Silk Sails (30 page)

No. 734: Children of Richard Gosse, Bread and Cheese Cove. This property belonged to “the children of Richard Gosse deceased,” but the language of the next sentence is curious: “Bequeathed to her husband by his father's will.” Date is 1775. According to Eric Gosse, “These orphans were brought up by their great-uncle Robert Gosse, Sr., and his wife Catherine.”

Plantation No. 33 in Spaniard's Bay, Catherine Gosse, Bread and Cheese Cove. Robert Gosse, Sr., died in 1794, and his widow, “the redoubtable Catherine,” took over the fishing establishment, though there is no record of this in the
Plantation Book
. Eric Gosse writes: “She proved herself to be a successful businesswoman and in 1804 she purchased a sizeable plantation in Carbonear from Thomas Mann for 30 pounds sterling. This property was immediately leased to the local firm of Gosse & Chancey for 31 years at the rate of 5 pounds sterling per annum. As a widow and dowager, Catherine was the undisputed matriarch of the Gosse family of Spaniard's Bay until her death in 1818.” She had reached the age of 92. See also No. 892.

Not in
Plantation Book
: Sarah (Sheppard) Gosse, Bread and Cheese Cove. Sarah's husband Israel operated fishing plantations with his brother Moses in Bishop's Cove, Northern Cove and Harbour Grace. Israel died in 1876, and Sarah outlived him by eight years. Eric Gosse writes: “…after which the original fishing plantations were sold and all the children of the marriage moved to Northern Cove.” It is not known to what extent Sarah was involved in the business; it is probable that she continued as overseer in the mode of other women of Spaniard's Bay.

No. 742: Mother-in-law of Michael Power, Spoon Cove. This undescribed property was “a gift” to Michael “from his mother-inlaw.” Date is not given.

No. 745: Elizabeth Smith, Island Cove. Elizabeth Smith had owned this property but sold it to Joseph Drover for 5 pounds. Joseph was occupying it in 1776.

No. 757: Elizabeth Lynch, Island Cove. Elizabeth obtained this property by “gift from her father-in-law.” She was occupying it in 1789.

No. 768: Ann Noseworthy, Bryant's Cove. Ann received this property by “Grant from the Governor.” She was occupying it in 1801.

No. 776: Elizabeth Higgins, Harbour Grace, South Side. This property had been “cut and cleared” and was occupied by Elizabeth in 1774.

No. 788: Susannah Taylor, Musketta, South Side. Susannah received this property because it had been “lying void.” She was occupying it in 1779.

No. 807: Susannah Heighington, Musketta, North Side. Susannah's residence was given as Bristol, so she may have been a recent arrival, or an absentee landlady. She purchased the plantation from Samuel Pike for 150 pounds in 1803 and it was being occupied by D. Hartry and M. Kerney of Harbour Grace. These may have been her agents. See Nos. 305 and 547.

No. 812: Elizabeth Pippy, Musketta, North Side. Elizabeth Pippy of St. John's owned this property and it was being occupied by P. Carew of Musketta in 1796. It was being leased for several years at the rate of 1 pound 10 shillings per annum.

No. 814: Patience Pynn, Musketta, North Side. Patience Pynn of St. John's obtained this plantation in 1765, part of it “by deed of gift from Wm. Pynn” and part purchased from Jno. Butt for 15 pounds.

No. 819: Ann Wells or G. & S. Kemp & Co., Carbonear, South Side. This must have been a joint ownership although “or” is used, not “and.” It had been “cut and cleared” and was being occupied by Ann in 1786.

No. 820: Mary Buckingham, Carbonear, South Side. Mary had received this plantation “by her former husband's jointure.” “Jointure” is a term used in law and refers to an estate settled before marriage. Was this similar to the secular marriage contract in Quebec that was additional to religious marriage and separated the
wife's assets from those of her husband? The plantation was being occupied by Jno. Buckingham in 1775.

No. 822: Elizabeth Pike, Carbonear, South Side. Elizabeth was renting this property to Jos. Crimp in 1799 for 8 pounds per annum. See also Nos. 856, 862, and 904.

No. 826: Mary Keefe, Carbonear, South Side. This property had been “cut out of the woods” and was being occupied by Mary in 1765.

No. 830: Frances Thistle, Carbonear. Frances had inherited this property “by her husband deceased.” She was occupying it in 1772.

No. 849: Susannah Enger, Carbonear. Susannah's surname is indistinct in the record. She had sold this property to Thomas Reynolds for 5 pounds. Date is not given.

