Bareneed West: Shop House Hill to Mercers Lane

This is a continuation of Bareneed History 1949-1969. This section covers the area from Shop House Hill (west of wharf) to east of Mercers lane. It also includes St. Mark’s Church and School and the location of the old Fishermen’s Lodge (see map below).

At the top of Shop House Hill there was a small lane running northeast up the hill (a new road was built in the 1970s). At the end of this lane there was an old Church of England Cemetery . This cemetery was abandoned and overgrown by 1950 and in 1985 there were only three stones that could be read (see transcription by Dave Wells 1985 below) :

SURNAME	GIVEN	DIED	AGE	SPOUSE	OTHER [Added by Transcriber]
Richards	Abraham	Oct. 1824	72 Years		Son of William Richards of Port de Grave
Richards	Isaac	Nov. 21, 1828	79 yrs 9 mons 4 days	Elizabeth	Son of William Richards of Port de Grave; Isaac & Elizabeth are th gr-gr-grandparent of Capt. Bob Bartlett]
Richards	Elizabeth	Nov. 1, 1829	74 yrs 1 mon	Isaac	Daughter of John & Mary Butler of Port de Grave; Isaac & Elizabeth are th gr-gr-grandparent of Capt. Bob Bartlett]

I can remember that c 1960 there were other stones visible including one in the southeast corner that recorded a father and his two sons lost a sea. Thanks to Cynthia Matthews I recently found the information on this stone.

House #1: At the top of this lane there was an old barn (see photo) and the remains of a house belonging to Isaac (Ike) Richards and their children John B . (born 1900) and Ethel (b 1908). Some time before 1945 the family moved to the Grove east of Dock Mountain and the house was torn or fell down but the family continued to cut hay on the garden into the 1950s. Isaac was the son of John & Patience. Their son John B. was likely the John B. Richards (1900-1976) who was principal of Codner School in Foxtrap.

House #2: In the 1950s the house of John R (b 1908) and Gladys Newell (Gladys nee Norman born in Bay Roberts) and their children Shirley and John P.  John R. was the son of Albert (b 1868 in the Dock) & Clara Newell (nee Andrews from PDG). Albert and Clara purchased the house from the  Estate of Isaac Richards in 1912.  My father (b 1908) said that when he was a boy (~1918) an old man told him how his mother took him as a boy to see the “grand” new house being built (c 1860s).

The Richards who built the house was a rich merchant and imported many fittings from England. The boards in the interior walls were not from Nfld trees and the foundation stones were from Kellys Island.. The original roof was gable style with three dormers (my grandfather changed roof in 1920s). The Richard’s servants lived in attic and had separate stairway leading directly to kitchen, There were 8 fireplaces and brass and ceramic fixtures in living room connected to bell in attic.   

House #3: In the 1950s this was the house  (vacant) of Isaac H. (Harvey) Richards (b. 1873) . Their house was immediately west of the Newell property and the area where there house was located was later purchased by John R. Newell (see wooded area below).

Harvey had a daughter Beatrice (b 1911) and son Harvey (b 1914 who moved to England). His wife was Martha who died between 1935 and 45). Harvey’s parents were John & Amelia. In 1949 a visitor to Bareneed interviewed Harvey:

Just west of house #3 the main road makes a turn to the right but at this point there was an old laneway that continued west following the top of the cliff (see drone photo below).

In the 1950s there were two houses on this lane (#4 and #5).

House #4 belonged to Albert J Richards (b 1875). Albert’s wife was Mary and they had daughters Elsie and Mary.  Albert Joseph was the son of Isaac & Mary Ann. 

House #5 belonged to Eliza Richards (b 1899) and her daughters Susie and Ida.  Eliza’s husband was George Richards (b 1900 who died between 1940 and 1945).  George was the son of John T. (b 1861) and Grace Richards.

Just in front of Aunt Eliza Richard’s house there was a sand beach at the base of the cliff that was of one of the best beaches for catching Capelin (the other Capelin beach was on the Bay Roberts side at the end of Mercer’s Lane). The lane-way continued on past Aunt Eliza’s house then turned north to rejoin the road.

