Newfoundland Biography
(1497-2004)

Claude Bélanger,

 

[Wherever it is pertinent, links to the Canadian Encyclopedia (Can. Ency), the Dictionary of Canadian Biography (DCB), or to a suitable site (website or a specific title) are made to complete and update the information presented here. The reader is urged to follow these links. The Editor has added to the original text all elements between brackets [...], as well as images and links. Factual mistakes and orthography have been corrected where appropriate. An extensive and rich collection of photos/pictures of Newfoundland from the 1880's may be consulted. The collection is divided into regions: the Avalon Peninsula, the Burin Peninsula, the Northeast region, and the Labrador area. For the full citation of the source, see the end of the text.]

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Kean, Abram (1855-1945), master mariner, was born at Flowers island, Bonavista bay, Newfoundland, on July 8, 1855, youngest of the nine children of Joseph and Jane Kean. He was engaged in the fisheries until 1890, when he took command of a ship in the coastal service. He commanded ships in the springtime seal fishery for forty-seven years and brought in more than 1,000,000 seals, and in 1916 in the Florizel brought in 46,481 seals weighing 1,106 tons, thereby setting a record for the greatest amount of fat taken in one trip. He was a member of the House of Assembly for Bonavista (1885-89) and Bay de Verde (1897), and served as minister of marine and fisheries in 1897. He died on May 18, 1945. In 1872 he married Caroline Yetman, and by her had six sons and two daughters. A wealth of fact and opinion regarding seal and other fisheries of Newfoundland is contained in his autobiography, Old and young ahead; a millionaire in seals (London, 1935). In 1934, in recognition of his outstanding success in sealing, he was made [an officer] of the Order of the British Empire. [Can. Ency] [Page on his sealing career] [additional biography] [Biography at the Canadian Orangeism site]

Keats, Sir Richard Goodwin (1757-1834), admiral, was governor of Newfoundland from 1813 to 1816. [website] [DCB]

[Keen, William (168?-1754). Attempted to establish a judicial system in Newfoundland. Was a witness to the capture of St. John's by the French in 1708. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)] [DCB]

Kelley, James Butler Knitt (1832-1907), third Anglican bishop of Newfoundland, was born in England in 1832. He graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, in 1854, and later received the M.A. and D.D. degrees. In 1864 he left the vicarship of Kirk Michael to become archdeacon of Newfoundland, and on August 25, 1867, was consecrated coadjutor bishop, with the understanding that he would succeed Bishop Feild. His mission ship, the Star, totally wrecked in 1871, was replaced by the Lavrock, in which he continued to make his episcopal visits, although it is said that he was not a good sailor. He succeeded to the bishopric in 1876, but when a coadjutor had not been appointed by the following year, he resigned and returned to England. In 1885 he was elected primus of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. He died on May 15, 1907. In 1871 he married Louisa Bliss, daughter of the first puisne judge of Nova Scotia. See C. H. Mockridge, The bishops of the Church of England in Canada and Newfoundland (Toronto, 1896).

Kent, James Mary (1872-1939), lawyer and politician, was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, on May 31, 1872, son of Robert Kent, Q.C., and Ellen Donnelly, and grandson of John Kent. He attended Clongowes Wood College, Ireland, and became a B.A. at the Royal University of Ireland in 1890. After his return to St. John's he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1893. In 1904 he was elected to the assembly for St. John's East. He became attorney general in 1907, and in 1909 was Newfoundland's delegate to Washington in connection with the fisheries dispute. Upon the retirement of Sir Robert Bond in 1914, he was elected leader of the Liberal party. In 1916 he was appointed to the supreme court of Newfoundland. He died on June 23, 1939. In 1905 he married Annie, daughter of William P. Walsh.

Kent, John (1805-72), Prime Minister of Newfoundland (1858-61), was born in Waterford, Ireland, and came to Newfoundland in his fifteenth year. He entered politics at an early age as a Liberal, and during thirty-seven years as a member of the legislature (1832-69) demonstrated firm loyalty to his own opinions. In. 1838 he was a principal in the case of Kielly v. Carson, which began with Dr. Kielly threatening to pull Kent's nose and ended with the House being prorogued. While he was Prime Minister he disagreed with members of his own government over payment of the dole to able-bodied men, he incurred the wrath of Bishop Mullock over a steamship contract, and finally in 1861 he accused the governor, Sir Alexander Bannerman, of conspiracy against the government. When he refused to explain the charge, his ministry was dismissed. From 1866 to 1869 he was receiver general in the Carter administration. He died in 1872. See E. B. Foran, Newfoundland states­men of the past, in J. R. Smallwood (ed.), Book of (St. John's, 1937). [Can. Ency] [DCB] [picture] [The Election riot of 1861] [Short biography] [Nationmaster encyclopedia]

[Keough, William (1913-1971). Labour organizer and newspaper editor, he was deeply affected by the misery he witnessed during the Great Depression. He was elected to the National Convention and championed union with Canada as a way to achieve a decent standard of living for Newfoundlanders. After 1949, he served on the cabinet of Smallwood governments.] [Biography at the Newfoundland Heritage site] [Picture of the members of the National Convention] [History of the Newfoundland National Convention]

