St. Thomas' Church dates back to the year 1836, when the need was felt for a second Anglican Church in St. John's to service the growing population in the east end of the city. An early painting of St. John's shows the original St. Thomas' as a little church with a prominent tower. This tower is still part of the present church. The church was used as a garrison church by the British soldiers stationed in St. John's until the late 1870s, which led to its nickname, "The Old Garrison Church".
The church escaped the ravages of the great fire which destroyed much of the town in 1846. A change in the wind direction caused the fire to veer off in another direction. The same year, a violent storm is said to have moved the whole building six inches. In an effort to stabilize the structure, the wings, which characterize the present building, were added five years later. In 1874, the increase in the number of parishioners led to the lengthening of the church by thirty feet. The church was again enlarged in 1883 by extending the chancel and adding a vestry and additional space for the organ. The last alteration to the building was made in 1903, when the chancel was again lengthened to provide seating accommodation for over 1300 people. A second great fire in 1892 led to the destruction of the Cathedral but again St. Thomas' was miraculously saved, though most of the city was destroyed.
In the late 1800s, Canon Wood Church Hall was built next to the church to provide an area for meetings and gatherings. Later, a school was built between the Hall and the Church (1927). In 1966 the Church Hall was destroyed in a fire and in 1974 when the St. Thomas' School was closed the building became the "new" Canon Wood Hall.
In 1922, in an area beneath the church, a space was dug out by hand for a small chapel for the Brotherhood of St. Andrew's, a men's service group. This chapel was restored and re-dedicated in 1982.
From 1787 to 1839, Newfoundland was part of the diocese of Nova Scotia and when Bishop John Inglis of Nova Scotia first visited Newfoundland in 1827, he consecrated eighteen churches around the island, including the first Church at Torbay. This Church served the people of Torbay until 1926 when the cornerstone was laid for the present Church of St. Nicholas.
In 1832, Bishop Inglis again returned to Newfoundland mainly to visit the S.P.G. Schools and it was during this visit on July 7, 1832 that he consecrated the first Anglican Church in Pouch Cove which was named in honour of St. Thomas. This Church was destroyed by fire on January 22, 1882 and plans were made to erect a new building. From the evidence available the cornerstone was laid on All Saints Day, November 1, 1882 and to commemorate this fact, the new Church was named All Saints.
Prior to the appointment of Rev. T.G. Netten as Rector with responsibilities for Pouch Cove and Torbay on April 22, 1900 it seems that services were conducted by lay readers, clergy from St. John's parishes and those appointed in charge of the St. John's outport mission. The Parish formally came in being on March 1, 1923 at a joint meeting of Parishioners from Torbay and Pouch Cove when it was decided to elect a Parish Council.
The first Church of England was built in Harbour Grace in 1764 with the establishment of a mission to the community. The cornerstone for the present St. Paul's church was laid by Governor Prescott on August 28, 1835 on the same site as the 1764 church. It was then consecrated by Bishop Spencer on the 4th of July, 1840.
The first concrete evidence that St. Peter's congregation had been formed can be found in 1872. Baptismal records show baptisms for residents in that year. Parish records also show names of communicants from Harbour Grace South starting in December 25, 1872.
A St. Peter's Church for Harbour Grace South Anglicans was constructed between 1872-1875. At a special meeting held on May 17, 1906 collectors for the "new church" fund were appointed for different harbours of "THE LABRADOR" as follows: Carpoon - Thos. H. Sheppard; Fishing Ships - Clem Sheppard & Martin George ; Tub Harbour - James & Josiah Yetman; Seal Islands - Lymen & John Noel; Webbers Harbour - Alex Sheppard & Eliezer Noel; Shoal Tickle - Mark Sheppard; Shoal Bay Islands - Victor Sheppard and Leander Noel; Grady - Jonathan Sheppard; Sandy Islands - Moses Yetman
In 1925 St. Paul's and St. Peter's became one parish.
