Showing 1086 results

Brooking & Co. was a St. John's-based mercantile firm, with branches in Trinity and Greenspond between 1850 and 1869. The firm was a successor to Robinson Brooking & Co., a major mercantile company in St. John's in the early 1800s.

Thomas Holdsworth Brooking (b. 1790) came to Newfoundland in 1806-7 as a mercantile clerk in the firm of Hart, Eppes, Gaden & Robinson of St. John's and London. In 1818, when the Newfoundland partner George Richard Robinson (nephew of George Garland) retired to the head office in London, Brooking became the resident partner in Newfoundland. Subsequently, the company traded as Hart, Robinson & Company. In 1838 Robinson & Brooking leased the Garland premises at Trinity.

Following the retirement and death of Robinson in 1850, Brooking continued the firm under the name of Brooking & Co., with William Lockyer as agent at Trinity. The firm relinquished its lease on the Garland premises in 1869, the year in which Brooking died, and the Garland premises were taken over by Grieve & Bremner. Expensive litigation between Brooking's two sons resulted in the rapid demise of the company.

: Samuel J. Broomfield (1852-1938) was born in Groswater Bay and lived in Jack Lane Bay, Hunt's River, Big Bay and Davis Inlet, among other parts of Labrador. He was a trapper and warden throughout his life. In 1912, he wrote a letter to King George V congratulating him on his coronation and sending him a present of a handmade sealskin pouch. This letter was publicized in English newspapers. Broomfield married Eliza Learning (1858-1927) from Paradise River. They had 4 sons and 6 daughters and also raised a grandson, John.

William J. Browne (1847-1911), Catholic priest and prelate, was born at St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1847. He died 13 August 1911.

Browne was ordained a priest in 1887, when he was 40 years old, and was appointed to the staff of the Cathedral of St. Joseph's Parish, St. George's, under the stewardship of Michael Francis Howley, Vicar Apostolic. Browne ministered at St. George's from 1887 to 1891. He then served as parish priest of St. Jacques (1891-1902); at the same time, he also ministered to Sacred Heart Parish, St. Bernard's, Fortune Bay. One of Browne's characteristics, the result of long years of business training, was his careful attention to detail. Browne was named a domestic prelate by the Pope, elevating him to the rank of monsignor.

Thomas Blair Browning (1848-1928), lawyer and writer, was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, the son of Elizabeth (Blair) Browning and Gilbert Browning, manufacturer. He had several siblings, including brothers Donald MacRae (lawyer and politician), John and James (businessmen) and sisters Mary, Jane (or Jean) and Elizabeth. Browning died on 10 Nov. 1928 at the home of his sisters in St. John's, following a brief illness.

T.B. Browning was educated at St. Andrew's School and the General Protestant Academy in St. John's. He attended Glasgow University and the University of Toronto. Browning practiced law in Ontario for several years until he moved to London, England, in 1892. There he was appointed Canadian consul, a post he held for more than twenty years.

Browning was an essayist of some significance and contributed articles to law journals as well as to The Dictionary of National Biography. He also wrote an article on Newfoundland for the volume British America, The British Empire Series, v. III, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1900.

Bruce Stacey was born in the Goulds in 1923. He spent a large part of his career as a Marine Aids Technician with the Canadian Coast and for many years carried out maintenance on their Lighthouses. In the mid 1980s Stacey was instrumental in starting a museum at the Coast Guard facilities on the South Side, St. John's in which he displayed the many artifacts he had collected while working there.

Stacey began his 57 year tenure with the scouting movement when he began as a Cub with the 6th St. John's Troop in the 1940s. As a scouter and member of the Provincial council he became involved in camps, training sessions, cuborees, jamborees etc. Bruce Stacey died in 1994.

Aileen (Mickey) Stacey was born in New York. Like her husband Bruce she was devoted to the scouting movement in Newfoundland. In 1972 she was appointed Assistant Provincial Commissioner for Beavers and was instrumental in the organization of the program in the province. She participated in many other scouting events and was involved in many jamborees both Provincially, Nationally and also attended a World jamboree in 1984. Mickey Stacey died in 1984.

Buchan, David (1780-1838), explorer, naval officer, surrogate judge, was born in Scotland in 1780. In 1802 or 1803, Buchan married Maria Adye; the Buchans had at least three children. Buchan was reportedly lost in a shipwreck on 8 December 1838, en route from India to England.

Buchan joined the British Navy and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1806. In 1808, Buchan became a convoy officer for the Newfoundland fishing fleet.

Buchan was involved in several initiatives to improve the strained relations between the Newfoundland government and the Beothuk tribes. In the winter of 1810, the Newfoundland Governor, John Duckworth, directed Buchan to travel to the interior of the island and make peaceful contact with the Beothuk. Buchan made the expedition in January 1811, traveling up the Exploits River with a party of 21 marines and 3 guides. Initial contact was promising, and four Beothuk agreed to travel back to Buchan's camp, with two marines left behind with the remaining tribe as hostages. The arrangement was a failure, ending with the murder of the marines. Buchan undertook a second expedition in late 1819, accompanied by John Peyton, Jr., to return the body of Demasduit to her tribe. In 1823, Shanawdithit, her mother, and sister lived with Buchan in St. John's.

Following the ill-fated expedition, Buchan served as surrogate judge at Trinity (1811). In 1818, he was appointed Commanding Officer at his Majesty's Forces on the Newfoundland Station and served as acting governor for the winters of 1816-1818. Both winters were difficult for the residents of St. John's, who suffered from fire and food shortages. Buchan did what he could to improve the situation, including sharing the rations of his crew among some of the residents. In 1820, he served as surrogate judge at the Harbour Grace court. During his tenure at Harbour Grace, he sentenced two fishermen to be flogged for contempt of court. Public outcry against the sentence resulted in a heavy fine against Buchan and the eventual abolition of the surrogate court system. Despite the controversy, Buchan was promoted to Captain in 1823 and sailed to England for the fall. When he returned to Newfoundland in 1825, he was appointed High Sheriff, a position he held until 1835. Following his resignation, he traveled to India.

Joseph Buckley was a merchant of Boston who married Joanna, daughter of Richard Shute and widow of Nathaniel Nichols, in 1688.

George Budgell (1887-1956), Hudson Bay employee and manager, was born in Fogo, Newfoundland, in 1887. He married Phyllis Painter; they had six children. Budgell died in 1956.

Budgell worked with the Husdon's Bay Company in Labrador for 35 years. He spent three years in Davis Inlet, one year in North West River, and the remainder in Rigolet where he served as the manager of the fur trading post.