[Kéréon, Sieur de (dates unknown). Governor of Placentia/Plaisance in 1655. (Newfoundland heritage site)] 

King, Sir Richard, first Baronet (1730-1806), was appointed governor and commander-in-chief of Newfoundland in 1792. He entered the navy in 1738, and served in the Mediterranean and the Vast Indies. He was knighted in 1787, created baronet in 1792, and in 1795 was promoted to the rank of admiral. [website]

[Kirke, Sir David (c. 1597-1654) Proprietary governor of Newfoundland (Ferryland) in the period of 1638-1651. (Newfoundland heritage site) (Sir David Kirke and the Newfoundland Plantation) (David Kirke and the Pool Plantation) (short biography)] [DCB] [Can. Ency]

[Lambert, Patrick (1755?-1816). Was appointed Roman Catholic Coadjutor bishop to Bishop Lambert in 1805. Succeeded him as Vicar Apostolic in 1807. Held the post until 1816. [Archives' Inventory Guide] [DCB]

[La Palme (dates unknown). Governor of Placentia/Plaisance between 1667 and 1670. (Newfoundland heritage site)]

[La Poippe (died in 1684). Governor of Placentia/Plaisance between 1670 and 1684. (Newfoundland heritage site)] [DCB]

[Lee, Fitzroy Heney (c. 1698-1750). Naval governor of Newfoundland from 1735 to 1737. (Newfoundland heritage site)] [DCB]

[LeMarchant, Sir John Gaspard (1803-1874). Civil governor of Newfoundland from 1847 to 1852. (Newfoundland heritage site)] [DCB]

Le Messurier, Henry William (1848-1931), civil servant, was born in 1848, the son of H. C. Le Messurier of St. John's, Newfoundland. He was editor of the Evening Herald from 1889-92, then entered the civil service, and in 1898 became deputy minister of customs. He served on a great many local committees and boards, and contributed historical articles to the local press. He died on May 27, 1931. In 1872 he married Elizabeth Arnott, by whom he had two sons and two daughters.

[Lemoyne d'Iberville, Pierre (1661-1706). Born in Longueuil, Canada, D'Iberville was a soldier of New France, an able sea captain, the discoverer of the mouth of the Mississippi, conqueror of Conception and Trinity bays in Newfoundland, of Hudson Bay. Nevis and St. Christopher, founder of Mobile and Biloxi, and governor of Louisiana.] [DCB] [Can. Ency] [Biography] [Biography at the National Library of Canada]

[Lewis, John (1788-1866). Itinerant Methodist minister of Newfoundland from 1814 to 1819. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)]

Little, Sir Joseph Ignatius (1835-1902), Chief Justice of Newfoundland (1898-1902), was born in Prince Edward Island in 1835, and moved to Newfound­land at an early age. He studied law in the office of his brother Philip Francis Little, and in 1859 was called to the bar. From 1869 to 1883 he rep­resented Harbour Main in the as­sembly, and was attorney general from 1870 to 1874. He was appointed to the judgeship in 1883, and from 1898 until his death in July, 1902, was Chief Justice of Newfoundland. See J. A. O'Reilly, Sir Joseph Ignatius Little (Newfoundland Quarterly, 1902). [DCB]

Little, Philip Francis (1824-97), Prime Minister of Newfoundland (1855-58), was born in Prince Edward Island in 1824. He studied law in Charlotte­town and established his practice in St. John's shortly after moving to Newfoundland in 1844. He was elected to the assembly in 1850, soon became leader of the Liberal party, and in 1855 became the first premier under responsible government. In 1858 he relinquished the premiership to John Kent and became judge of the supreme court of Newfoundland. In 1866 he retired and moved to Ireland, where he died on October 22, 1897. [Can. Ency] [DCB] [Newfoundland under responsible government] [Short biography] [Nationmaster encyclopedia]

Lloyd, Sir William Frederick (1864-1937), Prime Minister of Newfoundland (1918-19), was born on December 17, 1864, at Stockport, England. He came to Newfoundland in 1890, taught school, was editor of the Evening Telegram, and later became a lawyer (LL.B. London University, 1894; D.C.L. University of Toronto, 1901). He was first elected to the Newfoundland House of Assembly in 1904, was leader of the opposition in 1916, and in 1917 was attorney general in the coalition government under Lord Morris. In 1918 and 1919 he served as prime minister, and in 1924 was minister of justice. He died on June 13, 1937. He was created K.C.M.G. in 1919. In 1896 he married Agnes Taylor, of Stockport, and by her had one son.

Lushington, Lady Henrietta (d. 1875), daughter of Admiral Sir Henry Prescott and Mary Anne Charlotte d'Auvergne, was author of Poems,written in Newfoundland (London, 1839).

