The Canada Games were conceived as a national development program for sport among representatives of all provinces and territories. The first Winter Games were held in February 1967 in Quebec City; the first Summer Games were held in August 1969 in Halifax.
Discussions about the possibility of St. John's hosting some aspect of the Canada Games began as early as 1970. A last-minute initiative in January and February of 1974 by St. John's mayor Dorothy Wyatt, resulted in a successful bid by Newfoundland and Labrador to obtain the 1977 Canada Summer Games. Preparations began as soon as the federal government's decision was announced on 16 March 1974. Newfoundland businessman Andrew Crosbie was appointed president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Canada Summer Games Society. Construction of the facilities were completed by June 1977 and the Games were declared open on 7 August 1977.
Newfoundland and Labrador sent over 200 competitors to the 1977 Summer Games. They competed in sixteen sports: archery, baseball, canoeing, cycling, diving, field hockey, lacrosse, sailing, shooting, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, water polo and water skiing. Newfoundland and Labrador athletes won one gold and three bronze medals during the competition and the Newfoundland and Labrador team won the Centennial Cup for the most improved showing. The games ended on 19 August 1977.
Lydia Campbell (1818-1904) was born in Mulligan, Groswater Bay, Labrador in 1918. At the age of 75, she wrote accounts of her life in Labrador through the persuasion of Rev. Arthur C. Waghorne. This work was published in the Evening Telegram in 1894. Lydia Campbell's writings represent the first published writings of a native Labrador resident. Her diary, covering the years 1818-1989, was published by Them Days in 1980 and in 2000 by Killick Press.
The HMS Calypso was a 2814 ton Third Class British naval cruiser, built in Chatham, 1881-84. In October 1902, she was assigned by the British Admiralty as a training ship for the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve. She was stationed at St. John's and remained there until 1914, when she was used to protect Newfoundland shores and shipping during World War One. In 1916 the Calypso was renamed the HMS Briton and retained her function as a naval vessel until 1922 when she was sold to A. H. Murray and Company and used to store salt.
The Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) had been established by the Newfoundland Government in 1902 to strengthen Britain's naval resources in the area. In the same year the British Admiralty assigned the HMS Calypso to train the members of the Reserve. The Reserve maintained ranks of 375 reservists until the declaration of war in 1914. On August 1914 the Royal Naval Reserve was called up for active duty. The number of reservists was increased to over 1000, approaching almost 2000 by war's end in 1918. During the war the naval reservists were dispersed throughout the Royal Navy. The Royal Naval Reserve was decommissioned at the end of 1920.
There is little documentation on the early life of Jeremiah Caffery (1794-1844), teacher. He was invited by his uncle, Rev. Alexander FitzGerald, to join him in Newfoundland. Following his arrival, Caffery was sent by his uncle to study for the priesthood at a seminary in Nicolet, Quebec. Caffery was not ordained, however. He chose to go to Halifax, Nova Scotia where he worked as a teacher until his death on 19 October 1844.
The firm of C. & A. Dawe of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, was formed circa 1877 by Captain Charles Dawe (1845-1908) and his brother, Azariah Dawe. It was a typical outport fish merchant operation in that goods were imported and sold to fishermen in exchange for their produce, which was then shipped to foreign markets. C. & A. Dawe may have imported and exported goods and produce on its own account since it was a large firm and probably not dependent on a St. John's supplier.
Captain Charles Dawe was a well-known schooner and steamer master in both the Labrador cod fishery and the sealing industry. Dawe was also active in politics, first sitting as a Conservative MHA for the district of Harbour Grace from 1878 to 1889, and later as representative for Port de Grave from 1893 to 1900. He sat on the Executive Council in the administrations of A. J. Goodridge (1894) and James Winter (1897-1900) and served briefly as leader of the opposition after the resignation of A. B. Morine in 1906.
Before his death in 1908, Charles Dawe wrote a will in which he stipulated that the business be wound up within five years of his death. While evidence exists that the business was wound up by the executors circa 1911, a 1923-1925 ledger confirms that the business was re-formed, either by Azariah, his son Robert, or some other family member.
Alice Grace Butt (1909-2005), teacher, librarian, prose writer, poet and playwright, was born on 8 March 1909 at Brigus, Newfoundland, the daughter of Mary Ella (Noseworthy) and Frederick Hamon Hue. She married Albert Boyle Butt and they had two daughters, Judith and Paula. Grace Butt resided in St. John's.
Butt received her early education at Brigus and Clarke's Beach, before moving to St. John's to attend the Methodist College. After graduation, she studied at Memorial University College and the Normal School. Butt taught at Holloway School for four years, but after her marriage began writing newspaper columns, poems and articles. In the 1930s she wrote an arts column for the St. John's Daily News and became a frequent contributor to the journal, the Newfoundland Quarterly. In 1937 she founded a theatre company, the St. John's Players, and was actively involved as president and as sometime director until 1950.
