CHANCE HARBOUR, NB,

A BRIEF HISTORY

Over 200 years have passed since United Empire Loyalist Daniel Belding moved his family in 1805 from Saint John where they had lived since 1783 when they arrived as Loyalists from New Haven, CT, down to the house he had built for them on the Bay of Fundy coastline between Reef Point and Crow Island at the south end of what it now know as Privateers Lane. They were the first family to take up permanent residence in what we now know as the Village of Chance Harbour, New Brunswick. Daniel had purchased the rights to a crown grant of 770 acres at that place from fellow Loyalist Charity French of Dipper Harbour for £ 30. In 1808, an unhappy Charity French wrote to Saint John lawyer Ward Chipman complaining that Daniel Belding wouldn’t pay him until he had the government crown grant in his hand and the cost of the survey needed to obtain the grant far exceeded the £ 30 that he was to receive for it. Charity French hoped that Ward Chipman could cut through the government red tape to get the grant for Daniel Belding without a survey. Time passed and in the year 1819, Daniel and his son Samuel were granted the 770 acres of land that stretched from the tide rock around the middle of the beach in Beldings Cove over to the west shore of Little Dipper Harbour and then all the way north to the road into Lake Retreat. In the 1819 petition for the crown grant, Daniel affirmed that his family had been living on the lands for the past fourteen years which confirms 1805 as the date the family moved there.

These pictures are copies of the originals held by various residents and former residents of the village of Chance Harbour. The copying was paid for by NB Hydro through the public relations fund at the nuclear generating station on Point Lepreau. The intention was that the pictures should appear in a publication related to the history of Chance Harbour.

A number of people have contributed additional pictures and information to this page.

History is a work in progress.

Forgive us our errors and omissions and help us correct same and add to this work.

webmaster@chanceharbour.com

Friday, April 25, 2008

Chance Harbour taken from the top of Jarvis Mountain showing a small sliver of Belding Cove, then the village and finally Little Dipper Harbour in the upper right. The far land is Round Meadows.

Original Chance Harbour Lighthouse built in 1914 on Reef Point and in service until 1969 and then replaced by a steel tower and automatic light. Constructed by Wallace Belding, his brother Nathaniel Belding became Lighthouse Keeper from then to 1950.

Old Breakwater from Abbotts Beach on the north shore of Beldings Cove. Willie Belding’s car is on the wharf.

Old Breakwater with Arthur Mawhinney’s wharf adjoining to the left. This is looking east from about Willie Belding’s house on the beach – the granite rock is still underwater at this point in the tide. To the right out of sight is Abbotts Slip.

The New Breakwater with Reef Point and the round tower of its automated light in the background. To the west across the cove there had been a long, narrow wharf built in the early 1900’s by Capt. Jesse Belding and maintained by the Beldings but since destroyed in a storm. The Old Breakwater is now in ruins off to the right and out of the picture. The Goose Weir can just be seen beyond the wharf and to the east of Reef Point.

Herb Mawhinney’s house built in 1911 on a knoll overlooking the site of the Old and New Breakwaters and the open Bay beyond Reef Point. Herb and Addie are pictured here with sons Ben and Paul and daughters Louise and Irma. At the turn of the century, Herb sailed as a deck hand on schooners taking dried salt fish, lumber and coal to the Caribbean and returning with sugar products and other tropical trade goods. For years, he worked at the New Brunswick Dept of Highways office at Fredericton before returning to the Harbour to retire, operate a small store and play an active role in the Chance Harbour Baptist Church.

Herb and Addie Mawhinney with children Paul, Ben, Louise and Irma (with the curls). Louise was a nurse. Her daughter Jane Gilchrist took down the old house and has built a new, modern home on the site. Ben and Paul both served in the Air Force during World War II.

Clarence and Agnes nee Scully Thompson had a home on the higher land behind and to the north of Herb Mawhinney’s House. Agnes Scully was brought up on a farm with an apple orchard on the Chance Harbour Road (now Hwy 790) north of the village. Clarence Thompson’s father was the first Robert Thompson to come to the village. His mother was Robert’s second wife, Sarah Wayne from Musquash.