McCallum, Sir Henry Edward (1852-1920), was governor of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1901. [website]

Macdonald, Sir Gordon (1888- ), governor of Newfoundland (1946-49) was born at Gwaenysgor, Prestatyn North Wales, on May 27, 1888, son of Thomas and Ellen Macdonald. In 1901, at the age of thirteen, he began working underground in a coal mine. He was elected to the Wigan board of guardians in 1920 (chairman 1929-30), was president of Bryn Gates Co-operative Society (1922-24), and was miner's agent from 1924 to 1929. He was a member of parliament (1929-42), was Labour party whip (1931-34) and chairman of committees (1934-41), and from 1942 to 1946 he served as a regional controller for the ministry of fuel and power. As governor of Newfoundland, he was chairman of the commission of government, which was superseded by the provincial government at the end of March, 1949. He is author of Parliamentary impressions (in Welsh), and Newfoundland at the crossroads (Toronto, 1949): In 1913 he married Mary, daughter of William Lewis of Blaenau Festiniog, North Wales, and by her has two sons and two daughters. [website]

MacDonald, Robert Gear (1874-1943), pharmacist and poet, was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, on August 5, 1874, the son of Henry MacDonald and Mary Gear. He was educated at Methodist College, St. John's. He contributed prose and verse to many periodicals, and in 1908 published a volume of poems, From the isle of Avalon. He died in 1943. In 1903 he married Jennie Stoneman, daughter of Thomas Clouston of St. John's, and by her had two sons and one daughter.

MacGregor, Sir William (1846-1919) physician, governor of Newfoundland (1904-09), was born at Hillockhead in the parish of Towie, Aberdeenshire, the eldest son of John MacGregor and Agnes Smith. Partly by his own efforts at self-education and partly by the help of friends, he was enabled to go, in 1865 to Aberdeen grammar school. He proceeded to Aberdeen and Glasgow universities, becoming M.B. and C.M. (Aberdeen) in 1872 and M.D. in 1874. After practicing medicine for a short time in Scotland, he served as medical officer in the South Pacific, and gradually came to occupy important administrative posts in the colonies. He was chief administrator of New Guinea (1888-98)and in 1897 published British New Guinea: country and people. He was governor of Lagos from 1899 to 1904. During his term as governor of Newfoundland, he organized and conducted a scientific expedition to Labrador, with the idea of surveying its coast and investigating its resources. He published reports of his Labrador visits, and of his visit to the Micmac Indians at Bay d'Espoir. From 1909 to 1914 he was governor of Queensland, and was largely responsible for the founding of the University of Queensland. He died in Aberdeen on July 3, 1919. He was created C.B. in 1897, G.C.M.G. in 1907, and became a privy councilor in 1914. He was an LL.D. of the universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Queensland, and a D.Sc. of Cambridge. He was twice married, (1) in 1868 to Mary Thomson (d. 1877), by whom he had a son and a daughter, and (2) in 1883 to Mary Jane Cocks, by whom he had two daughters. See R. W. Reid, Sir William MacGregor (Aberdeen University Review, 1919). [website] [picture] [The 1908 tie election] [Another discussion on the tie election and the role of governor MacGregor]

March, John (1863-1940), Roman Catholic bishop of Harbour Grace (1906-1940), was born at Northern Bay, Newfoundland, on July 13, 1863, the son of Simeon and Celia March. He was educated at St. Bonaventure's College in St. John's, Collège de l'Assomption [near] Montreal, and the Propaganda College in Rome. After his ordination in 1889 he returned to Newfoundland and was appointed rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Harbour Grace. From 1906 until his death on January 12, 1940, he was bishop of Harbour Grace. See J. M. O'Neill, Rt. Rev. J. H. March, D.D. (Newfoundland Quarterly, 1940). [website]

March, Mary (Waunathoake), (d. 1820), a member of' the Beothuk tribe, was captured at Red Indian lake, Newfoundland, by John Peyton, in March, 1819. She was taken to Twillingate and St. John's, and died on board ship while beingtaken back to her tribe. Her body was carried back to her native wigwam and was left there with presents for the tribe. See J. P. Howley, The Beothucks or Red Indians (Cambridge, 1915). [Newfoundland Heritage site] [Can. Ency]

Mason, John (1586-1635), governor of Guy's colony (1615-21), was born at King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, the son of John Mason and Isabella Steed. He was educated at Oxford and at an early age entered the navy. In 1615 he was appointed governor of Guy's colony, and during his six years on the island he made a topographical survey, drew a map, and wrote a treatise, A brief discourse of the Newfoundland, which was printed in Edinburgh in 1620. On his return to England in 1621 he became acquainted with Sir Ferdinando Georges, and in the following year Mason and Georges obtained a share of New England, which later was named New Hampshire. He died in 1635. His map of Newfoundland, and a poem, were included in Golden fleece, a volume published by William Vaughan in 1626. In 1606 Mason married Anne Greene of London, daughter of a goldsmith. [website] [DCB] [Can. Ency] [Mason's Map of Newfoundland: detail] [Mason's Map of Newfoundland]
 
 

Mason's Map of Newfoundland

[Matthews, Evelyn (Millard) (1914-1983). Newfoundland mathematician and teacher. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)]

Maxse, Sir Henry Berkeley Fitzhardinge (1832-83), governor of Newfoundland (1881-83), entered the army at an early age and became a lieutenant-colonel when he was thirty-one. He was governor of Heligoland from 1864 to 1881, and then was transferred to Newfoundland. He died in St. John's in 1883. [website]

[Mayo, Margaret (1871-1941). Diary of the life of an ordinary Newfoundland woman in 1897. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)]

