Barrow Harbour, Newfoundland

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Contents 1 About 2 Early Families 3 Later history 4 Twentieth century 5 Sources

About

Abandoned settlement on the southeastem tip of the Eastport Peninsula, Bonavista Bay. According to Captain Russell in his "Accompt of the Enghsh Inhabitants of Newfoundland" (CO. 1:38 cited in J.J. Mannion: 1977), two bye-boatkeepers used Barrow Harbour as a summer fishing station in 1676. In 1762 B. Lester and Company of Poole, Dorset established a winter base for furring, sealing and salmon fishing at Barrow Harbour. During the Napoleonic Wars, 1796 to 1814, Barrow Harbour was used as a refuge for ships because it could be easily defended against French naval attack. Its main use, however, was a supply and trading depot for fishermen in Greenspond, King's Cove, and vicinity. Barrow Harbour was used mainly as a summer fishing station from 1800 to 1820. ^[1]

Early Families

The earliest pioneer family on the Eastport Peninsula^[2] whence present day descendants can be traced is that of George Stockley and Ann Stockley who were settled at Barrow Harbour in the 1780s. George and Ann had three daughters Mary Stockley, Elizabeth and Ann. He was an agent of Lester's and is probably the first permanent settler in Barrow Harbour. His fourth daughter Sarah Stockley (born in 1783) may be the first person of European descent born there. By 1805, however, he had given over his fishing room to his son-in-law Joseph Lane (abt.1760-) (who had married his eldest daughter Mary) and had either moved elsewhere or died.^[3]

Lacking male heirs the Stockley name faded but descendants through the maternal line. Joseph and Mary Stockley stayed in Barrow Harbour, having at least three children who lived old enough to marry, namely: Joseph Lane (abt.1785-1865) married Elizabeth ? (abt.1799-1833), John Lane (abt.1796-1876) married Elizabeth (Dyke) Lane (abt.1806-1874), Margaret Lane (abt.1797-1865) married William Brown of Salvage. But after marriage these children apparently all moved to Salvage.

Sarah Stockley of Barrow Harbour married Thomas Babstock of Oborne, Dorset. Hannah Babstock, the eldest child of Thomas and Sarah, was born in Barrow Harbour in 1807 but they then moved to nearby Broom Close where the remainder of their six children were born.

Thomas White married Ann Stockley, and had family that moved to the nearby community of Broom Close.

Robert King (abt.1780-) of Old Perlican married Ann French (abt.1788-) of Barrow Harbour. We are not sure how long Robert and Ann stayed in Barrow Harbour but their son Thomas King (bef.1813-), who married Mary (Matchim) King (abt.1809-abt.1865), stayed and had ten children there from 1829 to 1851. Virtually all of the Kings of Sandy Cove today are descendants of Robert of Old Perlican. A Benjamin King, son of Joseph King and Mary (Long) of Keels, was born in Barrow Harbour in 1813. Joseph may have been a brother of Robert. So King and Babstock are the first surnames, besides Lane, to appear in Barrow Hr. that continue to exist in the area down to the present time.

Other pioneers at Barrow Harbour included: siblings Thomas and Sarah Wells, with their spouses---Thomas Wells and Mary Curtis,^[4] both of Bonavista, William Powell and Sarah Wells, both of Bonavista (c 1826); and William Matchim (1811-abt.1880) of Bonavista (or Sturminster Newton, Dorset, c 1837) and Jane (Brown) Matchen (abt.1810-abt.1880) of Salvage.

Later history

The most rapid natural increase (about 50 births) occurred in the 1840s and 1850s, with the population peaking at nearly 100 in 1860. About 35-40 children were born into 5 different HOLLOWAY families and 4 MATCHIM families during this span. William and John Holloway were married to sisters Mary and Jane Matchim, while their brother Henry was married to Mary Holloway, sister of Will and John. Children were also born to two families of POWELLs and at least one each of the HEFFERNs and Crockers. Alexander Crocker (1833-abt.1895) came from Bradley's Cove, Conception Bay and married Emmeline Elizabeth (Wells) Crocker (abt.1835-abt.1895). Two sons of Thomas and Sarah Babstock, William and George, also spent time here. William Babstock and Ann (Price) had ten children - all born either in Broom Close or Barrow Hr. George Babstock and Amelia (Moss) also had ten children - some born on the south side of Bonavista Bay but the last three born in Barrow Hr. before he moved to Sailor's Island.

