My Excellent Newfoundland Adventure - Part 5

I spent the remainder of my time during the seminar week at the Maritime History Archives. There is a registration process but there is no fee involved. Photocopies and photography are allowed here and the Archives is in the process of digitizing and making available many of its holdings. There is a wealth of material at the Archives but I found the most interesting material (and I do not think you can access this material elsewhere) to be the student papers, the Keith Matthews Name files, and microfilms of County Wexford baptism and marriage registers.

Apparently a professor at MUN made a point of assigning his students a paper in their various courses that combined family history, community and Newfoundland traditions’ research. Many of the students wrote about their families (and interviewed various family members) and/or their communities (again interviewing the community elders and finding out occupational, religious, educational and holiday traditions and/or stories). Some of the student papers included photographs, drawings, and handwritten family trees. I was quite jealous of one NEHGS participant who not only was able to read a lengthy student paper about her family’s early days in Newfoundland but also was able to acquire a family tree to assist in her research – I think my relatives must have been out fishing!

I did get to read (and photocopy) a number of papers written about Plate Cove, Open Hall, King’s Cove, and Bonavista, as well as read about affiliated families who settled in those communities. One student wrote a great deal about holiday traditions in Plate Cove and another wrote about the fishing industry and made an excellent drawing mapping his families’ homes, the various fishing flakes and laid out the church, post office, general store and neighbors homes through a 30 year period. The student papers made for fascinating reading and gave me a window into my ancestors’ world.

The Name files consist of a tremendous amount of information collected by Dr. Keith Matthews (a founding member and former chair of the Maritime History Group) relating to people and places having to do with the fishing industry both in Newfoundland and abroad. The files contain information on approximately 7,300 surnames collected from a variety of sources (a fuller description of this collection may be found at the Maritime History Archives). I checked out the information contained in these files for all of my Newfoundland surnames.

I had an opportunity to review one of the microfilms relating to St. Mullins, County Wexford parishes and it was fascinating to see the various surnames that belong to my “Irish-side” grandparents. While I do not know at this time if any of the families referenced in the church register are related, it was interesting to see the various families – Keough, Murphy, Aylward, Cavanaugh, Dooley, Driscoll, Shaughnessy and Tracey - in the mid-1700s. Apparently the British Library was getting rid of some microfilm they either had copies of or decided they no longer wanted and they offered them to the Maritime Archives who snapped them up! Trying to read Latin versions of given names and and variants of the surnames I know so well was quite an exercise. The penmanship was beautiful and quite easy to read (once you got the hang of it – thank goodness I had a bit of Latin at university!).

Next time ~ How I spent my time when the research facilities were closed.

My Excellent Newfoundland Adventure - Part 3

On Monday all the participants met up and went to The Rooms at PANL and the Maritime History Archives at MUN for orientations given by the Archivist at each facility. 

A view of The Rooms - PANL - A Great Place to Research!

A view from the inside of The Rooms 

PANL is an amazing purpose-built museum and archives overlooking St. John's.  The building was designed to resemble a fishing room and the views are spectacular.  The Rooms provides a comfortable, spacious and lovely area to conduct genealogy research.  The entire staff is friendly, helpful and willing to provide suggestions to assist with your research both at PANL and at other facilities located in St. John's.  Their website is very informative (be sure to check out their family history page) and a summary of their holdings is listed on-line.  You can get a head start on locating documents and microfilm by planning ahead and they can also assist with distance research.  If you are planning a research trip to St. John's, check out their website at The Rooms.

The Maritime History Archives - right on the MUN Campus

The Maritime History Archives is located in the basement of the Mathematics Building at MUN.  Although it does not have the grandeur of The Rooms, their Archivists and their holdings are outstanding.  Both the Ryan and the Matthews collections are maintained here (be sure to check out their digitized collections online) as well as student papers relating to numerous Newfoundland communities and families.  There are several indices to help you locate information.  Be sure to check out The Maritime History Archives.

During the remainder of the week, participants choose whether to research at PANL or MUN and were provided with transportation from the hotel to either site.  Some participants branched out on their own and went to the Crown Records Office, the Land Records Office, local churches, or the Centre for Newfoundland Studies (also on the MUN Campus).  During the week I focused on researching at PANL and the Maritimes History Archives.  I had a very good experience researching at both locations but I honestly think I would have had the same experience had I gone to St. John's on my own.  The City tour and the Whale Watch Puffin Boat tour were both very informative and enjoyable.  I do think that the City tour would have been better scheduled on the first day of our trip rather than the last day and it would have served as an ice-breaker of sorts among the participants.  I would definitely suggest that anyone going to St. John's take in a bus or walking tour to get a feel for the layout of City early on in their stay.

Next time ~