Showing 387 results

Authority record
Baggs, Samuel
Person · 1887-1968

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.

Baikie, Margaret
Person · 1844-1940

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.

Baird, Edgar
Person · 1910-[19-]

Edgar Baird (b. 1910 ) was a resident of Traytown, Newfoundland, and former owner of a logging company.

Banks, Sir Joseph
Person · 1743-1820

Joseph Banks (1743-1820), traveller, botanist, naturalist, and geographer, was born on 2 February 1743 in London, England, the only child of Sarah Bate and William Banks. On 23 March 1779, Banks married Dorothea Hugessen (1758-1828), daughter and heiress of William Western Hugessen; they had no children. Banks died on 19 June 1820 at Heston in London.

Banks was educated initially at home by a private tutor, and then at Harrow School (1752-55), Eton School (1755-60), and Christ Church College, Oxford University (1760-63). Unable to study botany at Oxford, Banks engaged Isaac Lyons, from Cambridge, as his private tutor. When his father died in 1761, Banks became a wealthy man in his own right at the age of 18. Five years later in 1766, the 23-year-old naturalist took part in a voyage to Newfoundland aboard the vessel Niger, which docked in St. John's and then Croque, a fishing settlement on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, en route to the coast of Labrador. Banks made many notes on local archaeology and natural history, especially ornithological observations.

Banks was one of the most influential men of science in the eighteenth century and as such received a large number of professional distinctions during his career. He was a Fellow both of the Society of Antiquities and the Royal Society. He served as President of the Royal Society from 1778 to 1820, the longest-serving President in the history of the society. As President of the Royal Society, he was involved in the Board of Longitude, the Greenwich Royal Observatory, the Board of Agriculture, and the African Association. He was appointed Special Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (1773) and Trustee of the British Museum . Banks was appointed to the Privy Council in recognition of his role as a government advisor in 1797. In 1819, the House of Commons selected him as chair of two committees: the Committee to enquire into the prevention of banknote forgery and the the Committee to consider systems of weights and measures.

Banks had a role in most British voyages of discovery in his period. He sponsored William Bligh's doomed expedition from Tahiti to the West Indies on the Bounty in 1789. He organized Matthew Flinders' voyage on the Investigator (1801-3) to begin the mapping of Australia. He was involved in George McCartney's mission to China (1792-94) and with George Vancouver's voyage to the northwest coast of America (1791-95). Banks sent botanists all over the world, including New South Wales, the Cape of Good Hope, West Africa, the East Indies, South America, India, and Australia. Many times these voyages were at his own expense.

Banks established his scientific base at his London home in Soho Square in 1776 and housed his natural history collections there. He made his house and collections open to the wider scientific community. Banks did not differentiate between British and foreign scientists, and he even maintained scientific relations with France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

Banks was created a baronet in 1781 and was invested Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1795.

Bannerman, Sir Alexander
Person · 1788-1864

Alexander Bannerman (1788-1864), merchant, politician and Governor of Newfoundland (1857-64), was born on 7 October 1788 in Aberdeen, Scotland, son of Thomas Bannerman, a prominent wine merchant. He married Margaret Gordon of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on 14 January 1825. They had no children. Bannerman was knighted in February 1851. He died 30 December 1864 in London, England.

Bannerman was educated at the Marischal College grammar school in Aberdeen before assuming control the family wine business with his younger brother Thomas (1820) after the death of their father. He also invested in a number of other businesses, including banking and whaling, as well as cotton mills and iron foundries. Well-known in Aberdeen, Bannerman became involved in politics, and was subsequently acclaimed as a Whig member for the city in the reformed House of Commons in 1832, where he sat until his retirement in 1847.

In 1850 Britain appointed Bannerman as Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (1850-54) to implement responsible government. Identified as a Reform partisan, Bannerman became embroiled in island politics and was transferred by the Colonial Office to the Bahamas where he served as Governor until 1857. In mid-1857, Bannerman was selected as Governor of Newfoundland where responsible government had been achieved only two years earlier (1855).

