#CollectiveMemories: Champney's West and the Hazel Pearl

Pei measuring the spar in front of the Heritage House, Champney's West.

Today I wanted to share two short video clips about the sinking of the Hazel Pearl in Champney’s West on the Bonavista Peninsula in Trinity Bay, NL.  The boat was previously known as the Coronet and was wrecked at least once before in Bonavista Bay in the 1930s.  The Coronet was salvaged from the initial wreck in the thirties, resold and renamed the Hazel Pearl.  It was used as a freighter before finally meeting its end on March 1^st, 1945.

While the boat was lost in a winter storm local fishermen managed to salvage several barrels of cod oil from the vessel and were able to sell the oil again.  Although the boat was wrecked in the ocean the tops of the spars (also known as masts) of the ship which were painted white were visible in the sea water for years and years following the wreck.  In the recent years one of the spars from the Hazel Pearl was dragged up by two local fishermen who were cleaning a seine net.  The spar became tangled in the net and the two brought the spar ashore.  It currently sits outside the Heritage House in Champney’s West and is the source of many local stories and memories about shipwrecks in the area. 

During our work trip to the Bonavista Peninsula we measured the spar and did a couple of interviews with people who remembered the sinking of the Hazel Pearl.  The following videos showcase two locals’ memories of the sinking of the Hazel Pearl near Champney’s West in the 1940s.  Both Sarah Hiscock and Albert Hiscock grew up in Champney’s West and have personal memories of the sinking of the Hazel Pearl. 

The short videos below showcase some of their memories and can also be accessed on our YouTube channel.  I would highly recommend headphones when listening to the clips in order to hear the stories better!

If you know anything about the Hazel Pearl please feel free to contact the ICH office at 739-1892 ex. 2 (Dale Jarvis) or 5 (Terra Barrett) or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep027 Cod Liver Oil and Mobile Apps.

Gail Everson, formerly a Hudson, she is a lifetime resident of Pouch Cove. Her family owned and operated 3 Cod Liver Oil factories in Pouch Cove, Bauline and Cape St. Francis from the late 1800s until the mid 1960s. Dr. Margot Duley is a graduate of MUN and the University of London where she received a PhD in history. She currently lives in Pouch Cove, a community that she loves and where she finds inspiration for her ongoing writing in Newfoundland history. The Pouch Cove Heritage Society is a non-profit community association founded in 2009 to assist residents of Pouch Cove identify and protect local heritage. Some of the community activities to date include commemorations of the Waterwitch shipwreck and rescue, Pouch Cove Heritage Days, a heritage night with storytelling, a kitchen party, and events to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Sealing Disaster. The committee has conducted many interviews with local seniors, which form the basis of a book on local history. We discuss the work of Pouch Cove Heritage Society including the background history of the community, their oral history interviews, the development of a Smartphone App walking tour of the community, and the community’s book “Home by the Sea”.

Pouch Cove Heritage & Cod Liver Oil

Left to right: Gail Everson, Terra Barrett, Margot Duley.

This morning I had the pleasure of interviewing Gail Everson and Margot Duley of the Pouch Cove Heritage Society for the Living Heritage Podcast. Although this episode won’t air for a couple of months, I wanted to share a little information about today’s interview and a couple of pictures taken this morning.

Gail Everson, formally a Hudson, is a lifetime resident of Pouch Cove. Her family owned and operated 3 Cod Liver Oil factories in Pouch Cove, Bauline and Cape St. Francis from the late 1800s until the mid 1960s. Dr. Margot Duley is a graduate of MUN and the University of London where she received a PhD in history. She currently lives in Pouch Cove, a community that she loves and where she finds inspiration for her ongoing writing in Newfoundland history. Founded in 2009 the Pouch Cove Heritage Society is a non-profit community association which assists the residents of Pouch Cove in identifying and protecting their local heritage.

Gail Everson showing one of her grandfather's diaries.

Our discussion mainly focused on the Heritage Society’s work including the Pouch Cove Heritage Days, storytelling circles, kitchen parties, and a commemoration of the Waterwitch shipwreck and rescue. We discussed how the society created “Our Home by the Sea” which is an extremely popular book about the community of Pouch Cove.

One thing in particular we discussed was the importance of cod liver oil to the community. The importance of this industry led the Heritage Society to create a short video and app with the help of Chris Brookes and a grant from the HFNL. This app can be downloaded on iPhones and android. The listener can choose the armchair option if they are unable to walk through the community itself or the listener can choose to listen by location as they walk through the community of Pouch Cove. Make sure to check out the Pouch Cove Memories app here!

Paid stamp in an account book.

After the interview Gail brought out some of her grandfather’s diaries which included account books with the names of men who purchased supplies such as leather, calico, or overalls and a small book with a list of how much cod liver oil was processed each year. There was note on one page where a man traded cod liver oil for supplies at the Hudson Store. I hope you enjoy the photos and let us know if you have any memories about cod liver oil. Did you enjoy the taste? Have you ever helped process cod liver oil? Let us know in the comments or shoot us an email at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Account book.

Gail Everson and Margot Duley.

Directions for putting preservative with cod livers.