Medical Service in Newfoundland has always been made difficult by the sparsity of the population and the lack of adequate communication and trans­portation facilities. As far back as the last years of the nineteenth century, doctors in the coastal and rural areas of the country had inaugurated a system of yearly family fees, which, in many ways, was quite similar to many of the ideas now covered by more recent concepts of health insurance. The doctor collected his fee once a year and this fee covered all ordinary medical attention; additional charges were made for special services. After the First World War, a board and then a bureau of health were instituted as a division of the department of the secretary of state. This division enlarged on a system of subsidizing doctors for work done for those who could not pay, and for certain public health functions. Co-operation with the department of justice enabled doctors in certain isolated areas to be appointed magistrates; there was not enough work of a purely judicial nature to warrant the appointment of full-time magistrates and this expedient was used as an added incentive to doctors to settle in those areas. In 1934 a department of public health and welfare was established and it was in that year that full-time medical personnel were first employed by the government in other than institutional positions. Under this department the operation of previously existing hospitals-general, mental disease, and tuberculosis-was consolidated with the beginning of a medical and nursing service planned to cover the island. In the years 1934 to 1944 twelve cottage hospitals were built; and since the end of the war this number has been augmented by the acquisition of hospitals built by the armed forces at the bases of Botwood and Gander. The capacity of the original cottage hospitals varied from twelve to twenty-eight and the total patient capacity now provided by this system is 320 beds. About one third of the present estimated population of 345,000 is covered by a health and hospital insurance plan, which is centered on the cottage hospitals. Shortage of medical and nursing personnel has hindered its development but the plan provides domiciliary care and hospital in-patient and out-patient service for an annual fee of ten dollars per family. This annual fee covers everything except transportation, dental extractions, maternity fees and drugs; the government pays the deficit, which must be expected where the fee is fixed at such a low level. Patients requiring treatment for more obscure or complicated conditions are entitled to care in the wards of the General Hospital in St. John's, and are expected to pay only their transportation costs. At present [1949] there are 138 physicians, counting all those engaged in institutional and other full-time positions. There are over 3,000 people, on the average, and in some districts as many as 7,500, to every physician in practice. Most of the doctors are associated with the government either on a basis of subsidies or on a fee-for-service basis. There is thus a close integration of medical care and preventive medicine programs. The doctor who officiates at a birth is the same doctor who will see that the baby receives protection from diphtheria and whooping cough. During recent months the former department of public health and welfare has been divided into separate departments of health and of welfare. The new department of health is responsible for the operation of hospitals and the provision of medical care as well as the more usual functions of carrying out preventive measures. For fifty years the International Grenfell Association has provided medical care and hospitalization for the people in the extreme north of Newfoundland and in Labrador. It was through the efforts of the Association that the Notre Dame Bay Memorial Hospital was started. With this beginning, local support, and some health department subsidy, two well equipped one-hundred-bed hospitals at St. Anthony and Twillingate now serve the people. The hospital at Twillingate is operated by a local board. The paper and mining companies at Corner Brook, Grand Falls, Buchans, and Bell island provide limited hospital facilities in their respective communities, and contract with practicing physicians to look after employees. A sanatorium and a general hospital are now under construction at Corner Brook. An extension of the cottage hospital system is contemplated for the immediate future. For a further account of the early history of the subject, see L. E. Keegan, Medical history of Newfoundland in J. R. Smallwood (ed.), Book of Newfoundland (St.John's, 1937).

[Medley, Henry (b. ?-1747). Naval governor of Newfoundland in 1739-1740. (Newfoundland Heritage site)]

Memorial Day, observed in New­foundland each July 1, in memory of Newfoundlanders who died in World War I. It was on July 1, 1916, at Beaumont Hamel on the Somme, that the Newfoundland Regiment sustained its heaviest loss. [Newfoundland and the First World War] [Memorial to Beaumont-Hamel]

Memorial University College, St. John's, Newfoundland, conceived as a memorial to the Newfoundlanders who fought and particularly those who died in World War I, was opened in 1925 as a national junior college. Its founding was due principally to the efforts of Dr. V. P. Burke, deputy minister of education, Dr. W. W. Blackall, Church of England superintendent of education, and Dr. Levi Curtis, Methodist superintendent of education. The building was begun in 1922, opened in 1924 as a normal school, and in September 1925, with fifty-seven students in addition to teachers-in-training, opened as a junior college. Two-year courses were offered in arts and sciences, three-year courses in education and engineering, and various summer courses and night courses have been developed. A school of navigation, conducted mainly for seamen who wish to qualify for certificates, had a registration of seventy-five in the 1946-47 term, and sixty-five certificates were awarded. Affiliations have been entered into, with various Canadian and American universities, by which students admitted to those universities receive full credit for work they have done at Memorial University College. Also, a measure of affiliation has been established with Queen's College, St. John's, and with St. Bride's College, Littledale, whereby students taking some courses at one of those colleges and some courses at the Memorial College may qualify for the Memorial College diploma. For several years, the expenses of administration were met out of funds supplied by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, but the institution is now maintained by the government of the province. The governing body of the college, at first, was the bureau of education, consisting of the prime minister, the secretary of education, the three superintendents of education, and six other persons. The bureau was replaced by a board of governors, constituted in 1935, with Dr. V. P. Burke as chairman. The first president, J. Lewis Paton, retired in 1933 and was succeeded by A. G. Hatcher, a native Newfoundlander. Annual registration has grown, between 1925 and 1948, from 57 to more than 1,000, and the 1949-50 calendar lists the names of almost 900 graduates. By one of the first acts of the provincial legislature in 1949, Memorial University College was raised to the status of a degree-conferring institution. See M. F. Harrington, The Newfoundland Memorial University College. in J. R. Smallwood (ed.), Book of Newfoundland (St. John's, 1937); A. G. Gillingham, Memorial (Atlattlic Guardian 1 1947). [Memorial University College at the Newfoundland Heritage site] [Memorial University of Newfoundland]

