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John Walsh (1833-1899), Catholic priest, was born in the Diocese of Monecoin, Ireland, in Janaury 1833, the son of Honora (Dunphy) and John Walsh. He died at Portugal Cove on 15 November 1899. He is buried in Belvedere Cemetery, St. John's.

Walsh completed his studies for the priesthood in St. John's Seminary College, Waterford, Ireland. He arrived in Newfoundland in 1853, and was ordained a priest on 24 June 1855 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, St. John's, by John Thomas Mullock, Bishop of the Diocese of Newfoundland.

Rev. John Walsh was initially stationed as curate in Immaculate Conception Parish, Harbour Grace (1859-72). In 1872 he was appointed parish priest of St. Peter and St. Paul Parish, King's Cove, Bonavista Bay. Walsh succeeded Rev.Thomas O'Connor as pastor of Holy Rosary Parish, Portugal Cove, where he resided at the time of his death.

Denis Kelly (1770-1824), Catholic priest, was born in 1770 at the mill of Rathmacknee in the parish of Killinick, County Wexford, Ireland. Kelly was ordained a priest on the continent in 1795 and arrived in Newfoundland at the invitation of Bishop Patrick Lambert in 1806.

Rev. Kelly was described as a pious, introspective priest, seemingly more concerned about his own personal edification than about parochial duties. Dean Patrick Cleary, who was an acquaintance of Father Kelly, described him as being "too holy," unsuited for missionary work. Kelly refused to accept fees for his services and was judged to be impractical in matters of administration.

Rev. Kelly stayed in Newfoundland for about 10 years, but his physical health was not suited for Newfoundland weather. In 1816, he returned to his native Barony of Forth (Barneyforth), where he retreated into an hermetical life in the chapel of Kilmachree and acquired a reputation for curative powers. Although he withdrew from the secular world, he retained a close association with the Franciscans in Wexford.

Rev. Kelly died at Barneyforth, Ireland, in 1824. He was buried in the chapel at Kilmachree.

Helen Louise Whiteway (1901-1982), teacher and writer, was born in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1901, the daughter of Solomon and Sarah Whiteway. She died in 1982 at the age of 81.

Educated at the Methodist College in St. John's, Louise Whiteway had the distinction of being the Jubilee Scholar for 1919. She completed Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from Mount Allison University and a PhD at Columbia University. She taught briefly at Memorial University College.

Whiteway was the author of academic publications, including articles on the history of Newfoundland. These were published in a variety of periodicals, including the Atlantic Advocate, Dalhousie Review, and the Newfoundland Quarterly.

Frederick A. Brazill (1881-1967), hotelier, salesman, insurance agent, was born in 1881. In 1902, he married Bride (surname unknown). The Brazills had three children; daughters Sheila, and Lal, and son James. Brazil died at St. John's on 8 January 1967. He signed his name Brazill, however his tombstone records his name as Brazil.

In 1898, Brazill was hired as an assistant to Charles H. Danielle, an eccentric American who owned and operated Octagon Castle, a hotel built at Octagon Pond. By 1901, Brazill was adopted by Danielle as his ward. When Danielle died in 1902, Brazill was his sole heir, and ran the hotel until it was destroyed by fire in 1905.

According to city directories, Brazill was employed as a salesman and insurance agent in St. John's, and an employee of Browning Harvey, Ltd. In the mid 1930s, Brazill was a member of The Partridge Social Club, a club for the employees of Browning Harvey, Ltd.

Edward Troy (1797-1872), Catholic priest, was born in Ireland in 1797. He died at Torbay on 2 April 1872.

Troy was ordained a priest at Carrick-on-Sur, in the diocese of Waterford and Lismore, Ireland, by Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming. He arrived in St. John's in May 1831 to serve in the Vicariate Apostolic of Newfoundland, at the invitation of Fleming. As an assistant to Fleming he took an active role in the construction of the new Cathedral. He built the first Roman Catholic church at Portugal Cove, which was dedicated in October 1833, and supervised the construction of a second church at Torbay (1834). Rev. Troy was appointed Vicar General on 4 July 1836.

Rev. Troy was perceived as the confident of Fleming and his political activities in St. John's provoked much controversy. In 1834 Rev. Troy attacked Governor Thomas John Cochrane as bigoted through a series of letters published under the name "Junius" in a local newspaper, The Patriot. The letters resulted in a libel suit against Troy which was dropped only when Cochrane was recalled to England. In 1835 many Protestants blamed Rev. Troy for the brutal assault on Henry D. Winton, proprietor of The Ledger, who had been previously verbally attacked by the priest. Despite Rev. Troy's alleged activities, Fleming appointed him as Vicar General on 4 July 1836.