Retracing our route back to the main road we rejoin it just south of the Church. Between this point and the Church, at the western end of Harvey Richards property (#3), there was a small strip of land between his property and the road that was the location of the Fishermen’s Lodge (Society of United Fishermen). The following photo shows the Lodge just before it was torn down as a result of realignment of the road.

The Lodge Number was 15 and in 1919 the Master was Samuel Batten and the Secretary was J.B. Richards. The Lodge contained numerous photos, paintings and models of ships including a large model of a schooner (I suspect it was Captain Bob Bartletts schooner Effie M. Morrissey since a number of men from Bareneed sailed with him). My sister Shirley indicated that c 1950 there were dances in the Lodge. In 1889 the Bareneed Lodge hosted a Magic Lantern show for local kids.

Just up the road (north) from the Lodge was St. Mark’s Anglican Church. The road was rerouted c 1970 and before that time the existing laneway to the church was the main road. The existing church was consecrated in 1930 and replaced an earlier church that burnt. The church was de-consecrated in 2017 and is now used by the local historical society.

The Rev. Canon J. T. Richards, his wife, his sister and her husband are buried in the church yard. Canon Richards was born in Bareneed in 1875 and was a missionary on the coast of Labrador for 41 years. In 1945 he was transferred to a less demanding position in the Parish of Port de Grave (includes Bareneed). In 1949 he was made a member of the Order of the British Empire. He retired from active parish work in 1952 and lived in the Dock until his death in 1958. I was one of the last children he baptized.

In 1952 Father G.H. Maidment (on right in photo below) replaced Cannon Richards. Father Maidment served as Anglican Rector at Bareneed from 1952 until his retirement in 1960.

Rev. Maidment served as a chaplain to the Newfoundland Regiment during World War I. The military records are limited for chaplains but the following reference shows he was a Captain with the regiment in France in 1917.

For more information on St Mark’s Church and other churches in Bareneed see the separate section on Religion.

St Mark’s School (now Canon Richard’s Tea Room) was situated northwest of the church.

The following photo shows the lower area at the back of the school that was used as a kitchen (back) and dining area (tea room) when there were community events (dances, concerts, turkey teas) held in the school. My sister commented:

The ACWA had their room there for meetings .  They had their sale 
and suppers in the tea room and their homemade items for sale. You could have plain or fancy suppers. All the water was carried in buckets and a coal stove was in the kitchen.  Their were wedding receptions held there and for the dances Uncle Eli  Reid from Port De Grave played his fiddle.

Up until 1964 the main building was a one room school for the Anglican children in Bareneed (Newfoundland had a denominational school system up to the start of the 1998-99 school year).

The following Photos show some of the children during this period.

For more information on the school system see the separate section on Education.

Continuing west from the school there was a vacant property then two houses before Mercer’s Lane turns off towards Bay Roberts.

House # 9 was an abandoned General Store that was owned by Chesley and Winnie Batten. My sister can remember this store being in operation but by the mid 1950s it was abandoned. As a kid c 1960 we would enter the house through a basement window and explore the old store. Chesley relocated to Bay Roberts and in the 1960s he and later his son George operated a successful wholesale business.

House #10 belonged to Hazel Bartlett (b 1905). Hazel was the daughter of George H. (b. 1858 and died before 1935)  and Susie (died after 1945).

On the south side of Bareneed road there were three houses east of Moore’s Lane.

House # 6, situated on the old lane that ran south to the water, belonged to Virtue Richards  (b 1871). Virtue was the wife of William H. Richards (b 1861). My sister can remember this house but it was torn down by the mid to late 50s.  

Just east of here (across from Church) there was an old Richards family Plot.

House #7 belonged to Thomas Richards (b 1862) and his daughter Mildred (b 1902).

House # 8 belonged to Robert H (Bob) Bartlett (b 1903) , his wife Mary and their children Mary and Ross. Robert’s parents were Samuel H. and Lilly Bartlett. In the 1950s there was a small Shop attached to house that serviced people in the west end of Bareneed and was the place school children would go to buy treats (candy and snacks). According to my sister the Shop attached to the house was originally a store operated by Tom French of the Dock (see Part IV) and after that business closed (c 1950) the building was moved to this location in Bareneed. In the 1960s the Bartletts operated a gas pump east of the shop.

The next section (Part III) covers the properties north and west of Bob Bartlett’s store (down Moore’s Lane and up Boone’s Hill).