The Note Book

VITAL STATISTICS
VOLUME 23
(MARRIAGES): CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
St John's, Newfoundland
Part - 2 (1863 - 1892)

Transcribed by Jill Marshall May 2003 from the microfilm no. 2133618 (Latter Days Saints Church, Utah USA)

Brief history of the Congregational Church of St John's
(taken from the Encyclopedia of Nfld & Lab.)

Members started to meet in the summer of 1775 when a jailer, a sergeant and his wife, and 3 soldiers had prayer meetings in the barracks in St Johns: their sergeant leader, JOHN JONES was in the Royal Artillery on his 2nd tour of duty in NF. The meetings grew and in the winter services were held on Wed. & Sun. nights in the Courthouse. However, in the spring of 1776 Gov. John Montague banned further services and forbid anyone to rent space to the Dissenters. They continued however, to meet secretly on the barrens until winter forced them to seek rooms in the town.

The next year they built the first Meeting House: the Governor swore to tear it down and banish Jones to Placentia, but the lease held good. Jones returned to England and obtained ordination at the hands of 9 Dissenting ministers, and accepted the call to become the first minister of ''The Dissenting Church of Christ at St Johns''.

Arriving back at St Johns in July 1779, services were still banned, and the congregation met in Jones' house while leading Independent clergymen argued the case in London and until the petition of Col. Pringle and other principal St Johns merchants was successful. A new meeting House was completed 1789. In 1799 John Jones suffered a stroke and had to retire: he died Mar 1 1800 age 63.

In 1824 Rev. Daniel Ward arrived and stayed until his death 20 yrs later. In 1834 Christ Church, Quidi Vidi, a joint venture that lasted 8 yrs, was opened under the auspices of the Church of England, Methodist and Congregational churches. A new Meeting House (the Stone Chapel) was completed 1853 which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1892. A new wooden church was opened 1895 on Queens Rd.

In the mid 1920s the church was experiencing difficulties attracting a new minister from England, and was losing members to emigration to Canada and the USA. It was served from 1926-1932 by ministers from the new United Church of Canada (formed 1925). Rev Joseph Thackeray, a Congregational minister who had retired in 1912, came out of retirement and served the congregation until 1937. The congregation joined the Presbyterian Church in Canada 1938. The original parish records of the Congregational Church of St Johns are kept at St. Davids Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth Avenue, St Johns, NF.

Date	Place	Groom	Groom Info	Bride	Bride Info	Witnesses
29 AUG 1871	At House Of Bride	William ANSTIS (ANSTEY)	39, bach St. John's	Mary ENGLAND	22, Spin, Kings Cove (NDB)	John England Mary L. Knight

William Anstey is believed to have been born June 2 1831 Bryants Cove (Hr Grace), the son of William & Eleanor; despite being named as bach (bachelor) at this marriage, he is also believed to have been first married in 1858, Kings Cove - NDB, to Elizabeth King.

Return of Possession held in Conception Bay 1805

On August 21, 1804, in an effort to help avoid frequent disputes regarding possession and rights of Fishing Rooms, Beaches, Flakes and land, Governor Erasmus Gower issued an order directing his Surrogates around the Island of Newfoundland to take an exact account of all Fishing Rooms, Wharves, Beaches, Flakes, etc… within 200 yards from the High Water Mark and register them in a book. The claims of every Merchant, Planter, and Boat Keeper to the land he occupied were to be clearly defined. This official Register of Fishing Rooms was to be admitted as evidence in all land claim disputes.

The following is a transcription of a surviving portion of Governor Gower's "Plantations Book." The transcriptions were done in the same format/style as was presented on the photocopies. Even though spelling and punctuation in some entries had obvious mistakes, we have transcribed them as they were in an effort to preserve the integrity of the original document. Thus [sic] has not been added to any spelling mistake. There was an instance where instead of Act Wm III, it was entered as Act Wm II and even this was left as was. After the work was transcribed, it was proof read and spaces were added between names in some of the transcriptions (Thos.Brown would become Thos. Brown) and this only happened with two people's transcriptions as everyone else added those spaces in.

Misc. Volume 13, Conception Bay Plantations Book - held at the Registry of Deeds and Companies, Confederation Building, PO Box 8700 Stn A, St. John's, NF A1B 4J6. Additional copies of CO 199.18 “Return of Possession held in Conception Bay 1805” are available for viewing at: The Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, Colonial Bldg., Military Road, St. John’s, NF A1C 2C9 or at The Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF A1B 3Y1

Timothy Hearne of Bryant's Cove provided the following information...

No.	Name and Description of the Room or Other Erections, with Its Exact Boundaries	In what Harbour, Cove, etc., Situated	Name-and-Residence of the Party Claiming Right to the Same	The Nature of that Claim	Name and Residence of the Present Occupier	Whether-Built, Sold or Leased at the Time of this Entry	Date of this Entry	To Whom Sold or Leased or otherwise Transferred	For what Consideration Sold or otherwise Transferred, or the Rent and Term of the Lease
PAGE 102
763	Timothy Hearne 90 yds. from S. to N. bounded on the N. by the Beach on the S.by the woods 200 yds. from H.W.M. to the Westward bounded on the W. by the woods 1 Stage 1 Flake 1 Beach 3 Houses 3 Gardens 3 Meadows.	Bryant's Cove	B.Cove	Part purchased from Thos. Noseworthy and John Clements for £25 & Part cut and cleared agreeable to Act Wm.3 Cha.25.Sec.7	T. Hearne	1 House	1797	"

29 May 1850 Ambrose Sparks, bachelor of Harbour Grace Elizabeth Bennett, spinster of Bryant's Cove Stephen Bennett, GeorgeLee Whiting, George [Carson?], Ann Sparks

Jonathan Shepherd, granted land at Bryant's Cove, 1851 (Nfld. Archives, Registry Crown Lands);

John Babb
Carbonear - Harbour Grace

John Babb of Harbour Grace and Carbonear understands what it means to be an MHA, Cabinet Member and to serve his constituency. He holds this understanding because he has an educational background in Political Science, and, he has had several years of serving people in his many offices as a volunteer and in his profession as a lawyer.

John Babb is forty-six years old. He grew up in Harbour Grace and lived there until his university years after which he returned. His family comes from Harbour Grace South, Bryant's Cove, Harbour Grace, Carbonear and Freshwater. John attended Memorial University and received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Criminology Certificate. In 1984, he graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelor of Law Degree. John and his wife, Genevieve, live in Carbonear. They have two children, Andrew and Jessica, attending Memorial University.

Jack Deer's Gully