The Journey Into A Connected World - The Transatlantic Cable of 1866 by Abby Evoy

 Introduction

    My favourite thing in the museum is a small piece of the 1858 Transatlantic Cable, guaranteed by Tiffany and Co., so I decided to take this chance to write about the quest to connect Europe and North America with a copper cable along the ocean floor. The nineteenth century saw a massive boom in communications technology, with much of it being centered around telegraphy. This technology, first developed and demonstrated by Samuel Morse in 1844, made it so that messages that could take days or weeks to travel by mail could arrive in minutes. The laying of the cable was not without trials and tribulations, and the story behind it is fascinating. It even has a connection to NL, because the North American end was laid in Heart's Content, and the cable's impact can still be felt today in 2025. So let's get into talking about these factors!

Piece of 1858 Transatlantic Cable in Admiralty House Communications Museum

The Journey to Creation

    The driving force behind the laying of the Transatlantic Cable was Cyrus Field, a business man who had made his fortune running a paper company. As he was not an electrician or scientist of any kind, he enlisted the help of several men, including Samuel Morse himself. They began the journey in 1854 when Frederic Newton Gisborne, a British born engineer living in Newfoundland, pitched Field the idea of connecting the island to the existing telegraph network, which would shorten the time it took messages to be delivered between the two continents by a single day. Inspired by this, Field saw the potential to shorten it by weeks if a cable was also run across the Atlantic Ocean. 

    From when his idea first formed, it took twelve years for the first permanently successful cable to be finished in 1866, as there were many hiccups along the way. First, there was the problem of where to lay it, for which Field reached out to Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury, who had taken soundings of the Atlantic's floor and believed there to be an almost entirely flat plane between Ireland and Newfoundland, which he dubbed "Telegraph Plateau." It was only years after they started the project that they realized this path was not, in fact, flat. There was also the issue of protecting an electrified copper wire under thousands of metres of water. The solution to this was found in a Malaysian plant called gutta percha, which formed a natural plastic when put in hot water. Over that, the wire was covered with iron and hemp. 

    Next came the attempts to actually lay the cable, which started in 1857. The first saw the USS Niagara and the HMS Agamemnon, an American and British ship respectively, meet in Ireland to split the load of the incredibly heavy wire between them, as no contemporary ship was capable of carrying it alone. They intended for one ship to drop all of its wire, then to splice the end together with the wire length aboard the second ship, but after several hundred miles, the cable snapped and was lost to the waves. After making improvements, the second attempt was made in 1858, this time with the two ships meeting in the middle, splicing their cable ends together, then each sailing to their respective harbours in Newfoundland and Ireland. After fixing an initial signal loss at the 80 mile mark, in 200 miles the signal was lost again, and this time it was unrecoverable. With enough summer months left and a quick turnaround time in preparations, the third attempt was also made in 1858, and used the same meet in the middle strategy. After overcoming several more difficulties, each ship reached their ports with a working signal, and the transatlantic cable was finally successfully laid. At least for a period of four weeks, after which the incredibly slow connection (it took 16 hours for the first 98 word message to transmit), this signal too disappeared forever, and Field had to return to the drawing board. 

    The mission was paused over the course of the American Civil War, but Field quickly returned with another attempt in 1865, utilizing the Great Eastern, which was the largest ship in existence at the time. After fixing multiple issues with iron nails killing the signal after being picked up, the wire eventually broke and was unrecoverable as it sank to the bottom of the ocean. Undeterred, Field tried again with the Great Eastern in 1866, which now triumphantly sailed into Heart's Content. The Cable was finally laid across the entirety of the Atlantic, and Europe and North America were connected through telegraphy. Not quite satisfied, Field also returned to the site of the 1865 cable loss, recovered the lost cable, spliced it to a new length and returned once again to Heart's Content, ending his endeavors with two working transatlantic cables completed. 

Great Eastern 1866 - Wikimedia Commons

Why Heart's Content?

    Not only is Newfoundland the closest landmass to Europe in North America, the harbour at Heart's Content is one of the deepest on the east coast of Newfoundland, and it also has a low shoreline, so it was ideal to accommodate the bulk of the Great Eastern and for landing a submarine telegraph cable. There was also a clear sightline from the shore that looked out at the cable arriving from Valencia. Heart's Content had the benefit of natural protection from the elements as well, as it is in a subterranean state. The shoreline has remained virtually unchanged since the cables were first laid in 1866, and six telegraph cables can still be seen emerging from the water onto the beach. The Cable station built there in 1876 is still standing as well, and is in excellent condition. It operates as a museum from May to October each year, as the Heart's Content Cable Station Provincial Historic Site, and I can highly recommend it to anyone interested in the transatlantic cable, or wider communications history.

Landing of the Atlantic Cable of 1866, Heart's Content, Newfoundland - Wikimedia Commons

Lasting Impact

    The Transatlantic Cable that was first laid in 1866 was still in use and functioning up to the 1960s. It laid the groundwork for future innovations in communications technology, as copper telephone wires were again laid across the Atlantic in the 1950s, which were remarkably similar to those of Field's technology. They were replaced by fiber-optic cables in the 1980s, different in design but also laid along the ocean floor. The Transatlantic Cable also contributed to linguistic changes, because of the sheer cost of sending messages. In 1866, it cost about 100 dollars to send a ten word message, and this steep price led a more shortened and neutral language to develop, which became especially common for journalists. Ainissa Ramirez of the American Scientist believes this linguistic adaptation can still be seen today in websites which have character limits, like X (formerly known as Twitter) and Discord. 

