Robert Edwards Holloway: Newfoundland Educator, Scientist, Photographer, 1874-1904 9780773572584

Citation preview

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY Newfoundland Educator, Scientist, Photographer, 1874-1904

R U B Y L. G O U G H

McGill-Queen's University Press • Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca

McGill-Queen's University Press 2005 ISBN 0-7735-2852-0 Legal deposit first quarter 2005 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free. McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (B PIDP) for our publishing activities. Frontispiece: Robert Edwards Holloway, principal of the Methodist Academy and Methodist College, 1874-1904. Photographer unknown. Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL), A7-77

L I B R A R Y AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN

PUBLICATION

Gough, Ruby L. (Ruby Louise), 1923Robert Edwards Holloway: Newfoundland educator, scientist, photographer, 1874-1904 / Ruby L. Gough. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-2852-0 1.Holloway, Robert Edwards, 1850-1904.

2. College teachers - Newfoundland and Labrador

- St. John's - Biography. 3. Methodist College (St. John's, N.L.) - Faculty - Biography. I. Title. LA2325.H64G68 2005 378.1'2'092 C2004-904806-6

Typeset in 10.5/13.5 Minion and Copperplate Gothic Book design and typesetting by zijn digital

In memory of my dear husband, Jim, who devoted his life to medical practice in Newfoundland and gave me the support and encouragement that allowed me to pursue my interest in the life and influence of Robert Edwards Holloway

And, also with my love, to my children, Bill and Bev

This page intentionally left blank

CONTENTS

Illustrations ix Author's Note xiii Introduction

3

1 Beginnings 6 2

From England to Newfoundland 26 Summer Interlude I: First Explorations 35

3 The Holloway Era Begins 45 4

From Academy to College 64

5

A Time of Tragedy 77

6

From Crisis to Crisis 83 Summer Interlude II: White Bay, Labrador, and the West Coast 101

7

"And Still the Wonder Grew..." 113 Summer Interlude III Cruise of the Argo, Notre Dame Bay 128

8

School and Community: Blurring the Boundaries 135 Summer Interlude IV: A Visit to Snook's Arm 147

viii

9

CONTENTS

The Work Continues 154 Summer Interlude V: Return to Labrador 171

10 And So Farewell 177 Epilogue 192 Appendix 209 Notes 229 Bibliography 255 Index 263

ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece Robert Edwards Holloway, principal of the Methodist Academy and Methodist College ii Map of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1899 xviii Wesleyan Chapel, Barton-on-Humber 9 The George Hotel, Northampton, prior to 1868 19 Spencer Court, originally New College, Eastbourne 23 View from Signal Hill, St John's 36 View from Mount Scio, St John's 37 The Narrows from Church Hill 38 Quidi Vidi Village, a fishing settlement near St John's 39 Surf at Logy Bay, about seven miles from St John's 40 Outer Cove, near St John's 41 Topsail Falls, with Bert in sailor suit on rock 42 Topsail Beach, showing fish flakes 43 Wharf at Witless Bay 44 Holloway's handwritten letter to the board of directors, Methodist Academy, 22 January 1878 53 Athenaeum Hall, St John's 56

x

ILLUSTRATIONS

First railway station in St John's at Fort William, opened in 1881 66 Methodist College in late 188os, showing the Model School as a separate building, as well as the college Home 71 View from Harvey Road towards the Narrows, showing Gower Street Methodist Church, an area to be destroyed by the fire of 1892 88 View of St John's, looking towards the Narrows, showing area of Long's Hill destroyed by the Great Fire 93 Cornerstone-laying ceremony for new Methodist College, 15 November 1893 96 New Methodist College, principal's residence and college Home 99 Port au Port, showing Port au Port Bay on the left and St George's Bay on the right 103 "Two Beauties": Salmon caught in the Codroy Valley 104 The Log Cabin, Spruce Brook 105 Breakfast Head, Humber River, known today as the "Old Man of the Mountain" 106 Fishing on the Humber River, Elsie and Henrietta 107 Women getting into boat, Humber River 107 Elsie and Henrietta on riverbank, boat moored 108 Woody Point, Bonne Bay, houses and fishing premises 109 Norris Point, Bonne Bay, showing "fishing rooms." Table Mountains in background no St Paul's, near Cow Head, sailing punt mirrored in water 111 Cascade in St Paul's Inlet 112 Scholarship and prize winners, 1895 118 Council of Higher Education, 1896. Holloway is second from left, front row 119 Methodist College Football Champions, 1894 120

ILLUSTRATIONS

Elsie Holloway's photograph of iceberg outside St John's Harbour 124 Iceberg outside St John's, distant view 125 Water Flume, Petty Harbour, under construction 126 Indian Lookout, Dildo Run 129 Men and a dog near Dildo Run Wreck 130 Herring Neck, Notre Dame Bay 131 Camping on Tea Kettle Island 132 Little Bay Islands with church in foreground 133 View of Fogo, Notre Dame Bay 134 Queen Victoria Jubilee Picnic, Methodist College, June 1897 139 Picnic at Pearce's Farm to celebrate the winning of the Jubilee Scholarship, 1898 143 The Argo, at Pilley's Island, Notre Dame Bay 148 Yacht mirrored near Pilley's Island 149 Tilt Cove Copper Mine, Notre Dame Bay 150 Head of hump-backed whale, Snook's Arm 151 Carcase of hump-backed whale, Snook's Arm 152 Cycling Club, Methodist College, organized in 1898 156 MCLI Cricket Club, Holloway with LeSueur to the right 156 Associates, Methodist College, 1900 159 Marconi, in front room of the old Fever Hospital, Signal Hill 164 R.E. Holloway (photograph by S.H. Parsons) 169 Young boy with big codfish from the trap 172 Iceberg in Battle Harbour 173 Hopedale, Moravian Mission 174 Indian Harbour, showing hospital of the Deep Sea Mission 175

xi

xii

ILLUSTRATIONS

Rigoulette, Hudson Bay Station, Labrador 175 Sunrise at Placentia 181 View of Placentia from the Quarries 181 Collins' Cove, flakes and stages 182 Great Burin from the Shalloway 182 Brigus, Conception Bay, "quite like an English village" 183 Harbour Grace, once the second-largest town in the island 183 The staff of the Methodist College, St John's, 1903 184 The "Holloway" cricket champions, 1904 187 Methodist College, view down Long's Hill, September 1905 193 The Holloway monument, General Protestant Cemetery 197 Henrietta Holloway, parlour card (photograph by S.H. Parsons) 199 Elsie Holloway (self-portrait), parlour card 200 Bert Holloway in officer's uniform (photograph by Elsie Holloway) 201 Holloway's photograph of codfish for i-cent Newfoundland stamp 203 Methodist College and Home 204 Holloway School 205

A U T H O R ' S NOTE

Robert Edwards Holloway and the interesting period of his tenure at the Methodist College in St John's, Newfoundland, first came into my life as an oasis in what was proving to be a barren desert in my explorations of the history of science education in Newfoundland. The explorations were a prelude to my completing my doctoral studies at Boston University and were designed to help me to understand current problems in science education in the schools by examining their historical origins. I had looked, first of all, at the history of education in Newfoundland in relation to social and cultural development and, against this background, examined what was happening in science in the small outport schools of the nineteenth century; the private schools that were springing up in the larger towns for the growing middle class; the grammar schools, convent schools and government or board schools; and, finally, the academies that were established in St John's to provide a measure of higher education as the population increased. The discovery that science was largely lacking in the curriculum of the schools of nineteenth-century Newfoundland was not surprising. Science had not yet found its way into the curriculum of most British schools, and in Newfoundland teachers had not been required to include science in their training. The three denominational academies of the mid-nineteenth century in St John's, later to be called "colleges," provided a higher level of education than was available elsewhere. Here, there would be occasionally rich periods of science education; but all three were, at first, like the grammar schools, largely classical in emphasis. Suddenly, in 1874, as the principal of the Wesleyan Academy in St John's, there was this young schoolmaster from England, fresh from a University of London degree, with two years as

xiv

A U T H O R ' S NOTE

a schoolmaster in Wesleyan Day Schools, and the notable experience of having attended summer courses by Thomas Huxley at South Kensington, designed to help teachers to introduce science into the school curriculum. This man, Robert Holloway, was changing everything, teaching in ways that would be exemplary even by the standards of today, and reaching out to the culture of the day and making an impact there too. Robert Holloway s work at this academy, to be known almost from the start of his career as the Methodist Academy and later as the Methodist College, was to be the high point of my search for science in Newfoundland schools. At this point, I remember discussing my work with Louise Whiteway, historian and educator, who was also interested in Holloway and the Methodist College and willingly shared with me the notes she had gathered that were of relevance to the study. There was another reason for her interest, in that her father, Solomon Whiteway, had been a pupil and later a teacher and vice-principal at the college. I look back gratefully on insights shared and letters received with information that shed further light on the topic. Others who added to the story by personal communication were Olive Vater, companion to Henrietta and Elsie Holloway; and Kathleen Knowling, great granddaughter of Charles R. Ayre, who shared family reminiscences of the Holloways. My interest in Robert Holloway, always there but buried under the pressure of other commitments, resurfaced as I taught science education courses at Memorial University from 1984 to 1992. The impetus to get something on paper began during this period when a colleague, Phil McCann, suggested that I write an article for the Journal of Newfoundland Studies on Holloway's contribution to science and science education in nineteenth-century St John's. In the process of writing the article, I found further information that he was more than a teacher, that he was also an important figure in the community and, as an amateur photographer, had left a legacy of thousands of glass plate negatives of scenic views taken during his travels in Newfoundland and Labrador. Obviously there were many more facets to his personality and much more to learn about the events and circumstances that impinged on his life and work. It seemed that the next logical step would be to expand the research into a quest for his life story. Coincidentally, while I was making the decision to go ahead with the biography, this province was celebrating five hundred years of history, and

A U T H O R ' S NOTE

XV

among the celebrations was the Cabot 500 Year of the Arts 1997 event, sponsored by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, with help from Newtel Communications in making grants available to support special projects and events. I am grateful to the Arts Council and indirectly to Newtel for an award that enabled me to begin research in England on the first twenty-four years of Holloway's life and to explore the influences that determined his approach to his life in Newfoundland. This was followed later by a grant from the J. R. Smallwood Centre at Memorial University to continue the research. For support of my application for these awards, I would like to thank Heather McWhinney, publisher with Harcourt Brace, and Patrick O'Flaherty, Garfield Fizzard, and Phillip McCann, all of Memorial University of Newfoundland. I am indebted to Phil as well for recommending as my research assistant in England Yvonne Hall, who happened to live in Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, where Holloway was born and his father was schoolmaster at the first Wesleyan Day School in the town. Yvonne worked diligently with me in filling in the early years. It was an undertaking that led her and, at times, another researcher, Kerry Williams, to Wesleyan records at Manchester and Glasgow, and, in London, to Guildhall, St Catherine's House, London University, and Westminster. There were also innumerable inquiries directed to the archives of the places where Holloway had worked and studied, all of which were promptly answered. In this connection I would like to thank Rex Russell for providing his informational brochures on historic buildings in Barton-onHumber. I appreciated as well the kindness of the staff of the Northampton County Council Archives and the Eastbourne Historical Society for sharing valuable records that brought me closer to an understanding of Holloway's educational and teaching background. In St John's I had the help of another able research assistant, Linda Cullen, who combed the archives and looked not only for photographs but also any memorabilia related to the "Holloway era" and the history of the Methodist College. In this, she was expertly assisted by Betty Gulliver of the Avalon Consolidated School Board. The staff of the Centre for Newfoundland Studies at Memorial University (CNS ) have assisted greatly over the years in arranging for the selection of the Holloway photographs, especially those that were copied and preserved on film by Shirley and Maurice Scarlett of Memorial's geography department and are stored in the CNS Geography Collection. At CNS Bert Riggs was always a source of

xvi

A U T H O R ' S NOTE

ready information, and Linda White has been most helpful in arranging for the viewing of the collection there and the reproduction of the images. I also wish to thank Debbie Edgecombe of CNS for her interest, patience, and skill in reproducing heritage materials from the CNS collection. My thanks go to the staff of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL), to Tony Murphy and Ann Devlyn in my earlier research there and, over the past two years, to Sandra Ronayne, who has been extremely helpful and knowledgeable in locating the Holloway images selected for the book. I have appreciated the assistance of all the staff at PANL, especially as they are preparing for the transition from their present site at the Colonial Building to their future location in "The Rooms." A sincere thank you to Mannie Buchheit for reproducing so well many of the Holloway images. We have shared a common interest in Robert Holloway but from different perspectives. My interest began because of his ability as a scientist and his teaching and popularizing of science. Mannie was drawn to him because of his outstanding artistic and technical ability as a nineteenth-century photographer. These qualities have been combined in his life story. I have been fortunate as well in having support at the beginning stages with archival materials such as minutes and reports, journals, and magazines at the third major source of reference material, the Newfoundland and Labrador Conference Archives, the United Church of Canada. I would like to thank Clarence Sellars for his interest in the project and Alison Pearcey and the volunteer staff at the archives for helping me to access the materials. There are also a number of friends who have found just the right reference I needed at a certain time: Bill Neal with the information on bicycle clubs, Gar Fizzard with the elusive pictures of the Methodist College at various stages of building, destruction, and rebuilding; Phil McCann with the advertisement from a Wesleyan paper that prompted Holloway to apply for the position in St John's; and Graham Hill for his efforts to find a map showing the location of the places Holloway visited and details of the construction of the railway line that enabled him to extend his summer travels. It is with a great feeling of gratitude that I acknowledge the contribution of Laura Walsh for her typing of countless drafts of the manuscript and her unfailing patience throughout the whole process of producing perfect copies in time to meet deadlines. Her dedication to the work has been

AUTHOR'S NOTE

xvii

greatly appreciated, as well as that of Carolyn Bourne and the staff of the general office in the Education Building at Memorial University. A project such as this does not happen without the patience and support of people who are very close to me and have helped immeasurably to bring it to completion. I would like to thank my son, Bill, for his reading of most of the final revision, his constant encouragement, and his insightful suggestions along the way. I am deeply indebted to my sister, Jessica Seneshen, and my brother, Bill Case, for their support and encouragement, and to my daughter, Bev, who will be glad when the name "Holloway" no longer dominates our conversation! Particularly close to this project has been my friend, Doreen Coultas, to whom I now offer my heartfelt thanks as my best reader, my chauffeur, and my constant source of support and encouragement as I worked towards the completion of the manuscript. Finally, a word of thanks to Philip Cercone and John Zucchi for reading the manuscript and bringing it to this stage of acceptance by McGillQueen's University Press. My thanks, too, to Joanne Pisano for keeping in touch, to Joan McGilvray for her prompt replies to my urgent e-mails, and to Maureen Garvie for her understanding of the book and her expert editing.

All photographs in the book, unless otherwise indicated, are by Robert E. Holloway.

M A P O F N E W F O U N D L A N D A N D L A B R A D O R ,1899 CNS, MUN, New York: South Publishing Company, 1899

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

This page intentionally left blank

I NTRODUCTION

Personally, our association with Dr. Milligan commenced 27years ago. It was he who conducted the correspondence which resulted in our becoming a Newfoundlander. Robert Holloway, 1902*

As the RMS Circassian prepared to dock at the Furnace Withy pier in St John's harbour on 12 June 1874 after a five-day voyage from Liverpool, a young man stood out among the passengers on deck. Although he was dishevelled from the journey, there was an air about him that drew the attention of the people waiting to meet the ship. He was short, with a thick brown moustache and small beard, his hair combed back from a high forehead, and dark eyes that took in his surroundings with great interest. He was looking for someone in the crowd on the pier, someone who might be waiting to take him to his destination. There was always a crowd on the pier when passenger ships arrived in St John's. Meeting the boats from England was an adventure and spotting new arrivals a favourite pastime. Those wondering who this young stranger might be were rewarded when they saw he was being met by two older men, both Methodists and both well known in the community. It was common knowledge that the Wesleyan Academy had been without a principal for several months. Could this be the new principal, and if so, what kind of a man was he? Where had he come from, and what was his background for this prestigious position? The young stranger was indeed the new principal of the Wesleyan Academy, Robert Edwards Holloway, B .A., not quite twenty-four. Meeting

4

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

him were Stephen Rendell, secretary of the academy's board of directors, and the Reverend George Milligan, superintendent of the Wesleyan Methodist Circuit of St John's. This teaching position would be different from the others Holloway had held in England. Mixed with his apprehension over the immediate impression he might make was a sense of exuberance at the prospect of a new life in a new land. Here he would no longer be in the shadow of his successful father, William Holloway, for the last sixteen years of his life the respected headmaster of the Model School at the Wesleyan Training College at Westminster. In Newfoundland Robert Holloway would be his own man, succeeding on his own merit. As the ship docked, he took in the sights, keen to explore this sprawling city and to get to know its people. The pleasure and excitement and his attraction to the rugged beauty of Newfoundland that would continue throughout his career surely began as the Circassian steamed through the Narrows, the half-mile-wide entrance to St John's harbour. This dramatic landfall after a long transatlantic ocean voyage is brought to life in an article on Newfoundland in a summer 1873 issue of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. The writer describes the passage from England in mid-May, when, after travelling for days in rapidly cooling temperatures through dense fog, the passengers knew they were approaching land because of the roar of surf breaking on the shore. Once the fog lifted, they could see the waves dashing against almost perpendicular cliffs, their summits still shrouded in mist. The narrow mouth of the St John's harbour was blocked with icebergs and slob ice.2 For Robert Holloway, arriving on the Circassian a year and a month later, the sight of the harbour was no less awe-inspiring and certainly welcoming after his travelling in steerage for the five-day voyage from Liverpool.3 The passage had been unencumbered by fog, and the day was generally bright and calm, the sky almost cloudless, and the temperature moderately warm, tempered by the wind from the north.4 The rocky cliffs and headlands guarding the narrow entrance to the harbour were as startling to Holloway as they had appeared to the writer in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. His practised eye estimated the height - probably five or six hundred feet - identified the red sandstone, grey slate, and conglomerate, and at the same time took note of the shrubs and flowering plants growing on the craggy cliffs. The city spread upwards from the busy harbour. Holloway scanned the waterfront and followed the intersecting streets, dotted

Introduction

5

higgledy-piggledy with houses somewhat like those on the east coast of Ireland. A large cathedral on the crest of the hill dominated the view, rising above the spires of other churches. As the boat docked, the young man could see shops and other business premises along the waterfront. The sights, sounds, and smells of the fishery were everywhere - the wharves, the fishing vessels and storehouses, the salted codfish drying beneath the cliffs on improvised wooden platforms. In preparing for this phase of his life, he had read about the fishing industry and an emerging interest in mining. There was excitement about the results of Alexander Murray's geological survey and the production of copper and nickel at Tilt Cove, Notre Dame Bay. The two officials waiting on the dock were there to meet the man replacing the former principal of the academy, William Henry, who had been taken ill several months earlier and advised by his doctor to return to Ireland. They were hopeful that this new man would be able to provide the leadership they badly needed to guide the future of the Wesleyan Academy.5 George Milligan had conducted the correspondence that led to the new principal's appointment. White-bearded and striking in appearance, Milligan was well known in St John's, especially among the Wesleyan Methodist section of the population, and was destined to play an increasing role in education. Stephen Rendell, as secretary of the board of directors, had also been close to the crisis that led to the search for a new principal. They had chosen Holloway in the expectation that he would make a difference to the school, which had started with high hopes but made little real progress over the fourteen years of its existence. Neither Milligan nor Rendell nor the other members of the board of directors and staff of the Wesleyan Academy who were to become acquainted with Holloway in the next few days could have predicted that the period of his tenure would stretch over thirty years and be referred to some day by historians of the college as "the Holloway Era." The young man would become legendary in the educational and cultural life of nineteenthcentury Newfoundland, influencing not only his students with his enthusiasm for life and learning but also the many adults who came to know him through his outreach into the community. His love of the island and his appreciation of its natural beauty would one day be expressed in an artistic and historic legacy of photographs of his adopted country. The impact of this dynamic personality as educator, scientist, humanist, and photographer form the framework of a life story for too long untold.

L,napter une B E G I N N I NGS

In the afternoon, the chapel was crowded by parents and others to witness the mode of giving a bible training lesson by Mr. William Holloway, the master of the juvenile school. Stamford Mercury, Barton-on-Humber, 11 January 1850

BARTON-ON-H UMBER

As with all biographies, there is a beginning, and the beginning was with Robert Holloway's father, William, of Camden Town, London, and his mother, Mary Edwards, born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.1 Robert Holloway's early life in England unfolded in the context of a family that as time went on included four sisters and a brother. When Robert was four years old, his father's career took the family from Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, to London, where the young boy encountered a fortunate assortment of interesting people and experiences. He would be greatly influenced by his father, not only as the first-born in the family but also later on in a teacher-student relationship when William Holloway was a headmaster and Robert was training to be a teacher. That influence would extend beyond his school life into his adult life and career, and would be reflected in the paths he would choose and the energy and enthusiasm he would bring to his work. William Holloway had begun his teacher training at the Glasgow Normal Seminary at the age of twenty-three. A stormy year followed as assistant master at Woodhouse Grove School in Bradford, Yorkshire - "stormy"

Beginnings

7

because of the young teacher's attempts to put into practice at Woodhouse the innovative methods he had learned in Glasgow. The Glasgow Seminary was the preferred institution for the training of Wesleyan schoolmasters until the Wesleyan Training College was established in Westminster in 1851. In Glasgow, in common with other Methodists, William had attended classes in the Free Church of Scotland rather than the more conservative Church of Scotland, and became immersed in a comprehensive course of study leading to a government-approved teaching certificate2 and a certificate of merit, qualifying him to train pupil teachers.3 As an assistant master at Woodhouse Grove School, William's innovative methods, approved by the school committee but resisted by the headmaster, led to an uncomfortable working situation. He resigned in frustration.4 With marriage to Mary Edwards planned for the fall, his decision might have had unfortunate consequences had there not been a position available in September at the National and Infant School in Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire. He took the position, and on 4 September 1849, with employment assured and the school year about to start, William and Mary were married in the Methodist Chapel in Chilvers in the parish of Coton in Warwickshire.5 The groom was twenty-five, the bride twenty-seven. Mary's sister, June, was her -only attendant, and William's friend, John Spencer, was groomsman. Although the National and Infant School where William would be teaching had been built by the National Association for the Education of the Poor in the Established Church (the Church of England), both he and Mary were Nonconformists. At Barton they would be part of a growing Methodist congregation in a Wesleyan chapel built in 1836 and rebuilt in 1849. The challenges facing them in the next few years would be great because of the problems of the time for poor and working-class families. Barton in 1849 was a manufacturing and agricultural town of about 3,600 people. It was situated on the south bank of the Humber River, at the foot of the Lincolnshire Wolds, six miles from the city of Hull. As in most midnineteenth century English towns, cultural amenities such as reading rooms were in evidence, and signs of prosperity showed in elaborate houses and ornate public buildings. In keeping with nearby buildings, the National and Infant School was built in neo-Tudor style of red brick with stone dressings.

8

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

Despite all this architectural opulence, all was not well for the poor and working-class families of Barton. Until the mid-nineteenth century, many of the town's children received the beginnings of an elementary education in Sunday schools rather than day schools. In the day schools supported by churches and charities and the pence that could be collected for school fees, attendance was low as children laboured in the fields and factories. Far fewer girls than boys were in school. The problem of illiteracy in the general population was evidenced by the number of bridegrooms and larger number of brides who could not sign their names on the marriage register.6 A growing social consciousness prompted some segments of the population to try to provide more adequately for the education of those who could afford neither the pence for weekly school fees in a church school nor the higher fees for the private schools. It was a situation that William and Mary helped to remedy during their stay in Barton and in later years when William became involved with training teachers to staff the many Wesleyan schools built during the course of his career. In the midst of the difficulties involved in financing the Barton schools and keeping them open, certain teachers had emerged who transformed children's experience and inspired other teachers. Two whose influence spread to those who followed were Isaac Pittman,7 first master of the nondenominational charity school, and Samuel Wilderspin8 of the National and Infant School. Known as the "father of infant education," Wilderspin recognized childlike ways of learning through songs, geometric forms, games, and amusements both inside the classroom and on the school playground. To raise funds to prevent the closing of the school, he lectured in the Athenaeum, an institute for literary and scientific study, on the need to educate the poor. However, Wilderspin's lectures and other appeals for financial help faced opposition from employers and landowners who felt that educating the poor was not only unnecessary but also potentially dangerous to the class structure.9 In contrast with the Infant School designed by Wilderspin, William's classroom was a sombre one, and no funds were available to improve the learning environment or even to ensure that his position would continue. Constant worry over the decline of the school overshadowed William and Mary's first year of marriage, particularly because they were expecting their first child. Fortunately, during the summer the Methodists were able

Beginnings

9

WESLEYAN CHAPEL, BARTON-ON-H U M BER Courtesy of David Lee, photographer, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire

to enlarge and reorganize their school. William was recommended by the general committee of the Methodist Education Committee for the position of master in the mixed schoolroom of the Wesleyan Day School and was able to resign his position at the National School. In Barton the Holloways lived in Wesley Place, later known as Holydyke Lane.10 It was near the chapel, and the three neighbouring houses were occupied by Wesleyan ministers. Living next door were the Rev. William Extor and his wife, Anne. Mary Holloway and Anne Extor were about the same age, and they had a further bond as Anne too was expecting her first child. The babies were born within a month of each other. Robert Edwards Holloway arrived on 30 August 1850, and a month later William and Anne Extor's son, William, was born. Across the road lived Wesleyan minister Thomas Hocking, who baptized Robert at seven weeks in the Wesleyan Chapel on 6 October.11 By then William was in his new position at the Wesleyan Day School where he found himself involved immediately in the task of raising money to supplement the meagre government grant for the operation and mainte-

1O

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

nance of Methodist schools. The Methodists of Barton had taken on the burden of fund-raising through bazaars, teas, lectures series, and sermons. Mary Holloway helped other ladies to organize a bazaar, and a house was turned into a museum that sold donated items. William's main contribution was on Sunday afternoons, when he demonstrated to parents and others the method of giving a Bible training lesson.12 In February 1851, the Stamford Mercury gave a glowing report of William's "complete mastery of his subject, his graceful delivery and the clarity of his explanations" as he delivered two more lectures in the chapel lecture hall.13 His topics were "The Religion, Laws, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Britons" and "The Natural History of Animals, Illustrated by Numerous Particulars of Their Habits and Peculiarities." This practice of giving lectures to raise money in support of a school building or equipment would be continued in the future in another Wesleyan school by William's son, Robert. In far-off Newfoundland, he too would be praised for the intrinsic interest of his topic and the clarity of his delivery.14 The day school flourished, continuing to operate with reduced rates for the poor and reasonable rates for the large numbers of boys and girls from working-class families. Mary Holloway's work in teaching knitting and sewing to the girls was acknowledged in the inspector's report for 1852.15 A large garden was rented for the use of the school, and children grew flowers, fruits, and vegetables.16 It may be that this innovative and practical way of diversifying the curriculum was an expression of William's interest in natural history. It could also have been the result of his awareness of the success of similar programs at the new Wesleyan Training College, built in London in 1851 and already accepting one hundred teachers a year. The need for trained teachers with new ideas to staff the Methodist schools springing up around the country resulted in an offer to William to join the staff of the college on Horseferry Road in Westminster. In the fall of 1854, William moved to London with his family. Although Robert was not quite four at the time of the move, perhaps he sensed from listening to his parents that the new position in London was very important to his father. There were now three children in the family. Catharine Ann had been born in March 1852 and named for Mary's mother. Mary Helen, born on 28 April 1854, was baptized,17 like the other two, in the Wesleyan Chapel where the Holloways had been seat holders and active members.18

Beginnings

ll

WESTMINSTER

The great mass of the human race have to be softened and humanized through their heart and imagination, before any soil can be found in them where knowledge may strike living roots. Matthew Arnold, 186/19

The train journey from Hull to Westminster marked the beginning of a very different life for the Holloway family. For Robert, the move meant leaving behind his friends, William Extor and John Rodgers, the bank manager's son, who both lived near him in Holydyke Lane.20 He would miss the games they had played together, trundling hoops, throwing horseshoes, swinging and climbing with the older children on the geometric forms on the playground of the National School. For his parents there would certainly be regrets on leaving Barton-on-Humber and the closeknit circle of friends they had made there. Mingled with the regrets, however, would be satisfaction at the contribution they had made to the school and to plans for a new school and an impressive new chapel to be built on Maltby Lane.21 Among the possessions that they had carefully packed was a gift recognizing that contribution. It was a large family Bible, inscribed: Presented to Mr. W. Holloway by the Pupils, Teachers and Scholars of the Wesleyan Juvenile School Barton-upon-Humber Together with a Purse of Ten Sovereigns, at the same time By the Committee and Friends In token of their high appreciation of his kind, assiduous, and truly valuable services as the Master of their School for a period of upwards of five years, during which he has secured the unbounded confidence and warmest affection of the Scholars, as well as the most cordial approval, and high estimation, of the Committee and Friends, which they have wished to commemorate by this testimony. Barton-upon-Humber, July, i85422

12

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL-L.OWAY

The sadness of breaking ties with Barton was soon to be replaced by the excitement of being part of a new venture as William became headmaster of the Model School of the Wesleyan Training College.23 He was to be involved in a significant advance in the training of pupil teachers, made possible by enlightened government policies as well as support from Wesleyan congregations all over the country. As headmaster, he would play an important part in an institution that by means of its "practising schools" would provide an education for many poor children living in the slums of London.24 The Wesleyans had chosen the site for the college in the most thickly populated part of Westminster, an area where there was, to use John Wesley's expression, an "abundance of children" who would not otherwise have had the benefit of an education.25 The "abundance of children" in Westminster and many other areas of London resulted from a migration in the 18408 alone of a quarter of a million people who flooded into London looking for work. They lived in appalling conditions in overcrowded tenements with narrow alleyways, courts, and passageways without ventilation and sanitation. Ironically, the opening of the training college in the Westminster slums coincided with the building of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park to mark the opening of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Conditions were to improve in the mid-i86os when arterial sewers were put in place, streets were improved, bridges rebuilt, and an esplanade constructed along the Thames embankment. However, for the poor in this greatest city in the world, life would continue to be a struggle.26 The Victorian gothic school buildings, designed by architect James Wilson, were like an oasis in the midst of the drab and depressing surroundings. Pritchard describes Westminster in the context of the London of Charles Dickens, the old ferry house that Dickens writes about in DaviCopperfieldstill standing at the end of Horseferry Road until the Lambeth Bridge was built ini862.27 main roads paved with cobblestones, and horse-drawn coaches the primary means of transportation.28 The spirit that prevailed within the college from the beginning was in sharp contrast to these dismal surroundings. An outstanding group of teachers seemed to have had an acute awareness of the importance of their work, bolstered by attitudes fostered by their Wesleyan backgrounds. The term "college" was deliberately chosen to discourage any perception of the school as a public charity and to ensure that all pupil teachers, whatever

Beginnings

13

their background, would be aware of their privileges and functions as teachers and the "sense of service" associated with the program and their profession. William was confident it would be a good place to work and that the practising schools would give his children an excellent start on their education. He would have the privilege of working with the Rev. John Scott, a wise choice for the college's first principal. Scott believed in the rule of "mutual trust and respect rather than... domination and fear."29 He shared Wesley's views on the importance of education in enabling children to rise above the conditions in which they found themselves, as well as in building the church and promoting its doctrine. A decade earlier, while president of the Methodist Conference, he had proposed that seven hundred Methodist schools be built in the next seven years.30 The Model School and practising schools - Infants', Junior, Senior, and Industrial - were an important part of this training, providing opportunity for observation and practice. In addition to a week's rotation in the Model School, pupil teachers spent a week of each term in a Wesleyan country school similar to those they would head when they finished their training.31 Robert was now old enough to enter the Infant School, making it easier for Mary to care for Catharine and the new baby, Mary Helen, born just months before the move to London. Robert joined the pupils in the Infant School, a lively place with a variety of models and equipment, reminiscent of the Wilderspin playground in Barton. In keeping with most infant schools of the time, religious instruction was a priority, but music, play, and physical education were also important learning experiences. There was a garden to tend in an area that had once been a market garden.32 We can imagine that Robert's first year there was a happy family time as well, as he returned home each day with his father, sharing his adventures with his mother and perhaps "playing school" with Catharine, who would start school the following year. Saturdays were the time for outdoor activities and Sundays the time for "best" clothes and church and Sunday school and not for games at all. For Robert and his siblings, school was a busy place. Because their classrooms were an integral part of the practising schools for the training of pupil teachers, they were exposed to teachers of great ability, and the standard of education was higher than that of most elementary schools in England.33 Matthew Arnold, advisor and school inspector for the Council of Education, described the atmosphere for learning as "peaceable and

14

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

easily entreated."34 Arnold worked with Nonconformist schools and was a frequent visitor to the Wesleyan Training College. He praised the staff for their efforts to diversify the curriculum and to provide for the pupils' individual needs. His vision of education was a much broader one than that of his father, Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby, whose experience encompassed only an elite section of the population. Matthew Arnold envisaged universal compulsory education as a way of producing cultured citizens of a new democracy.35 Many years later Robert Holloway would recall Arnold's school visits. He had a ready wit, a twinkle in his eye, and an empathy with students, especially those who were struggling to become teachers. He liked to talk to classes in the course of a lesson and to draw out from them evidence of their ability to think rather than to parrot memorized answers. On one of his visits to Robert Holloway's class, a history lesson was in progress on the battle of Flodden. Robert had just finished reading Sir Walter Scott's poem "Marmion" and, in response to Arnold's opening question, "Who fought at Flodden Field?" quickly answered "Marmion." Arnold was surprised but seemed pleased that the answer was in the context of literature rather than that of the history lesson. His positive reaction was to linger as a good memory for Robert for life.36 Another of Robert's memories of Arnold was in a totally different mode. He recalled that "Mr Arnold, although we liked him, did not altogether impress us with respect. We did not know of his world-wide fame as a scholar, poet and critic, and his personal appearance suggested nothing of the sort."37 The children observed with repressed laughter how much Arnold, with his hair parted in the middle and his long side-whiskers, resembled a well-known comic-strip character, Lord Dundreary! As Robert grew older, he became aware of the inspector's great talents and reflected that Arnold had made for himself a name that would "always shine brightly on the pages of literature."38 Arnold had great respect for the Wesleyan mode of training, which for him embodied the spirit of "teaching for the good of others"39 rather than for monetary rewards. He came to know the teachers and students at the college well and it is interesting to speculate how, having grown up in the shadow of his own father, Arnold may have perceived the evolving relationship between Robert and his father, William Holloway, in their roles of pupil teacher and headmaster.

Beginnings

15

For Robert the years as a pupil in the practising schools would flow into two years of teacher training. Beginning at fourteen, he revisited the schools of his elementary years, this time in the role as a pupil teacher. In the first year of his training he spent a week in a Wesleyan country school, keeping the register, and taking notes, and the following week in the Model School in Westminster. Here and in the practising schools he prepared "criticism lessons." These were taught to a class in the presence of a supervising teacher and other pupil teachers. They were followed by assessment of the lesson by his peers and evaluation and suggestions from the teacher for the whole group.40 In the second year he was able to test his skill as a teacher as he took charge of a division of children in the practising schools for a four-week stretch, the children's progress tested at the end of each two-week period by the principal teacher in the school.41 "Grit" lessons were frequently given in the "Old Lee" - the large lecture hall with pew-like seats and a huge gallery.42 Underneath the Old Lee was the men's common room, where pupil teachers could unwind and compare notes. The school's daily routine included morning arid evening prayers, and, along with other pupils, Robert attended class meetings during the week and services every Sunday. In between the teacher-training sessions, his days were filled with a course of studies spanning English and Latin, the social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, and religious education. His plan to write the London Matriculation examinations as well as the college examinations was typical of the path he would follow in continuing to study and realize his goal of becoming a teacher. The "London Matrics" would begin his preparation for a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London. He knew that he could only accomplish all this by securing a job as a teacher and at the same time studying independently for the examinations. Among the outstanding classes Robert attended were those of Louis Kinton, who taught grammar, English literature, and history. Kinton was a scholarly man, in love with the subjects he was teaching and capable of making Shakespeare come alive for his students. Robert would retain his interest in Shakespeare throughout his life; he was referred to by an erudite friend as a "Shakespearean scholar."43 For chemistry, there was William Sugden, who had received special training in experimental science. James Smetham, drawing master, poet and painter, inspired pupils with his love of nature, high ideals, and enthusiasm for teaching. He often took groups

16

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

on botanical field trips and gave the students an appreciation for the beauty of wild places and a familiarity with the flora of the surrounding countryside.44 Smetham was a frequent visitor at 18 Bessborough Street in Pimlico, the home of Dr William Kitchen Parker, who had joined the staff as college physician in 1860. Parker and Smetham shared a love of the outdoors, an appreciation of art and literature, and a religious fervour. Both were leaders at Wesleyan class meetings and attended the chapel on Clarendon Street.45 Parker would exert a tremendous influence on Robert, fanning the flames of an interest in science already kindled by his father and his teachers. For Parker, his medical practice and the need to make a living from it were secondary to the rewarding hours spent in increasing his mastery of botany and comparative anatomy through his observations and meticulous drawings.46 The Holloway and Parker families had been friends from the time of Dr Parker s appointment at the college. Robert and Thomas Parker, both just under ten at this time, were especially close. Robert's father, on their field trips together, had opened the boys' eyes to the beauty of wildflowers. Dr Parker, with his love of plants and his collection of about five hundred species gathered with fellow naturalists such as James Smetham, stimulated in his sons and their friend an interest in botany and a hobby that was to last a lifetime.47 Robert was fascinated with Dr Parker's consulting room, which was stacked with glass cases of mounted fish skeletons of various sorts and sizes. Boxes lined with blue paper to show off the white bones held skulls of birds, fish, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. In Parker's surgery were many examples of the specimens he was examining. There were portfolios of detailed drawings, hundreds of mounted slides, and various tools used for dissection and microscopic work.48 This large-boned man with his animated expression, brilliant dark eyes, and whimsical smile shared with Robert and his sons the excitement of looking through the microscope for one-celled organisms in specimens of "Atlantic ooze."49 Believing that "the knowledge of modern science is only ignorance with its eyes open,"50 Parker spent a long lifetime in self-training, continually adding to his knowledge as he made do with the crudest of instruments and prepared his specimens for observation. His painstaking research earned him a number of awards. His exquisitely detailed drawings and sections of the vertebrate skull supplied evidence that, along with Thomas Huxley's Croonian lectures, helped to overthrow Richard Owen's theory

Beginnings

17

that the skull was made up of modified vertebrae.51 Parker corresponded for years with Huxley, England's most eminent biologist, whose work often ran parallel to Parker's and who often visited the Parker home.52 Because of his ability as a scientist and an educator, Huxley came to serve on the London Board of Education and also on a number of commissions that influenced the Education Acts of the late i86os and early 'jos.53 These acts were designed to reform education, advocating higher education for girls and promoting science in the school curriculum. Like John Scott and Matthew Arnold, Huxley spoke loudly against the stultifying effect on education of government decisions in the i86os. And, just as Robert's friendship with Parker's two sons, Thomas and William Newton, was to continue during the years of their preparation for University of London degrees, so the association of all three with Thomas Huxley would continue and would have a profound effect on their careers. Science had never been lacking in Robert's schooling at the Wesleyan Training College. Despite the restrictions on schools imposed by government policy, the staff of the college were determined as much as possible to continue with their progressive curriculum at all levels. Interested students were individually tutored in subjects that fitted their special educational goals.54 In 1865, Robert received a First Division pass in his examinations, his name appearing in a list headed "Excellent" in the Annual Report of Westminster College.55 This would give his father's spirits a lift in what was for him a difficult year. Because of the illness of a colleague, William Holloway found himself taking over the supervision of the Senior Practising School in addition to his duties at the Model School. During the two-year training period, Robert was able to prepare as well for the London Matriculation examinations.56 He attempted these unsuccessfully in January 1867 when he was just sixteen, then rewrote them in June, while still sixteen, obtaining a Second Division pass.57 In writing the matriculation examinations he was ahead of his time. Another decade would go by before it would be common practice, and still another before pupils of the training college would take courses there in preparation for degrees.58 Robert continued to spend time with the Parker family. Tom Parker's younger brother, William Newton, was also destined, like his brother and his father, to become a biologist. Dr Parker was publishing a number of papers on the Foraminifera. Living specimens of these many-chambered organisms were always available to the young investigators in his con-

18

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.LOWAY

suiting room, as well as fossilForaminifera hells from the Dover cliffs or chalk deposits from the ocean floor.59 The boys learned to see the importance of simple observation of everyday things as a first step to knowing and understanding, to becoming a scientist. Such childhood experiences, carried to their ultimate interest level as his education continued, would one day enable Robert to plunge into the life, geography, and natural history of Newfoundland. BECOMING A TEACHER

The biological laboratory, as it is now understood, may be said to date from about 1870, when Huxley, with the co-operation of Professors Foster, Rutherford, Martin and others, held short summer courses for science teachers at South Kensington. T. JefFery Parker, 189660

The years immediately following Robert s matriculation from Wesleyan Training College were crucial ones for him, his family, and the course of education in England. The opportunity to teach and at the same time to continue to study towards his Intermediate Arts Examinations at London University came with his appointment to the staff of Clevedon College, a private school located at 83 Abington Street, one of a number of adjoining houses on this busy street in Northampton. Within three years of completing his teacher training, he passed the examinations successfully.61 This diploma was a prerequisite to completing his B .A. degree from London University in the following year. The headmaster of Clevedon College was Edward Rush, himself a graduate of London University and formerly a senior classical tutor at a Wesleyan college in Somerset. The curriculum was largely classical in emphasis, with instruction in music on the piano and harmonium. A course in experimental chemistry was advertised as an "extra."62 In keeping with the headmaster's Wesleyan Methodist background, the students marched on Sundays to the chapel on Gold Street where Mr Rush played the organ for the services. The school was a success, with about eighty boarders and a number of day students at the start and enrolment increasing each year.63 "Physical culture" was an innovation in the curriculum, and one of Holloway's fond memories of Clevedon College was the sports program, which included drill, football, cricket, and swimming in the swimming-

Beginnings

19

T H E G E O R G E HOTEL, N O R T H A M P T O N , P R I O R T O 1868 Courtesy of Northampton Library Committee, Northampton Records Office

bath installed in the house next door. In the absence of a college hall, the George Hotel in Northampton, an old coaching inn at the town's centre on the main road between London and the North, was the venue for concerts and social and civic events. Special events like dinners in honour of championship teams were also held there.64 Years afterwards, while attending a dinner at Wood's Restaurant in St John's, Newfoundland, to celebrate the winning of the intercollegiate football championship by the Methodist College, Holloway could still recall the menu, speeches, and camaraderie of a similar function at "the George."65 In the years following Robert's graduation from the Wesleyan Training College, William Holloway had continued as headmaster of the Model School. The strain of the past few years had taken its toll as grants-in-aid had decreased, along with a decline in the numbers of pupil teachers presenting themselves for training. By 1870, overwork, including the supervision of an additional school during the illness of a colleague, undermined William Holloway s own health.66 He died near the beginning of June at the age of forty-six, after sixteen years of "able and faithful service" to the college.67

20

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

Robert somehow managed to continue his studies for the Intermediate Arts examinations during the year of his father's illness and untimely death. This was a characteristic that would be evident many times in the future, when, in spite of tragedies and at times his own ill health, he would be capable of tremendous energy and devotion to his life's work. As the eldest child, he now took on some responsibility for the welfare of his family. His mother had been his father's support throughout his busy life and his helpmate in raising a large family and maintaining a home. She had always been a resourceful person, supplementing the family income by taking student ministers as boarders, as well as students from Bartonon-Humber while they were attending Westminster College. She would try to keep the home in nearby Battersea, and there was a possibility that her unmarried brother, George Edwards, would come to stay with the family for a while.68 Catharine, now eighteen and a music teacher, was still at home, and she and Mary Helen, sixteen, would be able to help with the youngest children: Sarah, aged twelve; Emily, aged eight; and George, who was only six. There was no doubt that William, with his creative and innovative approach to education, would be difficult to replace at the Wesleyan Training College. It was unfortunate that he died just as the fortunes of the college and of British education generally were beginning to improve. The enrolment at the college had just increased to the point where a separate college for female students would be opened at nearby Southlands, and an average of 230 pupil teachers would graduate from the program every two years. Money was at last available to begin to build the longed-for college chapel, to be called the Scott Memorial Chapel in memory of the principal with whom William had worked so harmoniously and with whom he had shared all these dreams. The ultimate sadness was that he died before he knew of his son's success in the Intermediate Arts examination and before he could experience the growing up of his family. Robert would miss him greatly and because of his closeness to his father, would experience the intense grief that comes when a life is ended too soon. He would be influenced strongly by his father's ideas and devotion to his life's work. Meanwhile he was faced with uncertainty about the continued viability of Clevedon College. Having started with such high hopes, along with innovations in curriculum and design, the school was now in danger of closing because of competition from the recently reopened Northampton Grammar School.69 Robert and his friend Frederick Schreiner, also a fac-

Beginnings

21

ulty member at Clevedon, discussed their future as teachers. Frederick had been saving from his assistant master's salary with the hope of some day opening a school of his own. The plan, now urgent, included a position for Robert on the staff once the school was established. In Eastbourne during the summer of 1871 Schreiner began to look for a site for the new school.70 That same summer, Robert became immersed in one of the great experiences of his lifetime, a six-week course for teachers organized and taught by Thomas Huxley. It was an experience that would, from that point onwards, influence and shape the young teacher's approach to his career and strengthen his belief in the value of science in the curriculum. Huxley brought to his classes a breadth of expertise and experience reflecting his impossibly busy life, which included writing texts and research papers, defending Darwin's The Origin of Species, lecturing to large audiences on the appalling conditions of the unemployed, educating working men on scientific topics, meeting with progressive schoolmasters to consider ways of upgrading science in the schools, and working effectively for reform of education at all levels.71 His vision of a national college of science had begun in the School of Mines where he lectured to working men and other students. For Huxley, lectures were important, but still more important was that they be followed up with practical experience. Space for laboratory instruction at the School of Mines was totally inadequate, and his long-term plan was to add these facilities, incorporate the Royal College of Chemistry, and appoint professors of botany and mathematics. It was in 1871, while he was serving on the Duke of Devonshire's Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction that he succeeded in founding the National College of Science in South Kensington,72 and it was in the almost-completed buildings there that Robert attended the course for teachers organized and taught by Huxley with the assistance of Michael Foster, Ray Lankester, Henry Martin, and others. Robert s friend Thomas Parker also attended and was one of the three demonstrators in biology who guided teachers through the practical aspects of the course. Tom Parker had studied with Huxley after passing the London Matriculation examinations in 1868, his graduation year from Clarendon House in Pimlico. He afterwards taught in Yorkshire and then returned to South Kensington in the summer of i87i.73 In earlier days Robert and Tom had attended Huxley's public lectures at Jeremy Street, which attracted huge audiences. One of the lectures they attended was given to the working men of Norwich. The topic, "On a Piece

22

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

of Chalk," brought vividly to mind Tom's father's drawings of the microscopic shelled animals whose skeletons created chalk deposits on the ocean floor, their forms of endless fascination to the boys. Both marvelled that Huxley's lectures, although couched in technical language, were so clear that working men could listen with real understanding and unflagging attention to content of which they had no previous knowledge.74 Many years later Robert would emulate Huxley's genius in making the complex simple in his own popular science lectures in St John's. Like Huxley, he would choose lecture topics related to science and count on their popularity because of their practical nature and intrinsic interest. The summer courses for schoolmasters had come about as a result of a recommendation from the Schools Inquiry Commission to encourage the introduction of science into the curriculum of the secondary schools. Teachers attending the courses were provided with subsidized travel and boarding expenses75 and reaped rich dividends from the experience. Huxley began each day with a lecture that was, like his writings, "luminously clear, without the slightest disposition to descend to the level of his audience; eloquent, but with no trace of the empty rhetoric which so often does duty for that quality; full of a high seriousness, but with no suspicion of pedantry; lightened by occasional epigrams or flashes of caustic humor, but with none of the small jocularity in which it is such a temptation to a lecturer to indulge."76 The lecture was followed by four hours of practical work in which the teachers were encouraged, with the help of the demonstrators, to become active investigators, verifying points brought out in the lectures and thinking through the concepts that evolved in the course of the practical work. For Robert, it was an immersion that would supply the content that had hitherto been missing from his studies and would also influence his approach to the teaching of science for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Frederick Schreiner had chosen Eastbourne as the site for his new school and had leased a large building that had formerly housed Eastbourne College and was then known as Ellesmere Villa. The address was i Spencer Road, a building that still stands today as "Spencer Court." While both Schreiner and Holloway returned to their positions at Clevedon College, Schreiner arranged for the school to be made ready for occupancy at the beginning of 1872. In January, alas, he found that Eastbourne in the rain and wind of winter was not at all like Eastbourne in the brilliant sunshine of summer, and that much of the rain had found its way into the building through leaks and broken windows. Despite this desperate situa-

Beginnings

SPENCER COURT, O R I G I N A L L Y NEW COLLEGE,

23

E A S T B O U R N E . THE

B U I L D I N G STILL STANDS

Courtesy of Simon Graves, photographer, Eastbourne

tion, the repairs and renovations were completed in late February, and the school, known as New College, was ready to receive the first boarding students. Schreiner was the principal and Robert Holloway one of the "two splendid masters" who helped to launch the project. His Bachelor of Arts degree now completed through summer courses and private study, Holloway started his second teaching position in a school that began with small numbers - nineteen boys in the first quarter. Enrolment increased every term, and the school became known as a progressive institution. The tradition of encouraging physical exercise was to be a prime consideration at New College, just as it had been at Clevedon College.77 The school planned soon to have active football and cricket teams. Here Holloway first experienced rivalry between denominations in a school setting, an experience he would recall in later years as he became aware of the intense competition that could be generated through interschool games. Schreiner's school faced competition from Eastbourne College, which was Anglican and Tory in tradition. To his advantage, however, the Anglican college would not accept the sons of Eastbourne traders as pupils. New

24

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLOWAY

College was Nonconformist, and Schreiner was more than willing to accept those whom Eastbourne College refused. He was already planning a new site for the school to accommodate the growing number of applicants, with the hope of opening the new building in the fall of i874.78 Holloway watched and helped as the success of the new school became evident. By late 1874, another house had been leased, and it was decided to erect a new building on the site of the cricket ground. A tenant was found for the old house on Spencer Road, which, like 83 Abington Street in Northampton, became a girls' school. These changes reflected the national movement towards higher education of women occurring in the 18705, and the development of high schools in this period was due in part to the growing recognition of the need for education for girls, a principle Holloway would endorse throughout his career. Huxley, Scott, Arnold, and others had been loud proponents of improved education for girls, and before the end of the decade the University of London opened its courses to female students.79 Although Holloway's interest in science and new methods of teaching science had been inspired by Huxley's lectures and summer courses, he had little opportunity at Eastbourne to put into practice what he had learned. The new school's curriculum seemed destined to maintain the status quo, and there were no plans to add space for laboratories.80 Holloway was young, ambitious, and full of new ideas but unsure of the possibility of making a difference as a second master in a school that remained largely classical in emphasis. Schreiner's success stimulated Holloway's desire to be headmaster of a school of his own, and he began to check the journals for advertisements of teaching positions. An interesting possibility presented itself early in 1874, when he saw an advertisement in the Watchman and Wesleyan Advertiser for a principal for the Wesleyan Academy in St John's, Newfoundland:81

Beginnings

25

The thought of crossing the Atlantic must have appealed to Holloway s sense of adventure. His strengths as a candidate for the position were his training at the Wesleyan Training College, his bachelor's degree from the University of London, his participation in Huxley's courses, and his teaching experience at two private schools, both progressive and both in the Wesleyan tradition. The advertisement stated that applications were to be sent to Mr Joseph Laurence, of East Keswick, Yorkshire. Holloway decided to apply.

Chapter Two F R O M E N G L A N D TO N E W F O U N D L A N D

On the fourteenth of this month, - a quarter of a century ago, - the present principal of the College landed in St. Johns and took charge of our Institution. Robert Holloway, June 1899l

Time seemed to crawl by as Holloway waited for a reply to the application he had sent to Joseph Laurence for the principalship of the Wesleyan Academy of St John's. Later, he realized that the waiting time had not really been very long and that the decision to offer him the position must have been made very quickly by the board of directors. On 30 March 1874 Laurence received the following cablegram: "Offer Holloway two hundred sovereigns and twenty-five expenses out. [signed] Milligan."2 It was now Holloway s turn to review his own situation, consider the salary offer, and think about the expenses involved in travelling from the south of England to Liverpool and by steamship across the Atlantic. The move that he was making was a big one, both in relation to his career and to the distance from England. Feeling that he needed some assurance that the position would be guaranteed for a number of years, he decided to request a four-year contract. He also asked for an increase of £25 payable each year until his salary reached £275 per annum. A second cablegram from the board on 2 May confirmed his appointment on the terms he had requested, but emphasized the need for him to leave England as soon as possible, with 19 May as a suggested date.3 In spite of the apparent urgency on the part of the directors, Holloway wished to complete his school year at Eastbourne and also to visit his mother and the rest of his family before leaving to go so far away. Within a few weeks all this had been accomplished, and goodbyes had been said. By early June he

From England to Newfoundland

27

was on his way to Newfoundland on the ss Circassian where, in spite of sharing the not-too-comfortable steerage quarters with five other passengers, the prospect of the new position made the journey exciting. It would be the start of a career that would span a much longer period than the young teacher could ever have imagined. In St John's he would discover soon after his arrival the circumstances that had prompted the board of directors to fill the position as quickly as possible. The past school year had been a most difficult one, with the situation at mid-year reaching a crisis. The principal, William Edward Henry,4 had been recruited in Britain by board member Nicholas Stabb less than three years earlier to replace the previous principal, Alexander Reid. Henry had suddenly become seriously ill and been advised by his physician to return immediately to Ireland. Three of the directors, James Rogerson, Stephen Rendell, and Charles R. Ayre, together with the Rev. Milligan, had called on Henry in January and found him in a "very weak state." A special meeting of the board on 28 January resulted in arrangements for Henry and his family to leave by steamer the following day. The staff had been left to carry on with only two masters to cover all the obligations of the school, including the courses taught by the principal.5 George Milligan, former minister of Gower Street Church and at that time superintendent of the St John's Wesleyan Circuit, was a former teacher who had been consulted by the board from time to time for advice on the advancement of the institution and how it might contribute effectively to the community. He was asked to help with the emergency by looking into the classes at the academy and assisting one of the masters, Emile Handcock, with the Latin and Greek classes. The other teacher on the staff of the academy was John W. Nichols. It was Milligan who had been asked by the board to initiate correspondence with Joseph Laurence, a Wesleyan lay agent who had helped them on earlier occasions to procure staff. Laurence had placed the advertisement that caught Holloway's eye.6 It must have been a tremendous relief to the board to know that the problems plaguing the academy seemed to be nearing solution. When the correspondence was received at the meeting in January, the directors had little difficulty in selecting Holloway from among a number of applicants for the position. As Milligan and Rendell travelled by horse and carriage to the pier on 12 June 1874, they were no doubt eagerly looking forward to their first meeting with him. The two gentlemen appeared to be at least twice Holloway's age and distinguished in appearance. Once his luggage

28

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

was taken off the ship, the carriage set out west along the busy waterfront, turning up Prescott Street to Duckworth Street and climbing the steep slope of Church Hill to the Freshwater Road (later Long's Hill), until it finally reached the school grounds. The ride was rough as the carriage bumped over the uneven surface, overtaking fish carts drawn by small shaggy horses, chased by an assortment of dogs, and stared at by curious children. Some of the buildings along the route gave the impression of an established town. There were business premises, a doctor's office, and buildings identified by Holloway's hosts as the Church of England Cathedral, a branch of the Bank of British North America, the Free Church of Scotland kirk, a newspaper office, and a Wesleyan Methodist chapel known as Gower Street Church. The academy, next to the grounds of a white-steepled Presbyterian church, was a wooden, two-storey building with a saddle roof, dormer windows, and a short flight of steps leading to a door in the east side of a projecting centre section. Holloway had been informed by Joseph Laurence that his contract included rooms in the academy, and he was led to a door at the rear where the residence adjoined the school building. The residence was quite spacious, large enough to accommodate, in addition to the new principal, the other teachers on staff as well as pupil teachers and other boarding students.7 Later in the day the carriage returned to take Holloway to the home of John Edgar Pickavant Peters and his wife, Rose, for dinner. The visit was one that Holloway would always remember. The house was a large one, Victorian in its facade and in the furnishing of the entrance hall and the dining room and front parlour. The young teacher's anxiety about meeting so many new people and his fatigue after the grueling trip across the Atlantic vanished in the warmth of his reception into this family. The conversation turned to the history of the academy. It had been built as early as 1858 as a Wesleyan day school8 because of demands from a growing Wesleyan population for an institution where pupil teachers could be trained to staff the increasing numbers of Wesleyan schools throughout the island.9 Holloway's interest was aroused as the Peters talked about Mr and Mrs Hamilton, the academy's first teachers, trained in Scotland at the Glasgow Normal Seminary. Holloway told his hosts that his father had also been trained there, along with most of the faculty of the Wesleyan Training College in Westminster where Robert himself had received his early education.

