Hidden history
Author uncovers the little known story of the Royal Newfoundland Companies
THE INVISIBLES: A History of the Royal Newfoundland Companies
By James E. Candow Breakwater Books $21.95 238 pages
“In the spring of 1866, residents of The Goulds, Newfoundland, were appalled when the disappearing snow revealed not just the usual farmers’ fields, but also a decomposed human body.”
Historian James E. Candow deftly sets the opening scene of his latest book. A pair of boots found on the remains enabled coroner Joseph Shea to identify the deceased as Pte. John Hanlin of the St. John’s British Army garrison, missing since he had deserted in 1860.
So, Candow knows how to grab our attention. He also knows what to do when he has it: make his argument and present his evidence. We get intrigued, and then informed — in this case, about the Royal Newfoundland Companies.
“Hanlin’s corpse, which had gone undetected for nearly six years, is an apt symbol of his regiment, for despite being stationed in Newfoundland from 1824-62, the Royal Newfoundland Companies have been virtually invisible to historians of the British Army. Worse still, the eminent Canadian military historian Desmond Morton was unaware that Newfoundland even had a British Army garrison, let alone knew its regiment’s names. That garrison, incidentally, was Britain’s first in what is today Canada. Newfoundland and Labrador residents are not much different than the historians. When they remember their military history, they usually focus on a single engagement that their ancestors fought at Beaumont-hamel, France, on July 1, 1916.”
The Royal Newfoundland Companies are almost bafflingly obscure. In a recent interview with CBC Radio’s “On the Go” host Ted Blades, Candow explained that as a Parks Canada employee for 34 years, “one of my main responsibilities was Signal Hill.” That came with a lot of military history, and the Royal Newfoundland Companies “kept coming up,” although no one knew much about them. (“They might show up as a footnote.”) He decided he would investigate further when he retired, and did so, as this publication proves.
The Royal Newfoundland Companies was meant “to protect the Realm.” But as Newfoundland didn’t come under attack by a foreign power, they were assigned more civic functions, especially firefighting, and in aid to civil power when the police force was unable to maintain control.
“For all of the nonsense that sometimes emanated from the Colonial Office, the use of troops to aid the civil power was standard procedure throughout the British Empire,” Candow writes. “In Britain itself, the period between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the suppression of Chartism in 1848 was one of widespread working-class unrest, so much so that army pensioners had to be used to supplement regular troops in keeping order.”
The climax of the Royal Newfoundland Companies’ time in Newfoundland came in 1861, when there was a general election. The campaign was heated, and the outcome — the Conservatives led by Hugh Hoyle defeating the Liberals of John Kent — tainted by accusations of trickery. The results of Harbour Grace and Harbour Main were thrown out and recontested, but when the winners of the byelections tried to take their seats in the House of Assembly, public rancour built to a rampage outside the Colonial Building, and the magistrates sent to Royal Newfoundland Companies’ commanding officer, Lt.-col. Grant, asking for the garrison to come out.
“The troops halted under the courthouse, and although the crowd was eerily quiet, it pressed in on the redcoats until somebody suddenly bolted toward Grant and tried to pull him off his horse.” The place went up, and they opened fire, killing three and injuring 20.
To general credit, most were horrified by the violence and hoped to ensure nothing like it should happen again.
“Determined to bridge the gulf between Protestants and Catholics and to prevent further bloodshed, Premier Hugh Hoyles convinced Laurence O’brien to join his cabinet. Three years later he sent Ambrose Shea (a Catholic) and Frederick Carter (a Protestant) to represent Newfoundland at the Quebec Conference to discuss the confederation of the British North American colonies.”
Also, out of these events came the denominational compromise concerning civil service jobs, which were divided in thirds to Methodists, Anglicans, and Catholics. (And, of course, the Denominational school system.)
The Royal Newfoundland Companies was absorbed 1862.
Candow’s prose is learned, accessible and not dry, but descriptive and wryly perceptive. He populates the text with vivid, conflicted characters; it’s a brisk read. The appendices include the compositions and commanding officers of the Royal Newfoundland Companies and military plans (with charts); there are endnotes, a bibliography and an index. “The Invisibles” fills a real gap in Newfoundland’s 19th Century military and political history, and story.