by Calvin Evans
All sole owners were indeed managing owners. We see this clearly in the case of Mary (Shepherd) Gosse of Spaniard’s Bay as described by Eric Gosse in his book The Settling of Spaniard’s Bay. Robert Gosse III built the ship Victoria in 1861 with the help of his six sons, and he died prematurely in 1863. His widow Mary “immediately took overall command, found the money to outfit for the fishery in 1864-65, and appointed her son Robert as captain and her eldest son John Charles as master of the cod-seines. With her crew of six sons Mary sailed aboard the Victoria during both voyages as cook and chief supervisor of these expeditions. In 1866 Mary stayed ashore, having sold her schooner to Robert, and the remaining members of the family dispersed.”
Two other similar matriarchs at Spaniard’s Bay were Sarah Barrett and Catherine Gosse. The earliest plantation in Spaniard’s Bay was granted to Sarah Barrett in 1755, and there is no mention in the records of either inheritance or purchase. The property was already a well-developed fishing establishment at that time and consisted of two houses, three gardens, a meadow and two flakes. The third woman of note in Spaniard’s Bay was “the redoubtable Catherine” Gosse, widow of Robert Gosse, Sr. Robert died in 1794 and Catherine continued to operate the family fishing enterprise and died in 1818 at the age of 92. This is probably the same Catherine Gosse who is listed in the 1805 Conception Bay Plantation Book as purchasing land at Bread and Cheese Cove from Thomas Mann for 30 pounds sterling (no date given) and leasing it to Gosse & Chancey for 31 years at 5 pounds sterling per annum.
It is no stretch of the imagination to characterize all three of these women, and many others like them, as managing owners of plantations, fishing ventures and ships. The ancient term of “ship’s husband” is used rarely in the ship registers and is gradually replaced in the records with the term managing owner. Curiously the term “ship’s husband” was found in the records as late as 1945, 1956 and 1959. The earliest use of the term managing owner that I was able to find was 1907 and then it was used in connection with a male owner. In the register of 1911, the registrar added a note: “If there are more owners than one, the Registrar is requested to distinguish the Managing Owner by the letters ‘M.O.’ against his name.” Note the use of “his” with the implication that only men will be managing owners. The definition of the term managing owner is stated as “the person to whom the management of the vessel is entrusted by and on behalf of the owner.”
It was not until the mid-1950s that the term managing owner came to be applied to women, and women soon went beyond that status for themselves and some began to appoint men, usually their husbands, as managing owners of their ships. This could not be done by the registrar until he received a letter from the owner stating that such a person was to be the “M.O.” of her ship.
The first specific reference to a woman being appointed managing owner was that of Lillian Martha Hynes of Harbour Breton. She bought the ship Rita M. Farrell in 1954 and re-named it the Elizabeth & Helen. Two months later she informed the registrar that she was the managing owner. From an interview in Harbour Breton in 1994, I discovered that Lillian had been working for four years at St. Martha’s Hospital in Antigonish, supervising the preparation of meals and that she married Sandy Hynes in December 1941 when Sandy was home on leave from the Merchant Marine. During his leave the ship on which he had been working was torpedoed; Sandy later received a DVA pension. Steve Hynes, Sandy’s brother, was master of the Elizabeth & Helen. Lillian had only a Grade 8 education and Mr. Day helped her keep the books. She sold the ship in 1961 and the man to whom she sold had to take a mortgage of more than $5,000.
Lillian Frances Winsor, married woman of St. John’s, informed the registrar of shipping that she was to be the managing owner of her ship, the Sylvia Joyce. She had bought the ship in 1953 and sold it late in 1955. Rosanna Cutler of Ramea advised the registrar in 1955 that she was the managing owner of the Estelle Travers prior to selling the ship; it looks as if this was information required by the registrar in order to conclude details of the sale. Emily Thornhill of Grand Bank appointed herself managing owner of the Miss Pubnico when she bought it in 1955; she sold it the next year.
When Jesse Howell, master mariner of St. John’s, died in 1954, his will appointed his wife Annie as executor. She inherited his 32 shares in the 142-ton Jennie Elizabeth and continued as a partner with Thomas Hollett, a St. John’s merchant. Under her own signature and that of Thomas Hollett, Annie was appointed managing owner. In 1958 she bought Hollett’s 32 shares and informed the registrar that she was now the managing owner. In July 1959 the vessel went ashore at Little Pound Island Reef near Badger’s Quay and became “a constructive total loss,” according to advice received from the owner.