[Mews, Henry George Reginald (1897-1982). World War I veteran and Mayor of St. John's. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)] [Short biography as mayor of St. John's]

Middleton, Sir John (1870- ), governor of Newfoundland (1928-32); was born in 1870, the son of James Middleton, M.D., of Stow, Midlothian. He was educated at Sedbergh and Edinburgh University (M.A.), and in 1901 entered the colonial service as assistant district commissioner for Southern Nigeria: He served subsequently in Warri, Mauritius, Falkland islands, Gambia, and Newfoundland. In 1920 he married Mabel, daughter of Lieut. Col. G. Wilbraham Northey and widow of R. K. Granville. [website] [Middleton and the Squires Administration]

Milbanke, Mark (1725?-1805), admiral, was ­commander-in-chief in Newfoundland from 1790 to 1792. [website] [DCB]

[Miller, Janet (1891-1946). The first woman admitted to the Newfoundland Law Society. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)] [picture]

[Miller, Phebe Florence (1889-1979). Writer and patron of the arts. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)]

[Monbeton de Brouillan, Jacques-François de (1651-1705). Governor of Placentia/Plaisance between 1690-1701. (Newfoundland heritage site)] [DCB]

[Monic, Joseph de (1650's-1707) Governor of Placentia/Plaisance between 1697 and 1702. (Newfoundland heritage site)] [DCB]

Monroe, Moses (1842-95), merchant and politician, was born in Moira, Northern Ireland, in 1842. He was educated at Queen's College, Galway, and moved to Newfoundland in his eighteenth year. He was successful in business, established his own firm in 1873, and acquired interests in several industries. He served as a member of the municipal council (1866-90) and Legislative Council (1884-93), and in 1891 was a delegate to London in connection with the French shore question. He died in 1895, and two years later a memorial monument was erected in Victoria Park, St. John's. In 1871 he married Jessie Gordon, daughter of Thomas McMurdo. [DCB] [List of the municipal councilors of St. John's]

Monroe, Walter Stanley (1871-[1952]), Prime Minister of Newfoundland (1924-28), was born in Dublin on May 14, 1871. He was educated at Harrow, Oxford, and Edinburgh (D.C.L.), and is an LL.D. of Trinity College, Dublin. On coming to Newfoundland he entered business with his uncle, the Hon. Moses Monroe, and subsequently became director of several companies. In 1924 he entered politics as leader of the Conservative party, was elected for Bonavista, and for four years served as prime minister and minister of education. In 1899 he married Helen Isobel, daughter of Frederick Smith, and by her has one son. [Can. Ency]

Montagu, John (1719-95), governor of Newfoundland (1776-79), was son of James Montagu of Lackham in Wiltshire. He had an active naval career, and from 1771 to 1774 was commander-in-chief on the North American station, "from the River St. Lawrence to Cape Florida and the Bahamas Islands." He attained the rank of admiral in 1782. [website]

Moores, Frank Duff (1933- ). Born in Carbonear, he early became involved in business, rising to the position of president with Northeastern Fisheries Ltd of Harbour Grace. In 1968, he was elected as a Progressive Conservative to represent the district of Bonavista-Trinity-Conception in the House of Commons. He occupied the post of national president of the Progressive-Conservative Party in 1970. In the same year, he became the leader of the Newfoundland Progressive-Conservative Party. In the provincial elections of 1971, which Moores contested with the slogan of "The Time Has Come" ¾ a clear allusion to the need to end the long Smallwood era, one characterized by mismanagement, corruption and high expenditures according to Smallwood's opponents ¾ Moores achieved a slight victory (21 P.C., 20 Liberals, 1 New Labrador Party). However, Smallwood refused to resign, alleging there was not a clear winner. There followed a year of political uncertainty and instability. In an election called in March 1972, Moores' P.C.s achieved a clear victory (33 seats against 9 for the Liberals). Moores remained the Premier of Newfoundland between 1972 and 1979. Under his administration, the Come by Chance oil refinery and the Churchill Falls hydro project were completed; both had been started in the Smallwood era. The major thrust of the Moores' administrations was to regain control over the natural resources of Newfoundland. In this vein, the timber rights of Reid Newfoundland were acquired, mineral concessions to Brinco were terminated; the government also became active in the Lower Churchill River project and in the fisheries through a government loans program to support an expansion of the resource as the federal government had extended the coastal limit of Canada to 200 miles. He resigned from active politics in 1979, and eventually established a consulting firm that was politically influential. [Can. Ency] [[Electrifying Newfoundland] [Newfoundland provincial politics, 1972-2001]

