1858 to 1873. A new school room was built on Pool's Island in 1883. [3] In 1895 C.W. Prowse wrote in his history of Newfoundland that the branch school at Pool's Island was established in 1829 and was being run by a branch teacher with 20 pupils in day school and 27 in Sunday school. [4]

Seal fishery

The seal fishery played an enormous role in the permanent settlement and growth of Pool's Island. Because of its prime location for the seal fishery many captains and steamers operated out of Pool's Island. Chafe's Sealing Book lists several steamers from Pool's Island that were a part of the St. John's steam sealing fleet from 1863 to 1894. These ships, their master, and the supplier are as follows:

SteamerMasterSupplier
WolfWilliam KeanWalter Grieve & Co.
GreenlandB. KeanNicholas Stabb
KiteW. KneeBowring Brothers
MicMacS. BartlettBaine Johston & Co.
NimrodB. Crocker Job Brothers & Co.
Wolf II 2ndA. KeanNewfoundland S.S. & W.F. Co.

Chafe's book also lists a ship that sailed from Pool's Island that was a part of the Harbour Grace steam sealing fleet and that was the Mastiff mastered by Isaac Mercer, and supplied by John Munn & Co. [5]

Naboth Winsor's Stalwart Men and Sturdy Ships provides ample detail about the seal fishery in Bonavista Bay North, which includes Pool's Island. In one of Winsor's charts, Pool's Island is listed as having 38 seal nets in 1845, 57 in 1857, and 18 in 1869. Also, in 1857 Pool's Island had 9 large boats suitable for the seal fishery. [6]

Census information

18361845185718691874
population112177311524506
inhabited houses1316306667
families--518380
Church of England103162306476442
Roman Catholic915---
Wesleyan/Methodists--54864
can read/write---169206
# of students-39-3937
merchants/traders--11-
people catching/curing fish--240147256
seamen/fishermen--78 ?85
total fishing boats121432823
boats built--2--
nets/seines-454866195
cod fish cured (qtls)--5010-6606
herring cured (Bls)--150--
vessels in seal fishery--61814
men on board--119131216
tonnage in fishery--352716672
seals caught--8725--
seal nets-385718
fishing rooms in use--232230
stores/barns/outhouses--282341
Oil (tuns)--161⁄4-3884
tons of hay-42--
barrels potatoes produced766.526040611722048
barrels of turnip--494745
hogs6----
cows--3--
sheep--2715
swine/goats--1961167

Directories

- Hutchinson's Directory for 1864-65 lists some residents of Pool's Island: [7]

- Lovell's Directory for 1871 describes Pool's Island as an island on the north side of Bonavista Bay with a good harbour, distant from Greenspond 3 miles by boat with a population of 524. The names listed are: [8]

Facts

Related Research Articles

Newtown is a part of the Municipality of New-Wes-Valley, located at the North end of Bonavista Bay in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The approximate population is 400. Settlement in Newtown originated around 1850 when people relocated from nearby areas. Newtown is well known for being built on many small islands, and is the home of the Barbour Living Heritage Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesleyville, Newfoundland and Labrador</span>

Wesleyville is a small coastal community in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is located on the Straight Shore of Bonavista Bay, on the northeast coast of Newfoundland, near the communities of Greenspond and Newtown. It was settled in the early 19th century, when residents relocated from nearby islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenspond</span> Town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Greenspond is a community in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Safe Harbour is an abandoned outport on the northeast coast of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Settled by 1870, it was abandoned in 1955.

Valleyfield, Newfoundland is a village and was served by the C.N.R. It joined the Rural District of Badger's Quay-Valleyfield-Pool's Island in April 1980 until 1992 when the District merged with other nearby towns to form New-Wes-Valley. Valleyfield has a good harbour, and is the location of the Beothic Fisheries fish plant.

Cape Island is the name of both an island and a former community in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Brookfield is a Canadian community located on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Deadman's Bayis a local service district and designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is on the Straight Shore of Bonavista Bay near the community of Lumsden. The community is located near fishing grounds, contributing to its diversified and successful fishery despite its exposed, sandy coastline and harsh fall storms.

Flowers Island was one of the communities in an area on the northeast coast of the Island of Newfoundland called Bonavista North. These communities have a shared history in that they were settled by people from England, predominantly from the West Country—Dorset, Devon Somerset and Hampshire.