If a husband and wife owned a ship jointly and one of them was appointed managing owner, the signatures of both parties were required to be submitted to the registrar. For example, when Robert Allan Newman, merchant of Petites, sold the ship Coombes to Albert Read and Elsie Read of La Poile, fisherman and housewife, in 1957, the registrar’s note reads: “Albert Read appointed managing owner. Advice under the hands of A. Read and Elsie Read received 18 November 1957.” Likewise, when Frederick Clement Berkshire, fisherman of Spencer’s Cove, Placentia Bay, sold 40 shares in the ship Bertha Joyce to Annie Northover Berkshire, married woman, and 14 shares to Raymond Burton Berkshire, mariner, and 10 shares to David Keith Berkshire, student, Annie was appointed managing owner and advice to the registrar required Annie’s signature and those of the other two new owners.
Joseph Delurey, coasting master of Riverhead, St. Mary’s Bay, and his wife, Laura Gertrude Delurey, were co-owners of the Maggie Greene when they bought the ship in 1952. In 1956 Laura took over 44 shares; Joseph Patrick Delurey, fireman, bought 5 shares, Harold Joseph Delurey, David Joseph Delurey and Joseph Delurey, Jr., all students, bought 5 shares each. Laura was appointed managing owner of the ship, and the advice to the registrar required her signature and those of the other four owners. We saw earlier that Chesley Yarn, merchant of Mose Ambrose, though he retained ownership of the ship Wagaymack, which he bought in 1956, appointed his wife Mary as managing owner of the vessel, and she used this ship in the pursuit of her separate business in English Harbour West. In 1956 Thomas Garland Ltd. of Gaultois acquired the ship Teresa G., which had been built at Baddeck, Nova Scotia; the firm appointed Laura Garland manager in 1957; in 1966 the firm took a mortgage of $75,000 on the ship and it was discharged 14 months later. The ship was sold in 1968.
From 1955 to 1990 the ship registers contain the names of another 25 women who were named managing owners or managers of ships and fishery-related businesses. It is again testimony to the significant role that women were playing in the economy of the province.
Additionally, there are 25 instances in which women appointed men, usually their husbands, sometimes their fathers or a business partner, as managing owners of ships. Irene May Saunders of Cobb’s Arm in 1959 appointed her husband Oliver as ship’s husband of the Fortunegull. Sadie Pearl Hodder, married woman of Creston, advised the registrar that Philip Russell Hollett, merchant of Creston, was to be the managing owner of the Ernie Loretta after he bought 32 shares; she continued to hold the other 32.
Other cases are to be found in Appendix A.
Women and the Sale of Ships
There are three sub-categories to be examined here: husbands who sell ships to their wives and vice versa; married couples who sell their ships to other married couples; and women who sell their ships to other women.
There were 36 cases in which husbands sold their ships to wives, and 5 cases in which the wife sold to her husband. Emmanuel Stone of Rocky Brook, Trinity Bay, sold his newly built ship Cumberland to his wife, Margaret Stone, the same year that he built it, 1898.
The Hon. James J. Rogerson sold his ship Orange Lily to his wife, Isabella Rogerson, in 1900. He was described in the press as “a leading Temperance man, an earnest church worker and philanthropist.” Isabella Whiteford was his second wife and she is described as “a singer
of sweet strains” and “a sweet songstress,” and by D. W. Prowse, the renowned Newfoundland historian, as “essentially a poet of the domestic affections.” Prowse commends “…her humor, which is of the highest quality of true Irish pleasantry and fun.” She published her first volume of poems in 1860 and her second in 1898. She died in 1905.
John and Josiah Yetman of Harbour Grace sold the 56-ton Pandora to Susannah and Minnie Yetman, married women of Harbour Grace, in 1909. John House of Gooseberry Island, planter of Bonavista Bay, sold the 54-ton Lizzie H. to Emma House, married woman of Gooseberry Island, in 1906. She sold the vessel in 1910. Charles Butt, planter of Spaniard’s Bay, sold the Fiona to his wife, Emily Jane Butt, in 1909. According to the personal testimony of Eric Gosse when I interviewed him in 1995, Charles Butt ran a general retail store and was involved in the Labrador fishery; he was one of the great seal hunters of the period, a very enterprising man. He also had a great temper. As Eric Gosse remarked about Emily Jane: “She made herself felt. When Charles calmed down after one of his tirades, she told him what to do and made him think it was his idea.” Eric Gosse wrote the story of the wreck of the Fiona on the Labrador coast and it was printed in the Evening Telegram about 1979. The crew “were able to put enough barrels and tierces around her that she floated off at high tide.”