From England to Newfoundland

The two institutions differed in size and certainly in the populations they were to serve and the milieu in which they had been established. Yet there were parallels in the need for the Wesleyan Training College at Westminster in England's largest city and the need for the Wesleyan Academy in England's oldest colony. The motivation for both institutions and the will to make them work came from the conviction that teachers must be trained to educate an "abundance of children" who might otherwise have been deprived of learning. William Holloway had sensed the importance of that mission in the slums of London. His son would be engaged in a similar task as he continued the work begun by the Wesleyan Methodists to train teachers for small schools in the outports of Newfoundland. When the after-dinner conversation turned to the rooms at the academy where he would return that evening, Rose Peters suggested that Holloway might wish instead to stay with their family for his first year in St John's.10 Holloway gratefully accepted. The offer was a reflection of the kindness and boundless energy of his hostess who, in addition to caring for her family of four boys and a baby girl, found time to pursue good works outside the home with the Women's Missionary Society and the Women's Christian Temperance Union.11 Holloway was probably given the spare room already set up for overnight guests. Typically, this would have had a big feather bed, a washstand with towels and facecloth, and, arranged on an embroidered linen cloth, a large pitcher and basin and matching shaving mug, soap dish, and hot water jug. On the wall opposite the bed there might be a mantelpiece, with a grate for a fire in the winter months, and in the corner, near the fireplace, a comfortable chair. A table set against a wall would serve as a desk. A window, hung with velvet drapes, probably looked out on a three-storey row of adjoining houses, each painted a different bright colour. This was a place where Holloway would not feel lonely as he made the transition from home in England to his new home in Newfoundland. The meeting with George Milligan and the board of directors of the academy was scheduled for the next day in Stephen Rendell's office. There was time before then to do some exploring of the schoolhouse. Holloway would be teaching his classes in the Upper Room, which was spacious enough to double as a hall for school closings or "exhibitions." The Lower Room was partitioned into two classrooms. The designations "Upper Room" and "Lower Room" referred, as in English schools, not only to the physical structure but also to the difference in grade levels. Secondary

3O

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

grades were taught in the Upper Room. Younger pupils were taught in the Lower Room, and pupil teachers were sent there for observation and practice teaching. Since school was in session, Holloway probably met some of the pupils. These numbered eighty-eight in total (thirty-nine girls and forty-nine boys). In addition to the regular course of study, Holloway's predecessor had emphasized the importance in the higher classes of music and language, both taught by Emile Handcock, and art, taught by John Nichols. Henry had planned also to introduce science when funds were available. Now it would be up to the new principal to assess the strengths of his staff, get the sciences underway, and work with the others in planning the curriculum. At the meeting the next day, Holloway met three other board members Nicholas Stabb, James J. Rogerson, and Charles R. Ayre. Rev. Milligan made the formal introductions. Stabb was the oldest of the three; Rogerson and Ayre were both bearded and in their mid-fifties, and Rogerson wore small, steel-rimmed glasses. Before long each would become an important part of Holloway's life at the academy. He would come to know these men and others who served on the board as prominent citizens of St John's, and in their various roles as businessmen, members of the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council, and contributing members of the congregations of the Wesleyan churches. At the same time, the new principal was making an impression on the directors, and on George Milligan. Milligan would describe him later as a gentle, mild-mannered man, whose beard and serious, soulful expression made him look older than his actual age. He hoped that this was the man who might indeed be equal to the challenge of building up the school. Holloway's task was made more challenging by developments in education that were to have a profound effect not only on the Wesleyan Academy but on all the schools in St John's and those scattered throughout the island in the small outport communities. For a number of years government grants for education had been divided into a per capita grant for Roman Catholic schools and a per capita grant for Protestant schools. In 1857, the supporters of the idea of a Wesleyan academy, pointing out earlier concessions to other denominations, had won the case for a government grant. After earlier attempts to found a non-denominational academy "for the instruction of youth in the several branches of scientific and classical learning"12 had failed, three denominational academies for Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and other Protestants were established and supported by

From England to Newfoundland

31

legislative grants. A deciding factor had been the growing strength of the Wesleyan Methodists, who feared that in any General Protestant institution they would be subject to the power of the established church. On the basis of their numbers, an initial grant of £600 had been awarded in 1858 for the operation of the Wesleyan Academy. Two inspectors had been appointed - Michael John Kelly for Roman Catholic schools and John Haddon for Protestant schools. The frustration of years was expressed in the inspectors' reports for 1873-74: the appalling conditions in the outport schools, with untrained teachers, few materials, apathetic parents, and low attendance whenever children were needed to help with the fishery or to set and harvest potatoes. The problems were startlingly similar to those faced by the schools in Lincolnshire where Robert Holloway s father, William, had taught. The year 1874 ushered in a period of educational change for the whole island. In 1873 a Select Committee of the Legislative Council had circulated a letter to all clergymen, magistrates, schoolmasters, and chairmen of boards of education, asking for practical suggestions on educational reform. One of the most contentious issues to be resolved was still the "vexed question"13 of the subdivision of the Protestant grant. In 1874, the year of Holloway's arrival, the denominational system became firmly entrenched by legislative action in all the schools of Newfoundland.14 It was felt that separate funding would lead to improvement and, for the growing Methodist population, more control of their destiny and an increased capacity to identify and deal with the more serious problems. At the same time, changes were occurring in the administrative structure of the Wesleyan Church. In September, as Holloway began his first school year, the representatives often annual conferences of the WesleyanMethodist Church met and constituted the Methodist Church of Canada.15 The Wesleyan Academy became the Methodist Academy, and the Rev. George Milligan became the first Superintendent of Education for Methodist schools. For Milligan and Holloway, their meeting at the Furnace Withy pier was the start of a friendship that continued through many years. The friendship would develop into a cooperative effort as they worked towards the growth of the Methodist Academy and at the same time supported each other in the improvement of education in the Methodist schools dotted throughout the island. Many of the advances that lay ahead for Methodist education in Newfoundland found their origins in the minds of these two men.

32

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HO1_I_OWAY

The Methodist population in St John's had been growing rapidly as people from outlying settlements crowded into the city looking for work. The "mother church" of the Wesleyan Methodists had moved in 1867 to a new, much larger building, later known as Gower Street Church. When this church outgrew its capacity to seat its congregation of more than a thousand, money was raised to begin the construction of George Street Church on the waterfront in the city's west end. Charles Ayre had helped finance the construction and served as chapel steward and a member of the new church's board of trustees. Others on the board with close associations with the academy were John Steer, Edward White, and Campbell Macpherson. The organist was Charles Ayre's son, John Bray Ayre; J.E.P. Peters, although still a member of Gower Street Church, was the first superintendent of the Sunday school.16 Milligan, as superintendent of the St John's Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, which included both Gower Street Church and George Street Church, often conducted evening services in the new church. In many ways it was natural that Holloway would begin that first summer to attend services at George Street. Through the Ayres he would eventually meet the family of Captain Richard Palfrey. Charles Ayre's wife, Mary Hannah, known affectionately as "Aunt Polly," was the sister of Elizabeth Bray, who had married Captain Palfrey. When Holloway first came to St John's, the Palfreys' only daughter, Henrietta, was just fifteen. She would become his wife four years later. Meanwhile, another courtship intervened. Few details of that first relationship remain, but we are told that a short time after arriving in Newfoundland, Holloway met, fell in love with, and was engaged to be married to a young lady. Sadly, she subsequently died from tuberculosis, a disease that was all too prevalent in Newfoundland. Her death was a tragedy Holloway had to overcome while he was continuing to invest his heart and mind into making a success of his position. It was a challenging time to begin a career in Newfoundland. The country in the mid-nineteenth century has been described by Phillip McCann as a "particularly interesting example of a colonial state in the making, both materially and culturally."17 In fact,"far from being a cultural desert, Newfoundland in this formative period of its history, sustained a wide variety of cultural forms."18 Many developments in St John's were similar to trends already underway in England - the movement towards Mechanics Institutes, reading rooms, and libraries, the growth of benevolent and ethnic societies, and the beginnings of a debating society with

From England to Newfoundland

regular monthly meetings. The St John's Reading Room and Library had added a Mechanics Institute in 1849, and the combined activities were well patronized; at the time of Holloway's arrival, they were located in an old converted building on Water Street. Plans had been made for some time for the construction of an Athenaeum Hall. Amateur theatre and sporting events such as the annual Quidi Vidi Lake regatta, begun in 1818, provided popular entertainment. There were signs that improved communication was lessening the isolation of the past. Newspapers were of great local interest, with foreign news reported promptly and regularly because of the laying of the Atlantic Cable. The steamships of the Montreal Steamship Company had begun to stop at St John's fortnightly on their way to and from England and Canada, and they were met by small steamboats that carried mail and passengers to coastal communities. After a period of decline, the cod fishery experienced several productive years, the annual seal hunt was thriving, and a geological survey by Alexander Murray had raised the possibility of mining and agriculture as alternative sources of revenue. People were talking of the need for a railway to open up the interior and provide a link between Newfoundland and the Canadian mainland. That first summer there were consultations with Milligan and members of the board, as they shared with Holloway their hopes for the academy and their concerns about the maintenance that was necessary before school opened in September. Holloway learned about the other schools built in St John's about the same time as the Wesleyan Academy, and during the summer he familiarized himself with their locations. The nondenominational classical school at Castle Rennie on Signal Hill Road had failed and been replaced by the General Protestant Academy, which was supported only by private fees and attracting students from other Protestant denominations: Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and some Wesleyan Methodists. The other two denominational academies - the Church of England Academy19 and the Roman Catholic Academy,20 both schools for boys - were supported by legislative grants as well as school fees. Each had a corresponding smaller academy for female students. The Bishop's Girls School, founded by Bishop Feild, became known as Jersey Lodge Academy when two sisters from Jersey in England took over the school in 185/.21 St Bride's Academy had been built for female Catholic students on the estate of Judge Francis Little and was known later as Littledale.22 The Wesleyan Academy23 was co-educational, an arrangement

34

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

Holloway endorsed, having received his own education in the tradition of higher education for both men and women.24 The denominational academies of St John's, later designated as "colleges," were a tangible expression of the yearning for higher education that had grown with increasing civic and national awareness. They were founded in the decade that brought full Responsible Government to Newfoundland, and were connected with the growing patriotism and the felt need of the people to control their destiny. The academies were influential in setting trends for the future of education in St John's and in affecting directly and indirectly Newfoundland's whole educational system. Supported by government and by substantial fees paid by students, the colleges found themselves faced with preparing pupils for entrance to universities in the British Isles, Canada, and the United States, as well as providing a satisfactory basis for others entering the business life of the country. When Holloway turned twenty-four on 30 August, his first birthday in a new land, his thoughts likely turned back to his father, who at the same age had completed his training at the Glasgow Seminary and moved to a position in Woodhouse Grove School. William Holloway had been sensitive to the problems of education and worked hard at the Wesleyan school to put into practice what he had learned and to improve the situation there and in the schools in Barton-on-Humber. Like his father, Robert Holloway saw challenges and opportunities ahead. There was much to do before the reopening of the academy in September. In his planning he surely recalled his own schooling at the Wesleyan Training College in Westminster. There, as Matthew Arnold had declared, students, as men and women, would "remember their schooldays with pleasure ... think of their teachers with affection and mention them with honour, when Blue-books [were] shelved and forgotten."25 Holloway and the teachers working with him would strive to create the same atmosphere for learning and generate the same concern for their students and their welfare.

SUMMER INTERLUDE I

First Explorations

For Holloway, that first summer in a new land, like others to come, was a time for exploring, for becoming acquainted with his surroundings and for meeting many people whose lives would intertwine with his own in his new community. His fascination with the city had begun on his arrival, and there was time now to explore it further and to travel the roads that led to little communities such as Topsail to the west, Torbay, Portugal Cove, and Pouch Cove to the north and Petty Harbour to the south. It was June, and there were wildflowers in the nearby marshes and barrens to compare with the flora he was so familiar with across the Atlantic. Holloway's background in natural history, stimulated in his youth by his father, James Smetham, William Parker, and Thomas Huxley, attuned him to the beauty of the rugged hills and coastline within walking distance of St John's. He immediately began building up a collection of native plants so that, once school started, he could introduce his students to the natural history of the countryside.1 The excellent descriptions that exist of St John's and the nearby communities in the 18705 and i88os help to recreate an accurate picture of the sights and sounds and smells and textures that assailed his senses as he began the explorations that would later inspire scenic photographs and prose celebrating the island. As he walked along Water Street he would hear the predominantly Irish accents characteristic of the largely Roman Catholic population of St John's2 and observe the bustling busyness of people going about their affairs. The cobblestone street was in need of repair but the shops that lined it were respectable, their windows displaying an assortment of merchandise. Many merchants lived above their stores or

36

SUMMER

INTERLUDE I

V I E W FROM S I G N A L HILL, ST J O H N ' S

Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL), VA21-34

in houses nearby. Some of the shop signs were in the form of animals - a polar bear, a black seal, a golden codfish. Market House Square on Duckworth Street was a gathering place for many, because the court house, post office and market were under one roof.3 The square was a place of pandemonium as farmers, fishermen, tradesmen, and citizens came to sell their wares, purchase and pick up supplies, and receive their mail as the bags were opened and sorted.4 Some of the main streets were in deplorable condition, as were the older streets that intersected them, climbing up the hills from the harbour. Among the newer streets were Victoria, Cathedral, Chapel, Bannerman, and Colonial Streets. LeMarchant Road now turned down Patrick Street to the Hamilton Avenue intersection. A new road built along Mount Ken had opened up Freshwater Valley and made possible a lovely summer drive to Topsail.5 There were many other drives leading to bays and coves around St John's, with picturesque views all along the way. One could drive, for instance, to Portugal Cove, a pretty community of about six hundred, with a public wharf where passengers landed off the packet boat traversing Conception Bay and travelled by coach or walked the nine miles to St John's. A writer in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine describes the countryside as "a wild, open, undulating expanse, rising in rounded hills to an elevation in its highest part of six hundred to seven hundred feet," and continues: "All around St. John's, abundantly dotted with small farms, innu-

FIRST EXPLORATIONS

37

V I E W FROM M O U N T SCIO, ST J O H N ' S , LONG P O N D IN F O R E G R O U N D PANL, A17-1$8

merable clear trout streams unite the lakelets that lie embosomed there in woods of rather dwarfed spruce and fir trees, while marshy spots of peat and coarse grass afford a home to abundant snipe, and plains covered with stunted juniper, tamarack, berry-bearing shrubs, complete the landscape."6 The writer's impressions enable us to recreate some of the scenes that Holloway too encountered. At the end of the journey was Portugal Cove, "down a wooded glen, which almost narrows to a gorge as it descends between steep rocky hills to the sea," the houses "perched in the most impossible niches amongst the rocks in the side of the steep cliffs."7 Looking even more precarious were the hastily constructed stages and flakes. These were the signs that the cod fishery had begun and there were plenty offish to be split and salted by the fishermen and then spread to dry, turned, gathered at night and in damp weather, and turned and spread again in the sun by the women and children. In June, Holloway saw magnificent icebergs, some aground near the harbour, and others along the coast. And, because the season was right for the spawning of caplin, he saw for the first time the little fish rolling in on the beaches of Middle Cove and Outer Cove and being scooped up in bucketfuls to be used for food, bait, and fertilizer for the crops. He took in the scenes, memorized them. Years later, he would preserve them on glass plate negatives, sharing his travels with friends and family and inspiring in his students an appreciation of the natural environment and a desire to learn the art and science of photography.

38

SUMMER INTERLUDE I

THE NARROWS FROM CHURCH H I L L

PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 24

In the year that Holloway came to Newfoundland, the need for a railway was a popular topic for discussion. A railway would open up the mineral resources and agricultural land in the interior. The richness of the island's natural resources as well as the flora and fauna had been described fifty years earlier by William Epps Cormack,8 a Newfoundland-born explorer and naturalist. Most people recognized the need to diversify the economy beyond the fishing industry, and Cormack's discovery of the coalfields at St George's, along with ten successful years of operation of the copper mine at Tilt Cove in Notre Dame Bay, raised hopes for further prospects in mining. In 1875 three surveys were conducted to determine the feasibility of a railway, but several years passed before the first sod was turned for the construction of a line between St John's and Harbour Grace and Carbonear, the next largest settlements. Once lines were built to various places in

FIRST EXPLORATIONS

39

Q U I D I V I D I VILLAGE, A F I S H I N G SETTLEMENT NEAR ST JOHN'S PANL, 815-127

Conception Bay, Trinity Bay, and Placentia Bay, and finally reached the north, north-west, and west coasts, Holloway was able to extend his vistas. Long before the railway, long before the cumbersome tripod and camera became his travelling companions, Holloway was a constant observer of the beauty of the changing seasons. Through spring and summer and into the autumn his eyes feasted on the changing hues of the low-lying shrubs on the South Side hills, and the words came easily to describe what he saw. In the spring, the landscape was "beautified by a carpeting of buds, leaves and flowers." In the fall, he wrote, "The leaves of the whortleberry turn to a uniform bright red, others change to every shade of yellow and brown. The hills south of St John's harbour resemble an enormous garden covered with bright flowers, with the bright red of the whortleberry showing through like masses of poppies in a wheat field."9

40

SUMMER INTERLUDE I

S U R F AT LOGY BAY, ABOUT S E V E N M I L E S F R O M ST J O H N ' S PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 21

He did not have to go far to find the wildflowers he would bring to his first classes or to discover the plants that would be berry-bearing in the autumn. Earlier in the season on day excursions to the marshes he discovered bakeapples; sometimes, still earlier, one could find in shady places the delicate, egg-shaped capillaire berries - a treat rare in most places but relatively common in Newfoundland. It was not long after his arrival that he was initiated into the traditions associated with berry-picking, when gallons of partridge berries and blueberries (known as whortleberries or "whorts") were gathered, or there were wild raspberries and strawberries that far surpassed the cultivated varieties in flavour and sweetness. He would later describe berry-picking as one of the island's greatest autumn pleasures and marvel at the delightful picnics held within walking distance of St John's - "billy tea and home-made cakes" were always an important part of the berry-picking day.10

FIRST EXPLORATIONS

41

O U T E R COVE, N E A R S T J O H N ' S PANL, 1/A20-13-1

On his walks on Signal Hill, especially in Cuckold's Cove, he found blackberry bushes, and the Black Marsh Road was a favourite place for gathering kalmia (known locally as "goldwithy" or "goowiddy"11) and pitcher plant. On the marshes of Mundy Pond Road flowering bog myrtle could be found in early spring, followed later by the star-shaped blooms of snakeroot. Another discovery was a field of wild orchids along the Petty Harbour road. Each new flowering plant would be retained in his memory, along with the location and the circumstances under which he had seen the first specimen.12 Holloway enthusiastically communicated his love of nature, to his students in regular and after-school classes, and to others through his writings and his photographs. His desire to keep learning was contagious. Students would observe his joy in his discoveries and his eagerness to seek the help of other naturalists in identifying specimens that were unfamiliar to him.

42

SUMMER INTERLUDE 1

T O P S A I L FALLS, W I T H B E R T I N S A I L O R S U I T O N R O C K PANL, A2-46

FIRST EXPLORATIONS

43

T O P S A I L BEACH, S H O W I N G FISH FLAKES

Centre for Newfoundland Studies (CNS), Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), 7.03.006

Once he began to experiment with photography, his word pictures and drawings would often be replaced by the well-composed images that found their way into British, Newfoundland, and American publications, sometimes with acknowledgments, often not. At first he pursued his hobby as an amateur, but his eye for beauty and talent for composition were evident from the beginning. His background in science enabled him to prepare the chemicals for processing and developing, so that he quickly became a professional, producing over the years an unrivalled collection of scenic views of nineteenth-century Newfoundland. He captured his wanderings around St John's and nearby communities in wonderful photographs of the city and harbour, from Signal Hill and the South Side and Mount Scio. His lens framed and recorded the small, picturesque landlocked harbour of Quidi Vidi, a fishing settlement near St John's, and caught the power of the surf dashing and rising against the rocks at Logy Bay, seven miles from the city, uninhabited in winter but used as a fishing station in the summer. Probably on the same drive, he photographed the fishing premises in Outer Cove. At another time he

44

SUMMER INTERLUDE I

W H A R F AT W I T L E S S BAY PANL, B3-113

recorded fish drying on flakes on the beach at Topsail, and years later he would photograph his young son in a sailor suit on a rock beside majestic Topsail Falls. Leaving St John's by a southern route, he paused along the drive to capture a picturesque view of Witless Bay. Summer vacations became an important part of each passing year, kindling and enhancing his love of the island. The experiences he gained would be shared enthusiastically with his students. Holloway's summer travels were at the heart of a lifelong process that began the day he arrived in Newfoundland - that of "becoming a Newfoundlander."13

Chapter Three THE HOLLOWAY ERA B E G I N S

Altogether, I am gratified to report that the Methodist Academy has an efficiency, in the management of its principal and in the thoroughness of its teaching which are very auspicious for the future success in life of the many interesting youth now enjoying the facilities it offers, not only to obtain knowledge, but with this, what is of greater consequence, intellectual culture. George S. Milligan, 1876 *

The impetus that the Wesleyan Methodist Academy needed came in 1874 with the board's decision - considered by many a courageous one - to hire Robert Edwards Holloway, a young graduate of London University, not quite twenty-four. The directors would support him in his varied enterprises for the next thirty eventful years of the "Holloway Era," a "notable period in the history of the Academy and College; also of education in Newfoundland."2 In the first years of the academy's operation the directors had made many attempts to stimulate its success and increase enrolment. A new prospectus had been written in 1867, John Nichols had been recruited in 1870 and Emile Handcock in 1871, and in the same year a new principal, William Henry, had been hired with excellent recommendations. However, attendance had increased only marginally, and the disruption caused by the principal's illness and return to Ireland had once again seriously hindered progress. The 1867 prospectus had assured parents that the faculty would use all possible means "to awaken the interest of the students in their studies, to exercise at once the memory, understanding and judgement, to see that they are well grounded in what they learn"3 and able to reproduce that

46

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

learning on paper. The philosophy was strikingly similar to Holloway's own, and before long it ceased to be merely a collection of high-sounding phrases in a minutes book and became part of the daily practice of the school. The "awakening of students' interest" began in the classroom, in the science laboratory, sometimes in their out-of-school experience. The "exercise of memory, understanding and judgement" was part of the mental discipline theory to which Holloway subscribed. He believed that scientific subjects were the best vehicle for strengthening "the mental qualities which are so valuable in after life - Observation, Experiment, Deduction, Generalization, Exactness in Record, Importance of Detail, etc."4 The same theory was the basis for his faith in examinations - "which are not set so much with the object of examining pupils as of teaching them."5 Science had rarely been emphasized in the curriculum of the private schools, grammar schools, convents, and academies of mid-nineteenth century Newfoundland. This is not surprising in view of the struggle to establish even minimum standards of education throughout the island and the fact that in England the fight for science in the curricula of the great schools was still being waged.6 The Church of England, Roman Catholic, and General Protestant academies in St John's offered a fairly broad course of studies, but in the curricula of these schools for the remainder of the century the sciences were given low priority. The Methodist Academy was the exception.7 Here science education was emphasized as soon as Holloway could set up conditions to put into practice the ideas he had gleaned from Huxley's courses. Science would be defended and promoted from that time onwards. The summer passed quickly, and soon Holloway was facing his charges at the official school opening ceremonies. Whenever there was a need for all the students to meet together, the large upper room that was the principal's classroom was transformed into an assembly hall that seated the entire population of eighty-four children. As Holloway looked at the boys and girls facing him, and the staff members and board officials beside him on the raised platform, his mind was already full of plans for the academy and the part he hoped to play in bringing them to fruition. The boarding students - pupil teachers and the sons and daughters of outport ministers and merchants - had arrived over the past few days, and he had met most of them as they unpacked their trunks and settled in the rooms adjoining those of Mr Handcock and Mr Nichols.8 The day pupils were the children

The Holloway Era Begins

47

of St John's families, some of them just beginning school, others older and already accustomed to the September ritual. The assembly followed well-established traditions, beginning with prayers and a hymn.9 The chairman of the board, the Rev. John Peach, led the prayers, and Emile Handcock played the accompaniment for the hymns. The new principal and the two masters were introduced, and Holloway stepped forward to give his first welcoming address. He spoke of the challenges that lay ahead for them all. The words came easily, and he hoped, made an immediate positive impact on his hearers. When he concluded, the younger children, directed by their teachers, dispersed to their classrooms.10 Holloway's classroom, now stripped of many of the children and their chairs, suddenly seemed very large. Getting to know his students and having them get to know him would be important priorities in the next few weeks. He would remember for the rest of his life the faces of the pupils in that small first class. Now, as the children settled into their desks, Holloway might have been thinking of his first sight of the rocky shores of Newfoundland, of his summer wanderings over the hills and barrens and his plans to share some of his discoveries with his pupils. Surely natural science was the way to reach them, to kindle their enthusiasm for learning. There would be much more to teach, of course, and much more for them to learn, for he planned a course of studies that would start simply in the lower grades and gradually encompass the whole range of a standard English school curriculum similar to the one to which he himself had been exposed. The room was not unlike the classrooms in the Wesleyan day schools where he had done his practice teaching, except that there was no gallery. The caretaker, Joseph Morey, remembered a gallery in the lower room, but it was removed when the room was partitioned to make two classrooms, one a bit larger than the other to accommodate the youngest group. The long desks were capable of seating six boys or six girls.11 At the moment, these were the classrooms of Emile Handcock and John Nichols; but already Holloway's mind would be leaping towards the changes needed, both in the building and the staff, if the plans for greater involvement of the academy in the training of pupil teachers were to go ahead. As a new principal, Holloway decided to proceed slowly with his plans for extending the curriculum. He would wait a while before requesting from the board the equipment and apparatus he would need. Instead he

48

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

began to work with George Milligan on the task of improving the training of pupil teachers. Just as the Wesleyans in England had made teacher training a priority, so the need for improved teacher training was recognized early by Newfoundland educators. It had been emphasized earlier in the reports of the Roman Catholic and Protestant inspectors and was echoed in a joint report for 1875 of Milligan and Rev. William Pilot, the inspector of Church of England schools. Milligan suggested that pupil teachers coming in from the outports often did not meet a satisfactory standard and required further upgrading at the elementary level before beginning higher courses. For this to happen, a Model School was needed as part of the academy's facilities for teacher training. In his report Milligan noted Holloway's agreement with the points made, saying that he could "bear cheerful testimony as to the deep interest the principal takes in all that pertains to the training of those who are to become the future teachers of schools under the Methodist Boards."12 In addition to making the case for government funding of teacher training, the superintendents spoke of the need for increasing the grant for education to help to provide healthier school buildings, a uniform system of textbooks,13 and improved teacher salaries. Nor did the report stop at the recommendations stage. A syllabus for training teachers was included, as well as a table outlining proposed standards for the grading of schools. Once a government grant and the support of the academy's board of directors were assured, plans were drawn up for the immediate construction of a Model School. This was the first of a number of major changes to the physical plant - a process that was to parallel the growth of the institution during Holloway's tenure as principal. The Model School, which was opened in January 1877, was a comfortable, two-storey building on the western grounds of the academy, designed for 120 pupils, with an infant schoolroom on the ground floor fitted with kindergarten toys, illustrated cards, ball frames, and other equipment appropriate for an infant and primary school. On that floor there were cloakrooms and a small classroom, while upstairs there was a large schoolroom with a gallery. Classrooms were fitted with American desks and chairs. The new building must have been a welcome sight to Miss Annie Leake, who arrived in late December, well recommended by the Model School in Truro, Nova Scotia, to take charge of the school in St John's.14 Under her direction as "Mistress of Method," a program for teacher training evolved that was remarkably similar to the training program in Westminster. Pupils met weekly to dis-

The Holloway Era Begins

49

cuss school management, and criticism lessons given to the children of the primary classes were afterwards fully discussed. Pupil teachers also spent one day a week observing methods and teaching in the Model School. It was now possible for Holloway to make plans for more effective use of his own talents and those of his two masters, who could now devote their time to the upper elementary and share with the principal the curriculum of the higher grades. For Holloway, a laboratory was a prime necessity, and money was forthcoming from the board to purchase the apparatus needed for teaching science to his advanced pupils. In January 1876 his request for $200 was approved by the board, who promised further amounts from time to time from the fees collected for science. In September, an additional amount was paid for chemicals.15 Holloway was also supported in his plans by the joint report of the new superintendents, who encouraged elementary schools to go beyond the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic to expand the syllabus to include natural science as well as some history and geography. Milligan was impressed with Holloway's efforts to give pupils in the Intermediate grade a "sound understanding of elementary science," and his decision in the following year to begin teaching mineralogy.16 With support for each other s ideas and with the encouragement of an outstanding board of directors, both Milligan and Holloway were beginning to realize their dreams. For Milligan, the Model School was the surest way to bring about improvements in the board schools. For Holloway, the decision meant the extension of the academy, the improvement of the elementary division of the school, and the opportunity to diversify the curriculum in the higher grades. The academy prospered. There were now separate boys' and girls' sides (although boys and girls frequently combined for special classes), and the enrolment in 1876 had grown to 130. In the annual inspection Milligan examined pupils in spelling, English and Latin grammar, English history, writing, drawing and mapping, plane geometry, and mensuration, and was well pleased with the results. In that year in addition to mineralogy a start was made on chemistry and physics, and by the following year the sciences were well underway and a further $500 was advanced for equipment. In 1877, forty-seven students were learning mapping and mineralogy, while there were eight in botany, one in hydrostatics, ten in chemistry, two in navigation, and twenty-nine in natural history. This was not done at the expense of other parts of the curriculum, which gave equal weight to English, mathematics, the social sciences, and languages.

5O

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOLL.OWAY

Especially in the advanced classes, students were given a great deal of choice. Holloway belonged to the now-vanished race of scholars whose learning was encyclopedic in scope. He was both humanist and scientist, teaching mathematics, history, geography, English, Latin, Greek, French, and an assortment of sciences ranging over the spectrum of the natural sciences and including a number of applied sciences. In 1877, with 126 pupils in the Model School and 180 in the academy, the total enrolment exceeded 300. Annie Leake was assisted by Gertrude Bulley, who was to become a permanent member of the teaching staff the following year, and there were glowing reports of the success of the school as an observation and practice school for pupil teachers. No doubt Holloway, on reading Milligan's annual report, was also very pleased with the comments about his own teaching: "I had special pleasure in observing the good beginning made towards the formation of a museum for natural objects, as also the very respectable number of articles making up the principal laboratory, in which I was further gratified by a lecture of the learned principal in his class on mineralogy, and by his examination thereof in chemical analysis, as a knowledge of this science has become of great practical consequence in this colony."17 Over the years the collection of rocks and minerals grew, through purchases from the board s allotment for science as well as gifts from other benefactors interested in the work of the academy. Holloway felt that introducing mineralogy and other sciences to his pupils would increase their employment opportunities in mining and industries related to electricity and chemistry and ensure that "our boys will be able to do something better than fetch and carry for others."18 He had come from a background where class structure was much in evidence, where there were great differences in opportunities for education and advancement between the working classes and the wealthy and between Nonconformists and adherents of the "Established Church." His conversations with Milligan and others made him acutely aware of the financial state of the colony and the limited funds available for the day-to-day management of the academy, let alone school construction and maintenance in the outports. In many settlements in Newfoundland where there was only the fishery as a means of livelihood, parents were often in debt to the merchants and unable to pay even the small fees for attendance or to contribute anything but timber to the building of schools. In the 18705 throughout the island only one child in eight was in school, and many settlements had no school at all.

The Holloway Era Begins

51

Holloway knew that education was the key to rising above the situation in which many found themselves, and science education a way of lessening the dependence on the precarious fishery He saw teacher training as a first step towards realizing these goals, and resolved that the influence of the academy would be multiplied as more and more teachers were trained there. In the same way, the broader curriculum would enhance the school experience of all students, preparing them for positions as farmers or technicians in the mines as well as careers in the medical and legal professions or the business life of the country. To a parent's question, "What is the use of mineralogy?" his reply was to say that even if a boy who had studied it never had a chance of putting it to practical use, his powers of observation and his senses would have been exercised and strengthened, so that he would daily feel the benefit of it. The same training of touch and sight that helped a student to recognize trachyte and the felspars might help him in judging other materials such as fabrics or flours. "Education," he continued, "is not merely putting facts into a boy's head: it is the general preparation of his mental machine for his work in life."19 The seemingly boundless energy and capacity for work evident in the early years of Holloway's tenure were to continue throughout his career and, with the help of George Milligan, a competent staff, and a supportive board of directors, would lead to unprecedented growth in the institution. In his 1878 report Milligan judged the Model School to be "truly a model school." With Annie Leake and Gertrude Bulley as teachers, the school was easing the pressure on the academy. Milligan expressed pleasure with the results of his midsummer and Christmas examinations of the primary department, and reported that in the higher grades students were exposed to a wide liberal education. He praised the students for their diligence and progress and the faculty for their industry and ability. Holloway had by this time worked through the terms of the original contract with the board and was wondering whether his contract would be renewed, at what terms, and for how long. He had not spared himself as renovations to the building were carried out, new furnishings selected, equipment ordered and purchased, and lessons planned for an everwidening curriculum. He had also begun his outreach into the community, opening some of his classes to the public and giving lectures to scientific and literary societies. He felt suddenly very tired and realized that he was perhaps trying to do too much, and would be glad when the summer came.

52

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

Henrietta Palfrey was also concerned about the possible effects of overwork on his health. In the four years since she and Holloway had first met, she had grown up to be a beautiful woman, almost nineteen, with brown hair, dark eyes, and a vibrant outlook on life. Holloway was a frequent visitor at her family's home on Queen's Road and also at Davis Cove, Placentia, where she was born. They had talked of marriage, but, like his own father thirty years earlier, he may have been reluctant to take the step without the certainty that the future was secure. Holloway's reappointment was dealt with at a meeting of the board on 15 January 1878. It was a favourable decision, but not without conflict. Holloway was offered a renewal of his engagement from i July for four years at a salary of £350 sterling (about $1,700 per annum), with the understanding that he was to be responsible for any internal repairs to the dwelling house of the academy. At the same meeting the directors inquired whether a daily reading of the holy scriptures took place and recorded in the minutes "their desire that it be made a practice at the morning opening of the Institution."20 Holloway considered this a reprimand at a time when he was working very hard for the school, and was on the defensive as he considered how he should reply. He waited a week before drafting a letter to the board. In it he accepted the offer, while pointing out that there had been no repairs to the principal's house since Mr Henry had lived there. He acknowledged the request to include a daily scripture reading with morning prayers but pointed out that he had merely followed the practice of his predecessor, including singing and prayer, having had no instructions to do otherwise.21 The handwritten letter was read at the board meeting of 10 May 1878, and clipped afterwards to the minutes. Holloway's sense of malaise persisted, together with feelings of tiredness which began to override his thankfulness for the fairly generous increase in salary. The raise might allow him to get married, but there were still the repairs to the house to consider, as well as the cost of a voyage across the Atlantic so that Henrietta could meet his family. There was also the question of timing - of school closing, the wedding soon after, the long trip across the Atlantic and back. All of this had to be fitted into the short summer vacation. Earlier Holloway had discussed with the board a possible rearrangement of the school year into three terms rather than the present two terms, with a long Christmas vacation. The directors agreed with his suggestion to shorten the Christmas and Easter breaks and

HOLLOWAY'S H A N D W R I T T E N LETTER TO THE BOARD OF D I R E C T O R S , M E T H O D I S T ACADEMY, 22 J A N U A R Y 1 878 ( A T T A C H E D TO M I N U T E S OF BOARD M E E T I N G ) Newfoundland and Labrador Conference Archives, United Church of Canada

54

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLUOWAY

lengthen the summer holidays so that teachers and students alike could take advantage of the warm weather. With these matters finally settled, and with the pleasant prospects of an early school closing, his marriage to Henrietta, and the whole summer in England, Holloway regained his energy and began to pursue his many interests, both in the school and in the larger community. He made the rest of the year an exciting time for his intermediate and advanced students. Mineralogy classes were begun, and the hour for chemistry and physics in his basement laboratory was keenly anticipated. He gave a series of lectures on physics and chemistry, illustrated with experiments, and his students soon found that people from outside were joining their classes.22 In his chemistry classes he trained students and adults in chemical analyses and prepared them for jobs as technicians in the mines. Realizing that public lectures in the academy might be a way to raise money for apparatus and materials, Holloway gave a course of six lectures, "practical and experimental," on the metallic ores of Newfoundland. It was a course specially designed for adults. The Morning Chronicle complained afterwards about the crowded conditions in the laboratory and the fact that "the doors had been opened a half-hour early, so that the best seats were taken up before each lecture, and always by the same individuals!"23 As a practical scientist Holloway was greatly influenced and intrigued by the discoveries and inventions of the day.24 As a nineteenth-century scholar, he was also interested in the theoretical basis for these discoveries, and the scientist's search for understanding was an important component of his lectures. He began lecturing in public halls as well in the college laboratory, sharing his discipline with the broader community and members of the literary and scientific institutes that were part of the nineteenthcentury colonial culture. The movement towards such institutes had begun in St John's with the establishment of a library and reading room in 1823, followed by a Mechanics Society in 1827. The Mechanics Institute of 1849 included a museum and apparatus and featured an annual course of lectures. Lectures were also an important part of the activities of the Young Men's Literary and Scientific Society, set up by the Rev. Moses Harvey in 1858. In common with literary and scientific institutes in the neighbouring provinces of Canada, which often merged for the promotion of learning and shared a central building, the three societies and the library in St John's joined in 1861 to form an Athenaeum, or "temple of learning." Its officers were

The Holloway Era Begins

55

drawn from a growing intelligentsia that included clergymen, lawyers, historians, educators, booksellers, publishers, and heads of mercantile firms, as well as members of the House of Assembly and Legislative Council. However, plans to build an Athenaeum Hall to house the library, institute, and reading room had to be postponed because of the depressed state of the economy, and it was not until the year after Holloway's arrival that the cornerstone of the building could be laid.25 It would be completed early in 1878. In the meantime, Holloway became an active member of the Athenaeum, which held its lecture series in 1876 and 1877 in the court house. Holloway's outreach into the community as a lecturer had begun in his first year in Newfoundland. From the beginning he chose topics that would appeal to a wide audience. Emulating Huxley, he aimed for clarity of expression, and when he lectured on scientific subjects, emphasized that science is the study of common things - rocks and plants and animals, air, wind, and water, light and sound. Although learned himself, he refrained from using obscure or elitist terminology. If science is the study of common things, then the examples should also be in simple language that all could understand. His intention was to inform, to engage his hearers, and to extend education beyond the bounds of the school to a mixed audience, many of whom became increasingly interested in what he had to say. His topic, on 6 March 1876 was "National Characteristics," and in the following year, spirits buoyed by the response of parents and others to his mineralogy lectures, he chose "Mineralogy" for his public lecture.26 The report of the annual meeting of the Athenaeum in the Morning Chronicle of 28 January 1878 recalled the event and also listed R.E. Holloway among the lecturers for 1878 in the now-completed Athenaeum Hall. His first lecture in the new building was scheduled for 25 March but he changed the date to i April to have some fun with the topic of "Fools." His subject drew a large audience, and the press reported that the lecture was "solid and wholesome, full of light pleasantries and anecdotes, and marked by dry humour."27 His reputation as a speaker was growing, and he was enjoying the opportunities the lectures gave him to break down the artificial boundaries between school and community. The Athenaeum Hall was an impressive Victorian building, of ornate design, with offices, a library and reading room, and an auditorium that could seat one thousand people. The auditorium's cupola-shaped ceiling was divided into eight panels, with four of them illustrated by a Polish artist, Alexander Pindikowski, with life-size portraits of Raphael, Sir

56

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

A T H E N A E U M HALL, ST J O H N ' S Photographer unknown. CNS, MUN, 1.03.002

Edmund Burke, Sir Walter Scott, and Shakespeare. Pindikowski was also the creator of the ornamental mouldings trimmed in gold. The windows and walnut and oak entrance door were framed by stone arches.28 The building had four storeys, including the underground basement. The style of the new building was in keeping with the ornateness of the public buildings and the graceful architecture of the churches that had been built since the middle of the century and were gradually transforming the character of St John's. Overlooking the city was the twin-towered Roman Catholic Cathedral that had dominated Holloway's first view from the harbour. Among the other beautiful churches were the Church of England Cathedral with its gothic architecture and stained glass windows, and Gower Street Church, known in the city as the "Mother of Methodism," built of brick and stone, roofed with local slate, and capable of seating a thousand people. And among the public halls were the Benevolent Irish Society building and St Patrick's Hall, which was larger than the Athenaeum. Government House had been erected much earlier, in the Georgian style of Admiralty House in Plymouth, England; the Colonial

The Holloway Era Begins

57

Building, with its impressive facade and a ceiling also designed and painted by Pindikowski, had long been the seat of government. It was a time when large homes were being constructed by the wealthy, some in the vicinity of Bannerman Park, facing Kennies' Mill Road, Monkstown Road, and Military Road.29 On Gower Street there were attached houses, a more modest style of architecture evident on other St John's streets. The school year had been successful in every way, and Holloway was proud of the school's involvement in the culture of St John's. He and Henrietta attended most of the public lectures, and Holloway's students assisted with the preparation of the experiments and demonstrations that accompanied his own lectures. The raise agreed upon in January 1878 had been a token of the board's appreciation of his work. At the quarterly meeting of the board on 10 May, his request for a leave of absence from 27 June to 27 September to visit England for his healths sake was granted, "considering the satisfactory efforts made by Mr. H. in the interests and duties connected with the Academy since his inauguration."30 Periods of ill health were to recur many times, although they rarely prevented Holloway's involvement in anything that interested him. With the rush of school closing and preparations for leaving for a long summer in England, Robert and Henrietta decided against a wedding in George Street Church. Instead, Robert Edwards Holloway and Henrietta Palfrey, only daughter of Captain Richard and Elizabeth Bray Palfrey, were married on 25 June 1878 "at the residence of the bride's father." Two days later, they sailed on the ss Caspian for Liverpool.31 Mary Holloway was still living in Battersea, but at a different address. Catharine and Sarah were now schoolteachers. Mary Helen and Emily were at home, and George, the youngest, was almost sixteen, eager for stories of his big brother's adventures in the new land. He, too, was fascinated by science, and destined to become an engineer. His interest in his brother's career would continue, as he contributed to the school's collection of rocks and minerals, and helped to procure staff. Since Battersea was near Westminster, the newlyweds could walk along the Thames embankment to the site of Westminster College. Robert showed his wife the Model School where his father had been headmaster and the "Old Lee," where he, as a boy of fifteen, had taught his practice lessons. Maybe he told Henrietta about Matthew Arnold coming into his classroom on his rounds in the practising schools or recalled field trips with

58

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

Dr Parker and Mr Smetham. It was a happy reunion and a happy summer, and good health was returning as the young couple made the Atlantic crossing and arrived home just after the opening of school in September. Henrietta Holloway settled her belongings into the "principal's residence," along with family heirlooms including a beautiful desk and chair that had travelled with them on their return journey from England. The desk had large drawers and a hinged desktop topped by a glass-fronted bookcase-cabinet. It would be used by Robert Holloway, a treasured piece of furniture through the years. The residence changed quickly from a "bachelor's quarters" to a home in which proper meals were cooked and friends were entertained. Some things didn't change. Holloway's study remained his study, dominated by his big chair and the book-lined walls, though the new desk and chair replaced the old. The laboratory remained in the basement where physics and chemistry classes met for experiments and students would later learn the elements of photography as one of the "practical aspects" of their science lessons. Since Holloway's arrival in St John's, he had always been a welcome visitor at the homes of the Peters, the Pitts, the Ayres, the Macphersons, and other friends. Now the invitations doubled as friends called to offer help in getting settled. Henrietta's relationship to the Ayre family through her mother's sister and the fact that her own parents lived on Queen's Road meant that Holloway now had a large extended family. The social engagements that inevitably followed were added to his already full life. Something else was happening that would also change their lives immeasurably: they were expecting their first child. Hoping for a boy, they had already chosen a name. He would be called William, after the father Holloway had loved and whose memory he honoured. Like the marriage, the 1878-79 school year started on a note of optimism. The fees paid by students amounted to one-and-a-half times the legislative grant, the combined revenue allowing the board to increase teachers' salaries, provide for prizes for students, and purchase improved school desks for one of the schoolrooms. The examinations again showed considerable progress, and Milligan reported that "great facilities had been afforded to advanced students to become proficient in ancient and modern languages, mathematics and natural science."32 Eighteen regularly indentured pupil teachers attended the academy, where by observation and

The Holloway Era Begins

59

contact with the teaching methods of the principal and his associates, as well as practice and instruction in teaching at the Model School, they were prepared for work in the board schools. In the principal's classes the subjects taken continued to be relevant to the interests of the students, and current topics were often explored. Further additions to the laboratory were intended to familiarize students with the principles of the telephone, the microphone, electric light, and other inventions occupying popular attention. In 1878, when the excitement of Alexander Graham Bell's invention had hardly died down, pupils at the Methodist Academy were learning about it first hand as Holloway, using a description of the telephone in the Scientific American, constructed and demonstrated one. The class also constructed a microphone box, put a fly on it under a glass tumbler, then listened to the amplified sounds of the "little creature walking around and stumbling."33 The Superintendent's Report for that year listed four pupils at the Methodist Academy as studying the principle of the phonograph, the forerunner of the gramophone. Holloway's pupils remembered for many years their involvement in the preparations for his lecture on "Electric Light, Experimentally Treated." In the school laboratory they retraced the history of science as the carbon arc was demonstrated and limelight produced. Now the task of the chemistry class was to fill and connect in series 150 Bunsen cells and make the lamps so that their teacher could transfer the classical experiment of Sir Humphrey Davy in 1808 at the Royal Institution to a crowded Athenaeum in St John's. This is how Holloway, years later, would remember the event: Newfoundland is a hard country for the scientific experimenter. It is no case of "you touch the button and we'll do the rest." He must know thoroughly what he is about, and must be able, in a pinch, to make or mend his apparatus. We used pieces of apparatus from all sources, and made others. The lens was a borrowed portrait combination quite detached from the lantern (which was little more than a box) supported some distance in front of the lantern by a Bunsen's universal holder. We made our own limes, and of course our own gas. Yet the result was a complete success, and certainly we and our helpers, especially Mr. Sclater, obtained a real knowledge of the subject, which no mere users of first-class apparatus could have obtained. So with our production of the Electric Light in the same hall. Users of the light now need know little or nothing of the details of the subjects; but these boys... who

6O

R O B E R T EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

helped to fill and join up in series 150 quart Bunsen cells will not easily forget what a Bunsen cell is. We made, too, all our lamps. It is a fine discipline for the young scientist to have to work with insufficient and inefficient materials. And it was a fine light which our Bunsens gave with their 300 volts pressure, and little besides their internal resistance to lessen the current.34

The light produced was estimated at two thousand candles. Interest in this marvel was so great that the large hall was crowded for three consecutive nights, and the Athenaeum library received a large addition to its books.35 The reviews the next day in the Morning Chronicle and Royal Gazette were ecstatic. The audience had filled the hall to the platform and overflowed into the staircases, and the Royal Gazette remarked that a room twice the size would have been filled. The reporter described the reaction of the crowd to the lecture with this play on words: "All went away both delighted and enlightened with the lucid exposition which Mr. Holloway gave them of a very bright subject."36 The lecture was judged by the Gazette as "most satisfactory throughout, and of a character which seems most thoroughly to coincide with the idea of an Athenaeum lecture."37 The two accounts mentioned that, after the production of limelight, the entertainment had been varied by lantern slides of portraits of local celebrities, including the dignified president of the Athenaeum, the Rev. Moses Harvey, followed immediately by a portrait of Billy Fitzsimmonds, a wellknown street person who frequently showed up at funerals dressed in a several-sizes-too-big black frock coat, to the embarrassment of mourners.38 According to the Chronicle, this "brought down the house."39 The same humour came through in other lectures, and even in those of a more serious vein, Holloway's hearers were aware that he was enjoying himself as he talked and wanted to share with others his own joy in learning. Both papers alluded to the speaker's observations of the difficulty of subdividing the light to make it available for general use. Holloway credited French scientists with being furthest along in the race towards achieving this goal. At this time Joseph Swan in England and Thomas Alva Edison in America were both working towards the invention of a light bulb that would be economically feasible. Holloway's prejudice against Edison came through in the lecture; the Gazette referred to his "lack of faith in Edison's claims that he could bring his system to the point of perfection."40 Rather than the Edison light, Holloway chose the Wallace light (another American

The Holloway Era Begins

61

invention) to enable the large crowd to find their way downstairs at the end of the evening. In January 1880 the experiments of the physics and chemistry classes at the academy were once again followed up in the Athenaeum Hall, this time in one of the adjoining rooms. The Evening Telegram had advertised "a course of five lectures in Magnetism and Sound (the telephone, microphone, and phonograph); Chemistry of Air, Water and Common Things; Heat; Physiology - all to be treated simply and illustrated with experiments."41 The annual report of the Athenaeum later stated that "the class for instruction in science given by Robert Edwards Holloway last winter gave great satisfaction to those who attended." The lecture on the telephone would still be vividly alive in the memory of one of Holloway's pupils, Arthur Mews, when he spoke to a student assembly fifty years later. He told them how his physics class had used the telephone and learned how it was constructed before anyone else in Newfoundland - in fact before most people in Canada and the United States - had seen it. Mews related an amusing story of the demonstration of the telephone to the adult class at the Athenaeum: Mr. Holloway and his auditors were gathered in the hall upstairs with several telephones which were connected by wire with another telephone placed in a cupboard three or four floors below the hall. Mr. Holloway asked Mr. McNeily, a leading barrister and talented singer, to go into the basement and sing into the telephone so that the people in the hall might hear it by that means. Mr. McNeily had a splendid voice and, thinking it was necessary to do his best, he sang with such fervour that the people in the hall three stories up heard him, whether they were listening by the telephone or not. Everybody laughed, and Mr. Holloway turned to me and told me to go down and sing. I went, and in my boyish treble sang "Pull for the Shore, Sailors," it was just what Mr. Holloway wanted. Those listening on the phones heard the song, but the others in the hall did not.42

Alex J. W. McNeily, five years older than Holloway, was a friend and great admirer of the principal. Two of his sons, Jim and Will, were pupils at the Methodist Academy, and there would be close ties between the two families. McNeily represented Bonavista in the House of Assembly in 1873 and 1878, and in 1889 became Speaker of the House. He and Holloway shared a love of nature as well as of English literature. He had great respect for

62

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

Holloway as a Shakespearean scholar and was to say later that he "had just enough of knowledge to know how much Holloway knew."43 In Holloway's classes, pupils continued to be inspired by his teaching. Although he stressed the experimental approach and would come to believe in it more and more, his classes frequently took the form of lectures, much like "popular science lectures" in England in which he performed demonstrations or used other means of illustration. When interest was aroused by this introduction, students were led to good textbooks to explore further, or encouraged to do additional laboratory work. He was anxious that the slowest students should understand, and he encouraged them all to ask questions if meanings were not quite clear to them. He recognized the need for pupils to have a basic framework of knowledge before proceeding to more complex concepts. He stressed comprehension of this framework, which he termed the "first principles" of a discipline, rather than rote memorization of facts. In the same way he discouraged the use of a formula without really understanding its meaning. His examinations stressed this, and required understanding of laboratory procedures. Regular examinations were conducted at all levels, with grades based on year-round achievement rather than on one final examination.44 In 1879 Holloway realized a dream that had been among his plans for the academy for the past five years. One of his pupils, Herbert Knight, went directly from his classes and passed the London Matriculation examinations. The following year arrangements were made to make St John's a colonial centre for the London University examinations, and pupils began preparatory courses.45 In 1879 Henrietta gave birth to a son, and, as they had planned, he was named for his paternal grandfather but called "Willie" from the start. It was a name that Holloway was proud to give his son. Already, William Holloway's influence was implicit in the progress made in the building of a strong Methodist institution in St John's. The next fifteen years would be a period of phenomenal growth, marked nevertheless by crises of great proportions. The same span of time would take Holloway through high points and lows as he lived his life as a husband and father and, at the same time, made his presence felt in the institution and country that were now part of his psyche. The academy would grow along with its principal, aided immeasurably in his work by George Milligan, along with a dedicated staff and a supportive board. The academy would become the Methodist College; the board of directors of

The Holloway Era Begins

63

the academy would become the board of governors of the college. Faculty would change, and in many cases continue to have an influence as well on the wider community, while the college would assume increasing importance in the lives of the hundreds of students who passed through its walls each year. Throughout all this change, certain things would remain the same. Holloway would continue his dedicated service to the college and his commitment to the importance of the "common" things of life, while ensuring there was no division between school and community. For the Holloways their most immediate plan was to take the baby, Willie, to England the following summer, to show him off to Robert's mother, sisters, and brother. It would also be an opportunity for Holloway to fulfil another ambition, returning to South Kensington to attend the last of Thomas Huxley's summer sessions for science teachers. Huxley was still dean of science there, and Holloway would see again his friend William Newton Parker, who would be the demonstrator in biology for the course. It would be good to be there to renew old friendships and to pursue his own further education in science.