Victor Thompson, son of Clarence and Agnes Thompson. Victor married Primrose Amero and they had two children, Ross and Ethel known as Sally. Victor, his brother Don and their father Clarence fished, and smoked herring in a smokehouse near Abbotts Slip on the east shore of Beldings Cove.

Arthur and Blanche nee Tiner Mawhinney whose home was the road to the wharf, now known as Breakwater Road. Arthur was a fisherman who also worked on the railroad in northern NB and, during World War II, as a ship fitter on the wharves in West Saint John. He was a Justice of the Peace and County Councilor for many years. They are pictured circa 1930 in front of his uncle Jarvis Mawhinney’s blacksmith.

Jarvis and Evelyn nee Thompson Mawhinney came from Maces Bay and resided in a home at the southwest corner of what is now Breakwater Road and Hwy 790. This home was later occupied by his son Clarence and his wife and finally by their daughter Evangeline. This home was the original Cottle homestead, which was given to Evelyn by her aunt who raised her after the death of her mother. Evelyn acted as village midwife for many years.

Jarvis and Evelyn Mawhinney again at their home with their son Douglas and his wife Mildred nee Campbell. Across the road from their house is the mountain known as Jarvis’ Mountain. Going north on Chance Harbour Road you come to the Cranberry Head Road that runs north and east through Jarvis’ Hollow at the bottom of Jarvis’ field which runs up Jarvis’ Hill into the woods to Jarvis’ Lake. Over Jarvis Mountain where it drops off into Chance Harbour is a reef which dries out at low water and marked on the charts as Jarvis’ Ledge.

Wilson and Liza Mawhinney of Maces Bay, parents of Jarvis and James Mawhinney who settled in Chance Harbour. Wilson was born in County Derry, Ireland and came out to Canada on the “Jane Booth” in June 1831 with his father and mother, Robert and Mary Mawhinney, and his uncles James and John and his aunt Margaret Ellis and her husband.

Isaac and Arthur Abbott. Their parents Francis and Bridget Biddie Abbott originally settled on one of the coves east of Cranberry Head where Bridget obtained a crown grant. But, with no road and access only over a sloping, exposed, rocky beach, they brought their family into Chance Harbour and purchased the Boyle homestead on the beach at the northeast reach of Beldings Cove. At the time of the photo, Isaac and Arthur were salmon fishing and their nets are strung up at the head of the Old Breakwater on the frame behind them to dry. On the far left in the distance is part of the wharf built further in and to the right of that, a tall smokehouse used to smoke herring filets by Clarence Thompson and later his sons Don and Victor.

James Mawhinney and his third wife Alberta Brown. She was a teacher. James was the brother of Jarvis Mawhinney. His first wife Ada Craft predeceased him without issue. He and his second wife Margaret Saye were the parents of Arthur Mawhinney and Helen Hoey. Margaret Saye passed away and he married Alberta Brown and they had two more children, Lamont and Addie Mawhinney of Lorneville.

Percy and Maisie Mawhinney with their daughter Joan. Percy and Maisie met in Scotland where Percy was posted with the army during World War I. Maisie immigrated to Canada after the war and married Percy. Percy is one of the sons of Jarvis Mawhinney.

Ella Christopher, daughter of Jarvis Mawhinney, who worked for the Army as a typist during World War II. The name of the soldier is unknown.

Eliza, daughter of Jarvis Mawhinney, and her husband Herb Sprague are the couple in the middle with their children around them - Harry, Ella, Art, Maude, Eliza, Lena, Elsie and Mabel. Harry’s son became an editor with the St John Telegraph Journal.

The Boyle Homestead on the beach on the east side of Beldings Cove. Purchased by the Abbott family, it is allegedly the oldest surviving house in the village.

