Showing 387 results

Authority record
Winsor, Harry C.
Person · 1917-

Harry Winsor (1917- ), fisheries manager, international development officer and consultant, was born in Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland, the son of Elizabeth (Hollett) and the Rev. John W. Winsor.

Winsor was educated at Memorial University College and Boston University. Winsor began work with Newfoundland Fisheries Board (NFB) in 1939 and was subsequently appointed to the Newfoundland Department of Supply (1942). In 1944, he was appointed secretary, Fishery Products Committee, Combined Food Board, an agency established by the Allied powers to allocate food supplies during World War II. After the war, he worked in Washington for the International Emergency Food Council and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Fisheries Division. He moved to Rome when the permanent FAO headquarters was established there in 1951.

In 1953, Winsor returned to Newfoundland as a member of the newly-established crown corporation, Newfoundland Fisheries Development Authority (NFDA), which experimented with centralized curing stations at Seldom-come-by (Fogo Island) and Quirpon (Great Northern Peninsula). He also served as a member of the South Coast Commission, chaired by John R. Cheeseman.

In 1964, Winsor rejoined FAO to organize and manage a regional fisheries development project in the Caribbean. He returned to Rome in 1968 as FAO Director of Fisheries Operations. In 1974, Winsor became senior director of FAO's inter-regional Indian Ocean Fishery Survey and Development Program. He retired from FAO in 1979, but continued to work in international fisheries management and development as a consultant.

Willoughby, Percival
Person · fl.1606-1643

Percival Willoughby (fl.1606-1643), settlement promoter, council member of the Newfoundland Company, member of parliament, was born into the Kentish branch of the house of Willoughby d'Eresby in the latter sixteenth century. He married his kinswoman, Bridget (also spelled Bridgett) heiress of Francis Willoughby of Wollaton, Nottingham, and acquired substantial property in both Kent and Nottingham. They had at least three sons, one of whom, Thomas, was also involved in the Newfoundland ventures. Willoughby died in England in 1643.

The Nottingham estate was riddled with debt, and by 1606, Willoughby was threatened by the prospect of debtors' prison. Lured by the promise of iron, copper, and silver profits in North America, he became a subscriber and council member of the Newfoundland Company, probably influenced by a major creditor, John Slany, the company's treasurer. But like other members, he was also genuinely interested in establishing a self-sufficient colony on the island and developing its fishing, agricultural, potash, and mineral potential. Two years later, he also became subscriber to the Virginia Company, but the focus of his interest remained the Newfoundland venture.

Willoughby's anticipated allotment lay between Conception and Trinity Bays, north of a line drawn between Carbonear and Heart's Content. In 1612, he sent his wayward third son, Thomas, with his agent Henry Crout and six apprentices, to the company's colony at Cuper's Cove (Cupids). He also sent a surveyor named Oliney to survey his lot and Bartholomew Pearson from the Wollaton estate to assess its agricultural capacity. Few of the party were impressed. Only Crout expressed any hope of the land's potential in mineral wealth. Faced with disappointing prospects, the hostility of migratory fishermen, and the coastal raiding of pirate Peter Easton, Thomas returned home in 1613, only to incur his father's wrath for lack of commitment. Sir Percival relented in 1615, intending to transfer the title of his Newfoundland lot to Thomas and another son, Edward. In 1616, he sent Thomas back to Newfoundland. But Thomas' name was written out of the family pedigree by 1631, suggesting that his father finally disowned him.

Before this estrangement, Thomas advised his father: "If efver you looke for your monney agayne in this country you must send fisher men." (1616). Unfortunately, Sir Percival did not heed his son's counsel. Although his lot included the rich fishing grounds off Baccalieu Island, Willoughby continued to pursue his hopes of mineral wealth. He was not successful in persuading the company to grant him the rich iron ores of Bell Island. During 1616-17, Willoughby also purchased a half share in the company for his son Edward from John Browne, and then tried to inveigle the company into granting the valuable St. John's lot to Browne without mentioning that his son was Browne's partner. This effort was also unsuccessful. When Willoughby officially accepted his allotment in 1617, it was for the original, more northerly portion.

In 1618, Willoughby entered into a partnership with William Hannam and Thomas Rowley, transferring to them his share of land in Trinity Bay for a nominal rent and their commitment to explore the potential of farming, mineral deposits, and trade with the Aboriginals. Constant squabbling and Willoughby's distrustful nature drove the partners apart within a few years. By 1626, Willoughby was in danger of losing the Trinity Bay portion of his lot because he had not managed to find colonists, thus defaulting on one of the conditions set by the company. His creditor John Slany managed to maintain the company on Willoughby's behalf, but with very little thanks from Willoughby, who claimed that his investment, so far from turning a profit, had actually cost him about œ500.

