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Home l Video l My You Tube Channels l Blog l Bryant's Cove Genealogy Resources l A Blast From The Past l |
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The Harbour Grace Affray The "Affray," was a conflict between the Irish Catholics of Riverhead and the Southside of Harbour Grace, and the Orangemen, an Anglican Society, who came from Harbour Grace, Carbonear and other towns.There were between 400 and 500 people gathered for the Orangemen and between 100 and 150 people for the Irish Catholics. During the heat of battle, a Bryant's Cove resident was amongst the wounded.
When they were near Pippy's Lane, they were stopped by the Irish Catholics from Riverhead whose objective was to prevent the Orangemen from passing through a lane from Harvey Street to Water Street as they felt the Orangemen were encroaching on their territory. Tempers were aroused, shots were fired and the serious disturbance which followed resulted in the death of five people and injuries to seventeen.
A court case was held at Supreme Court in St. John's. All transcriptions were placed in a book by Mildred Howard which is available to view at the Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland Studies section. Mildred Howard's grandfather, Charles Taylor, gave sworn testimony at the court case for what he saw on December 26th. Killed in the Affray:
Wounded in the Affray:
Fatal Accident: "An accident, which terminated fatally during the course of the present week,
occurred at Capelin Cove on St. Stephen's Day. It seems that a man named William
Webber of the above place was engaged in firing a few du joie as the Orange
procession was passing along the neighborhood. Having fired several rounds, he
was in the act of reloading when a charge, which was partly down the barrel
exploded owing to the gun having become heated from too frequent use. The thumb,
with some of the sinews of the right hand, were badly lacerated. We hear that
the wound was progressing favorably, but that the unfortunate man incautiously
ventured out of doors and caught a severe cold. Lockjaw speedily ensued,
followed on Wednesday last by his death. The deceased leaves a wife and two
children to mourn his sad and untimely end." Funerals: William Janes (Jeans); Patrick Callahan and William French, took place Saturday. The whole proceedings on the occasion were conducted in the most orderly manner. (The Newfoundlander, 1 Jan. 1884) Arrested and Charged with the "willful murder" of Patrick Callahan (of the River Head Party), were Constable Edward Doyle, Josiah Bray, Edmund Butt, Edward Ash, Ambrose Williams, James Courage and Charles French. The Solicitor General, Hon. J.S. Winter (who was also Grand Master of the Orange Society at that time), appeared for the Crown and Messrs G.H. Emerson and P.J. Scott appeared for the defense, while Mr. W.O. Wood held a watching brief on behalf of Doyle. The Magisterial inquiry was held before Judge Bennett at Harbour Grace, and the prisoners were later acquitted. Doyle was arrested on January 7th and the other defendants on the 8th by a detachment of Mounted Police under Head Constable John Sullivan. Head Constable Doyle was suspended from the Force because of his alleged involvement in the shooting of Callahan. He was reinstated 21 May, 1885." Historian Analysis Five died in religious violence.Religious animosity between Catholics and Protestants was far from unknown in Newfoundland's past, but only once did it erupt into major violence- the Harbour Grace Affray of Dec. 26,1883, which left five men dead and 17 wounded. Historian Paul O'Neill and Jim Hillier, head of Memorial University's history department spoke on the affray to about 25 people Thursday night at a meeting of the Newfoundland Historic Society. Of the dead, one was with the Catholics, one was a bystander and three were Orangemen. The Catholic, Patrick Callahan of South Side, was shot through the head. John Bray, who was not in the procession, died of a fractured skull. Of the three Orangemen killed, William French, of Courage's Beach, died from wounds to the back of the head; William Jeans of Carbonear, was shot twice and had 62 wounds to the front of his body; Thomas Nicholas, of Otterbury, died from eight shot wounds in the back and side. The 17 men wounded were: John Webber and William Anthony of Death Hill, Harbour Grace; William Brown and Moses Nicholas of Mayne's Brook, Harbour Grace; Solomon Martin of Martin's Brook, Harbour Grace; Reuben Courage and James Bray of Courage's Beach, Harbour Grace; Thomas Luffman of Noad Street, Harbour Grace; Robert Lilly, The Marsh, Harbour Grace; Henry Noseworthy, Bryant's Cove; William Cleary, Carbonear; William Best, Harvey Street, Harbour Grace; William George, South Side; William Vatcher, Carbonear; Patrick Dormody, Thomas Walsh, and Edward Callahan of Riverhead, Harbour Grace. July 12 is the date observed by Orangemen to commemorate the victory of King William and the Protestants over the Catholics and the battle of the Boyne. However in Harbour Grace in 1883, most of the men were engaged in the ground fishery or the seal fishery in July and so the observance was transferred to St. Stephen's Day or Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. Historians say 400 Orangemen marched along Harvey Street that day, with the leader holding the King James version of the Bible. They insisted on going beyond what the Catholics considered their territory and, as a result, a riot broke out with guns fired as the parade went past. Although there was religious animosity displayed in most Conception Bay communities during the Orangemen's parade, the historians say, the Harbour Grace Affray was the only major violence that occurred in Newfoundland during the observance. O'Neill says the surprise is not that there was a violent outbreak in Harbour Grace, but that there were not more in communities around the Bay, considering the event took place during the Christmas festivities. O'Neill's research shows a record of religious accord between the denominations in Harbour Grace in the early 19th century, at least until the arrival of an Italian bishop. He frowned on the Benevolent Irish Society for allowing membership to non-Catholics, but the BIS insisted it was an open and civic organization. The argument caused a split even among Catholics themselves, many of whom stopped going to Mass. The historian says in 1883, a Bishop MacDonald brought in American Redemptory missionary priests who preached hell, fire and damnation to get them back to the church. The result appears to be even more religious fighting between the Protestants and the Catholics, and, says O'Neill, the economic tensions at the time did not help. The Catholics made up only one quarter of the population and the suspicion festered that economic power lay in the hands of the protestants.
The story goes that const. Edward Doyle, an Ulster Protestant, heard there would be trouble on the day of the parade and told his police to keep a general watch on the parade. He claimed his men were not armed. Men had gathered on a bridge along the route early in the day, but this was later disputed. A volley of shots was exchanged, with const. Doyle accused of pulling a gun and killing Callahan. Medical evidence disproved this later. Doyle was arrested for the murder of Callahan, but the charge was dropped . It is not known why. Josiah Bray, Edmund Butt, Edward Ambrose Williams (discharged for lack of evidence), James Courage and Charles French were also arrested for murder, but never came to trial. Arrested for the murders of William Jeans and others were: Michael Coady, James Quirk, John Walsh, Patrick Harper, Richard MacKay, Nicholas Shannahan, William Russell, Thomas Duggan, Thomas Bradbury, Jeremiah Lee, Robert Donnelly, Patrick Smallcombe, Pierce Wade, Thomas Morrissey, Patrick Walsh, John McCarthy, John Flemming, Richard Flemming and Nicholas Bradbury. They were all brought to trail in St. John's and acquitted, to the outrage of the Protestant population in Harbour Grace. The events of the affray, have been told by grandparents to their grandchildren, many of whom are living today. One member of the audience, Thursday night, said his recollection of it is that his father would not go out to the parade that day and was always considered a coward for it.
Copyright © 2006 James R. Yetman - All Rights Reserved
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