On March 31, 1949, Newfoundland officially became part of Canada, and on the following day, Joey Smallwood was sworn in as the first premier. At the start of this period it was clear to the remaining residents (237 in 1945 Census) that Bareneed was near the end of its existence as a separate community. An article written by a visitor to Bareneed c 1947 sums it up as “the young are moving out and the old are dying” (see below).
This section is under construction but some of the material that I plan to include is contained in a Google Map of Bareneed .
When collecting the material for this section I relied on assistance from my sister Shirley Badcock née Newell (SBN) and her friends Alice, Effie, Grace , Lorn, Pearl and Violet. We all grew up in Bareneed but being the youngest member of the group and not having lived in Bareneed for almost 50 years I relied on them for information on who lived where, names for local landmarks and local stories before my time.
To make the 1949-1969 data more manageable I have divided Bareneed into sections. The first section (below) covers Bareneed East from Shop House Hill to St. Mark’s Cemetery. To make the web Pages more manageable the subsequent sections are contained in sub pages. These include:
Part II: Shop House Hill to Mercers Lane including St. Mark’s Church and School.
Part III: Mercers Lane to Black Duck Pond including the UC Church and School.
Part IV: The Dock.
Section #1, Bareneed East (Shop House Hill to St. Mark’s Cemetery)
The following map shows a satellite image of the eastern part of Bareneed from the old Crab Plant (west of the Wharf) then east along the road to the eastern end of Bareneed (St. Mark’s Cemetery).
The green house symbols on the Map show the approximate location of houses in the 1950s. The people who lived in these houses in the 1950s are described below. I have also included some background on their family history and some details of their lives. .
House #1 belonged to John Bartlett. The Crab Plant built c 1970 was originally built around his house and the house was removed in subsequent expansion of the plant. The dock area in front (south) of the Crab Plant was filled in when the plant was built. John Bartletts house originally backed onto the beach. The eastern most Wharf is the location of the old public wharf that predated the Crab Plant. The following photo c 1950, taken from the top of Shop House Hill) shows John Bartletts house at the base of the hill and west of the public wharf (damaged by storm before this photo was taken). Bartlett’s house is the white building and the two darker buildings (dark red) in the foreground are his barn and fishing shed.
John R. Bartlett (b 1898), his wife Susie (born Twillingate and the sister of Maggie Batten, source SBN) and their daughter Myrtle (she married a Pye) lived here in the 1950s. The Bartletts were my God Parents. John was the son of John C. Bartlett who died in June 1917 as a result of a rock fall while working at Sydney Mines, N.S.. In the Census of 1921 he was the head of a household consisting of his Mother Elizabeth A and sister Myrtle.
The Public Wharf
The access path to the Public Wharf was east of John Bartlett’s house and between that path and the next house to the east (#2) there was a section of beach used to haul up boats in the winter or for repairs.
During the 1950s there was a cutting table (for gutting fish) and barrel for Cod livers on the Wharf. The barrel of cod livers ended up in a Guy Fox Bonfire around 1960 and was never replaced.
During the 1950s and 60s there would be up to a dozen small boats tied up to the wharf. As small kids we would spend the summer fishing for tomcod off the wharf using crushed wrinkles as bait. We would also catch Snooks (small eel like fish) using traps made from cans. This was not without some danger since most of the kids could not swim. When I was about 9 my younger friend Don Boone fell in and was going down for the third time when he was rescued with a cod Jigger. The following article from a St. John’s newspaper (published 1916) shows that life in Bareneed was not that different in my father’s time:
There was another case of a drowning averted in 1919:
On Monday evening, 20th inst., Mrs. Isaac BOONE sent her little 5 year old daughter, Margaret, on a message to a neighbour’s house. After delivering her message the little one made her way to the public wharf, opposite the neighbour’s dwelling and fell into the water. She was in a drowning position when Hubert Allen ASH, a visitor to Bareneed, went down on the wharf alone to enjoy the game of catching little fish. There was no one to be seen around anywhere at the time as everyone was to tea. As he drew near the head of the wharf he heard something flapping in the water, and thinking it was caplin, as they were very plentiful around that day, he went and looked over where he heard the sound coming from and discovered that it was a little girl. He could not reach the child with his hand as she was too far off, but he took an oar from the wharf and tried to save the child but she was not able to catch it, so he pushed her in with the oar until he could reach her. Then holding a plank of the wharf in one hand he reached down the other and safely brought the little girl to land. The child sank to the bottom twice while he was trying to recover her but no one came to his assistance. The little girl has been very sick since. Her life was spared by the presence of mind of Hubert Ash who is but a child himself, only 9 years old. (The Guardian Newspaper- Bay Roberts-July 23-1919).