In Newfoundland Bannerman asserted the prerogative of the governor as the Crown's representative to overrule decisions of the Executive Council, declaring that he was "by no means obliged to follow their advice if he considers it to be wrong." Following the resignation of the first Prime Minister Philip Francis Little (1858), Bannerman clashed repeatedly with his successor, the radical Liberal John Kent, over French fishing rights on the western shore of Newfoundland, the use of government funds and relief monies for fishermen, and the dismissal of government officials.

In 1861 Bannerman dissolved the Kent administration, a move observed with some alarm by the British government, and invited the Conservative leader, Hugh William Hoyles, to establish a new government, thus provoking the constitutional crisis of 1861. The Hoyles government was quickly defeated by a non-confidence motion; in the ensuing election there was much sectarian bitterness, and outbreaks of violence at Carbonear, Harbour Grace, St. John's, and Harbour Main. A petition from 8,000 Catholics denouncing Bannerman was sent to the Colonial Office. Bannerman was more temperate in the exercise of his prerogative powers during the Hoyles administration. He retired in September 1864 and died four months later in London.

Barrett, Barbara
Person · 1922-

Barbara Bettine Micklethwaite Barrett (1922 - ), journalist, dramatist, teacher, musician, actress and director, was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, on 3 November 1922, the daughter of Edith Eveline (Dredge) and Irvin Micklethwaite. She married Arthur Barrett of Curling, Newfoundland, during World War II. They had two children: Helena Margaret and John Irvin.

Barrett attended Greenhead High School and the local technical college in Huddersfield. She subsequently trained under prominent drama directors at Bishop Otter College, Cirencester, England, Memorial University of Newfoundland and York University, Toronto.

During World War II, Barbara was an air raid warden volunteer and a farm labourer in England, where she met and married Arthur Barrett. In 1946 they moved to Newfoundland and subsequently lived in several locations, including Curling, Gander, Corner Brook, Stephenville and St. John's.

Barrett played a prominent role in promoting the performing arts in Newfoundland and in preparing dramatic groups for annual provincial drama festivals. She founded the Avion Players, Gander and, together with her husband Arthur, was associated with the establishment of the Gander Community Centre. She was a member of the Stephenville Players and the Corner Brook Playmakers. She became involved with local theatre in St. John's and was, for 17 years, artistic director of Basement Theatre at the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre. She was also founder and director of the Phoenix Theatre Group.

Barrett was also active as a writer and journalist. She wrote columns for The Western Star newspaper (Corner Brook) called "Tots & Teens" (under the pseudonym Ivy Joyce) and "War Brides Corner." In Gander, she interviewed prominent figures whose flights took them through the international airport, continued her "Tots & Teens" column and wrote "Gander Notes." She also served as a correspondent for the International News Service in New York and the Canadian Press. In Stephenville, she was the local correspondent for The Western Star, contributed to the Officer' Wives Club magazine, Howl, and was moderator of a public affairs program on CFSN-TV "Face to Face In Newfoundland," a program continued at CBYT-TV in Corner Brook (1964-73). In 1992 she hosted a series of interviews on VOWR Radio with performers involved with music and the theatre in St. John's.

During her career, Barrett was associated with the presentation of 1014 shows, including both professional and amateur productions. Up to 1991 she had directed more than 40 plays and adjudicated at numerous high school and adult drama festivals. She wrote plays for various groups and instructional guides in playmaking. Barrett nurtured numerous performers, including Joan Morrissey, Maxim Mazumdar, Sylvia Wigh, Jim Payne, Ed Kavanagh and Michael Cook, as well as numerous theatrical groups and school drama classes. Barrett was artistic director of the annual Summer Festival for nine years and co-authored scripts for the 1980 series of shows. She directed cultural activities for the Canada Summer Games '77 and co-chaired Soiree '88, the centenary celebration of municipal government in St. John's. In the 1980s, Barbara was a member of a committee that developed a performing arts course for the province's high schools.

