| Title |
Views in Newfoundland, 1899-1911 |
| Reference |
GBR/0115/Y3061A |
| Creator |
S H Parsons and Sons |
| Covering Dates |
circa 1880-circa 1911 |
| Extent and Medium |
58 images in 1 album; the album has a few loose leaves, the photographs themselves are in good condition. |
| Repository |
Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library |
|
| Content and context |
|
Simeon H. Parsons (1844-1908) was a commercial photographer born at Harbour Grace on Newfoundland Island. He established a photographic studio in 1871 and received a Silver Medal and Certificate of Honour at the Barcelona Exhibition of 1888. He had a studio and fine art emporium at 310 Water Street, St John's, Newfoundland.
An album containing mounted prints, measuring approximately 200 x 150 mm. and with handwritten captions beneath the prints. An interesting collection, it shows scenes, industries and sports in Newfoundland around the turn of the century. The majority of the photographs appear, by comparison with pictures of a known date from printed sources, to have been taken nearer the earlier date assigned to the album. Prints which fall into the later category are plates 13, 19 and 53, taken in 1910, 1911 and 1911 respectively (Simeon Parsons died in 1908 and these photographs would have been taken while his son was running the business). The only photograph in the album not signed by Parsons is plate 52, taken before 1892. Plates 59-67 were removed before the album was donated to the Royal Commonwealth Society.
Album presented by Rev. Edwin L.W. Bell.
|
Access and Use
|
Please cite as Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library, Views in Newfoundland, 1899-1911, Y3061A |
| Further information |
|
Indexed
This item level description was created by NE and MJC using information from the original typescript catalogue.
This collection is available on microfiche: Canada, fiche numbers 10-11.
|
| Index Terms |
| Canada |
| North and Central America |
| Newfoundland |
| S H Parsons and Sons |
| RCS/Y3061A contains: |
|
1
|
The Narrows St John's Harbour Mouth. 202 x 151 mm. A view looking out over part of the town towards the narrow channel which forms the entrance to St John's Harbour. |
1899 |
|
2
|
Cabot Tower Signal Station, overlooking Narrows. 151 x 195 mm. Showing the solidly built signal tower erected to celebrate Queen Victoria's Jubilee and opened in 1900. |
1900 |
|
3
|
Winter, Allan mailboat passing iceberg. 202 x 150 mm. A view looking out towards the St John's Harbour mouth where a mail steamer is passing a large iceberg. In the foreground are small fishermen's houses and fish drying racks. |
1899–1911 |
|
4
|
Spring, unwelcome visitors. 201 x 151 mm. Showing drifting icebergs in the St John's Harbour mouth. |
1899–1911 |
|
5
|
Newfoundland Cathedral, Clergy House to the right. 173 x 105 mm. A view of the Gothic Church of England Cathedral designed by George Gilbert Scott, completed in 1885. The original building was gutted by the great fire of 1892 and this picture dates from around 1905 when the restoration work was completed. |
1905 |
|
6
|
Cathedral Choir. 150 x 201 mm. A view looking along the cathedral nave and showing the choir stalls and altar. |
1905 |
|
7
|
Cathedral Pulpit. 150 x 202 mm. Showing the carved stone pulpit of the cathedral. |
1905 |
|
8
|
Cathedral Nave. 151 x 201 mm. A view looking along the nave towards the west end of the Cathedral. |
1905 |
|
9
|
Cathedral, West Porch. 201 x 151 mm. An exterior view of the West Porch of the Cathedral. In the background at the left of the picture stands the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist. |
1905 |
|
10
|
St Thomas' Church, St John's. 202 x 151 mm. Showing the wooden building and tower of the Church of St Thomas which was consecrated circa 1840. |
1899–1911 |
|
11
|
Congregational Church. 161 x 193 mm. Showing the attractive wooden Congregational Church built after the great St John's fire of 1892. |
1899–1911 |
|
12
|
Water Street, main thoroughfare looking east. 202 x 151 mm. A view looking along Water Street, with horses and carts and groups of pedestrians on the road. The tramlines on the cobbled street date the photograph to after 1900 when the first regular tram service came into operation. |
1900–1911 |
|
13
|