We have already looked at the sale of the Chesley R. by Felix Tibbo and Charles Forward of Grand Bank to their wives, Eleanor Tibbo and Mary Florence Forward, in 1934, and the sale of the Agnes R. to Violet Blanche Butt by her husband, Simeon Butt of Harbour Le Cou. Alphonsus Hickey of Petit Forte sold his ship Meda to his wife Bride Hickey in 1944, and she retained ownership until 1955 when she sold it to Alexander Haines, mariner of Pushthrough. Bride’s birth name was Hayden and she was born at Petit Forte in 1883. She had a Grade 8 education, and she and Alphonsus had eight children. Family testimony affirms that she was in charge of the fish when it was brought ashore, assuring that it was properly washed and cured for market. She died in 1972.
There were five cases of wives selling their ships to their husbands. The first sale was between George V. Parsons, fisherman of Glovertown, and his wife, Susannah Parsons. Actually, George sold his ship, the George V. Parsons, to Susannah in 1918, and Susannah re-sold it to him in 1922. Elsie May Kendell sold her ship, the Glimshire, to William Kendell, mariner and her husband, in 1961, but she had appointed herself managing owner of the vessel when she bought it 17 months previously. The vessel ran ashore and broke up at Pushthrough in May 1967. Johannah Smith, married woman of Argentia, sold the Margaret Ann Smith to Anthony Smith, merchant of Argentia, in 1935. Anna Mary Manuel and Myra Maud Bennett, married women of Corner Brook, sold their ship, the Dante, in 1939 to Willis Manuel of Corner Brook, Gordon Scott Goodyear and Samuel James Anderson; I am reasonably certain that Willis was Anna Manuel’s husband. Emily Thornhill, married woman of Grand Bank, sold the Miss Pubnico, which she had bought from Fortune Shipping Ltd. in 1955, to Ambrose Thornhill, oiler of Grand Bank, in 1956. This vessel went ashore and was a total loss at Fox Island near Ramea in 1958.
It is possible that a very few of the 36 cases may have had something to do with the protection of family assets, i.e., protecting them from merchants or creditors, but I would guess that these would be few indeed.
There are also two instances of married couples selling to other married couples. In 1947 Augustus and Phoebe Buckland, fisherman and married woman of Rose Blanche, sold the Dolores Kaye to Simeon Matthew Billard and Maud Billard of Harbour Le Cou, also fisherman and married woman. And in 1948 Gabriel and Bessie Billard, fisherman and married woman of Rose Blanche, sold the Calvin Anne to George Robert Durnford and May Durnford, merchant and married woman of Francois.
There were also six instances of women selling their ships to other women. Mrs. Anastassia McDonald of Salmonier sold her ship Bonny Lass, which Michael F. McDonald (presumably her husband) had rebuilt and enlarged in 1909, to Mrs. Ellen McDonald of Salmonier. As we saw earlier in the section on “Joint Ownership,” Annie Murphy, married woman of St. John’s, sold the ship Bertha May in 1919 to Elizabeth Murphy, also a married woman of St. John’s. Lucy Roberts of Twillingate acquired all shares in the Hattie A. Heckman when her husband, Andrew Roberts, died without a will in 1926. She sold the vessel in 1927 to Mary A. T. Roberts, spinster of Twillingate. Three years later Mary sold the ship to Ashbourne’s Ltd. The Jessie Beatrice, which Ada Annie Petite, widow of Mose Ambrose, bought in July 1937, she sold to Gertrude Evans, married woman of Mose Ambrose in March 1938. Gertrude had a motor installed in the vessel and re-registered it. In 1953 Caroline Hannam, married woman of Rose Blanche, sold her ship Wilehema to Mary Elizabeth Hannam and Charles Hannam, married woman and fisherman of Rose Blanche. Meta Cutler, married woman of Ramea, appointed herself managing owner of the ship Glimshire when she bought it in 1959; she sold it in 1960 to Elsie May Kendell, married woman of Pushthrough.
Women, Ships and Mortgages
There are three sub-categories through which we may view women’s roles regarding mortgages on ships: women as mortgagees for ships, women who took mortgages on their ships, and women who did not hold mortgages on their ships but the men to whom they sold had to take mortgages.
Twenty-six women in the Newfoundland ship registers were mortgagees, i.e., they provided mortgages for others to buy ships. Four of these women held two separate mortgages, and one was required after probate of her brother’s will to discharge four mortgages and transfer two other mortgages. These cover the period 1895 to 1984.
