TIMELINE
TIMELINE
1649 massacre by Oliver Cromwell's army in Wexford County, Ireland the chief naval base for
Confederate government at war with Parliament forces;
1676 Captain William Kennedy sails the Unity
1680 First Kennedy Settlers in Newfoundland; Widow Kennedy of Harbor Grace, Newfoundland
states in 1770 that property has been "possessed by the Family for upwards of 90 years," that
is before 1680; see Seary Book
1707 Parliament in England passes Act of Union, joining Scotland and Wales to England, forming Great Britain.
1713 Treaty of Ultrecht gives Newfoundland to Great Britain
1753 Thomas Kennedy, issued license to keep public house in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland
1754 John Kennedy recorded as planter in Carbonear, Newfoundland; McCarthy family are early Irish merchants in Harbor Grace (daughter "Florence McCarthy" marries Edward Kennedy, three sons Terence, Nicholas, and William)
Irish plantation settlements in Conception Bay upsetting local English merchants who solicit Admirals to discourage Irish settlement
1755 John Kennedy has right hand branded "R" (Roman) and is ordered to quit island of Newfoundland when
charged with having knowledge but not participating in the planned murder of William Keene Sr.,
merchant and St. John's Magistrate case known as the Quidi Vidi murder; John Kennedy fished for Keene at
Greenspond , Bonavista Bay in 1754; John may have returned to Ireland or gone to New England but Kennedy presence remains in Carbonear.
1755 Terrence Kennedy of Crocker's Cove is charged with having held public Mass in his home and being married by a Catholic priest. His dwelling is ordered to be burned and he is told to leave the Island; those Irish attending the Mass are fined to pay for the damages. The term of Newfoundland Governor Dorril is noted for its persecution of Catholics. Terrence may have sought refuge on Carbonear Island (Bell Island), returned to Ireland, or gone to the colonies but Kennedy plantation remains in Crocker's Cove. Colonial Records: http://www2.grenfell.mun.ca/nfld_history/Letterbook/GN2-1-A-2.htm
1764 Newfoundland Governor Sir Hugh Palliser issues new rules and regulations aimed at reducing the number of Irish residing on the island and controlling the remaining Irish papists. The next few years record a number of boats of Irish arriving in Boston, Massachusetts although they are not particularly welcome in New England.
1767 Matthew Kennedy works fishery for Felix McCarthy, Harbor Grace Merchant;
1774 trial finds George Rider guilty of feloniously murdering Michael Kennedy Bonavista Bay, Nfld;
1776 American Revolution the British Navy Admirals have bigger battles to pursue and the fishery in Newfoundland is left to develop according to market demand. New England cod fishermen face hostile British vessels and blockade of product. Fishing off Labrador is best option.
1783 Cessation of hostilities between US and Great Britain; fearful of sedition in it's other North American colonies the British decide to use carrot rather than stick with its subjects in the north. November 25, 1783 last British soldiers leave New York
1784 Nfld. Governor J. Campbell issues edict allowing "all persons inhabiting island to have full liberty of conscience and the free exercise of such modes of worship as are not prohibited by same;" practice Catholicism was up until this time a criminal act and cause for prosecution (persecution);
1789 French Revolution
1789 John Kennedy is listed as merchant in Boston Directory at 46 Long Wharf, resides at house on Court Street; listed same in 1800 directory (next door to John Hancocks law office the current site of The Chart House restaurant on State Street across from the New England Aquarium); fellow Boston merchants decade earlier Richard Clarke (tea party fame) and John Rowe
1790 Terrence Kennedy and Mary Clarke have son John baptized Conception Bay Anglican Church (CBAC); despite the easing of prosecutions against Catholic practice the available of priests in Crocker's Cove outport is nonexistent. Thomas, Adam, and Moses sons of Wm. Clarke family shared property boundary with the Kennedy family and for the next two decades children resulting from Clarke Kennedy marriages are recorded in both Anglican and Catholic parish records (baptisms were done by whomever was available and then recorded post facto in both denominations). However, once the Roman Catholic church was established in Harbor Grace (1806) all Kennedy's of Crocker's Cove and surrounding town of Carbonear were married and baptized Roman Catholic.
