Classic Christmas Stories (28 page)

FATHER MICHAEL MORRIS (1852-1889)
was born in St.
John’s and educated at St. Bonaventure’s College and All Hallows Seminary,
Ireland. After his ordination in 1873 he was appointed priest at Oderin,
Placentia Bay. His next assignment was at Topsail, where he founded the
Orphanage of St. Thomas of Villa Nova at Manuels. Morris passed away in 1889, a
victim of typhoid fever. The orphanage was closed a few years later. A monument
to his memory was erected in Bannerman Park in recognition of his contribution
to the less fortunate youth of the Colony. He was the brother of Prime Minister
of Newfoundland Sir Edward P. Morris and prominent lawyer, politician, and judge
Francis J. Morris.

ALEX A. PARSONS (1948-1932)
was Editor of the
Evening Telegram
(1882-1904) and Superintendent of H. M. Penitentiary (1905-1925). A brief
noted in the Bay Roberts
Guardian
, one of the magazines he wrote for was
the
Newfoundland Quarterly
edition of 1915 with an article entitled “Our
Great Sealing Industry.” Friday, April 1, 1932, noted: “Mr. Alex A Parsons,
ex-editor of the
Evening Telegram
and ex-superintendent of H. M.
Penitentiary passed away this morning at the General Hospital in St. John’s. He
was a native of Harbour Grace, aged 84 years.”

HELEN FOGWILL PORTER
was born in St. John’s in 1930 and after her
education worked as a shorthand typist with the Provincial Department of
Justice. Porter began to write in the 1960s and by 1973 her short stories,
plays, and reviews were published throughout Canada and abroad. Several of her
works received awards in the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters
Competitions. She has a number of books to her credit. In 1977 she collaborated
with Bernice Morgan and Geraldine Rubia on
From this Place
, an anthology
from women writers of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Below the Bridge
, a
memoir of Porter’s childhood days on the Southside, was published in 1980. She
won the Young Adult Canadian Book Award from the Canadian Library Association
in 1989 for her first novel
january, february, june or july
. She
published
A Long and Lonely Ride
, a collection of short stories, in 1991.
Porter taught creative writing with Memorial University from 1976 to 1990 and
also with the Division of Continuing Studies from 1991 and was a member of the
Newfoundland Writers’ Guild throughout her career. She was a founding member of
the Newfoundland Status of Women and has been actively involved in the New
Democratic Party.

CARRIE POWER (1908-1999)
was born in St. Joseph’s,
Placentia Bay, and moved to Marystown when she was six weeks old. She graduated
from the All-Grade School, Marystown South, and then attended St. Bride’s
College, Littledale, St. John’s. Power spent thirty-eight years as a teacher and
was actively involved in community affairs. She was one of the first two women
to be elected to the Marystown Town Council on November 16, 1965. Later in life
she wrote a book,
A Testament to Faith
, which depicted the history of
Sacred Heart Parish, Marystown, from 1909 to 1984.

HESKETH PRICHARD (1876-1922)
was born in Jhanse, India, and died at
Gorhambury, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. A British national, he was known as a
hunter, explorer, writer, and soldier. His father, Hesketh Brodrick Prichard, an
officer in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, passed away six weeks before he
was born. He and his mother returned to Great Britain, where the young Prichard
won a scholarship to Fettes College, Edinburg, and later privately studied law
in Horsham, West Sussex, where he passed the initial exam. However, he never
practised. Prichard wrote numerous articles for a number of magazines. He first
visited Canada in 1903 and travelled up the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
President Theodore Roosevelt, a writer, explorer, and hunter, wrote Prichard and
congratulated him for publishing a book and expressed a desire to meet him.
Among the books Prichard wrote was
Through Trackless Labrador
in 1911.

A native Newfoundlander,
JIM ROCKWOOD
had the advantage of growing up
both in the city (in the winters) and in the outports (in the summer). Jim
attended St. Thomas’ School, Model School, and Bishops College before attending
Memorial University. His working career started with several years in banking
(CIBC, 205 Water St., St. John’s), after which he went to work with CJON as a
news reporter and then on to the St. John’s
Evening Telegram
, before
joining Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, first as Information Officer
for the Newfoundland region and subsequently moving to more senior positions in
program planning, delivery, and administration in the CMHC offices in
Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Even when no longer involved in
the media, Jim maintained his keen interest in the “news” and did some
occasional writing. While at the
Telegram
his prime area of
responsibility was municipal government as well as a special interest in
aviation. It was while at the
Telegram
Jim wrote this article about
Christmas in the outports. Jim is married to the former Donna Oldford of
Burnside and they have three sons. In retirement Donna and
Jim reside in Burnside.

