Baker

Baker
Current region	Newfoundland and Labrador
Place of origin	England
Founded	c.1870

The Baker Family of Random Island

The first two Baker families to settle permanently in the Random Island (RI) area were those of

• James Baker (“James-b1836”) who was born in Heart’s Ease Beach (henceforth, “Heart’s Ease”) in 1836, and married Johanna Cooper (1835-1902) of Ireland's Eye in 1859 [see Cooper Family], and
• John Baker (“John-b1837”) who was born in Heart’s Ease in 1837 and married Sarah Ann Langer of nearby Gooseberry Cove in 1866.

Both families settled in the vicinity of Souley's and Wake's Brooks near Snook's Harbour in the 1870s, although James and Johanna had previously spent about a decade living in Rider’s Harbour and Thoroughfare. There is uncertainty regarding how James-b1836 and John-b1837 were related, even though it has been indicated in a previous summary that they were brothers. In any case, we will consider them to be the “First Generation” of the Baker Family of Random Island.

Pre Random Island

First Generation

Ancestors of James-b1836

While there are instances of Bakers on the Southern Shore (south of St John's) and in Conception and Placentia Bays in the late 1600s and early 1700s, it seems most likely that the earliest Baker ancestor of the Random Island Baker Family to live in Newfoundland was “John-b1730” who, according to the Baker-Merlo Family Tree on Ancestry, was born in Trinity in 1730 and married a lady named Grace from there. This is consistent with the Heart's Ease Community History which indicates that James-b1836 was descended from the “John Baker and wife Grace, likely of Trinity, [who] moved to Heart's Ease Beach and became the first permanent settlers in the community [around 1750]”. John-b1730 and Grace had at least 3 children: “John Jr [b 1750], Elizabeth and Joseph?”. John-b1730 died in 1775.

The Baker-Merlo Family Tree indicates that John-b1730's parents were John-b1711 Baker and Susan Dorlin, both born in Suffolk England, and that their other 3 children were born in Suffolk between 1732 and 1745. This suggests that, either John-b1711 and Susan returned to England after the birth of John-b1730, or they were not his parents, or his indicated birthplace is incorrect. Thus, while there is some indication that John-b1730's parents lived in Newfoundland (if he was indeed born there), there is some uncertainty about who they were and whether they lived permanently in Newfoundland prior to his birth.

It seems likely that John-b1730 or his father was the "John Baker, a fisherman of Trinity, 1758" who, in a comprehensive historical review., was identified as the earliest instance of a Baker in Trinity Bay. The above indication that John-b1730 and Grace moved to Heart's Ease "around 1750" suggests that the 1758 Trinity fisherman was John's father. However, the indication in the Baker-Merlo Tree that their 3 children (John-b1750, Joseph and Elizabeth) were born in Trinity between 1750 and 1758 suggests that their move to Heart's Ease may have been gradual or seasonal. Other early instances of Bakers in Trinity Bay include: "John, proprietor and occupier of a fishing room at Scilly Cove (now Winterton), Winter 1800-01", "William, planter of Bird Island Cove (now Elliston), 1823", "Thomas, planter of Hant's Harbour, 1824", and "Joseph of Heart's Ease, 1830", who may have been the son of John-b1730 mentioned earlier.

According to the Heart's Ease Community History, John-b1730 and Grace's son John-b1750 first married Elizabeth Rogers and then Mary Piercey, before dying in 1808. He and his two wives had a large number of children, including William-b1786 born in 1786. William-b1786 "moved to Hearts Content ca 1815", and his son James-b1836 and wife Johanna (nee Cooper) "moved to Rider's Harbour ca 1860 and then to Snook's Harbour ca 1875". It is unknown whether the latter's move to the Snook's Harbour area influenced the move of Johanna's nephew John Loder (son of her sister Rachel) to Snook's Harbour ca 1877 [see Loder Family], or that of her nephew William Cooper and his wife Emily Smith to Snook's Harbour in 1881 [see Cooper Family].