Transatlantic submarine cable map - umn.edu

Conclusion

    Despite all of the trials Field and his team faced, there is no doubt that the Transatlantic Cable had massive, transformative effects on the world once it was laid. It was one of the first steps toward the hyper interconnected world we live in today, and Newfoundland played a vital role in its journey. I have been fascinated by the Transatlantic Cable since I was a teenager and my dad took me to watch the recreation of the first transatlantic message sent along the cable between the Heart's Content Cable Station and its sister museum, the Valentia Transatlantic Cable Station in Ireland. It was such a cool experience to feel like part of history, that I immediately wanted to learn more about it. I hope you have enjoyed this tale as much as I do!

Bibliography

All information in this post is drawn from my own previous research/experiences, and the two sources cited below. 

Ramirez, Ainissa. "A Wire Across the Ocean." American Scientist 103, no. 3 (2015): 180. Accessed on September 22, 2025. https://www.americanscientist.org/article/a-wire-across-the-ocean. 

"Transatlantic Cable Ensemble (Canada)." UNESCO World Heritage Convention. UNESCO, December 20, 2022. https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6631/. 

Research Assistant Introduction and Update

Hello! My name is Sarah Sharpe, Admiralty House’s research assistant. I joined the Museum team in September, and my role is to research and create updated exhibit material based on the Museum’s Interpretive Plan. Admiralty House Communications Museum is Mount Pearl’s greatest hidden gem, and I am proud to be part of the Museum’s team. 

A little bit about me: I have a BSc and a MA in Archaeology. Though I am originally from Alberta, I moved to St. John’s to complete my Masters degree at MUN. My research focused on Inuit place names and oral history in Labrador. Since graduating, I have worked in various museums and heritage positions across the country. I was delighted to have the chance to return to St. John’s and work at the Admiralty House Communications Museum.

In March 2022, Admiralty House Communications Museum created a new Interpretive Plan in order to update the Museum’s exhibits.

The purpose of this update is to:

• Increase the accessibility of the Museum.
• Enhance the experience of visitors and attract new audiences. 
• Deliver meaningful and engaging historical content. 

Since I began at the Museum, I have been able to explore and interact with all of the current exhibits. If you have never visited the Museum or have not visited in a while, I highly encourage you to visit and experience the amazing stories showcased at the Museum.

Starting in the Commanding Officer’s Sitting Room, this exhibit offers a very cool immersive experience. This recreated office is located in the same space as the original Commanding Officer’s Sitting Room, which was used when the station was operating in the 1910s. It is very easy to imagine stepping into this space to talk to your Commanding Officer. We are looking forward to making this exhibit even more interactive for our visitors. 

The Mount Pearl Room is a large space that displays the history of this community in rich detail. The central figure of this history is James Pearl, Mount Pearl’s complex and fascinating founder. From his early days in the navy, to his knighthood (recently confirmed!), to his influential time in Newfoundland, the importance of James Pearl to this community can not be overstated. 

As well, this exhibit highlights the unique cultural identity of the city of Mount Pearl, and its underappreciated contributions to aviation, agriculture, and communication. 

The Museum has one of the most extensive collections of historical information on the SS Florizel disaster in the province. For example, based on detailed first hand accounts, we can identify by name all 27 survivors who sheltered in the Marconi Room. As well, the Museum houses several rare artifacts from the ship. Often overshadowed by the RMS Titanic, the SS Florizel disaster is a tragic tale punctuated by the bravery, determination, and teamwork of many notable Newfoundlanders. 

One of the Museum’s greatest assets is the ability to tell the story of the H.M. Wireless Station within the historical building, even highlighting traditional features such as the wattle and daub wall construction (visit the Museum for more information on this fascinating architectural technique!). The HM Wireless exhibit demonstrates the pivotal role that the station played in World War I and the Mount Pearl community at large. 

The Museum’s most extensive collection of artifacts relates to the Evolution of Communication exhibit. This collection is wide ranging, from an 1850s telegraph cable to early 2000s cell phones. The celebration of notable individuals, such as Guglielmo Marconi and Hedy Lamarr, demonstrates the expansive growth of technology over the last century. One of the goals for the future development of this exhibit is the inclusion of more interactive elements.

The Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve exhibit proudly honours the sacrifices and bravery of Newfoundlanders who fought in World War I. Adequately displaying the entirety of these remarkable stories is a daunting task, but we look forward to further increasing the visibility of these histories, including those of training on the HMS Calypso and experiencing the horror of the battle of Beaumont Hamel. 

It is difficult for me to pick a favourite exhibit among all the amazing experiences the Museum offers. However, I have particularly loved learning about the intricate human stories of the SS Florizel. The bravery of individuals such as Captain William Martin, telegraph operators Cecil Carter and Bernard Murphy, Joseph Maloney, and Kitty Cantwell cannot help but inspire deep admiration and emotional personal connection. 

Likewise, it is nearly impossible to pinpoint any one exceptional artifact among the Museum’s rich collection. However, a few artifacts are particularly meaningful to me personally.

In our Mount Pearl exhibit, the Museum houses the wheel from Harry Hawker and Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve’s British Sopwith plane (the Atlantic) which completed the first flight in Newfoundland in 1919. This amazing artifact represents the beginning of Newfoundland’s profound role in aviation history, leading to the first non-stop transatlantic flight of John Alcock and Arthur Brown (also in 1919).

Though not technically artifacts, the reproduction of the Marconi Room and the scale model of the SS Florizel are fascinating to me. Being able to walk inside the Marconi Room and imagine over 20 individuals sheltering in the 2.5 m2  space together is an unforgettable experience. As well, understanding the layout and size of the ship (approximately twice the size of the main museum building) aids in picturing what traveling on such a magnificent ship was like.

