Halifax, NS

James Newell, Halifax

Halifax is not in Newfoundland but since this James Newell is a potential candidate for Phillip’s father James I have included him in this section.

James Newell of Halifax, N.S.

My ggg grandfather was Philip Newell (Noel, Nuel, Newal) of the Dock (Bareneed). Philip’s parents James and Anne can be determined from record of his marriage to Mary Batton in 1784.

On 5 Nov 1784 in Harbour Grace, Nfld.  Philip Noel married Amy Batton, daughter to John & Mary Batton and at the same time William Batton married Mary Noel  daughter to James & Anne Noel .

Note: The Battons had the grant in the Dock adjoining Philip’s and it was brother and sister marrying brother and sister.

Unfortunately, the trail on James goes cold here so I have been searching for more info on him for 40 years. One other note to avoid possible confusion: Philip also had a son James who got the east side of the grant while my gg grandfather John got the West half.

The only James Newell/Noel that I have found that is a fit in terms of age is a James Newell from Halifax NS. I am not saying that this is Philip’s father but at this point I can’t rule him out. I should say that Harold Newell , former school teacher and Librarian who had done extensive research on the Newell family of the Dock and who pointed out the James of Halifax to me in the 1970s, also thought that this James was only a remote possibility for Philip’s father.

Regardless, here is what I have found on this Halifax James:

He arrived in Halifax in 1749 on the Canning (one of the Cornwallis immigrant ships). In this record he is identified as a fisherman. In 1752 James Newal (spelling) was in hospital (Halifax Victualing Records 1753); in October 1754 he was married to Mary Pres at St. Paul’s in Halifax (note: there is a possibility that Pres is a reference to her religion not her last name); in October 1754 they had a daughter Ann; in March 1767 Mary Newall died (note spelling as recorded at St. Paul’s).

At this point the trail on Halifax James goes cold which is one reason to suspect that he may have departed Halifax for other opportunities elsewhere, possibly even Nfld. Many of the original Cornwallis immigrants moved on to New England and someone with a background in the fishery may have established connections to Harbour Grace. The dates match for this James to be Philip’s father and Anne might have been Mary Anne (very common combo) or the Mary might have been the older sister (Mary) that was there at the time of marriage and mistakenly recorded as mother. I suspect everyone on this list has seen similar mix-ups in records. Overall, there is a possibility that the Halifax James moved to Nfld or had connections with Nfld (agent for Merchant) and that Philip was his son who settled in the Dock.

There was also a James Newell, Captain of schooner Boscowan which was used in the Acadian Expulsion of 1755. There is no evidence linking this James to the Halifax James and many of the ships used came from New England; however, someone who was a fisherman in 1749 might have become a Captain of a Schooner by 1755.

Here are a few other references I have recently found to Captain James Newell from other locations: Again, it is unclear if they might be one of the James Newells above; however, the dates seem too late to be the same people.

#1. Captain James Newell, of the ship Clyde, from St. Thomas., reported in New York in 1805. Source: An account of the malignant fever which prevailed in the city of ... – Google Books, James Hardie – 1806

#2. July 3, 1793,  report of brig Defiance of Portsmouth ( James Newell, Master) taken by privateer from Kingston on 27 May suspected of having French property on board. The Defiance was sailing from Norfolk Va to Port-au-Prince.  Source: NorfolkShipping Report 1787-1817

#3. On 19 April 1805, a privateer Eugène , commanded by a Joseph Sires and reportedly owned in Havana and New Orleans, captured the American sloop George and looted it, after having threatened her captain, Read, with death if he did not sign papers declaring the George to be British, as well as a draft for US$1000 drawn on Mr. Grinberry, George’ s owner, representing ransom for the vessel and her cargo. They then put on board the George Captain James Newell and seven seamen from the Benjamin , of New York. Read then sailed George to Havana. Eugène had also captured an American schooner sailing from Port-au-Prince with a cargo of coffee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Oroonoko