Anglican services first began on Flat Islands in the 1850s, with the church being served from the Parish of Salvage. The church remained as part of the parish of Salvage until the resettlement of Flat Islands in 1958
Quebec Airways was a Quebec based airlines. In 1939 a Quebec Airways plane made a forced landing south of Kaipotok, Labrador. On board the CF-BND aircraft were G.H. Davidson, secretary-treasurer of Macfarlane Son and Hodgson Ltd. of Montreal, J.C. Cote, a timber surveyer, and J. Fecteau, a pilot with Quebec Airways. Davidson had incorporated a company known as The Lake Melville Development Co., which had been granted logging concessions in Labrador by the Newfoundland Commission of Government. When the twin-engine aircraft failed to report after a few days, a land and aerial search party sought the missing plane and its occupants. There were no results. Tom Lyall found an SOS in 1940 when he went seal hunting in the spring. It was found tied to a string and placed inside a 3-gallon cork can located in a cove directly across the Bay from the old house the men died in. James McNeill located the bodies of the three men from the Quebec Airways aircraft in his cabin, in the Labrador wilds near Hopdale
In 1820, the Wesleyan Missionary Commitee first considered sending a Missionary to Labrador and, in 1821, Adam Clarke Avard was requested to commence the mission society in Hamiltion Inlet. Avard, however took sick and died before this could happen. In 1924, Thomas Hickson, a young minister from Newfoundland District offered to go to Labrador and report the results to the Wesleyan Conference and thus began the United Church Mission work in Labrador.
The Newfoundland Ranger Force, modelled after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was formed in 1934 following recommendations from the Brian Dunfield, Deputy Minister of Justice. This new organization would operate from detachments in remote areas while the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary would continue as the regualar police force in the larger towns of the Avalon and Bonivista peninsulas.
As its inception of The Newfoundland Ranger Force was placed under the Department of Natural Resources because the Rangers were to act as game wardens, and also because Justice was a relatively miner portfolio in 1935. The First Chief Ranger was Major Leonard T. Stick, an officer of the Newfoundland Regiment and a veteran of the Battles of Beaumont Hamel and Gallipoli.
The Rangers never numbered more than 72 men at any one time. Recruits were to have a minumum education of Grade XI, making the force somewhat exclusive for Newfoundlanders in the mid 1930s. Trainees were to be in top physical condition, not less than 5'9" in height or more than 189 pounds, single and between the ages of 21 and 28.
Rangers were to be responsible for carrying out the policies of no fewer than six government departments. The department of finance required that they collect custom duties and other fees and act as work commissioners. For the Department of Natural Resources they were responsible for the inspection of the logging camps, the enforcement of game laws, the issuing of licences and organizing and directing the fighting of forest fires. Rangers also acted for
Public Health and Welfare by issuing relief payments, arranging medical treatment and hospitalization when necessary and escorting mental patients to Hospital in St. John's. They enforced criminal law, investigated suspicious deaths and fires in some areas acted as deputy sheriffs for the Department of Justice. For home affairs and Education they acted as truant officers and organized adult education programs. For the Department of Public Utilities, Rangers supervised the maintenence and construction of public roads, wharves and break waters. The Force was effectively a liaison between outports residents and the government which, during Commision Government, acted without political accountability.
The first 30 recruits were sent to Detachments across the Island from Twillingate to Bonne Bay, and Labrador from Hebron to Cartwright. They were given rations for their stay and those going to Labrador were given buillding materials to construct their detachment quarters. Though the first recruits did not finish training until the fall of 1935, by spring of 1936 only the Hebron detachment was still under construction. Transportation of each detachment was on foot, by dog sled or in small boats.
The Rangers were received with mixed feelings into communities which had never been policed and where game and liquor laws were unpopular. The Rangers, who for the most part, had no previous experience in the north, were plagued by loneliness and cultural differences and this presented some problems. The criminal offences that the Rangers dealt with were minor, usually involving liquor and game infractions, common assult and petty theft. As peacekeepers, The Rangers tried to settle problems short of criminal prosecution.
With the outbreak of World War II, some Rangers Joined the Armed forces overseas and shortly after that an order was passed declaring the Rangers and Essential service. The War brought many new duties to the Force including assisting magistries in recruiting others for military service, returned deserters, and enforcing rationing and blackout orders. They also watched for enemy submarines and aircraft in coastal settlements. By 1945, there were nine detachments of the Rangers in Labrador.
Following confederation, the Province decided to dispense with the Ranger Force. They officially disbanded on July 31, 1950 and some of the Rangers joined the RCMP. Former members have helped to preserve the history of the organization through the Newfoundland Ranger Force Association, which was formed in 1968.
The Moravian Bethlehem collection is housed at the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennslyvania, U.S.A.