City Industrial Exhibition 1910. 202 x 151 mm. Showing the interior of the exhibition hall at St John's with a stand of metal stoves in the foreground. The exhibition (along with an Agricultural one) was held to celebrate the tercentenary of the first officially sanctioned colony in North America. |
1910 |
|
14
|
Electric Car near Bank Sq, Water St. 201 x 151 mm. A view looking along Water Street, with an electric tram in the middleground of the picture. |
1900–1911 |
|
15
|
Bank of Montreal, St John's. 151 x 196 mm. Showing the exterior of the Bank of Montreal. |
1899–1911 |
|
16
|
Water Street West showing cabstand near G.P.O. 202 x 151 mm. A view looking along Water Street with hansom cabs and pedestrians and the dome of the Post Office visible in the background (opened in 1886 and demolished in the 1950s). |
1899–1911 |
|
17
|
Court House and Government Offices, Water St. 151 x 202 mm. Showing the exterior of the Court House nearing the end of construction (c 1904). The building also contained the offices of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. |
1904 |
|
18
|
Reid-Newfoundland Railway Station, St John's. 202 x 151 mm. Showing the exterior of the railway station at Riverhead, designed by W.H. Massey, Chief Engineer of the Reid-Newfoundland Railway Company, and opened in 1903. |
1903–1911 |
|
19
|
H.E. The Governor starting first train of the new branch, Bonavista Line. 201 x 151 mm. Showing a crowd gathered round the Governor of Newfoundland, Sir Ralph Champneys Williams (1909-13), as he makes a speech standing beside the first train on the Bonavista Line. This event took place in 1911. |
1911 |
|
20
|
Waterford River Valley, near St John's. 202 x 151 mm. A view up this picturesque valley, looking along the small Waterford River. |
1899–1911 |
|
21
|
Southside Road, overlooking Waterford Valley. 201 x 151 mm. A view looking along this small dirt road with fir trees on either side. |
1899–1911 |
|
22
|
Topsail, the popular summer resort, 18 miles from city. 201 x 151 mm. A view from a hillside behind the town looking out over Topsail and to seaward. Bell Island can be seen in the distance. |
1899–1911 |
|
23
|
Topsail Beach, with view of Bell Island. 188 x 137 mm. oval print. A view looking along the curving beach with Bell Island in the background. |
1899–1911 |
|
24
|
Lance Cove, Bell Island. Noted for its iron ore mines. 194 x 142 mm. A view looking down on small wooden houses with fenced gardens with the mainland visible in the distance. |
1899–1911 |
|
25
|
Town of Carbonear, terminus of Shore Line, 84 miles from City. 201 x 151 mm A view looking over the town and harbour of Carbonear which lies on the west side of Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula. |
1899–1911 |
|
26
|
Logy Bay Fishing Settlement. 202 x 151 mm. Showing the small inlet with moored rowing boats and rough wooden shacks built on the Cliffside. Lying about seven miles from St John's, Logy Bay was used as a summertime fishing station. |
1899–1911 |
|
27
|
Heading and splitting cod fish. 201 x 151 mm. Showing two workers in a wooden cabin gutting fish. |
1899–1911 |
|
28
|
Home Industry, Battery Road, City. 201 x 151 mm. Showing a woman laying out cod to dry on wooden flakes, with the harbour of St John's in the background. |
1899–1911 |
|
29
|
'All at it'; making fish while the sun shines. 201 x 151 mm. Showing cod being laid out to dry on wooden stages or 'flakes' on the St John's waterfront. |
1899–1911 |
|
30
|
Schooners landing, fish culling on wharf. 201 x 151 mm. Showing dockside workers sorting dried cod, with moored fishing vessels in the background. |
1899–1911 |
|
31
|
Weighing and storing dried cod. 202 x 151 mm. Showing workers placing wooden trays piled with dried cod onto a weighing machine. |
1899–1911 |
|
32
|
Ready for markets abroad, fish pressed in casks. 201 x 151 mm. Showing moored fishing vessels loaded with barrels of fish for export. |
1899–1911 |
|
33
|
Getting rid of a real growler. 201 x 151 mm. Showing a tug pushing a small iceberg out of St John's Harbour. |
1899–1911 |
|
34
|
A good voyage, landing seals at St John's. 201 x 151 mm. A view on a wharf at St John's showing a pile of seal carcases on the pier with the sealing ship behind. Part of the city of St John's can be seen in the background. |
1899–1911 |
|
35
|