HANS J. ROLLMANN
, born in Adenau, Germany, was educated in Germany, U.
S. A., and Canada. He received a Ph. D. in Religious Studies from McMaster
University, Hamilton, Ontario, and has been teaching since 1981 in the
Department of Religious Studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is
also an Adjunct Professor at Queen’s College, St. John’s, and has published
widely in intellectual and religious history and the religious history of
Newfoundland and Labrador, notably the Moravians in Labrador. In 2002 he was
seconded by the provincial government as an adviser for the Moravian component
of the Labrador heritage celebrations. Most recently he edited a symposium
volume titled
Moravian Beginnings in Labrador
(St. John’s: Faculty of
Arts Publications, 2009).

CANON WALTER SMITH
was the son of Canon Benjamin Smith and served for
four months in Trinity in 1882. He was ordained a deacon on May 26, 1869, and a
priest of the Church of England on June 13, 1871. He was later made a Canon. His
father, Canon Benjamin Smith, was born at Knottingley, Yorkshire, England, on
June 20, 1814, and was the Minister from 1853-1875 in Trinity. He was made Rural
Dean of Trinity on November 28, 1853. The story “Reminiscenses of 1854” reflects
the memories of Canon Walter Smith as a child when his father served in
Trinity.

JAMES R. THOMS (1928-2000)
was born in St. Anthony and educated in
Garnish and Port aux Basques before moving on to study at Memorial University of
Newfoundland. After a brief teaching career, he spent fifteen years with CJON
radio and television. He worked for a time with Newfoundland Light and Power as
a communications officer and from 1968-1971 was an information officer with the
provincial government. In 1971 Thoms and Bill Callahan took over the
Daily
News
, where he became an Editor-in-Chief until it terminated in 1984. He
then returned to CJON (NTV) covering the legislature. He was also a prolific
writer and editor. Thoms was an editor of volumes three to six of the
Book of
Newfoundland
. He compiled
Who’s Who
in 1967 and 1975 and was a
contributing editor of the third edition of D. W. Prowse’s
History of
Newfoundland
(1972). His other publications include:
Just Call Me
Joey
;
God is our Guide
;
Born to Serve: The Story of Nonia
;
and
100 Years of Masonic History
.

DR. OTTO TUCKER
was born in Winterton in 1923 and
educated there. He also attended the Salvation Army College, St. John’s;
Salvation Army Training College for Officers, St. John’s; Memorial University of
Newfoundland: University of Alberta: and the University of Toronto. He served as
a Salvation Army officer, teacher, and school principal in a number of
Newfoundland communities. His educational career led him to the Northwest
Territories, the University of Toronto, and Acadia University. He taught in the
Faculty of Education at Memorial University from 1971-1988. Tucker was a very
popular lecturer and after-dinner speaker and was known for his humorous
commentaries on Newfoundland life. He has a number of humorous articles and two
books to his credit:
From the Heart of a Bayman
; and
A Collection of
Stories
. He portrayed Grandpa Walcott in the CBC series
Yarns from
Pigeon Inlet
and was featured with the late Aly O’Brien in the national
CBC program
Land of Fish
on Newfoundland’s origins in Dorset and Ireland.
He was also founding president of the Wessex Society of Newfoundland, an
association promoting awareness of Newfoundland’s ties with the West Country of
England. He has also received a number of awards.

REVEREND ARTHUR C. WAGHORNE (1851-1900)
was a Church of England
missionary and naturalist born in London, England. He came to Newfoundland
in 1875. After being ordained a Deacon, he became a missionary for the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel and served in a number of parishes. He was
ordained a Church of England priest in 1878 by Bishop Llewellyn Jones and
assigned to New Harbour until 1893. Waghorne was an amateur botanist and
collected a significant number of specimens of plant life in Newfoundland. He
was a prolific writer who contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers on
flora from various parts of Newfoundland and southern Labrador. He was also
interested in Newfoundland Christmas traditions and folklore, having published
three articles in the
Journal of American Folklore
, along with
contributing to the
Evening Herald
. He died in Jamaica, where he resided
for health reasons, on April 11, 1900.