Alfred Thomas Henry Burness (1934-1991), medical researcher and Professor of Molecular Virology, was born on 10 February 1934 in Birmingham, England, the son of Alfred Charles Burness and Ivy Ravenall. Dr. Burness was one of four children; he had two brothers, Ron and John Leslie, and a sister, Barbara (Lynam). On 25 April 1959, Dr. Burness married Brenda Woods at Liverpool, England, and they had two sons, Gary Paul and Bradley Miles.
Dr. Burness received his early education at the Smith Street Primary School and the George Dixon Grammar School in Birmingham. He went on to earn his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Liverpool in 1959. Dr. Burness worked in Surrey from 1959 to 1962. He then moved to the United States and took up a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley (1962-1963). After this he returned to Surrey until 1968, when Dr. and Mrs. Burness moved to White Plains, New York State. There Dr. Burness joined the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York (1968-1971). From 1971 to 1976, they lived in Stamford, Connecticut. In 1976, Dr. and Mrs. Burness left the United States and moved to Newfoundland, where Dr. Burness took up a position with the Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Dr. Burness was the recipient of many awards and honours. In 1983, he won the Medical Research Council of Canada Visiting Scientist Award, which enabled him to spend a year at the Australian National University in Canberra (1983-1984). In 1987, he won the Alberta Heritage Foundation Visiting Lecturer Award. In 1989, Dr. Burness shared the Dr. Albert R. Cox Research Award (a grant of $25,000 awarded for outstanding research at Memorial University) with Dr. Kanwal Richardson for their virus research.
While Dr. Burness was at Memorial University, his scientific work earned in excess of $850,000 in research funding and equipment support from the Medical Research Council, the National Cancer Institute of Canada and the Canadian Diabetes Association. Dr. Burness also published extensively: he wrote numerous articles, papers and books about his medical research specialty, virology.
Dr. Burness was a member of various scholarly societies: the American Society for Virology, the Society for General Microbiology (United Kingdom), the Royal Society of Chemistry (Britain), and the Biochemical Society (United Kingdom). In his spare time, Dr. Burness pursued interests in astronomy and photography.
When Dr. and Mrs. Burness came to Newfoundland they lived in Portugal Cove-St. Phillips, where Mrs. Burness still resides. At the age of 57, Dr. Burness died of cancer on 26 October 1991 at Portugal Cove-St. Phillips. The Dr. Alfred Burness Graduate Student Award was established after his death in honour of his contribution to medical education at Memorial.
Albert Reginald Cox (1928-), physician, Dean of Medicine and Vice-President Academic, Memorial University of Newfoundland, was born in Victoria, British Columbia on 18 April 1928, the son of Reginald Herbert Cox and Marie Christina Cox (nee Fraser). In May 1954, Dr. Cox married Margaret Dobson at Vancouver, British Columbia and they have three children: Susan M., David J. and Steven F.
Dr. Cox was educated at Victoria High School and then attended Victoria College, Victoria, British Columbia (1946–1948). Dr. Cox earned a BA in 1950 and a MD in 1954 from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. Both Dr. Cox and his wife were in the first class (1950) of Medical Studies at the newly opened Faculty of Medicine, UBC. Margaret Cox earned her MD there in 1955.
After graduating from Medical School, Dr. Cox served his internship at the Vancouver General Hospital (1954-1955), and then worked a residency there (1955-1959). Dr. Cox was certified as Licentiate, Medical Council of Canada (LMCC) in 1955. He also received a licensure for the State of Washington (1959-1964), British Columbia (1961-1988), and Newfoundland (1969-1991). From 1955 to 1959, he served in the Armed Forces, holding the position of Flight Lieutenant (Medical Officer), Royal Canadian Air Force (Auxiliary). Dr. Cox was British Council Scholar, London Postgraduate Medical Program (Hammersmith Hospital), National Heart Hospital (September 1956 - June 1957). Continuing his education, Dr. Cox pursued Fellowship Training in Pharmacology and Cardiology at the University of Washington, Seattle (1959-1961).
Dr. Cox completed several special programs, including Teacher Training Program (6 weeks), Faculty of Medicine, University of Illinois (1965), and Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, American Heart Association (26 July – 8 August 1987). While on sabbatical, Dr. Cox was Special Student, Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health (September 1987 - June 1988), Visitor, Faculty of Medicine, Hobarth University, Tasmania (June 1988), Visiting Professor, University of Melbourne, Australia (July 1988), and Visitor, Faculty of Medicine, Flinders University, Australia (July 1988). Dr. Cox’ studies were paralleled by several academic publications throughout his career.
