1

Patricia & Loyola Pomeroy's Residence
Feb 2008
Great Paradise, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada


Credits:
Loretta Ward

2

Kevin & Rosanne Collin's Residence
Feb 2008
Great Paradise, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada


Credits:
Loretta Ward

3

Dianne Pomeroy's Cabin
August 2007
Great Paradise, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada


Credits:
Stephanie Whyte

4

The Old Homestead
Feb 2008
Great Paradise, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada


Credits:
Loretta Ward

5

Albert & Carmel Pomeroy's Residence
Aug 2007
Great Paradise, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada


Credits:
Stephanie Whyte

6

The Pomeroy's story as told by Rosanne Pomeroy Collins formerly of Great Paradise. She now resides in Placentia with her husband singer/song writer Kevin Collins. Her entire family moved to Placentia after Resettlement, her Dad (Loyola Pomeroy) drowned Lobster fishing, and her Mom (Patricia Pomeroy) passed away in Summer 2007. The entire Pomeroy family still visit Great Paradise when they can, there mom visited for many years after Resettlement while she was in good health.

Rosanne's Story

We were affected in a big way by resettlement, because mom and dad moved out of Great Paradise and moved to Placentia, where they were promised jobs and hope for the future and when they got to Placentia dad got a carpentry job which he didn't have much training in other than doing odd jobs for fishing and things. He started work and buddy that he worked for never payed him so here he was with a gang of youngsters and no income. So they had to start coming back out the bay again even though people were left there, and they came back for about 20 years and then he ultimately died fishing, he drowned lobster fishing. So we were affected in a big way because we resettled out of Great Paradise and then ended up having to come back to make a living again.
I would have been about grade four so about ten years old and I think it was probably in 1967 when we moved. We were the last to move, our family was the last to go out of the harbour. I think that in one way resettlement was really good for the younger crowd so they could get educated and have more opportunity, but I think for the senior citizens in the community it was devastating because it really took their way of life away.
We chose to relocate to Placentia because there were other family members there. My moms sister lived there and just mostly because there was family already there. People from Great Paradise relocated to Placentia, Foxtrap, some people went to the west coast of Newfoundland. A lot of people went to the same areas like in around Conception Bay and Placentia Bay.
Before resettlement I would say probably about 100 people lived in Great Paradise I am not really sure between 80 and 100 I think. Life was good it was simple and the way of life was really hard, fishing wise and weather wise and stuff like that life was really simple but good.
Day to day life was really full of activity, we never knew what it was like to be bored, like they young crowd today are always bored. We'd be up picking berries or trouting, or out rowing. There was really a lot of activity for youngsters. There was always an annual garden party, the priest would probably come once a month for mass. A lot of events that would take place weekly would be at peoples houses just get together and have house parties and stuff.
We return to Great Paradise all the time. I have my grandmothers house, my uncle left to me and we are trying to do it up bit by bit and we love to come back and sort of just relive the memories. There's 22 cabins in Great Paradise and people just come back mostly for summer vacations and to get their fish quotas and stuff when the food fishery is open but everybody loves to come back all the time
The major difference for us would be like the close knit communities or out the bay everybody is like family and they are more united, in the bigger towns you are sort of more on your own then you would be in Great Paradise. That probably would be the major difference. But we sort of got the best of both worlds because we are in Great Paradise sometimes and we are in Placentia sometimes.
A lot of the middle aged people of Great Paradise really have strong identifying characteristics, like whether it be their humor or just real characters we'll say, a lot of times that's missing from the younger crowd today because they didn't grow up the same way.
The thing that stands out in my mind about resettlement and the day we left home is that mom and dad were crying going out through the harbour and a as a young girl I didn't really understand what they were crying about because I didn't really understand what was taking place. I knew we were going but I didn't realize what was going on. I guess they were looking back at the houses boarded up and they thought they were leaving I guess for the last time and probably never see it again.
I don't really miss an awful lot about my life before resettlement because we don't live in Great Paradise year round but we are there pretty often. So we are like I said before living the best of both worlds because you can be there for a while and over home in Placentia for a while. When we left we thought we were going forever but when we started coming back we have sort of kept it alive.