Lastly, a perhaps underappreciated artifact is an early digital Panasonic Portable Computer dating from 1980. While some guests may be shocked to see an item from the 1980s on display in the museum, I see this computer as a brilliant illustration on how quickly communication technology has progressed from simple telegraphs, to personal computers, to modern smart phones. 

I am delighted to be part of updating these exhibits. While more specific details of these improvements are forthcoming, some exciting aspects include:

• Increasing accessibility for the Museum at large, including provisions for wheelchairs, visual impairments, and more.
• Adding more interactive elements to allow visitors to immerse themselves in the exhibits. The Commanding Officer’s Sitting Room will be a particular focus of this improvement (stay tuned!).
• Inspiring more personal connections through the celebration of individual stories.

In summary, Admiralty House Communications Museum continues to be a community staple and indispensable aspect of the cultural history of Mount Pearl. We are excited to be journeying towards further improvement and hope to inspire visitors and locals alike for years to come.

A Summer's Reflection

 Introduction 

    Hello all! I've introduced myself on our socials already, but never officially on this blog, so hi! I'm Abby, the summer student responsible for the last few blog posts here. I recently graduated from MUN (Memorial University of Newfoundland) with a BA honours, and I am headed back to school this fall to get my MA. This is my second summer working at Admiralty House Communications Museum, and it has once again been a blast. It's been a pretty eventful summer here in NL, between the wildfires, water shortages, and hosting the Canada Summer Games, but I can honestly say that coming into the museum for work has been the highlight of my season. I've been mostly focusing on researching and writing blog posts, but I have also been helping with the day-to-day runnings of the museum and a little bit with programming too, so I want to take the time to tell you what that's like!

 What happens behind the scenes?

    When I talk to non-museum employees about my job, a lot of them assume it is mostly giving tours (which we offer!) or waiting around to give a tour, and while tours are a huge part of the job, there is a lot else that needs to be done daily or almost daily as well. A big one that I had never thought of as important before starting here last summer is what we call bug hunts. There are a lot of insects who eat things like paper, wood, and fabric, which often make up the bulk of artifacts kept in museums, either on display or in storage, and a lot of our artifacts fall into these categories. Almost every morning, a few of us will do a quick walk around the museum, checking to see if any insects got in overnight, and removing the ones who did, to help protect our artifacts. I am terrified of bugs, most especially spiders, so this was a daunting task to me, but with all the practice, I think I've gotten pretty good at it! Another thing that us students are responsible for is cleaning the display cases. Since they house delicate objects, they cannot be cleaned with regular cleaning products or devices, so museum staff clean them as needed because we know how to be extra careful. Except for tours, I think cleaning is my favourite job to do in the museum. We also operate as the Visitor Centre for the City of Mount Pearl, so I often spend time talking with tourists, giving them directions and making suggestions for other fun things they can do while they're here. 

City of Mount Pearl Trail Map (available for visitors)

All things blog

    Like I mentioned above, my main focus this summer has been working on updating our blog and writing the most recent posts. I have found this a fulfilling, if sometimes surprisingly difficult, task. I thought because I had the freedom to pick my topics, and because I enjoy all of our exhibits, I would not have any trouble writing the blog posts, and yet, they proved somewhat challenging. I've spent so much of the last few years learning how to write for academic audiences, I've almost forgotten how to make things fun. However, I welcomed the opportunity to improve my public writing skills, and I found I quite enjoyed exercising those muscles. I also realized that writing blog posts and doing deep dives on some of the smaller aspects of our exhibits have wildly improved my tours. For example, when I talk about Hedy Lamarr during tours, I always mention how her patent ran out because the U.S Military suggested she sell war bonds instead of inventing. I did not know that because she was Austrian, or an "enemy alien," they actually seized the patent so she never could have benefitted from it regardless of it expiring. I now include that in my tours, and it helps me bond with our European visitors, who often remember Hedy better than us North Americans. I also enjoy the process of research and getting to look deeper into some of the things that are only briefly mentioned in our exhibits, and the opportunity to use Canva to design accompanying social media posts has taught me new creative skills that I believe will be helpful with any future careers in this field. All together, helping with the blog this summer has been a fascinating and fulfilling way to spend the last few months. 

Hedy Lamarr in Let's Live A Little (1948) - Wikimedia Commons

Programming, Programming and more Programming

    The last thing that fills a lot of my work days is helping out with public programming. A lot of people don't realize that museums often double as community spaces, especially small regional museums like us. While our main focus is preserving and sharing history, we also offer, host, and run a lot of public and educational programming. Getting to help prepare for and run some of our events is always a really fun part of my week. At the beginning of the summer we hosted a board game night with MUN's Boardgames Club, which went really well. I love playing board games, so getting to play them while working was delightful, as was meeting a lot of new people who ended up coming to visit the museum afterwards. We've also had a lot of school and camp field trips come to visit us since I restarted in May which is always a good, if a bit chaotic, time. Seeing the kids so excited to learn and interact with history is a fantastic feeling. We even had some of the kids come back to the museum in their own time because they enjoyed it so much, which was very heartwarming. The last bit of programming, and I think the one I have enjoyed the most, is preparing for the restart of Admiralty House's trivia series. My coworker Ally has been hard at work preparing themes and questions for our trivia events, the first of which is running at 7pm on September 29th! I've gotten to help out by testing questions and suggesting rounds about some of my favourite things, and helping with it is always the best part of my day.