For future reference, John-b1730 and Grace were the great grandparents of James-b1836.

Ancestors of John-b1837

Less is known about the distant ancestors of John-b1837 who also moved to the Snook's Harbour area in the 1870s. According to the Davies-Churm-Hodgkins-Baker Tree on Ancestry, John-b1837 and siblings Robert (b 1838) and Charity (b 1840), all born in Hearts Ease, were the children of Robert Baker (1812-1891) and Priscilla Miller (b 1809 in Kerley's Harbour). Robert-b1812 is indicated to have been born in England; however, the Heart's Ease Community History mentions two Robert Bakers descended from John-b1750 (and his wives) who seem to be possible candidates for Robert-b1812: a son Robert (but this seems unlikely to be him since John-b1750 died in 1808, before Robert-b1812 was supposedly born), and a grandson Robert who was another son of William-b1786 and hence an older brother of James-b1836. The latter scenario would mean that John-b1837 and James-b1836 were indeed brothers as has been proposed, such that the birthplace of Robert-b1812 in the Davies-Churm-Hodgkins-Baker Family Tree is misleading and perhaps incorrect.

John-b1837 married Sarah Ann Langer, probably of Hearts Ease, and they had children James-b1867, Robert-b1868 and John Thomas (b 1873), all born in Heart's Ease. Presumably these children moved with them in the 1870s to the Snook's Harbour area. James-b1867 married Jessie Hiscock of Salmon Cove and they settled in Snook's Harbour proper, and John Thomas died in St. John's in 1935. The fate of Robert-b1868 is unknown.

In summary, considering that both James-b1836 and John-1837 moved from Heart's Ease to the Snook's Harbour area and that all of the Heart's Ease Bakers were probably related in some way (even if distantly), it does not seem inappropriate to refer to all of the Bakers of Snook's Harbour as part of an extended Baker Family. And it may indeed be that James-b1836 and John-b1837 were brothers, but this remains uncertain.

The Heart's Ease Community History also indicates that a grandchild (child of Thomas) of John-b1750 moved to Weybridge in the mid 1800s. Also, several female Bakers who were probably descendants of John-b1730 moved to Random Island, including: Sarah who married John Foster in 1807 and settled in Rider's Harbour, Jane (b 1862) who married Benjamin Martin of Hickman's Harbour, Amelia (b 1869) who married William Hiscock of Hickman's Harbour, and Susannah (b 1880) who married David Martin of Hickman's Harbour.

Random Island Families

First, Second and Third Generations

James-b1836 Baker and Family

James-b1836 and Johanna (nee Cooper) Baker initially lived in Rider's Harbour where they had children:

• Flora who was born in 1860, and
• John who was born in 1862 and married Mary Ann Jacobs (b 1874) in 1896. John-b1862 and Mary Ann lived in Snook's Harbour and had a daughter Flora (1909-1991).

James-b1836 and Johanna then lived in Thoroughfare where they had children:

• Mary Ann who was born in 1864 and married Thomas Coles;
• Edward James who was born in 1866 and died in 1887;
• Elizabeth Selah who was born in 1868, and married Albert Coles of Somerset England in 1901 in Halifax;
• Rachel who was born in 1871;
• Susanna who was born in 1872, and married (m) Arthur Bugden (1852-1918) of Trinity; they lived in Lance Cove and then Petley and had children:
  • Eliza (b 1893),
  • Eugene (1895-1974, m Martha Ivany),
  • Flora (1896-1899),
  • Louise (b 1898),
  • Bertha (b 1900),
  • Heman (1900-1967, m Carrie Bailey, had at least 2 children, died in Snook's Harbour),
  • Fiona (1902-1921, m Moses Marsh),
  • William (b 1902),
  • Mariam (1902-1921),
  • Millie (1904-1973),
  • Emily Maude (1904-1980),
  • Amelia (b 1904, m George Wiseman),
  • Llewelyn (1908-1929),
  • George (1910-1994, m Ivy Smith),
  • James, and
  • John.