A southwest view of Beldings Cove from Abbott’s Beach. The inner area of beach encompassed by the two wharfingers, “The Slip”, or “Abbott’s Slip” was all sand and people from all over the village would often come to mingle and to enjoy the sand warmed water on sunny summer afternoons when the tide was in the last hour or so of its flood. These wharves in Abbott’s Slip, Clarence Thompson’s on left and the Abbott’s on the right, were destroyed by a great storm and only some ballast remains where they had been located.

Mary MacDonald, Isaac and Annie Abbott’s daughter, sits at the end of Abbott’s wharf on the west side of Abbott’s Slip at highwater. This predates the storm of its destruction. In the background on the left beyond the wharf is Willie Belding’s house on the beach on the westerly side of the cove. To her right is a sawmill operated by the Abbotts.

The Abbott’s bait house, woodpiles and sawmill were all wrecked in the same gale that took the wharves on Abbott’s Slip. In the background over the open fields, is first Will Humphrey’s camp and beyond that, Clarence Thompson’s house . Humphrey’s camp is gone and replaced by a mobile home owned by Humphrey’s grandson Eddie Jacques.

The view from Arthur Mawhinney wharf beside the Old Breakwater looking north at the wharves in Abbott’s Slip with the Abbott residence and work sheds on the beach behind.

Francis Abbott, husband of Bridget Abbott and father of Ethel, Rose Ellen, Arthur and Isaac Abbott. Francis, his son Arthur, his son Allan and and his son Jeffrey are four generations of the Abbott family who have been fishing out of Chance Harbour for over a century.

Mary Mills, the wife of Arthur Abbott, originally came to the community as a teacher. She and Arthur were the parents of Allan and Owen. She was a homemaker, active in Roman Catholic church activities, and returned to teaching on the death of her husband.

The Abbott family and friends circa 1925 with bearded Francis in front, son Isaac in the hat on the left in the back and son Arthur, hatless, in the middle.

Arthur Abbott and neighbour Clarence Mawhinney socializing and mending twine on a summer’s day. Both played the fiddle, but not well. It was Clarence’s fiddle. Clarence lived in his father Jarvis Mawhinney’s home on the property adjoining Arthur Abbott’s.

Arthur and Mary Abbott with sons Owen and Allan circa 1930. In the background is the home of Tom Mills, Mary’s brother. On the right, the corner of the Abbott house can just be seen. Mary Abbott was active in the Roman Catholic Church of the two villages, Chance Harbour and Dipper Harbour.

Isaac and Annie Abbott. She was from Newfoundland. They made their home on what is now Hwy 790 up at the top of the hill to the north of the Abbott home on the beach. They had three children, Frank, Arthur and Mary. At one point, Frank operated a small store in a building behind the house on the road down to Abbott’s Beach.

Harold Crawford, Henry Crawford’s brother, with his dog at the Abbott home on Abbott’s Beach.

Arthur and Isaac Abbot and Henry Crawford with working horses. Henry Crawford came to make his home in the village by marrying Lizzie Tiner, one of the daughters of David and Amanda nee Belding Tiner. Henry was one of the earlier truck owners in the village and he provided transport into Saint John for the catch of the day and brought back gasoline and other supplies.

Rose Ellen Abbott, daughter of Francis and Bridget Abbott, who married Joseph Crawford. They had children Henry, Frank, Harold, Mary and Lou Crawford. Harold died at an early age in an unfortunate accident.

Tom Mills built his house on top of the root cellar of the Abbott house on the adjoining property. He was the brother of George Mills and of Mary Abbott and brother-in-law of Arthur Abbott.

Henry and Lizzie nee Elizabeth Tiner Crawford. They had five children, Shirley (married to Wendall McCallister), Harold (married to Helen Bright), Marion (married to Lawrence “Sonny” Bright), Paul (married first to Shirley Bursey, then to Betty) and Barry (married to Norma Moody). There are numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.

