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Baine, Johnston & Co. was one of Newfoundland's largest mercantile firms in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It engaged in the supply of the inshore and Labrador cod fisheries and was also involved in the fish trade, the offshore seal fishery and the general export-import trade. Branches of the company were established at Battle Harbour (Labrador); Harbour Buffett and Presque (Placentia Bay); Port de Grave and Cupids, (Conception Bay); and Bonavista.

The name Baine, Johnston & Co. emerged in the 1830s and the firm was the successor of a series of companies founded by Scottish entrepreneurs in St. John's in the early nineteenth century. Two of the principal founders were Walter Baine and William Johnston. Baine was originally associated with the Greenock (Scotland) firm Long, Baine & Co. (principals Thomas Lang, Walter Baine Jr., Thomas Patton, John Hamilton, and Archibald Baine) which was involved in the Newfoundland trade at St. John's by 1806. In 1808 Thomas Patten, the managing agent, joined Walter Baine Jr. to form an affiliated company Patten, Baine & Co.

In 1810 William Johnston was appointed as St. John's agent for the Walter Baine & Co. (successor of Patten, Baine & Co.). In 1816 Johnston purchased the St. John's Water Street premises formerly occupied by Hart, Robinson & Co. and in 1818 acquired "Horton's Plantation" between Baird's Cove and Ayre's Cove (where Baine, Johnston & Co. maintained its headquarters until 1963). The firm "occupied" premises in "Cubits" (likely Cupids) in 1818 and purchased Snow's Plantation at Port de Grave from William Andrews, presumably the site of company operations there.; Following the death of Johnston (1837), Walter Grieve became the managing agent of Baine, Johnston & Co. in St. John's and his brother James (a partner) managed affairs in Greenock. When Walter Baine Jr. died in 1851, the Grieves became the principal partners. Walter Grieve, however, left in 1851 to form Walter Grieve & Co., and formed a partnership with Alexander Bremner in Grieve & Bremner at Trinity in 1861.

In 1871 Baine, Johnston & Co. purchased the Slade premises in Battle Harbour, Labrador but retained Slade's former accountant and manager, William Collingwood as their chief agent. When Walter Baine Grieve died in 1921 this effectively marked the end of both the Grieve and the Scottish connections with Baine, Johnston & Co.

In addition to its role in the cod fishery, Baine Johnston & Co. participated in the Newfoundland sealing industry, outfitting vessels for the annual hunt and processing seal oil, pelts and other products; in 1896 the firm purchased a seal processing plant at Harbour Grace, which became the headquarters for its operations. Through its principals, the firm registered nearly three hundred vessels in Newfoundland (1832-1920), making it one of the largest vessel owners in Newfoundland and Labrador; these vessels included the SS Bloodhound, one of the first steamers utilized in the sealing industry. The firm's vessels were also used in the coasting and foreign trades; the company also became the Newfoundland agent for the Cunard Line.

The firm was reincorporated in 1921 with Thomas W. Collingwood, William's son as managing director. By 1939 he had become the major shareholder. Baine, Johnston & Co. had withdrawn from the fishery by 1955. The company has developed and maintains a commercial interest in real estate, insurance, wholesaling and retailing.

Margaret (Campbell) Baikie (1844-1940), daughter of Daniel and Lydia Campbell, was born in Mulligan, Labrador on 6 May 1944. She married Thomas Baikie and had eight children. In 1917, when she was 73 years old, Margaret Baikie wrote about her memories of life in Labrador.

Samuel Baggs (1887-1968), teacher, Methodist/United Church minister, was born in Broad Cove, Bay de Verde, Newfoundland, on 24 June 1887, the son of Archibald and Janet Baggs. He married Laura Lorenzen (sp), of Garnish. They had no children. The Rev. Baggs died on 2 August 1968 in St. John's.