Chapter Four FROM ACADEMY TO COLLEGE

But our greatest advances have been educational. Our denomination has shown its wisdom in concentrating its energies on one central institution - College, - Training School, - Boarding Department, - Boys'School, - Girls'School, - Primary, - Infant, Kindergarten, - all in one. Robert Holloway, 18991

In the summer of 1880 Holloway returned to England to study, with the aim of "passing a further examination." At its 28 April meeting, the board had granted him permission to close the school on the fifth of July instead of the fifteenth and to remain in England until the end of August if necessary. To allow the Holloways time to get ready to leave for England, Distribution Day was held at the end of June, with William Pitts presenting the prizes and diplomas. The time in London would also give Holloway the chance to spend some time with his mother and sisters and brother. Even with the raise in his salary to $1,750 a year, the $250 for the Atlantic crossing and the additional train fares in England placed quite a strain on their budget, and the fiveday voyage was more difficult now with a small child. However, it was a journey they wanted very much to make, as Mary Holloway would see little Willie for the first time. Robert imagined his mother's thoughts would go back to Barton-on-Humber and the birth of her own first son. Memories of William's delight in having a son would surely be rekindled as she held her small grandson in her arms; it was good that he had been given his grandfather's name. They found the house on Bridge Road in Battersea much as they remembered it from their last visit. George, almost seventeen, was much

From Academy to College

65

taller, and Sarah, twenty-two, was finishing her year of teaching. It was a time for family, without the presence of the students whose board during the school year made up a good part of the household income. (One of the students staying with the family at Battersea in the year ahead would be Herbert Knight from St John's, the first of Holloway's pupils to pass the London Matriculation examinations.2) Holloway, now thirty, was looking forward to being a student again himself, in the last of Huxley's summer courses. His Bachelor of Arts degree from London University had a strong chemistry and physics orientation, and this summer's studies would enable him to write and pass the Intermediate Science component of the London University Baccalaureate in Science. He was confident that he could complete the requirements for his degree by private study. His friend, William Parker, who was to be the demonstrator in biology for the course, had written the Intermediate Science examination in 1877 and completed the Bachelor of Science requirements from London University in 1878. If only he had the year free to do just that! But in the familiar laboratories in South Kensington he was in his element. He was able to make further contacts resulting in his certification as a Fellow of the Chemical Society. He could now use the initials PCS after his name, and indeed, the initials would appear there in future college reports. At the end of the summer the Holloways returned to St John's, and school began again in September with record enrolment. The increased workload, together with the expenses of the trip to England, prompted Holloway to write to the board requesting a modest increase in salary: "Our schools are full. Every desk is occupied in each department. If you consider my services worthy of further remuneration, I shall be glad to receive such encouragement during the coming year." However, his request was turned down by the directors - probably the only time that this happened during his tenure. The board too was on a tight budget and had to meet expenses such as large outlays for school furniture to accommodate the added enrolment. Ironically, among the new furniture was a more suitable desk that Holloway had requested earlier for his classroom.3 The board may also have been reluctant to raise his salary because other members of the faculty were paid considerably less and had not received the same generous increases. Another discrepancy in the overall salary picture was the difference, characteristic of the time, between rates of pay for female and male teachers, a difference that was to persist for some time.

66

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

F I R S T R A I L W A Y STATION IN ST J O H N ' S AT FORT W I L L I A M , O P E N E D IN 1 88 1 Photographer unknown. PANL, €3-1.1

The family had returned home to what seemed a period of great promise for Newfoundland. A number of developments were occurring that were designed to open up the country and give badly needed employment to the people in occupations other than the fishery. Work had begun on the construction of the railway. The survey of the proposed line between St John's and Harbour Grace was completed in the fall of 1880, and before long, trains were running daily. The first railway station in St John's opened in 1881 in the last building standing at Fort William and became a favourite gathering place when trains pulled into or away from the station.4 That same year the Colonial Cordage Company was founded by James H. Monroe, with five hundred people employed at the Rope Walk. Construction of the St John's Dry Dock began, a new post office was planned, and telegraphic services were extended to a number of places in Notre Dame Bay, Bonavista Bay, and the Burin peninsula.5 As people from the outports crowded into St John's seeking work in the railway construction and other projects, the Methodist population in St John's expanded. In 1882 there were three Methodist churches, with congregations totalling nearly three thousand. George Street Church, opened in 1873, had been situated deliberately in "a densely populated district." George Street itself was "lined with blacksmiths' forges, sail-

From Academy to College

67

makers and coopers' premises, and all the other supporting activities of a seaport and mercantile centre."6 The third church, Cochrane Street Church, in a residential area overlooking the eastern end of the harbour, would be opened on 14 May 1882. Cultural societies continued to proliferate. In 1882 the Benevolent Irish Society opened a new club on Queens Road, with an entrance on Military Road to a large theatre in St Patrick's Hall. The Academia, organized that September by Sir Edward Morris, met regularly in a building at Water and Prescott streets to discuss literary and scientific topics.7 The Athenaeum by this time had 350 members, and the library boasted a collection of five thousand volumes and subscribed to more than eighty papers, reviews, and periodicals. Committee member William Pitts had donated the Encyclopedia Britannica; there were fine library maps in the Reading Room; and the president, the Rev. Moses Harvey, had arranged for a daily telegraph summary of foreign news. The course of lectures, given mostly by lawyers, members of the House of Assembly, local clergy, and educators, ran regularly from January until March or April.8 Holloway continued to draw a large audience for his lectures. In preparing them he could have easily tried to impress his hearers with his knowledge, but this was not in his nature. He kept the content light, interesting, informative, often humorous, and appealing to a wide cross-section of the community. A typical example was the tongue-in-cheek title of his first lecture at the Athenaeum after his summer in England: "An Innocent Abroad." This desire to share with others his endless interest in new ways of looking at the world was evident over the next few years. He continued his outreach into the wider community by opening up his classes to the public and, in addition to his involvement with the Athenaeum, began lecturing at the Methodist Academy Literary Institute. Previously known as the Academic Institute, it had been founded in 1867 by some past students of the Wesleyan Academy, among them men Holloway now knew well, such as Stephen Rendell, Charles R. Ayre, and J.E.P. Peters. When the academy became a college, the institute changed its name to the Methodist College Literary Institute (MCLI), and over the years Holloway was to change the tenor of the debates and discussions of this institute from the ultraconservatism of the founding members to new and broader channels.9 His lectures became annual events, with topics such as "The Lowest Forms of Life" (30 March 1881), "Poisons" (4 March 1882), and "The Eye" (March 1883). From then on they would continue under the title "An

68

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

Evening with Professor Holloway," a designation which he definitely did not condone. In characteristic fashion, he would one day insist in the school magazine that there were no professors in St John's!10 In 1885, as MCLI president, he would encourage interesting lecturers and stimulate lively discussion and debate. The early i88os saw changes in Holloway's teaching staff. Emile Handcock resigned as second master to become principal of the General Protestant Academy and Presbyterian Commercial School (later the Presbyterian College). Holloway would miss his music and his help with the French classes, but he understood his reasons for leaving - he himself had never been happy as an assistant master. He hoped that Emile would continue as choir leader at George Street Church or at least as a member of the choir, which was a magnificent one; in it Emile's tenor voice was joined-by those of Alex McNeily and Alfred Martin, and a number of Holloway's other friends, including Charles R. Ayre, made up the bass section. Margaret Bulley had worked out well at the elementary level and was now promoted to the Upper School's new division for the younger girls. Bertha Dove, the first female student at the academy to pass the London Matriculation examinations, was added to the staff of the Model School. After searching in vain for a drill master, and suddenly feeling well enough in the fall of 1882 to tackle the job himself, Holloway took on the unlikely role of teaching "calisthenics with musical dumb-bells." The dumb-bells, short bars weighted at both ends, were designed to be used in connection with muscle-building, rhythmic exercises set to music.11 Holloway's interest in photography was growing, and, as with each new enthusiasm, he was eager to share it with students and parents alike. Despite the increased numbers in his science, mathematics, Latin, and English classes, he also started lessons in photography and taught students how to make lantern slides from negatives. When he began to use his camera to record academy events, he aroused the ire of a local photographer, S.H. Parsons, who complained to the board of unfair competition. Holloway denied the allegation, and the board took no action on the complaint.12 The student population at the academy continued to increase year by year and by 1885 had reached 324, with twenty-five pupil teachers in attendance. The classrooms were filled to overflowing, and the "Home," the residence for pupil teachers and other boarding students, could no longer accommodate all those wanting to enter. Plans were made for a new

From Academy to College

69

building and additional staff to ease the load of the principal and free him for administrative duties and the management of the advanced classes. The early i88os brought a number of changes in the Holloway family as well. Henrietta's father had become ill during the winter of 1880; he died in May of the following year, at the age of sixty. On 15 May 1882 the Holloways' second child was born - a little girl, Elizabeth Mary, whose name would be shortened to Elsie. When another daughter, Katie, was born on 4 April 1885,13 Elsie was almost three, and Willie, now six, was in his second year at the Model School. Willie and his friend, Cluny Macpherson, had started school together and played together in and about the Methodist Academy. They were often found on weekends and summer holidays watching what was happening on the grounds nearby as construction of the new school was underway.14 The friendship between the children continued, and the Holloways were frequent visitors at the home of Cluny's parents on Kennies Mill Road. In 1885 Holloway spent another summer in England, this time without Henrietta, who was kept busy with three children, the youngest just two months old. Also, the cost of a trip to England for all five would have been difficult to factor into the total income available to provide for the family. As well, Henrietta was concerned about her mother, who had stayed on in the house on Queen's Road after Richard Palfrey's death. Although Elizabeth Palfrey had many friends and relatives in St John's, Henrietta tried to see her as often as possible. For Holloway, the long vacations were vital to help him to regain his health after the severe Newfoundland winter. However, the summer of 1885 did not bring about the benefit he had hoped for. It was not a good summer in England, and there had been days when the mist and fog aggravated the difficulty in breathing that seemed to happen more frequently now. In August he was forced to see a doctor, who admitted him to hospital until his fever subsided. He was advised to rest in bed until the congestion in his lungs eased and to postpone his return to Newfoundland for several weeks. The board, while agreeing to the delay, was faced with the problem that Holloway might be away for an extended period because of illness. The problem was compounded by the fact that Emile Handcock had left the academy and John Nichols had just resigned to become supervisor of drawing for Newfoundland schools. George Milligan came to the rescue;

7O

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.L.OWAY

having been a teacher at Mount Allison, he could supervise the activities of the principal's classes and teach the English, Latin and Greek courses.15 When Holloway returned in October, the board paid his salary in full for the remainder of the quarter and assured him of "the pleasure felt by the directors on his safe return and their earnest desire that he might be fully restored to health."16 Bouts of sickness were to become a pattern in Holloway's life; but through the strength of his personality he managed to rise above such crises and come back to his many tasks, maintain the same pace as before, and accomplish a great deal. The board knew this and found ways of working around his enforced absences, covering his classes until his return. The curriculum at the Methodist Academy continued to be as wide as was possible, given the constraints of the building, the changes in staff, and the task of moving into the new college. At the end of the 1885-86 school year, the board of directors was left with an overdrawn balance because of the "protracted illness of the esteemed principal" and the need to hire additional staff during his absence.17 However, the patrons and friends of the academy and of higher education in Newfoundland helped with the unexpected debt, and the new building opened in January 1886. Help also came from a bequest of $2,500 from the estate of William Pitts, a constant friend of the academy who had been appointed to the board in 1880 to succeed Stephen Rendell. Pitts was remembered and missed at the opening ceremonies. His son, James Stuart Pitts, was to follow in his father's footsteps and support Holloway in his endeavours in the years ahead. Thus, in spite of the setbacks, 1886 was rated by Milligan as a "year of very great, perhaps unprecedented success."18 Thomas McDowell had been appointed as vice-principal, with Joseph Laurence once again assisting in England in finding a suitable person for the position, as he had done with Holloway twelve years before. The following year brought the news of Laurence's death, and it was appropriate that an ex-president of the Newfoundland Methodist Conference who was in England at the time was able to take part in the graveside service and pay tribute to his lifetime interest in the academy and Newfoundland Methodism.19 In January 1887 (the year, incidentally, of another celebration - the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne), the new Methodist College was formally opened by his excellency the Governor and Lady des Voeux, and the name "Methodist Academy" was left behind as staff and students began another year in the new surroundings. The new

From Academy to College

71

M E T H O D I S T C O L L E G E IN LATE 1 88OS, S H O W I N G THE M O D E L SCHOOL AS A S E P A R A T E B U I L D I N G , AS W E L L AS THE C O L L E G E H O M E THAT H O U S E D S T U D E N T S A N D STAFF Photographer unknown. From Prowse, History of Newfoundland, 1895

Methodist College had two suites of classrooms with folding walls, an assembly hall, and a large room used by the Young Men's Literary Institute.20 Milligan described the assembly hall as "very commodious and elegant," well adapted as a lecture room and for closings or other college exercises attended by the public. Charles R. Ayre was to donate a pipe organ for this auditorium.21 The rooms, well ventilated and steam heated, were furnished with modern seats and desks, and there were lavatories, two large gymnasia (one for boys and one for girls), and at last, fulfilling Holloway's dream, a museum and a laboratory "fully equipped with chemical, electrical and other physical equipment."22 James Walker, a certificated drill master from Westminster, in charge of physical education, presided over a drill room. Thomas McDowell had resigned before the college opened and been replaced as vice-principal by Thomas J. Forsyth. The college prospectus stated that the course of studies was designed to prepare pupils for entering any of the universities of Britain or America,23 and as the years went by, this was indeed the case. Holloway prepared his advanced pupils for university by teaching them not only preparatory

72

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOLL.OWAY

subjects but, quite often, university-level courses in the disciplines they planned to pursue. In doing so he was giving the young people attending the Methodist College some opportunities equivalent to those afforded to students at the university level in the Maritime provinces and other parts of Canada. There were many similarities in the progress of education in the provinces that had joined to form the Canadian confederation. One of these was the role of the church in education. As in Newfoundland, the religious question dominated the development of common schools in neighbouring provinces in the nineteenth century and determined the growth of "higher" education.24 The Scottish influence was seen at the secondary level at Pictou Academy in Nova Scotia, founded by Thomas McCullough, who later spread the Presbyterian influence further as president of Dalhousie University. King's College in Windsor was an Anglican Church college, largely classical in emphasis. Horton Academy in WolfVille, set up by the Baptists, later became Acadia University. Mount Allison was a Methodist college that grew out of the Wesleyan Academy in Sackville, New Brunswick. St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia evolved from Arichat Seminary, and the Central Academy in Prince Edward Island, a Protestant institution, became Prince of Wales College, later combining with St Dunstan's to become Prince of Wales University. In Upper Canada, Presbyterians founded Queen's University; Roman Catholics, Regiopolis College; and Methodists, Victoria College. A significant factor in the growth of post-secondary institutions, however, was the cost of establishing and maintaining such schools. While neighbouring provinces were beginning to elevate their academies and colleges to the status of universities, Newfoundland, still a British colony, was much less advanced economically and educationally. The establishment of a normal school and university college would have to wait for the end of the First World War and the help of a Carnegie grant. Further limiting the growth of educational institutions in Newfoundland was the enactment in 1874 (the year of Holloway's arrival) of the denominational system of education, a system that was firmly entrenched by the subdivision of the Protestant grant for education, formerly divided only between Roman Catholic and Protestant schools. There had been a thirty-year struggle over the subdivision of the Protestant grant, with the majority of the Select Committee appointed to study the question favouring interdenominational schools. The five Methodists on the committee had opposed

From Academy to College

73

subdivision but were in the minority, and had to fall in with the Anglicans when the vote was taken to settle the "vexed question."25 The question was never really settled in the minds of those who had voted against it in the first place, and it continued to create problems, especially in the outports where the need to duplicate facilities, coupled with the shortage of teachers to staff them and the lack of money to operate them, held education back for the next century. With the appointment in 1876 of superintendents of each of the three major denominations - Anglican, Catholic, and Methodist - the struggle continued, as each of these men travelled around the island trying to improve conditions without the means to accomplish what needed to be done. Other educators, concerned about the lack of progress, tried to mitigate the "evils" of the system by working towards uniformity in curriculum, teacher training, and certification, and a common examining system. The five Methodists on the eight-member Select Committee - Rogerson, McNeily, Ayre, Steer, and Rorke - all well known to Holloway soon after his arrival, had in the end voted reluctantly for subdivision of the grant, each giving in finally to the persuasion of the other churches.26 The problems leading up to the 1874 Act were long afterwards a subject for intense discussion and debate. Over the years Holloway worked closely with Milligan in his role as superintendent for Methodist Schools, trying to make the best of the consequences of the legislation. He also worked with others in an effort to develop unifying trends that would bring the denominations together and remove the artificial barriers that had been created. The barriers between the denominations were lessened as members of the various cultural and religious societies attended Holloway's lectures and he theirs. They lowered further as the headmasters of the three colleges and other representatives of the denominations worked together on the Council of Higher Education to discuss plans for a common system of examinations. And when the superintendents suggested in their reports the formation of a Newfoundland Teachers' Association, many hailed the idea as an another unifying influence. However, as the nineteenth century drew to a close, there were still "under-funded and under-staffed primary schools ... tailing away to intermittent schooling (or no schooling at all) in the smaller and more isolated outports."27 At the Methodist College, Holloway continued to prepare the students for entrance to post-secondary institutions outside Newfoundland or to take their places in the industrial and business life of the country. To

74

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLUOWAY

accomplish this, the science component of the curriculum continued to be strong and compared very favourably with what was happening elsewhere. He kept abreast of what was happening in the Canadian provinces and established connections that allowed him to encourage his students in their interests and advise them on post-secondary paths and where to pursue them. In the course of his work at the college and as a government analyst,28 assaying ores for the mining industry, he established connections with scientists in the federal government and came to be known by them and by other visitors to the colony who had an interest in science. Many scientists in nineteenth-century Canada were in positions useful to the development of the country rather than on the faculty of colleges and universities.29 Among them were geologists such as William Logan of the Geological Survey of Canada, his assistant Alexander Murray, who would later survey Newfoundland and, in the Maritimes, John William Dawson, later superintendent of education for Nova Scotia. Others were botanists and entomologists, such as Leon de Provancher of Quebec, known as the "Canadian Linnaeus," and James Fletcher, Dominion entomologist, to whom Holloway would refer his students' collections of butterflies and other insects for identification. Many others who were interested in science were clerics with training in natural history, or welleducated amateurs, often in the Scottish tradition, who wanted to continue their collecting and other scientific activities in the new land. While Holloway was working towards a strong science program at the Methodist College in St John's, there were isolated instances in the Canadian provinces where a liberal education was offered at the secondary level, and there were also efforts to develop science programs in colleges from which students could transfer to university courses in science. One instance that invites comparison with what was happening at the Methodist College was at Pictou Academy in Nova Scotia, where Thomas McCullough, much earlier in the century, taught science, started collections of insects and plants, catalogued rocks and minerals, purchased equipment, and gave public lectures in science illustrated with experiments.30 Unlike Holloway, who, by the standards of his time, was well trained in science, in these lectures McCullough linked natural science with principles of theology and lagged behind Holloway and many of his American counterparts in his acceptance of Darwinian theory. McCullough's influence was multiplied greatly by the directions taken by his students, many of whom either followed careers in science or taught in the

From Academy to College

75

province's schools. One of McCullough's students was George Lawson, a prime mover in organizing the Botanical Club of Canada, of which Holloway was to become a member, along with contemporaries like William Logan and A.H. Mackay.31 McCullough extended his influence by becoming the first president of Dalhousie University in 1838. It was at the post-secondary level that strong science programs were evolving in neighbouring provinces and in Upper and Lower Canada. At a number of small colleges, graduates transferred successfully to university courses in science. And, just as it took the genius of an inspired teacher to promote the teaching of science at the secondary level, so at the college and university level, success often followed the hiring of a professor whose creative energy and drive transformed the curriculum. Two Scots, James Robb and William Brydone-Jack, introduced science into the austere curriculum of King's College, and afterwards spread their influence at the University of New Brunswick. At McGill the influence of William Dawson raised the status of that university until its science facilities and programs were the most extensive in Canada.32 This was the university that many of Holloway's students would attend and where one of his students, William Boyle, would be awarded the first PhD conferred by McGill and later become the senior physicist in Canada.33 Upper Canada College grew into Victoria College, but needed the inspiration of Eugene Haanel, a man of unbounded energy, to raise it to the status of a university, institute a BSC degree program, and upgrade the facilities by designing Faraday Hall, a prototype for similar facilities to be built later at Toronto and Queen's. It was Victoria College that another of Holloway's students, Edwin J. Pratt, would choose after graduation, becoming later a member of the faculty and recognized generally as the leading Canadian poet of his generation.34 At the Methodist College, opportunities for growth had never been better and, in spite of the frailness of his health, Holloway felt equal to the tasks that lay ahead. The directors of the Methodist Academy were now the governors .of the Methodist College, with an executive of eleven selected from among the forty members, a far cry from the five who had made up the board at the time of Holloway's arrival. The old academy building was renovated at a cost of $40,000 and became the teachers' residence and the "Home" for pupil teachers and other boarders. This was scheduled to be furnished and opened after the midsummer holidays, with the Rev. George P. Story and his wife as guardians. A small annual government

/6

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.UOWAY

subsidy would help to keep the charges to students at a reasonable level. In his reports George Milligan praised the residence as a home away from home, with provision for supervised study, and attention paid to comfortable surroundings, the general health of the students, and their care in case of illness. By this time the Holloways were expecting a fourth child, so the renovations were no doubt very welcome. They must also have appreciated the innovation of running water in their residence, although it is uncertain whether the board acted on Holloway's request for water closets and a bath. At a meeting in September of 1887 a decision was made to begin renovations to the Boys' Department, but the request for the Holloways' residence was "tabled for the present."35 The new baby, Robert Palfrey Holloway, was born on 15 November, and the family, now including two boys and two girls, had a suite of rooms with plenty of room for a nursery for baby "Bert." As his own family was growing and economic conditions were sometimes difficult, Holloway likely thought back to Battersea and his own mother and father and the adjustments they had had to make to make ends meet. His mother had willingly taken on the added burden of cooking for boarding students during the school year. It is also likely that Holloway compared his father's career with his own; William's work had pre-empted all other considerations, even as his health began to fail. Was the sense of urgency that Holloway felt akin to the sense of urgency experienced by his father? Should he now give more consideration to his own health in the face of all that he too wished to accomplish?

Chapter Five A T I M E OF T R A G E D Y

As a precautionary measure, we inoculated all the inmates of the Home with antitoxin. We also recommended the regular day pupils submit to the same treatment. The evidence in favour of such treatment being an almost certain preventative to diphtheria seemed to us overwhelming. The decision, however, was left to the parents.

Robert Holloway, 1899l Shortly, Holloway would be facing a grave crisis not in his own health but in that of his family and the broader community of St John's. All the schools in the city and many outside it would be affected by an epidemic of diphtheria which, because little was known at the time about treatment of the disease or the precautions that should be taken, spread quickly and caused a great number of deaths, especially among children. In 1888 the newly appointed Board of Health had uncovered 273 cases of diphtheria which affected ninety-nine families in the town and resulted in sixty-seven deaths.2 The death toll would continue, and two years would pass before the epidemic began to subside. Most vulnerable were children under fourteen years of age. Whole families would be wiped out. At the St John's colleges there was suddenly the need to take care of acutely ill children who were away from their parents while attending school. The only hospital existing for the treatment of infected patients was the Fever Hospital situated under the block house on Signal Hill. For Robert and Henrietta Holloway, the epidemic would be remembered forever because of the sudden illness of two of their four children and, within a period of just two weeks, the heart-rending loss of both first Katie, and then Willie. Katie died on 8 March 1888, a month before her

/8

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

third birthday. On 21 March, less than two weeks later, nine-year-old Willie also died. The periods of despondency that accompanied Holloway's own illness were more intense because of this devastating loss. Henrietta mourned her son and little daughter and drew comfort by giving all her mother-love to her remaining two children, Elsie and baby Bert. As was often the case in those days, Holloway would try to assuage his grief by seeking understanding and solace in prayer and in reading from the family Bible, given to his father by the Wesleyan Day School. Or, perhaps he found expression for his desperate feelings of loss in the wellknown passage from Shakespeare's King John, in which Constance ponders the death of her son, Arthur: Grief fills the room up of my absent child; Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, Remembers me of all his gracious parts, Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form: Then, have I reason to be fond of grief? Fare you well: had you such a loss as I, I could give better comfort than you do. I will not keep this form upon my head, When there is such disorder in my wit. O Lord! my boy, my Arthur, my fair son, My life, my joy, my food, my all the world! My widow-comfort, and my sorrows' cure!3

Willie had been a big brother to Elsie and Katie and, since November, to little Bert. Holloway too had been the first-born and a big brother many years before to his sisters, Catharine, Mary Helen, Sarah, and Emily, and his one baby brother, George. How he must have wished that Willie could have lived to experience the same closeness with Bert that had characterized his own relationship with George. George Holloway had kept in close touch with his brother through the years and always shown so much interest in his work in Newfoundland, sharing with him letters from home and specimens of rocks and minerals for the school collection. Of late George had expressed concern about his brother's health and offered to assist in procuring additional faculty in England to lighten the load of his work.

A Time of Tragedy79

The next year went by very slowly, shadowed by the ongoing epidemic. Holloway poured his energies into work as the new buildings filled up with students. The new Home was already too small to meet the demand for rooms for boarding students. The board decided to alter two rooms in the principal's residence for this purpose during the summer holidays. Improvements to the residence were to be made as well, including an iron fence (provided for in William Pitts's will) to be installed front and back, making a safe play area for Elsie and Bert.4 The diphtheria epidemic continued, a constant threat. Robert and Henrietta watched over their remaining children. They found themselves under great strain from the effects of the epidemic on the town and especially on the school and the boarding students and pupil teachers from the outports. There had been several cases of the sickness at the Home, but they had been nursed through their illness by Rev. Story and his wife, and mercifully there were no fatalities. When Milligan visited the school early in the year, the Third Class was greatly upset because their well-loved teacher, Miss Bulky, had been stricken with fever. Sarah March was appointed to take her place until the end of the term, and Sarah Sharpe would later replace Miss Narraway, who retired as "Lady Principal" after three years of service. Forsyth also resigned after two years and was replaced by John West. It was a hectic year, with the chance that the June examinations for pupil teachers would also be affected. The revenue of the Home would be drastically reduced should the schools be prematurely closed.5 There was as yet no antitoxin for diphtheria, and treatment was primitive. The practice in St John's was to quarantine the homes of all new patients contracting the disease, and to indicate that a home was under quarantine with a yellow poster bearing the word DIPHTHERIA. Concealment of the disease among the poor was a frequent occurrence because the breadwinner still had to go to work to earn money to feed his family. Unsanitary conditions in the town added to the problem. At a board meeting on 21 May, a letter from the Board of Health was read signifying the intention to close the schools. The college board resolved at the meeting to keep pupil teachers in the Home until the examinations and passed a resolution that a deputation of the executive of the board would present a letter to the Board of Health, protesting against the compulsory closing. Among the reasons given for keeping the Home open were the low statistics of cases and deaths at the school, the loss sustained to the school and the Home, the sanitary arrangements in place, and the impossibility of

8O

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOLL.OWAY

scheduling the holidays at an earlier date. Holloway was asked to contact the headmasters of other colleges to recommend a uniform date for reopening the schools after the holidays. The newspapers were full of letters from the Board of Health justifying their plan to close the schools. Many others were from citizens asking that the health authorities be more watchful about the spread of infection as people from quarantined homes often entered horse-drawn cabs or spread infection in other ways. Holloway, who had experienced first hand the desperate effects of the epidemic, decided to take a stand on the situation. In a letter to the Evening Telegram, he presented a statistical analysis of the incidence of the disease at the college, insisting that the source of infection was not the schools. He noted that, in a population of three hundred students ranging in age from five years to twenty, thirty families had been quarantined, but that in only seven of the thirty cases were the first persons in the family to take diphtheria in attendance at school. Nor could it be verified that attendance at school was responsible in these cases. He suggested that, with the present dreadful state of houses and streets, opening schools on Saturdays would provide a refuge from the dangers with which the children were surrounded elsewhere.6 Support for his position came in a letter to the same paper from Dr J. Sinclair Tait, who objected to placing the whole town under an interdict by closing schools, churches, and shops and suggested that attention to the causes of infection and prevention of the contagion by prompt quarantine of infected houses should be the focus, rather than such extreme measures.7 A letter to the Evening Telegram a week later from Campbell Macpherson, father of Willie Holloway s friend, Cluny, protested the fact that the Board of Health had allowed the funeral of a diphtheria victim to pass from a house directly opposite the Wesleyan College at 9:15 A.M., the very hour the various schools in that area were assembling for morning classes. He too suggested to parents that school was the safest place for their children, rather than having them out of school and exposed to other unsanitary conditions in the town.8 In spite of all these objections, among them those made forcibly by the principal and board of the Methodist College, St John's schools were closed on 25 May by the Board of Health for the rest of the school year. Given the severity of the epidemic and the risk of contagion, the decision was a wise one, yet one that Holloway did not support. The town rocked as daily papers were read and the pros and cons discussed. The caption used by the

A Time of Tragedy81

paper for Holloway's letter to the editor, "A Year's Experience of Diphtheria: Letter from Professor Holloway," emphasized the importance of his opinion to the readers. His letter must have raised questions that could not be answered at the time and may have undermined the authority of a new Board of Health created especially to deal with the crisis. Holloway, whom everyone respected and looked up to, had openly contradicted the opinions of most of the doctors. Holloway, with his background in science, had supported the board of governors of the college in their stand against closing the schools, partly for economic reasons. Holloway, who had himself lost two children, was prepared to risk the contagion, the spread of a communicable disease from person to person by bodily contact, that might occur if the schools remained open. The controversy over the rights and wrongs of the Board of Health's decisions continued as the epidemic reached its highest point. The incidence of new cases of diphtheria peaked in 1889 to almost 2,000 cases, affecting 878 families and resulting in 350 deaths. The same situation as at the Methodist College was being faced by the Christian Brothers in the city's Roman Catholic schools. The letters of the Brothers to their superiors in Ireland, also in May 1889, told of the severity of the disease and the panic that was prevalent as more and more children in their junior schools were infected. In one week, sixty-nine new cases were reported in the city, and there were nine deaths. Brother Luke Slattery described the funeral processions daily passing the door - one made up of a father and the only two survivors of six children - and noted that the disease was "most mysterious in its ravages and seems to be little understood by the doctors."9 On the reopening of school in the fall, the Brothers took over the administration of St Bonaventure's College, with Brother Slattery as the first president. By Christmastime enrolment had reached one hundred, and boys had been coming in already infected with the disease, with the result that St Bonaventure's was quarantined for fourteen days that fall. During 1890 and 1891 the Brothers, with the help of an untiring Dr Edward Shea, nursed seventeen infected patients rather than have their college close again; of these, only one died. The treatment consisted of bed rest, hot baths, hot drinks, and port wine. One of the boys who survived was a nephew of Dr James Howley, the government geologist. Howley had lost his own eleven-year old son in March 1889 at the height of the epidemic. The building was disinfected during the Christmas holidays,

82

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

and the vigil continued through the winter. Brother Slattery was himself fighting the disease in April 1891, just as the epidemic was subsiding. Again the college was quarantined, as were other institutions from time to time during this terrible period.10 The churches felt the impact, especially as most of the casualties were children, and ministers were faced with the task of trying to console families experiencing the loss. Rev. George Boyd was the pastor at Gower Street Church throughout this difficult time; in 1889, a year when the church's total adult membership was only four hundred, the Gower Street Church burial register recorded the death of forty children under fourteen years of age.11 The Methodist Monthly Greeting in February 1890 expressed the pain and sadness felt throughout the church community as the congregations of Gower Street and Cochrane Street churches gathered for Watch Night Service at the close of 1889: "A great feeling of depression seems upon us, as the result of long continued and severe affliction. It seems difficult to get any go into anything or anybody." The same feeling weighed upon the staff of the Methodist College. With all the anxiety and the interruptions in the daily routine, with attendance only a fraction of normal, carrying on must have been difficult indeed. And yet there was much to do. It was an unhappy time in Holloway s life, as he reflected on the public perception of his actions. His statistics had failed to convince the Board of Health to reverse the decision to close the schools. He had used these statistics to support a decision - in the height of an epidemic of a communicable disease - to keep open a school, a place where children gather, a place where the population most affected by the epidemic are brought together in groups. In the view of many, he had taken the wrong stand. As the autumn of 1889 cooled into winter, attendance at school was still down as more and more families felt the effects of the disease. Daily there were reports of fatalities, of the terrible sadness that accompanied the loss of more of the children of the town. Holloway and his family were still grieving over the loss of their own dear ones. His illness was getting worse, and his pattern of pouring his energies into new projects was not providing its usual relief. He looked out at the snow-covered town and felt its silence.

Chapter Six FROM CRISIS TO C R I S I S

Over 600 drawings of the pupils were exhibited on the walls of the recently decorated hall, and the Newfoundland flora, which the scholars had risen early to obtain, decked the front part of the platform [Distribution Day, 1890].*

The epidemic finally began to abate. In spite of all the concern and interruptions to the routine, Holloway and his staff tried to make school life in 1889-90 as normal as possible for their students. Enrolment at the Methodist College in 1890 was 208 and there were 137 students in the primary and infant grades. Milligan reported on the comprehensive nature of the curriculum at the college, mentioning the core subjects and remarking on the growing numbers of students in special courses suited to their needs: "All were taught reading, spelling and dictation, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, geography, history, composition and elocution; thirty learned bookkeeping and shorthand, ninety-five drawing, one hundred and thirty physical drill, eighteen chemistry, fifty natural science, forty mensuration, twelve geometry, eighty algebra, ten trigonometry, ten navigation, thirty French and twenty-four Latin."2 Holloway, with the support of the board of governors, had seen that the school was well equipped for the teaching of navigation, land-surveying, natural science, chemistry, and mineralogy. Although the sciences still ranked highly, the humanities were also very strong. Milligan wrote appreciatively about the emphasis on teaching the beauty and power of language through the study of English literature, inspiring love for nature and art through drawing and painting in watercolours and oils, and cultivating enjoyment of vocal and instrumental music through the program offered by the newly appointed music master, Dr R.H. Peters.3

84

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLUOWAY

Holloway was assisted in the "male department" by John West, B.A., vice-principal, and James Walker, a certificated drill master from Westminster Training College, Holloway's old school. In the "female department," Sarah March succeeded Miss Narraway as preceptress, and the other teachers were Margaret Wilson (McGill Training School), and Bertha Dove. Susie Stowe had been promoted to the management of the Model and Primary School, following Margaret Hudson's resignation after three years of successful service, while Bessie Smith was in charge of the Infant Class. Sadly, Margaret Bulley, whose pupils had been so upset during Milligan's visit because she had contracted diphtheria, had died. Looking back on the epidemic at its height, Holloway recalled the feelings of helplessness of the doctors who had tried to treat the disease without really understanding its nature. He had followed the work of Pasteur in trying to connect bacteria with disease, the work of Koch and Klebs in isolating bacteria specific to certain diseases, and Lister's attempts to limit the incidence of infection through antiseptics. In his grief over the death of his children, he wondered, along with Henrietta, whether anything else could have been done and whether scientists would eventually acquire the knowledge and understanding that would help physicians to reduce the death toll in such epidemics. He firmly believed that the answers would some day be known and such tragedies prevented. When faculty and students prepared the hall for Distribution Day4 in 1890 and all was ready for the presentation of prizes and diplomas, Holloway must have had a feeling of great relief that they had come through. Perhaps he even felt a sudden surge of joy, a sensation he had often experienced in the past but not since Willie and Katie died. The hall, newly decorated and furnished with "elegant and comfortable chairs," was filled to capacity, and many had to be turned away. The platform was decorated with wildfiowers the children had gathered in the early morning, and the walls were covered with an exhibition of over six hundred of pupils' "highly creditable" drawings and watercolours. James Stuart Pitts, the chairman of the board of governors, conducted the ceremonies, announcing the first hymn, which was sung to the accompaniment of the new pipe organ played by John Bray Ayre, the organist of George Street Church and son of Charles R. Ayre.5 George Milligan offered a prayer, and after the chairman's address to the pupils there were spelling matches, mental arithmetic, and exercises with dumb-bells and bar-bells conducted by James Walker and interspersed with school songs. Rev. George J. Bond presented the prizes, telling

From Crisis to Crisis

85

those students who had not been successful that they would have a chance in the next school year to display their talents.6 Prizes as well as certificates showing the pupils' relative position in the pass and honours lists had been awarded at the Methodist College from the early years of Holloway's administration. At a time when educational institutions were often a law unto themselves and curricula largely dependent on the background of the teachers, he had tried to bring some order to the students' progression through the grades by scheduling regular examinations. Milligan had spent several days each year conducting written and oral examinations at the academy. As early as 1876 there had been four examinations a year, with results published per grade. Holloway's policy in the years that followed was to give a thorough testing in every subject for all students, and to base grades on year-round achievement rather than on one final examination. Later in his administration many students were to pass successfully the London Matriculation examinations. In 1891 Pitts encouraged achievement by sponsoring a gold medal for the pupil showing the greatest proficiency. This was the beginning of an annual award known later as the Dux medal, which would be presented to the student with the highest marks in the senior class.7 Samuel Halfyard was the first recipient of the Pitts Gold Medal. In Holloway's science classes, examinations became more and more an essential part of his teaching, and required understanding of laboratory procedures. Milligan described in his reports the practical nature of Holloway's examinations in his mineralogy course.8 The principal would often tell his students that one hour of handling the rocks and minerals in the laboratory was worth months of book-work alone. The test of their knowledge was to use their senses to identify specimens or, in the case of his advanced students, to use chemical analyses to determine the content of the ores.9 Holloway also praised the high standard set by the London Matriculation examinations and, along with the other heads of colleges and government officials, was to be a prime mover in the establishment of a common board of examiners in Newfoundland, which would later be known as the Council of Higher Education. He also supported Milligan as he worked towards raising the standards of the curriculum in the board schools and in the elementary classes of the academy by adopting uniform textbooks, including the Royal Readers series, planning a uniform syllabus for the training of teachers, and prescribing a system of grading based on their performance in regularly set examinations.10

86

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

In 1891 the government voted the sum of $20,000 for the improvement of education, over and above the normal grants prescribed by the Education Acts of 1887 and 1889. The denominational superintendents agreed that the best use of the new funding would be to use it to increase teachers' salaries according to grade. The Methodist share was almost $5,000. The increments amounted to $32 per annum for Third Grade teachers, $48 for Second Grade, and $64 for those who had earned First Grade certificates.11 Although the amounts were modest, teachers in the public schools were encouraged by this augmentation in salary to upgrade to higher certificates. Examinations for these were scheduled annually in June and September, with minimum requirements prescribed for each grade. Milligan, inspired by the pupils' talent in drawing and their success in Holloway's science classes, suggested that drawing should be obligatory for all teaching grades and that the "elements of chemistry, geology and mineralogy" should be required for a First Grade teaching certificate.12 The minutes of the board of governors' meetings and Milligan's reports commented on Holloway's work and the success of the institution, while continuing to express concern about his workload and thankfulness that "the efficient principal, whose delicate health has been for some time a cause of anxiety," had been spared to preside over the work of the college.13 Holloway, however, did not always view his illness as seriously as did Milligan and the board.14 Between episodes of sickness he worked at a feverish pitch, with his varied activities matching a mind that was forever exploring, forever taking his students to the frontiers of knowledge and encouraging them to question as he did. His interests became their interests, as he brought to his classes in natural science the wildflowers he had gathered over a weekend, or described an insect that he had come across, inviting his pupils to become amateur botanists and entomologists. He encouraged them to look for the first flowers blooming in the spring, to identify the blossoms of the wild berries they would gather later in the summer, and to learn to call each by name. On the blackboard, the common name of each plant was followed by its botanical name, and both were copied carefully by the advanced students, many of whom were also studying Latin. They were shown how to press the plants and, with a "little gum and paste," to preserve them to gradually build up a collection and at the same time begin a hobby that they could continue throughout their lives.15

From Crisis to Crisis

87

Evenings might find the principal with a group of boarding students from the Home, looking at the night sky, finding the positions of the constellations and learning their names and the names of stars within them. He told the young students that once they learned to recognize the Sickle, Orion, the Big Dipper, and other groups, they would remember them ever afterwards as good friends.16 He asked parents to encourage their children to have hobbies - collecting postage stamps, shells, stones, birds' eggs, butterflies - and to take care of things such as certificates, pictures, and postcards, because in years to come they would be of much more value as souvenirs than they might seem to be at present.17 And always, he defended science education - against parents who felt it was a waste of their children's time, against those who believed that Latin was of more use than physics, and against those who argued that time spent studying English was more profitable than that spent looking through a microscope, analyzing mineral ores, or watching for the first appearance of birds in the spring.18 For Holloway 1891-92 was a very good year. The board was extremely cooperative in agreeing to purchase a theodolite, prismatic compass, and sextant for his mathematics classes and voting an additional $100 for laboratory equipment.19 Holloway looked back on the successes of his students and the close relationships that had been developed. There was the inevitable tinge of sadness that accompanied the realization that for some pupils 1892 would be their final year at the college. He would miss the faces that had greeted him each morning in the past few years. But in September there would be a new senior class, with new challenges. The spring weather had been dry and warm, and the hall had been crowded to overflowing with parents and friends attending the closing exercises. There was a sense of accomplishment as the year's work ended and a sense of anticipation as the summer vacation began. Within hours everything changed. On 8 July 1892, just after the college and the residence had been emptied following the closing exercises, fire swept down Long's Hill, and all was lost - the new college, the Home, the Model School, the principal's residence, his library, and all his possessions. With other bystanders, Holloway watched in horror and helplessness as "the drifting flankers rested in the cornices of the buildings, only to be fanned into flame by the rushing wind."20 Firefighters arrived and made frantic efforts to save the college, only to find that their equipment was

88

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

V I E W F R O M H A R V E Y ROAD T O W A R D S T H E N A R R O W S , S H O W I N G GOWER STREET M E T H O D I S T C H U R C H , AN A R E A TO BE D E S T R O Y BY T H E F I R E O F 1 8 9 Photographer unknown. CNS, MUN, 1.05.0

useless, that neither the hose nor the water supply was equal to the emer gency.21 And, as he watched, he saw smoke rising from the tower of t college, built just six years before and now collapsing - all within the sp of a half hour. The fire had spread quickly in two directions - one east of Carter s H towards the waterfront, the other down the Freshwater Road (now Long Hill), where the college buildings were located on the east side of t road, directly in the path of the fire. Holloway joined with others in t ght to save whatever could be saved from the buildings, but the flames oved so quickly that even hwith the help of many friends very little cou e done. Household effects, the school registers and treasurer's book e laboratory equipment and musical instruments - all were consum the enormous blaze that enveloped the buildings.22 A kaleidoscope of images must have rushed through Holloway's mi he considered the enormity of the destruction. He, who had often to udents to take care of prizes and certificates because of their potenti alue to them in the future, had lost his carefully crafted photographs o enes of college life. The recent glass plate negatives he had made would ever be developed. He, who would one day take to England a copy of the ll of students in attendance at the college to be transcribed and bound, so

From Crisis to Crisis

89

that the finished volume would be part of the heritage of the Methodist College, felt deeply the implications of the loss of the school registers, the lists of examination results, the notes for his lectures, and so many other irreplaceable day-to-day records. The well-equipped laboratory and museum, now swept away in the blaze, were not an easily-come-by collection of equipment and materials for teaching and learning. They were the result of a succession of acquisitions over a period of eighteen years as small amounts of money were made available from time to time from the often meagre resources of the board, or when an interested board member, knowing that the funds would not be forthcoming, provided the necessary money from his own pocket. Then there were the more personal losses - the family home and furniture, the possessions closely associated with the way Holloway lived his life as husband and father. He wondered how many of the things that were important to his family had been saved, and the images now racing through his mind would centre on the rooms most often shared with them, his study with the big comfortable chair and desk where he prepared his lessons, with Elsie often curling up nearby with her "work," just to be near him,23 or Bert bringing to him the result of an "experiment" he had been doing or a discovery he had made.24 He was greatly concerned about the fate of his library - his stock in trade - the books that enriched his life and that he often lent to students to enlighten and inform. What a diminishment in their daily lives this terrible catastrophe would bring. Cluny Macpherson, then a boy of thirteen, had smelled the smoke while walking in the woods around St John's and rushed back into town, arriving just as the college caught fire. He ran to the top floor of the nearby Masonic Temple and helped to save much of the Masonic regalia before that building and the Presbyterian manse caught fire. He then went to Fort Townshend, where people were trying to save the parade roof and prevent the flames from reaching a powder magazine behind the fort. All night he worked on the hydrants, filling buckets of water to save the roof. Then he went to Water Street, where his father had been ordered out of his business establishment because of the danger from ammunition in Bowring's hardware store next door.25 The warm, dry weather was only one of a number of factors that combined to bring about a catastrophe of immeasurable proportions for the city. The rainfall for the entire month of June had totalled only .84 inches, and in the past week only a few drops had fallen.26 The shingled

9O

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

roofs of the buildings were tinder dry, and there was a high wind from the west-north-west. By an unfortunate combination of circumstances the water pipes had been cleaned earlier in the day and were not reconnected until 3 P.M., so that the water pressure had not built up again in the pipes on the higher levels. A cistern in that area which had been emptied earlier had not been refilled. And it was on the higher levels, in the stable of Timothy O'Brien, the cabman, at the junction of Freshwater Road and Pennywell Road, that a farmhand dropped on the hay the lighted pipe that started the conflagration that was within twelve hours to lay bare more than half of the city of St John's and leave more than thirteen thousand people homeless and destitute.27 Holloway's initial feelings of shock and disbelief at the sudden loss of the college were soon dwarfed by the enormity of the scale of destruction. Roaring on towards Gower Street Methodist Church, where people had placed their belongings for safekeeping, the fire demolished the church and its contents and, within a short time, the Orange Hall, the Synod Hall, and the Rectory, and the range of houses to the east. The beautiful gothic Church of England Cathedral, considered by many to be another safe haven because of its stone walls, some four feet in thickness, was the next to go - first the arched windows, which burned out in the tremendous heat, followed by a thunderous crash as the walls and roof collapsed. At the foot of Cathedral Street, the fire consumed St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, a massive brick building. Earlier in the afternoon, the Rev. Moses Harvey had attended the closing exercises of the General Protestant Academy, leaving about 3:45 P .M. to go for a walk.28 Across the street and directly in the path of the fire were the beautiful Athenaeum Hall and the Court House, as well as banks and the telegraph office. All were devoured in the flames, and with the loss of the telegraph office, communication with the outside was cut off. Huge burning pieces of wood were continuously swept by the wind to other buildings. Between five and six o'clock the Military Hospital on Signal Hill was destroyed. Devon Row, near Fort William, was miraculously saved as people kept wet blankets and hoses on the row of four-storey apartment houses. The trees nearby and the houses beyond also escaped.29 The western wing of the fire devoured the Total Abstinence Hall, Tasker Terrace, and the Star of the Sea Hall and, in spite of the efforts of the firefighters, who deluged the buildings on Water Street and Duckworth Street, two-thirds of the business premises were destroyed, as well as

From Crisis to Crisis

91

wharves along the waterfront. Terrorized people blocked the arteries leading from the harbour to the higher levels, trying to save what they could of their possessions and rapidly losing the battle. They watched helplessly as the walls of flame swept up Garrison Hill, enveloping one building after another, including the Congregational Church, St Patrick's Hall and the schools of the Christian Brothers, as well as the homes in front of the Roman Catholic Cathedral. The cathedral escaped, and, .with the help of many volunteers, so did the Mercy Convent and St Bonaventure's College. Bishop Feild College also escaped, after a fight to save it led by the principal, William Blackall. At a section between Prescott Street and King's Road volunteers joined in the fight to save the Electric Light Works and Terra Nova Bakery, but without success. A firebreak made by tearing down Dougherty's Foundry and some houses nearby helped to prevent the flames from spreading to the west end. By next morning, with the smoke still rising, two-thirds of the city had been destroyed. Hardly any buildings were left in the east end. Only the west end remained, and the homes there were quickly filled with relatives and friends who had been left destitute. Many people lay down on roadsides, still clinging to the meagre possessions they had saved, or found refuge in the Parade Rink, or in tents and small wooden shelters set up in Bannerman Park, on the banks of Quidi Vidi Lake, or on the grounds of Government House, the Colonial Building, and the Roman Catholic Cathedral. Once telegraph communication had been re-established, relief in the form of money, groceries, and building materials began to pour in from Boston and many other American cities, as well as from parts of Canada and Great Britain. The losses had been of incredible magnitude. Many thousands of people had been affected, and the loss in property totalled $26 million, of which only $4 million was covered by insurance. Some 150 stores and business premises had been destroyed.30 All shared the loss of the churches, schools, and public buildings of which the city had been so proud. The intense feelings experienced by the Methodists were later described by George Milligan. Along with Holloway, they had watched with feelings of dismay and disbelief while the blaze swept before it "the spacious and beautiful Methodist College and Home, and laid in ashes, amid the common desolation that overwhelmed so much that was fair and noble, costly and sacred of our stricken city, the suite of buildings in and around which centered so largely our educational efforts

92

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

and hopes for succeeding generations."31 Milligan spelled out the details in his annual report, as though by describing what had been lost the full impact of what had to be replaced would be realized: With mingled but saddened feelings, I have to report the year's experiences and proceedings of this Institution. Shortly after the closing exercises of a very successful year, one of the best and perhaps the very best in the history of this College the calamitous fire occurred July 8th which laid desolate our city in a few hours, and swept before it the noble edifice which had contained two admirable suites of three spacious schoolrooms, capable of being used singly or as suites, by the male and female departments, besides Infant School Room, Laboratory, Museum, Gymnasium, Young Men's Institute, Music Hall or Lecture Room, etc. etc., all of which were destroyed, together with splendid pipe organ, much valuable chemical apparatus, furniture and appliances. The Model School, Principal's Residence and Home for the accommodation of pupil teachers and other Boarders were borne off on the tempest of fire, leaving scarcely a vestige to tell of the stately pile of buildings, to erect which the Methodists of the Colony, in their comparative poverty, had raised ungrudgingly many thousands of dollars, and around which, perhaps with pardonable pride, their affections still linger, in loving memory, as they had been the outcome of selfdenying effort to obtain for the Denominational College which, with its learned and efficient staff of Professors and Teachers had given promise in increasingly satisfactory results from year to year of accomplishing great things for the youth of Newfoundland.32

Holloway was immediately involved in meetings of a College Executive Committee put in place to deal with the emergency. Guided by the principal and headed by James Stuart Pitts, the chairman of the board of governors, the committee began the task of finding alternative accommodation during the summer, so that the work of the college could continue. Temporary quarters were set up in time for the opening of school in September. The classes of the Model School were held in the basement of George Street Church, while an unused building offSpringdale Street, hastily converted into four large classrooms, became the venue for the higher grades. Holloway and his staff had been very pleased to find this space, which was fitted at once with seats, desks, and blackboards, and later became known as Centenary Hall. The gymnasia and laboratory were sorely missed and, even more so, the Home for non-resident students and pupil teachers. With

From Crisis to Crisis

93

V I E W OF ST J O H N ' S , L O O K I N G TOWARDS THE N A R R O W S , S H O W I N G AREA OF LONG'S H I L L DESTROYED BY THE GREAT F I R E Photographer unknown. CNS, MUN. Courtesy of Gar Fizzard

the loss of the Home, George Story had to resign as chaplain and guardian, and pupil teachers coming in from the outports had to find board in private homes in what remained of the city. Also, because of the decrease in classroom space and the loss of the pipe organ and grand piano, the curriculum could no longer include music and the wonderful performances of the talented Dr Peters. In June 1893, the younger schoolchildren were moved to a more convenient location in the Tabernacle, at the junction of Parade Street and Harvey Road - the church building that had been hastily constructed after the fire by the congregation of Gower Street Methodist Church, with plans to erect a larger building later on the same site.33 The Holloways, in addition to losing most of their possessions, were suddenly without a place to live. Campbell and Emma Macpherson kindly came to the rescue by offering the family one of two small houses on their property on Kennies Mill Road, next door to their own home. Robert, Henrietta, and Bert gratefully moved in with what few things they had been able to salvage from the fire. It was decided that Elsie would go to England to stay with her Aunt Emily and probably remain there at least for the following school year, or until things returned to normal. Through all this, Holloway, having suffered the loss of his school, home, and family treasures, his precious books and laboratory equipment, had to

94

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.LOWAY

cope with the prospect of a busy year ahead as, in true Methodist fashion, the board of governors immediately made plans for raising the money for the giant task of rebuilding. The school year was beginning again, like all previous school years, in September. There were the inevitable staff changes - some that occurred in the normal course of events, such as two resignations resulting from the marriages of Miss Smith and Miss Dove; the addition to the faculty of J. Alexander Robinson, formerly the principal of the Carbonear Grammar School; and the resignation of two other teachers, Mr Walker and Miss Wilson. The board had earlier discussed some disagreement on the question of authority between Miss Wilson and Mr Holloway. The chairman had spoken to Miss Wilson, confirming the position of the board that the principal's authority was supreme in all matters. This may have led to her resignation at the end of the year. Mr Walker also resigned at the same time, although the reason is unclear from the minutes of the board. Miss Stowe had become ill and resigned in July, and Miss Edith Allison was hired when the 1893-94 school year began.34 On 9 December, just five months after the loss of the college, plans were being considered by the board of governors for the design of the college Home and the principal's residence. Meanwhile, the task of building the new college had begun. The principal and staff continued their work under difficult circumstances but with the knowledge that the rebuilding was indeed happening and the certainty that the college would rise phoenixlike from the ashes. It may be that the temporary nature of the arrangements in the two years after the fire allowed time for planning that would not have been available had school life been at its usual fast pace, with all programs in motion. Whatever the reason, the creative juices of the superintendent of education for Methodist Schools and the headmaster of the Methodist College did not stop flowing during this period. By the time the new college opened, a great deal of work had been accomplished that would bear fruit in the years ahead. Milligan, whose age was making it more difficult for him to get around the island, for the first time requested an assistant so that he could spend less time in travel and more time thinking about the conditions in small settlements that had impeded progress towards identifying ways of bringing about improvements. Until his retirement, Milligan would continue to work towards ameliorating some of these problems: the difficulty of providing schools and getting teachers to stay in small, isolated settle-

From Crisis to Crisis

95

ments, and the need for joint schools in such places; the need for free, compulsory education for children aged five to fourteen; the stigma of poverty in destitute families whose children were in want of food and of proper clothing to wear to school; the indifference to and lack of appreciation for education on the part of some parents.35 Holloway spent a great deal of time and creative effort as a member of the Council of Higher Education, incorporated in 1892. During the two years in the temporary schoolrooms, he found time to attend a busy schedule of meetings of the council and to have extensive input through his presence and his work on committees. The council included a membership of twenty-three, which included clergy and qualified citizens as well as the headmasters of the St John's colleges and the denominational superintendents of education. These last two groups often served on committees to prepare the syllabus for examinations, set maximum and minimum pass marks at various levels, and draft laws and documents for the conduct and administration of formal examinations and for the award of scholarships and prizes. Between June 1893 and the fall of 1894 there were no fewer than thirty-two council meetings, and much of the work was done in between meetings for review and adoption when the whole group convened. Holloway, along with the headmasters of the other St John's colleges (William Blackall of Bishop Feild, Rev. Brother Slattery of St Bonaventure's College, and later, his successor, Rev. Brother Crehan), served on committees to prepare the syllabus for each level and to make decisions on the subjects to be included and the choices that were possible for candidates. At another time, Holloway served on a committee to develop directions for examiners.36 True to his own method of reporting the results of his class examinations, he suggested at one meeting that the honours should be published in order of merit, with the names of prizewinners starred.37 Local examination centres were set up by the council in seventeen sites outside of St John's, with elaborate security measures in place. The papers were at first marked in England. The rules and regulations for the examinations were published in a supplement to the Royal Gazette,38 and a Committee of the Council published reactions to the papers and summaries of the results obtained. Holloway also attended many of the meetings of the College Executive Committee as they tried to cope with the financial problems that accompanied the loss of the college. During the two years in the temporary buildings there had been no boarding fees from the outport students, and no

96

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

CORNERSTONE-LAYING C E R E M O N Y FOR NEW METHODIST COLLEGE, 1 5 N O V E M B E R 1893 Photographer unknown. CNS, MUN, Coll. 279,1.01

revenue from the fees normally collected for music and chemistry.39 The deficits meant that an additional burden was placed on friends and supporters of the college, at home and in other parts of Canada. The members of this committee, several of whom had lost homes or business premises in the fire, had worked very hard with the guidance of Holloway and Milligan. Once the immediate need for temporary accommodation had been met, the committee had taken on the immense task of raising the money for the new college. An architect had been hired almost immediately, and the building fund had been initiated with a donation from James Pitts of $5,000, followed later by the presentation in November 1893 of the contribution of $8,000 raised by Rev. Story during a tour of the Methodist Conferences of Central Canada and the Maritime provinces. With the destruction of the college residence, the Storys had lost their home and almost all their possessions, as well as their position.