Barrett received many citations, including awards for best director and best production. In the early 1960s, she was a nominee for citizen of the year award in Stephenville. In 1995, she received the Order of Canada for her work in community and theatre. In April 2003, she was made honorary life member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Society. Still very active in her 80s, Barrett won the award of best supporting actress at the 2003 Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival.

Barrowman, Dr. James
Person · 1936-1991

James Adam Barrowman (1936-1991), physician and professor, was born 4 June 1936 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He attended early schooling at George Watson’s Boys’ College in Edinburgh from 1948 to 1954. That same year he enrolled in Edinburgh University where he went on to complete a BSc, (Hons Physiology) and the degrees of MB and ChB in 1961. In 1964, he was made a member of the Royal College of Physicians and two years later, earned a PhD from London University in 1966. Following this appointment, he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Canada) in 1977 for Gastroenterology and in 1979 for Internal Medicine. In 1980, he also was made a Fellow of the American College of Physicians by direct election and in 1981 he also became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London) by
direct election.

Over the years, Dr. Barrowman held a variety of positions and appointments. From 1961 to 1962, he held a twelve-month pre-registration service and was House Physician to Professor John Strong, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh and House Surgeon to Sir John Bruce at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. In 1962, he was appointed as a six-month senior house officer in gastroenterological medicine with Drs. Card and W. Sircus at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh. From 1963 to 1966, Dr. Barrowman was Junior Lecturer and then Lecturer in the Department of Physiology at the London Hospital Medical College. Between 1967 and 1968, he was the Wellcome Travelling Research Fellow in University of Lund, Sweden, as part of the Department of Physiological Chemistry. Following this, he accepted a position as Senior Lecturer in Physiology at the London Hospital Medical College where he remained until 1975, having held the positions of Medical Registrar, Senior Lecturer in Medicine, and numerous other responsibilities in gastroenterology at the London Hospital.

In 1975, Dr. Barrowman made the trip to Newfoundland when he accepted the post of Associate Professor of Gastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Physiology at the new medical school at Memorial University in St. John’s. He became a full professor in 1979 and was appointed Assistant Dean, Research and Graduate Studies (Medicine) at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He was also Director of the Residency Training Programme in Gastroenterology in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial.

Outside of his teaching, Dr. Barrowman was involved in other aspects of professional medicine. These included holding memberships in Professional Societies such as the British Society of Gastroenterology, the Physiological Society, the Medical Research Society, the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, the Canadian Physiological Society, the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Pancreatic Association, the International Society of Lymphology, the American College of Physicians, the Canadian Liver Club, the Splanchic Circulation Group, the American Physiological Society, the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, the America Oil Chemists’ Society and the Advisory Committee of the Canadian Ileitis/Colitis foundation.

James and his wife Gwynedd (nee Price) had four children. Dr. Barrowman died on 22 September 1991.

Bartlett, George F.
Person · 1897-1956

George F. Bartlett (1897-1956), Catholic priest, was born at St. John's, Newfoundland, on 24 November 1897, the son of Mary (Byrne) and Denis Bartlett. Bartlett died at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital, St. John's, on 22 September 1956.

Bartlett attended Holy Cross School and St. Bonaventure's College, St. John's. Following graduation from St. Bonaventure's in 1918, he enrolled at St. Augustine's Seminary, Toronto, to begin his studies for the priesthood. In 1919 he entered Holy Heart Seminary, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he completed his course of studies in philosophy. The following year he transferred to All Hallows College, Dublin, Ireland, for further studies in theology and the other sacred sciences. Bartlett was ordained a priest on 15 June 1924 in the Chapel at All Hallows College by Bishop Downey, bishop of Ossory, Ireland.

On 23 July 1924, Rev. Bartlett was appointed as a curate in St. Michael's Parish, Bell Island, and subsequently as administrator of the parish (1938) and finally as the parish priest in 1956. During his thirty-three years in St. Michael's Parish he supervised the construction of twenty-eight new buildings, including the parish church of St. Michael's, a new church at Lance Cove and a new church at Wabana. He was also an active supporter of many community events on Bell Island.

