Preserving History and Finding Graves

Hello there! Tim here, back again to update you all on our adventures in digitizing research here at Admiralty House Communications Museum. Make sure you read until the end for information on our upcoming endeavours!

Preserving history is not only about preserving tangible objects from the past, but also about preserving information and knowledge. I can say, having spent two weeks almost exclusively scanning research documents, that it isn't necessarily glamorous work, but it is important work. A great deal of our research efforts are in the form of photos and photocopies of documents that we have assembled as well as handwritten documents and research notes. If something were to happen, such as a fire or some hungry insects, all of that work could be lost in an instant. Digitizing these documents is our way of making sure all of that knowledge and work is kept for generations to come.

One of forty-one pages of
handwritten notes, noting
the movements of every man,
woman, and child on the
S.S. Florizel when it sank

We have done a lot of research here at the Admiralty House since opening in 1997. So many of the documents I am scanning have names written on the back, captions written underneath them, or entire pages of notes written by the dedicated people whose sole objective was to uncover and preserve the memories of the S.S. Florizel and those on her final voyage in 1918.

What I like about the work that we're doing is that we don't just research so that we can hoard it to ourselves or sit on a stack of research folders like a dragon on a mound of stolen treasures. We find ways to put what it is that we are learning out into the community. An example of this is an upcoming project of ours that I have been preparing for.

Some of our photos came
out crystal clear, such
as that of the grave of
Captain J.W. Kean

While digitizing our research on the S.S. Florizel, I have been making a spreadsheet on the burial sites of the passengers and crew of the Florizel. This is to prepare for our upcoming project, which will be the locating, photographing, and documenting their burial sites. We had made an effort to do this in the past but with newer technology and more information gathered since then, we hope to improve on our previous research. Once we have assembled all of our findings, we will be uploading them onto an online database called 'Find A Grave' so that anyone seeking to learn about those aboard the Florizel can look up their burial sites.

Some of our other photos did not
come out as clear, only to find
out after the film had been
developed

I'd like to invite anyone who might have information about the burial sites of anyone on the Florizel to feel free to contact us here at the Admiralty House at admiraltyhouse@mountpearl.ca or at (709)748-1124. I have included a list below of all of the people whose burial sites we have not been able to locate so far. Unfortunately, most of them have been difficult to track down because they survived the disaster (finding a burial site is much easier when you have a date of death), but we would still very much like to document their final resting places as well.

Captain O. P. Belleveau (Weymouth, NS)

Lieutenant Ralph Burnham (St. John's, NL)

Joseph Burry (Greenspond, NL)

Katherine "Kitty" McDonald (nee Cantwell) (St. John's, NL)

Cecil Sidney Carter (New York, USA)

John Cleary (Argentia, NL)

Eric Collier (St. John's, NL)

John Costello (Conception Harbour, NL)

George Henry Curtis (Hythe, England)

Noah Dauphinee (Tantillion County, NS)

John Davis (St. John's, NL)

Minnie Denief (St. John's, NL)

Henry Dodd (St. John's, NL)

William Dodd (Torbay, NL)

William Dooley (St. John's, NL)

James Dwyer (St. John's, NL)

Albert G. Fagan (St. John's, NL)

Patrick J. Fitzpatrick (Argentia, NL)

Alexander Fleet (St. John's, NL)

R. J. Fowlow (a.k.a. Fowler) (Cupids, NL)

Archibald E. Gardiner (Britannia Cove, NL)

Thomas Green (Fermeuse, NL)

Edward Greening (Bonavista, NL)

Dave Griffiths (Long Harbour, NL)

Alfred Hatchard (Poole, England)

Charles Howell (Trinity, NL)

Philip Jackman (St. John's, NL)

William James (St. John's, NL)

John Johnston (St. John's, NL)

John P. Kieley (St. John's, NL)

John R. King (Arichat, NS)

Alex Ledingham (St. John's, NL)

Thomas Lumsden (St. John's, NL)

William Malloy (Cape Broyle, NL)

Gregory Maloney (Bay Bulls, NL)

William Martin (St. John's, NL)

George Massie (Chicago, USA)

Katherine Massie (Chicago, USA)

Mrs. George Massie (Chicago, USA)

Joseph Moores (a.k.a. Moore) (St. John's, NL)

Bernard John Murphy (Liverpool, England)

Leonard Nicholls (St. John's, NL)

William Parmiter (St. John's, NL)

Jacob Pinsent (Pools Island, NL)

John Power (Paradise, NL)

Michael F. Power (St. John's, NL)

George Puddester (Bay Bulls, NL)

John V. Reader (Halifax, NS)

Charlie Reelis (St. John's, NL)

Walter J. Richards (La Have, NS)

Fred Roberts (St. John's, NL)

Henry Snow (St. John's, NL)

George E. Stevenson (New York, USA)

Michael S. Sullivan (St. John's, NL)

Edward Timmons (St. John's, NL)

Thomas Whelan (Torbay, NL)