David and Mandy Amanda Belding Tiner. She was the great- granddaughter of the United Empire Loyalist Daniel Belding, the first settler of the village in the 1790’s. Their children that lived into maturity were James, Bertha, Blanche, Druscilla, George, Jim, Robert, Elizabeth, Alexander, and Mary Tiner.

Jesse Tiner with his boat collection. In his lifetime, Jesse said that he had shot 99 moose. In later life, he was made game warden for the area. He married Hattie Toner and they had one son, Ray, and an adopted son, Francis. Ray Tiner in turn had sons Bruce and Gary Tiner who carried on the Tiner name in the village. Gary Tiner married Ellen Mawhinney and they had four children. Now a widow, Ellen lives with the children in a new home built on the site of the old homestead of David and Mandy Tiner.

Jim Tiner, Jesse and Hattie Tiner with nephew Billy Payne.

Jim Tiner with George Belding, son of Arnold Belding.

George Tiner was a ship’s carpenter and boat builder whose hobby was beach combing. He and

his wife Hazel nee Dean lived to a great age but had no children.

Sisters Blanche and Druscilla, daughters of Mandy and David Tiner circa 1920. Blanche married Arthur Mawhinney and resided all her life in Chance Harbour. She had five children, Ervine, Lloyd, Gordon, Betty and Grace. Druscilla moved to the States where she married and raised her family.

In front is Musquash resident Ronald Calhoune with villagers Clifford Belding, Arnold Belding at the wheel, Alec Tiner standing and Hazen Thompson on the side circa 1935.

Lewis Thompson, long time mailman to the village. He was the son of Robert Thompson and brother of David, Robert, Ernest, Gordon and Maude.

David Thompson, Lewis Thompson’s brother. He served with the army and for many years was the local Fisheries Officer. He and his wife Gertie had three daughters, Audrey, Marian, and Louise.

Robert Thompson who was married to Alice Toner. They had sons Norman, Manfred, William and Calvin.

Atha Hepburn, whose mother was Jane ‘Jennie’ Hargrove who married Nathaniel Hepburn. She was a descendant of the Hepburn family of Hepburn Basin in Musquash. Alexander Hepburn came from Scotland and settled in Musquash. He married Mabel Belding, the daughter of Daniel Belding and Mabel nee Bristol Belding. Mabel the daughter was the last member of the family to be born in the USA when she came into the world on 13 December 1783 at New Haven, CT.

William (Willie) and Ethel nee Coy Belding at Trail’s End with their children Gerald, Jeanne (on the left) and Doris. Doris never married and is retired after a long career with what was then known as Revenue Canada. Ervine Mawhinney married Jeanne and they had five children - Mark, Matthew, John, Glenn and Ellen. Ervine was a property assessor for the City of Saint John and then the Province. Matthew is a fisherman who also built the Mariner’s Inn overlooking the outlet of McLaughlin’s Creek into Chance Harbour.

Willie Belding on the right with Mr. Coy his brother in law and son Gerald Belding on the left. Gerald married Myrtle Brown and their children are Stephen, Maurice, William, Gerald Jr., Barbara and Patsy. Mr. Coy is descended from a family that came from New England and settled up the St John River in the Gagetown area sometime after 1760 – well before the coming of the Loyalist which started in 1783.

Willie and wife Ethel nee Coy Belding picnicking on Deer Island Point circa 1950.

Ethel Belding on her 90^th birthday.

Trafton sisters – Maude, Laura and Alma (wife of Nathaniel Belding).

Fred and Mary nee Belding Trafton, parents of Alvin Trafton, circa 1946. They retired here after Fred ended a long career in the forest industries in northern New Brunswick.

United Baptist Church and parsonage. Constructed in 1893, it was refurbished and move onto a concrete foundation in 1999 – 2000 with a slightly modified steeple widened and shorted and a vestibule added in the front. Money for the renovations came from the Provincial Government and members of the community at large from Lepreau to Musquash and beyond from folks that had left the area to make their homes elsewhere. The parsonage was sold as surplus property when the United Baptist churches of Chance Harbour, Dipper Bay and Maces Bay consolidated their finances.