Skinning seals, a lucrative business. 202 x 151 mm. Showing a worker cutting up seal meat in a wooden cabin. |
1899–1911 |
|
36
|
Copper mine at York Harbour. 202 x 151 mm. A view looking down from a hillside onto the mine buildings. |
1899–1911 |
|
37
|
Grand Falls, the Harmsworth's pulp and paper mills. 201 x 151 mm. A view looking out across the town of Grand Falls with the pulp mill buildings in the foreground. |
1899–1911 |
|
38
|
McCoy's Timber mill, Bonne Bay. 201 x 151 mm. Showing mill buildings with wooded hills in the background. |
1899–1911 |
|
39
|
Bay of Islands, West Coast. 201 x 151 mm. Showing a small township on the waterside at the Bay of Islands. Situated on the west coast of Newfoundland this large estuary forms the mouth of the River Humber. |
1899–1911 |
|
40
|
Curious tree formation, Codroy. 202 x 151 mm. Showing a tree with the trunk growing in a horizontal direction. |
1899–1911 |
|
41
|
Gypsum cliffs and railway bridge, Fischells. 152 x 202 mm. A view looking along the river with white gypsum cliffs at the left and the iron girder railway bridge in the background. Fischels (correct spelling) lies on the west coast of Newfoundland near Bay St. George. |
1899–1911 |
|
42
|
Little River, Codroy, a fertile spot. 202 x 151 mm. A view in south-west Newfoundland looking along the river valley from a small rise. |
1899–1911 |
|
43
|
A sportsman's camp in the interior of Newfoundland ('Norton's Camp, Goose Brook' written on negative). 201 x 151 mm. Showing a cluster of tents among bare fern trees with a railway track in the foreground. |
1899–1911 |
|
44
|
A remarkable photo, salmon leaping falls, Upper Humber. 193 x 140 mm. Showing a salmon leaping up a broad weir on the Humber. |
1899–1911 |
|
45
|
The tourists near Howley, Colonel Kuser's camp. 202 x 152 mm. Showing a campsite and tourists near Grand Lake. Identity of Colonel Kuser unknown. |
1899–1911 |
|
46
|
Caribou Hunters; 'There he goes'. 201 x 151 mm. A rigidly posed photograph showing two hunters standing in snow at the edge of a lake, one pointing, while the other, holding a rifle and wearing a deerstalker, stares intently forwards. |
1899–1911 |
|
47
|
Fine Stag, a three year old. 202 x 151 mm. A photograph showing a stuffed stag standing beside a woodland pool. |
1899–1911 |
|
48
|
A fatal shot. 201 x 151 mm. Showing two hunters posed beside a dead stag among woodland. |
1899–1911 |
|
49
|
After the battle; Paunching a stag. 201 x 151 mm. Showing three men eviscerating a dead caribou. |
1899–1911 |
|
50
|
Having a cheerful meal. 202 x 151 mm. Showing a group of hunters eating at their campsite in the woods. |
1899–1911 |
|
51
|
The slain after twenty minutes hunt. 201 x 151 mm Showing a group of hunters standing beside four dead caribou. |
1899–1911 |
|
52
|
Synod Building, St John's. 199 x 145 mm. Showing the Synod Hall, a large building with a tower, destroyed in the Great Fire of 1892. Print not signed by Parsons.
Poor condition, yellowing and some discoloration.. |
1880–1892 |
|
53
|
Coronation celebrations for George V, June 11 1911. 200 x 150 mm. Showing a platform with an awning and bedecked with flags from which the Prime Minister of Newfoundland, Sir Edward Morris, is giving a speech. On his right stands the Governor, Sir Ralph Champneys Williams, in full uniform with various ecclesiastical, military and civil dignitaries in the background. Behind the Governor stands a guillotine-like apparatus which, at 12.30 in Newfoundland, laid a foundation stone at the push of a button in Buckingham Palace. See Sir Ralph Williams, 'How I became a Governor' (London, 1913), pp. 441-2. |
1911 |
|
54
|
Canoeing in Lake George. 201 x 151 mm. A view looking out over Lake George with a canoe on the lake in the middle distance. |
1899–1911 |
|
55
|
Going up the River Humber. 201 x 151 mm. Showing two canoes paddling against rough water on the Humber. |
1899–1911 |
|
56
|
Canoe Beach, Codroy. 202 x 151 mm. A riverside scene with an upturned canoe on the bank. |
1899–1911 |
|
57
|
Log Cabin Hotel, Spruce Brook. 202 x 152 mm. Showing an H-shaped wooden hotel building near the riverside. |
1899–1911 |
|
58
|
Fort Amherst Lighthouse and entrance. 201 x 152 mm. Showing the narrow harbour mouth of St John's and the Lighthouse which stands on the site of the former fortification. |
1899–1911 |
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