Smith
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.
| Smith | |
|---|---|
| Current region |  Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Place of origin |  England |
| Founded | c.1750 |
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 [1]. 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)[2]
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.[1], 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 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[3]
- Fisherman 1871 - Random Sound[4]
- Coaster 1894/97 - Elliott's Cove[5]
- Coaster 1898 - Elliott's Cove[6]
- Fisherman 1904 - Elliott's Cove[7]
Moses presented the Bible and Hymn Book as used at Elliott's Cove Church.[8]
Moses married Deborah Jane Pelley in December 1858. She died in Hant's Harbour before 1870.
Deborah and Moses lineage continues through their daughters, little information is known about a son, George, though it's thought he married a Verge from Twillingate. One daughter married a Snelgrove from Green Island Cove, another married a Tilley of Hant's Harbour. The last, Emily, married a William Cooper, making much of the current Random Island Cooper and [Hefford]] families direct descendants. Again, further genealogical information can be obtained by contacting the author.
Moses remarried to Susan Rideout in Twillingate sometime after 1870. She died sometime between 1913 and 1917 in Elliott's Cove.[1]
During this time Moses was known to have made trips to Lynn, Massachusetts selling lumber. Much of Moses and Susan's lineage continues in that state as well as in New Hampshire.
William
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[3]
- Fisherman 1894/97 - Aspen Brook[9]
- Fisherman 1898 - Aspen Brook[10]
- Fisherman 1904 - Aspen Brook[11]
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 lumber mill.
William and Lydia's lineage continued to make up the bulk of the Apsey Brook population for many years, with all the Smith's of the community being able to trace direct ancestry.
Daughters also married into the Barrett family of Old Perlican, the Laite family of Hant's Harbour, the Cooper family of Bluff Head Cove, and an unrelated Smith family, originally of Bishop's Cove, but living at Snook's Harbour/Wake's Brook, with a small brick making operation at that brook for a short time (unrelated to the later Smith Brickyard).
Thomas
Thomas Jr. was born May 2, 1839 in Hant's Harbour. He married Deborah Hopkins (December 1847), also of Hant's Harbour. They died in 1906 and 1931 respectively, both in Elliott's Cove.
Thomas was listed in various directories over the years as:
- Fisherman 1864/65 - Hant's Harbour[3]
- Fisherman 1871 - Random Sound[4]
- Fisherman 1894/97 - Elliott's Cove[5]
- Fisherman 1898 - Elliott's Cove[6]
- Fisherman 1904 - Elliott's Cove[7]
One report suggests that Thomas Jr. and Deborah Smith of Hant's Harbour were the first of the Smiths to settle in Elliott's Cove, arriving there in the 1860's, with the rest of their family soon following.
Thomas Smith was the founder of the Methodist Sunday School in Elliott's Cove. When he passed away in 1906, he was described as a highly respected class-leader of the church in Elliott's Cove.[12]
Thomas had a ferryboat and operated a ferry service to all places in the Northwest Arm from Hickman's Harbour to Clarenville. He died on his boat while making a run in 1906. His son, Allan, continued the service.[13]
Thomas and Deborah had 9 children:
- Lucy Ann
- Martha
- Julia
- Lillian
- Edwin
- Mary
- Laura Belle
- Allan
- Anna
Gideon
Gideon was born December 7, 1841 in Hant's Harbour. He died on January 1, 1920 at Elliott's Cove.
Gideon was listed in various directories over the years as:
- Fisherman 1864/65 - Hant's Harbour[3]
- Sawmill Operator 1894/97 - Elliott's Cove[5]
- Fisherman 1898 - Snook's Harbour[6]
- Fisherman 1904 - Snook's Harbour[11]
He married Hannah Ivany (December 24, 1846) of Champneys. She died at 43 on December 30, 1889 at Elliott's Cove. They had 8 children:
- Olivia
- Tobias
- Emily Jane
- Amelia
- John Thomas
- William Ivany
- Lewis Davie
Gideon remarried to Emily Louisa Pynn (1857, St. John's) in 1891 at Elliott's Cove. They had 4 children:
- Florence Elizabeth
- Nellie Diadem
- Margaret
- Hannah Beatrice Story
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.[1]
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.[14]
Charles
Aaron
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Smith-Bramleigh(Broomley) Family From Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Beyond, Self Published
- ↑ St. Paul's Anglican Church Records, Trinity, Trinity Bay
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "1864 - 1865 Hutchinson's Directory - Hant's Harbour".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Lovell's 1871 Provincial Business Directory - Random Sound".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "McAlpine's 1894-97 Directory Trinity Bay District - N. W. Arm, Random".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "McAlpine's 1898 Directory Trinity Bay District - Random Sound".
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "McAlpine's 1904 Directory Trinity Bay District - Elliott's Cove".
- ↑ Martin, Wilfred B.W. (1991). "Random Island Churches". Random Island and Beyond. Creative Publishers. p. 30. ISBN 1-895387-04-3.
- ↑ "McAlpine's 1894-97 Directory Trinity Bay District - Aspen Brook".
- ↑ "McAlpine's 1898 Directory Trinity Bay District - Smith Sound".
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "McAlpine's 1904 Directory Trinity Bay District - Snook's Harbour".
- ↑ Martin, Wilfred B.W. (1991). "Tending The Vineyard". Random Island and Beyond. Creative Publishers. p. 75. ISBN 1-895387-04-3.
- ↑ Martin, Wilfred B.W. (1990). "Transportation". Random Island Pioneers. Creative Publishers. p. 238. ISBN 0-920021-72-7.
- ↑ Martin, Wilfred B.W. (1990). "Settlements and Early Industries". Random Island Pioneers. Creative Publishers. p. 50. ISBN 0-920021-72-7.