Butt established herself as a playwright in 1945 with The Road through Melton, performed by the St. John's Players under her direction. She later wrote the plays New Lands, True Newfoundlanders, Newfoundland Pageant ( or As New As Old), Beat at the Gate, Catherine Snow, Mythical Men, Gently Falling Flakes, Faces of Women, Good-Bye Your Excellency, The Mayor's Wife, Snow Bound, To Toslow We'll Go, and Wheel in the Middle of a Wheel. Her plays Winter Scene, Good-Bye Your Excellency and The People's House won awards in the provincial Arts and Letters Competition, and Part of the Main won a prize at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 1969.
In 1951, Butt was one of the members of a committee which established the annual Arts and Letters Competition awards. From 1955 until 1973 she worked at the Gosling Memorial Library and held the positions of assistant librarian, librarian in charge of the Newfoundland Collection and Provincial Reference librarian. She also published poetry and prose. Her poems "Storm-caught" (1967), "Over Thirty" (1970), "Santiago El Grande at Fredericton" (1979) each received Arts and Letters awards, and "The Journey" (1980) earned an honorable mention.
On occasion, Butt has been a writer for radio and television, a television panelist and actress. In 1964, she was President of the provincial branch of the Canada Authors Association. In 1968, she became charter member of the Newfoundland Writers' Guild and in 1986, a member of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1981, she received an honorary doctorate in Letters from Memorial University and, in 1986, she was accorded the Lydia Campbell Writing Award from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council.
Lester Leland Burry was born on July 12, 1898 at Safe Harbour, Bonavista Bay to Stephen and Marie (Bourne) Burry. He attended school at Safe Harbour and Greenspond. In 1923, he graduated from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick with a degree in Arts and Theology. He returned to Newfoundland and was ordained as a Methodist minister at Gower St. United Church on June 30, 1924.
Rev. Burry served in St. Anthony as his first pastoral charge, remaining for 4 years. While in St. Anthony he met and married on Sept 4 , 1928 a teacher - Amelia Marie Penney of St. Anthony. After their marriage the Burrys were transferred to the pastoral charge of Curling for one year and then to Little Bay Islands for a further three years. While in Little Bay Islands, Rev. Burry was asked to serve the Hamilton Inlet Mission in Labrador for a period of three years. Dr. Burry and his wife moved to Northwest River, the base for the mission, and remained there for 26 years. In 1931 the Hamilton Inlet Mission was one of the largest geographically in Canada, comprising the 100 mile Inlet area and extended along the coast for another 200 miles. In this setting, Dr. Burry had to deal with the vastness, the sparse, spread-out population and the weather. In summer, travel was by Mission Boat - the “Glad Tidings II” (which he designed) - and in winter by dog team and in the last 8 years of his work in Labrador by snowmachine. Extended pastoral visits took 7 weeks twice a year for Rev. Burry to reach all the members of his pastoral charge, and in between there were shorter visits to other communities not as far-flung.
Dr. Burry recognized the isolation of the trappers who often were dozens of miles away from their families for many months of the year. He built crystal radio sets and earphones for the trappers and obtained a surplus radio transmitter from the American air base. On Sunday evenings the trappers were able to hear the church broadcast. On Tuesday evenings the women could talk with their husbands and friends on the trap lines. One resident commented that this was the best thing that could happen to Labrador. This service was expanded to include fishing schooners, fishing communities on the coast, light house keepers, traders and clerks at Hudson Bay outposts, and Sunday School classes.
Rev. Burry represented Labrador at the Newfoundland National Convention 1946-48 and was one of seven delegates to the meetings which worked out the Terms of Union of Newfoundland with Canada. He attended the official opening of the Churchill Falls Hydroelectric Development and saw the beginnings of iron ore mining in Labrador.
After the end of his mission work in Labrador (1957), the Burrys served the pastoral charge of Clark’s Beach for 2 years, then moved to St. John’s where Rev. Burry became chaplain to hospitals and institutions for the United Church for 4 years. He became Minister Emeritus of Cochrane St. United Church at this time, served on this church’s Board of Sessions, was chairman of St. John’s Presbytery of United Church of Canada (1958-59), and President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Conference of United Church of Canada (1959-60). Rev. Burry retired from active ministry in 1963.
In addition to his church work, Rev. Burry was involved in education, and was a strong advocate of interdenominational education. He was an avid gardener, photographer, amateur radio operator, and supporter of the John Howard Society (and served as its President for a time).
Rev Burry was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Theology from Pine Hill Theological College in 1950 and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in December, 1969. In 1975, the town of Happy Valley, Labrador named one of its streets “Burry Crescent” in honour of his contribution to Labrador.
Rev. Burry died on August 31, 1977 in St. John’s.
Dean Michael Burry (1971- ), opera composer, was born in Gander, Newfoundland in 1971. He wrote, produced and conducted several works while pursuing a Bachelor of Music at Mount Allison University, New Brunswick. Burry received a Masters degree in Music from the University of Toronto in 1996.