STELLA MEANEY WHELAN (1910-1998)
was born in St. John’s and educated at
Presentation Convent School, graduating in 1927. She then enrolled at Memorial
University College and completed a two-year diploma program in 1930. After
graduating from Memorial University College, she began a career in the
Newfoundland civil service as a stenographer in the Pensions Division of the
Department of Health and Welfare. However, in 1946 she
took a
position as a stenographer with the National Convention and was part of the
support staff who accompanied the Newfoundland delegates to Ottawa in the fall
of 1948 to negotiate Terms of Union between Newfoundland and Canada after the
people decided to accept the Confederation of Canada option. She worked as a
secretary in the Department of Provincial Affairs after Confederation and later
became secretary at Government House until her retirement in 1970. Whelan wrote
throughout her life and her poetry and prose appeared in the Summer-Autumn
edition of
Newfoundland Stories and Ballads
(Vol. 8: 1). Her writings are
found in the Roman Catholic newspapers the
Monitor
and the
Catholic
Register
. They are also found in the
Evening Telegram
during
the 1970s and 1980s. Whelan received awards for her poetry submitted in the
Newfoundland government’s Arts and Letters Competition for “The Christmas Tree,
” “After the Funeral, ” and honorable mention in 1977 for “Rituals” and “A
Community of Firs” in 1987.

“The New Schoolmaster of Punch Bowl: A Newfoundland Christmas Tale” by Rev.
Moses Harvery, reprinted from
Maritime Monthly
 1, no. 2 (February 1873):
159–65. (Source: Library and Archives Canada/
The Maritime
Monthly
/AMICUS 1092729/February, 1873, Vol. 1, No. 2, pages 159–165.)

“Reminiscenses of 1854” by Canon Smith, R. D., reprinted from
Christmas
Bells
, 1906.

“Christmas 70 Years Ago! How the Festive Season Was Spent in the Outports in
the ’70’s” by P. K. Devine, reprinted from
Trinity Enterprise Christmas
Number
, December 1941.

“Memories of Christmas Concerts in a Newfoundland Outport” by James R. Thoms,
reprinted with permission of the
Monitor
, from Christmas supplement,
The Monitor
 49, no. 12 (December 1981): 35–39.

“A Child’s Christmas in the Long Ago” by Mike McCarthy, reprinted with
permission of the
Monitor
, Christmas supplement,
The Monitor
 49,
no. 12 (December 1981): 13.

“Memories of Christmas Past” by Jessie B. Mifflen, reprinted with permission of
the author’s family,
Newfoundland Quarterly
 67, no. 1 (Christmas 1968):
27–28.

“Christmas Celebrations Changing in the Outports” by Jim
Rockwood, reprinted with permission of TC-Media,
Evening Telegram
,
December 22, 1975.

“Quaint Christmas Customs” by P. K. Devine, reprinted from
Christmas
Bells
, December 1901.

“Christmas Reminiscences” by Rev. Charles Lench, reprinted from
Newfoundland
Quarterly
 5, no. 3 (December 1905): 13.

“Remembering Christmases of Yesteryear in Marystown” by Carrie Power, reprinted
with permission of the
Monitor
, Christmas supplement,
The
Monitor
 49, no. 12 (December 1981) 19, 21.

“Christmas Memories of the Days of the Gas Light” by P. K. Devine, reprinted
from
Public Bureau Christmas Number
, December 1933, 41–44.

“Dear Mr. Santa” by P. J. Kinsella, reprinted from
Yuletide Bells
,
December 1923.

“Memories of Christmas Past” by Stella Whelan, reprinted with permission of the
Monitor
, Christmas supplement,
The Monitor
 49, no.
12 (December 1981): 29, 31.

“A Bouquet of Christmas Memories” by Helen Fogwill Porter, reprinted with
permission of the author,
Newfoundland Quarterly
 63, no. 4 (Winter 1964):
26–29.

“Looking Back at Christmas 50 Years Ago” by Kevin Jardine, reprinted with
permission of TC-Media,
Evening Telegram
, December 22, 1975.

“My First Xmas Dinner in Terra Nova, ” reprinted from
Parsons’ Xmas
Annual
(December 1900): 6.

“An Exile’s Memories of Home” by John M. Byrnes, reprinted from
Trade
Review
, December 1893.

“The Magic and Memories of Christmas” by Otto Tucker, reprinted with
permission of the author,
Newfoundland Quarterly
 86,
no. 2 (December 1990): 17–19.

