Marine History Archive digitizing collection of people in Newfoundland, 1500-1850

People who enjoy Library and Archives Canada’s monthly announcements about their systematic approach to digitizing the Canadian Expeditionary Forces service files as they have moved through the alphabet, may be interested in following the progress of the Marine History Archive’s latest project.

The Marine History Archive is digitizing a collection of files that contain 7,300 surnames of people in Newfoundland, from the earliest settlement of Newfoundland to 1850. As Library and Archives Canada has done, the Marine History Archive is digitizing the files in alphabetical order.

Called the Keith Matthews Name Files, 1500-1850, this collection holds data on individuals, families and businesses that were involved in the settlement, fisheries and trade of Newfoundland.

The name files Dr. Matthews created contain transcriptions on a wide variety of English, Irish and Newfoundland records, including parish registers, newspapers, shipping records, customs records, political papers, census records, merchant records, and diaries.

The Marine History Archive, located at Memorial University in St. John’s, says on its website, “These files contain a wealth of information which is valuable to people tracing their Newfoundland ancestry, and for that reason the files are open for research.”

Dr. Matthews (1938-1984), who was a professor of history at Memorial University, initiated the establishment of the Maritime History Archive in 1971 as a repository for documents and collections of material relating to maritime history and culture in the North Atlantic region. His own research focussed on the Newfoundland fishery and settlement from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Digitizing in alphabetical order
The files of surnames beginning with the letters A, B, C, and E are already available online. They are still working on D.

The collection will not be digitized overnight. The Maritime History Archive said on its Facebook page, “It is a work in progress that will take many months to complete.”

Each file contains all of the information collected by Dr. Matthews on a surname. The file consists of numerous separate pieces of information which include the surname and given name, a reference to the source of the information, the date, and a brief summary of the text.

This is a typical example of the type of information in the files.

TAVERNER 1754 oct trinity ct Jacob one of his men jac fox abused jn night. Night to get 20/-d of fox wages. JACOB the brother of BEN

Interpretation of Entry: Surname: TAVERNER; Date: October 1754; Source: Trinity Court Records; Notes: Jacob Fox, one of Jacob Taverner’s men, abused John Night. The court ordered that Night is to get 20 shillings/no pence of Fox’s wages. Jacob Taverner is the brother of Ben Taverner.

The format of the files can be confusing. Dr. Matthews had developed his own form of abbreviations and syntax. A guide provides explanations for the majority of the abbreviations, some of which are references to the original sources Dr. Matthews used in gathering the data.

On request, Marine History Archive will provide scans of individual uninterpreted name files. They charge 25 cents per page for PDF scans sent by email and will provide an estimate of the cost of scanning a file.

What does not appear to be indicated on the website is whether the Marine History Archive will provide interpretations of a specific file.

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