From Crisis to Crisis

97

The board of governors was aware that, even with Pitts's gift and the donations from the Methodists of the Canadian provinces, the outstanding debt would be substantial. There would also be a deficit on operating costs, so that supporters of the college would be involved in the task of debt reduction for many years to come. But, like the Wesleyan Methodists in Barton-on-Humber, who took on the burden of raising money in various ways to improve their day schools, the Methodists of St John's now assumed willingly the daunting task of financing the new college. All of these problems were on the minds of the board of governors when the time came for the laying of the memorial stone for the new Methodist College by James Pitts on 15 November 1893. The work had progressed well, and the new buildings were nearing completion. The college residence, the principal's residence and one flat of the college would be finished by January 1894; the college hall was to be made ready in June for students writing the Council of Higher Education examinations; and, miraculously, the college would be ready to receive students in September.40 The memorial stone was of polished granite with a free stone margin, and the inscription poignantly recorded the history of the college and the hopes of its founders for the institution and the role it would play in the educational and cultural life of Newfoundland: Floreat Terra Nova Methodist College Established 1859 Enlarged 1886 Destroyed 1892 Rebuilt 1893 Wisdom and Knowledge Shall Be the Stability of Thy Times

The motto Remis Velisque, "With Might and Main," typified the strong will and dedication of the Methodists, while the inscription Floreat Terra Nova Methodist College placed the institution proudly in the country that had given it birth and nourished it for a third of a century. It was an impressive ceremony. After the singing of the national anthem, followed by a hymn and a number of addresses, Pitts used a silver trowel to set the memorial stone in place, together with the document and the coins and papers of the colony, and then tapped it three times with a mallet. At the end of the program Milligan reviewed the work of the college and outlined plans for the future.

9o

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

Yet hardly had the stone been laid when another disaster occurred. On 10 December 1894, a date subsequently referred to as "Black Monday," the Union and Commercial Banks in St John's suspended payment, leading to political and economic chaos, the failure of many mercantile houses, and the financial ruin of many private citizens. With commercial life at a standstill, much of the rebuilding that had been going on after the fire was suddenly halted, adding to the high rate of unemployment. Bank notes that had been valued highly were suddenly worthless, and the days afterwards were filled with anxiety. It was not until the spring of 1895 that conditions stabilized, with help coming from reputable banks in the Dominion of Canada.41 Because of the bank crash, the Methodist boards in St John's and throughout the island were unable to use their balances in the Commercial and Union Banks to meet their end-of-the-year obligations. At the request of the superintendents of education, the government asked the banks to treat these balances as preferential claims, and the crisis passed, but not before everyone had experienced a great deal of worry and concern.42 The bank failure also affected many of the supporters of the Methodist churches and the college. The cornerstone of the new Gower Street Church had been laid in 1894, but it would be another two years before the official opening of the church. The city was still recovering from the devastation of the Great Fire. At first there had been the immediate task of sheltering the homeless in temporary, hastily constructed camps and wooden sheds and supplying the basic necessities of life. The Citizens Relief Fund had been set up by the government to enable more permanent homes to be constructed before the first winter arrived and, in some cases, insurance deficits were recouped so that businesses could rebuild and the town could return to some kind of normalcy. Attempts were made to widen and straighten streets, not always successfully, given the limited resources and the arguments between municipal and colonial layers of government.43 Gradually Water Street businesses were rebuilt as brighter and more modern facilities, well-stocked with provisions. New public buildings, many of them stone or brick, were bigger and better than before, often accommodating an upward slope by spanning two streets, with entrances on both levels. The Total Abstinence Society began to build an impressive new three-storey building with an entrance on Duckworth Street and three entrances on Henry Street to a

From Crisis to Crisis

99

NEW METHODIST COLLEGE, P R I N C I P A L ' S R E S I D E N C E AND COLLEGE H O M E , WITH K I R K TO THE R I G H T Photographer unknown. PANL, F39-8

large theatre (later the Capitol). Similarly, the Benevolent Irish Society would rebuild on Queen's Road and include a Military Road entrance to a modern theatre, later to be known as the Nickel Theatre.44 The new Methodist College, designed by architect George H. Yost of Halifax, was one of a group of ornate brick Victorian buildings, each with a tower, that would include St Andrews Presbyterian Church (the Kirk) and the new Gower Street Church. Instead of having the Model School as a separate building as before, the classrooms for the Model School and the kindergarten and primary grades were located on the lower floor, and the classrooms for the "college proper" on the second floor. There were gymnasia, a well-equipped laboratory, a library, and a room for the Young Men's Literary Institute. On the third floor were the much-missed facilities for the music program, as well as a lecture hall measuring eighty-six by fifty-eight feet, which could be made even larger by including the gymnasium. For the first, time the Holloway family had a home that was completely self-contained. The college Home was now a separate building, greatly

1OO

ROBERT EDWARDS HOULOWAY

improved, with space for fifty or sixty students and an apartment for the guardian and his wife.45 The Storys were to return at the end of the summer holidays to welcome the new students who would live there in 1894-95.46 Sadly, the tenure of George Story, the well-loved chaplain and guardian who had worked so hard to obtain the help of Methodists in the rebuilding of the college, was to be ended by his death at forty-one years of age on 7 July 1894. Elsie, who had gone to England immediately after the fire, returned now to a new house, a new school, and a new college residence. The buildings occupied a total frontage extending 260 feet along Freshwater Road. The south-facing front windows gave a spectacular view of the Narrows and the South Side - a view that was particularly impressive when seen from the tower of the college, which rose to a height of 105 feet from the ground. For Bert and Elsie, who were now seven and twelve and had inherited their father's love of the beauty of the island, the tower would be a magic place. Henrietta had missed her young daughter while Elsie was in England and longed for her return. She had passed the long months by becoming involved in volunteer work in organizations such as the Ladies' College Aid Society, which sponsored fund-raising activities for the college. It would be a joy for all the family to live in the new house and to be together again. As the summer ended, Holloway would be looking forward to the next school year, with the magnificent new schoolrooms and lecture hall, the well-equipped laboratory, and the commodious Home. His work with the Council of Higher Education had been stimulating, and he would continue it in the year ahead. Milligan had discussed with him the problems in the board schools that still needed solutions, and the board of governors had asked him for his ideas on the directions the college should take in the future. This September was the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of his tenure as principal of the Methodist College. The year ahead would be filled with many adjustments and challenges, but already showed signs of great promise.

S U M M E R I N T E R L U D E II

White Bay, Labrador, and the West Coast

Especially since Holloway's first serious bout of illness in 1878, summers had been the time to recover from the school year and regain the energy needed to resume the pace he set for himself, to continue the labour of love that characterized his devotion to his students, the school, and the community. Each summer was an interlude, a division in space and time between successive school years. As life went on, the interludes began to blend together, a tapestry of sights and sounds and memories, some fleeting, others captured on glass plate negatives or in his writing. He travelled Newfoundland and Labrador and wrote about the natural wonders, the rugged shores battered by the Atlantic, the sheltered bays, and the islands guarding them. Before the railway the interior of Newfoundland was virtually unknown, and the challenge of a terra incognita appealed to his sense of adventure. The climate from June to October was pleasant and temperate, and the pure air and ocean breezes gave him a feeling of exhilaration he rarely experienced -during the winter months. There were many coves where a boat could be moored, where campgrounds were cushioned with mosses and low-lying shrubs and there were fish for the taking and birds for the shooting. When a boat was anchored near a settlement, a fisherman's wife was always willing to bake a few loaves of bread for the travellers, if one knew "the right way to ask." One of the most cherished aspects of Holloway's travels was getting to know the people of the small outports, people for whom he came to have the most profound respect. Early on he began to gather notes for a book to share with others the appeal that Newfoundland and Labrador held for him in his various roles as scientist, sportsman, and photographer. In his book he would advise

1O2

S U M M E R I N T E R L U D E II

visitors to the island not to miss the great opportunity of getting to know the people of the outports and offer many a tribute to the "kindly side which is so conspicuous in the character of the Newfoundlander."1 A high point of his own travels was the feeling that he was always among friends - some old friends, some friends of the moment, but all friends. "The unknown visitor will no doubt have a similar experience if he will remember that the Newfoundland fishermen form a type of their own and require to be approached in the right way," he wrote. "Wealth, title, or position may help, but the man who wishes to win their hearts, to share their hospitality and to enjoy the time he spends among them, must consider himself as 'one of them,' or be willing to sacrifice at least half the enjoyment of his trip.2 It is not certain when Holloway first boarded a coastal steamer with the intention of spending some time vacationing in one of the bays on the north-west coast. His daughter, Elsie, born in 1882, remembered being lifted onto boats as a little girl when the family travelled together.3 But long before it was possible to travel by rail from St John's to the north, north-west, and west coasts of the island, Holloway crossed White Bay with Captain Blandford on the s S Plover.4 He would describe this trip later in the context of a physics lesson comparing the speed of light and sound. The lesson used the familiar example of the time lapse during a storm between the sight of a lightning flash and the sound of the thunder. Following his custom of employing practical examples from everyday life wherever possible, he asked his pupils to calculate their distance from the noonday gun on Signal Hill by noting the interval between the flash and report of the gun, given the speed of sound as 1,120 feet per second. He then told them the story of his experience on the Plover: "Looking towards the very distant shore, we suddenly saw a bright flash on a distant shore. Someone said 'They're evidently blasting over there.' We took out our watches, and listened intently for the report. After 34 seconds, when we had almost given it up, the sound was distinctly heard. Roughly calculating, we made the distance from ship to shore, seven miles. We then adjourned to the chart room, and with chart and compass, the Captain soon corroborated our figures."5 Another trip on a coastal boat took Holloway to Labrador, where he spent some time with George Whitely, and once again there was a story to tell on his return. This story became a topic for family dinner-table conversation, and would also be the subject of an article by Captain Whitely

W H I T E BAY, L A B R A D O R , A N D T H E W E S T C O A S T

PORT AU PORT, S H O W I N G

103

PORT AU PORT BAY ON THE LEFT AND

ST G E O R G E ' S BAY ON THE R I G H T

PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 80

published more than seventy years later, which recalled the arrival of "two very distinguished visitors ... Professor Holloway, headmaster of the College, and Mr. Charles R. Ayre, both of St. John's."6 Holloway had come to do some research on the site of "an ancient battle on Old Fort Ridge between the Montaignais Indians and the Eskimo." Holloway and Ayre were good friends, with a family connection as well, since Ayre's wife and Henrietta's mother were sisters. The two men spent a day on the ridge where they found evidence of the seventeenth-century encounter in broken weapons, arrowheads, and bullets of antique mould. The next day Whitely and his guests were put ashore on the bank of St Paul's River, near the house of Louis Chevalier in. Ayre went trout fishing, while Holloway remained in rapt conversation with the old man, who had greeted them with "perfect manners, courtesy and dignity." When the fishermen returned with their basketful of large red trout, Chevalier and Holloway were still deep in conversation. Chevalier was a descendant of a lady of noble birth, Mary Ann Vane, who had

104

SUMMER INTERLUDE II

"TWOB E A U T I E S " : S A L M O N C A U G H T I N T H E C O D R O Y V A L L E Y PANL, A33-134

been shipwrecked off Bradore in a storm and taken to the home of Lady Jones, where she eventually met and married Louis Chevalier, the seigneur of St Paul's River. Before the visitors left, Chevalier played from sheet music some of the compositions for violin that his mother had taught him as a child.7 The extension of the railway to the west coast and an improved coastal boat service encouraged Holloway to spend two summers on that part of the island, sometimes staying at hotels or lodges in relative comfort, accompanied by Henrietta and the children, at other times venturing further along the river with a friend and an Indian guide. The first journey began on what was known as the French Shore, where they explored the rich agricultural land of the Codroy Valley, laced with rivers and trout pools, and "the Gravels" at Port au Port, along with scenes of the new railway line. Holloway considered "the Gravels" a "geologist's paradise, with abundant fossils."8 He described the beauty of the west coast as "wellworth crossing an ocean to see" and "of a style of beauty not seen on the other side."9

W H I T E BAY, L A B R A D O R , A N D T H E W E S T COAST

105

THE LOG C A B I N , SPRUCE BROOK

PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 59

Among the scenes photographed during this journey was a beautiful view of the "Log Cabin" at Spruce Brook, near St George's Pond and Harry's Pond, where the salmon fishing was good and the family stayed before proceeding on to Bay of Islands and travelling up the arm to the estuary of the Humber River. This photograph is an example of the mirror images that came to be a trademark in Holloway's work. While in Port au Port Bay, Henrietta and Elsie, immaculately dressed in high-necked blouses, long skirts, and wide-brimmed hats, had driven in a carriage along a route that passed the sandy beach dividing Port au Port Bay from Bay St George. They were similarly dressed whether fishing, picnicking, or camping on the Humber River, in tents supplied by Petries' Hotel in Bay of Islands. Guides and boats were available as well in other hotels in Bay of Islands, so that a three-day, thirteen-mile trip up the Humber to Deer Lake was possible, and, according to Holloway,"no better

io6

SUMMER INTERLUDE II

B R E A K F A S T H E A D , H U M B E R R I V E R , K N O W N TODAY A S T H E

"

"OLD

MAN OF THE M O U N T A I N " PANL, A3-122

trip for ladies could be desired."10 The salmon and trout fishing was excellent, and camping was easy on the Humber's sandy banks. The party followed the river from Breakfast Head (now known as the "Old Man of the Mountain") to the "Devil's Dancing Pool," enjoyed the experience of poling up the First Rapids, and finally reached the "Upper Steadies," while Holloway, busy with his camera, recorded from every vantage point the spectacular scenery. At the Steadies, Henrietta and Elsie are seen in an idyllic setting, Elsie exploring the sandy bank, while Henrietta dips her toes in the Humber. The impression given of this trip is that it was indeed appropriate for the ladies, and for Holloway as well. There were comfortable places to stay, and the clear sunny days of the west coast gave him much less difficulty in breathing than he often experienced when the mists and fog rolled in over the St John's harbour. The hotels supplied them with excellent equipment, and there were guides for the journey along the Humber who set up the tents for the night. The meals were excellent. Holloway slept so well he

W H I T E BAY, L A B R A D O R , A N D T H E W E S T COAST

F I S H I N G ON THE H U M B E R R I V E R , ELSIE AND HENRIETTA CNS, MUN, 16.04.006

W O M E N G E T T I N G I N T O BOAT, H U M B E R R I V E R PANL, A42-60

107

1O8

S U M M E R I N T E R L U D E II

E L S I E A N D H E N R I E T T A O N R I V E R B A N K , BOAT M O O R E D PANL, VA 21-24

could almost persuade himself that there was nothing wrong with his health. He did not talk about his feelings of tiredness, because he wanted so much for these summer interludes to continue. There was always someone to bring the boat in for the next picture, and the next, and the next. He would never forget the feelings of peace alternating with sheer exhilaration as the boat, piloted by an expert river guide, sailed smoothly over the "steadies" and skimmed the "rapids," scarcely touching the water. The next summer was spent going further up the coast to Bonne Bay, Cow Head, and St Paul's Inlet, a journey that inspired some of Holloway's most beautiful photographs. With careful attention to light and to the mirror effects of water, he was able to produce striking images of houses and fishing premises along the shore of Woody Point and capture the contours of the fishing rooms at Norris Point. On the journey northward there were as yet no hotels, no guides, and no provision for tourists. On this trip Holloway discovered the table mountains along the Trout River gulch and, from the deck of the ss Home, experienced the majesty of the snow-capped Long Range Mountains. They followed the arms of the bay through fiords that rivalled those of Norway, and travelled northwards past Green's Point, Cow Head, Parsons' Pond, and Daniel's Harbour. At Cow Head Holloway's attention was drawn to an interesting piece of land that appeared to be an old workshop

W H I T E BAY, L A B R A D O R , A N D T H E W E S T C O A S T

109

WOODY P O I N T , B O N N E BAY, H O U S E S A N D F I S H I N G P R E M I S E S PANL, £3-80

of the Indians, strewn with flat stones chipped to the shapes of arrowheads and tools. While they were passing Cow Head, the captain of the Home pointed out the entrance to St Paul's Inlet, and told him that the entrance guarded a deep bay, extending eleven miles to the foot of the mountains. Holloway promised himself that he would return to this part of the country still so "inadequately known to the dwellers in the Capital and on the Eastern Coast."11 The lack of hotels was part of the charm of travelling around Newfoundland. On his expressing his wish to Captain Taylor, arrangements were made through a Mr Duder at Cow Head for Holloway to land there on a future trip so that he could fulfil his desire to explore the mysterious inlet. Holloway was to describe later the ominous start of this trip after the Home had docked at Cow Head: "One murky morning, at 3 A.M., when the sailors of the 'Home' - all good friends of mine and all good fellows, from the patriarch of 75, who looks 50, to the beardless one, landed me and m baggage at Cow Head. With good wishes our sailors vanished into the

110

SUMMER INTERLUDE II

N O R R I S P O I N T , B O N N E BAY, S H O W I N G " F I S H I N G R O O M S . " T A B L E MOUNTAINS IN BACKGROUND CNS, MUN, 14.02.001

darkness and left us stranded at the back door of a house which we hoped was the right one. If we had not travelled about Newfoundland a good deal we should have felt our courage damped that morning."12 The experience of sailing along St Paul's Inlet more than made up for any trepidation he felt on that dark, early morning in the drizzling rain. The terrain was uninhabited, so that for a few days he and his party were entirely cut off from others, but the scenery was beyond his wildest imagination and the rewards even greater than he had anticipated. Although the water in the bay was eighteen fathoms deep, at the narrow entrance the depth was only two fathoms and less at certain tides, so that entering the inlet could be precarious. They followed the flat shore for eleven miles to the foot of the mountains, where Holloway marvelled at the cumulus clouds capping their summits, the cascades falling down their precipitous sides, and the four trout streams entering the inlet. Here he caught all the one-pound trout that he wanted, while the younger members of the party went upstream to visit a beaver dam. To a nature lover, it was nature at its best; to a photographer of nature, there were images to take away that

W H I T E BAY, L A B R A D O R , A N D T H E W E S T COAST

111

S T P A U L ' S , N E A R C O W H E A D , S A I L I N G P U N T M I R R O R E D I N WATER PANL, E10-20

would be a treasured part of the collection he would share with others not so fortunate as to have had this wonderful journey. Holloway found himself wondering whether Newfoundlanders ever visited any part to their island simply because it was beautiful, and expressed his own pleasure at the scenes that met his eyes: "We cross the ocean to see the Rhine, and rave about it when we come back; but the Rhine cannot compare with a trip from Bay of Islands to Cow Head or a three days' cruise in St. Paul's Inlet."13 The memories of these spectacular journeys sustained him during the cold winters and were preserved in articles he wrote for such magazines as the Newfoundland Magazine, and the Collegian, the school magazine he would initiate in 1895. His photographs appeared in other publications such as Harvey's Newfoundland in 1897 (in which he was not given credit as the photographer) and the London Illustrated News (in which he was). Some would appear in a local publication, Christmas Bells, together with his descriptions of the scenes. Eventually he would select more than one hundred photographs to include in his own book about the island.

112

S U M M E R I N T E R L U D E 11

CASCADE I N S T P A U L ' S I N L E T PANL, €1-146

Chapter Seven " A N D S T I L L T H E W O N D E R G R E W... "

To the left and lower down, right over the Narrows, are to be seen the six stars that form the "Sickle in Leo." Find all these for yourselves. It may take ten minutes to puzzle them out first time; after that you will recognize them as old friends, by name, as long as you live. Robert Holloway, 1896l

In spite of the lingering effects of the crises just past, Holloway would refer to 1894-95, the first year of operation of the new Methodist College, as a "singularly prosperous educational year"2 For Holloway, who had always poured his energies into his work as headmaster, the same challenges existed as before; but he was convinced that in these ideal surroundings nothing was impossible, no goals too lofty to be realized. There had been losses, but these would be balanced by many gains. Among the losses was the Athenaeum. The hall had been a venue for his public lectures, and the reading room with its books and periodicals from all over the world a wonderful resource. It was at the Athenaeum Hall, within a few years of his arrival, that he had demonstrated the telephone and microphone and produced electric light and limelight.3 However, his involvement with the Methodist College Literary Institute, which met regularly in the college, helped to compensate. And the new college hall, with the laboratory close by, would make it possible for him to present his "popular science lectures, illustrated with experiments" to raise money for equipment and materials and perhaps to help the college in reducing its tremendous debt. The acoustics of the large auditorium were exceptionally good, not only for lectures but also for many special events that would continue the long tradition of community involvement in the school and school involvement in the community.4

114

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.L.OWAY

One of Holloway's pupils, reminiscing more than thirty-five years later about the college in 1894, invited others of his generation to think about the memories of their schooldays: "Just what do you remember most vividly about the Old College? Is it the wooden flight of stairs and their very wide banisters, the school and play-rooms supported by their oldfashioned pillars, the Institute room with its long tables, big bookcases and grand piano - the Tower room?"5 This student went on to describe "the tower's winding steps leading one never knew where, as we were too timid to find out." The "little old tower room," which Holloway had foreseen as a magic place for his children, had been rumoured to be haunted by a spectral figure. At least one pupil believed this so strongly that he wondered whether, with the tower redesigned, the spectre now missed his favourite haunt!6 Notwithstanding the tower room ghosts, the college was better than before, with improved facilities leading to a broader curriculum and enriched experiences for the boys and girls. When Holloway had begun his work as principal of the Wesleyan Academy, his first thoughts had been how to meet the needs of the students. The same concerns had guided his efforts when the Methodist College was built in 1886. The increased size had enabled him to have a properly equipped laboratory as well as facilities for physical education, art, and music. The improvements in the lower school and the college Home meant better opportunities for teacher training and better preparation for students entering the higher grades. Enrolment had increased steadily until the fire of 1892, a blow from which it seemed almost impossible to recover. The time afterwards had been spent, in the words of one student, in "very uncomfortable" surroundings.7 Yet, here they were, in two short years, beginning the 1894-95 school year in this thoroughly modern setting, with the welfare of students at the heart of all the planning. It seemed that the hopes expressed by Milligan after the disastrous fire were miraculously close to fulfilment: the college would be once again "in full operation in all its departments - thoroughly equipped," with a "complete corps of professors and teachers worthy of its noble antecedents."8 The architect had designed the three buildings, school, principal's residence, and college residence, so that each complemented the others. The effect was achieved with the solid, symmetrical appearance of the brick walls, the dormer windows, and the ornamental brackets supporting the roof.9 The principal's residence had a beautiful front entrance, with side-

"And Still the Wonder Grew..."

115

lights and transom and a wide bay window facing the college - a good location for a comfortable chair and good light for reading, also allowing the principal an excellent view of what was going on outside. The summer sojourn and the prospect of starting the school year in these ideal surroundings had a rejuvenating effect on Holloway's health. The usual round of cultural activities would resume with the fall, and Georgina Stirling, the world-renowned opera singer, born in Twillingate, was expected to be back in Newfoundland to perform in a concert series and sing at the formal opening of the new Gower Street Methodist Church. Perhaps he and Henrietta would attend some of the concerts at the new Methodist College Hall, and there was the possibility of many more activities once the rebuilding of the Benevolent Irish Society clubrooms and the Academia was completed. In many ways the years that followed were Holloway's greatest, a period when his fine qualities as science teacher, scientist, and humanist were most clearly evident. As a practising science teacher who was evolving and refining his philosophy of education, he became more and more sensitive to the needs and interests of his students, finding ways of giving them more responsibility.10 As a practising scientist, he tried in his laboratory to replicate discoveries he read about in scientific journals and to share them with his students and an interested public. As an excellent administrator and humanitarian, he reached beyond these interests to ensure that the curriculum of the college was as broad as life itself, embracing languages and literature, art and music, the social sciences and mathematics. He encouraged students to participate as well in physical education and a wellrounded sports program. To encourage esprit de corps in the school, he ordered caps for the boys in the red and blue colours of the college, advising them to be sure that whenever they wore them they behaved so as to make the college proud of them. For the girls there were straw hats, beribboned with the school colours.11 With the same goals in mind, he finally put in place a project he had long postponed for lack of funds - the launching of a school magazine. The first issue of the Collegian, published in December 1895 set forth his intense pride in the college and his hopes for the magazine as a means of direct communication with pupils, teachers, parents, and all those interested in the college. In it he praised the Council of Higher Education (CHE) examinations, which he felt had accomplished more for education in two years than would have been possible in ten without them,

116

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLUOWAY

suggesting that they were "in many ways minimizing the evils natural to a system of Denominational Education."12 Like his friend George Milligan as well as many other Methodists, Holloway had never favoured separate schools, especially in the outports, where he felt that jointly operated schools would help to solve the problems of providing a good education to children in isolated areas. However, his willingness to defend the examination results of the Methodist College pupils against those of the rival Church of England and Roman Catholic Colleges came through clearly in the first issue of the Collegian. In it he listed in order of merit the twenty-four students at the college who had passed the senior CHE examinations and the seventy-five students who had passed the junior examinations. He pointed out that the numbers of students listed for each class were greater than the numbers in the pass lists, because in each grade some students had been expected to fail but were nevertheless not prevented from taking the examinations. Even for the weaker students, the processes of preparing for and taking the examinations were considered valuable learning experiences. All students, weak and strong, who had passed the Council of Higher Education examinations were included in the statistics used to report the results. This would naturally mean that the average aggregate marks would be lower than if only the students who were sure to pass had been included. The editor was clearly leading up to something in these preliminary remarks. That "something" was the claim by the editor of the Feildian, the school magazine of Bishop Feild College, that their students had been "easily first" in the examination results. Holloway went to great pains to refute this claim and to show that the comparisons in the Feildian were unfair and the conclusions invalid: the Feildian was comparing the marks of the best fifteen of their students with the performance of all twenty-four Methodist College students on the senior pass list.13 Holloway continued the argument in the January 1896 issue. He would not have returned to the subject, he wrote, but for the fact that he had heard that his previous arguments, deductions, and figures had been demolished by the editor of the Feildian at a meeting and that the claim of "facile princeps" of the Feild students had been reaffirmed and emphasized. In his rebuttal in the January issue, Holloway included tables comparing the junior and senior students of the two schools as to average aggregate marks as well as numbers of prizes, scholarships, and first class honours. "We repeat, we do not care what method the editor of the Feildian chooses

"And Still the Wonder Grew..."

117

to adopt when he is comparing his own work with his own," he declared, "that is none of our business; but when, in comparing his work with ours, he adopts methods of making up marks, contrary to our ideas of fairness, and contrary to the recognized procedure of the Council, we protest."14 Such rebuttals were not often necessary, but the pride of the college in the students' achievement was evident. In future issues, there would be no shortage of reports of the successes of Methodist College pupils and "old pupils." Was the tempest caused by the claims of the Feildian the impetus for publishing the premiere edition of the Collegian in December of 1895 instead of the logical time at the beginning of the New Year? The rivalry among the St John's colleges may have been one of the "evils" of the denominational system as perceived by Holloway; however, it was healthy and certainly inevitable that competition for a good showing in the examinations would co-exist with intercollegiate competition in sports. Holloway's sense of history, and perhaps his awareness of the frailness of his health and the urgency of getting things done while it was still possible, may have prompted him to add to his already busy schedule the demanding task of writing and editing the ten issues of the Collegian published each year. In its pages he continued to record the standing of pupils in the regular school examinations as well as those of the London Matriculation examinations and the Council of Higher Education. He commented on changes to the curriculum and the success of new programs and revealed through the magazine many aspects of his philosophy of education. He informed his readers about intercollegiate sports events, described in detail school concerts and the work of the Ladies College Aid Society in which Henrietta was deeply involved, and chronicled changes in staff and at times the death of friends who had become very important in his life and the life of the college. The inclusion of an "Old Pupils" page as a regular feature would be suggested a few years later by William Boyle,15 one of many graduates who kept in touch with their teacher through letters as well as visits when they returned to Newfoundland from work or from post-secondary institutions. Perhaps most important of all, the magazine became a medium for the extension of Holloway s teaching, as he discussed common grammatical errors, worked out problems in mathematics, reviewed concepts taught in his science lessons, and sometimes printed sample lessons and examinations in various subjects for the guidance of pupils and teachers in outport Methodist schools. He often commented on students' participation in

118

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

S C H O L A R S H I P A N D P R I Z E W I N N E R S , 1895

Newfoundland and Labrador Conference Archives United Church of Canada, 5.1.14

special projects and from time to time printed articles by other teachers, as well as students. Distribution Days were covered fully, along with lists of prizes and scholarships awarded. On special occasions, such as the winning of a football championship, or a picnic to celebrate the winning of a scholarship, photographs sometimes were included, although cost made this a rarity. Nevertheless, his photographs of groups and college events were projected onto twenty-foot-square screens on prize days or were enlarged and exhibited on the college walls. Among the lantern slides shown on the first Distribution Day in the new college were a photograph of the scholarship and prize winners in the Council of Higher Education examinations16 and another, by S.H. Parsons, of the Council of Higher Education. The council included the superintendents of education for the various denominations, the headmasters of the denominational colleges - William Blackall, principal of Bishop Feild College, Rev. Brother Crehan who had replaced Rev. Brother Slatter as principal of St Bonaventure's College - and the other members of the council. Holloway spoke highly of these men and their work,17 and Black-

"And Still the Wonder Grew..."

119

C O U N C I L O F H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N , 1 8 9 6 .H O L L O W A Y I S S E C O N D FROM LEFT IN F R O N T ROW

PANL, €3-47

all, despite the bickering about examination results, would later praise the clarity of Holloway's lectures on scientific topics.18 A relationship of mutual trust and respect developed as the headmasters of the denominational colleges worked together towards common goals. Each of these educators was striving under economic restraints to build up his school to meet the needs of the time, to provide a good education from kindergarten to associate grade. St John's had become a centre for the London University Matriculation Examinations, and students planning to transfer to university or to enter business life in the colony, as well as pupil teachers wishing to upgrade, were encouraged to write these examinations. Denominational differences were unimportant in the light of the shared purpose of making the schools as good as they could be. Competition would become an incentive towards productivity and success. The opening of the new college meant that intercollegiate football could begin, and in 1894 the Methodist College won the championship. At Christmastime Holloway congratulated the championship team by presenting each member with a group photograph as a Christmas card. At

12O

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOLLOWAY

M E T H O D I S T C O L L E G E FOOTS A L L C H A M P I O N S , 1894 CNS, MUN, Coll. 279,1.03

the same time he presented group photographs to each of the seniors and juniors who had won scholarships and prizes. To assure the pupils not included in the photograph that they had not been overlooked, he noted their names in the Collegian.19 The Collegian was for Holloway a way of preserving the history of the college and, perhaps subconsciously, the story of the large part of his lif that was intertwined with that institution. His sense of history may also have prompted his perennial advice to students to hold onto things that might seem unimportant now but would later be cherished.20 He tried to inspire them to work hard, to start preparing for examinations immediately after the Easter holidays. He gave them three reasons for striving to do well: to do credit to their school and teachers, to do credit to their parents, and to do credit to themselves. He elaborated on the "themselves" part of the trilogy by saying: "You will be men and women soon, and, amid the worries and occupations of life, you will find the keenest pleasure in recalling the incidents and details of your various College successes."21

"And Still the Wonder Grew..."

121

The Collegian became a forum as well for expounding the philosophy of the college on the equality of the sexes. Holloway conceded that first-class masters had been engaged for the music and art programs chiefly for girls; but suggested that these subjects were not desirable for all girls, nor for all boys, for that matter. He suggested that the syllabus should be wide enough to allow a girl to choose any subject for which she might show aptitude.22 At a time when education for girls was not considered to be as important as for boys, Holloway was very proud of the performance of the girls in his classes, who made up a good representation among the prizewinners in the juniors and seniors. In front of the two rows of boys in the photograph - ten in all - were seven girls: Ada Horwood, Edith Knight, Emma Ash, Violette Macpherson, Eva Macpherson, Emma Dawe, and Ethel Dickenson. Holloway was their champion. He defended girls against those who perceived some subjects as "girls' subjects" and others as "boys' subjects," and against the differential requirements for female and male teaching certificates. To girls given the option of not taking algebra, Euclid, and bookkeeping, his advice was that they should "in these days of equality, keep up the intellectual credit of the sex and boldly go in for the same work as their male competitors."23 To a parent who had remarked that "A is a clever girl - she has no difficulty with her Euclid deductions," he replied, "Yes, her mother twenty years ago was good at Euclid... We know many of these mothers who were clever years ago at boys' studies (so-called). We believe they are better mothers, better fitted to help and sympathize with their boys as well as their girls than if they had learnt nothing but music, painting and tatting."24 After twenty-five years of experience with teaching girls, he felt that he knew something about it and made his position very clear to readers: We want an educated girl to know enough to recognize and apply quotations from English authors ... to see Sir W. Scott's gentle satire when he calls the driver of the ramshackle carrier's cart "Automedon." To know what the minister means when he quotes Horace's grand words "non omnis moriar" To recall, if she stands in the Poet's corner at Westminster Abbey and compares the little medallion with the magnificent tombs of the soldiers and sailors, the words "Exegi monumentum acre perennius, etc." And we like the educated girl too to appreciate the fun of the great mathematician s tale of nightmare when he awoke from the horrible dream that he was a minus quantity under an even root, and therefore impossible.

122

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

And we like too the educated girl to play for us the masterpieces of Mozart, Beethoven, etc. - to sketch from nature - to speak French and German fluently and correctly. Can we have all these in one girl? - sometimes - not often. Then we hope she can do some of these things well, choosing such as her abilities fit her for.25

Sometimes Holloway reprinted copies of his public lectures in science or brought to the attention of his readers the work of the scientists of the late nineteenth century and discussed the implications of new discoveries for changing previously held concepts. In Holloway's science classes, con cepts were built from raw experience, in much the same way that he himself had been taught science in the laboratories at South Kensington. Referring to the syllabus for the sciences, which he had a large role in developing through his work with the Council of Higher Education, he suggested: "The next year's syllabus will, we believe, afford more opportunities than previous ones have done for teaching this important class of subjects in a practical way. Teaching from experiments is almost enforced. The addition of mineralogy as a purely practical subject will be of great value to a community who hope great things from mineral yet underground."26 In his mineralogy classes students learned the properties of rocks and minerals not by reading about them and memorizing information but by handling and observing the specimens available to them in the school "museum"; new ones were added each year.27 In the new college, this collection was placed in a special room, along with the typewriter and the "delicate balances for Chemical and Physical study."28 Many of the specimens were the gift of Mr Justice Morrison. He had presented to the college 120 minerals, similar to those that had cost the college one to two dollars each when Holloway started the course in mineralogy after his arrival. Holloway's brother, George, had also sent many fine specimens from England. Others had come from John Steer, Jr, W.S. March, James Ayre, William Sclater, and Richard White. John Birkett, an Old Pupil who had attended the Wesleyan Academy thirty years earlier and was now living in Kingston, Ontario, had decided at about the same time to make a museum case to house the collection. It was a magnificent cedar cabinet, with front of polished oak and glass doors. Along with the cabinet came a valuable set of minerals "to illustrate the ten degrees of hardness." When thanking Birkett for this wonderful gift, the principal was quick to add an appeal to other former students to follow "Mr. Birkett's noble example." He pointe

"And Still the Wonder Grew..."

123

out that the college was poor, with a heavy debt that precluded the purchase of the experimental apparatus of which they were always in need!29 Each spring he encouraged his students to report the first wildflowers and the first appearance of the migratory birds. Describing himself as "a bit of a botanist," he continued his long practice of offering, "without making a task of it," to help identify any wildflowers they discovered in their rambles around St John's. And, to encourage their involvement, he passed on a request from Dr A.H. MacKay of the Botanical Club of Canada for information on the first blooming of flowering plants. The club, of which Holloway was a member, had also asked for other "phenological" observations, such as the first appearance of wild ducks, wild geese, the spotted sandpiper, the robin, and the kingfisher.30 In the April 1897 Collegian, he described cloudberries, known locally as bakeapples, as "near relatives of our plumboys and common red raspberries" and suggested that pupils look for the male and female flowers appearing on separate plants.31 Later, they would be directed to a pamphlet brought to him by Rev. A.C. Waghorne, one of a series that Waghorne was producing on the flora of Newfoundland.32 Confessing his ignorance of entomology, and wanting to encourage one of his students, Richard White, Holloway sent the boy's beginning collection of beetles and butterflies to the best authority he knew, James Fletcher, the government entomologist in Ottawa. In the Collegian he suggested that Richard's collection "would be a credit to a professional."33 The same student was a collector of birds' eggs, mostly those of sea-birds. Richard's findings were shared with the class, along with sincere praise of his efforts: "The infinite diversity of colour in the case of the Turr's eggs (is this the correct name?) is wonderful; but more wonderful is their form, which is adapted to save them from rolling off the sloping rocks, where they are naturally deposited. Dick is a born naturalist."34 Holloway continued to organize field trips for pupils interested in astronomy, sharing the excitement of looking through the college telescope, a "three-inch refractor by Dollond" donated by James Pitts, the first of many gifts through the years from the same benefactor. Holloway praised the quality of the lens, which easily divided Polaris - "a test object for a three-inch."35 To encourage all students to look at the night-time sky, he included diagrams in the Collegian, together with clear directions on how to recognize the stars, planets, and constellations. In March 1896

124

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.LOWAY

E L S I E HOLLOWAY'S P H O T O G R A P H OF I C E B E R G OFF ST J O H N ' S HARBOUR

PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), frontispiece

he told pupils to look carefully from the college steps at the blazing planet of Jupiter and to identify the group of stars forming the "Sickle in Leo." The lesson ended, as always, on the familiar note of the enduring value of such learning.36 In the next issue Holloway bemoaned the fact that neither he (who was busy setting and examining papers and attending meetings of the Council of Higher Education) nor his students (who were bus preparing for examinations) had much time for star gazing. He could not resist, however, mentioning four planets visible in the April sky and how to locate them.37 Photography was also becoming of increasing importance to Holloway. Both an art and a science, it was as well a way of preserving for the future a record of the present. As soon as some of the students acquired cameras, Holloway had begun classes in photography. He gave lessons outside regular school hours in printing and developing, and also in making

"And Still the Wonder Grew..."

125

ICEBERG OUTSIDE ST J O H N ' S H A R B O U R , DISTANT V I E W PANL, VA 21-46

lantern slides by reduction, so that students were soon able to add to the college stock of slides.38 A group of girls with their cameras went with him in May 1899 to see a large iceberg off the Narrows. Among them was Holloway s daughter, Elsie. Her dark hair hidden beneath the cloth that blocked the light from the viewfinder, she centred the scene and waited for a signal from her father that the light was right to "shoot."39 The photograph she took that day was a masterpiece. It was later published in an English paper which at first erroneously attributed the photograph to Valentine, a landscape photographer from Dundee. When the mistake was discovered, Elsie received a handsome cheque. Holloway encouraged other students to make prints for publication,40 and his own photographs of scenic Newfoundland in this period would be published in the London Illustrated News and other British and Newfoundland publications.41

126

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOLL.OWAY

WATER F L U M E , PETTY H A R B O U R , U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N Photographer unknown. PANL, VA 45-11

Ordinary events were often the stimuli for lessons in science. An iceberg off the coast inspired a joint lesson in hydrostatics and mathematics, designed to calculate the proportion of the visible part of the iceberg to the part beneath the surface of the water.42 The noonday gun fired each day from a cannon on Signal Hill continued to serve as an opportunity for comparing the speed of light and sound.43 A lightning storm led to a query about the energy in a bolt of lightning. Holloway immediately worked out mathematically for his class the power of a small lightning discharge, musing about the possibility of finding some means of harnessing this power in the future when other sources of energy were depleted.44 In later years, the opening of the street railway would become a lesson in transformation of energy for his classes in magnetism and electricity. Another local example he used was the potential energy of the immense body of water in the lakes at the top of the Petty Harbour hills.45 Over the years, the affectionate relationships between Holloway and his students were clearly evident. Old pupils corresponded with him and he followed their progress after they had left the college, hoping that he had prepared them well. Girls wrote to him from schools in Europe about how they longed to be back in Newfoundland. Boys at universities in Canada

"And Still the Wonder Grew..."

127

and the United States sometimes got together and sent a joint letter, sharing with him their successes. The memories that stayed with them were often connected with Holloway as a teacher and confidant, helping them to plan their lives. Others recalled helping him with the preparations for his public lectures in science. In the years after the Great Fire, as he regretted the loss of the Athenaeum Hall, Holloway recalled again Arthur Mews's participation in the telephone lecture and how his young voice singing "Pull for the Shore, Sailor, Pull for the Shore" had come through so clearly in the demonstration.46 Holloway remembered how the whole class had helped fill the Bunsen cells so that Sir Humphrey Davy's classical experiment at the Royal Institution could be repeated in a crowded auditorium in downtown St John's. He saw again in his mind's eye the way the hall had been illuminated by the brilliant light. In 1895, as winter approached, Holloway felt again the threat of an episode of illness such as those in past winters which had brought on chills and uncontrollable coughing. This fuelled his compelling need to complete as many things as possible, his sense of "And at my back I always hear, Time's winged chariot drawing near."47 Constantly experimenting, constantly looking for the apparatus and equipment needed to keep abreast of science in this very prolific period, he was endlessly fascinated with the discoveries of the day. Hand in hand with this fascination went the desire to share the excitement of these discoveries with his students and with the town.

SUMMER INTERLUDE III

The Cruise of the Argo: Notre Dame Bay

In the late 18905 a small yacht called the Argo, capable of towing a dory and carrying a crew of six and lots of food and camping equipment, would make it possible for Holloway, accompanied by family and friends, to spend several happy summers cruising, drifting, and sailing among the islands of Notre Dame Bay. Notre Dame Bay was then called Green Bay, even though Green Bay was only a small portion of the vast expanse. Two writers would describe the summer voyage of 1899 - Robert Holloway and Peter LeSueur, the music master, expert with the pen as well as organ, piano, and violin. LeSueur would later combine his jottings in an article in the Collegian. Holloway's own notes on the camping trip would be included in the book he was planning to write. The title he had chosen was Through Newfoundland with the Camera, and the book would be not only about the beauty of the island and its possibilities for fishing and hunting, camping out, and coastal and inland trips but also about the great potential of the commercial cod, salmon, and caplin fisheries, the lobster canneries, the whaling and sealing industries, and the largely untapped mineral resources. The two friends had planned this trip well before school closed. LeSueur had been invited to a wedding at Heart's Content and spent a week there before travelling to Whitbourne by train. He then boarded the SS Alert, touching in at Norris Arm and Botwoodville before finally joining the other travellers at Twillingate. With Holloway were Will and Jim McNeily, and Holloway's son, Bert, now eleven and old enough to be a crew member. At Twillingate they were all invited to a picnic and later went to the church so that LeSueur, both music master and organist at the college (and later to be organist at Gower Street Methodist Church), could try out the organ.

THE C R U I S E OF THE A R G O , NOTRE D A M E BAY

129

I N D I A N LOOKOUT, D I U D O R U N CNS,MUN, 13.10.004

The Alert took them to Herring Neck, where the Argo had docked after a run along the east coast from St John's, with Skipper Mark at the helm and Cluny Macpherson (Mac) as "first mate." The title of LeSueur's lyrical and humorous day-by-day account of that first week was "THE ARGO'S CREW - or- THE CRUISE OF THE ARGO." He described the various chores assigned to get the yacht ready for the cruise along Dildo Run, the channel separating a series of islands in Notre Dame Bay from the shore. Skipper Mark, who would be the skilful navigator, had the job of caulking the dry seams, while LeSueur and Mac painted and Jim and Will straightened things away. Holloway was given the title "the Commodore," and LeSueur described how he watched as they worked, keeping an "eagle eye on them but, like Brer Rabbit, sayin nuffin."2 As meals were prepared, Commodore Holloway insisted that washing-up follow immediately. When all the painting was finished, LeSueur and the others went for a dip, making for a rock in the middle of the pool, where they were "snapshotted" by the Commodore. Later, tired from all the fresh air and exertion, each man followed the Commodore s lead, dropping his

130

SUMMER INTERLUDE

111

MEN AND A DOG NEAR "DIL.DO RUN WRECK" CNS, MUN, 13.10.003

book and blinking his eyes in a vain endeavour to keep awake. It was contagious, and everyone slept until it was time for the butterer of the bread and the maker of the "billy tea" to go into action. That first night in Herring Neck they took advantage of the offer of supper and a good night's sleep in the home of the local parson. In the morning when the yacht was floated off under Mac's direction, it was discovered to be full of water. Bert set to work at the pumps with some success, remarking that the boat was now "as dry as a teetotaller," only to discover that the dory too had filled with bilge-water. With both yacht and dory readied for the morning and still enough light for a half-hour of cod-jigging, they watched the changing colours of the western sky, ranging from crimson to a pale yellow that Holloway said reminded him of a mustard poultice. In the joy of the moment they "made the welkin ring," then said goodnight to Mac and the skipper, who slept on the boat, and retired again to the parsonage for the night. Leaving Herring Neck in the very early morning, they meandered their way "in and out the hundred and one isles that bejewel the Bay of Notre Dame." By noon they anchored off Indian Lookout, a high rock which must have been at one time admirably suited for this purpose. As they

THE C R U I S E OF THE A R G O , N O T R E D A M E BAY

131

H E R R I N G NECK, NOTRE DAME BAY CNS,MUN, 13.11.001

pulled ashore with food and photographic equipment, Holloway recalled his Indian guide of two years before on the Humber River at "Devil's Dancing Point." Later they rowed out to rendezvous with the ss Virginia Lake and pick up letters from home. There was no convenient place to pitch their tents for the night, but they managed to sleep on a folded sail in a fish store, although the odour was overpowering. The night over, they were soon on their way to Beaver (pronounced "Bayver") Cove, with bacon and brewis3 for breakfast en route. Will was the chef, and LeSueur was again in charge of bread and butter. He was fascinated watching Holloway tasting pineapple syrup, "taking it in minute sips, and letting it trickle down its appointed way, whilst he closed his eyes and analyzed his emotions."4 The music master was observing something about the principal that he had not noticed before - his ability to distance himself from his physical surroundings and move into the realm of analysis. LeSueur knew well the harrowing experiences his friend had been through; his ability to deal with them by "analyzing his emotions" could explain how he survived chronic illness, the death of his children, the need to keep up appearances and continue his self-imposed workload. The cruise through Dildo Run was giving him quiet time to commune with

132

SUMMER INTERLUDE I I I

C A M P I N G O N T E A KETTLE

ISLAND

PANL,Al?-67

nature and work it all through. Just as the connection with literature had been his solace in the death of his children, so this intimate connection with nature brought both physical and spiritual healing. The next day being Sunday, and the news having spread that there was a church organist nearby with a portable organ, LeSueur was asked to play at the morning service and again in the evening in the little church at Beaver Cove. A flag was hoisted beforehand to let people know there would be a service. LeSueur placed the little organ on a chair, and it was the object of a great deal of wonder to the people. Unaccustomed to a musical accompaniment, they stamped out the beat with their feet. LeSueur was profoundly moved by the simplicity of the services, conducted by a layman: "To the student of human nature, it was interesting to watch, in the dim light cast by the suspended oil lamps the rugged, weather-beaten faces of the men, the placid, expressionless features of the women, and the round-eyed wonderment of the bairns who, during prayer, cast curious glances at us between their fingers."5

THE C R U I S E OF THE A R G O , N O T R E D A M E BAY

133

LITTLE B A Y ISLANDS WITH C H U R C H I N F O R E G R O U N D CNS,MUN, 13.03.001

Next day the yacht and its party headed up Dildo Run, through beautiful scenery. The Argo, according to LeSueur, looked like "a painted ship on a painted ocean" as it anchored off Tea Kettle Island for five o'clock tea. This was no ordinary trip and no ordinary crew. The arts and sciences met in the music, the "snapshotting," the awareness of the beauty of the surroundings, and the knowledge of the cliffs and crags, the trees and shrubs and wild flowers that sharpened that awareness. After more photographs, the tents were made ready for the night. Will and Jim set up the smaller tent while the others managed the hexagonal one. There were the usual songs to windward of the campfire, and some stories of past camping experiences by the Commodore, whose "manner of speaking reminded one of water flowing out of a jug, with its mellifluous, rhythmic flow."6 While Mac and Skipper Mark slept on the yacht, the other five bedded down in the larger tent, disturbed only by the periodic attacks of a droning mosquito. Continuing the crawl up the run, they reached Burnt Island and spent two nights there before joining the Alert for the trip back to St John's, where Holloway would be staying for a few days before returning to Notre Dame

134

SUMMER INTERLUDE III

V I E W O F FOGO, N O T R E D A M E B A Y CNS,MUN, 13.12.001

Bay to continue his holiday. He was to comment later on a photograph he had taken of Little Bay Islands, the church dominating the panorama, that although he spent two summers cruising the magnificent bay, there was not time to see even one-half of its beauty. He contrasted the picturesque islets along the Dildo Run with the majesty of the larger islands that sheltered the bay from the ravages of the Atlantic - islands such as Fogo Island, where he had at an earlier time landed at Seldom-Come-By and fished in an inland pond. Each of the Argo's "crew" would recall the feelings of camaradarie of working together and playing together, enjoying the rough-and-ready life of camping in the outdoors, or being greeted hospitably when the boat moored in a cove on one of the larger islands. Concerns had been left behind and cares diminished. It was a summer to be remembered for a long time.

