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Authority record
Corporate body · 1932-2003

The Church of England Women’s Association (C.E.W.A.) was founded in 1876 at Heart’s Content by the Rev. George Gardiner. The C.E.W.A. endeavoured to promote and extend Christian unity and fellowship at home and overseas by attending to the spiritual, educational and physical needs of its followers.

The C.E.W.A. also assisted in missionary enterprises, orphanages, senior citizen’s homes, medical clinics and the erection of churches and schools in the Province.

St. Matthew’s branch of the C.E.W.A. was founded on December 7, 1932 (before that there existed a ‘sewing circle’) when a delegation of sisters from St. John the Evangelist C.E.W.A. from New Bonaventure came along to assist the Spiritual Director, the late Rev. (later Canon) Harvey Torraville in setting up the new Association.

In 1967 the C.E.W.A. became the Anglican Women’s Association (A.W.A.) with approximately 200 branches and 7000 members in the Province. In 1969 the A.W.A., the Women’s Association (W.A.) Parish Guilds and Alter Guilds merged to become the Anglican Church Women’s Association (A.C.W.A.).

After the restructuring of the Anglican Church in Newfoundland in 1976 the word “association” was dropped by the three new Dioceses. The A.C.W., corresponding to the Diocesan boundaries of the Anglican Church in Newfoundland, is divided into three sectors.

St. Matthew’s Branch of the A. C. W. closed in January of 2003 because of a lack of members.

Corporate body · 1939-1961

The re-settled community of Little Harbour is located at the entrance of Smith Sound, about 25 km from Trinity. Around 50 - 60 people lived in the community at the beginning of the 20th century, and by 1945 the population had risen to 158. The community was in the parish of Trinity. The first entry in the vestry register for The Church of England Church of the Holy Nativity at Little Harbour, is for Evensong, held on Feb. 20, 1931 with lay reader B. Burridge. The community was resettled under the provincial government resettlement program in the 1960s, by which time many residents had already left the community. The church officially closed on August 25, 1969.

Source: Church of the Holy Nativity (Little Harbour) fonds; Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Corporate body · 1932-1950

The Churchmen’s Club at Trinity was established in the 1920s. The club was open to confirmed male members of the church over 16 years of age, who were approved by other members. After the first few years the club was open to all denominations. The clubroom was in the Parish Hall. It was open most evenings and members gathered for cards, darts, billiards and other activities. They also organized tournaments with other clubs in the area. One night per week the club was rented to the Ladies Club. The club remained active until the 1970s.

Source: Churchmen’s Club minute book and rules and regulations.

Corporate body · 1927-1943, 1948-

The City Basketball League was established at St. John's in 1927. By 1932 it consisted of seven teams from organizations such as the Church Lads Brigade (CLB), the YMCA and the Methodist Guards, as well as from St. Bonaventure's College, Bishop Feild College and Memorial University College. The organization's constitution was adopted in 1936. According to newspaper reports, the League suspended operations in April 1943 after a meeting at which only one team expressed interest in playing. In 1948 it was revived as a senior division of the St. John's Amateur Basketball Association.

Corporate body · [191-]-

AOTS (As One That Serves) is a layman's service organization which is church based but open to all interested men on a broad ecumenical basis, and which maintains an independent organizational and financial structure. The name of the organization is based on the Gospel of St. Luke, 22:27: "I am among you as One that serves". The organization attempts to combine the spiritual with the social on an everyday level.

Over its history, the organization has related to the Church in various ways, including the Board of Men from 1954 and to the Division of Mission from 1972. It also relates to Conferences and Presbyteries through Councils and Districts and within congregations through Men's Clubs.

AOTS had its beginnings in 1923 in Vancouver, at Kerrisdale Methodist Church (Ryerson United), and was started there by a physician, Dr Herbert Riggs. The idea spread to other churches across the country, and became a national organization in 1947. A history of the movement was published in 1973 for the 50th anniversary.

Although there are general aims with which all clubs agree, each group has its own autonomy. The content of both meetings and activities varies amongst clubs throughout the country. There may often be a meeting over a meal and activities range from fund-raising within the congregation where the club is based to far-reaching projects both at home and abroad.