Jim Hargrove, father of Clifford, Lloyd and Betty Hargrove. For years, Jim Hargrove kept the light on Partridge Island. His wife Olive was a teacher. In his house behind him, the first meetings to organize the construction of the Baptist Church took place in 1893. His father and mother George and Druscilla nee Belding Hargrove and their family were living in it at the time.

Mary Belding, granddaughter of Daniel Belding and Jesse Belding’s wife.

Here is a picture of Mary Belding’s family. In the back are Jesse, Robert, Nathaniel, Winslow, Wallace, and Dave Belding and in front, from the left, are Melvina Toner, their mother Mary Belding, Amanda Tiner and Mary Belding.

The home of Wallace Belding, a carpenter as well as a fisherman. Wallace was married to Annie Cairns and their children were Beulah, Elsie Arnold, Lorne and Beatrice Belding.

Wallace Belding in front of his brother Robert Belding’s store circa 1940.

Arnold Belding, son of Wallace Belding. He and his wife Maisie nee Stokes had nine children - Earle, Phyllis, Douglas (George), Brian, Eric, Beverly, Colleen, David and Mark.

The home of Capt Jesse and Mary nee Sherwood Belding and their 6 children - Mary, William, Arthur Lawrence, Clara, Lillian, Minnie, and Gertrude Mae. This is one of the oldest homes in the village and now owned by Gertrude’s daughter Alfreda Schwatz although her daughter Heidi Schwatz has shown an interest in it. In 2007 it was removed and replace with new construction very much on the same lines.

Captain Jesse Belding and his sister Mary Trafton standing by her son Alvin Trafton’s car.

Beatrice nee Toner Belding, Arthur Belding’s wife with her sister-in-laws Clara, Lily and Gertrude Belding, three of the daughters of Captain Jesse and Mary Belding. Lilly married Ernest Thompson and one of their children was Harley Thompson, a contractor and businessman who made his home in Dipper Harbour. Clara married Ernest Shaw from Pocologan who was involved in the ownership and operation of a clam canning factory there. Gertrude married Ralph Stuart Huestis of Saint John.

“The Melba”, with owner and master Captain Jesse Belding aboard with his daughter Gertrude Huestis and her daughter Alfreda. Gertrude’s son Stuart Huestis was a neurosurgeon practicing in Halifax for many years.

Captain Jesse Belding’s wharf as it was in the early 1940’s on the western shore of Beldings Cove of Chance Harbour just below his home on the bluff. Here fish were dried all summer long and the sheds were used to store gear and bait and provide workspace. Dave Thompson’s boathouse, icehouse and bait shed is on the beach in the background.

Beldings Cove looking east to Abbotts Slip and the Old Breakwater from Captain Jesse Belding’s home on the west side of the Harbour.

Nathaniel (Than) and Alma nee Trafton Belding’s home. They had six daughters – Eva, Lena, Gladys, Ruth, Winnifred and Mary. Nathaniel was both the lightkeeper and Deacon of the Chance Harbour Baptist Church for some years.

Arthur and Beatrice nee Toner Belding probably on their 50^th wedding anniversary. Their children were Lawrence, Alda, Clyde, twins Inez and Irene, Garnet, Darrell and Doreen.

Looking west over the creek (known variously as Belding’s Creek or Thompson’s Creek) to the Bar at the mouth where the burying ground for the early settlers is located at Graveyard Point. There is a cairn there now memorializing the names of all the known burials there although many are unnamed and have no stones such as Daniel and Mabel Belding, Felix Thomas, David and Jane Belding, and Maria Tiner to name a few.

The cairn. In the mid 1960’s the graveyard on the point had fallen into disrepair. The Chance Harbour Women’s Institute erected the cairn in 1967 in remembrance of those earlier residents buried there. Unfortunately, the written records were incomplete and not all the burials are named on the memorial.