By 1631, Willoughby was negotiating with Nicholas Guy to settle on his land. Guy had been on the island since 1612 and had already moved from Cuper's Cove to Carbonear, where he was fishing and farming profitably in 1631. No further evidence of Willoughby's involvement in Newfoundland exists beyond Guy's letter to him of 1 September 1631. Despite various setbacks, Willoughby's interest in Newfoundland had lasted for at least twenty-one years, making him one of the island's most tenacious, if not most successful, promoters of settlement.

William G. Legge
Person · 1968-1978

Bishop Legge was Curate at Channel and Rector in the parishes of Botwood and Bell Island. He was made Archdeacon of Avalon by Bishop Phillip Abraham. He also served as secretary of the Diocese before becoming Bishop. In May, 1973, Bishop Legge was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from the University of King's College, Halifax.

William Fitzhugh
Person

William (Bill) Fitzhugh was born February 1, 1943, in New York City, New York, U.S.A. He received his post secondary education at Dartmouth College and Harvard University, where he studied anthropology. He presently works with the Smithsonian Institution as the Director of the Arctic Studies Center in Washington.

William Duncan Strong
Person · 1927, 1928

William Duncan Strong (1899-1962), a native of Portland, Oregon, Dr. Strong attended the University of California at Berkley during the mid 1920's. At Berkley, he studied under Alfred Kroeber, the Chair of the Department of Anthropology at that time. While at Berkley he began to study Ethnography but found that archaeology was his calling. He participated on field trips and did many other things there. His doctoral dissertation got the attention of the Dean of American Archaeologists, Dr. A.V. Kidder. Strong received his doctorate in 1926 at Berkley. In August of 1929, Strong became a Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Nebraska. While there he taught classes in Introduction to Anthropology, Primitive Society and Religion and a course on American Indians. On December 15, 1930, Strong resigned from his teaching position to take a position as Senior Entomologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology. While there he did some archaeological work but after four years decided he needed a change. In 1937, Strong took a position as Professor of Anthropology at Colombia University in New York. Strong was often described as an effective and a stimulating instructor. Dr. Strong's professional career included service at the Field Museum of Natural History from 1926 to 1929, University of Nebraska from 1929 to 1931, Bureau of American Ethnology from 1931 to 1937, Colombia University from 1937 to 1962. His work with the Field Museum of Natural History allowed him to participate in the Rawson-MacMillan field expedition and traveled to Labrador on the schooner, Bowdoin. He recorded detailed information about the practices of the native groups he encountered on this expedition.

William Duncan Strong
Person

William Duncan Strong (1899-1962), a native of Portland, Oregon, Dr. Strong attended the University of California at Berkley during the mid-1920's. At Berkley, he studied under Alfred Kroeber, the Chair of the Department of Anthropology at that time. While at Berkley he began to study ethnography but found that archaeology was his calling. He participated on field trips and did many other things there. His doctoral dissertation got the attention of the Dean of American Archaeologists, Dr. A.V. Kidder. Strong received his doctorate in 1926 at Berkley. In August of 1929, Strong became a Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Nebraska. While there he taught classes in Introduction to Anthropology, Primitive Society and Religion and a course on American Indians. On December 15, 1930, Strong resigned from his teaching position to take a position as Senior Entomologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology. While there he did some archaeological work but after four years decided he needed a change. In 1937, Strong took a position as Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University in New York. Strong was often described as an effective and a stimulating instructor. Dr. Strong's professional career included service at the Field Museum of Natural History from 1926 to 1929, University of Nebraska from 1929 to 1931, Bureau of American Ethnology from 1931 to 1937, and Columbia University from 1937 to 1962. His work with the Field Museum of Natural History allowed him to participate in the Rawson-MacMillan field expedition and he traveled to Labrador on the schooner, Bowdoin. He recorded detailed information about the practices of the native groups he encountered on this expedition