Cape Freels is one of the communities that comprise an area on the northeast coast of the Island of Newfoundland, called Bonavista North, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. These communities have a shared history in that they were settled by people from England, predominantly from the West Country - Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lumsden, Newfoundland and Labrador</span> Town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Lumsden, formerly known as Cat Harbour, is a community located on the Straight Shore of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, near communities such as Musgrave Harbour and Newtown. Lumsden formerly consisted of two settlements, Lumsden North on the tip of a sandy peninsula and Lumsden South on the main road. Although the harbour in Lumsden is not ideal because it is not sheltered, Lumsden has excellent fishing grounds.

Pouch Island was once a fishing community on isolated island in Newfoundland, in northern Bonavista Bay situated about 5 km east of Wesleyville. The settlement is now abandoned.

Fair Island, also called Vere Island, is a former community on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland. Together with other nearby communities it comprises an area called Bonavista North. These communities have a shared history in that they were settled by people from England, predominantly from the West Country - Dorset, Devon Somerset and Hampshire.

Swain's Island, Newfoundland, is actually a group of eight islands on the north side of Bonavista Bay, southeast of Wesleyville. All of these islands once had inhabitants but eventually all of them were resettled, mostly to Wesleyville.

Located on the northwest side of Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland at the mouth of the Indian Bay inlet is a small island named Silver Fox Island that was once inhabited. It is about 3 km in length and about 3 km from Fair Island. The first settling began at Warren's Harbour on the southern side of the island.

Pinchard's Island was one of the communities that comprise an area on the northeast coast of the Island of Newfoundland, called Bonavista North. These communities have a shared history in that they were settled by people from England, predominantly from the West Country - Dorset, Devon Somerset and Hampshire.

Naboth Winsor was born to Robert Stewart Winsor and Jane (Butt) Winsor, on Winsor's Island, one of the islands comprising Swain's Island, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland. Winsor and his family moved to nearby Wesleyville when he was four years old. Winsor received a Bachelor of Arts Degree, the Degree of Master of Divinity, and a Master of Arts Degree. He was an Ordained United Church Minister, and later, an author. Winsor was a United Church Minister for forty-four years, and he wrote several books on certain aspects of Newfoundland History, primarily on areas in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland.

Robert Dyer left the village of Heytesbury, in the county of Wiltshire, England, to voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to serve as a Newfoundland School Society teacher in the fishing community of Greenspond, Newfoundland. The Newfoundland School Society was established by the English merchant, Samuel Codner, who realised the need for educating the poor population of Newfoundland, and other poor colonies in British North America as well. Dyer first arrived in Newfoundland in 1839 and began his career as a teacher. He stayed in Greenspond for twenty years, earning the respect and admiration of the inhabitants and those who met or worked with him. Dyer was also ordained a Church of England Deacon in 1849; therefore, his work in Greenspond consisted of both teaching and ministerial duties. Dyer and his family later moved to Alberton, Prince Edward Island, where he was a minister in a Church of England Parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Blandford</span> Politician and sealing captain in Newfoundland Colony (1840–1909)

Samuel Blandford was a sealing captain and political figure in the Newfoundland Colony. He represented Bonavista Bay in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly from 1889 to 1893 as a Liberal.

Winsor is a settlement in the municipality of New-Wes-Valley in Newfoundland and Labrador.

References

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador
  2. ↑ Naboth Winsor, The Church Between the Tickles: a history of St. James Anglican Church, Pool’s Island, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, 1988.
  3. ↑ Naboth Winsor, The Church Between the Tickles, 1988.
  4. ↑ C.W. Prowse, A History of Newfoundland, 1895.
  5. ↑ Levi Chafe, Chafe’s Sealing Books a statistical record of the Newfoundland steamer seal fishery, 1863–1941, edited by Shannon Ryan, 1989.
  6. 1 2 Naboth Winsor, Stalwart Men and Sturdy Ships, 1985.
  7. ↑ Thomas Hutchinson, Hutchinson's Newfoundland Directory, 1864.
  8. ↑ J. Lovell, Lovell's Newfoundland Directory, 1871.
  9. ↑ Newfoundland Almanac
  10. ↑ Shannon Ryan, Ice Hunters, 1994.

Coordinates: 49°06′44″N53°35′03″W / 49.11222°N 53.58417°W / 49.11222; -53.58417

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.