Chadwick house, once the home of Jim Thompson, which is located near the site of Daniel Belding’s first settlement and trading post in the late 1700’s on Crow Island.

Hattie nee Dukeshire Thompson, a teacher for some years in New York City, with her extensive doll collection, which has since passed to her nephew Jim Thompson’s daughter Barbara Thompson. For many years, she was church organist, Sunday School teacher, and a keeper of the village history.

Melvina Toner, daughter of Mary and Jesse Belding and wife of Alfred Toner. Melvina and Alfred had many children – Evangeline, Alfred, Bernard, Thelma, Elsie, and Beryl to name just a few. They lived in Mispec and are related to the Thomas family of New Haven just like the Beldings.

During World War II, a lot of the local men joined the Home Guard and patrolled the roads and shores nightly for U Boat sightings and to prevent U Boats from landing spies or worse. In the back row are Jesse Tiner, George Tiner, Alf Thompson, Albert Melanson, Henry Crawford and in the front row are Arthur Mawhinney, Arthur Abbott, Alec Tiner, Lloyd Mawhinney, Arnold Belding, Gordon Mawhinney, Allan Abbott, and Clarence Mawhinney.

A group of young villagers circa 1940, namely Bobby Flynn, Frank Sutton, Lloyd Mawhinney, Kenny Earle, Ronald Thompson, Murray Thompson, Ervine Mawhinney, Rhoda Mawhinney, Ella Sprague, Betty Mawhinney, Beatty Thompson, Mabel Sprague, Harry Sprague, and Frank Abbott.

A few of the names of school children circa 1935: Frank Abbott, Jimmy Thompson, Len Thompson (Jr.), Margery Thompson, Muriel Boyd and Hazen Thompson.

Group at Chance Harbour in 1912: (standing) Percy Mawhinney, Arthur Abbott, Jesse Tiner (in the wagon), School Teacher and Druscilla Tiner.

Frank Abbott’s Canteen: only known ones, Harvey Wayne, Ronald Thompson, one of the Pugh girls, Helen Page and Frank Abbott.

Murray Thompson (right) and Alvin Trafton after World War II. Murray was a veteran of the European campaign during the war. He married a teacher on his return home and they had a daughter. Alvin was a salesman who always kept his yacht at anchor in Belding Cove. He and Murray are standing on it in this picture.

.Knox Engine: The first to power a fishing boat in the three communities installed in Bob and George Thompson’s boat. It revolutionized the fishing industry by liberating the men from the vicissitudes of tides, wind and muscle power (ie. Rowing) and enabled them to cover more ground and take more catch.

This is the old school house near Cedar Springs prior to it burning down in 1911. One year later, a new school was built on the Village Road know now a Chance Harbour Road. Names of the students shown here are, starting at the right, Gertrude Belding, Lizzie Tiner, Eva Belding, Beatrice Belding, Lorne Belding, Arnold Belding, Robert Thompson, Lewis Thompson, Douglas Mawhinney, Clarence Mawhinney, Druscilla Tiner, Beulah Belding, Minnie Belding, Mary Crawford, Teacher Eleanor Parker, Olive Thompson and Rudolph Mosher.

Chance Harbour School House constructed circa 1912. This school was closed in the cut backs and reorganization of the mid 1970’s and has since been taken down. The entryway was added much later. At left is the woodshed.

Walter and Bertie Wayne. He worked for the department of highways, and came to the village built a home later owned by Henry and Lizzie Crawford. Later he built another home near that of Capt. Jesse Belding and retired to live there. He was active in the church for many years serving as acting Deacon and Supervisor of the Sunday School.

School Children in Chance Harbour about 1930: (Back Row) Ray Tiner, Jim Hoey, Murray Thompson, Clyde Belding, Winnifred Belding, Bobby Strothard, Ruth Belding and Alma Holmes (teacher). (Middle Row) Ervine Mawhinney, Phyllis Perry, Betty Mawhinney, Irene Belding, Shirley Crawford, Libby Chadwick, Alda Belding, and Lloyd Mawhinney. (Front Row) Gordon Mawhinney, Doris Belding, Jeanne Belding, Marion Crawford, Janie Chadwick, Garnet Belding, Allan Abbott, Harold Crawford, Inez Belding and Gerald Belding.

