Smith

Smith
Current region	Newfoundland and Labrador
Place of origin	England
Founded	c.1750

The Smith family of Random Island were some of the original settlers of the upper western half of Random Island. The Smiths were pioneers in the Hant's Harbour, Elliott's Cove, Snook's Harbour and Apsey Brook areas of Newfoundland.

This is not meant to be a genealogical record, rather a summary of some of the history of the Smith family, and their settlement on Random Island. Gloria Smith Corbett and Arthur T. Dalton Jr. have created a self-published book of genealogical data . If you are looking for that kind of information, you can contact the author. It has also been for the most part transcribed on this Ancestry.ca link

Pre Random Island

William Smith-Bramleigh (Broomley) emigrated from England in the Mid 1700's, and landed in Trinity, NL. There his wife Sarah gave birth to sons John (baptized 1757) and William (baptized September 13, 1761)

From Trinity, the family moved across The Bay to Scilly Cove (now Winterton), Newfoundland. William, born in 1761, grew up there, married, and had at least one son, named Thomas. Thomas was born at Scilly Cove in 1804. The family moved from Scilly Cove to Hant's Harbour in the early 1800's. There, Thomas became the father of six sons and three daughters, all of whom were born and grew up in Hant's Harbour.

— Gloria Smith Corbett,Arthur T. Dalton Jr., The Smith-Bramleigh(Broomley) Family From Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Beyond - Private Publication

We were unable to confirm some intriguing oral history presented to us by Jean Howard Smith as handed down to her by her grandfather, Aaron, one of the six brothers who founded the community of Elliott's Cove on Random Island. I include it here in the chance that it may be of interest to a future descendant who may want to pursue the family origins across the Atlantic. According to Jean, Bramleighs residing in Normandy, France were given land grants in Kent and Cornwall, England in 1076, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066. At some point, they intermarried with Smiths and the name became hyphenated. In the early-mid 1700s, William-Smith Bramleigh, became a captain in the British Royal Navy. On his travels to Spain, he met and eventually married a Spanish Duchess from Malaga (in southern Spain), named Carmen Maria Christina Olga Ruiz y Ortega de Quintilla. "Ruiz" was her mother's name; "Ortega", her father's. Art had researchers in England investigate William's presence in the Royal Navy, but the information gathered was too vague to substantiate a linkage to "our" William. In 2003, I happened to take a trip to Spain, near Malaga. I spoke with a Spanish professor who gave us a lecture on Spanish names. Interestingly, she did state that the names Ruiz and Ortega were still prominent in the province of Malaga, but noted that most of the church records of the 1700s had been destroyed in wars or accidental fires. I did not investigate further. However, in both the Library of Congress in the U.S. and the Boston Public Library, there is a 24 volume set entirely devoted to Spanish names should someone care to pursue this possible link to a Spanish duchess.

— Gloria Smith Corbett,Arthur T. Dalton Jr., The Smith-Bramleigh(Broomley) Family From Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Beyond - Private Publication

Thomas Smith and Family

Thomas married Martha Tilley, daughter of "Scholar" John Tilley, founder of Shoal Harbour, on December 4, 1828. Their son, Thomas Jr., and wife, Deborah, settled in Elliott's Cove in the 1860's. Thomas' brothers, sisters and parents followed shortly thereafter.

Thomas' children were:

• Mary (1831-?)
• Moses (1833-1917)
• William (1836-1925)
• Thomas (1839-1906)
• Gideon (1841-1920)
• Elizabeth (1840-1920)
• Jane (1850-1937)
• Charles (1854-1903)
• Aaron (1855-1943)

While no definitive reason is known for the resettlement to Random Island, family researchers, Gloria Smith Corbett, and Arthur T. Dalton Jr., noted that the book From Cod to Crab: Stories and History of Hant's Harbor mention that in 1868,

two-thirds of the fishing season had passed and there was not a single codfish drying on the flakes. The "planters" would make no more advances and declared that they would be ruined by bad debts already accumulated. Credit at the little stores was stopped for there were no returns.

— Garry Cranford & Ed Janes, From Cod to Crab: Stories and History of Hant's Harbor

Both Thomas and Martha are buried at Elliott's Cove.

First Generation

Mary

Little to no information is known for Mary, or her descendants if any, other than her birth date of May 16, 1831.

Moses

Moses Smith

Moses was born in November 1833, and died in 1917 at Elliott's Cove. Moses was listed in various directories over the years as:

• Fisherman 1864/65 - Hant's Harbour
• Fisherman 1871 - Random Sound
• Coaster 1894/97 - Elliott's Cove
• Coaster 1864/65 - Elliott's Cove
• Fisherman 1904 - Elliott's Cove

Moses presented the Bible and Hymn Book as used at Elliott's Cove Church.

Moses married Deborah Jane Pelley in December 1858. She died in Hant's Harbour before 1870. Moses remarried to Susan Rideout in Twillingate sometime after 1870. She died sometime between 1913 and 1917 in Elliott's Cove.

Moses and Deborah had four children:

• Emily
• Elkanah
• George
• Deborah (Debra)

Moses and Susan had seven children:

• Alfreda
• Mary Jane
• Lucy Ellen
• Jessie
• Ephriam
• George H.
• Harrison

William

William & Lydia

William was baptized in April 1836 at Hant's Harbour. He married Lydia Hopkins (August 10, 1841), also of Hant's Harbour. They died in 1925 and 1930 respectively, both in Apsey Brook.

William was listed in various directories over the years as:

• Fisherman 1864/65 - Hant's Harbour
• Fisherman 1894/97 - Aspen Brook
• Fisherman 1864/65 - Aspen Brook
• Fisherman 1904 - Aspen Brook

In 1874, William had a schooner built for him on Random Island, named the North Star. He moved across the island in the 1870's to found Apsey Brook, operating a lumbermill.

William and Lydia had 13 children:

• Agnes
• Emma
• Leah
• Lucy
• Mary-Anne
• Tobias
• John
• Barzillai
• Jairus
• George
• Stephen
• Silas
• Luther

For those interested, the embedded PDF contains much information about the Smith's of Apsey Brook. This was found among documents provided to the author, who has no memory of the source. If it is yours, please get in touch to add credit.

<pdf width="800" height="300">File:Aspenbrook.pdf</pdf>

Elizabeth

Elizabeth was born on September 3, 1844. She died sometime before 1920 and is buried at the United Church Cemetery, Elliott's Cove.

According to Murley Berkshire, "Aunt Betty" never married. There is no marker on her grave.

Jane

Jane was born on August 9, 180 in Hant's Harbour. She married John Loder at New Bonaventure in 1873. He was born at Ireland's Eye in 1850. Both died in Snook's Harbour in 1937 and 1916 respectively.

They settled in Snook's Harbour after their marriage, and Jane ran a dry-goods store selling thread, buttons, cloth, etc. John plied the fishing trade, with the schooner Mistletoe being built at Snook's Harbour for him.