Rev. Bartlett was named a Domestic Prelate by His Holiness Pope Pius XII on 14 August 1947, with the title of Monsignor. In 1976 he was posthumously inducted into the Newfoundland Sports Hall of Fame at St. John's, for his noteworthy contribution to the promotion of sports in Newfoundland.

Battock, George W.
Person · 1892-1984

George W. Battock (1892-1984), Catholic priest, was born at Brigus South, District of Ferryland, Newfoundland, on 22 April 1892, the son of Ellen (Gregory) and John Battcock. He died at St. Patrick's Mercy Home, St. John's in 1984. He is buried at Belvedere Cemetery, St. John's.

Battock received his elementary education at the parish school at Ferryland. In 1910-11 he worked with the Reid Newfoundland Railway Company and subsequently enrolled at St. Bonaventure's College, St. John's, where he completed his high school education (1911-14). Battock attended Holy Heart Seminary, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was ordained a priest on 21 December 1918 in the chapel of Presentation Convent, Cathedral Square, St. John's, by Edward Patrick Roche, Archbishop of St. John's.

Almost immediately following his ordination, Rev. Battock was given a temporary appointment as the administrator of St. Michael's Parish, Bell Island. In June of 1919 he was appointed as the parish priest of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, St. Lawrence. He was subsequently granted a leave of absence for health reasons. When he resumed his priestly pastoral ministry in 1923 he was selected as parish priest of the newly established Sacred Heart Parish, St. Vincent's, Saint Mary's Bay, where he served for almost 48 years.

Rev. Battock retired from active parish duties on 31 August 1970 and moved to the Cathedral Basilica Parish Residence, St. John's. As his health deteriorated, he was transferred to St. Patrick's Mercy Home where he resided at the time of his death.

Bélanger, Alexis
Person · 1808-1868

Alexis Bélanger (1808-1868), Catholic priest, was born at Saint Roch des Aulnaies, Québec, on 18 January 1808, the son of Marie Talbot and Pierre Bélanger. He was educated at the College de Sainte Anne de la Pocatierre and the Grande Seminaire de Québec. Bélanger was ordained a priest in 1835 by Joseph Signay, Bishop of Québec.

From 1835 to 1839, Rev. Bélanger served as an assistant priest in the parish of Sainte-Marie de Beauce, Québec. In that year, he was sent by his bishop as a missionary to the Roman Catholic population on the Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Gulf of St. Lawrence. During the 1840s, he traveled throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence region, spending winters at Rustico, Prince Edward Island, Caraquet, New Brunswick, and as far north as Blanc Sablon on the Labrador Coast.

In 1850, Rev. Bélanger was sent by the Bishop of Québec to minister to the French population along the west coast of Newfoundland. Most likely, this appointment was requested by John Thomas Mullock, Bishop of St. John's, who had been endeavoring for a number of years to have a Francophone priest minister to the inhabitants of that region of Newfoundland. Bishop Mullock appointed Rev. Bélanger as his vicar general for the district, with his residence at Sandy Point, St. George's Bay.

In the community, Rev. Bélanger also acted as a doctor, dentist, carpenter, teacher, farmer, and logger. During his residency in St. George's Bay, he helped build the first church at Sandy Point, under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception, on a site staked out by Bishop Mullock during his visit to the area in 1848. The wooden church, measuring 13.7 m by 6.7 m (45 ft. by 22 ft.) was replaced by a much larger one in the 1870s. In 1904, it became the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, headquarters of the newly created Diocese of St. George's.

In addition to Sandy Point and the surrounding area, Rev. Bélanger's parish included the coastline of western Newfoundland and the Bay of Islands area. After 1854, he also began regular visits to the Codroy Valley area to minister to the Roman Catholic population there. Rev. Bélanger died at Sandy Point on 7 September 1868. In accordance with his wishes, his remains were embalmed and returned to his home town and were buried under the parish church at Saint Roch des Aulnaies on 29 September 1868.