Gilbert Wayne and one of his sons Walter Wayne (standing), descendants of the Wenns and Waynes of Ireland who settled in Little Musquash. The other children of Gilbert and his wife Jane Amelia nee Thompson Wayne were Howard, Roy, Arthur, Addison, Sydney, Effie and Pearl. Jane Amelia was the daughter of the original settler Robert Thompson and his first wife Mabel Belding, granddaughter of Daniel Belding.

The “Jenny Pickles” on the inside reef at Chance Harbour. The outer ledge is called the “Alice Rogers” after the ship that foundered there.

Robert Thompson came to Saint John with his parents from Ireland in 1846. On his way to Saint Andrews looking for work, he stopped at Chance Harbour, and the Beldings gave him a job, so he stayed. He married Daniel Belding’s granddaughter Mabel Belding the following year. He and Mabel, who was his first wife, had a number of children – James, David, Jane Amelia, Daniel, Robert Jr., Evelyn, Samuel and George Thompson - and many of their descendants live in the village to this day.

Gilbert Wayne, husband of Jane Amelia Thompson. After Jane Amelia’s mother Mabel died in childbirth, her father, the original settler, Robert Thompson, married Sarah A Wayne from Musquash in 1866 and he later moved there to take up residence. Robert and Sarah are buried in the Baptist Church cemetery at South Musquash.

Pat Kane who came from Ireland around 1850 and built a house on Kane’s beach in Haley’s Cove just east of Chance Harbour. He later relocated to Dipper Harbour.

“Jenny Pickles” still on the reef.

Clarence and wife Agnes Thompson and brother John Thompson who worked on the newspaper in Halifax circa 1950. Clarence and John Thompson were two of the children of Robert and Sarah A. Thompson. Clarence and Agnes Thompson had three children, Donald, Victor and Beatrice who were life-long residents of the village. Clarence marketed fish from his scow at the South Wharf in Saint John, NB.

Mabel Young, Ella Christopher and Eliza Sprague – all daughters of Jarvis and Evelyn nee Thompson Mawhinney – with Agnes Thompson, and in behind, her husband Clarence Thompson and brother in law John Thompson. Clarence and John Thompson were half brothers of Evelyn Mawhinney circa 1950.

Clarence Thompson, Sidney Wayne and John Thompson circa 1950.

Mabel Young, Ella Christopher and Eliza Sprague – daughters of Jarvis and Evelyn Mawhinney prior to 1920.

Edgar Christopher and David Young. David and Mabel Young had no children. David Young was an attorney in Massachusetts who retired and built a log cabin at Trail’s End. Edgar and Ella Christopher had daughters Jean Tiner and Ruth Hawis.

Evelyn/Evaline nee Thompson Mawhinney. Universally know as “Aunt Evelyn”, she was a daughter of Robert and Mabel nee Belding Thompson and the wife of Jarvis Mawhinney and the village midwife.

Jarvis and Evelyn Mawhinney’s home at the southwest corner of what is now Breakwater Road and Hwy 790. Behind the house as seen here, they had a hen house and duck pond and across the road to the right was a store, a couple of barns and sheds and Jarvis’ blacksmith shop. Except for the house (and henhouse behind) as seen here, these structures are gone.

Jarvis and Evelyn Mawhinney’s family: Herb, Bob, Percy, Doug, Clarence, Jarvis, Evelyn, Eliza, Mabel and Ella.

Annie nee McGown and Clarence Mawhinney, Clarence’s sisters Mabel Young and Ella Christopher, and Clarence’s grandson Stirling Mawhinney who is Evangeline’s son. Evangeline Mawhinney was the only child of Annie and Clarence.