Several families of MOSSes lived briefly at Barrow Hr. Thomas and Ann (Hanlon) Moss had a son Barnabas born here (1842) but they moved first to Salvage, then to Sailors Island and finally settled on Flat Islands. Henry and Catherine (Gould) Moss had a son Robert born here in 1851, but by 1860 they were permanent liviers of Sailors Island. John and Mary (Lane) Moss had two sons Richard (1866) and William(1868) born in Barrow Hr. but by 1870 they had moved to Happy Adventure.

As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to determine which coves within Barrow Hr. are included in population figures. Heffern's Cove, at the mouth of Little Barrow Hr., faces south toward Barrow Hr. and was the fishing room of the Heffern families who lived on the narrow neck of land between Heffern's Cove and Broom Close Hr. The Hefferns always considered themselves to be residents of Broom Close, although in the census of 1911 they are listed as living in Barrow Hr. So on the Population Chart ( above) the correct figures for 1911 should be Broom Close - 20 and Barrow Hr. - 6, which would help explain the apparent drastic drop for Broom Close and the unusual increase for Barrow HR. from 1901 to 1911. Similar adjustments need to be made for 1921 and perhaps other years as well. It is therefore dangerous to make definite statements based solely on population statistics.

The nineteenth century was certainly a period of great transition, as is illustrated by the considerable movement of families like the Babstocks and Mosses, referred to above. In fact, after 1860 movement out of Barrow Hr. accelerated and places like Sandy Cove and Happy Adventure, farther in the bay, began to increase in population. The Matchims moved to Sandy Cove. In the 1911 census three brothers Joseph, Edward and Henry Matchim, all born in Barrow Hr., were living in Sandy Cove. The Kings also moved to Sandy Cove; the Powells and some of the Babstocks moved to Happy Adventure; and the Wells moved into Glovertown perhaps via the Gooseberry Islands. The Holloway families, which were so numerous in Barrow Hr. in the mid-nineteenth century, are likely the forerunners of many of the Holloways who currently live in Port Blandford and Glovertown. The family of Ruben and Sarah Dyke of Salvage lived briefly in Smokey Hole around the turn of the century and two children were born there, but son George who presently lives in Glovertown was born in Sandy Cove in 1908.

Twentieth century

The community maintained close economic ties with Salvage, Newfoundland although as a Methodist community it shared churches and schools with Happy Adventure qv, the closest community with a sizeable Methodist congregation. These close ties with larger communities probably account for the lack of growth in Barrow Harbour's population between 1901 (fourteen people) and 1921 (twenty people) as families moved to Salvage and Happy Adventure. The final census report, of 1935, lists one family. This family, named Hapgood, moved to Happy Adventure between 1935 and 1945.

Sources

1. ↑ Memorial University of Newfoundland - Digital Archives Initiative, Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1, Extract: letter B, p 135 "Barrow". Smallwood, Joseph Roberts, 1900-, Pitt, Robert D. W., 1953-. Newfoundland Book Publishers (1967) Ltd. St. John's, 1981 Accessed 2023.
2. ↑ The Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website, Eastport Peninsula: Family Origins. Accessed 2023.
3. ↑ Newfoundland's Grand Banks Site. Genealogy of the Abandoned Settlements of Barrow Harbour, Little Harbor, Broom Close, and Sailor's Island, Bonavista Bay. by W. Roy Babstock, 2000.
4. ↑ Note: Mary was indicated on her marriage registry as Mary Wells, some family trees and histories have her as Mary Curtis, and the Eastport reference has her as Mary King.

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