And Again in 1900
There were only a few cases of children drowning in Bareneed. In 1897 a Ethel Thompson age 7 drowned and in 1957 a boy visiting relatives in Bareneed drowned off the wharf. I was very young but can remember standing at the top of Shop House Hill with my mother watching the men in boats dragging for his body.
House #2 which was east of the wharf (two tone house in 1950 photo) belonged to Harold Batten (b 1902) and his wife Mary King (born Country Road). Harold was the son of James (b 1869) and Belinda. Harold was a crew member on several of Captain Bob Bartlett’s (of Brigus) voyages to the Arctic (see History 1901-1948 section for more info) . Harold was the last fisherman in Bareneed. In the late 1960s he still had a salmon net set off Moore’s Point and would go out cod jigging in a “flat” (a flat bottom boat used near shore) he built in his shed.
Immediately to the east of Harold Batten was a shed (dark building) belonging to Charlie Batten who lived north of the road (see #4). As a kid we would play in this shed when his grandchildren visited. He had a carpenter shop in the shed with a foot peddle driven lathe and band saw. East of this shed was a section of vacant beach belonging to the Boone family.
Immediately east of this on the beach side was Harry Greenland’s General Store (see photo below after it closed but before it was converted to a B&B). This store was the only local hangout for kids during the summer. Harry had a 22 rifle hung over the window at the back of the store and the older kids could buy shells and shoot at cans or gulls in the water from the back window. There was a potbelly stove at the back of the shop near the ice cream cooler and Harry would open the door and spit chewing tobacco in; if he missed it would sizzle on the hot stove. Some winter evenings the older men would stand around the stove an tell tales. As kids we would sit on the stairs near the stove and listen to stories like the one about the “Indians” buried under the store (see History 1805 -1818 Section for the background on that story).
House #3 was situated north of the road opposite the wharf at the base of shop House Hill (see photo below). The house was likely abandoned by 1950 and was torn down soon after. I am still researching this house but in 1935 it might have been the house (based on geographic order in census) with William J. Stevens (b. 1887) as the head of household. William J Stevens wife was Emmie daughter of John T Boone [might be John J based on 1921 census] who was 84 and living with them so I suspect the house might have originally belonged to John (T. or J.) Boone. Information from my sister Shirley and her friend Effie Boone suggest that Effie’s maternal grandmother’s family originally owned the house. In 1945 Effie’s maternal grandmother Eliza Andrews nee Boone was a widow (of Isaac Andrews of Ship Cove) living with her son in law William E. Boone of Bareneed (house # 7). It is almost certain that c 1911 this house was owned by a member of the Boone family.
House #4 (behind the house highlighted in the photo above) belonged to Chesley R. [Charlie] Batten ( b 1890) and his wife Margaret [Maggie]. Maggie was born in Twillingate and was the sister of John Bartlett’s wife Susie (House #1). They were parents of Gordon & Gladys. In the 1950s Aunt Maggie was Post Mistress for Bareneed and the Post Office was in a room at the back of their house. Charlie was the son of Thomas G. Batten b 1857. Charlie owned a red shed on the beach side of the road that I discussed earlier.
House #5 belonged to William R Boone (b. 1909) & Annie Boone parents of Clyde (1939-2015), Violet, Raymond, Wayne and Jean. William was the Son of John T (b 1869) and Mary (from Spaniard’s Bay).
House #6 belonged to Harry Greenland (b 1899) son of John Greenland who moved to Bareneed from Coley’s Point after his marriage in 1895 to Mary Ann daughter of John Batten of Bareneed. Harry operated the General Store in Bareneed.
House # 7 was situated on a lane running north from the main road called Mash (Marsh) Lane. This house belonged to William E. (b. 1909) and Rachel Boone plus their children Effie [one of my data sources] and Frank. Rachel was a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Andrews of Ship Cove PDG; Rachel’s mother Elizabeth was originally a Boone from Bareneed. William E. Boone was a son Robert D. Boone (b 1873) and his wife Lilian (from North River).