Chapter Eight SCHOOL A N D C O M M U N I T Y B L U R R I N G THE B O U N D A R I E S

We still hope, in the near future, to produce those wonderful "shadowgrams" of which we are everyday reading in the scientific magazines. It is merely a matter of expense. We have, in our laboratory, all the apparatus necessary to produce the results, but it is of too small a size. It is right in kind, but insufficient in degree. We need a larger Ruhmkorff, and our vacuum tubes are insufficiently exhausted. Robert Holloway, 18961

Even in the relative isolation of nineteenth-century Newfoundland, Holloway continued to keep in touch with scientific developments through his contacts with visiting scientists, his friendship with the medical community, and his reading of scientific journals. To make up for the loss of the books and periodicals of the Athenaeum Reading Room, he had added to his personal list of subscriptions the London Illustrated News, Pearson's Magazine, and scientific journals like Scientific American and the English Scientific Magazine.2 It was while reading the English Scientific Magazine that Holloway came across some troubling news from Captain Robert Bartlett of the Kite, the relief steamer of the Peary Expedition. Bartlett, a Newfoundland explorer who hailed from Brigus, Conception Bay, reported the loss of two Swedish explorers, Bjorling and Calistenius, who had been part of the expedition. He had searched for them in vain in Ellesmere Land and, finding no trace, held out no hope that they would be found alive. The two young scientists had visited Holloway in St John's before joining the expedition, and he had taken them out to the Black Marsh Road to show them the pitcher plant, Saracenia purpurea. They had never seen a growing specimen of the carnivorous plant. While there, they gathered kalmia, ledum and azalea as

136

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.LOWAY

well and returned home where Henrietta served them afternoon tea. Conversation was difficult, as his guests had only a superficial knowledge of English and knew little French or German. However, when asked to choose between squashberry, strawberry, bakeapple, or blueberry jam, they could do this easily when the fruits were referred to in Latin, by their botanical names. The Swedish scientists had taken specimens from Holloway's collection of Newfoundland plants with them and promised to share their Arctic collection with him on their return. Holloway remarked sadly, "Poor young fellows; they deserved a better fate than has befallen them."3 In his thinking and teaching in both the college and the public arena, Holloway recognized the contributions of earlier scientists and the cumulative nature of scientific knowledge. He had followed the work of physicists such as Sprengel on vacuum pumps and Crookes on discharge tubes, which facilitated the study of electrical discharges in evacuated tubes. His students were familiar with these advances and also with the transformer called a Ruhmkorff coil used for the experiments. The Ruhmkorff consisted of a primary coil with a few turns of thick wire (connected to a battery to establish a steady current flow) alongside a secondary wire of many turns of fine wire. Through his reading of the journals Holloway knew that William Konrad Roentgen, using the improved apparatus, had been working on experiments with passing a high-voltage electric current through an evacuated tube. On 8 November 1895 Roentgen noted that a nearby piece of paper coated with barium platinocyanide glowed with a greenish-blue light. By putting objects between the tube and the paper, he found that some "new kind of ray" was coming from the tube. This ray not only caused objects to fluoresce but penetrated paper, glass, thick pieces of wood, and even metals. Also, when he interposed his hand between the source of the rays and the luminescent cardboard, the bones of his hand were projected in silhouette upon the screen. Roentgen had discovered x-rays. His paper was published on 28 December 1895, and by cable and wire the news went around the world.4 His findings would be repeated by many other scientists and would lead to the work of such geniuses as Thomson, Becquerel, and the Curies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Holloway's own work with x-rays began within a few months of Roentgen's discovery. Early in 1896 he had in his laboratory "all the apparatus necessary to produce the results but of too small a size."5 He had been

School and Community

137

reading in scientific magazines how "those wonderful shadowgrams" were produced', but a larger Ruhmkorff was needed and his Crookes tubes were insufficiently evacuated.6 Through the generosity of James Pitts and other friends, the larger apparatus was soon available. The coil obtained ran at 250,000 volts, and Holloway wrote about the extreme care necessary in ensuring that procedures were flawless and the equipment was kept in good working order.7 His success with the apparatus enabled him to respond to a request from one of the local doctors to use it to x-ray the hand of an infant in the college laboratory. A letter to the Daily News by Thomas H. Winter of St John's published on 12 February 1970 tells a story of this early case. Winter's dates seem to be offby about a year from the actual happening, in that he dates Roentgen's discovery and the date of Holloway's x-ray a year earlier. Winter could have been a year older at the time of the x-ray. Whatever the circumstances, the letter lends support to the fact that Holloway was able to perfect the apparatus very soon after the actual discovery of the "new kind of ray" and use it, as he would many times in the future, to help a doctor with diagnosis: The Editor: Enclosed is a clipping from your February 4 issue on which appears an item which reads: "i9o6-x-rays were demonstrated for the first time at Montreal's McGill University. x-rays were discovered by the German scientist, Roentgen, in 1894. In 1895, on the advice of the late Dr. W.S. Frazer, an x-ray was done on my right hand by Mr. Holloway, principal of the old Methodist College in St. John's. He had been provided with information by a friend in England on how to make an x-ray machine. This he did and I was the first case of an x-ray on the North American continent, and as a result of this x-ray I was taken to New York for an operation on the forefinger of my right hand. I was then five months old. Could not this be the first demonstration rather than the one at McGill University? Yours very truly, Thomas H. Winter

In gratitude to the board that had purchased apparatus for his science courses and to individual members who had dipped into their own pockets to enable him to continue his experiments with x-rays, Holloway

138

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.LOWAY

gave the honour of the first demonstration of his success. The next demonstration recognized the assistance of the Ladies College Aid Society. This may have come about because of Henrietta's request that he share his work with her co-workers in the society or because of his gratitude for a donation of funds for part of the equipment. The date of the demonstration for his physics class was 4 February 1897, and there were so many questions that the "experiments took much longer than the usual hour."8 The class began with a lecture on the history of events preceding the discovery of x-rays, a simple account of the experiments of Geissler (also an inventor of gas discharge tubes) and the work of Crookes and Lenard. Then Holloway introduced a little physics, comparing the speed of vibrations of sound and light in order to give his audience some appreciation of the extreme rapidity and the short path of the x-rays. Demonstrations followed, as various objects enclosed in packages were detected and their shadows cast on a fluorescent screen. Following the lecture, volunteers had the bones of their hands x-rayed.9 Holloway s listeners were very impressed. His work received the encouragement of the board of governors, and the four-inch coil was soon replaced by a six-inch coil. In October 1897 he added an improved contact breaker, the Vril, which increased the efficiency of the coil. Still later, James Pitts covered the cost of a new coil that gave a ten-inch spark.10 Meanwhile Holloway found time to present a number of chemistry lectures. Postponed from the fall of 1896, the series began in January and continued until March 1897. It was a comprehensive series of eight lectures similar to those he had given in previous years. Interest was so great that the average attendance was about fifty, although as usual not everyone in the class was preparing for the examinations. The course began with a general introduction to the apparatus and procedures used in a laboratory. The lectures that followed focused in turn on hydrogen, iron, iron ore analysis, copper, and oxygen and included a demonstration of his experiments on x-rays. The series was scheduled to conclude in March with "The Volumetric Analysis of a Copper Ore,""Silver, Lead and Mercury," "The Examination of Water for Domestic Purposes," and, finally, "Gold and Its Uses," including its role in toning photographic prints. He stressed that the lectures were merely an excursion into the "vast domain of chemistry" and urged his audience to learn more about the topics that interested them most by reading and by further experiments.11

School and Community

139

Q U E E N V I C T O R I A J U B I L E E P I C N I C , M E T H O D I S T COLLEGE, J U N E 1 897 First row: Prof. Therouin, EricAyre, George Gushue Taylor, William Boyle, Peter LeSueur; second row: Di Dickson, Elsie Holloway, Jean Ayre, Florence Horwood, Mrs. Holloway, Harry Blatch, Herb Rodger, Blanche Baxter, Winnie Dickinson, Nell Carter, Edna Greaves, Eva Macpherson; third row: Charlie Ayre, Bert Holloway, Harold Macpherson, Arthur Herder, Bob Frew, Bert Bond, Herman Archibald, Miss Maxwell. CNS, MUN, Coll. 279.1.02

The 1896-97 school year ended with great excitement because of two great celebrations, one marking the four-hundredth anniversary of the landfall of John Cabot, and the other the Diamond Jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria. The students of the Methodist College, like their counterparts in the other colleges, were caught up in the events that were planned as well as their own special events such as the Jubilee picnic on 22 June 1897. The civic ceremonies included the laying of the cornerstones of the new Victoria Hospital and of Cabot Tower, which would provide welcome employment as work on the two new buildings began. A parade led by the Constabulary Band followed by the firemen and the various fraternal societies made its way first to Signal Hill and then to the site of the new hospi-

14O

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

tal. A military band paraded in full dress from the harbour, where French, American, and British warships were festively decorated with bunting. The town came alive with flags and huge arches of evergreen boughs, decorated with illuminated banners. Churches throughout the city held special services, and, the massed choirs of all the churches assembled on Signal Hill, along with Georgina Stirling, who sang "God Save the Queen."12 Judge Prowse conducted the ceremony, and, after laying the cornerstone for Cabot Tower, Bishop Michael Francis Howley addressed the gathering that had followed the parade to the hill: "Cast your eyes around, my friends," he said proudly. "Tell me what country on earth can present such unparalleled variety of beauty of scenes which meet our eyes from this height."13 Throughout the day the celebrations and speeches were punctuated by salutes from the cannons on Signal Hill and Fort Townshend and a sixty-gun salute from the warships. In the afternoon there were races on Quidi Vidi Lake, as well as other sporting events, and at night fireworks lit up the sky. The festivities concluded with a gala formal ball at the British House. As Holloway s skill as a photographer developed, his status had changed from amateur to professional. Two of his photographs were featured on a commemorative issue of Newfoundland stamps marking the anniversary of Cabot's landfall. Holloway's photographs depicted the legendary landfall at Bonavista and the contemporary lighthouse.14 The Rev. Moses Harvey's book, Newfoundland in 1897, written to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, included (unfortunately without acknowledgment) twelve beautiful, full-page reproductions of Holloway's photographs of interest points throughout the island such as the falls at Steady Brook, the dungeon at Bonavista, the railway station at Placentia, and St John's harbour and the Narrows after the fire.15 The following school year was a busy one. The college enrolment was now at 452, with 198 of these pupils in the elementary grades. Four teachers were employed at this level, and a staff of four female and three male teachers as well as a drill master, Sergeant Cockshott, assisted the principal in the "College Proper."16 For Holloway, there had been monthly meetings of the Council of Higher Education, planning the new examinations for the Primary Certificate, similar to the "Eleven Plus" in England. In February 1898 Holloway came down with pleurisy and was advised to rest completely at home until he felt well enough to resume his teaching and administrative duties.17 With a school to run and advanced courses to continue

School and Community

141

for students planning special careers and university entrance, he found the advice extremely difficult to follow. He made notes to send to the CHE meetings, continued writing and editing the Collegian, caught up on his reading, and no doubt hoped that the time would pass quickly until he was back with his classes. As was usually the case after a period of rest, he came back to work with renewed energy, preparing his classes for the CHE examinations. And since there was a lull between the end of the examination week and the beginning of the holidays, he filled in the time by giving lectures in "some of the more easily understood portions of Physiology and Optics, etc," using the microscope, the telescope, and some of the models in the museum. Characteristically, he seemed to want everyone else to be busy too, so he suggested to his students that it would be a good time for outdoor sports (especially football), drilling with Sergeant Cockshott, singing with Mr LeSueur, and preparing for the exhibition that would mark school closing.18 A few days later he was already preparing for a demonstration of x-rays at St Patrick's Hall for the first convention of the Newfoundland Teachers' Association. His lectures on x-rays, illustrated with experiments and demonstrations, had been extended to a number of institutes, including the Methodist College Literary Institute, St Andrew's Society, and on 5 July 1898, the newly constituted Newfoundland Teachers' Association. While there had been earlier attempts to organize such an association, the 1898 meeting was considered to be the founding conference.19 It was chaired by the Rev. Canon Pilot, Church of England superintendent of education, who introduced J. Alex. Robinson as the first president. At a later meeting in Feild College Hall, the teachers organized themselves into an association with William W. Blackall, principal of Feild College, as the new president. The formation of teachers' institutes had been repeatedly advocated by the denominational superintendents of education. George Milligan had been responsible over the years for getting smaller groups of Methodist teachers together in district meetings and promoting the need for better salaries and a pension plan. Milligan's health had been a source of concern of late to Holloway and to all who had worked closely with him in his twenty-five years of service. Even though an assistant had been hired, he still poured all of his energies into his work and the compiling of his comprehensive reports on the progress of the college and the public schools under Methodist boards. Working together through the years,

142

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOLL.OWAY

Holloway and Milligan had become very good friends. Holloway had supported Milligan's efforts to establish minimum standards for teaching certification and to upgrade these standards. The procedure for application for teaching certificates or "grades" was frequently published in the Collegian, and Holloway, as secretary of the Examining Board, handled the applications and related correspondence. The inaugural conference of the Newfoundland Teachers' Association was an important historical event, and the speakers at the conference and the denominational superintendents - Canon Pilot for Church of England schools, Vincent P. Burke, superintendent for Roman Catholic schools, and George Milligan for Methodist schools - reflected their commitment to the associations success. Holloway's lecture on x-rays was given to a smaller group, because of the nature of the demonstrations.20 He received compliments once again on making extremely complex material simple and understandable for his audience.21 When September came, Holloway's spirits were buoyed by the results of the June examinations. Four out of five candidates had passed the London Matriculation examinations, one of whom - Richard Anderson Squires had won the Jubilee Scholarship.22 Awarded to the student placing highest in the colony in the examinations, it entitled him or her to attend university for three years with a stipend of $200 a year. It was a first for the college, and Holloway was exultant. He could not resist reviewing in the Collegian the "near wins" of the past. Before the scholarship was established, two Methodist College students, Herbert Knight and Bertha Dove, had placed first in the island. In the year that the scholarship was temporarily discontinued, two of the three first-class students were from the college Will McNeily and Cluny Macpherson. Twice, college students had come second - Fred Matthews and Herbert Atkinson.23 And now the college had finally won the Jubilee! In Squires's honour students were given a halfholiday, and a celebratory picnic at Pearce's Farm was quickly organized. The approach of the new century was a time for taking stock and reflecting on the progress made in the years since the college had been rebuilt and classes had resumed in September 1895. Although Holloway's paramount interest continued to be in the sciences, he also regularly taught English, mathematics, and French and special subjects as needed. He was extremely proud of all of his teachers and gave them autonomy to develop their own areas of expertise within a curriculum that had become quite extensive, catering to pupils' needs in a spectrum of disciplines. He had

School and Community

143

P I C N I C AT PEARCE'S FARM TO CELEBRATE THE W I N N I N G OF THE J U B I L E E SCHOLARSHIP,

1898

PANL, A2-151

great respect for Newfoundland teachers, praising their successes in the outport schools and as members of the faculty of the College. He praised Solomon Whiteway, a former pupil, who had been hired as third master in 1898 after a successful period as a principal in Bonavista and afterwards at Grand Bank, and he had great respect for Ethel Dickenson, also a former pupil, who introduced and ran a successful program in shorthand and typewriting. Holloway often wrote appreciatively in the Collegian about the art program of Mr Varley, whose training had been at South Kensington. During the first year of operation of the new college, Varley had organized, with the help of the Ladies' College Aid, two art exhibitions featuring students' paintings of still-life groupings from nature and drawings using living models. Following Holloway's lead, he too had opened his classes to outside pupils, inviting them to set up their easels for work in oil and water colours. When he resigned in the middle of 1898 to take up a position as a

144

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

magazine illustrator, he was replaced by M.L.J. Therouin, educated at the College of Versailles. An interesting feature of the art program under M. Therouin was its integration with a program in conversational French: pupils and master spoke only in French as they went about their art activities. In one issue of the Collegian Holloway recognized this innovation by composing an article in French describing the art program. A senior student, William Simpson, wrote an English translation that was included in the same issue.24 In December 1898, when John Birkett made the gift to the college of his beautifully designed, handcrafted mineral cabinet, he had also spoken of the value of drawing in enabling pupils to put on paper a representation of what they would like to have made. The principal was happy to reassure him that the college drawing program was well in hand.25 It had long been supported by Dr Milligan, who had suggested drawing as a mandatory requirement for pupil teachers. With the building of the new college, Holloway had been determined that a music program similar to the one Dr Peters had conducted would once more become part of the course of studies. Peter LeSueur had been hired as the new music master, well qualified in piano, violin, and singing. Thanks to the generosity of friends, the college also acquired a Ronish grand piano, just in time for the program to begin.26 LeSueur became the organist of the new Gower Street Methodist Church when it was completed in 1896. He also gave public performances on the pipe organ in the Methodist College Hall. Holloway's conviction of the importance of sharing the college with the community encouraged LeSueur to have students at all levels participate in annual musical entertainments. A musical cantata, "The Two Queens," was performed three times by the girls, and concerts were the order of the day for the younger children, with songs, dialogues, and marching exercises and often a great deal of help from the Ladies College Aid Society. Well equipped early in 1899 for the teaching of chemistry and electricity, the principal now appealed to the board for apparatus to allow him to add "Practical Light and Heat" to the curriculum. The request was granted, with friends at once providing the amount necessary for the purchases.27 To add to the colleges good fortune, Dr Milligan passed over to the treasurer $2,000 to be applied toward the reduction of the debt. This gift was accepted in the spirit in which it was given and was used instead to set up a scholarship fund for the children of outport ministers. Holloway acknowl-

School and Community

145

edged in the Collegian this "latest cause for gratitude" from one "who has never wearied in good words and good works for the College."28 As the last years of the nineteenth century went by, Holloway often thought of his relationship to the country that he had come to regard as his own. He had once remarked that it was Milligan's correspondence that had led to his "becoming a Newfoundlander," and indeed, if one weighed the years spent in Newfoundland against the years spent in England, the balance of his allegiance would now be tipped towards Newfoundland. The years on the island were ones that he had never regretted. He was continuing with his plans to write a book about Newfoundland - illustrated with photographs taken since the 1880s - to bring its beauties to the attention of others. In the past quarter of a century he had lived a full life. He had married and raised a family, made many good friends, and nurtured the growth of an institution of which he was extremely proud. His pride was not merely in the buildings, although he was the first to recognize the importance of physical space in educational facilities. His pride was rather in the friends of the Methodist College who had supported him in all his endeavours, and in the boys and girls who had come and gone over the course of the past twenty-five years.29 One measure of success was in the number of graduates who had stayed in Newfoundland and by their continued presence made it a better place. Holloway made a list of the London University matriculants and noted that only two of the twenty-one who had passed up to 1899 had left the country, and these had made a contribution before leaving.30 He thought about the students now at university in different levels of their education. The Methodist College was represented at the medical school at McGill by Walter Cowperthwaite in fourth year, and Cluny Macpherson and Leonard Stentaford in third. Joining them this year as medical students were Hunter Cowperthwaite and Herbert Chaplin. Fred and Will Angel were in engineering, and Harry Blatch and Herbert Rodger would also be entering the engineering faculty. Will McNeily was at Toronto Law School and Richard Squires at Dalhousie Law School.31 Others were teachers in the Methodist schools throughout the island, capable now themselves of preparing students for the Council of Higher Education examinations. Many had become Methodist ministers; others were very active in the business life of the country; and still others were analysts in the mines at

146

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

Bell Island and elsewhere. Holloway asked them to keep in touch through the Collegian and share with other old pupils and their teachers their whereabouts and their successes. In December he reported that they had never had "so full a school." Although the debt was "the one skeleton present in all our feasts of rejoicing," it was being reduced gradually through the efforts of the Ladies' College Aid Society and also by a grant from the Twentieth Century Fund.32 There was no shortage of work ahead, and he knew that he would continue as well with his experimentation with x-rays, and try to get closer to understanding the work of Becquerel and the Curies. He had been discussing these discoveries with his advanced students, and preparing them with basic science courses for demanding work in medicine and engineering or for careers as teachers. At the same time his workload was increasing because of the large numbers taking elementary science. Hiring advanced students as teacher-demonstrators would improve the quality of the program, while giving senior students valuable experience. Meanwhile Holloway would have more time to work with other advanced students and more opportunity for supervision of all the senior classes. Another cause for celebration before the year's end was the winning of the silver cup for football, the first year the cup had been awarded. Mr and Mrs Chaplin hosted a dinner in honour of the championship team. Toasts were interspersed with songs by Messrs Blackall, LeSueur, and Bastow, as well as Miss Chaplin, the boys joining in the choruses. Mr Campbell proposed a toast to the Methodist staff, and Mr Holloway had responded proudly. The dinner was one of the last social events of an exciting year.33 It had been a year when Newfoundlanders' patriotism was aroused by the Jubilee celebrations and the celebration of four hundred years as a colony of the British Empire. The Cabot Tower had been completed - a memorial destined to become almost as important a drawing card to both Newfoundlanders and visitors as the hill on which it stands. Holloway thought of the incomparable view of the city from Signal Hill and of the other views that he had captured with his camera as he travelled around the island in the summers. He would continue photographing this beautiful island, and in the summer he would begin to write his book.

S U M M E R I N T E R L U D E IV

A Visit to Snook's Arm

In his book Holloway would refer to himself as "one of the favoured few" who, long before the railway came into existence, "enjoyed the delights of the sportsman, scientist and photographer under conditions which are, perhaps, more pleasant to look back upon from the very difficulties which had to be overcome."1 The difficulties to which he was referring - the physical hardship that travelling involved and his deteriorating health - were more than compensated for by the fresh air and the beauty of his surroundings as he sailed once more through the tickles and bays near Pilley's Island, crossed Long Island Tickle,2 and anchored in the harbour of Little Bay Islands - "one of the prettiest in our Island of pretty harbours."3 He immediately recorded its striking scenery on his photographic plates. The group, this time including Harold and Cluny Macpherson as well as Bert, enjoyed the hospitality of Mrs James Strong at Little Bay Islands before moving on to fulfil the main objectives of this year's cruise: to see the copper mine at Tilt Cove and the whaling station at Snook's Arm. Skipper Mark guided the ship through the open sea at a respectful distance from a large iceberg halfway between Little Bay Island and Cape John. Here the travellers witnessed the phenomenon of "looming." Gull Island could be seen in the distance and over it an inverted image of the island, with the highest point of land on the real island seemingly touching the corresponding point on the reflected image, and the outlying rocks also reflected down to the sea line. Holloway remembered seeing the same effect once before when rowing across Trinity Bay from Fox Harbour to New Perlican. Conditions for the phenomenon seemed to be a "calm sea, a hazy distance and an imminent change of wind."4

148

SUMMER INTERLUDE IV

THE ARGO AT PILLEY'S ISLAND, NOTRE DAME BAY PANL, Al-29

The cliffs along the shore as they sailed towards Tilt Cove showed yellow bands of copper pyrites, "shining brightly as the water ripples over it."5 Holloway finally saw the mine he had heard of when he first arrived, now in successful operation for more than thirty years. He was fascinated by the geology of Newfoundland and curious about the age of the rocks in geological time. When they sailed for Snook's Arm the next morning, they saw evidence everywhere of whales. The whaling ship the Cabot brought in both humpbacks and finbacks into the whaling factory there during their short visit. Holloway had lost the head-screw of his large camera and smashed his focusing glass while climbing up the greasy poles of the pier, and so took a limited number of photographs, but he did get pictures of whale carcases being processed for oil, meat and fertilizer. A visiting American scientist, Professor True, speculated with Holloway about the effects on the slow-

A V I S I T TO S N O O K ' S ARM

YACHT M I R R O R E D N E A R P I L L E Y ' S I S L A N D CNS,MUN, 13.01.001

149

150

SUMMER INTERLUDE IV

TILT COVE C O P P E R M I N E , N O T R E D A M E B A Y PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 135

breeding mammals of the capture of ninety-six of them during the year. The fishermen were also concerned about the impact that whaling might have on other resources. Although there had been no visible problems to date, they wondered about the effects of the blood-polluted waters on the cod fishery.6 Some went so far as to prophesy the destruction of the cod fishery because of this pollution and also because the whales were no longer driving the cod into the shallow waters of the bays. On the other side of the argument was the evidence of the richness of these resources. Bert and Cluny caught thirty fine codfish in one hour near Tilt Cove, just a few miles away from the plant. Yet the thrust of the argument was near certainty that unless more care was taken, the abundance seen everywhere would not last. If everything stayed the same, it would not, it could not last! Professor True was invited for dinner aboard the Argo, with this menu offered the guest by the amateur cook:

A V I S I T TO S N O O K ' S ARM

151

HEAD OF H U M P - B A C K E D WHALE, SNOOK'S ARM PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 128

MENU Pates de coeur de baleine Saucissons a la Mer Rouge Pommes de terre trouvespar hazard Cotelettes rares et pas fraiches Bernacles a la premiere fois.7

The "bernacles" were visible everywhere on the whales' bodies, hanging in bunches, with white rings left where they had once clung to the skin. Cluny, now a medical student, took back to St John's a souvenir of the visit - the crystalline lens from a whale's eye. Holloway's imagination was stirred by the thoughts of the "strange and beautiful sights which this lens had focused on the retina of its mighty owner."8 For the return voyage the Argo's skipper chose the route around Pilley s Island and Triton, across Seal Bay, Badger and Fortune Bays, and back to

152

SUMMER INTERLUDE IV

CARCASE OF H U M P - B A C K E D WHALE, SNOOK'S ARM PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 129

Exploits. Once again they sighted a school of whales near the mouth of Fortune Harbour, feeding on shoals of herring and ignoring the yacht and its crew. Signs and sounds of wildlife were everywhere, from the barking of the bay seals to the honking of the wild geese and the chanting of other wild birds as they flew overhead. Holloway was to remember with a chuckle an evening when the crew tried unsuccessfully to lure wild ducks by imitating their calls. On another evening, during the chaplain's prayer, a flock of ducks flew over, and the temptation to secure the makings of tomorrow's dinner proved irresistible to some of the laity. All was forgiven and forgotten next day when the ducks were cooked, and the chaplain, along with the others, reached for a second helping.9 The waters teemed with cod, so that in their summer journeyings, "with a few casts of a bright jigger," they were never in want of fish. And, as

A V I S I T TO S N O O K ' S ARM

153

Holloway was to remark: "No one knows the proper taste of fish who has not eaten it within half-an-hour of its capture."11 Looking back on the summer interlude, he reflected, as he had at the very beginning, on the beauty of the island and the richness of its natural resources, yet he also thought about the fragility of these resources if they were not protected. He hoped that the book that he planned would help to alert readers to Newfoundland's great potential for development, but he was aware that the effects of such development could be two-edged and that conservation practices like those he discussed with Professor True and the fishermen at Snooks Arm should be guides in future planning.

Chapter Nine THE WORK CONTINUES

The profession of teaching is not a money-making one. It is not markedly so anywhere. But there is no country in the world where the faithful services of a teacher receives more gratitude than here. I have not had to wait twenty-five years to learn this. Robert Holloway, 19001

It was the beginning of a new century, a time for visionary planning towards the fulfilment of Holloway's dreams for the Methodist College. Holloway had never had any difficulty with making plans and working towards their completion, and the college was showing the results of his work and the efforts of an enthusiastic group of teachers, some of whom had been his pupils. As principal he had always stressed the value of frequent school examinations, and the Council of Higher Education and London Matriculation examinations had provided incentives for a broad curriculum in the arts and sciences and enough flexibility in both to ensure that pupils could prepare for whatever career choices they made. As soon as funds became available an outstanding music program had been launched, first with Emile Handcock, then with James Walker, John Peters, and later Peter LeSueur. An innovative art program begun with John Nichols2 had been continued by Mr Varley and L.I. Therouin. There was a solid program of physical exercise, with exhibitions of student prowess in drill and bar-bell and dumb-bell exercises conducted by Mr Walker, Mr Holloway and later, Sergeants Cockshott and Noseworthy. Along with Bishop Feild College and St Bonaventure's, the Methodist College organized a cycling club. Holloway was president even though his health prevented him from doing much cycling, and Peter LeSueur acted as

The Work Continues

155

his able assistant.3 Bicycles had gone through a number of different models since the i88os when they became very popular in St John's. In the 1899 Collegians, the firm of Robert Templeton advertised the "Crescent" as the best. There was a cycling path around Quidi Vidi Lake, where ladies also began to ride bicycles and to dress for the sport by wearing bloomers, which met with disapproval in at least one of the local papers.4 The first bicycle race took place during the St Bonaventures College Sports Day, and later there were races along the St John's waterfront and in towns around Conception Bay. When the railway went through, cycling clubs travelled by train to towns "around the bay" and cycled back. The account of one such trip, written by Kate Peters Blythe, home from New York in the summer of 1894, included names very familiar to the college, among them Edith Alison, John Peters, Charles Peters, Mr and Mrs Charles P. Ayre, and Jim Ayre, then a lad of sixteen.5 The Methodist College Cycling Club was a great success. The students had many friends and supporters, among them the Ayres. With LeSueur as captain, they would cycle on Torbay Road, use a friend's newly installed telephone to call and let the Ayres know their whereabouts, and often go there afterwards for tea.6 Robert and Henrietta Holloway sometimes joined them. Holloway was concerned that, although the old boys from Bishop Feild and St Bonaventure's had active athletic associations, the old boys from the Methodist College, many of whom had been fine athletes, had no such club in the city to represent them. He believed that although running athletics on denominational lines would be "very objectionable," there should still be a club where the bonds formed in the college could maintain the links among members after they left school. When such a club was formed, Holloway reported in the Collegian that in order to "avoid the evil of making it appear to be exclusively denominational, the promoters sought another name instead of Methodist and honoured the Principal by naming it after him."7 So the athletic club was dubbed the "Holloways" and met regularly, publishing extensive notes in the Collegian. Intercollegiate sports had always suffered from an inadequate playing field, but from 1899 onwards there were annual competitions. In 1900 the Methodist College won the Intercollegiate Cricket Championship, as well as second place in hockey. Holloway in cap and gown posed with the MCLI Cricket Team with Peter LeSueur at his side.

156

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

C Y C L I N G C L U B , M E T H O D I S T C O L L E G E , O R G A N I Z E D I N 1898 PANL, A25-1

M C L I C R I C K E T C L U B , HOLLOWAY W I T H L E S U E U R T O T H E R I G H T Photographer unknown. Sports Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1-12-114

The Work Continues

157

The academic side of school life at the college continued to live up to the standards set from its beginnings. At the end of the nineteenth century the curriculum in each of the St John's colleges included the classics, mathematics, and languages to varying degrees, but there was a marked difference among them in the degree of emphasis on the sciences.8 This difference had emerged soon after Holloway became principal; as early as 1876, the twenty subjects offered by the Methodist College had included natural science, chemistry, mechanics, and mineralogy. And in 1901, whereas in the other colleges the sciences formed a minimal percentage of the total course offerings, at the Methodist College the principal's conviction of science's importance in the curriculum was reflected in the provision of a variety of science courses in the "upper school," including advanced courses for pupils preparing for science-related careers and/or further education in science.9 Students from other schools frequently attended Holloway's classes and his series of chemistry and physics lectures in the College Hall.10 So did former pupils of the college returning to school with specific goals related to their apprenticeships to local pharmacists11 or ambitions to become chemical analysts in the mines.12 At the turn of the century the college under Holloway had taken on definite shape and form, "from relatively small beginnings to quasi-university."13 As the years passed, letters and visits from former pupils brought back memories of succeeding generations of Newfoundland families, many with the representatives even then in his classes - Ayres, Peters, Bairds, Frews, Duders, Snelgroves, McNeils, Curtis, Sopers, Macphersons, Whites, Gears, Haddons, Milligans, Turners, Woods, and Burdens. As each generation grew up and passed into the world, their children came to the college, and in many cases both parents had been Holloway's pupils. He found their loyalty to the college and to him as principal gratifying.14 The year 1900 began on a sad note with the news of the death of one of the pupils, Tom Peters, at the age of fifteen.15 Holloway's thoughts went back twenty-five years to his arrival in St John's and the period of almost a year that he had lived with the Peters family before moving to the principal's residence. At that time the Peters already had a large family, which included four boys, John, Alfred, Joseph, and Charles, ranging in age from ten years to almost two, and a baby girl, Kate.16 He had taught all of them, and later William, George, and the youngest, Tom, as well. Holloway's closeness to the family made him share their grief. This unhappy news was followed a few days before Easter by the death of Sara March Therouin, a

158

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOLLOWAY

beloved teacher and wife of the art master, and also by the death of Holloway's naturalist friend, the Rev. Arthur Waghorne, who had catalogued the flora of Newfoundland and often shared his work with Holloway and his students.17 Holloway's beloved nature rambles continued, now shared with Bert and Elsie, just as Holloway had as a boy gone on outings with his father and with the Parkers. These "rambles" were combined with family picnics or "boil-ups," a traditional part of the Newfoundland summer. From Empire Day in May to late October, if the weather was suitable, they would pack a picnic lunch - perhaps chopped-egg sandwiches made with homemade bread, and for dessert a cake-tin full of molasses cookies. It wasn't far to walk to Rennies' River, where wildflowers grew in profusion on the riverbank, and there were shaded spots beneath the trees. Elsie might carry the food and Bert the tea, milk, and sugar, the enamel mugs used only for picnics, and a tin kettle their father called a "quick." In no time it was filled from the rushing river, while Elsie and Bert gathered brush and dry wood for a fire and Henrietta spread a blanket for a table. There was nothing better in the world at that moment than the fresh air and sunshine, the smoke curling from the fire, and the steaming mugs of billy tea. After the meal the whole family gathered flowering plants and laid them carefully in the picnic basket between folds of newspaper, ready for the next step - the preserving of each item on clean paper using "a little gum and paste." For this activity they gathered around the dining-room table, sometimes with friends, to mount the specimens, looking up the names on Mr Waghorne's list and checking their finds against his sketches. The location of the specimens and the date found would then be carefully noted and their "phenological observations" added to the information Holloway would send to Dr A.H. McKay of the Botanical Club of Canada. The fall of 1900 began with good news of the success of William Boyle, Robert Frew, and Selina Webber in the London Matriculation examinations, as well as the graduation of the largest class of associates in the college's history. Their Principal posed all twelve for a photograph that would be proudly hung in the halls. Elsie was among the group and had also passed the London Matriculation examinations.18 What's more, the college had for the second time won the coveted Jubilee Scholarship. The first Jubilee scholar had been Richard Anderson Squires, and now it was William Boyle's turn to bring the same honour to his alma mater. As usual, there was a good representation of Methodist College

The Work Continues

159

ASSOCIATES, M E T H O D I S T COLLEGE, 1 9OO Collegian, December 1900, frontispiece. CNS, MUN

graduates at universities in Canada and Great Britain. Studying medicine at McGill were Hunter Cowperthwaite, Leonard Stentaford, Herbert Atkinson, Hubert Chaplin, and Cluny Macpherson. Bill Canning, Herbert Rodger, and Harry Blatch were in the Engineering faculty there; William Smith, Charles Morton, and Isaac LeDrew were at Victoria College in Toronto, Anderson Squires at Dalhousie Law School, and Robert Frew in Medicine at Edinburgh.19 Soon it was Christmas again, a happy family time with particularly good weather, and Holloway's strength was there to begin the new year with his regular intermediate and associate classes and his usual after-school activities. In the photography club, his students were learning to develop slides by two different methods, in preparation for the Concert Tea in February. In his chemistry class he sent his students off on a science inquiry to discover the nature of a white encrustation on the brick walls in town.20 Life was so full; there were so many interests to pursue. But there was also the ever-present fear that there might not be time for all he hoped to

l6O

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLUOWAY

accomplish. He was now fifty years of age, but his precarious health made him feel much older. The periods of extreme weariness brought on by his chronic illness were accompanied by a sense of urgency. He constantly fought despondency, trying to rise above the weariness, to hide it from the world and resume the almost feverish pace of which he was capable.21 These times of heightened activity were not now as frequent, although they still happened after a rest at home or a camping trip, a spell of good weather, or a voyage on a coastal boat, with the sea breezes filling his lungs. Holloway inspired the help and cooperation of others in realizing his dreams. Over the years there had been his "earnest and consistent friend," George Milligan, who shared his goals and invariably brought to the attention of others the problems that needed solving and the progress that was made in solving them. Milligan had retired as Methodist superintendent of education in 1899 and was replaced by the Rev. Levi Curtis, who would continue to support the educational policies of his predecessor. After Milligan's retirement he and Holloway often reminisced about the progress of the Methodist institution over twenty-five years from a staff of three at the academy in 1874 and a student body of about eighty to the present staff of sixteen and student body of over five hundred. The two friends had worked together in the cause of Methodist education and, recognizing the problems that had to be tackled, tackled them together. There had been, first of all, the need for training pupil teachers to staff the schools of Newfoundland and Labrador. Together the two men had planned the Model School, with its enhanced elementary program and opportunities for practice teaching for pupil teachers and students from the outports. Under Annie Leake's supervision, pupil teachers met weekly to discuss school management, and spent one day a week observing teaching methods. Criticism lessons with the primary classes by the pupil teachers followed the same pattern as the "Crit" lessons in the "Old Lee" that had been an integral part of the course at Westminster.22 And, just as the Wesleyan schools in England were staffed with graduates of the Wesleyan Training College in Westminster, so the public schools under Methodist Boards in the outports of Newfoundland were now being staffed with graduates of the Methodist College in St John's. The successes of these teachers were evident in the Outport Scholarships being won by the pupils in their schools.23 Holloway and Milligan were even now alike in their thoughts about the denominational system. Holloway had at one time voiced his disagreement

The Work Continues

161

with the practice of using the Bible as a textbook in Methodist schools, because of the risk that the schools would go down in the estimation of other denominations if the Bible were taught solely from a Methodist viewpoint. Milligan, aware of the extreme poverty in many Newfoundland settlements and the difficulty of maintaining several denominational schools, urged the establishment of one nondenominational school in sparsely populated settlements. He had also repeatedly urged the government to provide compulsory and free education for the poor. So the friendship that had begun on Holloway's arrival in Newfoundland had continued, with Milligan one of his most ardent supporters, writing glowing reports of his innovations, commenting positively on the results of his examination of his classes, sharing his concern for the financial state of the college, and filling in by teaching the Latin and Greek classes during Holloway's periods of illness. With his "oldest and best friend,"24 Holloway may have been able to talk about his growing concern about his illness and receive help in dealing with his fears that it was tuberculosis. Milligan, in his church work and travels around the island, was aware of the growing incidence of the disease and familiar with its course: the night sweats and the breathing difficulties in the cold dampness of winter, the terrifying experience of a first haemorrhage. There was comfort for Holloway in the knowledge that Milligan had gone through periods of ill health himself early in life and recovered, and a measure of reassurance for both each time Holloway was able to recover and to resume his work. Holloway could no longer deny that his health was rapidly deteriorating, but he did keep up the denial that his symptoms were those of pulmonary tuberculosis. The prevalence of this disease was increasing; in Newfoundland in 1901 there would be 650 deaths from tuberculosis in a population of 222,000. Even so, as in many other parts of the world, there was no wave of public concern until later in the first decade of the twentieth century. In spite of Koch's discovery in 1882 of the bacterial nature of the disease (which Holloway would certainly be aware of from his reading), and subsequent efforts to build on that knowledge to find a cure, doctors continued to consider tuberculosis as having familial (genetic) origins and to cite as causative factors poor economic conditions such as lack of sanitation, overcrowded living arrangements, and deficiency of good food.25 The medical advice at that time included long periods of rest, lots of fresh air, exercise and good nutrition. Holloway's summers had given him

162

ROBERT EDWARDS

HOLLOWAY

all of these, along with a tremendous desire to go on with what he was doing, to finish the tasks he hoped to accomplish, and to keep on enjoying the beauties of this wonderful land. The years 1901 and 1902 were marked by events that had implications far beyond the shores of Britain's oldest colony, yet were important highlights for that colony as well. The long reign of Queen Victoria came to an end with her death on 22 January 1901. The college reflected the sense of bereavement felt throughout the island. A large photograph of the Queen hung in the entrance hall of the college, and her picture decorated almost every home. The school was closed because "it was unthinkable to go ahead with the nation in mourning"26; the College Concert and Tea was postponed, as was the first intercollegiate hockey game for the season. Churches were draped for mourning and services well attended throughout the city. Holloway's opening words in the February 1901 Collegian expressed the loyalty of the people of Newfoundland to the crown: "One event since the opening of the new century has made all others of comparatively little importance in the eye of all British subjects - the death of our Queen. So sudden has the blow been that no word of warning had reached in except by cable. The long and glorious reign ceased almost suddenly. "In common with all loyal British subjects, our boys and girls will be prepared to transfer their services and affection to our good Queen's son, Edward the /th. May his reign be long and prosperous."27 In October of the same year, the colony was the last port of call on a seven-month-long tour of the British Empire by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, who would one day be King George V and Queen Mary. The visit, like the Queens Golden Jubilee in 1897 and similar imperial celebrations, was marked by parades with crowds lining the route, and a harbour display centred around the royal steamship the Ophir and its convoy of warships. On the big day all the students of the college were to go to the Prince of Wales Rink to be part of the children's demonstration. Many had gone down to the harbour early in the day to see the royal yacht and its convoy, as well as many other vessels, including the ships of the sealing fleet moored on the south side of the harbour. Together the ships presented a waving mass of flags and bunting by day and a brilliant display of coloured lights at night.

The Work Continues

163

Along the route of the parade were huge arches made of boughs representing each of the fraternal and cultural societies. Bells of welcome pealed from the Roman Catholic Cathedral. The royal couple rode in a gilded coach imported from England, and there were marching bands, and a cornerstone-laying ceremony, this time for the new courthouse. The parade continued eastward along Duckworth Street to the railway station near Fort William, and through the station gate to King's Bridge Road and into Forest Road to the Prince of Wales Rink where the crowd of six thousand children waited, seated in tiers from floor to ceiling.28 Directed by Charles Hutton, they rose to sing a song of welcome, followed by rousing cheers for the royal visitors. The children's gift to the duke and duchess was a beautiful Newfoundland dog, Bouncer, harnessed to his cart - to be brought back to their young son, Prince Edward of York. The premier of the time was Sir Robert Bond; the governor was Sir Cavendish Boyle. The daily papers carried glowing reports of the great occasion. Among the other gifts from the people of Newfoundland was a richly bound album of photographs of Newfoundland scenery. The newspapers credited the making of the album of tooled Russian leather to Dicks & Company, but gave no acknowledgment of the photographers whose work was represented in this royal gift.29 It is likely, however, that Holloway's scenic views would have been included. During the tour the royal couple had shown great interest in the reports of the experiments of Guglielmo Marconi, the young Italian inventor who had succeeded in sending wireless messages from ship to ship over a distance of more than two hundred miles. Holloway's advanced students had been kept informed of new developments in the field. They knew that Marconi was involved in experiments to extend the distance over which it was possible to send wireless messages, and that one of the problems was in overcoming the curvature of the earth. In December 1901, the curiosity of the newspapermen in St John's had been aroused by the news of Marconi's arrival on the ss Sardinian, accompanied by his assistants, G.S. Kemp and P.W. Paget. So that he would not encounter opposition from the Anglo Telegraph Company, Marconi kept secret the real purpose of his visit, that of conducting experiments to span the Atlantic Ocean by wireless telegraphy.30 Instead, he spread the word that he was extending his experiments from 250 to 400 miles to enable messages to be transmitted from ships in trouble off the coast. The government allowed him to set up his

164

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

M A R C O N I , IN FRONT ROOM OF THE OLD FEVER HOSPITAL, S I G N A L H I L L , 1 9O I Photographer, James Vey. PANL, 61-96

experiments in the old Fever Hospital on Signal Hill. It was here on 14 December 1901 in a front room of this dilapidated building that, with the help of an aerial consisting of a wire suspended by a kite at a height of 400 feet, Marconi received a prearranged signal of three short dots - the letter "s" in Morse Code - from the wireless station at Poldhu in Cornwall on the English coast, 1,800 miles away. The excitement of this achievement and the "sheer magic" of wireless communication at the turn of the century has been likened to the excitement generated in this age by space exploration. Before Marconi's arrival in St John's, senior students of the St John's colleges and their teachers had been invited to the House of Assembly in the Colonial Building by the colonial secretary, J.Alex. Robinson, for an exhibition of Marconi's system of wireless communication. The lecturers, Mr Bowden and Mr Lockyer, explained the procedure and demonstrated the apparatus used in the early experiments. Their audience watched and listened as messages were "transmitted from one chamber to the other without any visible connec-

The Work Continues

165

tion."31 For many St John's students, the impact was tremendous. Writing years later, Edwin Pratt, one of Holloway's pupils who would later be a wellknown Canadian writer and poet, remembered the excitement of being close to such a dramatic event: The world had known of the invention some time before this, but it was our first experience of witnessing a message transmitted from one closed room to another, from key to key without a wire. This was shattering enough in all conscience, but it again was only another prelude to what occurred the next day. No one knew precisely why Marconi was in town. We had a general idea that he was still further experimenting, and that he needed Cabot Tower for research. But imagine the thrill the next morning when the newspapers headlined the statement that Marconi had bridged the Atlantic from Signal Hill to Lizard Point in Cornwall with wireless telegraphy!32

Holloway had been unable to go with his physics class to the Colonial Building, but this disappointment was more than compensated for when Signer Marconi himself took the time to visit him at his home for a halfhour's conversation. Holloway confessed that he appreciated "the honour the more highly because poor health and bad weather made it almost impossible to meet him in any other way."33 Ned Pratt was to remember Holloway as "one of the most remarkable teachers I have ever known, and one of the most gifted and thorough despite the physical handicaps under which he laboured."34 Holloway for his part had recognized Pratt s potential soon after he entered the Methodist College. The son of a Methodist minister who had moved from the Burin peninsula to St John's, Pratt returned to school after a period as a draper's apprentice. At the Methodist College Holloway opened the young man's mind to the thinking of Darwin, Huxley, Spencer, and others by lending him books from his own library.35 The demonstration of wireless telegraphy and the excitement over Marconi's achievement were experiences that Pratt would forever remember. Another such event was Holloway's demonstration to his class of the nature of x-rays shortly after Roentgen's discovery: "To see through an opaque object was a marvel, like listening for the first time through a telephone or hearing a reproduction of a voice on the gramophone."36 The following summer Holloway who, by his own admission, was "not at all keen on processions, Coronation or otherwise,"37 was in London

166

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOLL.OWAY

watching another procession, this one on 14 July 1902, to mark the return of Lord Kitchener from the Boer War.38 He described in the Collegian his visit and his view of this parade: "I betook myself to Hyde Park with my kodak and snapshotted the mounted Maoris and Bengal lancers who were lining the route in my vicinity. I tried to snap Kitchener, but as the mounted Colonials in front of me were particularly opaque, the result was not a howling success."39 On 11 August, still in London, he watched another procession, this time from a vantage point near Landseer s lions in Trafalgar Square. The great city had been preparing for some time for the state procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey for the coronation of their majesties King Edward vn and Queen Alexandra.40 There were Royal Horse Guards, gilded coaches containing the British royal family and other European royalty, and of course the various armed forces on parade, Lord Kitchener riding alongside Major-General Gaselee and Admiral Seymour amid the cheers of the crowd. They were followed by the Headquarters staff and behind them the popular "Bobs." Westminster Abbey was open to the public in the week after the Coronation, but Holloway gave up the idea of visiting it when he found the queue stretched more than a mile to Vauxhall Bridge. Instead, he secured a ticket for the following Sunday from the canon in residence, Bishop Welldon, and was thrilled to attend a farewell service in the abbey for the colonial troops the only service held before the coronation trappings were removed. From where he sat in the south transept he could see the Coronation Chair with the Stone of Scone underneath, and the choir seats still labelled with the names of the dignitaries who had occupied them during the ceremony. He was delighted to see on one of the seats the name of Sir Robert Bond, the premier of Newfoundland. These experiences, especially the service in the Abbey with "the congregation, both military and civil, composed almost entirely of colonials," made him consider how the ties between the Mother Country and the colonies "had been knitted more closely together by the war and by peace, and by the great ceremony of the Coronation "41 The visit to England was a change from routine that helped to take his mind off his sense of loss of his old friend George Milligan. Holloway's anguished reaction to this death was clearly evident in his tribute in the Collegian. The college, he said, "had many generous and earnest friends, but none more generous and earnest than Dr Milligan." He remembered how Milligan had come one day to show him the results of his collation of

The Work Continues

167

the examination results, plainly "full of pleasure when he was able to show that the College and the Methodist schools had done so well."42 The calculations must have taken hours, and Holloway was moved that his friend had invested so much of his time. He thought also of Milligan's gift to the college of scholarships that would be an annual reminder of the good man who had gone - monumentum aere perennius, a monument more lasting than brass. Teachers and students attended the funeral at Gower Street Methodist Church, the senior boys preceding the coffin to the cemetery.43 Now as Holloway returned from England, the depression that seemed to be a recurring symptom of his illness returned. The feeling was aggravated by the void created by Milligan's death. Adding to his loneliness was the absence for the past year of his daughter Elsie, who had gone to London in the fall of 1901 and would be there for a year longer. In the opening lines for the September-October 1902 Collegian he wrote with an uncharacteristic despondency, "We confess that we do not look forward to opening day with much pleasure. The loss of the faces which have greeted us for so many successive years causes heartfelt regret. The new faces can but ill compensate for the absence of those who have now left us to enter the greater world, with its troubles and cares, ambitions and hopes."44 He tried to rise above these emotions by reflecting on the students he was now missing so much and, as was his custom, filled the Collegians pages with the accomplishments of the class who had just left the college and those who continued to excel in the universities they were now attending. His spirits almost certainly rose, however, as he followed his custom of reporting the results of the June examinations. He wrote of the distinctions gained, the "preponderance of the College in science subjects," and the addition of three new names to the list of London University undergraduates: Millicent Woods, Edith Templeton, and Herbert Bond had passed, all in First Division. Among the students whose faces he was now missing from that opening assembly was Arthur Herder, a laboratory assistant and outstanding athlete, the first boy to choose Cambridge for further study. Two others who had been away now for a number of years - Robert Frew, in his last year at Edinburgh, and William Boyle, at McGill - were both in first position "against all competitors" in their year's work. Also doing well at McGill were Hunter Cowperthwaite, Hubert Atkinson, Herman Archibald, Harry Blatch, and Hubert Rodgers. Cluny Macpherson, who had accompanied Holloway on so many of his summer travels, was now a doctor. He had been married a month earlier,

168

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

and he and his wife were in Battle Harbour, where he would be in charge of the hospital for the next two years - the first resident doctor in Labrador during the winter months. As he thought of the successes of these students and many others, Holloway could not resist commenting, "Do we need to apologize for our Newfoundland schools or talk about the educational disadvantages under which our boys labour, when we can chronicle such results as these?"45 Like Ned Pratt, many of his pupils remembered with gratitude his influence on their lives. They told him in their letters and on their visits home how well he had prepared them for their courses in universities in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain. Isaac LeDrew, while at Victoria College, contrasted the instructional methods there with those at the college, saying that methods in the medical school were "different from what we were used to in Newfoundland, and much less helpful as regards assistance from teachers." He added: "Lectures are given to the classes, and we make the best we can of the notes, which we may or may not grasp. Much of the work was new, but in some branches such as Physics, Electricity, Mechanics, etc. I had covered much more when at the College."46 To Holloway, lecturing was not teaching. True teaching was engaging the attention of students in a way that would lead them to think for themselves. He continued to point out to parents the value of science not only as a discipline in itself but also for its value across the curriculum. No other subject, he said, required such conciseness and clarity of explanation, so that every lesson in science had the potential to become a lesson in English as students' answers were rephrased until exact meanings came through clearly. Albert Hatcher, a bright student in Holloway s Intermediate class would later turn this idea to good use in his own lectures. Hatcher's own students would be familiar with his often-repeated assertion: "Every lesson in mathematics must be a lesson in something else."47 Students who had been with Holloway during his pioneer experiments with x-rays could follow the progress of his work in the pages of the Collegian. During the fall term in 1900 the x-ray apparatus was put to practical use four times to diagnose injuries to the bones of the foot and arms. Holloway wrote in the Collegian," Three of the city doctors have applied to us, and in every case, their diagnosis has been much assisted by the radiograph made. In one difficult case - a dislocated humerus - our picture is much superior to a typical one of the same trouble, published by one of the foremost New York hospitals. Mr. Pitts has recently given us a new accu-

The Work Continues

R . E . HOLLOWAY (photograph by S.H. Parsons)

169

1/0

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOUL.OWAY

mulator, which is constantly useful in our electrical experiments, as well as in our special x-ray work."48 The minutes of a board meeting in October reported that a new x-ray apparatus had been imported to replace the one formerly used, the latter having been taken back at cost. The difference in value was $125.49 He continued to assist doctors with diagnosis of fractures and, with the newest apparatus, was asked to assist with the treatment of lupus. The Evening Herald reported on the "remarkable experiments now being conducted" at the college hall. Lupus was described as a malignant form of facial ailment that could be treated and apparently cured by treatment with x-rays, using the ten-inch, hospital-size machine purchased for the college by James Pitts, the chairman of the board of governors. Dr Duncan had decided to try the x-ray treatment on several patients with lupus, and Holloway agreed to give the use of the machine free of charge and to operate it himself. The patients were brought to the college laboratory, where they sat for about ten minutes in front of the intense light produced by electric current passing through the Crookes tube. The apple-green light played on the affected parts, the remainder of the face being covered with lead foil. Patients received treatments twice a week. Meanwhile a similar machine was ordered for the hospital. In November Holloway hinted that he was "engaged in some exceedingly important experiments with the new x-rays" and that some "doubtful medical questions" were being tested.50 As he continued to pursue these interests and to keep up the normal pace of his school work, others began to fear that his health was getting worse. His appearance showed the strain.

SUMMER INTERLUDE V

Return to Labrador

My old pupils are to be found in every part of the island. In my holidays in the outports I rarely find a settlement, however small, which does not contain one or more of them. They invariably put themselves at my service, and they have shown me innumerable kindnesses. Such a trip as I have made this summer would have been impossible had I not been surrounded by old pupils. They were breath and limbs to me; and physical difficulties vanished when they were near. Robert Holloway, 19 oo1

At the turn of the century, Holloway wrote appreciatively of the "innumerable kindnesses" shown to him by his old pupils during his summer travels, and noted that without their help the treasured experiences and the opportunities to continue to record the beauty of the landscapes would not have been possible. On the Notre Dame Bay trips and those on the west coast of Newfoundland, there were always younger and stronger companions to row the dory, put up the tents, cut the wood for campfires, and carry his camera, tripod, and glass plate negatives.2 Because of their assistance and the help of his daughter, Elsie, he managed, despite his shortness of breath, to climb the hills to find the ideal point to position his camera. Elsie would recall later how she would carry the tripod, going back for the camera and glass plate negatives while her father took slow steps, stopping often to catch his breath.3 It was well known by friends and family that these times when he could spend days and nights out of doors and breathe the salt air were essential periods of relief for his illness, which had now been diagnosed as tuberculosis. He rarely referred to his ill-health, acknowledging it only when it prevented him from resuming his duties in the fall or forced him to request an early school closing.

172

SUMMER INTERLUDE V

Y O U N G BOY WITH BIG C O D F I S H F R O M THE TRAP PANL, B4-1S4

Not even his family could pinpoint exactly when the disease began. Among Elsie's memories of the affliction was a sudden bout of illness precipitated after he had been out in a storm. This may have been a first haemorrhage.4 Symptomatic of the course of the illness were periods of depression alternating with periods of great energy when he threw himself into work for school and community. There were times when members of the board of governors expressed surprise that, despite his frailness at the close of the school year, he always seemed so well on his return to work after the holidays.5 His summer travels reinforced his positive outlook on life in general, buoyed by his boundless appreciation for the natural beauty of the places he visited, and his interest in the people he met. One memorable experience of 1900 would be enjoyed over and over because of the photograph he took of a young boy posed with two fish bigger than himself!

R E T U R N TO LABRADOR

173

I C E B E R G I N BATTLE H A R B O U R PANL, A9-&J

Holloway had long wished to make another trip to Labrador, and his dream was fulfilled in the summer of 1901. In his book he would recommend the trip he now took by coastal boat from St John's to Nain, in which the steamship called at fifty or sixty places along the coast, sometimes penetrating far into the bays to settlements such as Cartright and Rigoulette.6 He revelled in the bergs and ice-floes, the Moravian settlements,"the Eskimos and their dogs, the infinite numbers of birds, the splendid fishing, and above all, the exquisite sense of newness about it all."7 Holloway had followed with great interest the work of Dr Wilfred Grenfell, who had come to St John's at the time of the Great Fire of 1892, and continued on his ship the Albert to Labrador to investigate establishing medical services there. In 1893 Grenfell had begun a medical clinic at Battle Harbour, where he was joined by a small group of nurses and medical

174

SUMMER INTERLUDE V

HOPEDALE, MORAVIAN MISSION CNS,MUN, 22.02.001

colleagues. Afterwards he came to Newfoundland each summer to work among the fishing fleets on the Labrador Coast. The journey to Labrador gave Holloway a chance to see Grenfells work at close hand and to meet J.T. Sladen of the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, who had come from England for the summer months to work with Grenfell. In 1899 the Mission had launched the Strathcona, a large hospital ship with space for a clinic and dispensary on board.8 Another reason for Holloway s interest was that Cluny Macpherson had been introduced by Sladen to the Mission, becoming involved initially as a student and later as the first resident doctor during the winter on the Labrador coast.9 Holloway was impressed with Sladen's genuine interest in the work, his gift of a new patient room on the Strathcona, and his help with the new hospital in St Anthony. He praised Sladen's benevolence to the fishermen to whom he was "giving, giving, day by day, hour by hour - clothes, medicine, and sound advice."10 In return the Labrador men cut wood for the Strathcona, and the women made rugs and moccasins. At Rigoulette the women were supplied with beads and silk for use in their handwork over the winter.

R E T U R N TO LABRADOR

R I G O U L E T T E , H U D S O N BAY STATION, L A B R A D O R PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 122

I N D I A N H A R B O U R , SHOWING HOSPITAL OF DEEP SEA M I S S I O N PANL, Through Newfoundland with the Camera (1905), 117

175

1/6

SUMMER INTERLUDE V

Holloway joined in happily in the Sunday services at the Deep Sea Mission Hall in Indian Harbour. Two of the services had been conducted by Mr Sladen and Dr Grenfell, who belonged to the Church of England, and the other by Dr Simpson, a Congregationalist, in the style of a Salvation Army meeting. Holloway remarked that no one at Indian Harbour seemed to know anything of this, and nobody cared.11 The summer was even more memorable for him because, in addition to being in the company of Sladen and Grenfell as they went about their work, he also had the opportunity to renew his acquaintance with some of the "old boys" who were men now and working in Labrador. At Indian Tickle he met James McNeily, "looking well and up to his eyes in the fishery."12 At the Hudson Bay post of Rigoulette he found Arthur Whitely, unfortunately in poor health but feeling somewhat invigorated by the excellent climate of Grosswater Bay.13 He left Arthur Whitely at North West River. At Indian Harbour, after Sunday service, he was pleased to meet Fred Jerrett, who had been a pupil of the college for two months, and also Robert Jeans, one of the House boarders in the early days of the academy. At Nain the first person to greet the boat as they rowed to the wharf was Robert Lander, who had taken a band of native people to the Buffalo Exhibition during the summer.14 So Holloway's summer travels over thirty years had given him the opportunity to explore first of all the immediate area around St John's and the Avalon peninsula to travel by coastal boat in the i88os to White Bay and Labrador. As roads were built and the railway extended, he continued to visit and revisit settlements on the Burin peninsula and along the shores of Conception Bay, Trinity Bay, and Bonavista Bay, and, by land and sea, to explore Notre Dame Bay and the bays of the West Coast and to return to Labrador. As he travelled, his legacy of photographs and word pictures of Newfoundland and Labrador grew.