1792 Terrence Kennedy and Mary Clarke have son/dau. (twins?) William and Elizabeth Kennedy baptized Conception Bay Anglican Church
1794 Will of Patrick Kennedy, Gallows Cove, Harbor Main Newfoundland. Gallows Cove aptly named was also nicknamed Rogues Roost for the number of Irish who jumped ship from British impressment at St. John's or escaped forced British servitude and made there way to safety to the outports in Conception Bay. If caught however, they were hung. We have so far been unable to tie the Kennedys of Crocker's Cove to those of Harbor Main, the number of Kennedys from both lines are vast it will be easier to determine by DNA whether they were closely related before 1800. (paper trail before 1800 is hard to establish)
1796 Terrence and Mary Kennedy have Terrence (1 year of age) baptized Conception Bay Anglican Church
1796 Edward Kennedy's last will and testament gives Crocker's Cove land to his three sons Terrence, Nicholas, and William and also another named Terrence Kennedy
1798 Wexford Rebellion; Patrick Kennedy leases property from James Jurer of Harbor Grace
1799 John Kennedy Newfoundlander,(b.1764) trader appears in unofficial 1799 census Carrick on Suir, Tipperary with wife Mary; Richard Anderson trader of Carrick resides in Carbonear, Newfoundland dies 1832 Will
1800 Eli Whitney makes muskets with interchangeable parts.
1800 John Kennedy continues as merchant 46 Long Wharf Boston, Massachusetts
1801 Ireland becomes part of Great Britain through Act of Union
1805 Nicholas Kennedy and Richard Kennedy lease fishing rooms from Manuel family at Greenspond, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland
1807 Captain Nicholas Kennedy and Grace Young sail out of Rosslare, Wexford, Ire. and Grace gives birth at sea March 26 to Nicholas Kennedy baptized May 29, 1807 at Harbor Grace, Newfoundland
1809 Nicholas and Grace Kennedy have son John baptized October 10, 1809 at Harbor Grace.
1810 Bridget Kennedy Shea dau. of Harbour Main Kennedy married to Dr. Richard Shea of Port de Grave, Newfoundland is listed as Grog Shop Owner (Doctors were also licensed to sell alcohol) pg. 195 Gerald Andrew's history of Port de Grave
1812 War between
the States and Britain began. Fishing on the banks dangerous again.
1813-The first land grants were given to Newfoundland inhabitants.
1814- Brisitish occupation of Maine, 'the war that made Maine a state' Nicholas,
Terrence, and William Kennedy serve under Captain Daly Lincoln/Jefferson County,
Maine
1814-The Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the war between Britain and the
United States.
1815 Tambora Volcano, Indonesia resulted in an extremely cold spring and summer in 1816, which became known as the year without a summer. The Tambora eruption is believed to be the largest of the last ten thousand years. New England and Europe were hit exceptionally hard. Snowfalls and frost occurred in June, July and August and all but the hardiest grains were destroyed. Destruction of the corn crop forced farmers to slaughter their animals. Soup kitchens were opened to feed the hungry. Sea ice migrated across Atlantic shipping lanes, and alpine glaciers advanced down mountain slopes to exceptionally low elevations. Record years for famine around the world.
1815 August 7
Newfoundland Conception Bay Surrogate Court Records John Kennedy, Sergeant of the Newfoundland Regiment, made keeper/constable
of the Harbour Grace jail. 12,000 Irish immigrants arrived to Newfoundland by
1815.
1816-"Year Without a Summer" snowfall in June, July and August in New England,
Canadian Maritime Provinces, Northern Europe due to Tambora Volcano.
Accelerated emigration from northern Atlantic
maritime
areas to warmer climates. Admiral Sir Francis Pickmore was the governor (d. 1818). The following year
he attempted to become the first governor to winter in Newfoundland but died in
the attempt.; 120 houses were destroyed by fire in St. John's.
1817 Winter of RALS; James Kennedy
(1761-1827)
helps quell riots in Carbonear;
Mary Kennedy of Harbor Main bequests in Will, the schooner
Belisarius her dau. Margaret Kennedy marries in
Harbor Grace Capt. Hacket; Winter of Rals
Reported in
"The Times"(London) July 16, 1817; pg. 3; Issue 10199 Ship News St. John's,
Newfoundland, May 29.
"We had no arrival here, from any part of Europe between the 8th of December and
the 29th of April, and only one vessel from Halifax--such an instance never
before remembered."
1817-300 homes were destroyed by fire in St. John's on the 7th and 21st of
November. 1817-18 became known as the "Winter of Rals (Rowdies)", one of the
coldest on records. Failures in the fishing and sealing industries, together
with the first 'great' fire in St. John's resulting in gangs of starving men
roaming uncontrolled through the streets of the city.
1817 Harbor Grace Captain Patrick Kennedy, schooner Hannah taking starving families out of Newfoundland, no charge for passage
1817 James Kennedy appointed Carbonear Constable to keep order and storehouse from being ransacked
1817 Carbonear, Newfoundland (June 18) distressing
fire Thomas Clarke loses house of 15 total destoryed in town; Mr. Kennedy losses
estimated upward of 2000L.