The first mortgagee found in the records was Mary Layton, widow of Harbour Grace. She provided a mortgage of $800 at 6% interest for Henry W. Thomey to buy the 58-ton Celerity in 1895. Since she sold the vessel in June 1900, Thomey must have died or reneged on his loan. When Robert Fowlow, planter of Trinity, bought the ship Etta May in November 1896, Mrs. Selina Hepburn, married woman of St. John’s, held the mortgage for him of $550 at 6% interest; the mortgage was discharged in October 1898. Nathaniel March, merchant of St. John’s, bought the 317-ton J. Percy Bertram in 1900, and Anna March and Charlotte M. March, spinsters of St. John’s (probably his sisters), were joint mortgagees to secure the sum of $6,000 at 4% interest. Their mortgage covered 24 shares.
Margaret Edens of St. John’s held a mortgage on November 1906 of $1,050 at 6% interest for Levi Button, fisherman of St. John’s, when he bought the 29-ton C.W.J. She discharged the mortgage in January 1907, though the mortgage agreement stated that it was not payable until May 1907. Button must have had a great fishing season. Elizabeth Munn, widow of Harbour Grace, held a mortgage of $4,000 at 6% interest in August 1906 for Norman Munn, merchant of the same place (probably her son), when he bought the 119-ton Antoinette. Though it was payable on August 1907, the mortgage was not discharged until 1912 when the vessel was sold. Annie, Cora and Octavia Grieve, spinsters of Edinburgh, Scotland, were the joint mortgagees for Thomas Crawford of Greenock, Scotland, for the amount of 1450 pounds sterling at 5% interest when he bought the 278-ton, three-masted Attila in 1912. Eight months later Crawford sold the vessel to Walter Baine Grieve, merchant of St. John’s. There must have been a family connection here, and Crawford was probably buying the ship to deliver it to W. B. Grieve, merchant at St. John’s.
John Chalker Crosbie, merchant of St. John’s, bought the ship Evelyn in 1904. In March 1909, his wife Mitchie Ann Crosbie, held a mortgage on the ship for $6,000 at 6% interest, and in March 1910, she transferred the mortgage to Martha E. Bell, hotel proprietor of St. John’s. This is yet another case where “Hotel Proprietor” is crossed out and “married woman” is written in by a later hand.
Sarah Vigus, married woman of Burin, held a mortgage of $3,263.74 at 7% interest when her husband James Vigus, merchant, bought the Frances Mesquita in 1916. The mortgage was payable on December 31, 1917; it was discharged on November 6, 1917. Sarah had come to Burin as a teacher and stayed on to marry James Vigus who died in 1918. In February 1919 Sarah Vigus became a mortgagee for the amount of $662
without interest when Robert Wagg bought the F. W. Mitchell. The mortgage was to have been paid by November 1920. The vessel appears to have been seized by the High Sheriff under a writ of fieri facias on March 9, 1928, “over the shares of Robert Wagg.” Four months later the vessel was sold to Gordon Hollett, accountant of Burin. Sarah had died on January 16, 1922, at age 63.
In 1931 Annie B. Blackwood, married woman of Wesleyville, held Mortgage B “to secure the amount due on Account current [amount not stated] at 3% per annum payable on demand” when Albert L. Blackwood bought the 108-ton Flora S. Nickerson in 1931. Ann Bishop, widow of Wesleyville, was the mortgagee for Mortgage C; in May 1939 she transferred this mortgage to Annie B. Blackwood. Albert Blackwood died in March 1938, and Annie was then a widow. It appears that Annie was still holding both mortgagees when the vessel was “totally lost” at the approach to Wesleyville Harbour on June 11, 1950.
In 1933 when Edmund Vardy, mariner of Hickman’s Harbour, bought the 174-ton Alcala, Lillian Vardy, married woman of Hickman’s Harbour, held Mortgage B for $4,000 with interest at 7% per annum; this mortgage covered 20 shares. The Alcala was a Lunenberg-built schooner and once raced the Bluenose, keeping up with the famous ship on the way out and losing the race by five minutes on the way back. Edmund Vardy bought the Gertrude Jean, a crude oil screw, in 1938 from Fanny Isabel Ryan Fiander, married woman of Trinity, and once again Lillian Vardy was the mortgagee for $4,000 with 3% interest. She discharged this mortgage in October 1941. From information received on Random Island, it is clear that Lillian was the business head of her husband Edward’s firm and also extended mortgages to his brother Edmund. Lillian and Edward owned the Flora Ann, which had at one time been a rum-runner, and the Silver City, a steel-built boat. Lillian and Edward ran a general store, did freighting around the coast, and collected fish on the Labrador. She and Edward had three daughters, and one of their ships was named after two of the daughters, the Ivy and Muriel; the third daughter died very young.