Chapter Ten AND SO F A R E W E L L

Much might be added to these notes and much might be altered and improved, but the author ventures to point out in conclusion that he has written only of what he knows or has seen, that the work has been a work of love commenced under difficulties which few can appreciate, and carried to a conclusion in the face of death. Robert Holloway, 1904*

Holloway had always been small in stature and given the impression of frailness; now his face had an emaciated appearance. The first months of winter in 1902 were especially severe, and he felt that this year he could not wait for the relief that usually came with the advent of summer. The board also realized quickly that a warmer climate would be necessary if he were to regain his health. After several conversations with Holloway, the chairman James Pitts brought to the board of governors on 3 December the suggestions they had worked out for the conduct of the school during his absence. A week later Holloway was on his way to Jamaica on the ss Sylvia, accompanied by Bert. They had decided as a family on this arrangement. Bert could travel half-fare and return to finish his school year when the sunshine, warmth, and rest had brought about the desired effect on his father's health. Henrietta would look after things at home. Before Holloway set off, he sent a Christmas message to all of his pupils, "boys and girls, old and young," in the December 1902 issue of the Collegian: "May Christmas week be one of slight frost, clear skies, and no wind, so that plenty of outdoor skating may be possible. Fortunately, in these days there are plenty of good and interesting books and magazines to pass pleasantly the long winter evenings."2

178

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

The Collegian informed readers that the principal had suffered a bad attack of bronchitis brought on by the weather and that he would be away during the two or three cold months of winter. It appeared that the board, and possibly Holloway's family, were hiding the fact that Holloway's illness was due to tuberculosis. James Pitts visited the principals classes to explain the necessity for his absence, asking pupils to cooperate with the teachers and work hard while Holloway was away. Solomon Whiteway took charge of his room; one of Holloway's former pupils, William Canning, took over the science classes; and George Taylor, another old pupil, took over Whiteway's room. The Rev. Mark Fenwick, guardian of the Home, agreed to look after some of the principal's administrative duties related to the Council of Higher Education and the collection of fees. Holloway had presented to the board a draft of a letter to his brother, George, in London, asking him to advertise for a teacher to fill his place, but the board took no action. Holloway's worry over having to leave in the middle of the school year was lessened by the temporary arrangements made and by the many kind wishes sent to him by his pupils. The warm climate and Caribbean sea breezes brought about some improvement in Holloway's health, and Bert was able to return home to resume his studies. Henrietta welcomed Bert's good news. Her life was a busy one as well; Herbert Bond, son of Rev. George Bond, was presently boarding with the family. Holloway had taught him to take over the work of chemical analysis that he himself did for the government/Henrietta, in addition to keeping the house going and remaining in touch with her husband by mail, was kept active in her work with the Ladies' College Aid Society. There had been a sale of work in December, and in January she attended the school concert and presented the prizes at the kindergarten closing. In March Elsie returned after an eighteen-month stay in London where she had taken courses in portrait photography. Holloway returned to St John's on 25 March, perhaps a bit sooner than he should have, as the weather was still poor. The board members expressed their pleasure at his return, and the decision was made to advertise for a vice-principal to ease the load Holloway had carried for so long.3 Immediately the associate students came in for a great deal of his attention, spending the greater part of each day being "specially coached in the principal's house with daily lessons in science, Latin and French."4 All appeared to have followed Pitts's advice and resolved to do the best they possibly

And So Farewell

179

could in their schoolwork in the principal's absence and to do their part to assist the teaching staff in the difficult circumstances. They presented Holloway with a comfortable armchair, which he valued "very highly, but most of all... the sincere expression of pleasure at his return to work."5 He returned as well to the monumental task of writing and editing the Collegian, and in its pages wrote about the good effects on his health of the warmth of Jamaica and the complete change of environment. However, he admitted that "beautiful scenery and fruits and flowers cannot compensate for the absence from friends," and that he had returned home perhaps sooner than was wise.6 In the May issue he reported the sad news of the death of Chesley Ayre, a "warm and constant supporter" of the college and a "dear and ever-to-beregretted friend." Poignantly, he reflected that it was "the greatest pain of the passing years to feel that one has today one less friend than yesterday."7 In the following month he was writing, "Truly the hand of death has been heavy among our friends lately," as he noted as well the loss of Mrs EW. Ayre, long-time president of the Ladies' College Aid Society.8 Once again he turned to the successes of his pupils and the school to counterbalance his feelings of sadness. While away he had been shown many kindnesses by one of his old pupils, Bert Steer, who held an important job in an insurance office in Boston.9 And on his return Hermon Green, home on holiday from his job as senior analyst at Sydney, came in to tell him about his work.10 Mary Fox and Jessie Ayre would be back in St John's in the summer, and there were reports of the success of Louise Burchell and Emma Adrain in their music programs.11 Archibald and Boyle dropped in to see him on their way home from McGill. Subscriptions to the Collegian had been more difficult to sell of late, probably because recent issues had lacked Holloway's input. The annual subscription was fifty cents, but not all families subscribed, and usually the publication of the eight issues a year resulted in a net loss. He was disappointed at the lack of response in the outports to the opportunity to subscribe for twenty cents to the issues from September to Christmas. Despite this, he felt compelled to continue. He was driving himself too hard, and at times extended this to his pupils and teachers. He expected too much of pupils in their examinations. He expected the teachers to be in their classes a half hour before school began, so that they would be available to pupils. At times there might be a reprimand in the Collegian when a team didn't play the best game they were capable of, or if an individual

180

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOUL.OWAY

team member fumbled a play. And there were times when he grumbled when writing the "Old Pupils Page" because he had heard news of an old boy but not directly from him. It was as if his hopes and expectations were failing him, and things that had always worked out so well were not going as well any more. Then the feelings of irritation passed, and he returned to his usual energetic involvement in all the new things that were happening in his life, astonishing his family, friends, and colleagues with the work he was capable of. The same sense of history that had prompted him in 1891 to take to England a roll of the boys and girls attending the Methodist College to be bound and preserved as a lasting legacy12 prompted him to continue to record college life in the school magazine, month by month, year by year. And the same force compelled him to read the letters of his pupils, follow their progress, and collate their achievements. As time went on the Collegian's pages became more crowded and the print smaller in order to accommodate all he wanted to say, and to express all of his pride in their accomplishments.13 The summer came, and he noted that some of the old boys such as Boyle, Archibald, and Soper attended the cricket matches. There was now a cricket team of old boys with William Peters as the "energetic captain." Holloway attended, whenever his health permitted him to do so. The college lost to St Bonaventure's in 1903. James Ayre was the captain of the football team, the Collegians. The summer, as always, was a time for leaving the confines of the city. In spite of his poor health, Holloway ventured to the end of the railway line, a trip rewarded by "an interesting talk of old school days" with Mr T. Soper, one of his early students. Closer to home, after a train ride to Placentia, he took some breathtaking photographs of the old French capital. Later, a long drive to Burin was rewarded by a humorous conversation about the earliest days of the old academy with another old boy, John F. Collins. Holloway took magnificent photographs of Great Burin, Collins' Cove, and Ship Cove. A trip to Carbonear brought him into contact with a number of former pupils, including A.A. Holmes and T. Darby, two old boys who were now Methodist ministers and showed him "great kindness" during the summer.14 Close by, he photographed the town of Harbour Grace. Meanwhile, awareness of his illness was spreading. The Department of Education reports and the minutes of the board of governors meetings were full of concern for him. The board had already discussed how classes

And So Farewell

S U N R I S E A T P L A C E N T I A , V I E W O F BOATS I N H A R B O U R CNS.MUN, 8.01.002

VIEW OF PLACENTIA FROM THE Q U A R R I E S CNS,MUN, 8.01.001

181

182

ROBERT EDWARDS

C O L L I N S ' COVE, F L A K E S A N D STAGES CNS,MUN, 8.02.014

G R E A T B U R I N F R O M T H E SHALLOWAY CNS,MUN, 8.07.011

HOLLOWAY

And So Farewell

BR1GUS, CONCEPTION BAY, "QUITE LIKE AN ENGLISH VILLAGE' CNS, MUN, 10.02.001

HARBOUR GRACE, ONCE THE SECOND-LARGEST TOWN IN THE ISLAND

PANL, Al-172

183

184

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

THE STAFF OF THE M E T H O D I S T C O L L E G E , ST J O H N ' S , 1 9O3 Photographer unknown. PANL, €5-100

might be rearranged so that he would have less classroom teaching an could focus on administration and supervision of the total work of th college. Samuel T. Harrington was hired during the summer as vice principal, after consideration of a large number of applicants, with inter views conducted by James Pitts and by George Holloway in Englan Holloway was, however, still very much in charge of the institution as th 1903-04 school year began. Looking down on the assembled students, h noted that all seats were full in the three upper classes. Only on the girl side and in the primary department was there any room for additiona pupils. He was also struck by the size of the associate and intermediat boys, twenty of whom were between 5 ft. 10 in. and 6 ft. 4 in. in height. H remarked that it was as though a class of grenadiers had been summone to meet the new vice-principal! Along with Mr Harrington, another new staff member, Miss McNeil, was welcomed. Miss Dickenson would now take charge of the Second Class and continue to make shorthand available to those interested in it as a special subject.15

And So Farewell

185

The principal's supervisory role would be an important one, especially in view of the increased enrolment. Holloway would, of course, still take complete charge of the science classes and teach one other subject to the associates. He also announced his intention of keeping in touch with all the teachers and pupils by means of class visits to and examinations. He spent some time reviewing the results of the June examinations and noted that, despite the disruption caused by his three months' absence during the past school year, sixteen girls and sixteen boys had passed the Intermediate examination, and the associates had done exceptionally well, with Albert Hatcher leading the country, and Clayton Pincock coming second. Seventeen of the twenty-nine distinctions had been won by Methodist College associates. Three pupils had passed the London Matriculation examinations, all in First Division. Two of the three London University candidates, James Pincock and Edwin Pratt, were second and third in the island, unfortunately just missing the Jubilee; close behind was Carman Paine. The Rev. George Paine, in congratulating "the three Ps," noted that they were all parsons sons, that their fathers were all Englishmen, and their mothers all Newfoundlanders.16 Holloway wondered about the chances of his top students in the competition for the Rhodes Scholarship, an exciting new award being discussed in all the colleges in St John's. This would enable successful students to study at Oxford or another British university with an annual stipend of $1,500 a year for three years. It seemed that Newfoundland was to come in for a "large share of Cecil Rhodes' beneficence." Holloway was excited about this "great impetus to higher education" and speculated that Newfoundland's large share might be attributed to Cecil Rhodes, a colonial man, having noted in the Times the success of the Newfoundland students in the London Matriculation examinations.17 More and more, Holloway found himself going back over his life, taking stock of whether the extra work had been worthwhile, justifying in his own mind that his various undertakings, such as his public lectures and other community involvement, had been worth the investment of time and energy that had gone into them. A chance remark by a friend that the days of the public lecture were over, that such lectures had declined in popularity, led him to argue that a speaker of the calibre of the Rev. Charles Lench18 could still fill a hall to overflowing, and that with the scientific lecture it would always be possible to attract an audience because "there, the lecturer does not depend on his style or presence, but on the fact that

186

ROBERT EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

he has something new to say, new either to all his audience or to a large part of it."19 He recalled again with pardonable pride his Athenaeum lectures, when he had filled the hall for three nights in a row for his lecture on "The Electric Light, Experimentally Treated." As president of the Methodist College Literary Institute in the i88os, he had changed the tenor of the discussions and lecture topics, and the institute had continued to merit its own honoured space in each rebuilding of the college, as it established itself as a vital force in the life of the community.20 He thought once again of the older members of the MCLI, such as Stephen Rendell, Charles Ayre, and others who had served on the board of the academy and the college, and the younger ones, such as Richard White, Arthur Mayne Peters, and other "Old Collegians" who had for years carried on the MCLI tradition.21 As the 1903-04 school year progressed, Holloway continued to teach two or three classes a day, working at a slower pace but still carrying on with his role as principal, supervising as much as possible the classes of the other teachers, and paying special attention to the advanced classes, meeting them in smaller groups at his home. Nowhere is it recorded that any concern was expressed that Holloway's illness would spread to his students, nor that other students would be at risk from students with tuberculosis attending school or staying at the college Home. The disease was often quiescent and not recognized in the early stages, and, as for contagion, those in contact with tubercular patients were often ready to put the blame for infection on improper ventilation rather than close intimacy. The truth was that even though the medical community around the world was aware of the theories of Pasteur and Lister and of "Koch's postulates" of the cause and effect relationship between the newly discovered bacillus and tuberculosis, the disease was little understood and for a long time there were no effective preventative measures or treatment based on the new findings. Within the first decade of the twentieth century, alarm over the growing incidence of tuberculosis in Newfoundland would lead to the formation of a voluntary "Association for the Prevention of Consumption," promoted by Sir John Harvey, and much later, to improved government health programs, improved public hygiene, and a sanatorium.22 In the Collegian, Holloway wrote yet again about the successes of his students, and made an enlargement of the Holloway cricket team. The team had lost to St Bonaventure's in 1903 but, with William Peters as captain, recovered the championship in 1904. The football team as well

And So Farewell

187

THE "HOLUOWAY" C R I C K E T C H A M P I O N S , 1 9O4 Photographer unknown. Sports Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1.12.015

were intercollegiate champions in 1904. Through the kindness of James Blackwood and Robert Smith, both old boys, the college now had an excellent ground for their football games. Holloway continued his radiotherapy and diagnostic work with x-rays using the hospital-quality x-ray equipment purchased for the college by James Pitts. During the spring and summer he was able to report, "Our xray apparatus has been called into use on a number of occasions. Broken arms, dislocated arms and shoulders, injured feet, have been examined. The treatment of cancer, also, in a systematic way has, we are glad to say, shown that the x-rays have the power to ameliorate, if not cure, this dread disease.23 He trained senior science students, among them William Boyle and Herbert Bond, in the use of the apparatus, and they accompanied him as he worked with the doctors.24 The x-ray apparatus was quite small, not capable of taking a chest picture, although in one interesting case remembered later by Elsie, Holloway used the machine on the arm of a female patient with tuber-

188

R O B E R T EDWARDS HOLLOWAY

culosis and found evidence of the disease in the woman's elbow.25 Increasingly patients were presenting themselves to him for diagnosis and treatment: "so many sufferers that we are obliged to keep some waiting," he said with regret. Seven sufferers, most of them with lupus, were being treated at the college.26 Holloway was cheerfully rendering these services with no fee or reward, "save the gratitude of the sufferers who benefited from his ability and service."27 The discovery of radium led him to test some of the rocks and minerals in the cabinets for radioactivity. One of the older boys found four likely specimens, and a rapid photographic plate was enclosed in a dark box, with the specimens placed on the cover, separated from the plate by an opaque ebonite plate. A lump of pitchblende that had been in the cabinet for ten years and another specimen labelled "Uranite" were found to have left dark shadows when the plate was developed. Holloway was excited by the thought of the lump of pitchblende, "during all this period, night and day... sending out rays, similar to x-rays, of inconceivable minuteness, and at an inconceivable rapidity."28 More than this, he was excited by the revised concepts of matter and energy and of the nature of chemical reaction that the discoveries called forth. Holloway had ordered a small sample of radium so that he could repeat Becquerel's experiments and learn more about its potential for the treatment of disease. He hoped soon to demonstrate what radium could do in Newfoundland. The "infinitesimally small" supply of radium he had ordered arrived just before Christmas, at a cost of $25, along with a threesection demonstration kit. The first section was designed for the observation of fluorescence in a dark room. With the second, one could watch bombarding particles of radium bromide through a Crookes spinthariscope. The third was a radium applicator designed for therapeutic use on small areas affected with lupus or cancer.29 In January 1904 he was remembering poignantly that the colours of the autumn leaves on the South Side Hills had never seemed so brilliant as in the fall just past. He used again the simile of the bright whortleberry bushes looking "like poppies in a wheat field," and spoke of the small shrubs of various kinds having "all the appearance of gardens in full bloom."30 His readers may have wondered, as Holloway himself did, whether the fall of 1903 might prove to be his last experience of the Newfoundland autumn.

And So Farewell

189

Also in the January Collegian he mentioned a new scholarship given anonymously by an old pupil for first position in chemistry in the Intermediate grade. He commended the donor and, ever mindful of the help of such gifts to the college, suggested that other old pupils might like to follow the anonymous donor's example. Meanwhile, discussions were proceeding on the Rhodes Scholarship, but Holloway's poor health prevented him from participating. However, through the medium of the Collegian, he made some suggestions to the Local Selection Committee for the conditions of the award. The committee had suggested that the age of twentytwo should be allowable; Holloway disagreed, saying that only the comparatively rich could afford to keep their sons at study so long, so that the committee's decision would mean that the prize would fall to the son of some wealthy man. This was not Holloway's idea of fairness. Remembering long discussions with George Milligan about the importance of giving opportunities to bright Newfoundland students who lacked means to go to university, he suggested an age range of eighteen to twenty, and a requirement that the winner of the scholarship should have spent his life among colonial influences until he was at least eighteen years of age.31 The college would enter four top students, Bond, Penney, White, and Winter, as the first candidates.32 From time to time in the past few years Holloway had turned to the notes for his book, which lay unfinished because of all the other demands on his life and time. The title and the photographs he had chosen, but there still remained the editing and final rewriting, as well as the captioning of the photographs he had decided to include. The book was a love story of the island, the pictures an expression of its beauty: the mist over the Long Range Mountains, the phenomenon of the Northern Lights, the joys of cruising along the Dildo Run. The chapters on the island's natural resources were designed to attract industry to the island, but it was in the scenic views and the chapter "Sport, Camping Out, Coastal and Inland Trips" that he excelled, as he shared the simple pleasures for the sportsman, scientist, and photographer of summer vacations in Newfoundland and Labrador.33 His awareness of his impending death was starkly evident in the passage that would appear in the book under the title "Epilogue to the First Edition," following the text and preceding the photographs taken over a period of more than twenty years:

190

R O B E R T E D W A R D S HOL.UOWAY

Much might be added to these notes and much might be altered and improved, but the author ventures to point out in conclusion that he has written only of what he knows or has seen, that the work has been a work of love commenced under difficulties which few can appreciate, and carried to a conclusion in the face of death. He trusts therefore that the reader, while not failing to see faults of omission and commission, will find also something to interest and something to remember, and that he may look back on his visit to Newfoundland with feelings akin to the mixture of pleasure and regret with which the author pens these concluding lines.

AND so FAREWELL! R.E.H.34

On 28 June 1903, he and Henrietta had celebrated their silver wedding anniversary; their twenty-sixth anniversary was overshadowed by the seriousness of his illness. Their life together had been an extremely happy, loving and busy time, although clouded by the deaths of their children, Willie and Kate, in the diphtheria epidemic of 1888 and by the loss of their possessions in the Great Fire of 1892. Holloway had always played down his illness, refusing to let it keep him from the work that he loved. This year was different, and the summer months, which he had always been able to count on to restore his health, had not brought their usual healing power. He decided to go to England "to pay a last visit to his family in the old land"35 and one of his very good friends, Samuel J. Milley, offered to accompany him on the journey. They left in July, returning near the end of August. The voyage back proved to be too much for Holloway, and he arrived home in St John's extremely ill. By the beginning of September his family and friends knew that the end was approaching and that the unequal struggle marked by so much courage over the years would soon be over. Holloway died on 4 September 1904, early on Sunday morning, at the age of fifty-four.36 The opening page of the September Collegian referred to his death as "the greatest loss the College has ever known" and recorded on its behalf "young and old, teacher and taught, present and past, its deep indebtedness to and proud affection for the late Mr Holloway, and unspeakable sympathy for the family bereft of his presence."37 The report of the Methodist College for 1904-05 would speak of the loss of a man who, largely by "his great ability, incessant toil, and indefatigable perseverance, had moved the College forward, step by step to the proud position as an educational institution which it now occupies."38

And So Farewell

191

From St Bonaventure's College came unreserved praise for his work and heartfelt sympathy for his family. Mr Holloway, according to the editor of the Adelphian, was no ordinary man, and his name deserved a prominent place in the roll of those who have rendered noble service to Newfoundland.39 A tribute in the Methodist Monthly Greeting recalled his success as a teacher, his accurate scholarship, and his enthusiasm for his work; his presence in his classroom was "sufficient to ensure the most perfect order, the most complete attention."40 The daily papers echoed the praise of colleagues, friends, and students and expressed the sense of loss and bereavement that pervaded the community where his name had become a household word.41 On Tuesday, 6 September, a large contingent of old boys assembled in the Institute Room of the college and prepared to march in a body to pay their last tribute to the great man who "worked while life lasted." The funeral procession was the largest seen in St John's for many years, the hearse laden with wreaths of beautiful flowers. The board of governors and the boys of the college walked before it. Next came the mourners and the general public - citizens of all denominations and "representatives of commerce, church and state, including the Premier and members of the Executive Council." The "old scholars" followed their former teacher to the graveside, where the service was conducted by the Rev. J.L. Dawson, minister of Gower Street Methodist Church, and the Rev. Mark Fenwick, chaplain of the college Home.42 Of the many tributes in the local press, the one that seemed most appropriate to this moment was from a former pupil and friend of twenty years.43 His memorial to Robert Edwards Holloway, signed simply VIATOR, included this verse from 11 Samuel, 3, 38: "Know ye not that there is a Prince and a great man fallen this day."

EPILOGUE

After 29 years of devoted, enthusiastic and successful toil in connection with the College, he seemed to have become a permanent part of the Institution, and indispensable to college life; and the thought of the College without Mr. Holloway was not only unfamiliar and unwelcome but almost unbearable. The summons came, however, and he is no longer with us. Methodist Monthly Greeting, October 1904

The school year that began in the days following Holloway's death opened, like so many others before, with students assembled in the college hall, girls on the girls' side, boys on the boys' side, and the vice-principal, Samuel T. Harrington, on the platform accompanied by the members of the staff and representatives of the board of governors. This year's class of matriculants and associates was larger than ever before. The successes of the associates and the London Matriculation candidates in the June examinations, along with the news received in letters from old pupils, were left for others to record in the Collegian. The honours brought to the college by Albert Hatcher's winning of the Jubilee Scholarship and Herbert Bond's candidacy for the Rhodes Scholarship were tinged with sadness that their revered teacher was no longer present to share in the good news. For Bert Holloway, who had won the chemistry prize and the new scholarship for first place in science in the intermediate examinations, the sadness was even more acute.1 The business portion of the September meeting of the Athletic Club was deferred in respect for Holloway's memory, and the secretary, Herbert Bond, wrote a moving tribute in the Collegian: "Though it is not in Athletics that we shall most miss our great Principal, in that as in every-

EPI LOGUE

193

M E T H O D I S T C O L L E G E , V I E W DOWN L O N G ' S H I L L , S E P T E M B E R 1 9O5 Photographer unknown. CNS, MUN, 1.05.003

thing else, he did his best for his boys. Always at our matches when his health permitted, he encouraged us to 'play the game,' and by his mere presence, when he thought it necessary at our League meetings, he sternly condemned underhand and unsportsmanlike tactics. Truly we may follow Mr. Holloway's example as a sportsman, as in everything else."2 As the school year progressed and the college teams competed successfully for the 1905 Cricket Shield and the Football Cup, the frail figure who had attended most of the matches was sorely missed. Herbert Bond, the son of Rev. George Bond and nephew of Premier Robert Bond, had boarded with the Holloway family during his last three years at the college. He regretted very much that he was unable to share with his beloved schoolmaster the news that he would be writing the Oxford Responsions the following January, and later the even more exciting news that he had won the Rhodes Scholarship for the college and was on his way to Oxford. Harrington, now appointed as principal, had written an excellent letter to accompany Bond's application, praising his all-round intellectual ability and especially his strength in science. "Bond acted as laboratory assistant, operated x-ray equipment," he wrote, "and was virtually public analyst for a considerable time before the late Mr. Holloway's death, performing the analyses required with minimal super-

194

EPILOGUE

vision."3 In spite of this and other letters of reference that extolled his athletic ability, Bond felt constrained to include a personal note to the Rhodes Selection Committee, to let them know that, unfortunately, death had claimed the "person on whom the duty of writing this certificate would naturally have devolved."4 And in less than a year after Holloway's death, William Boyle, another of his "advanced students," who had the task of preparing labs for elementary science and was also involved in the principal's experiments with x-rays, graduated in engineering from McGill with high honours, winning the Scott prize, the General Electric Scholarship, the British Association prize and the British Association Medal. As an undergraduate and demonstrator in physics, Boyle had become interested in Rutherford's research at the Macdonald Physics Laboratory. After graduation he joined the Rutherford team, and in 1909 would be awarded the first PhD ever granted by McGill for his investigations into the properties of emanations of thorium and radium. His findings were recorded in Rutherford's Radioactivity. As 1851 Exhibition scholar, he studied at Manchester, continuing to work with this group and exposed now to other scientists such as Neils Bohr and Hans Geiger. Boyle returned to McGill to teach physics and mathematics and was then invited to establish the Department of Physics at the University of Alberta, later becoming dean of its Faculty of Applied Science. In the interval, during World War I, he served on the staff of Canada's Board of Invention and Research, in charge of developing submarine detection by echo methods with high-frequency sound waves. His research there and at the University of Alberta led to an appointment in 1929 to the National Research Council as director of the Division of Physics and Electrical Engineering, a position he held through the Second World War, contributing during this period to the development of radar. He retired in 1949 with many honours, recognized as the senior physicist in Canada.5 Holloway had followed his former student's brilliant career with great interest but died before Boyle completed the first phase of his research. In 1907, three years after Holloway's death, Boyle's achievements and the influence of the Methodist College were noted by Dr Arthur Barnes of the Newfoundland Department of Education: "St John's is to be congratulated too, for it was here that he obtained his love of science and the rudiments of that physical knowledge which he has turned to such good account."6

EPILOGUE

195

The executive of the board of governors, meeting within a week of Holloway's funeral service, expressed their deep sense of personal loss and indicated the need for immediate action to make up for the loss to the college of his guiding influence. The difficulty of carrying on without his friend came through poignantly in the words of James Pitts, who "felt that the care and responsibility of conducting the affairs of the college were greatly increased, and feared that the duties of chairman were more than he was competent to attend to."7 Nevertheless, Pitts did carry on, and continued to contribute immeasurably to the growth of the institution. To fill the great void in the science curriculum, he proposed that the board act to ensure that students who had begun their science program with Holloway would not be deprived of the opportunity to continue. The board placed on record its tribute to Mr Holloway as an honoured and valued fellow worker and friend, "whose genius, whose various accomplishments, and whose indomitable industry, have contributed to the present educational prosperity of the institution." Pitts announced also that the board was contemplating a monument to Holloway's memory, to which his pupils would be allowed to contribute a small, uniform sum.8 The members also expressed concern for the principal's family, giving Mrs Holloway permission to occupy the principal's residence until the following May.9 At a subsequent meeting it was decided that, in recognition of the principal's great services to the college, his salary for the full year in which he died, amounting to $1,050, would be presented to Mrs Holloway, together with an additional sum of $1,000.10 Henrietta, Bert, and Elsie moved in 1905 to 168 (later 180) Gower Street, the house that now celebrates Elsie as a photographer.11 Saddle-roofed, with two storeys and an attic, it had a room at the top fitted as a darkroom, where Elsie and Bert could work and prepare for setting up their own business. Together with Henrietta, they published their father's book, Through Newfoundland with the Camera, in 1905, and five years later published a second edition, this time with the photographs of icebergs removed, some pictures added depicting newer industries, and many more advertisements designed to present Newfoundland as a "sportsman's paradise." Holloway's text remained virtually unchanged. In 1908 Elsie and Bert opened a photography business on the corner of Bates' Hill and Henry Street. Holloway had left thousands of glass plate negatives, which became the nucleus of the prints sold by the studio. Bert

196

EPILOGUE

followed in his father's footsteps, focusing mainly on scenic views, while Elsie became a talented and innovative portrait photographer. The studio was an elaborate two-storey building with large plate-glass windows, elegant inlaid panelling, and a richly finished staircase leading to the portrait studios - far ahead of its time in equipment, lighting, and design.12 On 15 September 1908, the teachers and more than three hundred pupils of the college, together with some of the directors, marched in procession to the General Protestant Cemetery to view the beautiful red granite monument placed at the late principal's grave. The students formed a square around it, and a short service was held. Hymns were sung, prayer was offered by the Rev. W.T.D. Dunn, and the Rev. Mark Fenwick, still guardian of the college Home, paid "a fitting memorial to the great life and work of Mr. Holloway in the interests of the College and of education in Newfoundland."13 The inscription read: To the Memory of Robert E. Holloway For 30 years principal of the Newfoundland Methodist College, who was born in England on August 30, 1850 and died in St. John's September 4,1904. This monument has been erected by friends, associates and pupils, in appreciative recognition of the varied gifts and scholarship which he employed with such unceasing energy as to leave a lasting impress upon the work of education in Newfoundland and to render his ownjife-work brilliantly successful. "Who left untouched scarcely any branch of scholarship, who touched no department of learning which he did not adorn, by this monument the fidelity of his friends, the love of his associates and the veneration of his pupils have paid tribute to his memory"1* The four years since Holloway's death had seen the inevitable changes that mark the life of a school - in staff and programs, in the numbers of students, in the buildings to accommodate new emphases in the curriculum. Cluny Macpherson had been appointed physician to the Home, and with the help of George Holloway in England, E.R. Marie, an honours graduate

EPILOGUE

197

T H E HOLLOWAY M O N U M E N T , G E N E R A L PROTESTANT C E M E T E R Y , ST J O H N ' S (Photograph by author)

of the University of London, was hired for science and mathematics, the first of a long series of science teachers.15 Holloway's contribution to the college, "formative, creative and intensive," had smoothed the way for Harrington, who was a good administrator and "a sound teacher of his chosen subjects."16 In time he was to create a tradition of his own. The school flag introduced in Holloway's time, with the help of funds raised by the Ladies' College Aid Society, was flown on the Queen's birthday, and the "Ode to Newfoundland," composed by Sir Cavendish Boyle before Holloway's death, was afterwards an important part of school ceremonies. The Honour Roll boards in the college hall were suggested by Harrington in 1913 to honour the Jubilee scholars, beginning with Richard Squires and William Boyle, and the Rhodes Scholarship winners, beginning with Herbert Bond and John Mitchell.17 In some ways the school became even more British in tradition. Grades were referred to

198

EPILOGUE

as "forms," and, much later, with John C. Hogg as vice-principal and afterwards principal, a house system, school uniforms, and the idea of a school emblem were introduced. The houses were named after prominent college benefactors, Pitts, Ayre, Macpherson, Holloway, and Harrington, and the Collegian now featured regular reports of the friendly but intensive competition among the five houses.18 The manual training program begun before Holloway's death was operating successfully under the supervision of Clifford W. Fairn of the Provincial Normal School at Truro. James R Kelly had made an outstanding start on the art program, and it continued to be an important emphasis. Peter LeSueur had resigned in midsummer 1905, but the excellent music program that had become a tradition over the years continued under Herbert MacFarren, assisted by Louise Burchell, whose career in music Holloway had followed and encouraged.19 Holloway had sparked many of his female students to pursue goals they set for themselves. Some of these students studied music, French, and German in Europe. Many became teachers in outport schools or, like Bertha Dove, Louise Burchell, and Ethel Dickenson, taught at the college. For a short time Elsie Holloway also taught there. Bertha Dove, daughter of the Rev. James Dove, was the first female student of the Methodist Academy to be successful in the London Matriculation examinations. She passed with honours and was employed as one of two assistants to the preceptress, Miss Narraway. From the first Miss Dove's classes were perceived by the inspector as "happily illustrating the power of firmness combined with gentleness."20 Ethel Dickenson, who had taught shorthand and typing as early as 1899, later added to her teaching assignment a class of girls in the upper school. Leaving to acquire courses in domestic science, she returned to teach at the college until 1915, when she went to England and, while there, became a volunteer nurse, caring for wounded soldiers. Back in St John's in 1918, she continued her work at the emergency ward of the King George V institute, where she contracted Spanish influenza and died in October 1918. A monument in honour of her unselfish service was erected by public subscription.21 The Great War was to have a profound effect on the college. It started at a time when there had been overtures towards the establishment of a nondenominational institution that would do what Holloway had already been doing for his advanced students - offer high-level courses in St John's to shorten the time required to complete a degree, and at the same time make

EPILOGUE

199

H E N R I E T T A HOLLOWAY, P A R L O U R C A R D (Photograph by S.H. Parsons.) Courtesy of Olive Voter

higher education less expensive and more accessible to Newfoundland students. These plans had to be shelved. Enrolment decreased, especially in the associate grade, because so many boys were enlisting in the armed forces. The Methodist College Hall, which had served as the venue for everything from annual prize-givings at all levels to concerts and MCLI debates, was now the place for a farewell to the troops or fund-raising events by the Women's Patriotic Association. By the end of the war, the death toll of college boys would rise to eighty-seven. Henrietta was very active in the WPA, serving on a number of important committees. Along with Mrs Charles P. Ayre she directed the collection and shipping of large quantities of sphagnum moss from the colony to England, where it was used as a dressing for wounds in military hospitals.22 She received the M B E (Civil Division) for her work.23

2OO

EPILOGUE

E L S I E HOLLOWAY, PARLOUR CARD (SELF-PORTRAIT) Courtesy of Olive Voter

As time went on and Elsie's business took up more and more time, Olive Vater joined the family as housekeeper, cooking meals and looking after Henrietta as she grew older and her arthritis began to present a problem. Even after it became acute and she had to be helped in and out of a car, she continued to visit the friends and relatives who had been part of their lives before her husband s death. Bert and his wife, Agnes Isabel, lived in a home called "Little Dorset" on Waterford Bridge Road. They had two children, Robert and Marciel, at the time Bert enlisted in the Newfoundland Regiment. With the war in progress, many of Elsie's clients were photographed in uniform, and among them in 1916 was her brother and business partner. Bert had been involved with volunteer service from the beginning of the war, assisting the medical

EPILOGUE

2O1

B E R T HOL.LOWAY IN OFFICER'S UNIFORM

(Photograph by Elsie Holloway). PANL, As-3

officers of the Newfoundland Regiment with the examination of candidates.24 He worked with Cluny Macpherson, who had been commissioned captain, serving as chief medical officer for the regiment.25 In recognition of his volunteer work, Bert was given a commission when he enlisted. He was mentioned in dispatches by Sir Douglas Haig on 9 April 1917 as having displayed great gallantry and initiative as "Sniping and Intelligence Officer" of the Newfoundland battalion led by Captain B. Butler. On 27 January 1917, he had been sent out to discover the exact location gained by troops who had made an attack. At great personal risk he had visited all the positions and returned with valuable information. His battalion was brought in on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917, to relieve the troops engaged in the Battle of Monchy-le-Preux near the city of Arras in

202

EPI LOGU E

France.26 The German troops were driven back, chiefly by the remainder of the Newfoundland regiment, led by their colonel. The casualties after the battle numbered 542, including dead, wounded, prisoners of war, and missing in action.27 Bert Holloway never returned from the Battle of Monchy. He was listed as "Wounded and Missing" on 14 April 191/.28 Henrietta had lost her only surviving son, and Elsie was left to carry on with the studio alone. Elsie was making a name for herself as a successful businesswoman at a time when such ventures were something of a novelty for women. One of her assignments was a series of photographs recording Amelia Earhart's departure from Harbour Grace airfield on her round-the-world flight. The photographs are today displayed in the historical collection of the museum at Harbour Grace. Elsie continued to use glass plate negatives until her Holloway Studio closed in 1946.29 She acknowledged in an interview her father's contribution to her success in photography30 On her retirement, she bought an Austin sedan and, accompanied by Olive Vater, drove around the island, revisiting the scenes of the summer travels she had enjoyed as a girl. Holloway's scenic views of Newfoundland and Labrador were preserved during this period in the pictorial issue of Newfoundland stamps issued in 1923-24. This issue "celebrated Newfoundland's natural beauty, resources, landmarks, outport communities and the Newfoundlanders who had fought in the Great War."31 In 1926, a one-cent stamp was based on a Holloway photograph of codfish.32 In 1920 after the end of the war, the Normal School became interdenominational. Holloway would have approved of this and would have participated enthusiastically in 1923 in the move towards amalgamation of the Methodist and Presbyterian boards in any future plans for extension of the two colleges. In this period the college experienced continued expansion, and growth of the student body. Then, suddenly, history was repeating itself. On the evening of Monday, 19 January 1925, the school was being made ready for a concert in the hall. It was very cold and, in the process of heating the building, the chimney caught fire. In spite of the quick response of the Fire Department, the building was destroyed. Only the brick shell remained.33 The college was once more a victim of fire; the board was faced once more with the task of rebuilding, and once more a newer and better college would rise from the ashes. Committees formed to deal with the situation

EPILOGUE

HOLLOWAY'S

203

P H O T O G R A P H OF CODFISH FOR 1-CENT

N E W F O U N D L A N D STAMP PANL, VA 21-iy

and find temporary accommodation for the classes. Most of the students were eventually housed in the Normal School on Parade Street, the rest finding temporary accommodation throughout the city. A large financial campaign was initiated, aimed at not only the Methodists of St John's but also those of the outports, as well as friends in Canada. The goal was to raise at least $500,000 for Methodist education in the city. Plans were made to restore the old college to house students in the short term and later to have it function as the elementary division of a new school complex. A new building would be erected later on LeMarchant Road to accommodate the higher grades. A meeting of the board on 30 October 1925 recommended that the name of the restored college on Long's Hill be changed from the "Newfoundland Methodist College" to "Holloway College."34 One of the first donations to the restoration fund came from a former pupil of Holloway, AJ.C. Paine,35 a well-known architect who offered free of charge his "entire services, including preliminary work, plans, details

204

EP1LOGUE

METHODIST COLLEGE AND "HOME"

J.W.Nichols, A Century of Methodism. Photographer unknown. CNS, MUN

and specifications," along with those of an associated architect, Mr Henderson. The original brick walls, found to be in fair condition, were reinforced with steel. The Victorian tower was removed. There were ten classrooms and two large playrooms on the two lower floors, and the classroom space was rearranged to provide more southern exposure and make it more suitable for elementary classes. In the tradition of providing space for associations connected with the college, the new building included a Ladies' College Aid Society room, a Methodist College Literary Institute room, and two music rooms. Breaking with the Holloway tradition, however, was the laboratory space, excused as being "only temporary." Almost from the beginning, it was apparent that overcrowding was inevitable and that the "special" rooms would have to be converted to classrooms to accommodate a population of almost eight hundred students. Another large gift towards the building came from Mrs James S. Pitts, who gave $25,000 towards an Assembly Hall in memory of her husband, who had died in 1916. Pupils moved into the classrooms in April 1926

EPILOGUE

2O5

M E T H O D I S T C O L L E G E A S R E B U I L T A F T E R F I R E O F 1 9 2 6 .R E N A M E D HOLLOWAY SCHOOL I N 1 9 2 9

Photographer unknown. CNS, MUN, St John's Building and Heritage Clippings

after the Easter holidays, but the official opening was delayed until the new Pitts Memorial Hall was completed and a bronze tablet inscribed to the memory of Mr Pitts had arrived. The opening ceremony presided over by C.P. Ayre, chairman of the board of governors, was held on 27 September 1926 with an air of great excitement and the hall filled to capacity. Reuben Horwood, board secretary and contractor for the building, handed the key to Ayre who, in turn, passed it to the Rev. E.G. French. The Methodist Church had joined in 1925 with some Presbyterian and Congregational churches to form the United Church, and French represented the United Church Conference. In accepting the key, he reviewed the history of the Wesleyan Academy built on the same site sixty years earlier, and spoke movingly about the building of the Methodist College on that foundation, aided by men and women with a vision of what Methodist education might become. The bronze tablet in memory of James Stuart Pitts was unveiled by the Rev. George Bond, who joined in the reminiscences of the history of the

206

EPI L O G U E

college, referring to Robert Holloway as his "dear friend." He spoke of Pitts s long years of service to the college as chairman of the board from 1890 to 1914 and his interest in the college until his death two years later. Of the board of directors of that time, Bond observed only one, Hon. R.K. Bishop, was still living. The others - Charles R. Ayre, James J. Rogerson, John Steer, Henry J.B. Woods, Campbell Macpherson, and Alex J.W. McNeily were all names instantly recognizable in the history of the college.36 Plans were quickly put in place, again with the help of the architectural skills of A.J.C. Paine, for the new building on LeMarchant Road for the senior students; Prince of Wales College opened in 1928. The old Methodist College on Long's Hill was renamed Holloway School in honour of the principal who had lovingly tended its growth for almost thirty years. There was a recognizable "heritable tradition" in the schools that succeeded each other through the years. The morning assemblies with all the students gathered together, faces upturned towards the staff on the platform, would continue for many years. Principal Holloway s institution of red and blue caps for the boys and hats beribboned with school colours for the girls would lead in the 19305 to uniforms and school ties. The interschool games and competitions for scholarships would always be part of the passage of time from September to June. The Ladies' College Aid Society prepared each year for their fall sale in Pitts Memorial Hall, and the hall continued to fulfil an important role in the life of the school and the community. The Collegian changed in format and content, later becoming a yearbook, and included photographs of school life that Holloway would have loved to see in the many issues he edited. The period of Holloway s tenure was unique in many ways, made so by the energy and genius of this fascinating man. His influence on the society and culture of the day spread as he shared his talents in his outreach beyond the school into the wider community of St John's and his travels into a great part of the rest of the island. It spread through his roles as scientist and popularizer of science, as a photographer and a writer and historian of the Methodist College and life in Newfoundland. His lectures filled an auditorium with one thousand "ordinary people" - a good representation of a city whose population did not reach thirty thousand until the 18905. He inspired the board to invest in equipment he needed to include in his presentations key experiments in the history of science and to replicate discoveries soon after they were made. He opened his classes to others who wanted to learn, helping to polish the skills of people in

EPILOGUE

2O7

science-related professions - the chemical analysts in the mines, the apprentices to the pharmacists downtown. He constructed x-ray equipment and helped local doctors with diagnosis and therapy. Art and science were combined in his photography, in his manipulation of lenses, in his use of various techniques for developing and printing, in his eye for composition. They were combined in his interest in the natural history of the island, and especially his sense of the beauty of the scenes that met his eye during his travels, and the need to preserve these images as a legacy. And, with a strong sense of wanting to "become a Newfoundlander," he wrote about the privilege of meeting the people of the outports and considered what he would have missed if he had not reached out to become "one of them." In St John's, in common with many others, his family grieved as they experienced the tragic effects of the diphtheria epidemic and of the Great Fire of 1892. Of great and lasting importance was Holloway's legacy as an educator, the qualities he possessed that encouraged students to be the best they could be, and to share with him their successes as they continued to learn. There is ample evidence of the careers he inspired, and it is interesting to speculate on whether, without his influence, these students would have realized their potential. Looking back on his life and influence as a teacher, images emerge that reflect the quality and versatility of his teaching. In one of these images he has taken a group of students to a marsh to find the pitcher plant, gathering only the few specimens needed for study. In another, he is setting up the perfect conditions for a photograph of a massive iceberg outside the Narrows, following a week of lessons in photography. In another, he is pointing out the stars in Orion, telling his students that if they observe carefully, they will recognize these stars forever, that the learning will be theirs "for the rest of their lives." Or, recognizing the potential in his advanced students, he is giving them the opportunity to learn by helping to set up demonstrations for one of his public lectures, testing the ores in the mineral cabinet for radioactivity. The story of Holloway's thirty-year tenure as principal is the story of the growth of the Methodist College, but his legacy as an educator goes beyond the renovation of buildings and increases in enrolment. It focuses on the more elusive outcomes stored in the memories of his students and stories that have been passed down through the generations. His legacy

208

EPILOGUE

was in the lives of the students who caught his enthusiasm for life and learning. In the tributes after his death and for many years that followed, there were recurring themes - the respect that his very presence seemed to command, the love of learning that he inspired, and an affection that continued long after his students left the college. Alex McNeily said it well in the closing lines of his memorial tribute: "The brilliancy and splendid personality of the man will be remembered only by his contemporaries, and appreciated only by those of his contemporaries who approached to be his compeers. But if a century hence Newfoundland should institute a National Gallery for the pictures of the great men who have helped to make her history, and to make her men, prominent among the pictures should be that of Robert E. Holloway, who in his brief life moulded the youth of two generations; and who taught and inspired a coming generation how to make the best of generations yet to come."37

APPENDICES

APPENDIX ONE

1876 Report, Methodist Academy

REPORT, M E T H O D I S T ACADEMY, FOR YEAR E N D E D 30 JUNE l8/6

Methodist Academy, St John's

Pupils 'ages

Principal and teachers

Salaries

R.E. Holloway, B.A. E. Handcock J.W. Nichols

$1,200 640 480

No. under 10

No. between 10&14

No. over 14

No. of boys

of girls

$2,320

19

49

62

90

40

No.

Total pupils

130

COURSE OF STUDIES, METHODIST ACADEMY, FOR YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 1876 No. in Drawing

In Arithmetic

In Mensuration

In English Crammer

130

130

60

130

20

100

60

110

110

64 118 54

60 86 54

... 31 ...

60 118 54

5

29 64 54

5 64 50

20 52

41 118 54

and Dictation

In In Composition History and Elocution

In Geography

No. writing on copybooks

No. in Reading, Spelling

1876 Report Methodist Academy

Attendance

211

Pupil teachers

Whole no. under tuition during the year

Grand total attendance by all pupils

Times school has been opened

Average attendance

Males

Females

Total

No. of examinations in the year

160

56160

432

130

5

5

10

4

In In In Book- Geometry Algebra keeping

20

10

5

3

22

10

20

In In In In In In Navigation Trigonometry Natural French German Spanish History

2

2

1

1

30

20

118

9

6

In Latin

In Greek

4

16 Shorthand Chemistry Mechanics Hydrostatics 3

2 1 1 1 1

21

5

A P P E N D I X TWO

Old Pupils' Page

We shall probably be charged with giving undue prominence on this page to certain pupils to the neglect of others. It should be remembered, however, that we can only give such information as is furnished to us, and that some pupils, in whom we feel great interest, show but little in us. There are some who have gone to Universities in the States and Canada from whom we have heard nothing directly since they went. Christmas naturally brought many a reminder from many lands and many pupils. Mr. Charles Duder, writes from Pernambuco of his life amongst new surroundings; both his wife, (another old pupil) and himself miss the Christmas accompaniments of ice and snow. A very fine picture of Mrs. Fletcher comes from Chicago. Had our present examination system prevailed in the earlier days, Mrs. Fletcher would have occupied honorable places on the list. Letters have come from all our girls in continental schools. The Hofgarten at Dusseldorf, the Pont Alexandre in at Paris, and the Kiinigin Brucke at Dresden are all very fine; but at this time of the year, McBride's hill and the Middle street mud, and all, have more charm for these exiles. They are all homesick - it is Heimweh and Nostalgie with them all. Two other old pupils left for Scotland on Christmas Eve, Miss Skeoch for her home in Glasgow, and Miss Holloway to spend some months in London. We have heard, incidentally, that Miss Maggie James is doing good work at some American University, but we have heard nothing directly. The news of our boys away generally resolves itself into a report of progress in studies. Dr. Cluny MacPherson, before settling down to a course at Edinburgh has been, through the kindness of M. Sladen, visiting the North Sea Fishing fleet. This is somewhat in the line of his work as he is engaged as one of Dr. Grenfell's staff for the Labrador next summer. Our best correspondent is Robert Frew. His letters from Edinburgh are full of interest, including as they do, items as to the professors, the patients and himself. He is one of the few boys, who from a boy, made up his mind as to his life work. It is natural that he is enthusiastic over it; he says in his letter:- "I simply love the work, and though it is much harder than last year, it is ten thousand times more interesting." After expressing hopes for the success of the

Old Pupils'Pages

213

Hockey team he says "What sort of material are you working with this year? - not that it really matters much, as the result will be the same." Is this gross flattery or is it pessimism? Excellent reports come from McGill. Last year, for the first time, we commenced the teaching of Projection. The subject was new to both teacher and pupils, so the results are very gratifying. Of the four pupils in the class, Pippy took the first place and prize in the A.A. exam. Guy came within 5 marks of getting Honors, while, at McGill, Archibald has taken the top place and Boyle the next. In Mathematics, Archibald and Boyle are bracketed third. In Physics Boyle takes the^zrsf place and Archibald passes. Both Rodger and Blatch have succeeded in their exams in Mathematics (3rd place) and in Electro-Magnetical. We also hear that in a general review examination of all work done by third year men from the beginning of their course, only 7 or 8 passed, of these Rodger and Blatch take high places. Results of medical exams are not yet here. We never hear anything directly from Atkinson, but we understand that he is successful in his exams, as they come. W.F. Canning writes of his work in Chemistry and Mineralogy. On another page he has written for our magazine an account of the origin of the Haematite deposit of Bell Isle. So many of our pupils, boys and girls, enter the teaching work of our Island that some account of them must be generally interesting. Mr. Lodge has kindly furnished us with the present position of such of our Old College pupils as are engaged in the work. For convenience this information is printed in tabular form. It should be remembered that both the Superintendent and his Assistant are old College pupils. (Collegian, January 1902,5-6)

Results from our McGill boys are beginning to come in, and they are all most satisfactory. About a month ago we learned that in the 3rd year's examination on Mental Disease, Hunter Cowperthwaite took Honors, and Herbert Chaplin passed; H. Atkinson passed his second year's exam in Histology. We have no news yet of the final exams of the Medical School. On the Engineering side, we are proud of the work done by our boys. W. Boyle is \hefirst boy of his year, and H. Archibald is seventh. In addition to this, Boyle has taken special prizes in Mathematics and English. When we consider that these boys had to compete with the best boys from the Canadian schools, we have reason for pride. In the 3rd year's final examinations only 14 passed, but H. Rodger and H. Blatch are among these. This list in which Boyle and Archibald figure so well contains 50 names. The prospects for McGill Science Students seem very bright, as the whole 14 of the graduating class found immediate employment. A long and very interesting letter has come from Mary Fox, which shows that her interest in her former schoolfellows has not lessened. Her report was a most creditable one. The i, which means the highest degree of excellence is almost the

214

A P P E N D I X TWO

only one visible on it. Diligence (Fleiss); Progress (Fortschritt); Conduct (Betragen) all 1's. She will spend the summer holidays travelling in Germany. A lady whose duties bring her much into contact with the poor tells us of the way they speak to her of our old pupil, Dr. Stewart Pike. Their evidence tells of his kindness and attention. No greater praise could be bestowed upon a doctor than this. Fred Smith, one of our boys, has gone to fight the Empire's battles in South Africa. We hope to hear of peace before his risks begin. George Taylor, now at Exploits, writes to know whether the Matriculation diplomas for June, 1901, have been sent here. We have not seen any. In recent years the authorities have sent the diplomas by post, but this year none have come. It is quite right that the authorities should exercise great care that the diplomas get into the right hands. Probably they are waiting for the winners to make personal application. As they will probably only send them by post at the owner's risk, it may be well in applying to ask the Registrar to register them. Address: "The Registrar, University of London." We are sorry to hear poor accounts of Mark Osmond's health. He has had to give up his teaching work. He was one of our Associates of 1900, and has since been teaching at Moreton's Harbour. Mr. S. Whiteway, of Butte, Montana, a pupil of the old wooden Academy days, visited the College the other day. Great changes have taken place both in the College and the City, since he was a boy here. Hermon Green, whose tastes were always centred in the Laboratory, has now obtained the position of analyst at Wabana. He has lately returned to College and given a fortnight's hard work to brushing up his previous knowledge, and in practising those particular analyses which will be chiefly required of him. Wilfred Pippy is occupied at the same work at the Sydney works. We are very pleased that our Science teaching, besides its everyday usefulness to all, has fitted these two to take positions for which their tastes made them specially suited. A boy whose tastes are for Chemistry, Electricity, etc., rather than for business cannot always, on leaving school find work to suit him; but if the knowledge is there, he is always ready to embrace the opportunity when it does come. John Templeton of the Bank of Nova Scotia, has been transferred, and promoted, to a position in Jamaica. It will be a pleasant change for him, and he has our best wishes. John is a representative of a family which has been in close association with the College ever since the present Principal's arrival 28 years ago. Mr. Alexander Smith's children, Robert and Grace were amongst our first pupils. They have never lost interest in their schools, nor we in them. The grandchildren, the Muirs (3), the Templetons (4), and the Smiths, Junior (4), have kept up the connection, almost without break, ever since. Graham Syme will soon be home again to completely recover from his accident. It is fortunate that the amputation is below the knee; this makes the question of walking a much simpler one. (Collegian, May 1902,114-16)

APPENDIX THREE

x-Ray Demonstrations in the Methodist College Laboratory

A L.ITTL.E H I S T O R Y

In the middle of the last century, philosophers, kings, and courtiers were amusing themselves with the then wonderful performances of the frictional electric machine. It was the popular thing to crowd around the sparking conductors, and wonder and conjecture about the cause. When the air pump was discovered, it occurred to someone to try the effect of sending the spark through a partial vacuum. Later on, by introducing various gases into the tubes, and by twisting them into ingenious shapes, Gassiot and Geissler were able to produce most beautiful effects. With the growth of the electric light as a practical illuminant came improved machinery for producing high vacua, and 20 years ago Crookes made some important discoveries in tubes, from which all air, except an exceedingly minute portion, had been withdrawn. He found that the particles of air were first attracted to the kathode (pole of the tube) and then repelled from it with force. They struck the glass and caused it tofluoresce. He made small bits of platinum white hot by their bombardment, and he made them turn a little mill inside the tube. After this great step ahead, little was done until about two years ago when Lenard found that by making a window of aluminum the Kathode rays could be made to emerge from the tube, and that these rays could pass through wood, etc. His apparatus, however, was complicated, and his beam of kathode rays small. His discoveries paved the way for Roentgen's subsequent discoveries. (Pronounce this name Rurntyen.) A year last December, Roentgen was experimenting on the same lines as Lenard, with a Crookes tube. He had covered it with black card, so that ordinary light could not pass from it. On passing a spark through the tube from the Induction Coil, the room being absolutely dark, he was surprised to notice that a piece of paper covered with a fluorescent material, which lay near, shone brightly. Here, then, was something new."What did you think?" afterwards asked one of his students."! did not think, I investigated", said he. Not knowing the cause or nature of these

2l6

APPENDIX THREE

rays, he called them x, - the unknown rays, - and x-rays they must remain until students of science can say whence and what they are. A LITTLE PHYSICS

If a straight steel spring of some inches in length be twanged so as to make it vibrate, we shall see such vibrations, but there will be no sound. On shortening the steel, and twanging again, a deep sound will be heard. The spring is now moving backwards and forwards at the rate of 16 double vibrations per second. Again shortening we get, at 32 double vibrations, a deep musical note, - a note almost as much felt as heard by many people. As the vibrations become more and more rapid, the pitch of the sound rises. These sound waves are longitudinal, i.e., they vibrate back and forth in the same direction as they travel. Such waves we may call sound waves, whether we hear them or not. At first Roentgen thought the new rays were of this type, and he accordingly called them "inaudible sound." It is, however, now about settled that they belong to the type to be afterwards considered. The medium through which sound waves are propagated is air. Doubtless the Universe is full of vibrations; - it is only here and there however that we, with our limited senses, are able to appreciate their existence. From 40,000 vibrations to more than a million, we know nothing, and wide gaps remain for investigation in all parts of the vibrating medium. The following table gives a rough idea of the points at which our senses are able to bring vibrations to our notice. TABLE OF VIBRATORY PHENOMENA

Vibrations per sec.

Name

16 32

Lowest musical note

Medium

Deep voice

128 512 2000 4000 30000 40000 2 to 5 millions 400 billions 700 billions

Violet light waves

2,000 billions

Photographic waves (ultra violet)

Trillions (?)

x-rays

Man's voice Woman's voice

Air

A high soprano note Highest musical note Bat's cry (few can hear this) Highest audible note Hertz electrical waves Red light waves Ether

x-Ray Demonstrations

217

The existence of some medium in which these vibrations of extreme rapidity may take place must not be admitted. We call it ether. It is so tenuous that it can pervade all matter. It has no weight, and does not obey the ordinary laws of matter. We do not know what it is. Lord Salisbury (whose scientific knowledge is wide and thorough) recently defined it as the nominative case of the verb "to vibrate". This is not much, but it about sums up our knowledge of the nature of "ether". The extreme rapidity and consequently short path of the vibration of the x-rays is no doubt the explanation of their power to penetrate such substances as wood, books, clothes,flesh,etc. EXPERIMENTS

1. The tube was enclosed in a large wooden box so that all ordinary light was completely excluded. A fluorescent screen was placed outside the box. The current was then passed and the room darkened, when the screen shone out where the x-rays impinged upon it. This fluorescent screen consists of a piece of paper or cardboard thickly covered with an expensive chemical called Potassio-platinic-cyanide. It has the peculiar and important property of shining out when the x-rays fall upon it. 2. A large book - in this case Prowse's History - contained a fifty cent piece. The rays penetrated the book, and threw a shadow of the coin on the fluorescent screen. 3. A parcel was made up for the post, marked "photos only". On subjecting the parcel to the searching x-rays, the black shadow of a watch was distinctly seen. When this parcel was put inside a padded tea-cosy the shadow of the watch seemed as clear as before. 4. At the last demonstration a parcel had opportunely arrived by parcel post. It was a wooden box well wrapped in brown paper, and securely tied. It measured six inches cube. It was subjected, still tied up and sealed, to the x-ray. Immediately a black shadow, about three inches long, by half-an-inch wide, appeared on the screen. By turning the parcel round, the same enclosed parcel again appeared; but this time, though its length was still three inches, its width was two inches. These two experiments combined showed that the small enclosed parcel was metal (probably) - 3 inches by 2 by J/2 inch in dimensions. Its exact position was also known. It turned out that the packet contained thin plates of copper placed one on another. In a similar way, by looking at a limb from different points of view, a bullet can be accurately located.