During 1836 and 1837 Rev. Troy stigmatized Roman Catholics with different political views as "mad dog Catholics" and campaigned actively for Catholic radical candidates for the House of Assembly. In 1837-8, Rev. Troy attacked Henry John Boulton, Newfoundland chief justice, and was a prominent member of the Constitutional Society, a reform movement which effectively lobbied for his removal.

The Colonial Office sought Troy's removal in 1836 and 1837 and contacted church officials in Rome for support. In 1838 Fleming received correspondence (dated 5 January) from the Congregation of Propaganda which censured Troy and ordered that he be removed from the Island of Newfoundland. Fleming relocated the controversial priest to the Island of Merasheen, Placentia Bay (1839-47). During his stay there Father Troy built a church and other parish buildings.

In 1848 Rev. Troy was appointed parish priest of Holy Trinity Parish, Torbay (1848-72). During these years as pastor of Holy Trinity Parish he replaced the wooden church with a stone structure, established a Presentation Sisters convent and school, and erected a permanent presbytery and land ("Father Troy's Farm").

Rev. Edward troy was buried in a vault in the parish church at Torbay. When a new Holy Trinity Parish Church was constructed in 1922, Troy's remains, under the supervision of the parish priest, Rev. John Ashley, were buried beneath the church. In 1992, when a second parish church was built, Rev. Troy's remains were removed and interred in Holy Trinity Parish Cemetery, Bauline Line, Torbay.

Gordon Myles (1936-1996), teacher, stamp collector and genealogist, was born Sydney Gordon Miles on 15 March 1936 at Grand Bruit, Newfoundland, son of Roy Cameron Miles and Marjorie Florence (Billard) Miles; the family later changed their name from Miles to Myles. In 1960 Myles married Marilyn Janet Hussey; they had three children. Following a divorce in 1983, Myles married Gloria Maria (Kitts) Miller. He died 31 December 1996.

Myles received his early education at Grand Bruit, Newfoundland. In 1950, the Myles' family moved to Sudbury, Ontario, where the family name change occurred. In 1953 Myles' father, mother and sister were killed in a boating accident and Gordon went to live with his aunt and uncle, Dorothy and Ross Billard.

Myles was successful at school, receiving a number of awards and graduating in 1955. He attended Victoria College, University of Toronto (1956-59) , graduating with a honours degree in history. Immediately after graduating, Gordon was employed as a researcher with the Ontario-St. Lawrence Development Commission and the following September he went to work at the Public Archives of Ontario, Toronto. In 1960 Myles enrolled at Ontario College of Education in Toronto, and, in 1961, he was hired by the Etobicoke Board of Education. Five years later he became the head of the history department at a new school under the Etobicoke Board. In 1974 he took a year's leave to study at the University of Toronto School of Library Science and was awarded a master's degree (Dec. 1976). In 1979 Myles was appointed head of the Library Department in the Etobiko School system.

Myles was an avid stamp collector, a hobby which began when he was six years old and continued into adulthood. He had become interested in Eastern Arctic (Hudson Bay) mail routes as a result of a summer job, working in the Canadian Arctic on the New DEW line. He researched the R.M.S. Nascopie, wrote manuscripts and collected philatelic covers carried by the Nascopie. Myles sold his stamp collection in 1979, but retained some postal covers. He discontinued his studies of Eastern Arctic mails after he developing an interest in genealogy. Myles began his Newfoundlland family research in 1984, continuing until his death in 1996.

Thomas McGrath (1839-1877), Catholic priest, was born in Tipperary-Ballingarry, Thurles, Ireland, in 1839. He completed a portion of his studies for the priesthood in St. Patrick's College, Carlow, Ireland (1857-60). He was ordained a priest in the chapel of the college in 1862 for ministry in the Diocese of Newfoundland.

Shortly after ordination, Rev. McGrath arrived in Newfoundland and was appointed a curate in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Parish, St. John's, where he served from 1862 to 1868. From 1868 to 1869, he held the position of president of St. Bonaventure's College, St. John's. In 1872, he was appointed a curate in St. Patrick's Parish, St. John's and served there until 1877, when he returned to Ireland.

Rev. McGrath died in Tipperary, Ireland, 21 June 1877 and was buried in High Graves Cemetery, Ballingarry.

William Hearn (1784-1838), Catholic priest, was born in 1784 at Killila, or possibly in Ballyruane townland area, County Wexford, Ireland. He arrived in Newfoundland as a clerical student in 1811 at the invitation of Bishop Patrick Lambert. Under the personal supervision of Bishop Lambert, he continued his ecclesiastical studies in St. John's. He was later sent to the seminary in Nicolet, Quebec, to complete his studies for the priesthood. There, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Plessis of Quebec on 31 August 1814.