No. 856: Elizabeth Pike, Carbonear. This property was purchased by Elizabeth from Richard Diffix for 120 pounds, and she was occupying it in 1715. This must have been another Elizabeth Pike. Note the difference in dates from No. 822. See also Nos. 862 and 904.

No. 862: Elizabeth Pike, Carbonear. This property was purchased by Elizabeth from Edward Sweetland for 9 pounds. Date is not given. See also Nos. 822, 856 and 904.

No. 873: Mary Williams, Carbonear. Michael Walsh purchased this from Mary Williams for 10 pounds. Date is not given.

No. 882: Mary Ferrers, Carbonear. Mary was leasing this property from William Parsons for 2 pounds per annum. See Nos. 885 and 886. Date is not given.

No. 885: Frances Tucker, Carbonear. Frances had two plots. One she was leasing to Chs. McCarthy for 8 pounds per annum; the other she was leasing to Mary Ferrers for 5 pounds per annum. See Nos. 882 and 886. Date is not given.

No. 886: Mary Ferrers, Carbonear. This plot was “cut out of the woods” and Mary was occupying it in 1785. See Nos. 882 and 885. Mary owned one property and was leasing two others. She was a busy woman.

No. 887: Mother of Wm. Howell, Carbonear. This property came to William Howell as a “gift from his mother.” Date is not given.

No. 888: Grandmother of Jno. Robt. & Wm. Howell, Carbonear. This property, which both brothers were occupying in 1800, had been “a gift from Grandmother.”

No. 889: Mother of Jas. Howell, Carbonear. This property, which was being occupied by James Howell in 1775, was a “gift from his mother.”

No. 892: Catherine Gosse, Carbonear. “The redoubtable Catherine” of Bread and Cheese Cove purchased this plantation from Thomas Mann for 30 pounds and was leasing it to Gosse & Chancey for 31 years at 5 pounds per annum. See the special entry after No. 734 for Catherine Gosse.

No. 893: Ann Toque, Carbonear. This property was “bequeathed by their father's will” from the late Robert Howell to his four children, William, Jno. and Peter Howell and Ann Toque. It was owned by all four of them in 1800. In 1831 and 1835, as the widow of Philip Toque, Ann was a partner with Simon Levi in the two ships
Alpha
and
Elizabeth
. See her in
Chapter 3
of this study.

No. 904: Elizabeth Pike, Carbonear. This is the fourth piece of property registered under the name of Elizabeth Pike. This one had been purchased from Samuel Pike and in 1780 was occupied by Charlotte Pike and Samuel Lilly. See Nos. 822, 856 and 862.

No. 905: Elizabeth Hayward, Carbonear. This property had been “cut out of the woods” and was occupied by Elizabeth in 1769.

No. 906: Mother of Henry Knight, Carbonear. This property came to Henry Knight as a “gift from his mother.” He was occupying it in 1786.

No. 907: Mary Evory, Carbonear. Mary purchased this property from William Penny for one whipsaw worth 45 shillings. An astute deal! She was occupying the property in 1787.

No. 914: Elizabeth Knight, Carbonear. This property came to Elizabeth by “deed of gift from her father.” Jno. Warn and B. Linthorne were
occupying it in 1755, so apparently she was leasing it.

No. 917: Elizabeth Knight, Carbonear. Elizabeth had owned this property, but by 1797 Callaghan McCarthy had purchased it from her for 8 pounds.

No. 919: Mother of Robert Penny, Carbonear. This property came to Robert as a “gift from his mother.” Date is not given.

No. 938: Sarah Squires, Freshwater. Sarah had purchased this property from Richard Dolby and Jno. Sweet for 55 pounds, and was leasing it to Ed. Cahill for 11 years for 2 pounds 15 shillings (per annum?). Date is not given.

No. 962: Frances Marshall, Harbour Grace, North Side. Jonathan Parsons purchased this property from Frances Marshall for 10 pounds in 1770. See also No. 974.

No. 963: Patience Parsons, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property had “descended to her late husband by his father” and was owned by Patience in 1765. See also No. 682 for her property in Bay Roberts.

No. 964: Mary & Wm. Balding, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property had been “cut out of the woods” and was occupied by Mary and William in 1765.

No. 974: Frances Marshall, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property was a “gift from her father” and Frances was occupying it in 1775. See also No. 962.

No. 977: Widow Kennedy, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property was a “gift from her father” and the widow was occupying it in 1770.

No. 978: Ann Stretch, Harbour Grace, North Side. Abraham Parsons had purchased this property from Ann Stretch for 10 pounds. Date is not given. See Nos. 504 and 1036. Ann had also owned property in Port de Grave.