“How Mary O’Connor Saved the Town: A Tradition of Old St. John’s” by W. J.
Carroll, reprinted from
Christmas Bells
, December 1906.

“Rambling Thoughts About Christmas in Newfoundland Years Ago” by William
Whittle, reprinted from
Evening Telegram
, Christmas Number, 1885.

“Lash’s Annual Cake Raffles in the Old December Days” by James J. Galway,
reprinted from
Public Bureau Christmas Number
, December 1933,
23–41.

“A Look Back at Christmas ’48” by Pat Doyle, reprinted with permission of
TC-Media,
Evening Telegram
, December 23, 1973.

“The Christmas Sausages” by Jim Furlong, reprinted with permission of the
author,
Newfoundland Herald
(December 2004).

“The Ghosts of Christmas Past: An Essay on Christmas” by Jim Furlong, reprinted
with permission of the author,
Newfoundland Herald
(December 2008).

“Christmas in the Far North” by L. A. W., reprinted from
Evening
Telegram
, Christmas Number, 1887.

“Christmas in Labrador” by W. T. Grenfell, reprinted from
The Quiver
 48,
no. 2 (December 1912): 201–4.

“How Santa Claus Came to Cape St. Anthony” by Wilfred T. Grenfell, reprinted
from
Putnam’s Monthly
 1 (December 1906): 331–6.

“The First Christmas” by Hans Rollmann, originally published as “Finding Warmth
in a Cold Christmas, ” reprinted with permission of the author,
Telegram
,
December 24, 1999.

“Christmas at Zoar, Labrador” by Hans Rollmann, originally published as “First
Christmas at Zoar, ” reprinted with permission of the author,
Telegram
,
December 16, 2001.

“Christmas in Labrador” by one of the teachers at Makkovik
School, reprinted from
Moravian Missions
 32, no. 12 (December 1934): 1,
90.

“A Christmas in Labrador” by Hesketh Prichard, reprinted from
Moravian
Missions
 4, no. 1 (January 1906): 9–10.

“Around the Christmas Fireside” by Nadie, reprinted from
Christmas
Bells
, Christmas 1910.

“Wreck of the ‘Sea Nymph’: A Thrilling Christmas Tale” by Alex A. Parsons,
reprinted from
Christmas Bells
, Christmas 1909.

“Christmas on the Coastal Boat” by Canon George Earle, reprinted with
permission of the
Memorial University Gazette
, December 11, 1980.

“Captain Job K. Barbour: He Spent Christmas Adrift on the Ocean” by Pat Doyle,
reprinted with permission of TC-Media,
Evening Telegram
, December 22,
1975.

“Christmas Eve on the Mission” by Rev. M. P. Morris, reprinted from
Evening
Telegram
, Christmas Number, 1888.

“Nellie’s Christmas” by Retrospection, reprinted from
Daily Colonist
,
Christmas Number, 1887.

“The Old Sealing Gun” by P. K. Devine, reprinted from
Christmas Annual
,
Christmas 1909.

“Some Comments on the Social Circumstances of Mummering in Conception Bay and
St. John’s in the Nineteenth Century” by Cyril Byrne, reprinted with permission
of the author’s family,
Newfoundland Quarterly
 77, no. 4
(Winter 1981–82): 3–6.

“The Folk-lore of N’F’Land and Labrador” by Rev. Arthur C. Waghorne, reprinted
from
Evening Herald
, December 28 and 29, 1892.

“The Origins of Tibb’s Eve” by Paul Herridge, reprinted with permission of
TC-Media,
Marystown Southern Gazette
, December 22, 2009.

“Flashing Back to Christmas in Corner Brook 50 Years Ago” by
Gary Manning, reprinted with permission of TC-Media,
Corner Brook Western
Star
, December 20, 1973.

“Pioneer Corner Brook Couple Recalls the Fun of Christmas in Early Days” by
Colin Burke, reprinted with permission of TC-Media,
Corner Brook Western
Star
, December 20, 1973.

“Christmas in The Early 1900s: ‘We Had a Whale of a Time, ’” reprinted with
permission of TC-Media,
Grand Falls-Windsor Advertiser
, December 23,
1974.

“Alcohol-free for 29 Years, Man Recounts How AA Saved His Life” by Gary Kean,
reprinted with permission of TC-Media,
Corner Brook Western Star
,
October 7, 2011.

“He’s Looking Forward to a ‘Dry, ’ Happy Christmas, ” reprinted with permission
from TC-Media,
Evening Telegram
, December 22, 1975.