Morine, Sir Alfred Bishop (1857-1944), lawyer and politician, was born at Port Medway, Nova Scotia, on March 31, 1857, son of Capt. Alfred and Mary Morine. He was educated at Dalhousie University (LL.B. 1892). He did reportorial and editorial work for several newspapers, and was editor of St. John's Mercury (1883-85) and Newfoundland Herald (1889-91). He was called to the bar of Newfoundland (1894), Nova Scotia (1894), and Ontario (1906), and practiced law in St. John's and Toronto. He was twice a candidate for election to the Canadian House of Commons, and was seven times elected to the Newfoundland assembly. He was appointed Newfoundland Colonial Secretary (1894), Receiver-general (1897), Minister of Finance and Customs and Minister of Marine and Fisheries. He was chairman of the Canadian public service commission (1911-12). In 1919 he became Newfoundland Minister of Justice and Attorney-general, and from 1924 to 1928 he was leader in the Legislative Council. He died on December 18, 1944. His publications include Mining law of Ontario (Toronto, 1909). He was created a knight bachelor in 1928. In 1884 he married Alice Melisse Mason of St. John's, and by her had one son and one daughter. [website] [Biography from Memorial University's libraries] [Biography with emphasis on Orangism]

Morison, Donald (1857-1924), lawyer, was born on April 22, 1857. He was admitted to the bar of Newfoundland in 1881. He was a member of the House of Assembly for Bonavista (1888-97 and 1906-13), was a judge of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland (1898-1902), and was Attorney-general in 1894 and again from 1909 to 1913. In 1910 he was a counsel for Great Britain in the North Atlantic fisheries arbitration at the Hague. He died on April 24, 1924. In 1883 he married Catherine Trapnell of Donegal, and by her had one son and one daughter. [Biography at the Canadian Orangeism site]

Morris, Edward Patrick, first Baron (1859-1935), lawyer and statesman, was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, on May 8, 1859, the son of Edward Morris and Catherine Fitzgerald. He was educated at St. Bonaventure's College, St. John's, and Ottawa University, where he studied law. He was called to the bar of Newfoundland in 1885, created K.C. in 1903, and was a counsel for the British government during the North American fisheries arbitration at the Hague in 1910. He was governor of Newfoundland Savings Bank from 1889 to 1913. He was elected to the House of Assembly, for St. John's, in 1885, as an Independent, and for the next thirty-three years played an important part in Newfoundland politics. He served as Attorney-general (1889-95) leader of the Independent party (1898-1900), Minister of Justice and Attorney-general (1900-07), leader of the People's party, 1908, and Prime Minister (1908-18). He was knighted in 1904, became a privy councilor in 1911, was created a K.C.M.G. in 1913, and was raised to the peerage in 1918 [the only Newfoundland born individual to have ever received this honour]. [As Prime Minister, his first term was dominated by attempts to construct branch lines to the transinsular railway; he also sought to make it easier for speculators to acquire timber rights on Crown land. Accusations of conflict of interest were leveled against some of his cabinet colleagues. The war dominated his second term of office. Income tax for individuals was introduced, war debts were accumulated and, in 1917, a national government was formed, although he resigned at the end of 1917, before the Military Service Act (conscription) was issued in April 1918]. He received honorary degrees from the universities of Ottawa (LL.D. 1902), Cambridge, Oxford, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. In 1918 he took up residence in London, England, and died there in 1935. He contributed numerous articles to Newfoundland Quarterly and other periodicals, and revised and edited Newfoundland law reports. In 1901 he married Isabel Langrishe, daughter of the Rev. William LeGallais, and by her had one son. See U. B. Foran; Newfoundland Statesmen of the past in J. R. Smallwood (ed.), Book of Newfoundland (St. John's, 1937). [Can. Ency] [Morris and St. John's regatta on Quidi Vidi Lake]

Morris, Patrick (1789-1849), reformer, was born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1789, and came to Newfoundland in 1800. He and Dr. Wm. Carson became leaders in the agitation for local legislature, and in 1828 Morris published, in London, a pamphlet called Arguments to prove the policy and necessity of granting to Newfoundland a constitutional government. He was elected to the assembly for St. John's in 1837, and in 1838 was a member of the delegation sent to London to ask for the dismissal of Chief Justice Henry John Boulton [an office he held from 1832? to 1838]. In 1840 he was appointed colonial secretary, and held that position until his death on August 22, 1849. [DCB] [Sectarianism, patronage and the Age of harmony, 1815-1848]

Mullock, John Thomas (1807-1869), Roman Catholic bishop of Newfoundland (1850-69), was born at Limerick, Ireland. He became a Franciscan and was educated at St. Bonaventure's College, Seville, and at St. Isadore's, Rome. After service in Ireland he was appointed, in 1847, coadjutor to Bishop Fleming of St. John's, Newfoundland, whom he succeeded in 1850. He completed the cathedral, founded St. Bonaventure's College and two convents, and had the island divided into two dioceses. He was one of the first advocates of cable and rail communication, and his active interest in steamship service caused him to publish a denunciation of the government in 1860. He died in St. John's on March 29, 1869. He published a number of religious books and pamphlets, including The Cathedral of St. John's (Dublin, 1856), and Two lectures on Newfoundland (St. John's, 1860). [picture] [DCB] [The election riots of 1861] [Chronology] [Description and history of the Basilica] [History of Catholics in Newfoundland]