Susanna died in 1954 in Petley, well after Arthur died there in 1918.

A baptism record for James-b1836 and Johanna's last known son has not been found, but it has been indicated that he was born in 1878 in Wake's Brook:

• William-b1878 who married Alice Maud Smith of Wake's Brook, and died in 1950. William-b1878 and Maud lived in Snook's Harbour proper and had at least 8 children there:
  • Allan (b 1903) who married Louisa Bailey of Trinity East; they lived in Snook's Harbour and had 2 children who died young;
  • William (b 1906) who married Vercie Ivany of Georges Brook; they lived in Snook's Harbour and had 3 children,
  • Kenneth (b 1908) who married Alice M Bowering of ??; they lived in Snook's Harbour but did not have any children;
  • Herbert (b 1911) who married Charlotte Clarke of Britannia; they lived in Snook's Harbour and had 3 children;
  • Baxter (b 1914) who married Inez Pond of ??; they lived in Snook's Harbour and had 3 children;
  • Gladys (b 1915) who married Jack Keats from the Musgravetown area; they had at least 1 child while living there;
  • Phoebe (b 1917) who first married Robert Skiffington, and later Lesley Skiffington, both from the Musgravetown area; Phoebe and Robert had at least 3 children; and
  • Marjorie (b 1919) who had at least 1 son and married Wallace Reid; they lived in Snook's Harbour.

William & Maud Baker, & son Baxter

Herbert (Herb) Baker

Johanna died in 1902 in Trinity, and James-b1836 in 1915 in Snook's Harbour.

James-b1836, listed in 1896 as a “ferryman”, and Johanna were among (if not) the earliest permanent settlers in the Snook's Harbour area, during the 1870s. This timing is consistent with the above birth locations of their children. It is noteworthy that the baptisms of Johanna's great nephews Elkanah (b 1877) and Thomas (b 1879) Loder (sons of her nephew John Loder who also settled in Snook's Harbour in the 1870s [see Loder Family]) were also not recorded in the Trinity Anglican Church (like William-b1878's wasn’t), consistent with both families moving to Snook's Harbour around this time and losing contact with the Trinity church. Johanna was the only child of Edward I and Ann Cooper to move to Snook's Harbour, although two of their grandsons also did so later [see Cooper Family].

John-b1837 Baker and Family

John-b1837 and Sarah Ann (nee Langer) Baker initially lived in Heart's Ease but moved to the Souley's and Wake's Brooks area in the 1870s. They had at least 3 children, all born in Heart's Ease:

• James-b1867 who married Jessie Hiscock (b 1872) of Salmon Cove. They settled in Snook's Harbour proper and had children:
  • Robert James (b Oct 1893, d Nov 1893)
  • Arthur (b Sept 1894, d 1964) who married Mary Pond of Foster's Point; they lived in Snook's Harbour and had at least 1 daughter
  • John Charles (b Sept 1893)
  • Walter (b 1899) who married Nellie Barnes; they lived in Snook's Harbour;
  • Johanna (b 1901, d 1985) who married Robert Power of Newfoundland; they moved to Massachusetts where they had 3 children;
  • Caroline (b 1903, d 1970) who married Joseph Hodgkins of Nova Scotia; they also moved to Massachusetts where had at least 2 children;
  • Colin (b 1908, d 1994) who married Jessie Smith of Trinity North; they lived in Snook's Harbour and had 2 children;

James-b1867 died in 1945 and Jessie in a later year.

• Robert who was born in 1868; and
• John Thomas who was born in 1873 and died in St. John's in 1935.

With one (William-b1878) of John-b1836's sons and one (James-b1867) of John-b1837's sons raising their families in Snook's Harbour, there was a substantial Second Generation of the Random Island Baker Family in Snook's Harbour. Then, with 6 of William-b1878's children and 3 of James-b1867's children living in Snook's Harbour during adulthood, there was a large Third Generation of the Baker Family there.

Photo Credits

Provided by Barry Cooper