218

APPENDIX THREE

5. A large card-board box about 18 inches by 12 by 6 was packed with clothing and towels. The x-rays threw on the screen, shadows of a large watch, a fifty-cent piece and some metal buttons. These objects seemed equally clear when a thick drawing-board was interposed between them and the source of x-rays. 6. A thick plate of glass, one of the articles in a box of weights, threw a shadow almost as dark as if it were metal. This interesting result indicates a simple method for distinguishing true jewels (diamonds and rubies) from paste (glass); for, while the x-rays pass through the genuine stones, they are stopped by the glass, and the shadow is produced, as in the above case. 7. All seemed interested in seeing the bones of their hands. Of course, it is only the shadows of the bones that are shown. The x-rays, though they can pass through flesh fairly easily, are stopped by bone. Hence shadows of various density appear on the screen. The thickest parts of the bones show a deep black shadow, the thinner parts as shadows seem less dense. Several visitors saw their bones through a drawing board, and others through a table-top. Ladies who kept their gloves on, saw their bones just as clearly as those who removed them. (Collegian, February 1897,26-9; March 1897,52-3)

A P P E N D I X FOUR

Cycling Notes

Reminiscences are peculiar to Christmastide. As this season of peace and mince pies hovers in nubibus, we poor frail mortals inevitably succumb to the reminiscental microbe in some form or another and the cacoethes scribendi seizes us in its relentless grip. Tonight my thoughts turn to cycledom, due doubtless to the fact that I have just barked my shins against the pedal of my trusty, and truth compels me to add, rusty bike that still adorns the hall of my suburban retreat. I can hardly remember the time when I didn't cycle. My earliest wobbles were made on a bicycle with wooden wheels and iron rims, commonly (and truthfully) called a "boneshaker." At the age of twelve I was promoted to a bike of the now extinct "ordinary" type - a high front and diminutive hind wheel. Shall I ever forget the first mishap I had with that machine! I lost control of it going down a long and winding hill. The brake refused to act and the pedals whizzed round like things possessed, so that I had to let my feet hang and stick to the bike like a porous plaster. I guess all the hens at large on that hill suffered from nervous prostration for some time after my meteoric descent. Just around one of the turns some Salvationists were holding a meeting in the road. I yelled, and the unanimous alacrity with which they gave me all the elbow room I wanted was worthy of praise. I didn't stop to thank them. I couldn't. On, on I went until I finally brought up in a hawthorn hedge with a jerk that temporarily knocked my spinal column out of plumb. I eventually reached home feeling like a disintegrated tubercle, and for twelve months afterwards I wouldn't have given ten cents for the best bicycle on the market. Many years have elapsed since the above episode and I am today as keen on cycling as ever. In a College such as ours it is essential that the physical as well as the mental and moral well-being of the pupils should be looked after. As one means of furthering this aim it was thought that the formation of a College Cycling Club would

22O

A P P E N D I X FOUR

have beneficial results. In the Spring of '99 a meeting was called, and the club formed, and it has been running successfully ever since. The Saturday afternoon runs have been well attended and have proved very enjoyable, notwithstanding the unsatisfactory state of our roads. No mishaps have occurred, if we except the inevitable puncture; stay though, I seem to remember that one of Miss Maxwell's girls in endeavouring to avoid a boulder on the Petty Harbour Road, cycled into a wayside ditch! As usual the Club wound up the season with an "At Home" in the College Hall on the i4th of last month. A hundred and thirty pupils were present and were entertained with a short Concert, a magic-lantern exhibition and various games. Refreshments were served during the evening by deft-handed Phyllisses and of these we - that is the sub-deputy-assistant "we" - partook more freely than is our wont. As a consequence our slumbers were rather intermittent and we cogitated at intervals during the stilly night on the decadence of our powers of assimilation. Time was when we could compare not unfavorably in that respect with the omnivorous ostrich, but tempora mutantur et nos in illos and the grey dawn found us silently but earnestly foreswearing future indulgence in ice-cream, walnut cake and other hors d'oeuvres all-! (Peter LeSueur, Collegian, December 1901,165,182-4)

APPENDIX FIVE

Marconi

Like all other people, no doubt our boys and girls have been interested in Mr. Marconi's experiments. It seems as if a longer stride than usual has been taken in the forward march of Science. So many students of Science are now, and have been for years, working on problems of transmission of impulses by means of ether waves that the latest advance raises feelings more of satisfied expectation than surprise. It is not fair to take the modest assertion of the young experimenter, that he "stumbled" on the discovery by accident, too literally. Before men can do such stumbling as this, they must be able to guide their steps pretty accurately along the paths already trod, albeit the footprints are but faintly impressed, by their immediate predecessors or contemporaries. The discovery of Rontgen was no accident, though often so described. Both these men, and hundreds of others, have been experimenting with the effect of discharges of exceedingly high-voltage electricity, and Mr. Marconi has, by successive transformation of electrical energy from higher to higher pressure succeeded in making his ether vibrations appreciable at a distance of 2000 miles. Most of us, probably, who followed the previous successful experiments, expected that some day, very long distances would be traversed - few, however, except perhaps the experimenter himself, were prepared for a jump from 200 to 2000 miles. The details of Mr. Marconi's transmission and receiving instruments, before the principal's appearance here, had been made fairly clear to us by his representatives Messrs. Bowden and Lockyer; and we have explained the apparatus roughly to our classes on more than one occasion. The various parts of the actual process are easily followed by anyone with an elementary knowledge of Electricity: but what actually occurs is almost as much a mystery to the advanced student as to the tiro - neither knows anything about it. On account of their great penetrating power amongst other reasons, it is thought that the ether waves are of great length - about 4 feet. These wave-lengths approach those of Sound in this particular, though of course the media are very different.

222

APPENDIX FIVE

It was supposed by some observers of Mr. Marconi's experiments that the object of his balloons was to reach such a height as would overcome the difficulty caused by the rotundity of the earth. It was a sufficiently natural supposition; but we see the incorrectness of it when we consider that between us and England a rise of about 70 miles has to be overcome. For a rough solution of this simple problem see another page. Mr. Marconi says that the only object of his balloons was to get greater length of vertical wire - a greater starting effort as it were. He thinks that the impulse traverses this hump of 70 miles high, and that it traverses it more easily because it has a thick covering, 3 or 4 miles thick, of a fairly good conductor of electricity - sea-water. It must not be supposed, however, that Mr. Marconi thinks that his discovery entitles him to a monopoly of explanations. He advances his facts boldly and his explanations hopefully; but his explanations are modestly advanced until he or someone else can replace them by better ones. It is strange how men's ideas change with the advance of knowledge. John Stuart Mill could not see that any medium was necessary to convey the sun's light to the earth, and he prophesied that men's minds would soon free themselves from this idea. Who will find it, and what will be the next advance? Now we can stop or divert any of the known vibratory impulses, what will happen when we can shield off the influences of gravity? And what do we know about this ether to which we ascribe such remarkable properties? Our knowledge may be summed up in Lord Salisbury's definition. "The ether is the subject of the verb to vibrate." That is about the sum of our knowledge. Personally we are greatly indebted to Mr. Marconi. Though exceedingly busy, he found time to call upon us, and we enjoyed the pleasure of his conversation for a short half-hour. We appreciate the honor the more highly because poor health and bad weather made it almost impossible to meet him in any other way. (Collegian, January 1902,11-13)

APPENDIX SIX

Radium

No discovery of recent years has caused such excitement amongst scientific men as that of Radium. When we were told that this substance perhaps for millions of years had been emitting particles without cessation or rest, and apparently without loss, we even began to consider whether our fundamental law of the conservation of energy would have to be modified. The fact, too, that Radium, even when combined chemically (as in the bromide), still showed the same properties as when uncombined, caused us to begin to review our conceptions of chemical reaction. Naturally we looked round to see what we could do for ourselves in experimenting. So we asked one of our senior boys - a mineralogist - to seek through our cabinets for any radioactive minerals. He found two specimens labelled Pitchblende, one labelled Uranite, and another mixed Oxide of Uranium. We enclosed a very rapid photographic plate in a light-tight box, and on the cover of this we placed these four specimens, thus: 1

2

3

4

Note that between these specimens and the plate was an opaque ebonite plate. We left this arrangement untouched for a night and a day, and then developed the plate. We found that numbers 2 and 3 had caused a dark patch on the plate, of the shape roughly of the specimen, while numbers i and 4 had produced no effect. Numbers 2 and 3 therefore contained Radium or some other radio-active element, while i and 4 had been wrongly labelled by the mineralogist from whom

224

APPENDIX THREE

we bought them. In fact No. i turned out to be a Diorite and No. 4 an ill-defined cooper ore. Now, what did this experiment mean? The lump of pitchblende, No. 3, we have had in our possession for nearly 10 years. During all this period, night and day it has been sending out rays, similar to x-rays, of inconceivable minuteness and at an inconceivable rapidity. And more, for thousands or millions of years previous to this, it has been emitting particles of its substance into space. We only yoked up its energy for a day and a night, but the emission of particles was going on just as actively (probably more so) when the Ark was building, and even when the Earth was without form and void. These amazing discoveries have even driven the scientific world to re-adopt Newton's corpuscular theory of Light, etc., after more than 100 years of universal belief in the wave theory. This wonderful constituent of pitchblende, etc., is being extracted almost feverishly wherever the ore occurs, but so little Radium is contained in a ton of pitchblende, and so expensive is the process that the present market cost is £180,000 per pound weight. From one ton of pitchblende only a grain and a half of Radium can be obtained. We have sent for a milligram of it, i.e., about one-sixty-seventh of a grain, and we hope to be able to show our senior pupils what marvellous things even this amount can do. When our Radium comes we shall return to the subject. Meanwhile it is interesting to know that our apparently inert lump of pitchblende is darting out active penetrating corpuscles at the rate of millions per second, and shows no sign of weariness. (Collegian, November, 1903,195-6)

APPENDIX SEVEN

Experiments with Radium

The small supply of Radium reached us shortly before Christmas. Though the cost was nearly £5 sterling, the quantity was almost infmitesimally small. Our outfit consisted of 3 items. First, a microscopic slide containing a small circular fluorescent screen, covered with sulphide of zinc. A small brass pointer dipped in a dilute solution of Nitrate of Radium pointed to the centre of the screen. In a dark room the fluorescence is quite distinct, though the actual amount of Radium on the pointer must be less than one-thousandth part of a grain. SECOND.-Crookes' Spinthariscope or Scintilla see-er. This consists of a small microscope tube having on one end a Coddington lens, and at the other a small flat ebonite case containing 3 milligrammes of Bromide of Radium,- say about one-twentieth of a grain. On looking through this a scene of marvellous activity is visible, minute glistening particles bombarding each other in all directions. The sight reminds one of the stars on a clear, moonless night; but instead of being at rest, they are darting about with apparently purposeless energy. THiRD.-The Applicator. This is a small flat ebonite box with a mica cover. Two different handles are adapted to this box of Radium, so that it may be applied conveniently to the cheek or places difficult of application, such as the nose and pharynx. The object of this last arrangement is therapeutic - curative - to cure lupus and possibly cancer. Up to the present, however, we have kept to the use of the x-rays. This last gift of our Chairman earned for the Ladies College Aid nearly nine dollars. We understand that an anonymous donor has presented one of the London hospitals with^zve grains of Radium at a cost of £500 stg. (Collegian, January 1904,6-7)

APPENDIX EIGHT

Correspondence, Herbert Bond, with Rhodes Scholarship Selecting Committee

April 5th, 1905 The Rhodes' Scholarship Selecting Committee Dear Sirs, In addition to the Headmaster's Certificate as to my character and scholastic and athletic attainments already furnished, I would beg to make the following statement. The person upon whom the duty of writing this certificate would naturally have devolved, has only lately been removed by death from our midst. I refer of course, to the late Prof. R.E. Holloway, who would have been particularly well able to give you the facts with regard to the above items, inasmuch as while being for 6 years my Headmaster, he was also good enough for the last three years, to take me as a boarder into his family, a kindness on his part altogether unprecedented. In addition, during the last three years I was his Laboratory Assistant, both in his work as Government Analyst, and in what he did outside for private parties. In fact, during his many absences from the country during these years, owing to his ill health, he did me the honour of leaving me in sole charge of both these branches of his work. I mention these facts that you may appreciate my misfortune in thus losing through force of circumstances, the recommendation of a man so universally esteemed and respected, and with whom I was favored enough to come so intimately in contact. I am, Sirs, Yours respectfully, Herbert Bond

APPENDIX N I N E

Scholarships 1904-59

METHODIST COLLEGE AND PRINCE OF WALES COLLEGE

RHODES SCHOLARS

Hubert Bond John B. Mitchell Pierson F. Curtis George H. Hayward Walter Forbes Malcolm Hollett W.G. Guy Elmo Ashbourne J.T. Harrington Cecil Reynolds

1904 1907 1911 1912 1914 1915 1919 1920 1926 1927

Roy Clark Kelvin Marshall Allan G. Gillingham Gordon S. Cowan Robert Wells James Gushue Donald McNeil Sidney Noel Davis Earle

1928 1929 1930 1932 1953 1956 1957 1958 1959

JUBILEE SCHOLARS

R.A. Squires William Boyle Albert Hatcher Hope Scott Gwendolyn Mews Eleanor Mews William Guy Gertrude Gittleson Louise Whiteway J. Cecil Reynolds Jean A. Horwood

1898 1900 1904 1905 1911 1913 1916 1918 1919 1922 1924

Ethel King Margery Frost Ruby Case G. Boyd King Rosemary Blount Frederick G. Chafe Donald Janes William Lebans Ronald Norman Helmut Hesse Louise Dawe

1927 1929 1939 1942 1943 1946 1952 1954 1957 1958 1959

228

APPENDIX NINE PRINCE OF WALES COLLEGE

Gladys Cook Chester LeGrow Marion Brown Gordon Pushie Gertrude Butler Donald Butler William Brown A. Wilansky Joan Bursey Ruby Case Jean Diamond Robert Hatcher G. Boyd King Rosemary Blount Betty Scott

1930 i93i 1932

1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

DUX SCHOLARS

Carl Moores Frederick G. Chafe Wallace Rendell Ralph Green David Woods Eve Parsons Wilson Boyles Donald Janes Margaret Fogwell William Lebans Elizabeth Tulk Arthur Parkinson Ronald Norman Helmut Hesse Louise Dawe

1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

(Information from Collegian, centenary edition, 1962-63)

NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1 Collegian (February 1902): 29. 2 "Newfoundland," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 94 (July-December 1873); American edition 77: 53-73. 3 The Newfoundlander, 12 June 1874,4. 4 Royal Gazette, 12 June 1874. A column by John Delaney reported weather conditions for the day and the previous week. 5 George Milligan and Stephen Rendell were both members of the board of directors of the Wesleyan Academy. CHAPTER ONE

1 1851 Census, HO 107/2118, Public Records Office. 2 The curriculum of the Glasgow Normal Seminary, which later became a model for the Wesleyan Training College in Westminster, included courses in Theory and Practice of School Management, Religious Knowledge, English Grammar and English Literature, English History, Political Economy, and the Political and Commercial Geography of the British Empire. 3 Wesleyan Committee on Education, loth Annual Report, 1848, appendix 6. The augmentation for a master was £15 to £30 per annum, the salary to be determined by ability. William Holloway's examination was conducted by H.M.I. Gibson. 4 Pritchard, The Story ofWoodhouse Grove School, 154. 5 Colon Parish Registers, entry 239, Public Records Office, Surrey. The marriage certificate also states that William's father, Robert (occupation, soldier) and Mary's father, Thomas (occupation, clerk) were both deceased at the time. 6 Russell, Rex C., A History of Schools and Education in Barton-on-Humber, part i, 1800 to 1850, cites data from the marriage registers for Barton that reveal that

230

7

8

9

10

11 12 13 14

15 16 17 ,18

19 20 21

22 23

N O T E S TO P A G E S 8-12

in the decade of 1840-1849 nearly 44 per cent of brides were illiterate and 23 per cent of grooms. The charity school was supported by both Nonconformists and the Church of England, and Pittman became, after three years as a master, a lay preacher in the Barton Wesleyan Methodist circuit. See Phillip McCann and Francis A. Young, Samuel Wilderspin and the Infant School Movement, for a comprehensive biography of Wilderspin and his influence on infant education. Russell, in History of Schools, suggests that school funding was always a problem, but more would have been available if people with money had really favoured the idea of education for working-class children. The 1851 Census provides interesting data on the Holloway family. It may be that the Holloways initially had accommodation in the vestry of the chapel, near the school. Wesleyan Methodist Register of Baptisms, 1837-1855. Archive reference MethB/Barton on Humber 1/1, John Rylands University Library, Manchester. Stamford Mercury, i November 1850. Ibid., 21 February 1851. Feildian (August-September 1899): 136. Blackall, principal of Bishop Feild College in St John's, attended Holloway's lecture on mineralogy at the Teachers' Convention. He commented on how Holloway was able to make his subject appear simple so that even those who knew little of natural science could follow with interest. Methodist Education Committee, Annual Report, 1852, Inspector's Report. Methodist Education Committee, Reports and Minutes, 1853. Quoted in Barton-on-Humber in the 18505, part 4: "Cradle to the Grave," 38. Wesleyan Methodist Register of Baptisms, 1837-1855. Archive reference MethB/ Barton-on-Humber 1/1. Seat rents book, MethC/Barton-on-Humber/i5/2. The first mention of the Holloways is in 1851, the last in 1854. They sat in seats that were "below," i.e., not in the gallery. Cited in EC. Pritchard, The Story of Westminster College, 1851-1951,41. The 1851 Census provides details of the Holloway family and families who lived near them on Holydyke Lane. Barton-on-Humber in the 18505, part 4, reports that the new Wesleyan Chapel was opened in 1861 and the Wesleyan schools moved to new premises in Maltby Lane in 1867. Inscription copied from Bible preserved by family. William P. Holloway is listed in the London Directory, Guildhall Libraries, as headmaster of the Model School at the Wesleyan Training College (later known as Westminster College) from 1854 to 1870.

NOTES TO PAGES 12-16

231

24 Pritchard provides a comprehensive chronicle of the history of the Wesleyan Training College in The Story of Westminster College, 1851-1951. 25 Pritchard, 10, quotes from an early address by the principal, the Rev. John Scott, in which he describes the population as "as prostrate through ignorance and vicious habits as any in London, or perhaps in the civilized world." 26 See Peter Ackroyd's Dickens for a graphic description of London in Dickens's time, especially pp. 380-1 and 390-1. 27 Pritchard, 19. 28 Ackroyd,38o. 29 Pritchard, 8> 17. 30 Report, Wesleyan Education Committee, Methodist Conference, 1843, cited in Pritchard, 6. 31 Report of the General Education Committee of the Committee of Council, with reference to financing of the project, cited by Pritchard, 13. 32 Ibid., 15. 33 See Pritchard, chapters 3 and 5, for details on faculty of the Wesleyan Training College. 34 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, vol. 3,1801-1900 (U.K.). Report, HMI Inspector, Matthew Arnold, cited in Pritchard, 33. 35 Pritchard, 38-9. 36 Collegian (March 1897): 54. 37 Ibid. 38 Ibid. 39 Matthew Arnold, quoted in Pritchard, 33. 40 "Grit lessons" would also be a feature of teacher-training programs in late nineteenth-century Newfoundland. 41 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, vol. 3,1801-1900 (U.K.). Report of HMI D.J. Morell (473-7). Morell commented on model lessons given by second-year students, which included recitation, analysis, and exposition of selected poems, showing "ample evidence of the care which the authorities of the institution have devoted to the training of their students." 42 See Pritchard, 15,60, for description of the building and the training program. 43 The friend was A.J.W. McNeily, a brilliant lawyer who later accompanied Holloway on nature walks and would compose the inscription on his monument. 44 Details on these staff members are to be found mainly in Pritchard, 22-8. 45 Thomas Jeffery Parker, William Kitchen Parker, FRS, 100,114, recalls in this biography of his father Dr Parker's friendship with James Smetham. 46 Parker, William Kitchen Parker, 28-9. 47 See Collegian (January 1896): 14-15, where Holloway suggests that students look for wildflowers, and offers to name those that they find. Dr Parker's influence is evident in his sons' careers in adult life as professors of biology,

232

48 49

50 51 52

53

54

55 56

57 58

59

60 61 62 63

NOTES TO P A G E S16-1 8

Thomas at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and William at the University of Cardiff in Wales. Parker, William Kitchen Parker, 23-4,29-30. Collegian (May 1898): 62. Holloway's memory was recorded more than thirty years later. The organisms were Foraminifera. They live mostly in ocean bottoms from shallow to great depths (Foraminiferan ooze) that cover about one-third of the ocean floors of the world. These, later, become sedimentary (fossiliferous) rock. The adjectives come from Thomas Jeffery's description of his father on p. no of the biography. Parker, William Kitchen Parker, 125. Ibid., 42-4. T.J. Parker, William Kitchen Parker, 3,4-6. Dr Parker collaborated with Dr T. Rupert Jones from 1857 to 1872 on a long series of papers on the Foraminifera. Of great importance, and also relevance to the observations of the two boys, Robert and Thomas, was the paper on the Foraminifera of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1865. Cyril Bibby, Scientist Extraordinary: The Life and Scientific Work of Thomas Henry Huxley, 1825-1895, is an excellent biographical reference as well as a source of information on the Parker family, Dr Parker, and his sons, Thomas Jeffery and William, who are listed as Huxley's contemporaries and friends. This was a practice that Holloway would continue as he offered courses to his advanced students at the Methodist College, designed to prepare them for university degrees and career destinations. Annual Report, Wesleyan Committee on Education, 1865, appendix 11. Many years later, Holloway's own students would write the London Matriculation examinations, and St John's would become a colonial centre for these examinations. University of London Register, 1901. Pritchard, in Westminster College, 79, writes that in 1870 students at Westminster started thinking about taking examinations other than those for the Teacher's Certificate. Even in the mid-i88os, it was rare for students to enter college with matriculation and study while there for the Intermediate Arts examination. The election of the first London School Board in November 1870 and the passage of the Elementary Education Act earlier in the year were milestones in education reform. T. Jeffery Parker, "Professor Huxley: From the Point of View of a Disciple," National Science (March 1896): 161. University of London Register, 1901. Northampton Mercury, 27 May 1865. J.D. Nichol, The First 100 Years: A History of Northampton High School, 5-8. Courtesy of the Northampton County Council Archives.

N O T E S TO P A G E S 19-26

233

64 Information on and photographs of the George Hotel courtesy of the Northampton Records Office. 65 Collegian (November 1902): 216. 66 Matthew Arnold, Inspector's Report, 1866, cited in Pritchard, Westminster College. 67 Joseph Bowstead, Inspector's Report, 1871, cited in Pritchard, Westminster College. 68 In the 1871 Census, George Edwards and a nephew, George Spencer, are listed as living with Mary Holloway and her family at Battersea. 69 Nichol, The First 100 Years, 6. 70 This information, as well as much of what follows on the history of the school, is revealed in the text of an address by Frederick Schreiner, at an Old Boys dinner held at the Holborn Restaurant in London on 8 January 1891. The address is included in the Eastbourne Local History Society Newsletter, no. 36 (June 1980): 6-8. 71 See Bibby, Scientist Extraordinary: The Life and Scientific Work of Thomas Henry Huxley. 72 Ibid., 78-9. 73 Again, it may have been more than coincidence that Robert Holloway would travel back to England in 1880 for a summer of further study at South Kensington, in preparation for the Intermediate in Science, London University, and that Thomas Jeffery Parker's younger brother, William, was the demonstrator in biology for this session. 74 T. Jeffery Parker, "Professor Huxley: From the Point of View of a Disciple," 161-7. 75 Dorothy M. Turner, The History of Science Teaching in England, 81. 76 Parker, "Professor Huxley: From the Point of View of a Disciple," 162. 77 The emphasis on sports continued in future years and included intercollegiate competitions. 78 Eastbourne Local History Society Newsletter, no. 36,6-10. 79 D.M. Turner, History of Science Teaching in England, 104-5. 80 Eastbourne History Society Newsletter, no. 36, reports that in 1879 there were, in addition to the headmaster, two vice-masters, a chaplain, a mathematical and classical lecturer, and professors of music, drawing, and painting. There is no mention of a science laboratory. 81 Watchman and Wesleyan Advertiser, 11 February 1874. CHAPTER TWO

1 Collegian (June 1899): i. After twenty-five years, Holloway may be forgiven for this lapse of memory. His date of arrival was 12 June 1874. 2 The cablegram had been sent following a meeting of the board of directors of the academy on 30 March 1874, in which they had reviewed the applications

234

3

4

5 6 7

8 9

10 11

12 13

14

N O T E S TO P A G E S 26-31

and testimonials of several applicants and decided to offer the position to Robert Holloway. Minutes of the Proceedings of the Board of Directors, Wesleyan Academy, 2 May 1874. The Newfoundland currency had changed from pounds sterling to dollars in 1863. In 1874 the pound was equivalent to $4.8667, so that the salary of two hundred pounds would be approximately $972, and at the beginning of his fourth year would be about $1,335. J.W. Nichols, A Century of Methodism. William Henry is described by his colleague, John Nichols, as a "typical Irish gentleman, highly educated, a most brilliant lecturer and earnest Christian." Minutes, Board of Directors, Wesleyan Academy, 28 January 1874. Ibid. Louise Whiteway, "More about the Centennial Story," Collegian (1962-63): 132-68. The residence was the forerunner of the college "Home" of later years, a residence for boarding pupils, with a minister and his wife acting as guardians. The former principal had requested in 1873 that the board install water in the residence. The Wesleyan day school was built on land granted originally to the Wesleyans of St John's for a burial ground but found unsuitable for the purpose. The Wesleyans in Newfoundland in 1857 numbered over 20,000. They argued that, like the Roman Catholics (numbering 56,895), the Church of England (44,285) and the minor Protestant churches (only 1,229), the Wesleyans should be entitled to a grant for the erection and operation of their own academy. A grant of £600 allowed the Wesleyans to appoint a board of directors and begin to procure staff. Collegian (January 1900): i. Holloway reminisces about the Peters family. Also see article in the Free Press for 6 September 1904. See chapter 7 of Marion Scott Peters's "A Goodly Heritage: A History of the Peters Family." The sons were John Edgar (almost ten), Alfred Mayne (nine), Joseph (three). The baby girl, Kate Norris, had been born in February. Journal of the House of Assembly, 1845, quoted in W.B. Hamilton, Canadian Education: A History, 138. Report of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council upon Education, 14 February 1873,7> CNS, MUN. Extracts from twenty-three items of correspondence and some discussion of the results make up the remainder of the report. Although denominational education seemed to be a solution to the problems of the day, it was opposed by many Methodists, and Holloway would later express his displeasure with the system. In the very first issue of the Collegian (December 1895, p. i) Holloway praises the standardized examinations of the Council of Higher Education, of which he was a member, and suggests that the

NOTES TO PAGES 31-5

15 16

17 18 19 20 21

22 23

24

25

235

examinations were "in many ways minimizing the evils natural to a system of Denominational Education." James Dove, "The Methodist Church in Newfoundland," in D.W. Prowse, A History of Newfoundland, 38-48. See George M. Story's George Street United Church, 1973: One Hundred Years of Service for "an historical and descriptive essay" on the occasion of the centennial of the church. Phillip McCann, "Culture, State Formation and the Invention of Tradition: Newfoundland, 1832-1855," 86. McCann, "Education, Culture and Social Structure in Newfoundland, 1832-1855," 19. The Church of England Academy would become the Church of England College in 1892 and would be renamed Bishop Feild College in 1894. The Roman Catholic Academy became known as St Bonaventure's College when the new building opened in 1859. In 1878 the directors of the Church of England Academy began to manage the Synod school as a female department. After the fire of 1892 the school moved into the rebuilt Synod building and became known as Bishop Spencer College. St Bride's Academy at Littledale would be recognized as the Roman Catholic College for women in 1917 and share in the government grant to colleges. The Wesleyan Academy became the Methodist Academy in 1874 and the Methodist College in 1886. The building was renamed Holloway School in 1929. Dorothy Mabel Turner, in History of Science Education in England, cites the recommendations of the Schools Inquiry Commission advocating the development of high schools. From 1870 onwards, this movement was driven by the growing recognition of the importance of girls' education. Holloway was to be a major proponent of female education, expressing his views in later years in many issues of the school magazine, the Collegian. Official Report, H M I Matthew Arnold, cited in Pritchard, Westminster College, 33SUMMER

INTERLUDE I

1 The school magazine, the Collegian (founded in 1895 and for many years written and edited by Holloway) refers many times to Holloway's encouragement of this hobby and his offers to help identify spring wildflowers. 2 J. Hatton and M. Harvey, Newfoundland, 132. In the 1874 census the total population was 23,890, of which 15,719 were Roman Catholics, 4,658 Church of England, 2,360 Wesleyan Methodists, 715 Presbyterians, and 437 Congregationalists.

236

N O T E S TO P A G E S 36-46

3 Ibid., 131. 4 Paul O'Neill, A Seaport Legacy: The Story of St. John's, Newfoundland, vol. 2, 832-3. Market House Hill was an extension of Church Hill, near the present Court House steps. 5 O' Neill, The Oldest City: The Story of St. John's, Newfoundland, vol. i, 58. 6 Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 114 (July-September 1893): 53-74. 7 Ibid.: 70. 8 William Epps Cormack (1796-1868) made his first expedition on foot through the interior of the island in 1822 and another in 1827. His account of his travels was first published in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal (October-April 1823-24). Cormack's map, with details of the rocks he passed, was the basis for the first geological map of Newfoundland, drawn by Jukes, the official geologist, in 1840. 9 Holloway, Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 19. 10 Ibid., 4. 11 G.M. Story, W.J. Kirwin, and J.D.A. Widdowson, in their 1982 Dictionary of Newfoundland English, 220, discuss various spellings and origins of this Newfoundland plant name. Holloway refers to the colloquial name for Kalmia glauca in his article, "Newfoundland Plant Life, Part I," Newfoundland Magazine (August 1900): 120. 12 In his article, "Plant Life, Part I," 117-22, Holloway gives the location of many of the wild plants in the neighbourhood of St John's, obviously trying to kindle the interest of his readers in one of his favourite hobbies. 13 Years later Holloway would remark that the correspondence received in 1874 from the Rev. George Milligan was the initial step in his "becoming a Newfoundlander."

CHAPTER THREE

1 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended June 1876,626. 2 H. Norman Burt, "Our Approaching Centenary'' Collegian (1959): 64-84,71. 3 Minutes of the Proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Wesleyan Academy, i August 1867. 4 Collegian (June 1898): 82. 5 Collegian (May 1899): 56. 6 Dorothy Mabel Turner, History of Science Teaching in England, 77-82. 7 For statistical comparisons and analysis of this period, see Phillip McCann, Schooling in a Fishing Society: Education and Economic Conditions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1836-1986, especially Part 2C, "Secondary Education: The Colleges."

NOTES TO PAGES 46-56

237

8 The residence for staff and boarding students was the forerunner of the college Home of the future, first with the principal and later with a Methodist minister and his wife as guardians. 9 It was not until 1878 that a scripture reading was added to the opening ceremonies. 10 McCann's data in Schooling in a Fishing Society (part 2C, 154) indicate that the greater proportion of the pupils in the Protestant academies (usually more than half) were in the ten to fourteen and ten to fifteen age range. The overfifteens averaged approximately 25 per cent of the enrolment in the denominational academies, and 15-20 per cent in the General Protestant Academy. 11 Arthur Mews, "Reminiscences of the Wesleyan Academy in the Late 18705," Collegian (Easter Term 1931): 9-15. 12 Government of Newfoundland, joint report by Inspectors William Pilot and George Milligan, 31 December 1875. 13 In 1876 the Royal Readers series was adopted to ensure a more uniform curriculum in the elementary schools. 14 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 30 June 1876. 15 Minutes of the Proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Methodist Academy, 12 January 1876. See also Louise Whiteway's notes on the history of the Methodist College, 1971. 16 R.E. Holloway reminisces in the Collegian (February 1902): 32. See also appendix i, outlining the course of studies in 1875-76. 17 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 30 June 1877,327. 18 Collegian (February 1902): 33. 19 Ibid. 20 Minutes of the Proceedings of the Board of Directors, 15 January 1878. 21 Holloway's handwritten reply, dated 22 January, was attached to the minutes of the 15 January meeting. 22 See reminiscences of former pupils appearing from time to time in the pages of the Collegian, the school magazine that Holloway began in 1895 and largely wrote and edited. 23 Morning Chronicle, 22 January 1878. 24 Collegian (December 1896): 98. 25 The cornerstone of the Athenaeum Hall was laid by Chief Justice Sir Hugh Hoyles in 1875 on the site of the present Newfoundland Museum on Duckworth Street. 26 Morning Chronicle, 17 January 1878. 27 Morning Chronicle, 3 April 1878. 28 See Louise Whiteway, "The Athenaeum Movement: St. John's Athenaeum (1861-1898)," 534-49, and Bert Riggs, "The Heart of the Town," Evening Telegram, 4 November 1997,11.

238

NOTES TO P A G E S 57-67

29 See Jean Edwards Stacey, Historic Homes of Newfoundland, for photographs and excellent descriptions of some of the homes and historic buildings of this period. 30 Minutes of the Proceedings of the Board of Directors, 10 May 1978. 31 Henrietta Palfrey's mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of John Bray of St John's. Her father, Richard Palfrey, was originally from Teignmouth, Devon. Henrietta was born on 18 June 1859. 32 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended June 1879. 33 Mews, "Reminiscences," 12-13. 34 Collegian (December 1896): 98. 35 Collegian (May 1902): 106. 36 Royal Gazette, 4 March 1879. 37 Ibid. 38 See Fred G. Adams, Fred Adams' St. John's, for photograph and description of Billy Fitzsimmonds. 39 Morning Chronicle, 4 March 1879. 40 Royal Gazette, 4 March 1879. 41 Evening Telegram, 21 January 1881. 42 Mews, "Reminiscences," 10-15. 43 See H.V. Mott, "Alexander J.W. McNeilyf in Newfoundland Men: A Collection of Biographical Sketches, 1894, and Daily News, "Robert E. Holloway: An Appreciation," 6 September 1904. 44 See Collegian, October 1898, January 1899, and May 1901. 45 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended June 1880,16. CHAPTER

FOUR

1 Collegian (June 1899): 69. 2 In the 1881 London Census, Herbert Knight is listed as boarder, undergraduate London University (Public Records Office, London, FHL Film 1341/47, PRO Ref. RGII, piece 0638, folio 98, p. 28). 3 Minutes, Board of Directors, Methodist College, 27 December 1880. 4 Paul O'Neill, A Seaport Legacy, 487. This railway station would serve the travelling public until 1903, when it would be replaced by the classic Victorian building at Riverhead. 5 Ibid., 513. 6 George M. Story, George Street Church, 1873-1973,39. 7 O'Neill, The Oldest City, 253. 8 Louise Whiteway, "The Athenaeum Movement: St. John's Athenaeum (18611898)," 534-49-

N O T E S TO P A G E S 67-75

239

9 See Eric G. White, "Methodist College Literary Institute," Book of Newfoundland, vol. 2,108. 10 Collegian (April 1902): 84. 11 Calisthenics involved rhythmic physical exercises leading to grace of movement. 12 Minutes, Board of Directors, 7 January 1885. 13 St. John's West Baptism Records, 1882-1903, PANL: box 2,37. 14 Cluny Macpherson, Foreword, 1962-63, Collegian. Dr Macpherson was, as mentioned, in his boyhood a friend of Willie's and later a pupil of Holloway's, as well as a companion on his summer vacations, "photographing, fishing, sailing." For many years he was a member of the board of governors and the executive of the college board. 15 Minutes, Board of Directors, Methodist College, 25 August 1885. 16 Ibid., 30 October 1885. 17 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended June 1886. 18 Ibid. 19 James Dove, "The Methodist Church in Newfoundland," supplement to Prowse's History of Newfoundland, 45. 20 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended June 1886,20. 21 Ibid. 22 Louise Whiteway, "More about the Centennial Story," 136. 23 Ibid.: 135-6. 24 Canadian Education: A History, edited by Wilson, Stamp, and Audet, provides a context within which to place information on the growth of specific institutions in the nineteenth century. 25 See Phillip McCann, "The Politics of Denominational Education in the Nineteenth Century in Newfoundland," 43-59. 26 Ibid., 60-79. 27 Ibid., 60. 28 Herbert Bond wrote in a letter to the Rhodes Scholarship Committee (appendix 8) that he had acted in Holloway's place as a "government analyst," mainly for the mining industry, during periods when Holloway was ill. Holloway had trained him to do the work. 29 See R.A. Jarrell and N.R. Ball, Science, Technology and Canadian History, and also T.H. Levere and R.A. Jarrell, eds., A Curious Field Book: Science and Society in Canadian History, for invaluable resources on science in the Atlantic provinces and Upper and Lower Canada. 30 See Anne Wood, "Thomas McCullough's Use of Science in Promoting a Liberal Education," 62. 31 Ibid., 73.

24O

N O T E S TO P A G E S 75-85

32 In Wilson, Stamp, and Audet, eds., Canadian Education: A History, 314-36. 33 Boyle had won the Jubilee Scholarship in 1900, his graduation year from the Methodist College. 34 Edwin Pratt was to remember Holloway as gifted, thorough, and "one of the most remarkable teachers I have ever known." 35 Minutes, Board of Governors, 5 September 1887.

CHAPTER FIVE

1 Collegian (April 1899): 42. 2 Baker, Melvin, "The Appointment of a Permanent Medical Health Officer for St. John's, 1905." 3 M.R. Ridley, ed., The Life and Death of King John, in The New Temple Shakespeare, 62. 4 Minutes, Board of Governors, 18 March 1889 and 9 June 1889. 5 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 30 June 1889. 6 "A Year's Experience of Diphtheria," letter from Professor Holloway, Evening Telegram, 20 May 1889. 7 "Letter from Dr. Tait," Evening Telegram, 20 May 1889. 8 "The Real Condition of Things," letter from Dr Macpherson, Evening Telegram, 22 May 1889. 9 Slattery to Brother Luke Holland, assistant to the superior general of the Christian Brothers in Dublin, 24 June 1889. Cited in Darcy, "The Diphtheria Epidemic of 1889-91 and the Christian Brothers," 34. 10 See Darcy, ibid., 34-9. 11 David G. Pitt, Windows of Agates: The Life and Times of Gower Street Church, St. John's, Newfoundland, 1815-1990,108.

CHAPTER SIX

1 2 3 4 5

Louise Whiteway, "More about the Centennial Story," 142. Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 30 June 1890,12. Ibid. Ibid. The pipe organ had been the gift of Charles R. Ayre, acknowledged in the minutes of the board of directors, 5 February 1889. 6 Whiteway, "More about the Centennial Story," 142. 7 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1891,11. 8 See, for example, Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 30 June 1887,18.

N O T E S TO P A G E S 85-92

241

9 Collegian (February 1899): 13-14. 10 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1891,6-7. 11 This increase in teachers' salaries according to grade is reminiscent of the augmentation received by Holloway's father, William, when he was awarded a "Certificate of Merit" in 1848 after completing his training at the Glasgow Normal Seminary, under the direction of the Wesleyan Committee of Education. The augmentation for a Master ranged from £15 to £30 per annum, to be determined by ability (Minutes, Wesleyan Education Committee, loth Annual Report, 1848). 12 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1889,913 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1891,11. 14 Louise Whiteway, personal communication. Her father, Solomon Whiteway, was a colleague of Robert Holloway. 15 See Collegian (January 1896): 14-15. 16 Ibid.: 15. 17 Collegian (February-March 1896): 26. 18 Collegian (January 1899): 91. 19 Report, Methodist Schools, 1892,3. 20 Royal Gazette, 13 July 1892. 21 Ibid. 22 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1892,17. 23 Olive Vater, companion to Elsie Holloway, personal communication. 24 See Collegian (May 1901): 72-6. 25 Cluny Macpherson, "The 1892 St. John's Fire." 26 Royal Gazette, 13 July 1892. 27 There are a number of excellent descriptions of the Great Fire, and statistics vary, but the main events are graphically described in each and present a valuable composite picture drawn from the perceptions of various eye-witnesses. See, for example, Evening Herald, 10 September 1892, cited in Prowse, History of Newfoundland, 522-8. Also, the account in the Morning Despatch, 10 July 1892, as well as the well-quoted "The Great Fire in St. John's, Nfld., July 8,1892" by the Rev. Moses Harvey, 211-25. Harvey's account was published in the United States to bring attention to the plight of the inhabitants of St John's and the need for outside help. 28 See Harvey's description of the fire. 29 Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 2. 30 Jack Keilly, an eyewitness to the fire, gave these figures in a taped interview on CBC in 1960. An article by W.J. Kent, in A Directory of St. Johns, 1896, "A Description of the Burning of St. John's, Newfoundland, July 8th, 1892" includes a directory of the shopkeepers who lost their premises. 31 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended June 1892,3.

242

32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

41 42 43 44 45

46

NOTES TO P A G E S 92-1 1 1

Ibid., 17. Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1893,nIbid. Ibid. Minutes of Meetings of Council of Higher Education, 30 June 1893 to 31 January 1895. Ibid., 11 October 1894. Supplement to the Royal Gazette. St John's, Newfoundland, Tuesday, 25 November 1895. Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1893,11. Norman Hurt's historical review, "The Story of the Wesleyan Academy," presents an excellent summary of the newspaper accounts of the rebuilding of the college after the fire, and the reports of the committees involved. See David G. Pitt, Windows of Agate, for insights into the effects of the bank crash. Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1897,3. See Melvin Baker, "The St. John's Fire of July 8,1892: The Politics of Rebuilding, 1892-1893," 25-30. Paul O'Neill, The Oldest City, 254. See Garfield Fizzard, Above All Price: The Story of the United Church College Residence, St. John's, Newfoundland, for interesting details on the Methodist College buildings at various stages of construction. Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1894.

SUMMER

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

INTERLUDE II

Holloway, Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 8. Ibid. Personal communication, Elsie Holloway to Olive Vater. The Plover, one of Bowring's first coastal steamers, was in operation at intervals between 1877 and 1887. Collegian (May 1896): 56. George Whitely, "The Story of Mary Ann Vane," 29-30. Ibid. Holloway, Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 8. Ibid. Ibid., 17. "St. Paul's Inlet," Collegian (December 1901): 213-15. Ibid., 215. Collegian (December 1901).

N O T E S TO P A G E S 1 1 3 - 1 9

243

CHAPTER SEVEN

1 Collegian (February-March 1896): 26. The chapter title is taken from Oliver Goldsmith's description of the village schoolmaster in The Deserted Village, A Poem, published in 1770: "And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, / That one small head could carry all he knew." 2 Collegian (December 1895): i. 3 See Collegian (December 1896): 98, in which Holloway reminisces on his lectures at the Athenaeum in the late 18705. See also reports in the Morning Chronicle, 4 March 1879, copied from the Royal Gazette. 4 Frederick R. Smith, "The Early History and Formation of Holloway School." 5 Collegian (Easter Term 1931): 25. This reminiscence of an anonymous "old boy" was included in this issue of the magazine, under the title "The Old M.C." 6 Ibid. 7 Cluny Macpherson, then in Junior Grade, recalled "the very uncomfortable years" in the Centenary Hall building, and the experience of entering the "luxurious classrooms of the new brick college" for his senior year, and later for Associate and London Matriculation. See Foreword to the Collegian of 1962-63. 8 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1892,18. 9 Roger Peattie, "The Residence: Its Architect, Builder and Architecture," 25-8 and Garfield Fizzard, Above All Price. 10 Within a few years Holloway's advanced students would be setting up laboratories for the elementary science classes, and later students would be hired as demonstrators in science. 11 He made a. faux pas by saying the colours were red and black, and then offered the excuse that dark blue was really quite close to black! See Collegian (December 1895): 12; (January 1896): 15. 12 Collegian (December 1895): i. The Methodists had not favoured separate schools, especially in the outports, where they felt that jointly operated schools would solve the problem of providing good schools in isolated areas. 13 Ibid. 13. 14 Collegian (January 1896): 22. 15 Collegian (December 1901): 164. See appendix 2 for selection of news of "Old Pupils" reported by Holloway. 16 See Collegian (May 1896) for reference to lantern slides shown at Distribution Day, 31 May 1896. 17 Collegian (May 1896): 48. 18 Feildian (August-September 1899): 136. Blackall, principal of Bishop Feild College, after attending Holloway's lecture to the Newfoundland Teachers' Association in 1899, would comment: "It was wonderful how simple he was

244

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

31 32

33

34 35 36 37 38 39

40 41

N O T E S TO P A G E S 1 19-25

able to make his subject appear, and even those who knew least of natural science were able to follow the lecturer with interest." Collegian (January 1896): 16. Ibid. Collegian (May 1896): 48. Collegian (May 1898): 64. Collegian (January 1896): 14. Collegian (May 1898): 64. Ibid.: 65. Collegian (June 1898): 82. In the Mineralogy examination, students were required to identify, after handling and observing, ninety specimens of ores and rocks. In the case of the metallic ores, pupils named the ores and mentioned the chief metal and chief non-metal present in each. Collegian (December 1898): 141. Ibid.: 140-1. In the May 1896 issue of the Collegian, he explained that by "phenological," he meant any observations pertaining to natural history, and especially the times of flowering and fruiting of plants, and the times of coming of birds. Wild geese often came on March i/th, and this year it was on March loth. Collegian (April 1897): 55-60. Collegian (March 1899): 28. In the Collegian of May 1900, little more than a year later, Holloway would be reporting the sad news of Mr Waghorne's death. His more recent work had been cataloguing the sphagnum mosses, hypaticae, and lichens. Collegian (January 1896): 15. The federal entomological service had begun in 1884 with the appointment of James Fletcher as Dominion entomologist. Fletcher had been an assistant in the Parliament library and had spent his spare time in the study of insects and plants. Collegian (November 1896): 87. Collegian (February-March 1896): 26. Collegian (March 1897): 46. Collegian (November 1899): 115-16. The magic lantern for projecting the slides was the gift of Charles Ayre, and the light used was a mixed oxy-hydrogen jet. Personal communication, Kathleen Knowling, Charles Ayre's great-granddaughter. This information was passed down to Mrs Knowling through her family. Collegian (November 1900): 103; (January 1901): 24. See Collegian (February 1899): 18. Six of Holloway's photographs were used in the 14 January 1899 edition of the London Illustrated News, 40-1, in the context of an article on the Newfoundland French Shore.

NOTES TO P A G E S 1 26-4O

42 43 44 45 46 47

245

Collegian (June-July 1896): 60. Collegian (May 1896): 56. Collegian (April 1896): 38. Collegian (June 1900): 95. Arthur Mews,"Reminiscences," Collegian (Easter Term 1931): 10-15. Andrew Mar veil, "To His Coy Mistress."

SUMMER

INTERLUDE

III

1 See Collegian (December 1899): 131-54. 2 Ibid.: 138. 3 "Brewis" is a dish made from sea biscuit or hard tack soaked in water and then boiled, chopped in small pieces and usually served with fish. 4 Collegian (December 1899): 145. 5 Ibid.: 147. 6 Ibid.: 149. CHAPTER

EIGHT

1 Collegian (April 1896): 40. 2 These periodicals are referred to from time to time in the pages of the Collegian. 3 Collegian (December 1895): 12. 4 Richard F. Moulds A History of X-rays and Radium, published in 1980, is an interesting, readable history of the first forty years after the discovery of X-rays. It contains many early "radiographs" and details of early medical investigations and treatment techniques. 5 Collegian (April 1896): 41. 6 Ibid.: 40. 7 See Collegian (February 1897): 25-6, for Holloway's notes on precautions needed when setting up and handling the apparatus. Like all experimenters of this early period, however, he was unaware of the dangers inherent in x-rays and radioactive materials. 8 Ibid.: 25. 9 See appendix 3 for full text of lecture and demonstrations. 10 Collegian (September-October 1902): 160. 11 Collegian (February 1897): 41. 12 Georgina Stirling, daughter of Dr William Stirling of Twillingate, was a famous opera singer who made her debut at LaScala in Milan. She was in St John's in 1896-97 and performed at St Andrews, the Methodist College Hall, and Gower Street Church.

246

NOTES TO P A G E S 1 4O-7

13 Howley's words are quoted a century later in an article by Bob Benson, "A Grand Old Time" Evening Telegram, 27 April 1997. The description of the Victoria Jubilee and Cabot celebrations summarizes accounts in the Evening Telegram and Daily News in the period between 22 June and 27 June 1897. 14 Thomas F. Nemee, "Newfoundland Postage Stamps: The Cabot Issue," in John M. Walsh and John C. Butt, Newfoundland Specialized Stamp Catalogue, x. 15 Collegian (January 1898): 8. Holloway refers to Harvey's Newfoundland in 1897. 16 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1898. 17 Collegian (February 1898): 16. 18 Collegian (June 1898): 79-80. The "exhibition" would consist of drill, athletics, and singing. 19 See Louise Whiteway's pamphlet" The History of the Newfoundland Teachers' Association," published on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the association. 20 Ibid. See also Daily News, 5 July 1898. 21 The favourable comments on this lecture and a lecture to the NTA in 1899 on mineralogy would come, as mentioned before, from W.W. Blackall, headmaster of Bishop Feild College (Feildian of August-September, 1899:156), and from Solomon P. Whiteway, a master at the Methodist College (personal communication, Louise Whiteway). 22 Collegian (September 1898): 90. 23 Ibid. 24 Collegian (September-October 1897). Holloway's editorial in French appears on pages 124-5, and William Simpsons translation on pages 136-7. 25 Collegian (December 1898): 143. 26 Collegian (March 1900): 42. 27 Collegian (February 1899): 17. 28 Ibid. 29 Collegian (June 1899): 70. 30 Collegian (September-October 1899): 96. 31 Ibid.: 93-4. 32 Collegian (December 1899): 129. 33 Collegian (November 1899): 70.

SUMMER

INTERLUDE IV

1 Holloway, Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 16. 2 A tickle is a narrow strait of salt water between islands or other land masses, sometimes difficult to navigate because of its width or closeness to the shore. 3 Holloway, "A Visit to Snook's Arm," 227. 4 Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 6.

NOTES TO PAGES 148-57

247

5 Ibid., 17. 6 "A Visit to Snook's Arm," 231. 7 The menu can be loosely translated as "pate of whale-heart, sausages from the Red Sea, potatoes found by chance, chops, rare and not fresh, and barnacles for the first time." 8 "A Visit to Snook's Arm," 231. 9 Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 20. 10 Ibid., 19. 11 Ibid. CHAPTER

NINE

1 Collegian (January 1900): 10. 2 John W. Nichols was later to become director of drawing for Newfoundland outport schools of all denominations. 3 For an amusing account by Peter LeSueur of a Cycling Club reunion, see appendix 4. (Collegian of December 1901:182-4). 4 See Tom Sandland's Something about Bicycling in Newfoundland for an interesting account of the history of bicycling in Newfoundland. The debate about the wearing of bloomers went on for a considerable time in the Daily News in the summer of 1895. 5 Ibid., 34-56 Ibid., 39. 7 Collegian (May 1900): 77-8. 8 For a detailed comparative study of science in the three colleges, see Ruby L. Gough, "An Historical Study of Science Education in Newfoundland," chapter 5. For statistical comparisons during this period, see Phillip McCann, Schooling in a Fishing Society. 9 Phillip McCann, Schooling in a Fishing Society. See part 2C for academic data as well as other information in tabular form on teaching staff, finances and enrolment. 10 For example, T.J. Cavanagh, a St Bonaventure student later to practise dentistry in the city, attended Holloway's classes, as did a number of students from other St John's schools. 11 Robert Gear Macdonald, a pupil of the Methodist College, began a career with McMurdo's Pharmacy in 1889 and rose to become a director and joint manager of the firm. 12 Hermon Green had studied advanced chemistry and had worked at first at Sydney Mines. Before taking a position with the Wabana Mines, Bell Island, he returned to the college for two weeks to brush up on the necessary techniques and procedures.

248

NOTES TO P A G E S

157-63

13 Louise Whiteway, "More about the Centennial Story" Collegian (1962-63): 132-58. 14 Collegian (November 1900): 170. 15 Collegian (January 1900): i. J.E.P. Peters was a member of the board of directors of the college from 1890. This issue also brought news of Dr Charles Peters, educated in England and at McGill and later living in Africa. 16 Interesting details of the Peters family can be found in chapter 7 of "A Goodly Heritage: A History of the Peters Family," by Marion Peters Scott. 17 Collegian (May 1901): 74-5. 18 Collegian (December 1900; January 1901). 19 Collegian (February 1898): 17. 20 Collegian (March 1901): 34. They found (i) that it was a sulphate, and (2) that it contained magnesium: therefore it consisted largely of sulphate of magnesium (Epsom Salts). Its origin was probably from the action of sulphur dioxide from the town fires on the salts of magnesium contained in the sea-sand used in the making of the mortar for the buildings. 21 There is a parallel between the course of Holloway's illness and the life of Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson's battle with tuberculosis was also characterized by alternating periods of illness and feverish activity. He kept on writing even when close to death. See Margaret Mackay, The Violent Friend: The Story of Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson. 22 Collegian (December 1907): 204. 23 In 1901, for example, the two Outport Scholarships would be won by Albert Hatcher, a pupil of Mr LeDrew in Twillingate, and by Sarah Hiscock, a pupil of Mr Clarke in Grand Bank. Both teachers had been pupil teachers at the college. Albert Hatcher would one day be a Jubilee Scholar and later a mathematics professor and the president of Memorial University College in St John's. 24 Collegian (February 1899): 17. 25 See The White Plague in Newfoundland: Medical and Social Issues 0.1900 to 1970 and Beyond, compiled by J.K. Crellin (St John's: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Faculty of Medicine, 1990). 26 Collegian (February 1901): 19. 27 Ibid.: 19. 28 See issues of the Daily News and Evening Telegram, St John's, 17-25 October for complete coverage of the city's preparation for and conduct of the royal visit. 29 Evening Telegram, 24 October 1901. 30 The Anglo Telegraph Company's exercise of their monopoly resulted in a change of Marconi's plans to establish immediately a wireless station in Newfoundland. Instead, the station was set up in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. The government of Sir Cavendish Boyle, as well as the business community, supported and praised his work, and local newspapers expressed the outrage

N O T E S TO P A G E S 1 63-7O

31

32

33 34 35

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

48

249

of the citizens at Marconi's treatment by the Anglo Telegraph Company. It was not until three years later, when the Anglo's monopoly expired, that wireless stations were finally established at Cape Race, Newfoundland, and Battle Harbour and Venison Tickle in Labrador. (See accounts in the Daily News and Evening Telegram, 4-20 December 1901, and good descriptions of the sequence of events during Marconi's visit in Paul O'Neill, The Oldest City, 199-203, and Michael McCarthy, Frank Galgay, and Jack O'Keefe, The Voice of Generations, 111-27.) Feildian (March 1901): 89. Mr Blackall, headmaster of Bishop Feild College, published a copy of an invitation to his students to be present at the demonstration of wireless telegraphy at the Colonial Building. E.J. Pratt, "Memories of Newfoundland," Books of Newfoundland, vol. 2,56-7. Pratt's reminiscences of these events do not agree with Holloway's account in the Collegian. This is understandable, given the passing of so many years. Pratt remembered seeing Marconi at the Colonial Building and hearing about the success of his experiments the next day. It is possible that he saw Marconi when he came to call on Holloway at the school, and confused this visit with seeing him at the House of Assembly. Collegian (January 1902): 11-13. See also Holloway's comments on Marconi's work, reproduced in appendix 5. Pratt, "Memories of Newfoundland," 5 6. David G. Pitt, "Methodism and EJ. Pratt: A Study of the Methodist Background of a Canadian Poet and Its Influence on His Life and Work," in Charles Scobie and John Grant, eds., The Contribution of Methodism in Atlantic Canada, 223. Pratt, "Memories of Newfoundland," 56. Collegian (December 1902): 212. Complete details appear in The Times (London), 14 July 1901. Collegian (December 1902): 212-13. London Times, 11 August 1901. Collegian (December 1902): 212. Collegian (February 1902): 28. Holloway reminisces about their friendship in the first issue of the Collegian after Milligan's death. Ibid., 30-2. Collegian (September-October 1902): 143. Ibid.: 154-5Collegian (September-October 1901): 114-15. The author remembers well this expression of Dr Hatcher, and now attributes it to Holloway's conviction of the potential of science learning for transfer to other curriculum areas. Collegian (May 1902): 102.