Over the years, Dr. Cox held a variety of academic and professional positions and appointments including: Instructor, followed by Assistant Professor, and then Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia (1962-1969); Professor and Chairman of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland (1969-1974); Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland (1972-1974); Dean of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland (1974-1987); Vice-President, Health Sciences and Professional Schools, and Vice-President Academic (Acting), Memorial University of Newfoundland (1988-1990), and Vice-President Academic, Memorial University of Newfoundland (1990-1991).
Dr. Cox held the following hospital appointments: Attending Staff, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia (1962-1969); Active Staff, General Hospital, St. John’s, Newfoundland (1969-1980); Chairman of Medicine, General Hospital, St. John’s, Newfoundland (1969-1974); Chief, Division of Cardiology, General Hospital, St. John’s, Newfoundland (1971-1974); Senior Consultant (Medicine), St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital, Grace General Hospital and Janeway Child Health Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland (1969-1974); Executive Medical Advisory Committee, General Hospital, St. John’s, Newfoundland (1970-1974); Honorary Consultant, St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital, Grace General Hospital, Janeway Child Health Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland (1975-1991); and Consulting Staff, General Hospital, St. John’s, Newfoundland (1981-1991).
Dr. Cox received many awards and distinctions throughout his career, including the following: Horner Prize and Gold Medal for highest standing in subject of Medicine (1954); Mead Johnson Fellowship of American College of Physicians (1955); General Lifeco Hawthorne K. Dent Fellowship in Cardiology (1959-1961); Canadian Life Insurance Medical Fellowship (1966-1970); Dr. Wallace Wilson Leadership Award, Medical Alumni Association, University of British Columbia (1986); Honorary Membership, College of Family Physicians of Canada (1987); Member, Order of Canada (1989); and 75th Anniversary Alumnus Award, University of British Columbia (Membership), (1954-1990).
Dr. Cox served on several Memorial University committees including: Chairman, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Faculty of Medicine (1969-1973); Chairman, Human Experimentation Committee (1969-1971); Planning and Development Committee for the Health Sciences Centre (1971-1978); Organization and Management Committee for the Health Sciences Centre (1974-1975); Integrating and Co-ordinating Committee of the Health Sciences Centre (1975-1987); Health Sciences Complex Committee (1975-1991); Joint Liaison Committees, University and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals (1974-1987); University Senate (1974-1991); Chairman, Governing Committee for the Labrador Institute of Northern Studies (1989-1991); Advisory Committee, Gerontology Centre (1989-1991); and Advisory Board, Faculty of Business Administration (1989-1991). Dr. Cox also served on several University of British Columbia committees (1963-1969).
Dr. Cox played an active role on several other committees and boards in Newfoundland, including: Board of Newfoundland and Labrador Computer Services, Ltd. (1975-1977); Board of International Grenfell Association (1973-1983); Member, St. John’s Hospital Council (1984-1991); Board of Directors, General Hospital, St. John’s (1984-1987); Medical Advisory Committee, Newfoundland Division, Canadian Heart Foundation (1987); Medical Advisory Committee, Newfoundland Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation (1987); and Board of Management, Agnes Pratt Home (1989-1991). Dr. Cox was also on the Executive, Medical Alumni Division University of British Columbia Alumni Association (1992-1997). Dr. Cox, throughout his career, was also on several committees in other provinces as well as on a national level.
Dr. Cox has been a member of several professional and learned societies. These include: Alpha Omega Honour Medical Society, University of British Columbia (1953-1992) and counselor (1966-1969); Fellow, Royal College Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCP), (1959 - present); Sigma Xi (1959-1992); Canadian Medical Association (1961-1992); British Columbia Medical Association (1961-1969); Canadian Cardiovascular Society (1962 - present); Fellow, American College of Physicians (FACP), (1968 - present); American Heart Association (1967-1992); Fellow, American College of Cardiology (FACC), (1968 - present); Newfoundland Medical Association (1969 - present); Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation (1970-1992); Association of Canadian Medical Colleges (Council), (1976-1991); and Canadian Intern Matching Service (1980-1984).
Dr. Cox retired in October 1991. In his spare time, Dr. Cox is interested in horticulture, specifically organic farming of vegetables and major crops of garlic; photography; and the Sylvan Pastoral Charge, United Church of Canada. Dr. and Dr. Cox presently reside in British Columbia, Canada.