William Brooks Cabot
Person · 1899-1910

William Brooks Cabot (1858-19??) was born into a successful merchant and banking family in Battleboro, Vermont in 1858. While still a young man he developed an interest in nature and the outdoors that lasted all his life. Cabot received his schooling in civil engineering at Yale and at Rensselaer, where he graduated in 1881. For the next twenty years he was engaged in an active and successful career, building railroads in the west and bridges throughout New England and New York. He supervised mining operations in Pennsylvania and oversaw many construction projects, including a portion of the New York aqueduct, the subway system under Times Square and, in Boston, the Charles River dam and esplanade. In 1899, a mid-winter vacation trip found him with two Indian guides on a long overland trek to the Hudson Bay post at Lake Mistassini. One of these guides, John Bastian, had travelled extensively through Quebec and Labrador, and probably piqued Cabot’s interest in this part of the world. Between 1900 and 1925 he made annual trips to Labrador and the Quebec North Shore with the intention of living and travelling with different groups of Indians. He spent parts of eight summers (1903-1910) in Northern Labrador among the Naskapi (Innu) and three summers (1921, 1923, 1924) along the Southern Labrador Coast. He “felt passionately that the interior regions of the Quebec-Labrador plateau belonged to the Indians who had long lived there” and probably kept quiet about iron ore deposits he may have encountered in his travels because of a fear that development of the area would destroy their way of life. Although he travelled extensively in the North, he did little to publicize this part of his life beyond a few lectures and a modest publication (Northern Labrador). More than 3000 of his photographs survive in the form of negatives, glass lantern slides and photographic prints, along with his journals,maps and boxes of correspondence. [Source: O Darkly Bright: The Labrador Journeys of William Brooks Cabot, 1899-1910 by Stephen Loring]

Widdowson, John
Person · 1935-

John David Allison Widdowson (1935- ), folklorist and linguist, has done extensive fieldwork and research in sociolinguistics, dialectology and English cultural tradition in both urban and rural areas of England and Newfoundland. He was born in Sheffield, England and attended Bridlington School, Bridlington, East Yorkshire, England from 1946 to 1954. His secondary education led him to Oxford where he obtained a BA (1959) and an MA (1963) in English Literature and Language. In 1966, Widdowson also completed a study of dialectology in the MA programme at Leeds. Before finishing his thesis, he was offered a teaching position at the English Department at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN).

Widdowson arrived in Newfoundland in 1962 and continued work on his MA thesis. A research question related to a "proverbial" comparison led him to seek the advice of his colleague, Herbert Halpert. The item he was probing turned out to be the Newfoundland expression "boogieman." During their meeting, Halpert showed Widdowson his collection on "frightening figures." This sparked his interest in this topic, and particularly in Newfoundland folklore.

Shortly after, Widdowson began taking folklore courses, and while he was the first student to enroll in the doctoral programme in the Department of English, his thesis actually dealt with a folklore topic. During the summers of 1963-67, Widdowson joined Halpert in fieldwork in rural Newfoundland. Their collection of material formed the foundation for the Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA). When the Folklore Department at MUN was established in 1968, Widdowson began a series of his annual research fellowships in language and folklore. He completed a PhD in 1972 and, in 1974 was appointed as Head of the Folklore Department and Archivist. He also served as acting Head in 1977-78. In 1985, Widdowson was named honorary research associate in folklore and language at MUN. Although Widdowson maintained a close research association with Newfoundland and MUN , he also spent 30 years as a faculty member of English Language, Folklore and Culture of the University of Sheffield. In 1974, he became the founding director of a research project - the Survey of Language and Folklore -which subsequently, in 1976, became the Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language and, in 1997, the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition. He remained director of the centre until he retired in 2001.

Widdowson was elected to the first executive of the Canadian Oral History Association in 1974 and became the co-director of the Institute for Folklore Studies in Britain and Canada in 1986. From 1987-90, he was the president of the Folklore Society. As well, he became the curator of the Traditional Heritage Museum in 1989 and has been a full member of Folklore Fellows International since 1993.

Widdowson also published circa twenty books, and over 60 articles in learned journals. Some of the more significant publications with which he was associated include: "If you Don't be Good...:" (1977), an article on verbal social control in Newfoundland; Linguistic Atlas of England (1978); Dictionary of Newfoundland English (1982, revised 1990), with Strong and Kerwin; Studies in Linguistic Geography: the Dialects of England in Britain and Ireland (1985); Studies in Newfoundland Folklore, Community and Process (1991); Survey of English Dialects: The Dictionary and Grammar (1994); and Folktales of Newfoundland (1996). Widdowson was also the founding editor of the journal Lore and Language.

Widdowson's work earned him several prestigious including: two Certificates of Merit, Regional History Award of the Canadian Historical Association; in 1984 for his contribution to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, and, again in 1987, for Canada's Folklore-Folklife Series. As well, in 1992, he received the Jubilee Award of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Widdowson was given an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Edinburgh in 1999 and by MUN 2000.

Whitty, William
Person · 1792-1822

William Whitty (1792-1822), was born in County Wexford, Ireland in 1792. He arrived in Newfoundland in 1817. Few other details are known about the life or activities of Rev. Whitty.

Whitty died at St. John's in 1822 and was buried in the Old Kirk yard. With the closure of the Old Long's Hill Cemetery and the opening of the new Belvedere Cemetery in 1855, his body was exhumed and reburied in Belvedere Cemetery.