Baker
(prepared by John W Loder[a] and Barry Cooper[b]))
| Baker | |
|---|---|
| Current region |  Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Place of origin |  England |
| Founded | c.1870 |
The first two Baker families to settle permanently in the Random Island (RI) area were those of[1]
- James Baker (“James-b1836”[c]) who was born in Heart’s Ease Beach[2] (henceforth, “Heart’s Ease”[d]) in 1836[3], and married Johanna Cooper (1835-1902) of Ireland's Eye in 1859 [see Cooper Family][4], and
- John Baker (“John-b1837”) who was born in Heart’s Ease in 1837[3] and married Sarah Ann Langer of nearby Gooseberry Cove in 1866[3].
Both families settled in the vicinity of Souley's and Wake's Brooks near Snook's Harbour in the 1870s[1], 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[1] that they were brothers. In any case, we will consider them to be the “First Generation” of the Baker Family of Random Island. (Nonetheless, it should be noted that a Sarah Baker of Heart’s Ease married John Foster in 1807 and settled in Rider’s Harbour several decades earlier.[1])
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.com[5], was born in Trinity in 1730 and married a lady named Grace from there. This is consistent with the Heart's Ease Community History[2] which indicates that James-b1836 was descended from the “John Baker and wife Grace, likely of Trinity, [who] moved to Heart's Ease Beach[d] and became the first permanent settlers in the community [around 1750][e]”. John-b1730 and Grace had at least 3 children: “John Jr [b 1750], Elizabeth and Joseph?”; and John-b1730 died in 1775[2][5].
The Baker-Merlo Family Tree5 indicates that John-b1730's parents were John-b1711 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), it is uncertain 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[6]., was identified as the earliest instance of a Baker in Trinity Bay. The above indication[2] that John-b1730 and Grace moved to Heart's Ease "around 1750" suggests that the 1758 Trinity fisherman[6] was John's father. However, the indication in the Baker-Merlo Tree[5] 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[6] 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".
According to the Heart's Ease Community History[2], 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 born in 1786[5]. William "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"[2]. It is unknown whether the latter's move to the Snook's Harbour area influenced the move of Johanna's sister Rachel and her husband John Loder 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[7], John-b1837 and siblings Robert (b 1838) and Charity (b 1840), all born in Hearts EaseH[d], 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[7]; however, the Heart's Ease Community History[2] 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 him since John-b1750 died in 1808, before Robert-b1812 was 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[1], such that the birthplace of Robert-b1812 in the Davies-Churm-Hodgkins-Baker Family Tree[7] is misleading and perhaps incorrect.
John-b1837 married Sarah Ann Langer[7], probably of Hearts Ease[2], and they had children James-b1867, Robert-b1868 and John Thomas (b 1873), all born in Heart's Ease[3][5]. 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[7].
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[2] 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
Notes
- ↑ John W Loder is a great-great grandson of Rachel Cooper and Silas Loader of Ireland's Eye. He has done extensive research on the ancestry of the Loder and other families of Snook's Harbour. He can be contacted at JohnWLoder@gmail.com
- ↑ Barry Cooper is a great-great grandson of Johanna Cooper (Rachel’s sister) and James Baker.
- ↑ The notation “FirstName-bnnnn”, such as “James-b1836”, where “b” refers to born and "nnnn" to a specific (or approximate) year, will be used to help track different members of the Baker Family, specially those with the first name of James or John.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Heart’s Ease Beach", located near the mouth of Southwest arm, will be referred to here-on-in as "Heart’s Ease". It is distinct from "Little Heart’s Ease" about 5 km away.
- ↑ The [square brackets] within a "quote" here and elsewhere indicate words inserted within the quote based on other information provided by the source. Elsewhere in this summary, the terminology "around year" will be replaced by “ca year” (short for “circa” year), e.g., ca 1750.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Martin, Wilfred B.W. (1990). Random Island Pioneers. St. John's: Creative Publishers. p. 268.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "Heart's Ease Beach, Southwest Arm Historical Society,".
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Newfoundland's Grand Banks – Genealogical and historical data for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador".
- ↑ Toope, Eugene (1992). Eye Your Roots’ (and more), The Chronicles, Ireland’s Eye and Rise’s Harbour. Grand Falls – Windsor: E and Eye Enterprises. pp. xi, 221.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "The Baker-Merlo Family Tree - Ancestry.ca is a genealogical website with Family Trees based on records and input from its members. It includes some Family Trees with inaccurate information and relations, such that it is not fully reliable".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Seary, E.R.; Kirwin, W (1998). Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland. McGill-Queen’s University Press. pp. iv, 574.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "The Davies-ChurmHidgkins-Baker Tree - Ancestry.ca is a genealogical website with Family Trees based on records and input from its members. It includes some Family Trees with inaccurate information and relations, such that it is not fully reliable".