MONTRÉAL TO FORT GARRY - JOURNAL OF A PRIVATE IN THE THIRD EXPEDITION

Thomas Graham Morry III (Private No. 714) joined the Provisional Battalion of Infantry (PBI) of the Active Militia of Canada in Montréal on November 12, 1872. What compelled him to do so was not a sense of adventure so much as the practical possibility of acquiring a land warrant for 160 acres of prime Canadian farmland as his reward for service. As it turns out, he was done out of his rightful reward by an already stultified and uncaring federal bureaucracy. But then, if it hadn't worked out that way he may never have returned to Newfoundland to raise his family and none of us would be Newfoundlanders!

TGM III recorded the story of the trip from Montréal to Fort Garry in a book he auto-published in 1874 in Fort Garry before returning home. Click here to view the story.

WARNING!!! This is a very large file and will take some time to load

The Battle of Quidi Vidi - the Final Battle with the French for Possession of Newfoundland

Surprisingly little is published on one of the most decisive battles in the history of the struggle between France and England for control of the New World. In 1762, the French took St. John's. This was nothing new - many parts of Newfoundland had traded hands between the English and French repeatedly over the years. But as it turned out, the relatively bloodless battle that ensued to recapture St. John's was to be the final gambit in this game. After this battle, ownership of all territories in the New World was decided in the Treaty of Paris in 1763 more or less spelled the end of this chapter in history. Though there were some skirmishes over the years subsequently, St. John's was never retaken by the French.

Two accounts of the so-called Battle of Quidi Vidi (named thus because the British forces approached St. John's from Torbay, via Quidi Vidi), were recorded by the commanding officers responsible, General William Amherst and Alexander Lord Colville. Their meticulous notes and dispatches were gathered together and published in edited version respectively by John Clarence Webster (self published in 1928) and C. H. Little (in an occasional paper of the Maritime Museum of Canada). Transcripts are provided below. These documents are not copyrighted but, if referenced, should be credited to the authors nonetheless.

What, you may be asking, does all of this have to do with the Morry's? Precisely nothing! I carried out this research in an effort to determine if there was any historical evidence to support a long-held belief in the Wheeler family that an ancestor of theirs led the British troops from Torbay to Quidi Vidi. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to this effect in either account. I am publishing the two documents here solely for the sake of interest and because there is so little published on this important milestone in Newfoundland history.

Recapture of St. John's Newfoundland 1762 - Journal of Lieut. Col. William Amherst

The Recapture of St. John's, Newfoundland - Dispatches of Rear-Admiral, Lord Colville 1761-1762

Gerald Pocius' Account of Matthew Morry's Grant in Caplin Bay

Here is an interesting account of how Matthew Morry obtained his land grant in Caplin Bay (Calvert). It was written by Gerald L. Pocius and published in his book "A Place to Belong - Community Order and Everyday Space in Calvert, Newfoundland". Though an academic treatise, this book makes an excellent read for anyone interested in the early settlement of Newfoundland. NOTE: This excerpt is copied here with the author's permission. Please do not copy it without referencing the original source.

Ken Peacock's Account of his Meetings with Howard Morry

Ken Peacock was a folklorist who made it his life's work to collect the little known folk songs of Canada, and especially Newfoundland, before they disappeared forever. In 1984 he published a collection of the songs he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s in Newfoundland and in the liner notes praised Dad Morry for the assistance and inspiration he had offered him.

The words of the songs he recorded are provided here.

One which was sung by my father, Tom Morry (The Sealers' Ball), he picked up on salmon and trout fishing trips on the West Coast.

The second song (The Loss of the Eliza) was sung for Ken by Pat Rossiter of Ferryland. It too concerned sealing, though in the harsh light of reality, as opposed to the comic verse of the Sealer's Ball.

To here these original recordings, click here.

Farley Mowat on meeting Dad Morry, Bill Morry and Family

Here is how Farley Mowat described his meeting with Dad Morry, Uncle Bill, Aunt Pat, Peter and Paula in The New Founde Land , Chapter - Come From Away, pages 330-331

Stuart McLean on meeting Bill and Pat Morry

Here is how Stuart McLean described his encounter with Bill and Pat Morry in Welcome Home:  Travels in Smalltown Canada, pages 436-445. In addition to reminiscences by Bill and Pat, he quotes from Dad Morry's memoirs as well.

Term Papers by Joan Mary Wheeler following Interviews with Dad Morry

Joan Wheeler, a first cousin on the Wheeler side of the family, undertook to interview Dad Morry in 1970 while completing her B.A. at Memorial University of Newfoundland. The three articles which follow are: an explanatory not by Joan on how the interviews were conducted; a paper on the reminiscences of times gone by in Ferryland; and an account of the shipwrecks that had taken place over the years in the vicinity of Ferryland.

Introduction of Folklore Papers Two and Three

Reminiscences from the Youth and Early Manhood of a Resident of Ferryland Dating from the 1890s

Shipwrecks off the Newfoundland Southern Shore Coast:  Recollections by a Resident of Ferryland

Term Paper by William Brian Fanning and Leo Joseph Buckle following Interviews with Bill and Pat Morry

In 1976, two Memorial University students, William Brian Fanning and Leo Joseph Buckle, submitted a term paper in the Folklore 3420 course given by L. G. Small. The title of the paper was "Mr. Howard Morry:  Acknowledged as one of the greatest storytellers of Ferryland; the southeast coast of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland." I became aware of the existence of this paper while searching the holdings of the Folklore and Language Archive at MUN. I was then assisted by Ms. Patricia Fulton, archivist, who managed to track down one of the authors (Leo Buckle) and secure from him permission to reproduce this article. The paper was largely based on interviews with Bill and Pat Morry and recordings of CBC radio programmes that had featured Dad Morry. Although the subject matter is therefore not new, it is interesting to see the interpretation placed upon these stories by younger people who had not grown up in the kind of place and times where these events took place. The paper has been transcribed and is offered here in PDF form (95 kb). Regrettably the tape recording that was meant to accompany the text has been lost or destroyed.