September Trivia Poster

Conclusion

    So that's my recap of Summer 2025 at the Admiralty House Communications Museum. Between the daily tasks of museum work, researching and writing blog posts, and helping out with programming, it has been a busy, but highly enjoyable, few months. I have genuinely loved and looked forward to going into work each day, and I can guarantee I will be coming back as a visitor and event attendee in the future. I hope you have enjoyed this inside look into what goes on in the museum's daily functions, and that it has encouraged you to also be a future museum visitor, or maybe even employee, yourself!  

Beautiful Actress or Genius Inventor - Why not both? The Life and Inventions of Hedy Lamarr

 Introduction 

        Hedy Lamarr was once a household name, but she fell into obscurity during her own lifetime. In the mid-twentieth century, Hedy was most well known as a famous actress, hailed as "the most beautiful woman in the world," by her employers (MGM Studios), the press and the public. Concurrently, she was a genius inventor. She came up with, and initially patented, the idea of frequency hopping for wireless communication; an aspect of her identity which was little appreciated by those that surrounded her, and unknown by the public until close to her death. Nowadays, it is about a fifty-fifty chance on whether people remember her as an actress or an inventor, if they remember her at all. Today I seek to help her regain some of the recognition she so justly deserves. I will do that by laying out who Hedy was, what frequency hopping is, and why it is still so important to this day. 

Hedy Lamarr in Let's Live A Little (1948) - Wikimedia Commons

A Condensed Life Story

    Hedy was not born Hedy at all, but instead came into the world as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler on November 9th, 1914, in Vienna, Austria. Her father was a bank manager and her mother was a concert pianist (1). Hedwig grew up in a well-off household exposed to the arts and the sciences, but as a young teenager in Vienna she set her sights on being an actress. One day, she skipped school and snuck onto a movie set, quickly cementing herself as a script girl until she was offered some small film roles. She eventually convinced her parents to let her quit school and go to Berlin to study acting (2). Hedy continued to do some small movie parts, as well as acting, and even starring, in theatre plays, until she got her big break, the leading role in Gustav Machatý’s Ekstase (Ecstasy), a Czech art house film, at age 17. This film would follow Hedy for the rest of her career due to its explicit content, which also led to American and German review boards censoring it (3). 

    While starring in a play in Berlin, Hedy met the arms dealer Fritz Mandl, who she later married. Mandl was a very controlling man, who did not let Hedy continue her acting career, or pursue her invention ideas; he treated her as a beautiful show piece. Hedy felt trapped, and ended up fleeing from Mandl in the dead of the night, escaping to England on the cusp of the Second World War (4). While in London, she met the head of MGM Studios, Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a contract to become a Hollywood actress. After rejecting his first offer, Hedy got herself on Louis' ship back to New York, where she secured a better contract on the condition of changing her name, and thus Hedy Lamarr was born (5). Her acting career was tumultuous, as while she was billed as "the most beautiful person in the world," and enjoyed widespread fame, her movies were either huge hits or complete flops, and no one seemed convinced she could even act. Hedy eventually grew bored with acting and the life of a star, so would seek refuge in her inventions (6). 

Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature in Samson and Delilah (1949) - Movie Trailer Still

A Natural Inventor

    When she was a child, Hedy's father would take her on walks around Vienna, during which he would teach her about science and the way things worked. This was her first introduction to science and inventions. These walks spurred her interest in inventing, and in trying to find ways to make the world better (7). While this was an interest that suffered under Mandl, as everything in Hedy's life did, it is one that she could nurture in America, and there it began to flourish. She set up an inventing wing in her home, and kept many scientific books (8). She even worked on her ideas on movie sets between takes, using a small, mobile inventing set given to her by her friend, Howard Hughes. 

    Hedy helped Howard invent a faster airplane, by researching fish and bird species, then combining the elements of the fastest bird and fastest fish into an airplane wing design (9). During the war, she made an attempt at inventing soda tablets to deal with rationing, though they were ultimately unsuccessful. Arguably Hedy's most important and impactful invention was her idea for frequency hopping, which she developed and patented alongside her friend George Antheil in 1941 (10). Hedy realized there was a need for a more secure means of wireless communication to help with the war effort, and so she set out to fix the problem, as she didn't "have to work on ideas, they come naturally," (11). 

-_-_- Frequency Hopping _-_-_

    So what is frequency hopping? How does it work? And why is it so important?

    In short, frequency hopping is a way of encoding radio signals so that they cannot be overheard, intercepted, or jammed. The simplest explanation for how it works is that the transmitter and the receiver are each set to a matching code, so that they are able to synchronize the message being sent. That message then bounces between many different frequencies very quickly, instead of being sent solely across one frequency. This way, if one of the frequencies broadcasting the message is intercepted, the person(s) who intercepted it can only hear a short amount of it- often only one second. It also means if one of the frequencies is jammed, only a small part of the message is blocked from the receiver, the whole thing is not lost. 

    Hedy and George proposed to do this by using a system George had developed for a piano piece he composed, Ballet Mécanique, which used multiple synchronized player pianos that would pick up from one another to continue the score, bouncing the music around and letting it become almost mechanized. The two friends adapted his punch card powered pianos to a system that would work for radio signals. Their proposed system used 88 (the number of keys on a piano) frequencies to transmit information encoded into audio tones at different frequencies, that were then sent between apparently random selected carrier frequencies. To ensure transmission of each frequency was synchronized, a synchronization pulse was sent between the transmitter and the receiver at the beginning of the message, and each end of the circuit proceeded to use tape measures set to accurately controlled speeds. In 1941, they patented their "Secret Communication System" and were granted U.S patent 2,292,387 (12). They tried to deliver their idea to the U.S military, however, the military instead seized the patent because Hedy, as an Austrian, was still considered an "enemy alien," despite how long she had lived in the United States, and that she wanted to help her adopted country. This ensured that she would never recieve any money or recognition from her invention, and while it was not implemented in the Second World War due to a lack of appropriate technology, it was used by the U.S military in the following decades. Of course, her "enemy alien" status did not seem to apply when the military instructed her to use her fame and beauty to sell war bonds instead of inventing (13).