No. 982: Grandmother of Hy. Pynn, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property had been left to Henry Pynn of England “by his
grandmother's will.” It was being leased, so it is not certain whether Henry ever occupied the property. Date is not given.

No. 987: Jane Cooke, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property had come to James Cowan “by Jane Cooke's will.” This is very probably the same “Jane Cook” to whom Sean Cadigan refers in his thesis: “Jane Cook, who acted for (Ann) Protch in the matter (of leasing properties) also handled their account with merchant James MacBraire and rented other property at Harbour Grace to John Clements.” Jane Cooke was typical of the kind of women who, as Cadigan asserts, “managed property and accounts left to them by their husbands.” Date for No. 987 is not given.

No. 988: Amy Thistle, Harbour Grace, North Side. Amy inherited this property “by her Father-in-Law's will.” She was leasing it to four tenants for an undisclosed number of pounds per annum. Date is not given. See also Nos. 994, 1037 and 1047. Amy was the owner of four properties.

No. 989: Mary & Ann Moore, Harbour Grace, North Side. Mary and Ann had inherited this property as a “deed of gift from their grandfather.” It was being leased to Dr. John Sterling. Date is not given.

No. 991: Mother of James Sheppard, Harbour Grace, North Side. Curiously, the only note in this entry is “deed of gift from her mother” which means that the property came to James through his wife, or this is an error. No date or other information is given.

No. 994: Amy Thistle, Harbour Grace, North Side. Amy received this property “By permission from Governor Byron.” Date is not given. See also Nos. 988, 1037 and 1047.

No. 995: Elizabeth Webber, Harbour Grace, North Side. The only note in this entry says “buildings burnt last year,” i.e., 1804 (?). This undoubtedly was the same Elizabeth Webber referred to in Sean Cadigan's thesis: “…Mrs. Thomas Thirts of Harbour Grace tried to protect her claim to a fishing room from the intrusion of a neighbouring planter family: Elizabeth Webber & Sons. The court allowed Webber – a widow left with eight children to care for – to build her stage on the property. She had to contend with her eldest son Charles trying to mortgage their property to a merchant Thomas
Lewis to pay his own debts, but the court allowed Charles only an eighth part of the total property, and gave Mrs. Webber one third of her late husband's land as her sole property.” Life was hard. Date for No. 995 is not given. See also No. 1007 for another property which Elizabeth Webber had sold.

No. 1000: Mary Martin, Harbour Grace, North Side. The only note in this entry says: “Descendants of Joseph Martin, Widow Mary Martin, by her father-in-law's will.” It may be assumed that Mary Martin was occupying the property with her children. Date is not given.

No. 1001: Mary Andrews, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property came to Mary “by her uncle's will.” It had been in possession of the family for 91 years, i.e., since 1714. In 1780 it was being rented to Robert Holden.

No. 1003: Charlotte Pike, Harbour Grace, North Side. Charlotte had purchased this property in 1760 from Thos. Terry & Capt. Messervey for 90 pounds. It was being leased to Wm. J. & Matt. Stevenson of Harbour Grace for fifteen years at the rate of 15 pounds per annum. See also Nos. 904 and 1043.

No. 1007: Elizabeth Webber, Harbour Grace, North Side. Elizabeth sold this property to Henry Thomas and he was occupying it in 1765. See also No. 995.

No. 1008: Grandmother of John French, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property came to John by “gift from his grandmother,” and he was occupying it in 1775. See No. 1020.

No. 1011: Mother of George Andrews, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property had been in possession of the Andrews family for 30 years and came to George as a “gift from his mother.” Date is 1802.

No. 1020: Widow French, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property was termed “French's Plantation.” It came to Widow French “in consequence of lying void.” She was occupying the property, but a date is not given. See No. 1008.

No. 1036: Ann Stretch, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property had come to Jas. Cowan “by Ann Stretch's will.” See also Nos. 504 and 978.

No. 1037: Amy Thistle, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property was “cut out of the woods” and Amy was occupying it in 1785. See also Nos. 988, 994 and 1047 for Amy's other properties. She had achieved the distinction of owning four properties, at least two of which were being leased to tenants.

No. 1040: Honor Lynch, Harbour Grace, North Side. This property was “cut out of the woods” and Honor was occupying it in 1795.

No. 1043: Charlotte Pike, Harbour Grace, North Side. There is no other information on this property. See also Nos. 904 and 1003.

No. 1047: Amy Thistle, Harbour Grace, North Side. Amy received this property “bequeathed by her father-in-law's will.” In 1750 she was renting it to “sundry persons,” in total eight tenants.