Alberto Wareham Limited was established at Spencer's Cove, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland circa 1903. This small mercantile business later expanded into Harbour Buffett and became a major supplier of the inshore fishery in eastern Placentia Bay.
Lewisporte Mission, formerly known as Marshallville, was visited by a minister from Exploits as early as 1842 and he conducted services in people's homes. The first church was a log cabin which was constructed in 1876, the same year of settlement and served the Methodist community as Church, Sunday school, and Day school. Lewisporte Mission had the following appointments: Lewisporte, South Side, Stanhope (Scissors Cove), Salt Pond, and Little Burnt Bay. In 1889, Big Burnt Bay (Lewisporte) became associated with the Laurenceton Charge and became a regular preaching point and the first minister was an Englishman by the name of Samuel J. Russell. In 1891, the name of the community was changed from Burnt Bay to Marshallville.
In 1901-02, Lewisporte became a separate charge with its own resident minister, having received the name of Lewisporte the year before. The preaching points on the Lewisporte Charge in 1901 were Lewisporte (north side and south side), Scissors Cove (now Stanhope), Salt Pond (now Embree) and Little Burnt Bay. Glenwood and Millertown were included in the Lewisporte Mission in 1903 and another church building was constructed to replace the first church. A forest fire in 1905 destroyed almost all the buildings in Lewisporte, including the parsonage which had only been built in 1904. Rev. Edwin Moore saved some of his books by burying them but all the church records were lost. Because of the boggy conditions where the second church was built, it was unsuitable for the congregation and they decided to dismantle the church in 1913. A new church was built and opened in the spring of 1916. At this time, the Methodist population of Lewisporte was recorded as 488.
In 1925, the Methodist church of Newfoundland entered into a Church Union and became a part of the United Church of Canada. A church was built in Porterville, a preaching place of Lewisporte, in the 1940's. At that time there were six families living at Porterville.
In 1957, the church at Lewisporte was officially given the name "St. Matthew's United Church." This building was located on what is now the parking lot of the present church. Due to a rapidly growing congregation, it was decided in 1960 that a new church building was needed. The last service in the old church was held on September 8, 1963. The corner stone for the new church was laid by Dr. Hardie in a special ceremony after the morning service. The old church was taken down in the fall of 1963 and the site used for a parking lot for the church. On April 19th, work started on the new church and the building was finished in about ten months. On March 15, 1964, the official opening and dedication of the present St. Matthew's United Church took place.
Only five ministers have served the church throughout its history. Worthy of note is the Reverend Arthur Elliott, whose tenure extended from 1968 to 1988. Rev. Elliott's name is revered not only by the congregation of St. Matthew's but by the whole town of Lewisporte.
The United Church has played a very important role in the life of the town of Lewisporte. Its history can be traced back to the first settlers, Mr. And Mrs. Robert Woolfrey. Its past has been one of continual spiritual and physical growth. The church has grown and prospered with the development of the town and is presently an active, vibrant force in the community. The congregation has steadily increased and presently consists of 500 families.
In 1817 Burin became a Methodist mission in the Newfoundland District of the English Wesleyan Methodist Conference under the supervision of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. Rev. J. Lewis was appointed the first minister of the mission. Conference minutes reports that in 1830, Sound Island, Rock Harbour, Oderin, Burgeo (renamed Chambers Island), Haystack, Haddock’s Brook, North Harbour, “and several other places” were visited.
The first Chapel in Burin was built at Parsons Point (reports of having a chapel and dwelling house were made in 1830) and was used until 1841 when a new one was erected at Church Rock. In 1843 the “old mission house was sold and a new one purchased”, and in 1844 a Chapel was reported being built at Bull Cove. In 1865 a second chapel was constructed and remained in operation until 1904 when the cornerstone for the third church was laid. The Church was officially opened in 1906.
The original organizational structure of the Circuit is not known but after 1874 the Burin Circuit was administered under a Sessions/Steward/Official Board organizational model. This structure continues until the present day.
The boundaries of the circuit shrunk as new missions were formed on Sound Island in 1850, Flat Islands in 1873, and Epworth in 1894. Although these new missions were formed, Burin ministers still travelled the Bay as needed. At the turn of the century Burin congregations were being listed only in the immediate area. In 1930 congregations are listed as in Collins Cove, Great Burin, Footes Cove, Bull Cove. In 2001 the Pastoral Charge consisted of congregations in Burin Bay Arm (Bethany) and Burin-Collins Cove (Zion).