    Frequency hopping, also known as spread spectrum technology, has additionally had widespread use outside of military application. It is the basis, and what powers, so much of what we rely on today in our modern world, like GPS, Bluetooth, and secure wi-fi. While its application is different from what Hedy envisioned, the principles behind it remain remarkably similar to those she first devised in 1941 (14). Without her, it is hard to say when we would have figured out the technology needed for the Internet, and the rapid innovation it brought, and yet, because she had beauty and fame on top of intelligence, she gets no credit for her revolutionary idea.

Patent Case File No. 2,292387, Page 6, National Archives at Kansas City

Conclusion

    Hedy Lamarr died on January 19th, 2000, at age 85, while living in relative obscurity in Florida. Despite the vast fame she experienced for decades of her life, her acting career, and thus her name recognition, petered out not long after the Second World War. It was only for the last decade of her life, starting in 1990, that she began regaining some of that notoriety, but now in small segments of the scientific community. In 1997, the Electronic Frontier Foundation jointly awarded her and Anthiel their Pioneer Award for their invention of frequency hopping (15). When I started preparing this blog post, I asked as many people in my life as I could if they remembered Hedy Lamarr, and almost no one did. My hope is that this account of her life and inventions helps to spread her name and legacy throughout the public once more.

Bibliography

1. Colleen Cheslak, “Hedy Lamarr,” National Women’s History Museum, August 30, 2018, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/hedy-lamarr.

2. Lena Thomas,”Actress Hedy Lamarr, Inventor: A Public Image Reframed,” (master’s thesis, University of Saskatchewan, 2022), 47.

3. Bombshell: the Hedy Lamarr Story, directed by Alexandra Dean (2017; Reframed Pictures), Youtube.

4. Thomas, “Actress,” 3.

5. Bombshell.

6. Thomas, “Actress,” 56-57.

7. Cheslak, “Hedy Lamarr.”

8. Thomas, “Actress,” 4.

9. Bombshell.

10. Thomas, “Actress,” 57.

11. Hedy Lamarr, quoted in Bombshell.

12. Karl-Arne Markström, “The Invention by Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil of Frequency-Hopping Spread-Spectrum Secret Communications,” The Radio Science Bulletin, no. 372 (2020): 62-63.

13. Thomas, “Actress,” 6, 81.

14. Markström, “The Invention,” 62-63.

15.Cheslak, “Hedy Lamarr.”

        

The Life of James Pearl (Part 2)

 Welcome to the finale post on the life of James Pearl! Below details his life after he settled in Newfoundland, and all he got up to on the island.

A Sailor Settles Down

    Pearl's first attempt at settling down to cultivate land was actually in Shelbourne County, Nova Scotia, but disputes with his neighbours and legal issues led him to sell his plots of land there before returning to England (1). After some time, Anne and James sailed from London to St. John's, and arrived on November 4th, 1829 (2). At the time, officers of Pearl's rank and service would routinely receive land grants for 1000 acres, and he had a letter from the colonial secretary entitling him to that amount. So he went to the governor of Newfoundland, Sir Thomas Cochrane, and requested 1000 acres about six miles west of St. John's on land which was known as the Island. However, Cochrane, for various reasons including competing land requests and his own dislike of Pearl, only granted him 500 acres (3). 

    Pearl's venture into land ownership and cultivation came with its own problems. He had trouble with his neighbours; some lived on lands he felt he had a right to (though it was not included in his 500 acre grant), some would trespass on his property, and two even caused a fire on his property, as the flames they used to clear their own leapt onto his. On top of that, Pearl's long career in the navy had not prepared him for life as a gentleman farmer, and his displeasure at never being promoted past the rank of commander bled into his disappointment at not being treated with the respect he felt he deserved on land. He also fought continuously with the governor until Cochrane returned to England in 1834. However, life in Newfoundland was not all bad, as James and Anne were part of the social elite on the island, spent lots of time with Pearl's family, built and ran a horse racing track on their property, and were able to return to England for breaks as they wished (4). 

Cochrane vs Pearl

    Pearl's feud with Cochrane went beyond the problem of insufficient land acreage. The first thing Pearl did after arriving in Newfoundland was ask Cochrane to appoint him as harbour master, which Cochrane refused to do. Additionally, Cochrane only agreed to grant Pearl the 500 acres if Pearl named it Mount Cochrane. However, likely in part because of their poor relationship, after Cochrane left the island he renamed it Mount Pearl. Furthermore, Cochrane continuously withheld the physical paper grant for Pearl's land, arguing that it was because Pearl was supposed to build a public road adjacent to it, which Pearl claim he had never agreed to. While Pearl was a fan of writing Cochrane directly, the governor almost never returned his letters, instead delegating the reply to his staff. This included his private secretary once telling Pearl that Cochrane "never ever contemplated exceeding the 500 acres he had been induced to promise you" (5). The trespassers on Pearl's grounds were also encouraged by Cochrane, who abused his power to continuously interrupt Pearl's estate. 