At that time, Bishop Joseph Octave Plessis expressed his desire to Bishop Lambert to retain Rev. Hearn in Quebec to minister to the Irish population there. However, Bishop Lambert felt he had a greater need for Hearn's services in Newfoundland, and had him return to the island following his ordination. Hearn began his ministry in 1814 as a curate to the Catholic population in Conception Bay, under the pastoral leadership of Rev. John Fitzsimmons, with residence in Harbour Main. He was then appointed a curate to Rev. Ewer (also spelled Yore) at Harbour Grace, where he served from 1817 to 1818.

Hearn's next appointment was in 1819 as curate to Rev. Andrew Cleary, parish priest of Sacred Heart Parish, Placentia. During that year, he was appointed curate to the pastor at St. Patrick's Parish, Burin, whom he later succeeded as parish priest. While serving in Burin, Rev. Hearn visited Catholic populations in various communities in Fortune and Hermitage bays as well as the Mi'kmaq community of Conne River.

In the early 1820s, Hearn was the first Catholic priest to make a pastoral visit to the Bay St. George area. He travelled through some 320 kilometres (200 miles) of trackless forest from Notre Dame Bay to St. George's, accompanied by an unidentified Mi'kmaq guide. Little attention has been given to this journey in Newfoundland history, although it preceded the famous trans-island trek made by William Cormack in 1822. Rev. Hearn possibly may have also visited other communities further northward along the west coast of Newfoundland, including Port au Choix.

The arduous, lonely life of a missionary in the remote part of an isolated island apparently took its toll on Hearn. Contemporaries observed that he became increasingly eccentric as he became older. Bishop Michael Francis Howley stated in his Ecclesiastical History of Newfoundland that Hearn had a mental malady. He died at Placentia on 18 October 1838.

John Richard Goodridge (18?-1913), importer-exporter, was the son of Alan Goodridge (1808-1884) and partner in Alan Goodridge & Sons Limited with his father and brothers Henry C. and Augustus F. Goodridge. In 1891, Goodridge married Annie Lenora, daughter of Thomas Trumble of Ballymote, County Sligo, Ireland.

In the late nineteenth century, Alan Goodridge & Sons Limited was one of the most successful firms in Newfoundland. The firm owned one of the largest shipping fleets in Newfoundland, and was Newfoundland's second and third largest exporter of codfish in 1894 and 1895, respectively. Their waterfront premises in St. John's occupied an entire block, bounded on the east by Beck's Cove and on the west by Codner's Cove. The firm operated extensively on the Southern Shore, with branches at Bay Bulls, Witless Bay, Tors Cove, Ferryland, Calvert (Caplin Bay), Fermeuse, and Renews. It also had branches in Placentia Bay, Trinity Bay (Nipper's Harbour and New Perlican), Green Bay, St. Mary's Bay, and Labrador.

Alan Goodridge had originally been involved in a business established by his father, Henry, at Renews, but in 1839, he began to export fish and import goods on his own account. For a few years, he was in partnership with a John Goodridge, possibly his brother, under the banner of Alan Goodridge and Company. In the mid-1850s, Alan shifted the headquarters of the firm from Renews to St. John's. Two years later, Alan's youngest son, Henry Churchward, joined the firm, prompting a name change to Alan Goodridge & Son. In 1862, a second son, Augustus Frederick, joined the firm, followed by John Richard in 1866. With these new additions, the firm's name became Alan Goodridge & Sons Limited. Alan Goodridge retired from the business in 1878.

Despite prosperity in the late 1800s, the firm was forced to declare insolvency following the bank crash of 1894. The Goodridges reorganized the business and, in 1912, the firm was incorporated as Alan Goodridge & Sons Limited. In 1917, the company liquidated and re-emerged as Goodridge & Company Limited. This new firm liquidated in 1922 and re-emerged as Renews Trading Company Limited. Renews Trading Company became Tors Cove Trading Company Limited in 1926 and continued under that name until the 1960s, when it was sold to other parties.

Reuben Carpenter (1911-2001) master shipbuilder, designer, vessel inspector, was born in Little Catalina, Newfoundland on 21 June 1911, son of Annie (Tippett) and Philip Carpenter. Reuben Carpenter married twice. His first marriage was to Elizabeth Dalton and they had three children: Winnie, Marcie and Pearl. His second marriage was to Ducile Johnson and they had five children: Joe, Louise, Bruce, Marie, and Joan. Carpenter died in Port Union, Newfoundland on 18 May 2001.

Between the mid 1940s and 1965, Carpenter worked at the Clarenville Shipyard where he designed and built ships, including the "Splinter Fleet" and the Philip E. Lake, the last of the Newfoundland banking schooners. In 1965, Reuben Carpenter moved his family from Clarenville to Port Union and opened Carpenter's Shipyard. In the 1970s, Carpenter also worked for the Government of Newfoundland as a boat inspector, and in Postville, Labrador where he was involved in vessels construction.

Carpenter retired to Port Union where he died in 2001.