Harbour Grace Notebook: October

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1 Oct. 1833: Two days dedicated to horse racing at Cochrane Race Course.

1 Oct. 1892: Mrs. Murphy’s farm in Mosquito grows heaviest head of cabbage in the district of Harbour Grace. Joseph Ross displays the 22.5lb-cabbage in the window of his Water St store.

2 Oct. 1881: Bishop Ronald McDonald preaches his first sermon at Harbour Grace.

4 Oct. 1884: Railway line to Harbour Grace and Whitbourne (Harbour Grace Junction) completed. More info: Harbour Grace Railway Station.

5 Oct. 1996: The Harbour Grace Railway Station becomes a Municipal Heritage Site.

5 Oct. 1934: Harbour Grace Standard ceases publication with its issue by the publishers, Munn & Oke (Edward L. Oke, editor) after 85 years of existence. More info: Harbour Grace Standard – MUN Digital Archives Initiative.

HGStandard
The Harbour Grace Standard

5 Oct. 1850: John Munn, as President of the Commercial Society, presents Lieutenant W.J. Coen, of the Royal Newfoundland Company, with a sword, an honour of high esteem.

6 Oct. 1877: Pipe organ manufactured by Chappell & Company, of Liverpool, installed at St. Paul’s Church.

6 Oct. 1775: Rev. James Balfour arrives in Harbour Grace. More info: Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

7 Oct. 1612: John Guy: “It was by sailing and rowing all night, we came to Havre de Grace as far as the Pirate’s Rock, where we remained until the 17th.” He lands fifteen tons of salt on the “highest point of land,” which he christens Colston’s Cove, after his brother-in-law, settler William Colston. More info: Profile: Colston’s Cove, Harbour Grace.

9 Oct. 1930: Columbia, with pilots Errol Boyd & Harry Connor, leaves Harbour Grace. More info: “The Columbia N.X. 237 in Newfoundland,” by Dr. Lisa M. Daly.

10 Oct. 1930:  Columbia arrives in Tresco, Scilly Islands, England, from Harbour Grace. Erroll Boyd & Harry Connor become the first Canadians to cross the Atlantic.

11 Oct. 1884: Harbour Grace railway branch line opens.

12 Oct. 1877: S.S. Glover arrives from England for Conception Bay service.

14 Oct. 1870: Ridley & Sons closes in Harbour Grace. A letter in historian W.A. Munn’s possession said, “A gloom had gone over the whole City, when they heard that Ridley was in trouble.” More info: “Reign & Ruin: A History of Ridley Hall.”

17 Oct. 1860: Fire engine imported for the Volunteer Fire Brigade.

17 Oct. 1860: Harbour Grace Standard: “We were happy to find that it is in contemplation to open Harvey Street to the Riverhead. This road is being surveyed and marked out by a competent survey-or, Mr. Byrne, who came from St. John’s for that purpose, and we have no hesitation in stating that it will be one of the finest and most useful roads we have in our neighbourhood.”

Harbour Grace Standard, October 17, 1860

17 Oct. 1928: H.C. MacDonald’s Gypsy Moth leaves Harbour Grace for England. More info: “Pipsqueak.”

19 Oct. 1929: Golden Hind, piloted by Urban F. Diteman Jr, arrives at the Harbour Grace airstrip.

21 Oct. 1870: Ridleys declare their business insolvent.

22 Oct. 1929: Golden Hind heads for England. Diteman leaves a letter stating his intentions, but he is never heard from again.

22 Oct. 1940: William Azariah Munn dies of a heart attack at his home on 28 Gower St, St. John’s, after hosting friends from the Newfoundland Historical Society at his residence. More info: “Fish Oil & Water: The Life of William Azariah Munn.”

24 Oct. 1940: W.A. Munn buried at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Cemetery on Military Rd, Harbour Grace.

25 Oct. 1771: Governor John Byron revokes Laurence Coughlan’s appointment as Justice of the Peace because of his “many unwarrantable proceedings to the great obstruction & discouragement of the trade & fishery.” More info: Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

28 Oct. 1936: Miss Dorothy aircraft, piloted by Jimmy Mollison, arrives at Harbour Grace.

29 Oct. 1936: Miss Dorothy aircraft leaves Harbour Grace – the last aircraft to utilize the airstrip for a transatlantic flight. 

31 Oct. 1836: Men march from Carbonear to Harbour Grace for the general election.

31 Oct. 1852: A political meeting is held at Mosquito.

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