    Not ones to stick to one grievance, Cochrane and Pearl also argued over politics. On the matter of responsible government for Newfoundland, a hotly debated topic in the 1820s and 1830s, Cochrane and Pearl wildly disagreed. Pearl was in full support of responsible government, and argued for its institution in the English court. Cochrane, on the other hand, did not believe it was a good idea for the island (6). In addition, the Pearls' trip to England during the winter of 1831 and 1832 sparked another conflict. While in London, Pearl informed the British government that the Colonial Secretary they had appointed for Newfoundland had left the island, with no intent to return, and that, instead of informing them and waiting for the appointment of a new one, Cochrane had promoted his own personal secretary. Once they knew, the government made Cochrane dismiss his own man, and replaced him with one they had selected. Their political disagreements coincided with their personal dramas. 

    In 1831, a rumour started to circulate among Newfoundland's elite that Cochrane was going to be recalled as governor. Cochrane, along with all of his friends and lackeys, believed that Pearl had started this rumour while he was in England. This led to many people, who were either directly or indirectly linked to Cochrane, writing incredibly rude, and sometimes even aggressive, letters to Pearl instructing him to confess to the lie. Nevertheless, Pearl vehemently refuted every accusation. In the end, it was revealed that he was never involved in the rumour, but rather that Cochrane's doctor began it. While this was happening, Pearl also refused an invitation to one of Cochrane's dinner parties, as "he didn't like the way he was invited" (7). Pearl's feud with Cochrane extended to his family as well. After his sister Ruth Holbrook's husband passed, Pearl encouraged her to write letters directly to Cochrane to ask for a grant to the land he had been cultivating. These letters were apparently vicious on both sides, and attacked each other's characters and credibilities before the grant was ultimately denied (8).  Clearly, their grievances went beyond land grants. 

Portrait of Admiral Sir Thomas John Cochrane

Conclusion

   Though the record shows differing dates, it is likely that  James Pearl's short life ended in the early hours of January 14th, 1840. He was buried in the Anglican cemetery in St. John's, where his headstone still rests today (9). In roughly 40 years, he travelled across the globe, founded a city that still bears his name, and met many of the most notable historic figures of his time. From serving in the navy to settling in Newfoundland, his life was filled with notable and fascinating stories, which colour Mount Pearl's earliest history with intrigue and delight. 

James Pearl's Headstone - K. Fifield, findagrave.com

Bibliography

1. Donald L. Hutchens and Lilla Ross, Pearl: The Man and The Place, (St. John’s: SeaFlow Publishing, 2007), 33.

2. Pearl, 35.

3.  Pearl, 37.

4. Pearl, 39, 43-46. 

5. Pearl, 39. 

6.  Frederic F. Thompson, “COCHRANE, Sir THOMAS JOHN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed August 2, 2025, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cochrane_thomas_john_10E.html. 

7.  Pearl, 47. 

8.  Pearl, 37-55. 

9.  Pearl, 59-60. 

The Life of James Pearl (Part 1)

     The City of Mount Pearl gets its name from its enigmatic founder, Sir James Pearl, who led an incredibly interesting life before settling in Newfoundland. From a childhood bouncing around North America to an early death, Pearl's short life was packed with fascinating stories and events. He served in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, captained his own vessel in the private industry, had two notable relationships with women, started a farm that became a city, and fought continuously with the governor of Newfoundland. Pearl lived such a full life that being the pseudo-founder of Mount Pearl is only the tip of the iceberg. 

    Due to just how full a life Pearl lived, his history will be posted in two parts. This first one will cover his life before arriving in Newfoundland!

Possible Portrait of Sir James Pearl, Admiralty House Communications Museum Collection

Early Life

    The beginning of Pearl's life is murky, as his family moved around a lot during the years he was likely born. Donald L. Hutchens and Lilla Ross, who wrote the sole book on Pearl, speculate that he was born in 1790, though they can only guess at where. The most plausible options are Yarmouth, Nova Scotia or New York City, as this is where the records place Pearl's family in the years before and after his birth. James was the youngest of seven children, so he was mostly raised by his oldest sister, Eunice, and her husband, George Blamey, in Nova Scotia (1). James likely cared for them both a great deal, as in 1799, a nine-year-old James followed George into service aboard the Pheasant, enlisting in His Majesty's Navy as a volunteer first class (2).

Naval Adventures

    Pearl's career in the navy spanned 28 years, and he had reached the rank of commander by the time he retired in 1827. He had many different roles while in the navy, but the majority of his time was spent as a lieutenant. Pearl joined the British Navy on the eve of the Napoleonic Wars, and the first half of his career was spent fighting them. In fact, he served on the Neptune 98, the third ship on the "windward line of battle" during the infamous Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. During that battle, which pitted the English fleet against those of the French and Spanish, Pearl was the Neptune's signalman, responsible for relaying messages between each ship present. While 44 men on his ship ended the battle dead or injured, Pearl survived unscathed. He was present as the Neptune towed the H.M.S Victory, the British flagship that now carried the corpse of Admiral Nelson back home to England after his death in the battle. Despite these losses, England came out of the battle victorious, with not a single ship lost (3). 

    In 1809, Pearl was serving on the Mediator when it, along with several other British ships under Admiral Lord Gambier, stumbled upon part of the French fleet anchored at the Isle d'Aix. When they discovered the ships, they called on Captain Lord Cochrane to orchestrate their attack. He implemented a new, radical, and to some uncivilized, naval strategy of his own invention, and outfitted eight of the British ships as fireships, rigged to explode after their crews steered them into enemy ships. Pearl was responsible for steering his ship, the Mediator, into the French squadron, and upon impact had to make a hasty retreat into the water with the rest of her crew. While one man died and another was permanently disabled, Pearl escaped with only minor burns as the French fled on the few ships which the English had not destroyed. However it was not a victory for them all, as James Pearl was the only lieutenant involved in the mission that was not promoted afterwards. After participating in a naval brigade of Veere, Pearl spent the next several years of his service on ships which patrolled the waters of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. In the wake of the Napoleonic Wars, naval positions became scarce, so Pearl requested, and was granted, a two year leave of absence to venture east (4). 