The 1969 report of the provincial Special Commission on Sports and Youth Activities recommended that a sport development and advisory council be established to advise and assist the provincial government in determining policies as they related to amateur sport and youth programmes throughout the province. This body would act as a liaison between the various individual sport organizations and between those organizations and the provincial government. It would also organize Newfoundland and Labrador's participation in national and inter-provincial competitions and provide research, registration, statistical and fundraising services. Sport Newfoundland and Labrador was established in 1972 in response to the commission's report. Beginning as the Newfoundland Amateur Sports Federation, the organization changed its name to Sport Newfoundland and Labrador in 1990.
According to its current (1999) mission statement, Sport Newfoundland and Labrador "develops and promotes amateur sport in partnership with its affiliated Provincial Sports Organizations". Sport Newfoundland and Labrador provides programmes and information to over forty individual sport organizations and represents the interests of its members in dealings with various levels of government as well as with the media. It administers annual awards for male and female junior and senior Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year and Sports Executive of the Year: it is also responsible for the Sports Hall of Fame.
The St. John's Regatta Committee Hall of Fame was established in 1987. The constitution of the organization states that the objects of the Committee are:
(1) To recognize, honour and pay tribute to individuals or crews on the basis of ability, sportsmanship, talent and achievement of extraordinary distinction in rowing, whether amateur or professional;
(2) To recognize, honour and pay tribute to those individuals, groups or associations who have given distinguished service and who have made a major contribution to the development and advancement of rowing in Newfoundland;
(3) To encourage the development of all aspects of rowing by permanently recording the achievements and history of such individuals, groups, associations or crews.
(Constitution, 1987)
The Hall of Fame is held in trust by a Board of Governors appointed by the St. John's Regatta Committee.
The Board of Governors, in its turn, appoints a six-member Selection Committee. There are three categories of membership: rowers/crews, coxswains/coaches and builders. Any Newfoundlander enrolled in the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame or the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame whose major achievement was in rowing is also included in the St. John's Regatta Committee Hall of Fame. No one is eligible for inclusion in the Hall of Fame until three years have elapsed since they have actively participated in rowing.
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.
Sacred Heart Parish was established in 1893 and included the communities of Tors Cove, Mobile, Burnt Cove, St. Michael's, Bauline and La Manche. Before 1893, these communities were part of St. Patrick's Parish (established in 1831).
Initially, the ecclesiastical center of Sacred Heart Parish was established at Mobile, with Rev. Michael O'Driscoll as the first parish priest. Documentation on Mobile is confusing and conflicting. There is evidence that the community of Mobile was separated from Sacred Heart Parish in 1898 and erected as a separate parish. The name of this parish has not been verified but it is believed to have been called St. Aiden's, the same name as the church at Mobile destroyed by fire (1963). Sometime before 1911, Mobile Parish may have been canonically suppressed and Mobile was transferred again to Sacred Heart Parish. In 1911,the centre of Sacred Heart Parish was established at Tors Cove. In 1921, when Sts. Peter and Paul Parish was created, Mobile was removed from Sacred Heart Parish and was added to St. Patrick's Parish.
In 1959 the parish priest, Rev. James J. Coady, resigned and due to a shortage of priests, Sacred Heart Parish did not receive a replacement. Instead, the parish priest at Witless Bay, Rev. McGrath, became the administrator for Sacred Heart Parish. In 1965, Sacred Heart Parish was dismembered by canonical decree and it too came under the jurisdiction of St. Patrick's Parish. Both parishes, however, were maintained as two separate distinct parishes with separate financial, birth, death and marriage records. In 1996, Sacred Heart Parish and St. Patrick's Parish were both canonically suppressed. The successor parish was the newly created parish, Our Lady, Star of the Sea.
The first Catholic school in Tors Cove was built by Dean Cleary in 1844. The first school at St. Michael's was also built in 1844 and served the communities of St. Michael's, Burnt Cove and Bauline. This structure was replaced with a new one in 1859. The schools at Tors Cove and St. Michael's continued to be all grade schools until 1968 when the Mobile Central High School opened and a new primary-elementary school was established in Tors Cove. The school building in St. Michael's reopened in 1974 as St. Michael's Print Shop.