House # 7 B (not shown but between #7 & #9) belonged to Jane Batten (info from Shirley and Effie).
House # 8 belonged to Herman Batten (b. 1909). Herman was the son of Thomas (b. 1865) and Annie. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Maxwell_Batten
House # 9 was at the end of Mash (Marsh) Lane and belonged to Ben Batten (b 1885) and his wife Mary L (known as Lilly) . Ben was the son of Isaac (b. 1855) and Rachel. Ben was on the 1948 Voters List.
Houses # 10-12 TBD vacant by early 50s
The following three houses #13-15 were situated on Sam’s Hill which becomes Dick’s Hill below #15. In the 1950s, when the only regular motor traffic in winter was the Fish truck from Port de Grave, both of these hill were used for sledding.
House # 13 belonged to Reginald Batten (b 1904), his wife Sarah Jane and their daughter Verna. Reg was the Son of Henry (b 1870) and Annie. His grandmother was Grace b 1933. They originally lived in older house on opposite side of road but built this house in early 1950s and moved across street.
House # 14 belonged to Lester Batten (b 1917), his wife Alvina Melbar, their daughter Joyce and his mother Fannie Jane. This was new house built in 1950s to replace older house that was further back from road towards water. Lester son of Abram (b 1887) and Mary. They had first TV in Bareneed. James and Rebecca Roberts recorded here in 1945 census. Lester was brother to Rebecca Roberts. In the 50s the Roberts moved to western Bareneed.
House #15 belonged to Arthur (b 1911) and Emmie (born Bonavista) and their children Cyril and Don. Arthur was son of Arthur Sr (b 1883) and Leah.
House #16. In late 1940s house of William and Julia Petten. Around 1960 the house was rented to the Lush family from Bay Roberts.
House #17 belonged to Robert J. Boone (b 1911) and his wife Tena (born Harbour Grace in 45 census but SBN says Coleys Point ) and their children Robert and Alice. Robert J was the son of Robert (b 1872) and Lilian.
The following two houses #18 & #19 are situated on the south side of the road on the upper part of Dicks Hill in a part of Bareneed called “Jawsey”.
Down in Bareneed on what is called Dick’s Hill lived a family of Battens who had the nickname of Jawsey. Perhaps their ancestors came from the island of Jersey, thus their nickname. From an old surveyors map __ Samuel Batten – Grant of land 1863, Samuel Batten – 1835 different man? There were many families of Battens living in the lower part of Bareneed, the Cove and along Dick’s Hill. There are none left now. (Source: Rupert Batten, 1999).
House # 18: In 1950s Edwin Batten (b 1917) and his Step Mother Emily lived here. Edwin son of Samuel Batten (b. 1879) and Elizabeth (b 1880, Ship Cove).
House #19: In 1950s Tomas G Batten (b 1883, nickname Tom Jawsey) and his wife Elizabeth (born Harbour Grace in 45 Census but SB says should be Country Road) and son William.
The following two houses were on Lodge Lane (later known as Glovers Lane ) which ran from the middle of Dicks Hill to the shore of Bay Roberts. There was an old Cemetery on Lodge Lane.
House #20: In the 1950s Isaac Boone (b 1881) and his wife Naomi lived on the corner of Lodge Lane and Barenned Road.
House #21, location approximate: A cottage built for Margaret Glover, a teacher born in the UK who lived in Barenned c 1950.
House #22: In 1950s Bartletts but in 1940s William Henry Batten (b 1876) and his wife Mary. They were parents of Victor (b 1914), not living with them, who was a teacher. William Henry was designer of Bareneed Church (SBN). Around 1960 Frank Bartlett who lived in this house was one of the older kids in St Mark’s School. I can remember that each spring he had to leave school in the spring to go to Labrador with his family.
House #23: In 1950s Charles J Batten (b.1905) and his wife Mary (born HG in 45 Census but SB says Shearstown ). Charles was son of John T Batten b 1886.
The Next section covers the area from Shop House Hill west to Mercers Lane which includes St. Mark’s Church and School; however, to make the Web Pages more manageable this section is continued in a separate sub page (Part II).