Francis Sartorius - Neptune engaged Trafalgar 1805

Far East Expeditions

    It was common in the early nineteenth century for British navy men to take leaves of absence and try their hands at trading in the territories which lay eastward of Europe, mostly in India and China. While Pearl was following in the footsteps of others, his timing was likely decided by a letter received by the Admiralty in July 1816, from a Mr. Ommanney, claiming that Pearl owed him a debt. Regardless of his reasoning, Pearl did fairly well for himself in his first  few years abroad; after taking command of the Indiana, a trading vessel, he was able to pay off his debts and even buy the vessel off of Baretto & Sons, the trading house to which it belonged (5). He was known as a country trader, a European individual who commanded smaller ships and kept their trading confined to the region. There are records of him trading textiles, spices, and opium which, although illegal in China, was smuggled in by private traders not connected to the East India Company. 

    In 1821, on one of his voyages between Calcutta and Burma, the Indiana stumbled upon the debris of the crashed and sank Tek Sing (True Star in English), a Chinese ship that had been carrying passengers and porcelain. The survivors of the accident were clinging to the debris, most of them naked due to the harsh conditions. Pearl spent the two days searching for and picking up survivors, even taking fabric from his trade goods to clothe everyone. He then spent a week sailing to Pontiana, on the coast of Borneo, where the Dutch commissioner, J.H. Tobias commended him for his good work. Pearl later received a gold medal from the King of the Netherlands for his heroism. Due to his sacrifice of textiles, and the diversion, Pearl lost a significant amount of income from rescuing the Tek Sing's survivors, which he spent years trying to recoup, even going so far as to ask for a reward from merchants in Canton for his actions. Regardless of this setback, Pearl returned to England in 1826, and lived as "a man of means," so his time abroad was ultimately successful (6). While abroad, Pearl also served in his last naval engagement, when he volunteered for and commanded ships in the Burmese War (7). 

Chinese "trading junk", 19th-century - Similar to the Tek Sing

A Pause for Romance

    While James Pearl did devote much of his life to his sailing career, he also had time for other pursuits, including romantic ones. Hutchens and Ross detail two of his amorous adventures, Lucy Eleanor Kerehappuch Crook and Anne Hawkens, whom he later married. Not much is known about Lucy Crook, and Pearl never mentioned her in any of his surviving letters. Indeed, we only know about their relationship through a monument he raised in Wiltshire County, England, after her premature death in 1822. He placed it there "to perpetuate the long sincere and lasting affection entertained for her," as they would have married had she lived (8). Seven years later, Pearl married Anne Hawkins on May 6th. 1829 at St. Pancras Church in London. By the end of that year, they had both settled in Newfoundland, and embarked upon the journey to becoming long-remembered (9). 

James Pearl's next adventure was starting a life in Newfoundland, check back in for our next post which details his settlement!

Bibliography

1.  Donald L. Hutchens and Lilla Ross, Pearl: The Man and The Place, (St. John’s: SeaFlow Publishing, 2007), 4-5.

2. Pearl, 8.

3. Pearl, 15-17.

4. Pearl, 19-22.

5. Pearl, 23.

6. Pearl, 24-27.

7. Pearl, 31.

8. Pearl, 29.

9. Pearl, 33-35.

We Are Hiring: Research Assistant

 
We are hiring!

We are looking for a Research Assistant to join our team starting in September, 2025. Further information about the job and how to apply is on Indeed at this link and is posted below. 

Position: Research Assistant
Location: Admiralty House Communications Museum
Type: Full-Time 6-month contract
Wage: $23.00 per hour
Application deadline: August 23^rd, 2025, at 5:00pm NST

Are you passionate about history and storytelling? We are seeking a contracted researcher to support the development of engaging, educational, and accessible interpretive materials for a new interpretive plan that will update our exhibit spaces.

Responsibilities:

- Conduct in-depth historical research using primary and secondary sources

- Collaborate with the Museum Manager and Graphic Designer to develop content themes and floor plans outlining the visitor flow 

- Develop and write exhibit labels, text panels, and supplementary materials

- Participate in content review meetings with the Museum Manager

- Ensure historical accuracy, inclusive narratives, and visitor accessibility

Qualifications:

- A bachelor’s degree in History, Museum Studies, or a related discipline

- A master’s degree in History, Museum Studies, or a related discipline would be an asset

- Strong research and writing skills, particularly for public audiences

- Interest in public history and museum education

- Ability to synthesize complex information into clear narratives

- Ability to manage time, meet deadlines, and work independently

- Familiarity with inclusive and ethical interpretation practices is an asset

Why join us?

- Contribute to a meaningful public history project

- Work alongside enthusiastic professionals in a collaborative museum environment

- Gain firsthand experience in interpretive writing and public history communication

Admiralty House Communications Museum values diversity in the workplace and is an equal opportunity employer.

To apply, please submit a resume, a writing sample (preferably interpretive, no more than three pages), and a brief cover letter outlining your interest via email with the subject line "Research Assistant Application" to admiraltyhouse@mountpearl.ca by August 23^rd at 5:00pm NST.

Only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.

Historic Places Days: The History of Admiralty House Communications Museum

    This year for Historic Places Days, I want to highlight the history of the building that now houses Admiralty House Communications Museum. It turns 110 years old this year. Many elements of the original construction of the building are still visible today, including the cross-beams, hardwood, a fireplace, and some wattle and daub. Throughout its century-long life, it has served many different purposes, most notably as a top-secret wireless station during the First World War. It lived on past the war however, and was used as a farm, an office building, then, after being briefly abandoned, its history was rediscovered and it was turned into a museum. Every era of its existence contributes to its importance as a "Historic Place."
 

