A Tinsmith's Tale

The first tinsmith in Little Bay was a man named Robert Malcolm. He is first documented in the town in 1882. He was married to Catherine Morisey and the couple had four children. In the late 1880s Little Bay was experiencing something referred to as the “tennis fires” which I think may have been an arson war.

The town had two rival upper classes. They appear to have divided over the issue of alcohol. Eventually, the two groups were split over other cultural activities. One can be seen associated with the Reading Room and Temperance Movement while the other was associated with the saloons and the cricket matches. Cricket had been introduced to the community by the proprietor of the Skittle Alley, John Lamb. The Reading Room was presided over by Edward Burgess. The two activities were not immediately at odds but over time, as can be seen in letters to the editor of the Twillingate Sun, a pattern emerges of comparing them unfavourably. Every so often a building associated with one of these upper class groups would catch fire under suspicious circumstances and back and forth it would seemingly go until eventually the anti-alcohol team appears to have won with the destruction of the Skittle Alley.

This can be traced back to two back-to-back fires at the Public Hall in 1885. The Public Hall was where the Temperance crowd held their high brow events such as the town’s theatrical plays and musical performances. On January 9th 1885 Sergeant Wells wrote of a fire at the Public Hall which was first noticed by the tinsmith Robert Malcolm and quickly extinguished. However, the following month on February 10th another fire broke out there. This one would not be controlled and it burned the Public Hall to the ground. Sergeant Wells pointed out that once again Robert Malcolm was there, intoxicated and acting suspicious. He also notes that the fires had been caused by incendiary. I cannot say with certainty that these fires were politically motivated, but it certainly looks that way. They were claimed deliberate and at least one person was indicated as an arsonist suspect in the police journals - the tinsmith Robert Malcolm.

Robert Malcolm died in 1888 at the age of 29. I can find no cause of death. After his death he was replaced by tinsmith David Jackman who not only took over his business but also his family when he married Malcolm’s wife, Catherine. That may have been customary at the time, I don’t know, but it was certainly convenient as Malcolm’s shop and his house were probably one connected building.

But what a burn!