Len Thompson, Alf Thompson and Lawrence Cassidy at a Senior’s

Ella Christopher with her brothers Clarence and Percy Mawhinney (on the left).

A Thompson Family Reunion at Chance Harbour with Hattie and Len Thompson seated in front and Murray Thompson assisting Len Thompson.

Len Thompson

Hattie Thompson, nee Dukeshire, whose mother was Clara Tiner, the sister of Dave Tiner.

Deacon Dave Thompson and wife Mary Jane Janes. He became the first Deacon of the Chance Harbour United Baptist Church after its construction in 1893, a post he held until his death. He also operated a small store and the post office on what is now known as Privateer’s Lane. David Thompson was a son of early settler Robert Thompson and his first wife Mabel Belding who, in turn, was granddaughter of Daniel Belding. David and Mary Thompson had sons Fred and Leonard Thompson and daughter Louise Thompson. Fred’s children were Murray, Hazen and Muriel Thompson while Leonard’s children were Marjory and Len Jr.

Jim Thompson. Jim Thompson was a brother of Deacon Dave Thompson. Jim Thompson and first wife Mabel had three sons Robert, Alf and George and six daughters pictured hereafter.

Merle, Sarah and Grace Thompson – daughters of Jim Thompson.

May Chadwick and Polly Shaw – daughters of Jim Thompson. Polly and husband Harry Shaw had one son. May Chadwick married Ernest Chadwick and had two daughters Elizabeth and Janet.

Jim Thompson’s daughter Alice Thompson. She went overseas as a nurse during the First World War and married Col. Charles de Poncier. After World War II, she and he retired to the village and built a home near the end of the road to Crow’s Island. Alice was the mother of three children – Charlotte Macdonald who married Jim Macdonald and had two girls, Marilyn and Alice; Mary Lou who first married a Misko and had three children, Maureen, Vicki and Charles (Chuck) and then married Stan Matyjoesky and had one child by him, Waldy; and Betty Gove who married Professor Harry Gove and had Pauline and Dianna. Dr Gove is famous for his recent opinion on the age of the Shroud of Turin after a carbon dating test of his design was done on a piece of the relic with the auspices of the Vatican.

Cousins George Thompson (on right) and Jim Tiner circa 1910.

Cousins Alf Thompson and George Tiner circa 1910.

Alf and Hazen Thompson circa 1950.

Alf and Rosemond Thompson’s home. The three Thompson brothers – Robert, Alf and George - married three sisters Hattie, Rosemond and Estelle Dukeshire in that order. The brothers built three homes together in the area just west of what is now known as Privateer’s Lane.

Alf Thompson and granddaughter Barbara Thompson with halibut the like of which no longer exist. In his retirement years, Alf Thompson would set long lines of trawl in a form of recreational fishing.

Jim Thompson and his second wife, Becky Tiner.

Polly Shaw, Grace and her husband, retired lawyer Ed Spencer, May Chadwick and Hattie Thompson. Grace and Ed Spencer had one child Edward Jr. who became an Anglican minister.

Robert and Hattie Thompson’s home with his brother George’s home behind while to the right his brother Alf’s home can just be seen.

Hattie, Mrs. Robert Thompson with her brother in law Alf Thompson circa 1960.

Circa 1929: Jim Thompson, Atha Hepburn, Etna Ball, Merle and Lauren Buchanan, Cliff Belding holding young Lenny Thompson, Muriel nee Thompson Boyd and Marjorie Thompson.

Rosamond, Alf’s wife, their son Jim, Alf, Verna Buckle, Jim’s wife, and a very young Barbara Thompson – the only child of Jim and Verna. Jim Thompson served overseas with the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II

Thompson Family right to left are Bob and wife Hattie Thompson, Harry and Polly nee Thompson Shaw, Bob and Maggie nee Watts Belding and George Thompson.

Rosamond nee Dukeshire Thompson and brother Ted Dukeshire 1945. Their mother was Clara Tiner, sister of the David Tiner who married Amanda Belding.