   This building started its life as the barracks for those serving at the HM Wireless Station St. John's. The Marconi Company built it in 1915 alongside the Telegraph Building (that is no longer standing) for use by the British Admiralty. It was one of eleven identical stations built for the Admiralty around the world.¹ Due to the high cost of the boxes used to ship wireless equipment parts between England and St. John's, they were then used to construct the barracks, and you can still see the shipping stamps on the cross beams in the museum. The Admiralty chose this location for the building because its distance from the water would prevent any naval attacks, its steep elevation was similar to Signal Hill, its soil's high conductivity of electricity, and they believed its low population would make it easier to keep its location a secret.² The station helped to coordinate and protect Allied ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and even helped to organize the rescue of survivors from the S.S. Florizel which ran aground near Cappahayden in February, 1918.³ The barracks included dormitories, a kitchen, a mess hall, sick rooms, and a private bedroom and sitting room for the commanding officer.⁴ Isolated from the society of St. John's proper, the men who lived here were often entertained by the Parsons, a local farming family whose property abutted the station. They provided the station with company, friendship, and amusement.⁵ The station remained in operation until 1922, when the Admiralty decided the high cost needed to update the equipment and technology for use in a future potential war was not a worthwhile endeavor, and they put the building and property up for sale. In a happy coincidence, the same Parsons family bought the building after they had served an integral function for the men who worked at the station.⁶

Clem Scott Collection, Admiralty House Communications Museum, 006-001-012.

    The Parsons bought the property in 1926, and they expanded their existing farm into the area. They converted the barracks into a farmhouse for themselves and their children's families. A couple of the men who had worked at the station, like Charles Benjamin Scott, even married into the Parsons, so they continued living in the same building they had served in. While the barracks remained a space for living, the telegraph building did not remain a space for communication. Instead, the Parsons converted that building into a barn for their animals and livestock.⁷ The three radio towers the Admiralty had built on the property also remained during the Parsons ownership and were used by several local radio stations, such as VOCM and CBC. However, they were torn down in 1938, 1954, and 1955.⁸ Members of the Parsons family continued to live and work on this land until 1973, when Madeline Parsons sold the property after the death of her husband and son.⁹

    

Archives, Admiralty House Communications Museum, Box H, 001-003-002.

    When the Parsons sold the property in 1973, the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation purchased the building and used it as their headquarters and office space. They used it until 1988, when they left the property and its history abandoned as it succumbed to time.¹⁰ It sat empty and decayed as the grounds became unkempt over the next decade, until the Mount Pearl City Council decided something needed to be done with it. Their initial plan was to demolish it and repurpose the land, but they deemed it necessary to first look into the history of the building. So, they formed a committee, including the then mayor, to discover the this mysterious, dilapidated building's past. Their investigation recovered it's importance as a historical site, but the council still had to decide if it was worth the cost of renovations which were needed to turn it into a museum. After putting it to a vote, which ended in a 5-4 split, the council was officially in support of opening a museum dedicated to the history of the wireless station, communications technology, and the City of Mount Pearl.¹¹ Admiralty House Communications Museum opened its doors to the public on June 23rd, 1997, in a ceremony which Prince Philip attended, and is still in operation today.¹²

Admiralty House Museum and Archives Digital Collections

Admiralty House Communications and Archives Digital Collections

    Admiralty House recently celebrated it's 28th birthday with a week full of events in June. The building itself has gone through many different inhabitants and renovations over the course of its 110 years, but elements of its youth still shine through, giving it a fascinating feel and look. It is a gratifying experience getting to come to work each day in this historic building, and be surrounded by the memories of all those who have lived and worked here, long before my time. Admiralty House Communications Museum, through both its building and exhibits, is a tangible link to our past; one which allows us to walk in the footsteps of those who came before us.

    If you are interested in learning more about the building's or location's history, please come in and visit us this summer at 365 Old Placentia Road in Mount Pearl, where we are open daily through July and August! We have exhibits not only on the building itself, but also the City of Mount Pearl, the S.S. Florizel, and much more.

Sources

    1. Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Company Limited. Description and Specification of 30 K.W Naval Wireless Station At St. John’s. 1918. Admiralty House Museum and Archives digital record, 1-4.

    2. Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Company Limited. Description and Specification of 30 K.W Naval Wireless Station At St. John’s. 1918. Admiralty House Museum and Archives digital record, 1-4.

    3. Gushue, Lisa. “100th anniversary of Florizel tragedy marked at Admiralty House Communications Museum.” CBC News, Feb. 24, 2018. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/100th-anniversary-of-florizel-sinking-1.4550457.

    4. Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Company Limited. Description and Specification of 30 K.W Naval Wireless Station At St. John’s. 1918. Admiralty House Museum and Archives digital record, 5-7.

    5. Grant, W.L. “Wireless Officer Report on Parsons.” Letter. Admiralty House Communications Museum Collections. 1918.

    6. “Great Sale: Admiralty Wireless Station At Mount Pearl.” The People’s Auctioneers (St. John’s, NL).

    7. Admiralty House Museum and Archives Collections.

    8. “Last ‘Marconi Pole’ Comes Crashing Down.” Daily News (St. John’s, NL), May 19, 1955.

    9. Admiralty House Museum and Archives Collections.

    10. Admiralty House Museum and Archives Collections.

    11. Public Council Meeting, 94-03-143, Admiralty House Communications Museum (March 7, 1994).

    12. Admiralty House Museum and Archives Collections.