Latest from Allan Stoodley
The Grandys of Garnish: A history of shipbuilding and lobster fishing in a tiny N.L. town
Garnish — population of 542 as of the 2021 census — can trace its history back more than two and a half centuries to 1763, when the first Grandys were unceremoniously moved from the French island of St. Pierre to the little town on Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula.
Missing and presumed drowned, this Grand Bank man survived 3 years in POW camps in WW II
Ben Banfield went off to war in 1939. He would not see his family again for six years — long after he had been presumed dead.
From furs to fishing, take a trip through 200 years of history in Gaultois
The isolated island community of Gaultois, on Newfoundland's south coast, has gone through many changes in its more than 200-year history — from being home to many Indigenous people to eventually being settled by the French and British pursuing the fishery in the area. Contributor Allan Stoodley takes a trip through history.
August and September gales have claimed the lives of many Placentia Bay fishermen
Environment Canada's warning about the possibility of more storms this hurricane season is a reminder of how far weather forecasting has come from years ago, when fishermen from Placentia Bay in their small schooners would leave port to fish off Cape St. Mary's — and tragically, many, many lives would be lost.
Meet John E. Lake, the man who put the mills in Milltown
John E. Lake of Fortune, who lived more than 100 years ago, can be described in many ways: entrepreneur, visionary and risk-taker — or simply, businessman extraordinaire.
The last voyage of Grand Bank's Administratrix, cut in half by a Norwegian steamer
It was 75 years ago — in April 1948 — the freight-carrying vessel Administratrix was cut down off Cape Race, costing five Grand Bank seamen their lives.
The story of Fortune's own Albert Snook, who led a life well lived
Albert Snook of Fortune, a barber for 57 years, died Feb. 21 after a brief battle with cancer. But his life is a shining example of one lived to the fullest, writes Allan Stoodley.
The schooner Russell Lake was lost 94 years ago, but its traces can still be found in Burgeo
There were six in the crew, but only one man survived when the tern schooner Russell Lake was smashed to pieces while entering Burgeo harbour in a blinding snowstorm on March 17, 1929 — nearly 94 years ago.
The story of George Emberley, the Grand Bank boy set ablaze on Bonfire Night in 1961
For 10 days in 1961, the teenager hovered between life and death.
How the loss of Grand Bank's Mabel Dorothy echoed across decades through the crew's descendants
The Mariner's Memorial has given a form of closure to some of the widows and children of lost seamen but the emotional fallout can carry on into future generations.