AOTS aims to promote service within a Christian context, allowing for laymen in the church to socialize and support each other, while providing a basis for service. In Newfoundland, by 1970 there were twenty-one men's groups. The 13th national annual convention was held in Newfoundland in 1983.

At Cochrane Street church, there have several efforts to establish a Men's Club. Although there is no mention of any of these clubs being affiliated with the national AOTS organization, even though the aims of service within a Christian context apply at Cochrane Street United Church. There are references in the records of men being invited to meet in the 1910's, and planning meetings for a Men's Club in the 1930's. There is some indication that the present day club had its origins from that time. The men have been meeting over a meal on a regular monthly basis, with a nominal charge being paid for the meal. In the early days of the club, the women's groups often catered as a means of fund-raising. The men have held various events as fund-raisers. The money raised at the dinners, notable among them partridge suppers, flipper suppers and Jiggs dinners, help to support the work of the congregation.

The whereabouts of all the group's records are unknown but the work and activities of the organization are well documented in the Board and Committee records as well as in the annual reports of the congregation.

Corporate body · 1878-

Cochrane Street United Church, originally a Methodist congregation, began as a Sunday School in 1878 and became a congregation in 1882 with the opening of its first church building at the same site as the present church building. The congregation was administered by the officers and the rules of the St. John's Circuit of the Methodist Church and was bound by the rules and discipline of the Methodist Church. In 1890, the congregation became independent and was known as St. John's East Circuit of the Methodist Church.

The congregation has had two forms of governance since its organization as an independent congregation.

When the congregation became independent in 1890, it was administered by a Quarterly Official Board, made up of a Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, members of the Board of Stewards, responsible for property and financial matters, and members of the Board of Session, responsible for the spiritual life of the congregation and personnel matters relating to the paid ordained and lay staff. The Minister or Ministers of the congregation were also members of the Quarterly Official Board, as were representatives of men and women's groups, and the Sunday School. A Board of Trustees had authority in legal and financial matters and also were members of the Official Board.

The Official Board met quarterly and held at a least an annual congregational meeting to report on the various aspects of church life. The congregation was also called to meetings by such items as the search for a new minister or major financial or other matters. The Boards of Stewards, Session and Trustees usually met monthly as individual committees or more often as required in order to carry out the day to day work of the church.

In 1914, the church building was destroyed by fire. The new building, on the original site, was opened in 1916. The church administration had the same structure, except that the congregation was now named Cochrane Street Methodist Centennial Church, in recognition of the Centenary of formalized Methodism in St. John's. In 1925, like all other Methodist churches in Newfoundland, Cochrane Street became a member of The United Church of Canada and was known as Cochrane Street Centennial United Church. The Centennial part of the name was no longer in use by the mid-1940's.

In 1987, to better reflect the work and activities of the church, the duties formerly entrusted to the Quarterly Official Board, Stewards, Session and Trustees were given to a new administrative structure, variously known as Board of Management and Board of Directors, and approved at the annual meeting of the congregation in 1987. The work of the Session now fell under Church Life and Worship Committee with its subcommittees of Worship and Sacraments, Pastoral Care, and Christian Education. The Property Committee and the Finance Committee assumed the duties of the Board of Stewards. A Board of Trustees continued to have supervision over legal, insurance and some financial aspects of the congregation. Women and men's groups continued to have representation on the new Board as did a Ministry and Personnel Committee responsible for all aspects of the relationship between employed ordained and lay staff of the congregation and the members of the congregation.

The Board met usually monthly, and reported to the congregation at least annually or at times when the concerns of the congregation needed to be heard, at times of searching for a new minister, or when major issues faced the congregation. The committees and subcommittees met usually monthly or more often as required, and reported through their representatives (usually the chairs of the committees) to the regular meetings of the Board. They also reported at the annual meetings of the congregation, as did all other groups in the congregation, such as the men's and women's organizations.

Throughout the evolution of the congregation, various committees were established for other work, such as carrying out particular projects, studying and reporting on various issues, or searching for a new minister. In 2002, a Committee on Records, Archives and History was approved by the Board to care for the records produced within the congregation as well as help promote the congregation to its members and in the community.