1817 US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams negotiates Rush-Bagot Pact of
1817 which demilitarizes the Great Lakes
1818 US Sec.of State Adams negotiates Convention of 1818 that gave US a perpetual right to fish along the Newfoundland coast and set the 49th parallel as the border with Canada blocking Britain from Mississippi River and securing US access to northern mid-west;/font>
1819 Adams negotiates Transcontinental Treaty with Spain adding Florida to US
domain; Andrew Jackson divides Florida territory into 2 counties Escambia to the
West and the Eastern Atlantic coast of Florida is named St. John's County
1819-120 homes were destroyed by fire in the west end of St. John's.
1824-Newfoundland was given status of a colony.
1827 death of
James
Kennedy born 1761, publican and constable buried in Roman Catholic Cemetery,
Northwest Carbonear Son in law Thomas Marks is partner with Sir
Samuel Cunard in starting the passenger steamship line.
Regarding the
CUNARD Line, here is a link below of a letter by Helen Marks whose Newfoundland
grandfather Thomas Edmund Marks was the partner of Sir
Cunard.
http://www.ancestraldigs.com/BishopRenouf.htm [surnames Kennedy, Daniels,
Meany, Marks, Wells, Moore, Renouf]
1829 death at sea Captain Patrick Kennedy of Wexford, Ireland he did not return from voyage. Wife Mary Kennedy files for administration of his estate in St. John's, Newfoundland
1835: The elegant eighty-room Maverick House Hotel at Maverick Square helps
promote East Boston as a resort area of 607 permanent residents, 10 wharves, and
50 private homes. There is regular ferry service begins between Lewis
Street and Boston
1840: The Cunard line, founded by Sir Samuel Cunard (1787-1865) of London builds
a pier in East Boston. The Cunard line carries many of the Irish immigrants who
settled in East Boston. The first Cunard ship to arrive in
Boston is the Unicorn which makes the transatlantic voyage in 16 days.
1850 US Census some 1,500 residents in Gloucester,
Essex County, Massachusetts report having been born in Newfoundland, the
majority of which have heads of household born in Ireland.
1855: According to the Massachusetts State Census, 23% of East Boston
residents are from Ireland. They settle in the Jeffries Point and form the
bulk of the unskilled labor force. There are 16,600 residents in East
Boston.
1855-1905: Largest period of Canadian immigration; between 1915 and 1920
Canadian-born immigrants represent 20% of the East Boston population.
1863 Captain Kennedy
ship Superior outfitted for sealing season by Ridley in Carbonear; Captain Fitzgerald ship William outfitted for sealing season Carbonear, Newfoundland
1866 J. Fitzgerald leases lots in Harbor Grace
1892 St. John's Great Fire "Boston Newfoundlanders Offer Aid"
1894 July
Transatlantic Cable
"Arrival of The Cable Ships". The cable ships, having on board the 1894
cable, arrived in Heart's Content - the "Scotia" on Friday, the "Britannia"
on Monday. The coal tender, the "Loughrigg Holme," also arrived on Monday
morning. The Scotia is commanded by Capt. W.R. CATO; is 2,931 tons register;
368 feet long; 47 feet beam, and draws aft 28 feet. Her passengers and crew
are numbered 130. She was built in 1879 by Messrs. THOMPSON & Co.,
Sunderland, and was in Heart's Content before - in 1880. Early on Monday
morning, when about 60 miles off, in a dense fog, this steamer struck an
iceberg, receiving considerable damages to her bow. She was going about 3
miles per hour at the time and struck the berg on a slant. Had her speed
been fast, the result would have been disastrous in the extreme. One of the
crew, a man aged 36 years, died from the shock of the vessel striking. He
had been ill before, and was weakened. The shock affected and stopped the
action of the heart. The Britannia, Captain KENNEDY, is a smaller vessel -
about 900 tons. The Loughrigg Hoome is a coal-tender, about 1100 tons. The
vessels are owned by the Cable Maintenance & Construction Co., (Ltd.),
London. The steamers were expected to leave Heart's Content to-day on their
trip to lay down the 1700 miles of cable necessary to connect both sides of
the Atlantic. - From the Newfoundland's Twillingate Sun July 21, 1894 as
reported in the Harbor Grace Standard, July 9, 1894 .
1912 John T. Kennedy
of Roxbury, Boston (born Newfoundland 1866) Sheriff of Norfolk County,
Massachusetts in 1920 and was Democrat. Delegate to Democratic
National Convention from Massachusetts, 1912. Burial location unknown
http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/kennedy5.html#S4E00V30X