[Munn, John Shannon (1880-1918). Member of one of the most prominent families of Newfoundland in the early 20^th Century. Died in the sinking of the Florizel. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)] [Profile and Statistics of a first class cricketer]

Murray,Sir Herbert Harley(1829-1904), was governor of Newfoundland from 1895 to 1898. [website] [DCB]

[Musgrave, Sir Anthony (1828-1888). Colonial governor of Newfoundland from 1864 to 1869. (Newfoundland heritage site)] [DCB]

Muskerry, Robert MacCarthy, Vis­count [1698-1769], naval governor of Newfoundland (1733-35), was son of Donough MacCarthy, fourth earl of Clancarty. He left the navy and in 1741 went to France to devote himself to the Stuart cause. He died at Boulogne. [website]

O'Brien, Sir Terence (d. 1903), governor of Newfoundland (1889­-96). He served in India from 1849 to 1867, was appointed inspector general of police in Mauritius (1867) and gover­nor of Heligoland (1881). He died on February 25, 1903. [website] [DCB]

O'Donel, James Louis [1737?-1811], first Roman Catholic bishop of Newfoundland, was born at Knocklofty, Ireland. In 1784 he was appointed prefect apostolic of Newfoundland, and was elevated to bishop in 1796. He returned to Ireland after his retirement in 1806, and died at Clonmel. [picture] [Archives' Inventory] [DCB]

Osborne (or Osborn), Henry, naval captain, was the first governor of Newfoundland (1729-31). He appointed justices of the peace and levied taxes with which he built a court house and a jail, and provided stocks for the punishment of petty offenders. His authority was denied by the fishing admirals and merchants, and numerous disputes resulted. [website] [DCB] [His Commission with Instructions in 1729] [His Commission]

Outerbridge, Sir Joseph (1843-1933), merchant and philanthropist, was born in Bermuda on January 7, 1843, son of Alexander U. and Laura Catherine Outerbridge. He was educated in Bermuda, and Philadelphia. He came to Newfoundland in 1862, and entered a mercantile firm of which he later became director. He represented Newfoundland in the tariff negotiations at Ottawa in 1879, and was closely associated with philanthropic and patriotic organizations for many years. He was chairman of the festival of empire committee in 1910-11, and was responsible for the Newfoundland exhibit. He was knighted in 1913. He died on October 11, 1933, in Philadelphia. In 1881 he married Maria Harvey, daughter of E. D. Tucker, and by her had six children. [Note on Newfoundland's exhibit at the Empire Festival in 1911]

Palliser, Sir Hugh (1722-1796), admiral, governor of Newfoundland (1764-69), was born in Yorkshire. He was sent to sea at an early age, became a lieutenant in 1742, and had a long and tempestuous career in the navy. He regarded Newfoundland simply as a fishing station, and during his term as governor he dealt strictly with the French, discouraged colonization, and established the rule of fishing admirals on the Labrador coast. On his return to England he was responsible for what was known as Palliser's Act, designed to stimulate the summer fisheries with a system of bounties for returning ships. He was created a baronet in 1773, and died in 1796. See R. M. Hunt, Life of Sir Hugh Palliser (London, 1844). [website] [DCB] [Newfoundland heritage site] [Palliser's Act of 1775] [18^th Century biography of Palliser] 

[Parat, Antoine (died in 1696). Governor of Placentia/Plaisance between 1685-1690. (Newfoundland heritage site)] [DCB]

[Pastour de Costebelle, Louis de (born around 1658, date of death unknown). Governor of Placentia/Plaisance. (Newfoundland heritage site)] [DCB]

Paton, John Lewis (1863-1946), educator, was born in ShefFeild, England, on August 13, 1863, son of the Rev. J. B. Paton, D.D. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge (M.A.). He taught in various schools and colleges, and from 1903 to 1924 was high master of Manchester Grammar School. He served as examiner in education at Manchester, Oxford, and Cambridge universities, and in 1911 was president of the Modern Language Association. He was the first president (1925-33) of Memorial University College, St. John's, Newfoundland. He died in May, 1946, at Beckenham, Kent. He was not married. See A. G. Hatcher, Memories of a great man (Newfoundland Quarterly, 1946). [Biography] [Short biography with a picture] [Paton described by various friends]

Peckford, Alfred Brian (1942- ). Born in Whitbourne, Newfoundland, he graduated from Memorial University and became a teacher. A former liberal disillusioned with Joey Smallwood, as were many in Newfoundland at the time, he joined the Progressive Conservative Party in 1971. In 1972, he was elected to the House of Assembly. Between 1974 and 1979 he held various cabinet positions in the Moores governments, including Mines and Energy. In 1979, he was chosen to replace Moores. He was Premier of Newfoundland between 1979 and 1989. His administration emphasized provincial control over resources ¾ a particularly thorny issue in the Hibernia oil project ¾ provincial rights on constitutional matters, negotiations to regain control over the hydro resources of the Labrador area and improvement of the fisheries. Peckford was very active in support of the Meech Lake Accord (1987) and of free trade with the United States. The failure of Hibernia to translate into reality and to spearhead the Newfoundland economy from a have-not to a have position, and the fiasco of the Sprung greenhouse hydroponic project eroded his popularity. He left politics in 1989. [Can. Ency] [Newfoundland provincial politics, 1972-2001]