Corporate body · [195-]-1961

This group was established in the early 1950's by a group of women in the congregation. It was organized, like the other women's groups of the time, with officers and a constitution. The members met during the day, often at members' homes. It reported annually to the congregation and summaries of the work and activities of the group can be found in the annual reports of the congregation. The group was somewhat similar to that of Time Out For Women, established in 1983, as it provided support and fellowship to its members, most of whom had young children, and as a fund-raising group within the congregation. It disbanded in about 1961, possibly due to the formation of the new women's group within the National Church, United Church Women.

Corporate body · 1823-

The Society was known by various names at one time or another. Beginning as the Society for Educating the Poor of Newfoundland, it in turn adopted the names of the Newfoundland School Society, the School Society of Newfoundland and British North America, the Church of England School Society for Newfoundland and the Colonies, the Colonial Church and School Society and Colonial and Continental Church Society (CCCS).

The Society was formed in 1823 as a result of the energy and interest of a young English merchant, Samuel Codner. The chief aim of the Society was to communicate free instruction to the poor inhabitants of all denominations of the Colony. There was, however an obvious bias in favour of the Anglican Church.

The Society’s first school was established in St. John’s. By 1826 a school was established in Trinity.

The Mercantile Journal, in a lengthy article, had this to say in 1826:
“At Trinity, where the Master arrived in June last, the Magistrates kindly offered him the temporary use of the Court House, for a School Room, in which he had, up to the latest accounts received thence, admitted about 100 children, who have made considerable progress in Education. Mr. Fleet, under whose care this school is placed has been indefatigable in the performance of his duties, and thereby secured the marked approval of all the inhabitants of Trinity. The people, feeling the want of a School House at Trinity, have lately held a Public Meeting, at which £100 was subscribed - an eligible spot of ground has been liberally bestowed by Messrs. Garlands, for the purposes of the Society, and the poor inhabitants have agreed to bring from the Forests during the Winter months the necessary timber for the frame of a suitable building; to these laudable efforts, the Society has added a grant of £100, which, it is expected, will enable the people to erect a House sufficiently large for the admission of all the poor Children of Trinity, and the adjacent Creeks, in the course of the present year."

Corporate body · 1896-1896

The Commission of Enquiry into Certain Complaints of Negligence made against T.P. O'Donnell, Stipendiary Magistrate for Harbour Main and Specially in Connection with Certain Cases of Scarlitina...[at] Chapel's Cove and more particularly in that of James Conran was appointed by the Governor in 1897 to investigate the relationship between the death of a child in Chapel's Cove and the response by the magistrate in providing medical care to the "sick poor." Daniel W. Prowse, magistrate and former chair of the St. John's Health Board, was appointed sole commissioner. He submitted his final report on 4 October 1897.

A letter, dated 21 September 1897 and signed "Health" (Daily News), alleged that "people are allowed to die like cattle" by public officials. The correspondent stated that scarlatina had started in Chapel's Cove in the spring, that the authorities had not acted to take precautions, despite warnings, that the illness was commin in Harbour Main all summer (totalling 40-50 cases), and had spread to Holyrood and Salmon Cove, resulting in the death of one child (given name not stated) in the Condron [sic] family. The author charged that the inaction of public authorities was caused by a disagreement between the magistrate and the local doctor. The Commission was established to examine the actions of T.P. O'Donnell, magistrate and relief officer, and W.E. Jones, physician, Salmon Cove.

Commissioner D.W. Prowse commenced hearings at Harbour Main on 1 October 1897 and, over two days, examined the following witnesses: Margaret Conran, mother of the deceased child; Alice Saunders, sister-in-law; T.P. O'Donnell, magistrate; William Edward Jones, physician; John George Duncan, surgeon, Brigus; Edward Crawley, Chapel's Cove; James Hawco, businessman; and James Thomas Meaney, station master.

In his final report, Commissioner Prowse concluded that the allegations of neglect against Magistrate T.P. O'Donnell were "unsustained", that the crisis was caused by the refusal of Dr. Jones to adequately attend to the families of the sick poor, and that the charges outlined in the Daily News letter were exaggerated; scarlatina resulted in the death of only one child, the second daughter of Mary and James Conron. Prowse recommended that magistrates be authorized to employ a nurse, messenger and guard to contain contagious diseases.

Corporate body · 1949-1994

The Corner Brook Co-operative Society store was established in Townsite in 1937. It closed in 2006.