1

Moving the Church from St. Joseph's
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Marystown, Newfoundland, Canada


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2

Cabins at St. Joseph's
2000-2006
St. Joseph's, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada


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3

St. Joseph's Pushthrough
1940-1960
St. Joseph's, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada


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4

An Interview with Adrian and Susie Hunt, formerly of St. Joseph's, Placentia Bay after resettlement they made their home in Rushoon where they still reside today.

Adrian and Susie Hunt say although they did not want to leave St. Joseph's they knew they had too.

We had to go when there were no teachers or anything and we had kids and their were no schools. We didn't want to move but really we had no choice. They moved in 1968, Adrian was 30 at the time. Adrian says he would rather be home (in St. Joseph's) but I came here to Rushoon and I was inshore fishing on my same grounds so it wasn't so hard on me then. But I would have rather stayed in St. Joseph's. There was a lot of work to the move, we never got any money for it, I think it was $1800 for the house and everything and they took $900 to move the house out of the $1800. So we had nothing, the house was all tore up and our sheds and our fishing property were down in St. Joseph's. I had to take all of it out myself and we didn't get any money for any of it.


Roughly 200-300 lived in St. Joseph's before resettlement. It was only all inshore fishery at that time mostly, but some people used to move away for the winter months like skippers who went to the Grand Banks. The inshore fishermen (small boat fisherman) used to stay home and spend the winter getting ready for the fishery and in the summer they would return fishing.

The Hunt's chose to relocate to Rushoon as it was close to home, Susie was originally from Rushoon and as Adrian says handy to his fishing grounds.

Adrian says "I used to go away when we were young fellas, we were fishing with our dad while we were going to school, when we would get off on holidays. And after that when we got old enough we left school when we were about 15 years old I suppose and I went away and got a job here and there".

They both say life in general was good in St. Joseph's. They had garden parties, St. Patrick's Day there would be a time in the hall. Lady Day everyone would go to Oderin which was the parish at that time and the priest used to stay there, and they would have a big garden party for Lady Day.

Adrian says they do not return to St. Joseph's on a regular basis he usually makes a trip for a day or two in the summer. There are about 20 cabins in St. Joseph's now and 2 original homes, a Come Home Year is being held in 2010.

They both say its not so much fun now as they used to have, when they were in a small place, Adrian says, "I know this is not a big place either, but things have changed now. We had no
cars, we used to play a lot of cards in the night time and would get together and visit each other, no one does that now. But in them times in St. Joseph's everyone visited each other and we
would have our game of cards and stuff like that. Susie says, "that was the times then".

There are lots of interesting things about St. Joseph's and the people who lived there, one inparticular that relates to the Hunt family.

Adrian: My great grandfather was a man by the name of Tom Hunt, he came across from England, and settled down in Little Bona Bight(small inlet in Placentia Bay). There was a Dray fella (man) in the Bight at that time they blamed him in the wrong or something for murdering someone and my grandfather got him clear. There were no courts then everything was by word of mouth. Mr. Mick Welsh of Petite Forte told us the story.

Susie: Dray belonged to Ireland and Adrians great grandfather Hunt was from England, but he was an officer fighting in the Army at that time. So when Dray came over to Newfoundland he followed him over because they were really good friends. So that's how the Hunt's came to Newfoundland in the beginning.

Adrian has many vivid memories of the day they left he says, "I felt pretty lonely when I left home, when I was fishing I didn't mind because I didn't have time to think then, I had to try and
rebuild everything up and get back fishing. The day we left we took our home on the barge my boat and all in tow, my mother and father thought harder of leaving then I did because they were
older and had nothing to do they had their gardens and everything in St. Joseph's. Mom's nerves got bad when she moved because she had nothing to do when she come up here. But I was busy
so it wasn't hurting me as much".

Adrian and Susie both say there is not a lot that they miss about their lives before resettlement, just how everyone was always back and forth visiting. They know that the move benefitted there
family especially there children in ways of education and things.