BLAIR'S PAGE  

Had it not been for Blair Kennedy I probably would not have pursued the genealogy of the Carbonear Kennedy's much further.  He knew the stories and folks I had heard about and as it turns out his great grandfather Captain Nicholas Kennedy 1848 and my great great grandfather Captain Terrence 1845 were brothers. I would like to think that 150 years from now the greatgrandchildren of my kids will share a conversation on the history of their family in the same way Blair and I did.

Blair Kennedy son of  Eugene, grandson of Peter Kennedy and great grandson of Captain Nicholas Kennedy (III) (b.1848) and Margaret Hamilton of Carbonear, Newfoundland. During the second half of the Nineteenth century  many Carbonear Kennedy's began to move on, to St. John's, to nearby Canadian provinces, and the US. Spreading out sometimes by accident (shipwreck) or for social reasons such as marriage most moved on for economic reasons.   It is difficult to separate economic and political reasons for migration patterns during any given historical time frame as these are almost always intertwined. Population growth and ensuing economic pressures left  unaddressed by effective public policy resulted in migrations out of Carbonear  in the second half of the Nineteenth century.

One of the local areas that workers were being drawn to was Bell Island

a large amount of Iron ore was discovered under Bell Island and the Butler family of Topsail obtained the rights to deposits there.  The mines operated just over 70 years from 1896 to 1966 and so mining was fast becoming a means of local employment.

Blair's grandfather Peter Kennedy took the family and moved to Bell Island.

Bell Island Mines

Blair Kennedy married Rita Kent also of Bell Island.