[Peterson, Roger Tory. Original drawings of Newfoundland birds made during the 1940's. (Archival treasures of Memorial University)]

Pickmore, Sir Francis (1756?-1818), vice-admiral, was governor of Newfoundland from 1816 to 1818. Upon his departure from England in the spring of 1817 he was instructed to reside in the colony through the winter, and thus became the first resident governor. The winter, a very severe one, has become known as "the winter of the rals"; the colony suffered from fire, frost, famine, and vandalism. The governor died in St. John's on February 24, 1818. [website] [Newfoundland heritage site] [DCB] [See below for Winter of the rals]

Pilot, William (1841-1913), clergyman and author, was born in Bristol on December 30, 1841. He was educated in England, and in 1867 was appointed vice-principal (principal, 1878) of Queen's College, St. John's, Newfoundland. He was superintendent of Church of England schools (1875-1908), president of the Council of Higher Education at its organization in 1893, and became canon of the Anglican cathedral in 1896. He was author of a textbook on Newfoundland geography (Glasgow, 1888), and of a number of reports on education, history, and folklore. He was a D.D. of Lambeth (1892) and a D.C.L. (1897) of King's College, Windsor, Nova Scotia. He died on September 25, 1913. He married Agnes, eldest daughter of R. R. Wakeham, in 1870. [DCB] [His last will and testament]

Pinsent, Sir Robert John (1834-1893), judge, was born in Newfoundland in 1834. [He sat on the Legislative Council from 1859 to 1865. However, his attempt to be elected to the House of Assembly failed as he stood for Confederation in a district that was strongly opposed to it.] He was judge of the Supreme Court from 1880 until his death on April 28, 1893. He was awarded the degree of D.C.L. (Canterbury) in 1880, and in 1890 was created knight bachelor. He married Emily Hetty Sabine Pole. [DCB]

Pole, Sir Charles Morice (1757-1820), admiral of the fleet, was governor of Newfoundland from 1800 to 1801. [website] 

Power, Thomas Joseph (1830-93), Roman Catholic bishop of St. John's, Newfoundland, (1870-93), was born at New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland, and held high positions in the Irish church before coming to Newfoundland. His principal accomplishment was the introduction of the Christian Brothers of Ireland as teachers. He died on December 4, 1893. [picture] [DCB]

[Pratt, Edwin John Dove (E. J.) (1882-1964). Born in Western Bay, Newfoundland, educated at Victoria College, University of Toronto. Pratt became a teacher and a poet. His writing career extended from 1914 into the 1960's. In his lifetime, some critics considered him as Canada's leading poet. Pratt explored themes related to the sea and Newfoundland, but, as well, others that are more broadly Canadian, including, for example, poems on the Canadian trans-continental railway. ] [picture] [His place in Newfoundland Literature] [Two poems: Erosion and Newfoundland] [Biography and Bibliography of His Works] [Erosion, Newfoundland and Ice Floes] [Short biography] [Trent University's Complete poems and Letters of E. J. Pratt] [The E. J. Pratt's page at the University of Toronto] 

Prescott, Henrietta. See Lushington, Lady Henrietta.

Prescott, Sir Henry (1783-1874), governor of Newfoundland (1834-41), was born at Kew Green, Surrey, the son of Admiral Isaac Prescott. He had a distinguished career in the navy, and attained the rank of admiral. For a fuller account of his life, see Dictionaryof national biography. [website] [DCB]

Prowse, Daniel Woodley (1834-1914), judge and historian, was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1834, son of Robert Prowse. He was educated at the Church of England Academy, St. John's, and College School, Liverpool. After returning to Newfoundland he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. From 1861 to 1869 he was member of the assembly for the district of Burgeo. In 1870 he was appointed Q.C., and from 1869 to 1898 was judge of the district court. He was chairman of the St. John's board of health (1893-96), was for some years in charge of the bait protection service, and upon his retirement from the bench in 1898 was made secretary of the fisheries board. He died on January 28, 1914. He contributed widely to newspapers and periodicals, and his History of Newfoundland from the English, colonial, and foreign records (London, 1895) is a standard work [that has beenreprinted several times]. He published also a Manual for magistrates (1877), a shorter history (1905), and a guide-book [Indeed, throughout his life, he was an inveterate promoter of Newfoundland]. He became an LL.D. (Lambeth) in 1895 and was made a D.C.L. of King's College, Windsor in 1897, and in 1912 became a C.M.G. In 1859 he married Sarah Farrar, of West Royal, Yorkshire. See W. S. Wallace, Dictionary of Canadian biography (Toronto, 1945). [DCB] [Prowse on the Bond-Blaine Treaty] [Can. Ency]

Source: For material that is not between brackets [.], W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada. Newfoundland Supplement, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1949, 104p. Weblinks have been added to the text.