As a teenager, Baggs fished with his father on the coast of Labrador. After finishing school, he accepted a teaching position at Garnish. There he realized he wished to enter the Methodist ministry. He requested a position where he could teach as well as lead in religious worship; he was sent to Indian Burying Place, Notre Dame Bay. In 1912, he became a probationer for the Methodist minstry and served in the Deer Island Charge in Bonavista Bay. He attended Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, in 1914 and graduated with a BA degree in in 1917. He was ordained at Cochrane St. Church in June, 1917.

Rev. Baggs served many pastoral charges, including Newtown/Lumsden (1917-21), Bay Roberts (1921-25), Western Bay (1925-28), Freshwater (1928-30) Blackhead (1930-35), Bay Roberts (1935-1936), Channel, Port aux Basques (1936-44),Twillingate (1944-46) and Channel (1946-56).

In 1934, Baggs was elected Secretary of the United Church Conference, and in 1936, became its President.

Following his retirement from the full-time ministry in 1956, Rev. Baggs served as retired assistant minister at First United Church in Corner Brook (1956-7) and Port aux Basques (1957-62) In 1963 he moved to St. John's where he served as supply minister at Cochrane St. United Church and as summer supply at Grand Falls and Grand Bank.

Baggs was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from Mount Allison University. He was an active member of the Masonic Order and was named Grand Chaplain of the Masonic Order of the English Lodge in 1967.

John P. Baggs was a member of the Newfoundland Constabulary. He was stationed at Trinity from 1940 to 1950.

Thomas Aylward (1829-1902), mariner, was born at Falmouth, Nova Scotia in 1829. He died at Windsor on 21 March 1902.

In 1854 Aylward obtained his Master Mariner's certificate in London. His first command was on the ship China. He later commanded the British Queen and the Nile. He commanded vessels for the firm of John S. DeWolfe & Co. of Liverpool, England which sailed to India and Australia, and for Bennett Smith of Windsor, Nova Scotia. For several years he was managing owner of the ship Avoca and the barquentines St. Croix, St. Paul and St. Peter.

Alyward was a member of the Board of Stewards of the Methodist Church of Windsor, Nova Scotia and was on the building committee of the church, St. John's United, erected in 1899.

In 1962 the Presbyteries of St. John's and Carbonear were amalgamated to form Avalon Presbytery. In 1968, a further consolidation took place and Avalon Presbytery was extended to include the territory formerly covered by Burin Presbytery. This was done in order to take advantage of the new network of roads that had been built in the interior of the province.

Within the Presbytery various smaller geographic interest groups or Zones were formed. Of these, the most visible was the St. John's or Metro Zone, whose activities are reflected in the sub-series. In 1985 the pastoral charges in the St. John's area were reconstituted as St. John's Presbytery and were removed from Avalon Presbytery's jurisdiction. Avalon Presbytery was included in the East District at the time of re-organization in 1992.

In 1962 the Presbyteries of St. John's and Carbonear were amalgamated to form Avalon Presbytery. In 1968, a further consolidation took place and Avalon Presbytery was extended to include the territory formerly covered by Burin Presbytery . This was done in order to take advantage of the new network of roads that had been built in the interior of the province.

Within the Presbytery various smaller geographic interest groups or Zones were formed. Of these, the most visible was the St. John's or Metro Zone, whose activities are reflected in the sub-series. In 1985 the pastoral charges in the St. John's area were reconstituted as St. John's Presbytery and were removed from Avalon Presbytery's jurisdiction. Avalon Presbytery was included in the East District at the time of re-organization in 1992.

Frederick Attenborough (fl. 1935), was a teacher and diarist who traveled to Newfoundland via Edinburgh and Liverpool in the summer of 1935. Little is known about Attenborough beyond what can be discerned from his diary. At the time of his trip, he resided at 43 Milton Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. He was a schoolmaster at Burton Grammar School. In July and August 1935, he took his annual summer holiday abroad. He had no travelling companions, but he did make several acquaintances on board the SS Nova Scotia. His trip extended from 29 July to 31 August.

Attenborough's holiday took him by ship to parts of Newfoundland and Canada. He remained in St. John's from 8 August to 11 August, returning again from 23 August to 25 August. Attenborough visited many sites such as Bowring Park, Cabot Tower and Government House.