The Outraged Fisherman

Historically, Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove was largely isolated from the culture and influences of St. John’s. In the 1800’s Logy Bay residents would walk every Sunday to the Basilica in St. John’s and residents of Outer Cove and Middle Cove made an equally gruelling trek to Torbay just to attend mass. It wouldn’t be until 1918 with the arrival of Father O’Callaghan that the parish church would be constructed. Most would have had to travel to St. John’s to trade, as well. Every spring, for example, fishermen from Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove would sell their freshly caught salmon in the city, which in the early 1900s fetched around twenty cents a pound. For most residents, St. John’s was simply a place you went to for religious reasons or to do business. It was a place that was difficult to travel to and at the end of the day the events in St. John’s had little impact on the lives of the people living in Logy Bay, Outer Cove, and Middle Cove.

The price of salmon. The Evening Telegram, 1903, via: Digital Archives Initiative

In 1901 the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, the future King George V, visited St. John’s. Many people living outside of the capital were apathetic. Like the Dutch Boers in South Africa, the French and Irish descended settlers that called the Island home had little interest in the British Royal family. Besides this, to many residents the visit seemed like an enormous cost. But for the elites in the colony it was a momentous occasion to celebrate and show their “Britishness”. Though this often meant that those in the outports often had their apathy viewed as ignorance by those in St. John’s.

One of the many events planned during the visit of the Duke of York. The Evening Telegram, 1901, via: Digital Archives Initiative 

In the days leading up to his arrival over 400 people from the outports travelled to St. John’s to see the Duke. But for others it was business as usual. One newspaper at the time reports that a fisherman, who  would only visit the city once a year, when asked if he was in the capital to see the Duke replied that, “he did not know who the Duke was and had never heard anything about him.” The reporter was in disbelief by this statement. He had believed the Duke's visit had been the most anticipated event of the year. All the papers had been writing about it, so how could this fisherman not know? The only logical conclusion to the writer is that “it is evident that there are some parts of the Island which have not been reached by the schoolmaster.”

The Duke and Duchess of York, circa 1901, via Wikimedia Commons

One particular fishermen from Outer Cove took issue with this portrayal of outport communities and fishermen. The unnamed Fisherman wrote in his editorial that the original article is a product of the “pale-faced Tory organ” or, in other words, a conservative newspaper. Which newspaper that may be is unknown. The Fisherman most likely saw the writer as a member of the elite or merchant class, a group that benefited from the hard work of people like himself.  The Fishermen strikes at the heart of this issue when he invites the editor and the writer to “find something else to write about besides making little of the men that give him his bread and butter.”

Editorial by unnamed Fisherman. Evening Telegram, 1901, via: Digital Archives Initiative

                  This unknown fisherman stood for those in communities like Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove, confronting the unfounded image of the “uneducated bayman”. His words hit home when he says, “it is a common saying around town that we are ‘too green to burn’”, but just as the Fisherman knows the truth of the situation, he is confident that “we all of us know who the Duke is.”

If you know which newspaper the Fisherman may have been referring to, please let us know!

Jesse (Museum Assistant)

Sources:

Buckner, Phillip (November 1999), "The Royal Tour of 1901 and the Construction of an Imperial Identity in South Africa", South African Historical Journal, 41: 324–348 

“Did you see it?” The Evening Telegram, December 5^th, 1901. 

“Local Happenings” The Evening Telegram, May 18^th, 1903. 

“Band Concert!” The Evening Telegram, December 23^rd, 1901. 

“Royal Reception” “Duke of York.” The Evening Telegram, December 21^st, 1901.

 “They Suffered.” The Evening Telegram, December 29^th, 1901. 

“Local Happenings” The Evening Telegram, November, 1901.