250

N O T E S TO P A G E S 1 7O-9

49 Minutes, Board of Governors, Methodist College, 22 October 1902. 50 Collegian (November 1902): 186.

SUMMER INTERLUDE V

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Collegian (January 1900): 10. Ibid. Personal communication, Elsie Holloway to Olive Vater. Personal communication, Dr Cluny Macpherson and Elsie Holloway to Louise Whiteway. See, for example, a description of the opening assembly, in which the editor of the Methodist Monthly Greeting (November 1888) was gratified to see Holloway looking so well, and was, "in fact, surprised, to see that the summer holidays had done him so much good." See Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 19-20. Ibid., 20. See Collegian (December 1901; April 1902), for description of the summer in Labrador. Ibid. Collegian (April 1902): 79. Ibid.: 80. Collegian (December 1901): 166. Ibid. Ibid. CHAPTER TEN

1 Holloway, Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 24. 2 Collegian (December 1902): 211. 3 Holloway had for many years taught all the matriculation class, all the associates, and all the intermediate boys, with some of the girls. 4 Collegian (September-October 1903): 154-5. 5 Collegian (April 1903): 81-2. 6 Collegian (May 1903): 108-9. 7 Ibid. 8 Collegian (April 1903): 79. 9 Ibid.: 81. 10 Collegian (June 1903): 153. 11 Louise Burchell would later assist Mr LeSueur on the staff of the college, and Emma Adrain would give a recital in the college hall.

N O T E S TO P A G E S 1 8O-8

251

12 This roll may have been preserved in the Harrington School Vault or the Avalon East School archives. 13 See appendices 2 and 3 for a selection of the "Old Pupils' Page" section of early twentieth century issues of the Collegian. 14 Among the people Holloway met in Carbonear were Mrs Duff (Miss L. Penney), Mrs Black (Miss Boyd), Mr Peach, Lizzie Taylor, and others. See Collegian (November 1903): 194-5. 15 Collegian (September-October 1903): 155-6. 16 Ibid.: 156. 17 Collegian (May 1903): i. See also Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1904,16. The meeting of Dr Parkin with the Council of Higher Education took place in May 1904 and set regulations for the award of the Rhodes Scholarship. 18 The Rev. Charles Lench was a Methodist clergyman who served in a number of circuits in Newfoundland Outports as well as St John's. He was to make a contribution in later life as a historian of Methodism in Newfoundland. 19 Collegian (May 1903): 106. 20 Holloway's "annual scientific lectures" were often reviewed in the daily papers. See, for example, Evening Herald, 30 March 1899, and Evening Herald, 22 March 1900. The 1899 lecture was praised not only for "its own value, but also because of the kindly and pains-taking manner in which it was delivered." 21 TheMCLi originally was the Wesleyan Academy Literary Institute, established in 1867. See Arthur Fox, "M.C.L.I.: One of North America's Oldest Debating Clubs," Book of Newfoundland, vol. 5,400-3. 22 See J.C. Crellin, comp., The White Plague in Newfoundland. 23 Collegian (September-October 1902): 160. 24 Holloway followed the careers of both Boyle and Bond with interest (see epilogue). Boyle, the son of a Carbonear doctor, had come to the college at fourteen and in 1900 had placed highest in the London Matriculation and associate examinations, winning the Jubilee scholarship of $600. His marks came too late for entrance to McGill, and he stayed on at the college where Holloway tutored him in advanced courses to prepare him for the engineering course he planned to take. He was demonstrator in the laboratory that year and also involved in helping to exhaust the Crookes' tubes and perfect the x-ray apparatus. 25 Evening Telegram, 19 January 1946, 8. In an interview for the ''Woman of the Week" column, Elsie remembered this case and credited her father with teaching her brother and herself photography and starting them on their life's work. She also remembered the smalmess of the apparatus, which would be destroyed in the fire that gutted the school in 1925. 26 See Collegian (November 1903): 190-1, as well as details of the radium experiments copied in appendix 6 from the same source, 192-5.

252

27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

NOTES TO PAGES

188-95

Minutes Conference of the Methodist Church of Newfoundland, 1902,85. Collegian (November 1903): 19. Ibid., 6-7, and appendix 8. Collegian (January 1904): 5. Ibid.: 7. Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 30 June 1904,16. See appendices 8 and 9. Holloway, Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 16-23. Ibid., 24. Free Press, 6 September 1904,5. Ibid. Collegian (September-October 1904): 139. Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 31 December 1904,19. "R.E. Holloway, B.A."Adelphian (Michaelmas 1904). Newfoundland Methodist Monthly Greeting (October 1904). See, for example, Evening Telegram, Daily News, and Evening Herald, issues of 5 September 1904. See "At Rest," Daily News, 7 September 1904, and "Last Sad Rites," Evening Telegram, 6 September 1904. "Robert E. Hollowayf Free Press, 6 September 1904,5. EPILOGUE

1 It became known later that the "anonymous donor" of this scholarship was Richard Anderson Squires, first winner of the Jubilee Scholarship, afterwards a barrister and solicitor and later prime minister of Newfoundland. 2 See "The Athletics," Collegian (September-October 1904): 146-7. 3 S.T. Harrington, letter to the Rhodes Scholarship Committee, 31 March 1905. 4 Herbert Bond, letter to the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee, 5 April 1905. See Appendix 8. 5 See David A. Keys, "Robert William Boyle: 1883-1955," Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada, 1955, 63-7. See also "Carbonear Boy Gets High Honour," Daily News, 27 September 1929. 6 Collegian (March 1907): 59. 7 Minutes of the Proceedings of the College Executive Board, 14 September 1904. 8 Minutes, Executive Board, 5 October 1904 and 10 December 1905. The idea that "some public effort should be made to perpetuate the name of the gentle R.E. Holloway" had been suggested by Mr J. Syme in a letter to the editor of the Evening Herald, on September 5th, the day after Holloway's death. 9 Minutes, Executive Board, 3 July 1905. 10 Ibid.

N O T E S TO P A G E S 1 95-2O2

253

11 The house bears a plaque placed by the Newfoundland Historic Trust that reads: "Elsie Holloway, Photographer, 1882-1971." 12 See Antonia McGrath, "Elsie Holloway, Newfoundland." 13 Minutes, Executive Board, 7 October 1908. See also Collegian (SeptemberOctober 1908): 159. 14 These words, engraved on his monument, are an adaptation of Dr Johnson's epitaph to Oliver Goldsmith. 15 See Collegian (November 1904): 170; (December 1904): 188. 16 Louise Whiteway, "More about the Centennial Story," 145. 17 See appendix 9 for list of Rhodes Scholars, Jubilee Scholars, and Dux Medal winners, 1901-1959. 18 See Louise Whiteway's "More about the Centennial Story," 132-60, for a comprehensive account of the history of the Methodist College during this period and up to the 1960 centenary. 19 Collegian (September-October 1908): 157, refers to a portrait of Louise Burchell in the Montreal Standard, under the heading "Distinction for a Colonial." She was the first "colonial girl" to obtain a Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford University. 20 Report, Methodist Schools, year ended 30 June 1881. Herbert Knight was the first to earn this distinction for the Methodist Academy, Bertha Dove the second. 21 See Bert Riggs, "What's All the Fuss about Ethel Dickenson?" Newfoundland Gazette, 6 July 1995. 22 Minute Book of General Committee, Women's Patriotic Association, ME 635, box i, file 2. Mrs Ayre and Mrs Holloway spent two days a week sorting and preparing the moss for export. 23 Margot Duley, Where Once Our Mothers Stood We Stand: Women's Suffrage in Newfoundland, 1890-1925,122. 24 Newfoundland Quarterly 16, no. i: 8. 25 Cluny Macpherson was to rise to the rank of lieutenant-colonel before the end of the war. He was also the inventor in 1915 of a type of anti-gas helmet, which he demonstrated in France and other theatres of war. 26 "Lieut. Holloway, R.P., St John's - Mentioned in Despatches," Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL) MG 9. 27 "Newfoundland Regiment at Monchy, April 14," 16. 28 "Summary of Events and Information, Monchy-le-Preux, 14/4/17," PANL MG 9. 29 See "Woman of the Week" interview with Elsie Holloway, Evening Telegram, Saturday, 9 January 1946,8. 30 "A Precious Record of Pre-Confederation Newfoundland," Atlantic Insight (April 1980): 92.

254

N O T E S TO P A G E S 2O2-8

31 John M. Walsh and John G. Butt, Newfoundland Specialized Stamp Catalogue, xiii. See also p. 16. 32 Ibid., 24. 33 Marilyn Duffett, "Holloway School: Silent after 34 Years," Newfoundland TV Topics, 22 November 1980,8-11. 34 See Frederick R. Smith, "The Early History and Formation of Holloway School," typescript, May 1978, for background and a concise historical account of major events 1860 to 1929. 35 Carman Paine, son of Rev. Paine, was referred to earlier as one of the three "Ps" - Paine, Pratt, and Pincock - all parson's sons, who had done so well in the associate examinations in 1903. 36 Daily News, 28 September 1926,2. 37 Alex J.W. McNeily, "Robert E. Holloway: An Appreciation," Daily News, 6 September 1905.

B IBLIOGRAPHY

ARCHIVES (UNITED KINGDOM)

Barton Workers' Educational Association, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire. For a series of locally produced booklets by Rex C. Russell and others on Wesleyan day schools and other schools and public buildings in Barton-on-Humber. City of Westminister Archives Centre, 10 St Ann's Street, London s w IP z x R. For information on Westminister Training College. Eastbourne Library, Grove Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN2i 47 L, and Eastbourne Local History Society. For information on New College, Eastbourne. Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, College Archives, Sheffield Building, London sw? 2AZ. For information on Huxley's laboratory and on Holloway's educational record at the University of London. John Rylands University Library, Manchester. For Methodist records, including inspectors' reports and annual reports of the Wesleyan Committee on Education. Jordanhill Library, University of Strathclyde, 76 South Free Drive, Glasgow 0731?P. For information on William Holloway's training at the Free Church Training College, Glasgow, Scotland.

256

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Northamptonshire County Council Education and Libraries, Central Library, Abington, Northampton, NNI 2BA, and Northampton Record Office, Woofton Hall and Park, Northampton, NN4 8BQ. For information on Clevedon College and the George Hotel, Northampton. Public Records Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey, TWp 4DU. Also the London and Post Office and Commercial London Directories For information on the Holloway and Parker families. University of London Library, Senate House, Malet St, London, we I E /H u For educational information on Robert E. Holloway, George T. Holloway, and T.J. Parker, through the University of London General Register.

ARCHIVES

(NEWFOUNDLAND)

Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Queen Elizabeth n Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), St John's, Aic 557. For access to Government of Newfoundland, Department of Education, Inspectors' Reports for Methodist Schools, 1876-1904; Reports of Committees on Education; House of Commons Parliamentary Reports (U.K.), with copies of inspectors' reports of Wesleyan Schools in this period in the United Kingdom; college magazines in St John's, such as the Adelphian, Feildian, and Collegian; rare magazines such as Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and other archival materials, such as rare books, e.g., early history by Toque, Prowse, Hatton and Harvey, as well as materials now out of print or hard to get. These included F.R. Smith's "The Early History of Holloway School" (typescript, May 1878); H.V. Mott's Newfoundland Men: A Collection of Biographical Sketches (Concord, NH: Cragg, 1984); R.E. Holloway's Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 1905 and 1910 editions; J.W. Nichols's A Century of Methodism (St John's: Dicks & Co., 1915); and old copies of the Newfoundland Teachers'Association (NTA) bulletins. Newfoundland and Labrador Conference Archives United Church of Canada, 320 Elizabeth Avenue, St John's. For the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Board of Directors, Wesleyan Academy, 1858-1886; Minutes of the Proceedings of the Board of Governors, Methodist College, 1886-1929; The Methodist Monthly Greeting. Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, Colonial Building, St John's. For catalogued direction to the Still and Moving Images Collection of photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador, highlighting the Holloway collection.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

257

For access to military records, such as the record of Lieut. Robert Palfrey Holloway of the Newfoundland Regiment, World War 11; rare books, such as R.E. Holloway's Through Newfoundland with the Camera; Minutes, Meetings of the Council of Higher Education; Minutes, Women's Patriotic Association General Committee; records of births, deaths, and marriages. Sports Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, Colonial Building, St John's. For access to catalogued information on photographs of sports events related to the Methodist College. George Street United Church Archives. For information on the Holloway family and others connected with the story. Gower Street United Church Archives. For information on births, deaths, and marriages. ARCHIVAL MATERIALS

Bond, Herbert. Letter to Rhodes Scholarship Committee. Newfoundland and Labrador Conference Archives, United Church of Canada, St John's, N L. "Frederick Samuel Schreiner and New College." Eastbourne Local History Society Newsletter, no. 36 (June 1980), Eastbourne, U.K. Government of Newfoundland, Department of Education. Inspectors Report, William Pilot and George Milligan, 1875. Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University, St John's, NL. Report, Methodist Schools, 1876-1904. Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University, St John's, NL. Report of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council upon Education, 1873. Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University, St John's, NL. Harrington, S.T. Letter to Rhodes Scholarship Committee. Newfoundland and Labrador Conference Archives, United Church of Canada, St John's, NL. House of Commons (U.K.). Parliamentary Papers, vol. 3 (1801-1900). Inspectors reports by Matthew Arnold, Joseph Bonstead, and D.J. Morrell. John Rylands University Library, Manchester, U.K. "Lieutenant Holloway, R.P., St John's, Mentioned in Dispatches." PANL MG9. Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, St John's, NL. Methodist College Board of Governors. Minutes of the Proceedings, 1886-1929. Nichol, J.D. The First 100 Years: A History of Northampton High School. Northampton County Council Archives, Abington, Northampton, U.K. Russell, Rex C. Barton-on-Humber in the 18505. Barton Branch Workers' Educational Association, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, U.K., 1984.

258

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A History of Schools and Education in Barton-on-Humber, 1800 to 1850. Bartonon-Humber Branch Workers' Educational Association, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, U.K., n.d. A History of Schools and Education in Lindsay, Lincolnshire, 1800-1902: Methodism and the Provision of Day Schools. Lindsay County Council Education Committee, 1967. St John's West Baptism Records, 1882-1905. PANL box 2,37. George Street Methodist Church Archives, St John's, NL. Seat Rents Book. Archive reference 15/2. Methodist Church/Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, U.K. "Summary of Events and Information, Monchy Le-Preux, 14/4/17." PANL MG9, Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, St John's, NL. Wesleyan Academy Board of Directors. Minutes of the Proceedings, 1856-86. Newfoundland and Labrador Conference Archives, United Church of Canada, St John's, NL. Wesleyan Committee on Education, U.K. Annual Report, 1865. John Rylands University Library, Manchester, U.K. Women's Patriotic Association General Committee, Minutes. ME635, box i, file 2. NEWSPAPERS

London Times (U.K.), July 1901, August 1901. St John's Daily News, October-December 1901, September 1904, September 1905, September 1926, April 1997. St John's Evening Herald, September 1892, March 1899, March 1900. St John's Evening Telegram, January 1881, May 1889, September 1892, June 1897, October 1901, December 1901, September 1914, January 1946, and April 199 November 1997. St John's Free Press, September 1904. St John's Morning Chronicle, January 1878, April 1878. St John's Morning Dispatch, July 1892. St John's Royal Gazette, March 1879, July 1892. Stamford Mercury (Stamford, Lincolnshire, U.K.), November 1850. Watchman and Wesleyan Advertiser (London, U.K.), February 1874. BOOKS AND A R T I C L E S

Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens. London: Sinclair-Stephenson 1990. Adams, Fred G. Fred Adams'St John's. St John's: Creative Publishers 1986. Baker, Melvin. "The Appointment of a Permanent Medical Health Officer fo St John's, 1905." Newfoundland Quarterly 14, no. 5 (December 1983).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

259

"The St John's Fire of July 8, 1892: The Politics of Rebuilding, 1892-1893." Newfoundland Quarterly 79, no. 3 (1984): 25-30. Bibby, Cyril. Scientist Extraordinary: The Life and Scientific Work of Thomas Henry Huxley, 1825-1895. Oxford: Pergamon Press 1972. Burt, H.N. "The Story of the Wesleyan Academy and the Methodist College, 18861900." Collegian (1960): 65-83. Cuff, H.R. "The History of the Newfoundland Teachers' Association." St John's: Creative Publishers 1985. Darcy, J.B. "The Diphtheria Epidemic of 1889-91 and the Christian Brothers." Newfoundland Quarterly (Summer/Fall 1996): 34-9. Dormandy, Thomas. The White Death: A History of Tuberculosis. London: Hambledon Press 1999. Dove, James. "The Methodist Church in Newfoundland." Supplement to D.W. Prowse, A History of Newfoundland, 38-48. DufFett, Marilyn. "Holloway School Silent after 34 Years." Newfoundland T v Topics (November 1980): 38-48. Duley, Margot. Where Once Our Mothers Stood We Stand: Women's Suffrage in Newfoundland, 1890-1925. Charlottetown: Gynergy Books 1993. Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador. Vol. 2. St John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers 1984. Fizzard, Garfield, ed. Above All Price: The Story of the United Church College Residence, St John's, Newfoundland. St John's: UCCR Reunion Committee 2002. Fox, Arthur. "M.C.L.I.: One of North America's Oldest Debating Clubs." Books of Newfoundland, edited by J.R. Smallwood. Vol. 5. St John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers 1937. Gough, Ruby L. "An Historical Study of Science Education in Newfoundland." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University 1972. Hamilton, W.B. Canadian Education: A History. Scarborough, Ont.: Prentice Hall 1971. Harvey, Moses. The Great Fire in St John's, Newfoundland, July 8, 1892. Boston: Rockwell & Churchill 1892. Hatton, J., and M. Harvey. Newfoundland.Boston: Doyle and Whittle 1883. Holloway, Robert E. Newfoundland Plant Life, Part I. Newfoundland Magazine (August 1900): 117-22. Through Newfoundland with the Camera. St John's: Dicks and Co. 1905. Through Newfoundland with the Camera. 2nd ed. London: Sach & Co. 1910. "A Visit to Snook's Arm." Newfoundland Magazine 2, no. 5 (November 1900): 227-33Huxley, Leonard. Life and Times of Thomas Henry Huxley. Vol. i. London: Macmillan 1903.

260

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jarrell, R.A., and N.R. Ball. Science, Technology and Canadian History. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfred Laurier University Press 1964. Kent, W. J. A. "Description of the Burning of St John's, Newfoundland, July 8,1896." In A Directory of St John's, 1896. Levere, T.H., and R.A. Jarrell, eds. A Curious Field Book: Science and Society in Canadian History. Toronto: Oxford University Press 1974. Mackay, Margaret. The Violent Friend: The Story of Mrs Robert Louis Stevenson. New York: Doubleday 1968. Macpherson, Cluny. "The 1892 St John's Fire." In Voice of the Pioneer. Toronto: Macmillan 1978. McCann, Phillip. "Culture, State, Formation and the Invention of Tradition: Newfoundland, 1832-1855." Journal of Canadian Studies 23, nos. i and 2 (1988). "Culture and Society in St John's, 1832-1855." Unpublished typescript in possession of W.P. McCann. "The Politics of Denominational Education in the Nineteenth Century in Newfoundland." In Denominational Education in a Secular Age, edited by William A. McKim. St John's: Breakwater Books 1988. Schooling in a Fishing Society: Education and Economic Conditions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1836-1986. St John's: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Institute of Social and Economic Research 1984. McCann, Phillip, and Francis A. Young. Samuel Witherspin and the Infant School Movement. London and Canberra: Croon Helm 1982. McCarthy, M., Frank Galgay, and Jack O'Keefe. The Voice of Generations. St John's: Robinson-Blackmore 1994. McGrath, Antonia. "Elsie Holloway, Newfoundland." Canadian Women's Studies 2, no. 3,1980. McNeily, Alex J. W. "Robert E. Holloway: An Appreciation." St Johns Daily News, 6 September 1905. Mott, H.V. Newfoundland Men: A Collection of Biographical Sketches. Concord, NH:Craggi984. Mould, Richard F. A History ofx-Rays and Radium. Sutton, U.K.: PC Building and Contract Journals, 1980. Murphy, Anthony P. "Robert Edwards Holloway." In Dictionary of Canadian Biography.Vol. 8:1900-1910. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994,477-8. Prominent Figures from Our Record Past: Robert E. Holloway. Newfoundland Quarterly 84, no. i (July 1988): 17-18. Murray, Nicholas. A Life of Matthew Arnold. London: Hodder and Stoughton 1996. "Newfoundland Regiment at Monchy, April 14." Newfoundland Quarterly 17 (Summer 1917): 16. Nichols, J.W. A Century of Methodism. St John's: Dicks & Co. 1915.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

26l

O'Neill, Paul. The Oldest City. Vol i of The Story of St Johns, Newfoundland. Erin, Ont: Perceptic Press 1975. A Seaport Legacy. Vol 2 of The Story of St Johns, Newfoundland. Erin, Ont.: Perceptic Press 1975. Parker, Thomas Jeffery. "Professor Huxley: From the Point of View of a Disciple." Natural Science (March 1896): 161-7. William Kitchen Parker, FRS: A Biographical Sketch. London and New York: Macmillan and Co. 1893. Peattie, Roger. "The Residence: Its Architect, Builder and Architecture." In Above All Price: The Story of the United Church College Residence, St John's, Newfoundland, edited by Garfield Fizzard. St John's: UCCR Reunion Committee 2002. Pitt, David G. "Methodism and E. J. Pratt: A Study of the Methodist Background of a Canadian Poet and Its Influence on His Life and Work." In The Contribution of Methodism in Atlantic Canada, edited by Charles Scobie and John Grant. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press 1992. Windows of Agates: The Life and Times of Gower Street Church, St John's, Newfoundland, 1815-1990. St John's: Jesperson Press 1990. Pratt, E.J. "Memories of Newfoundland." In Books of Newfoundland, vol. 2, edited by J.R. Smallwood. St John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers 1937. Pritchard, F.C. The Story of Westminister College, 1851-1951. London: Epworth Press

1951- The Story ofWoodhouse Grove School. Leeds: W.S. Maney & Son 1978. Prowse, D.W. A History of Newfoundland. London: Macmillan 1895. Ridley, M.R., ed. The New Temple Shakespeare. London: J.H. Dent & Sons 1935. Riggs, Bert. "What's All the Fuss about Ethel Dickenson?" St John's Gazette, 6 July 1995Sandland, Tom. Something about Bicycling in Newfoundland. St John's: Dicks & Co. 1983. Scobie, Charles, and John Grant, eds. The Contribution of Methodism in Atlantic Canada. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1992. Scott, Marion Peters. "A Goodly Heritage: A History of the Peters Family." Unpublished family documents. Smallwood, J.R., ed. Books of Newfoundland. 6 vols. St John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers 1937. Smith, Frederick R. "The Early History and Formation of Holloway School." Typescript, 1978. MUN Centre for Newfoundland Studies, St John's. Stacey, Jean Edwards. Historic Homes of Newfoundland. St John's: DRC Publishing 1998. Story, George M. George Street United Church, 1873-1973: One Hundred Years of Service. St John's, 1973.

262

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Story, G.M., W.J. Kirwin, and J.D.A. Widdowson. Dictionary of Newfoundland English. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1982. Toque, Philip. Newfoundland: As It Was and As It Is in 1871. Toronto: John B. Magun 1878. Turner, D.M. History of Science Teaching in England. London: Chapman and Hall 1927. Waghorne, A.G. "The Flora of Newfoundland, Labrador and St Pierre at Miquelon." Paper read before Nova Scotia Institute of Science, April 1893. Walsh, John M., and John G. Butt. Newfoundland Specialized Stamp Collection. 4th ed. St John's: n.p. 1998. White, Eric G. "Methodist College Literary Institute." In Books of Newfoundland, vol. 2, edited by J.R. Smallwood. St John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers 1937. Whitely, George. "The Story of Mary Ann Vane." Newfoundland Quarterly (March 1959): 29-30. Whiteway, Louise. "More about the Centennial Story." Collegian (1962-63): 132-60. "The Athenaeum Movement." Dalhousie Review 56, no. 4 (Winter 1970-71). Wilson, J.D., R.M. Stamp, and L.P. Audek, eds. Canadian Education: A History. Scarborough, Ont: Prentice Hall 1970. Wood, Anne. "Thomas McCullough's Use of Science in Promoting a Liberal Education." Acadiensis 17, no. i (1987): 62-73.

IN

Academia (cultural society), 67 Acadia University, 72 Adelphian, 191 Adrain, Emma, 179,2501111 Alert, 88,133 Alison, Edith, 155 Anglo Telegraph Company, 163, 248-9n30 Archibald, Hermon, 167,179,180 Argo, SS, 128-34, 148, !49> 151 Arichat Seminary, 72 Arnold, Matthew, 57; as educational reformer, 11,14,17,34; school visits, 14; on Westminster program, 13-14 Arnold, Thomas, 14 art program: drawing, watercolours, 84,144; exhibition, still-life from nature, 143; integration with French, 144. See also Nichols, John W.; Therouin, L.J.; Varley, Mr Ash, Emma, 121 Association for the Prevention of Consumption, 186 astronomy, 87,113,123-4,207 Athenaeum, 33,54,67 Athenaeum Hall: architecture, 55-6, 56; cornerstone, site, 237^5; course of lectures, 55; in Great Fire, 90,113; plans for, 33,55

DEX

athletics: cricket, 155,156,186,189,193; cycling, 154-5,156,247*14; football, 119,146,186,187,189,193; hockey, 155,162; physical exercise and drill, 71,84,154 Atkinson, Herbert, 159,167 Avalon Peninsula, 176 Ayre, Charles R., as board member, 27, 30; George Street Church, 32, 68; gift of pipe organ, 71; as MCLI member, 67,186; as member of Select Committee, 73; visit to George Whitely, 102-4 Ayre, Charles P., 155, 205 Ayre, Mrs Charles P., 155,199, 253n22 Ayre, Chesley, 179 Ayre, Mrs F.W., 179 Ayre, James, 122,180 Ayre, Jessie, 179 Ayre, John Bray, 32,84 Ayre, Mary Hannah, 32 bank crash, 98 Barnes, Arthur, 194 Bartlett, Robert E., 135. See also Bjorling and Calistenius Barton-on-Humber, contrast between rich and poor, 7-8; growing Methodist population, 7; need for

264

INDEX

schools, teachers, 8-10. See also National and Infant School; Wesleyan Chapel; Wesleyan Day School; Wilderspin, Samuel Battle Harbour, 168,173 Bay of Islands, m Beaver Cove, 131-2 Benevolent Irish Society, 56,115 berry-picking, 40 "billy tea," 40,130 Birkett, John, 122,144 Bishop, R.K., 206 Bishop Feild College, 91,95,116,141, 154,23oni4 Bishop Girls' School, 33 Bishop Spencer College, 235n2i Bjorling and Calistenius, 135-6 Black Marsh Road, 41,135 Blackall, William, 95,118,141,146, 2491131 Blackwood, James, 187 Blandfbrd, Captain, 102 Blatch, Harry, 159,167 Blythe, Kate Peters, 155 Board of Health, 77,79, 80 Bonavista, 140 Bonavista Bay, 176 Bond, George, 178,193,205 Bond, Herbert, 167; and Athletic Club, 192; boarding with Holloways, 178, 193; laboratory assistant, 193; letter to Rhodes Scholarship Committee, 226; operating x-ray equipment, 187; public analyst, 178,193; Rhodes scholar, 192-3; tribute to Holloway, 192-3 Bond, Robert, 163,166,193 Botanical Club of Canada, 75,123,158. See also Lawson, George; Logan, William; MacKay.A.H.; Waghorne,A.G. botany, 41,123,135-6,23in47

Bowden and Lockyer (Marconi's representatives), 164 Boyd, George, 82 Boyle, Cavendish, 163 Boyle, William, 75,117; at cricket matches, 180; Jubilee Scholar, 158; laboratory assistant, 187,194; London Matriculations, 158, 25in24; at McGill, 194; National Research Council, 194; Old Pupils' Page suggestion, 117; operating X-ray equipment, 187; senior physicist, Canada, 194; University of Alberta, 194 Breakfast Head, 106,106 "brewis," 131,245^ Brigus, 135,183 Brydone-Jack, William, 75 Bulley, Gertrude, 51-2 Bulley, Margaret, 68,79,84 Burchell, Louise, 179,198,25omi Burin Peninsula, 176 Burke, Vincent P., 142 Butler, Captain Bert, 201 Cabot Tower, 139-40,146,165 Canning, William, 159,178 caplin, 37 Carbonear, 38,180 Cartwright, 173 Cavanagh, T.J., 247mo Central Academy, P.E.I., 72 Chaplin, Hubert, 159 CHE examinations,73,95,115-18, i45>154 chemistry, 49,54,138 chemistry prize, 1905,189,192 Chevalier, Louis, 103-4 Christian Brothers, 81 Church of England Academy, 33, 235ni9 Church of England Cathedral, 28,56

INDEX

Church of England schools, 33,118-9. See also Bishop Girls' School; Bishop Feild College; Bishop Spencer College; Church of England Academy; Jersey Lodge Academy Circassian, 88,3,4 Citizens Relief Fund, 98 Clevedon College, Northampton, 18-21,23 Cochrane Street Church, 67,82 Cockshott, Sergeant, 140,141,154 cod fishery, 33 cod-jigging, 130,150,152 Codroy Valley, 104 College Executive Committee, 92-3, 95 Collins, John F., 180 Collins' Cove, 180,182 Collegian: examination results, 115-18; extension of teaching, 117,122; help for outport teachers, 116; Old Pupils' Page, 117,212-14; philosophy of college, 117,118-19, !2i; preserving history, 120,192; recording college events, 118-19 Congregational Church, 91 Council of Higher Education (CHE): committee work, 100,124,140; establishment, 73; girls as prize winners, 118,121; headmasters' input, 95; membership of, 95, 119,122,124; planning Primary examinations, 140; value of examinations, 154. See also CHE examinations Cormack, William Epps,38,236n8 Cow Head, 108,109,111, in Cowperthwaite, Hunter, 159,167 Cowperthwaite, Walter, 145 Crehan, Brother, 95,118 cricket championship, 1900,155

265

Cricket Club. See MCLI Cricket Club Cricket Shield, 1905,193 Crookes spinthariscope, 188 Crookes tubes, 136,137 Croucher, Victor, 172,174 Cuckold's Cove, 41 Curtis, Levi, 160 Cycling Club. See Methodist College Cycling Club Dalhousie University, 72 Darby, T., 180 Davy, Humphrey, 59,127 Dawe, Emma, 121 Dawson, J.L.,i9i Dawson, John William, 74 denominational system of education, 31,72-3,161, 234-5ni4,243ni2. See also "vexed question" de Provancher, Leon, 74 "Devil's Dancing Pool," 106,131 Dickenson, Ethel, 143,184,198 Dildo Run, 129-34,130,189 diphtheria epidemic, 77-82 Distribution Day, 64, 84,118,243m6 Dove, Bertha, assistant to preceptress, 84,198; first female London matriculant, 68; first position in Newfoundland, 142 Dove, James, 198, 235ni5 Duncan, Dr, 170 Dunn, W.T.D., 196 Dux medal, 85,228. See also Pitts gold medal Earhart, Amelia, 202. See also Elsie Holloway Edison, Thomas Alva, 60 electric light: at Athenaeum, 59-61, 186; in class, 59. See also Davy, Humphrey; Edison, Thomas Alva; Swan, Joseph

266

INDEX

entomology, 74,123,2441133. See also Fletcher, James; White, Richard examinations, 85; incentive for broad curriculum, 154; interschool competition, 116-17; need for common system, 142. See also CHE examinations; London Matriculation examinations Faraday Hall, 75 Feildian, 116

Fellow of the Chemical Society (PCS), 65 Fenwick, Mark, 178,196 field trips, 123-5 First Rapids, Humber River, 106 Fletcher, James, 74,123,244^3 Fogo, 134,134 football championship of 1894,119, 120; first silver cup and dinner, 146; football cup 1905,193 Foraminifera, 17-18, 2321149,2321152 Forsyth, Thomas J., 71 Fox, Mary, 179 Free Church of Scotland kirk, 28 French, E.G., 205 French Shore, 104-5,244^1 Freshwater Road (later Long's Hill), 28 Frew, Robert, 158,159 Furnace Withy pier, 3 General Protestant Academy, 33,46, 68 geological surveys: of Canada, 74; of Newfoundland, 33. See also Logan, William; Murray, Alexander George Hotel, 19,19. See also Wood's Restaurant George Street Church, 32,57,68 girls, education of: endorsement by Arnold, Huxley and Scott, 24; endorsement by Holloway, 121-2,

198; recognition of need in England, 8,24,235*124 Glasgow Normal Seminary, 6,7,229n2 goldwithy (goowiddy), 41,236mi Government House, 56 Gower Street Church: fire of 1892,90, 93> 99; formal opening of new church, 115; LeSueur as organist, 144; "mother of Methodism," 56; St John's Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, 32 Great Burin, 180,182 Great Fire of 1892: aftermath, 91-5,93; effects on college, 87-9,92; Long's Hill area after the fire, 93; rebuilding and reopening, 98-100; view from Harvey Road, before the fire, 88 Great War: effects on Bert Holloway and family, 200-1; effects on college, 198; Newfoundland Regiment, 200-2; Women's Patriotic Association, 199 Green, Hermon, 179,2471112 Green Bay, 128 Grenfell, Wilfred, 173-6 Grosswater Bay, 176 Gull Island, 147. See also "looming" Haanel, Eugene, 75 Haddon, John, 31 Halfyard, Samuel, 85 Handcock, Emile, 30,45,47; choir leader, Gower Street Church, 68; principal, Presbyterian College, 68; second master, 45 Harbour Grace, 38, 67,180,183,202 Harrington, Samuel T.: Honour Roll boards, 197; house system, 198; as principal, 193; school flag, 197; as vice-principal, 184,192 Harvey, John, 186

INDEX

Harvey, Moses, 54, 60, 67,140 Hatcher, Albert, 168,192,2491147 Henry, William, 5,30,45,234114 Herder, Arthur, 167 Herring Neck, 129,130,131 higher education in Canadian provinces: McCullough and secondary science, 74; postsecondary science, 73-4; role of church, 72; role of creative scientists, teachers, 74-5 Holloway, Bert (Robert Palfrey Holloway): birth, 76; as a child, 42, 89; fish caught in Codroy Valley, 104; Jamaica, 177; lieutenant, Newfoundland Regiment, 201,202; marriage, 200; military service, 200-2; Monchy-le-Preux, 201; photography business, 195; science, chemistry awards, 192; summer travels, 128-34,147-53 Holloway, Catharine Ann, 10,13,20, 57 Holloway, Elsie (Elizabeth Mary Holloway): associate class, 158,159; courses in England, 178; after the fire, 93,100; helping with camera, 171; Holloway Studio, 195-6; iceberg off Narrows, 124-5; London Matriculations, 158; self portrait, 200; summer travels, 102,105-6, 107,107,108 Holloway, Emily, 20,57,93 Holloway, George: close to brother, 20, 57,78; concern for Holloway's health, 78; interest in science program, 78; interviewing prospective faculty, 178,184; sending rocks and minerals, 57,78,122 Holloway, Henrietta: birth of children, 62,69,76,78; diphtheria epidemic, 77-82; Ladies College Aid Society,

267

100,138,178,197; marriage, 54,57; MBE award, 199; publication of Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 195; summer travels, 102, 105-6,107,107,108; visit to England, 57-8, 64-5; as widow, 195; Women's Patriotic Association, 199,253n22 Holloway, Mary Edwards: in Bartonon-Humber, 6-10; teaching sewing and knitting, 10; move to London, 11; as widow at Battersea, 19-20; visits from Newfoundland family, 56-7, 64-5 Holloway, Mary Helen, 10,13,20,57 Holloway, Robert, as student: B.A.,London University, 23, 65; experience in Parker laboratory, 16-18; Huxley's summer courses, 21-2, 65; influence of teaching staff, Westminster, 15-16; Intermediate Arts Diploma, 18,20; Intermediate Science diploma, 65; return to South Kensington 1880, 63-4; London Matriculations, 17; teacher training, 15-16. See also Holloway, William; Kinton, Louis; Parker, William Kitchen; Smethan, James; Sugden, William Holloway, Robert, as humanist: appreciating beauty of nature, 39, 43,173; art and music, language and literature, 115; attending sports events, 193; calisthenics, 68; developing balanced curriculum, 47.49> 50, 86; historian of college, 120,206; photography as an art, 37, 43,147; writing and editing Collegian, 115 Holloway, Robert, illness: bouts of illness, 70; help of Old Pupils, family, 171; importance of summer interludes, 69,171,25on5; parallel

268

INDEX

with R.L. Stevenson, 248n2i; periods of great energy, 86; physical difficulties, 171 Holloway, Robert, as public lecturer: audience of "ordinary people," 206; emulating Huxley, 22,55,59; making the complex simple, 22,55, 246nai; popularizing science, 138; practical emphasis, 22,113; recapitulating history of science, 60; student involvement, 59-60; topics of intrinsic interest, 22; science of common things, 55 Holloway, Robert, outreach to community: in the Athenaeum, 55; breaking down boundaries, 55; chemistry series, 138; at the College Hall, 113; involvement with medical community, 135,136-7; in literary and scientific societies, 54; opening classes to public, 54,138,206; photography with pupils' parents, 68; X-ray work, 136-8 Holloway, Robert, as scientist: contacts with other scientists, 135; constantly experimenting, 127; cumulative nature of knowledge, 136; emphasizing power of observation, 18; government analyst, 74; improvising equipment, apparatus, 60; reading scientific journals, 135; replicating new discoveries, 59-60, 115; searching for understanding, 54; training pharmacists, chemical analysts, 157 Holloway, Robert, as teacher: champion of girls, 121-3,198; on education as social ladder, 50-1; encouraging hobbies, collections, 123-5; examinations as teaching, 51; field trips, 123-5; following careers (Old

Pupils' Page), 117,126,187; legacy as educator, 207; promoting "esprit de corps," 115; as teacher/confidant, 127; teaching from experiments, 51, 122; training students as lab assistants, 187,194; university level courses, 72,157 Holloway, Sarah, 20 Holloway, William: at Barton-onHumber, 6-10; influence on son, 6, 14,20; as lecturer and fundraiser for Wesleyan schools, 6,9-10; at Model School, Wesleyan Training College, 4,12,19; as naturalist, 10; teacher education, 6-7; teaching positions, 9-10. See also National and Infant School, Barton; Wesleyan Day School, Barton; Wesleyan Training College Holloway, Willie, 62,64, 69,76,77-8 "Holloway Era," 5,45 Holloway family, in England, 57-8, 64-5. See also Catharine Ann, Emily, George, Mary Helen, Sarah Holloway monument, 195-6,197 Holloway School, 205, 206 "Holloways" (cricket team), 155 Holmes, A. A., 180 "Home," 237n8; "as home away from home," 76; College and Home, 1905, 104; improved teacher training, 114; separate building, 99,99-100 Home, S 8,109 Hopedale, 174. See also Moravian Mission Horton Academy, 72 Howley, James, 81 Howley, Michael Francis, 140 Hudson, Margaret, 84 Humber River, 105-8,106,107,108,131. See also Breakfast Head; Devil's

269

INDEX

Dancing Pool; First Rapids; Steadies; Upper Steadies Huxley, Thomas Henry: collaboration with William K. Parker, 16-17; as educational reformer, 17,21; influence on Holloway, 22; National College of Science, 21; promotion of school science, 17; as public lecturer in science, 21; science courses for schoolmasters, 21,22 hydrostatics, 49 icebergs, 37,126,124,125,173 Indian Harbour, 175,176 Indian Lookout, 129,129 intercollegiate sports, 155; cricket, 155; football, 119 Jamaica, 177 Jeans, Robert, 176 Jerrett, Fred, 176 Jersey Lodge Academy Jubilee scholarships, 142,158,192. See also Boyle, William; Hatcher, Albert; Squires, Richard Kahnia glauca, 41,236nn. See also goldwithy Kelly, Michael John, 31 Kemp, G.S., 163 King's College, Windsor, 72 Kitchener, Lord, 166 Knight, Edith, 121 Knight, Herbert, 62,65,142, 238n2 Labrador, 171-6 Ladies' College Aid Society, 117,138, 143,144,146,197,206 Lander, Robert, 176 lantern slides, 68,125, 243ni6,244^8 Laurence, Joseph, 25, 26, 27,28,70

Lawson, George, 75 Leake, Annie, 48,50-1 LeDrew, Isaac, 168 Lench, Charles, 185,25ini8 LeSueur, Peter: annual musical entertainments, 144; on the Argo, 128-9; at Beaver Cove, 132; as music master, 144; organist, Gower Street Church, 144; pipe organ performances, 144 limelight, 60. See also lantern slides Little Bay Islands, 133,134-5, W Logan, William, 75 Logy Bay, 40,43 London Matriculation examinations, 17, 62,117,119,145,154,185,192, 232H56

Long Island Tickle, 147 Long Range Mountains, 189 "looming," 147 McCullough, Thomas, 72,74,75 Macdonald, Robert Gear, 247nn McDowell, Thomas, 70 McGill University, 75 MacKay,A.H.,75,158 McNeil, Miss, 184 McNeily, Alex J.W.: as friend of Holloway, 61; as scholar, 61-2; as member, Select Committee, 73; tribute to Holloway, 208 McNeily, James, 61,176 McNeily, Will, 61,142,145 Macpherson, Campbell, 32,80,93 Macpherson, Cluny: as doctor, Battle Harbour, 168,174; friendship with Willie, 69; Great Fire, 89; inventor of anti-gas helmet, 253^5; loyalty to college, 239ni4; at McGill, 142, 145; Newfoundland Regiment, 201; physician to the Home, 196;

2JO

INDEX

vacationing in Notre Dame Bay, 133-4.147-53 Macpherson, Emma, 93 Macpherson, Eva, 121 Macpherson, Harold, 147 Macpherson, Violette, 121 March, Sarah, 84 March, W.S., 122 Marconi, Guglielmo, 163,164,165, 249n3i, 249n32. See also Anglo Telegraph Company Market House Square, 36 Martin, Alfred, 68 Matthews, Fred, 142 M c L I Cricket Club, 155,156 Mechanics Institute, 33,54 Methodist Academy: extending the sciences, 47,49-50; growth in institution, 51; laboratory a necessity, 49; need for Model School, 51; standard English school curriculum, 47, 49,50, 86 Methodist Academy Literary Institute, 67 Methodist College 1886: academy to college, 70; buildings, 71,71; directors as board of governors, 75; donation of pipe organ, 75; formal opening January 1887,70; "quasi-university," 72 Methodist College 1894: after the fire, 87-9,91-2,93; cornerstone, 96, 96-7; interior design, 99; new college, 99,99-100; Pitts memorial stone, 97 Methodist College Cycling Club, 119-20,154-5, 156, 247n4 Methodist College Literary Institute (MCLi),ii3,141 Mews, Arthur, 61 Middle Cove, 37

Milligan, George: concern for standards in outport schools, 143; on denominational education, 72-3; improving teacher training, 142; Milligan scholarship, 167; reaction to Great Fire, 91-2; St John's Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, 32; as superintendent of education for Methodist schools, 31,73; teaching the classics, 70; working closely with Holloway, 73 mineralogy, 50-1, 54,55,122, 244^7 Model and Primary School, location on lower floor, 99; combined with primary grades, 99 Model School, Methodist College: need emphasized, 48; opening 1877 as separate school, 48-9,71; teaching staff, 48,68. See also teacher training Model School, Westminster, 4,13,19 Moravian Mission, 173 Mount Allison University, 72 Mount Ken, 36 Murray, Alexander, 5,74 Music program: annual music entertainments, 144; pipe organ performances, 93,144; recitals in the College Hall, 25onn; vocal and instrumental music, 83. See also Adrain, Emma; Burchell, Louise; Handcock, Emile; LeSueur, Peter; Peters, John; Peters, R.H. Narrows, 4,38,125,140 National College of Science, 21 National and Infant School, Barton, 7 Narraway, Bessie (preceptress), 79,84 natural history (natural science): appearance of birds, 123; collecting eggs of seabirds, 123; flowering and

INDEX

fruiting of plants, 123. See also "phonological" observations New College, Eastbourne, 22-4,23. See also Spencer Court Newfoundland Regiment, 200-2 Newfoundland Teachers' Association (NTA), 141-2 Nichols, John W.: specialist in art, 45, 47; resignation early i88os, 69; supervisor of drawing for Newfoundland schools, 69 Noseworthy, Sergeant, 154 Notre Dame Bay, 129,134 (formerly Green Bay) Old Fort Ridge, 103 Old Pupils' Page, 117,212-14 Outer Cove, 37,41 Paine, A.J.C., 203, 206 Paine, George, 185 Palfrey, Elizabeth Bray, 32,57 Palfrey, Henrietta, family, 32; marriage, 57; portrait, 199. See also Holloway, Henrietta Palfrey, Richard, 32,57 Parker, Thomas Jeffery, 16,17,18,21, 23in47, 232H49, 232^2, 232^3 Parker, William Kitchen, 16-18,21,58, 232n52,232n53 Parker, William Newton, 17, 65, 232n52,232n53 Peach, John, 47 Peters, Arthur Mayne, 186 Peters, Charles, 155 Peters, John, 154,155 Peters, John Edgar Pickavant, 28,29, 67, 234nn Peters, Rose Cole, 28,29, 234mi Peters, R.H., 83,93 Peters, Tom, 157

2/1

Peters, William, 180 Petty Harbour, 35; flume, 126,126 "phenological" observations, 123, 244n3O phonograph, 59 photography: amateur to professional, 140; classes in, 124,125; iceberg off the Narrows, 124,125; lantern slides, 124-5; on Newfoundland stamps, 140; printing, developing, toning, 125,138; in publications, 140 physiology and optics, 141 picnics: family, 158; Jubilee, 139,139; at Pearce's Farm, 142,145 Pictou Academy, 72 Pilley's Island, 147,148,149 Pilot, William, 141 Pincock, Clayton, 185 Pincock, James, 185 pitcher plant (Saraceniapurpurea), 135 Pitts, James Stuart, 84; donation to 1893 college fund, 96; interviewing faculty, 184; purchase of x-ray apparatus, 137,138 Pitts, Mrs James S., 204 Pitts, William, 70 Pitts gold medal, 85 Pitts Memorial Hall, 205 Placentia, 140 Plover, ss,io2 Port au Port, 103,104-5 . Portugal Cove, 35,36-7 postage stamps, Newfoundland: Cabot issue, 1897,140; pictorial issue 1923-24 Pouch Cove, 35 Pratt, Edwin J., 75,165, 249^2 Prince of Wales University, 72 Prowse, D.W., 140

2/2

INDEX

Queen's University, 72 Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee: cornerstone, Cabot Tower, 139; school picnic, 139,139; Signal Hill ceremony, 139-40; Victoria Hospital, 139 Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee, 1887, 70 Quidi Vidi,39,91,140 railway: Fort William station, 66, 238n4; to Harbour Grace, 66; need for, 33; survey 1875,38, 66 Regiopolis College, 72 Rendell, Stephen, 4,5, 67 Rhodes Scholarship, 185,189,192,193 Rigoulette, 173,175 Robb, James, 75 Robinson, J. Alexander, 94,141 Rodgers, Herbert Roentgen, Konrad, 136 Rogerson, James J., 30,73 Roman Catholic Cathedral, 56 Roman Catholic schools, 30,142. See also St Bonaventure's College Rorke, John, 73 Royal Reader series, 85 Ruhmkorffcoil, 136,137 Rush, Edward, 18 St Andrews' Presbyterian Church, 90,

99 St Andrews' Society, 141 St Bonaventure's College, 81,91,154, 155 St Dunstan's College, 72 St Francis Xavier University, 72 St George's Bay, 38,105; the "Gravels," 104 St John's: Academia, 67; Athenaeum, 55; academies, 33-4, 46; growth of

churches, 32,56; Mechanics Institute, 54; ornate public buildings, 56-7; public halls, 56; Reading Room and Library, 33,54; Regatta, 33; scientific and literary societies, 33> 54.67; telegraph services, 67; view from Mount Scio,3/; view of the Narrows from Church Hill, 38; view from Signal Hill, 3 6 St John's Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, 32 St Patrick's Hall, 56 St Paul's Inlet, 108,109, no, in, in, 112 Saracenia purpurea, 135 scholarships and prize winners: chemistry prize, 192; Dux medal, 85,228; first place, Intermediate Science, 192; group photographs, 120; Jubilee scholars, Rhodes scholars, 227; winners, 1895,118,118 School of Mines, 21 Schreiner, Frederick, 20,21,22,233^0 science curriculum, Methodist College: advanced courses, 157; astronomy, 71-2, 87,113,123; botany, 86; chemistry, 86; entomology, 74,123, 244n33; geology, 86; hydrostatics, 49; mineralogy, 50-1,87; natural history, 47, 86; photography, 68,124; physiology and optics, 141; practical light and heat, 144 science education, Canadian provinces: role of the church in education, 72-3; role of creative scientists, teachers, 74-5 science education, Methodist College: broadening career options, 51; comparing science curricula in St John's colleges, 46,157,247n8, 247n9; comparing with "higher

INDEX

education" in Canadian provinces, 74-5; as general preparation for life, 46; lessening dependence on fishery, 51; as mental discipline, 46 science equipment: Crookes tubes, 137; Crookes spinthariscope, 188; Dollond telescope, 123; laboratory and equipment, 49; mineral cabinet, 122; museum for natural objects, 50; radium demonstration kit, 188; rock and mineral collection, 50,122; "scale of hardness" set, 122; x-ray equipment, 137-8 science of everyday things, 55,126, 159; air, wind and water, 55; encrustation on brick, 159,248n2o; lightning discharge, 126; noonday gun, 126; water flume, 126 Sclater, William, 122 Scott, John, 13,17,20 Seldom-Come-By, 134 Select Committee of Legislative Council, 31,72 Sharpe, Sarah, 79 Shea, Edward, 81 Signal Hill, 41,77,102,139,140 Simpson, William, 144,246^4 Slattery, Luke, 81,95 Smetham, James, 15,16,35,58 Smith, Bessie, 84,94 Snook's Arm, 147-52,151,152 Soper,T.,i8o South Kensington, 21, 63,122. See also National College of Science South Side hills, 39 Spencer Court, 22,23 Spruce Brook, 105,105 Squires, Richard Anderson, 142,145 Stabb, Nicholas, 30 "Steadies," Humber River, 106 Steer, Bert, 179

273

Steer, John, 73,122 Stentaford, Leonard, 145 Stirling, Georgina, 115,140,24^12 Story, George P., 79,96 Stowe, Susie, 84 Sugden, William, 15 superintendents of education. See Burke, Vincent P.; Milligan, George; Pilot, William Taylor, George, 178 teacher training, Methodist College: construction and design of Model School, 48; criticism lessons, 160; improvements to College Home, Lower School, 73,114; observation and practice, Model School, 58-9; parallels with Westminster, 160; preparation for work in board schools, 48,50; teacher training as a first step to progress, 51; teaching certificates, 73 teacher training, Wesleyan Training College: criticism lessons, 15; practising schools, 15; staffing of Wesleyan schools, 8. See also Model School, Westminster Tea Kettle Island, 132,133 telephone, 59,127 Templeton, Edith, 167 Templeton, Robert, 155 Therouin, M.L.J., 144 Through Newfoundland with the Camera, 128 "tickle," 243n2 Tilt Cove, 4,38,147,148,150,150 Topsail, 35,36 Topsail Falls, 42,44 Torbay, 35 "tower room," 114 Trinity Bay, 176

2/4

INDEX

tributes to Robert Holloway: Adelphian, 191; from Athletic Club, 192-3; from board, 195; Collegian, 190; daily papers, 191; Methodist Monthly Greeting, 191; Report, Methodist Schools, 190 Trout River, 108 tuberculosis, 32,161,186,187-8 Twillingate, 115,128 University of New Brunswick, 75 Upper Canada College, 75 "Upper Steadies," Humber River, 106 Vane, Mary Ann, 103 Varley, Mr, 143,154 Vater, Olive, 200 "vexed question": problems arising, 73; subdivision of Protestant grant, 31, 73; unifying trends, 73 Victoria College, 72,75 des Voeux, Governor, 70 Waghorne, Arthur, 123,158,2441132 Walker, James, 84,94,154 Watch Night Service 1889, 82 Water Street, 35 Webber, Selina, 158 Wesley, John, rationale for education, 12 Wesleyan Academy, Sackville, N.B., 72 Wesleyan Academy, St John's, 3,5,24, 26,30; advertisement for principal, 24; beginnings of, 28,234^; board of directors, 29-30; government grant, 30; parallels with Wesleyan Training College, 29. See also Methodist Academy Wesleyan Chapel, Barton, 7,9,10 Wesleyan Day School, Barton, 9-10 Wesleyan Training College, 4,7,10,12, 14-17,25, 28,34

West, John, 84 Westminster College, 57 whales and whaling, 148-53,251,252 White Bay, 102 White, Edward, 32 White, Richard, 122,123 Whitely, Arthur, 176 Whitely, George, 102 Whiteway, Solomon, 143,178, 246n2i whortleberries, 39. See also berrypicking Wilderspin, Samuel, 8 wildflowers, 86,158, 23in47,235m. See also Kalmia glauca; Saracenia purpurea Winter, Thomas H, 137 wireless telegraphy, at Colonial Building, 164-5. See also Bowden and Lockyer Witless Bay, 44,44 Woodhouse Grove School, 6,7 Woods, Henry J.B., 206 Woods, Millicent, 167 Wood's Restaurant, 19 Woody Point, 108 x-rays: comments on lectures, 246n2i; dangers of, 245^; use in diagnosis, 137; gift of equipment, 137,138; improvement of apparatus, 137-8; Lecture, College Laboratory, 215-18; lectures and demonstrations, 137-8, 141; treatment of lupus, 170,188; treatment of cancer; training senior science students, 189; x-ray, hand of infant, 137 Yost, George H., 99 Young Men's Literary Institute, 99