In the 1960's Rev. Lawton (administrator to Tors Cove Parish) established the first Parish Council in Tors Cove-St. Michael's, followed by the organization of a parish council.
The parish priests of Sacred Heart Parish were as follows: Rev. Michael O'Driscoll 1893-[1908?]; Rev. Patrick O'Brian (1908-1914); Rev. J. J. Coady (1915-1959); Rev. Richard McGrath as administrator (1959-1965); Rev. William Lawton as administrator (1965-1973); Rev. E. J. Purcell as administrator [1973-1986]; Rev. Anthony Bennett (1986-1987); Rev. Francis Puddister (1987-1990); Rev. William Pomroy as administrator (1990-1995); and Rev. Robert Ryan as administrator (1995-1996).
The United Nail and Foundry Company Limited, a metalworks firm based in St. John's, Newfoundland, was established after a resolution of amalgamation was approved by the the shareholders of the Newfoundland Consolidated Foundry Company Limited and the St. John's Nail Manufacturing Company Limited. On 6 May 1930 the provisional directors, Marmaduke G. Winter, Charles P. Ayre, Tasker Cook, Daniel A. Ryan, Charles A. C. Bruce, Albert O'Reilly and Samuel J. Foote met for their first meeting, with Frederick W. Angel as chair.
After the amalgamation large investments were made to set up an up-to-date industrial plant, new machinery and new equipment was purchased to expand into electro-plating, non-ferrous casting, galvanizing, semi-steel casting and later steel and alloy casting. 1931 saw the opening of the plating and oxidizing plant, brass and aluminum plant and soil pipe fitting plant. The galvanizing and holloware plants had begun construction and were opened in 1934 and the steel plant in 1937.
The company survived the 1950's and 1960's but they were not profitable as it expanded to cope with work from the opening of the Wabush mines. The foundry had the contract to do the castings but found it harder and harder to get the business as the foundry was using outdated equipment and could not keep up with the orders. The demand for cast metal stoves and ranges had also declined as electric ranges and alternative modes of heating came on stream. The nail factory was also using the old process of nail manufacturing, so they became less competitive with outside manufacturers who shipped their products into the province. Finally a major fire in 1972 destroyed the office, shipping warehouse, pattern shop, plating and fitting shops. The business did not rebuild and in 1979 it ceased operations and went into receivership in 1982.
Ivanhoe and Traytown are two resettled community on the island of Ireland’s Eye in Trinity Bay, in the Parish of Trinity. A meeting of the residents was held May 1,1926, respecting the erection of a church for their communities. Those present voted to have a church “central between Ivanhoe and Traytown”. Permission was granted by the Diocesan Synod and the site across the road from the school was selected. Plans were drawn up by the Rector of the Parish, Rev. E. P. Hiscock, and approved by Synod.
The church was completed by June 1929, and consecrated later that year. The communities were resettled under the provincial government program in the 1960s. The final recorded congregational meeting was held in 1964. There was no reference to the impending closing of the church, but the lay reader, Mr. Cecil King referred to people “going away from the place they once loved so dearly”. By 1966 the resettlement of the community was complete.
The Newfoundland Shipowners Association was incorporated in 1973. Its predecessor organization was the Newfoundland Coasters' and Seamen's Association (est. 1938), reconstituted as the Newfoundland Shipowners and Ship Repairers following confederation with Canada (1949) and renamed the Newfoundland Shipowners Association (1960s).
The mandate of the Newfoundland Shipowners Association was to represent agents and managers of vessels owned and operated in Newfoundland, and elsewhere in Canada. Its goals were to support and protect its members from adverse legislation, especially amendments to the Canadian Labour Code; to assist members with the resolution of problems pertaining to the improvements of registered vessels; and to secure improvements in surveys of coastal waterways, navigational aids, and weather observations.
The association's membership included prominent shipping companies, including Lake and Lake Shipping, J. Petite and Sons, D. Frampton and Comapny, and Chimo Shipping Company. The office of the company was situated at various locations around St. John's. The association folded in 1988/89.