Interview #29

Name: Georgina Barnes

Sex: Female

Age: 70

Place and date of birth: Fortune Bay, August 3, 1928

Education: Grade 6

Religion: Roman Catholic

Occupation: Housewife

Number of Children: 13

Names of Children and Where they Live:

Mary Hoskins (Paradise) Allan Barnes (St.Alban's)

Louis Barnes (St. Alban's) Betty Meade (St.Alban's)

Linda Mann (Fortune) Anthony Barnes (St.John's)

Philomena DeMille (Halifax) Ann Marie Benoit (St.Alban's)

Georgina MacNeil (Fort MacMurray) Kevin Barnes (Ottawa)

Josephine Collier (Ottawa)

Phone: 538-3710

Place of interview: Bay View Drive (St. Alban's)

Date of interview: February 23, 1999

Interviewers: Colin Pittman and Curtis Hoskins

Georgina Barnes was born in Fortune Bay on Burnt Island on August 3, 1928. Her biological parents were Joseph and Lydia Price who were also born on Burnt Island. She left Burnt Island at age four to live with her adopted parents, Richard and Sarah MacDonald, in St. Joseph's Cove.

Georgina remembered her time living at St. Joseph's Cove well. It was different growing up back then compared to today. Her family never had it all that bad because she had a small family, her parents and three kids, but some families with more children had it a little rougher. Georgina recalled that everyone was equal and if anyone was without something, everyone would come together and help. During the tidal wave of 1929, her father's store house got washed away with all their winter flour in it. All of Joseph's Cove helped her family get the store house back without losing any of the flour.

Georgina was taught to work as a child. Some chores she did were scrubbing floors, washing clothes, and getting water for the house. Scrubbing floors was different back then. There was no canvas, only wood floors, and the scrubbing was done with a brush. Washing clothes was much different as well. She had to wash clothes with her hands. She did not have a scrub board until she was older. To whiten clothes, she took ashes from the stove, boiled them and then strained them.

As if these chores were not hard enough, getting the water for these chores was even harder. She had to go up one hill and down another to get water from a running brook. This had to be done three or four times per day. These chores were done to help her parents. Another chore included working at her father's store.

Georgina did not mind the work because there was not much entertainment anyway. In the summer, she played bat ball and hopscotch. When she became a certain age, she "raced" around but this was before she was old enough to date. Georgina and her friends met at the St. Joseph's Cove bridge which was their gathering point. The girls took their knitting and the boys would "flock around." They were there in groups mainly for company, meeting together, talking and carrying on. Georgina said, "Everyone enjoyed it a lot."

Georgina started school at age five in St. Joseph's Cove. It was a one room school. The students sat on a bench with a long desk for four students. Georgina used slates and brought wood to school but she recalled spending many cold days there. Her first teacher was Matilda Collier and her second teacher was Stella Snook, both from St. Alban's. After this, teachers started coming from away. She remembered fondly of a school garden and a fall harvest. They had a party and everyone attended including students, teachers, and parents.

The school was very important to the residents of St. Joseph's Cove and a church was later attached to it. The priest travelled from St. Alban's to say Mass and stayed a couple of nights. The church was also important to Georgina, and it still is. Regular Church was held in St. Alban's and she remembered walking on a foot path to go there. Back then, people had one coat to wear for all seasons. The coat had to be thick to get through the winter so during the summer, it was a hindrance. She remembered "lugging" the coat back and forth from Mass at St. Alban's during the hot summers. Her only relief was getting a drink from the watering hole when she got back to St. Joseph's Cove. After Mass, they had Sunday tea with biscuits.

Georgina left St. Joseph's Cove when she married Tom Barnes in 1947. They moved to St. Veronica's and started their family. Georgina and Tom had thirteen children. She loved raising her kids because, at age eighteen, she contracted rheumatic fever which was believed to make women barren. Today, she cannot believe that she ran a house with fifteen people. Georgina says she does not work as hard today. She used to get up at six a.m. and go to bed at midnight. This was the happiest time of her life. The worst part was when her children left home. "That's part of the game," said Georgina.

Georgina's husband Tom worked for a logging company called Foundation. When the company left, they asked Tom if he wanted the Church. They took it down and connected it to the back of Tom and Georgina's house. It did not cost them any money so with a houseful of kids, it was a big help.

Houses were not very big back then but they always had a back kitchen on it. People lived there in the summer because it was much cooler. In the winter, the kitchen in the house was used. The only time of the year that both kitchens were used was Christmas during one of the twelve "times." The twelve days of Christmas were celebrated at a different house each night. The men would have enough wood ready for each night so nobody had to work during Christmas. Georgina remembered one year when a "time" was at her house. Three men dressed up as mummers-one in a great bear skin, another in a deer skin, the third in a sheep skin. It scared Georgina at first but it turned out to be a fun time.

A real scare that Georgina recalled is when her daughter Mary, cut her knee with a drawing knife, which was used in making hoops for barrels. During this time, the only way to leave the bay was by coastal boat. Fortunately, Dr. O'Neill was in the bay that summer. Although he did not have the right kind of supplies to treat the cut, he did a good job assisted by Aunt Eve Collier. Back then, a lot of accidents happened. When they did, people had to see an old grandmother. They knew many old remedies that they learned from their grandmothers. Grandmothers had a lot of knowledge about these sort of things. For example, shingles were cured with a root from the forest and black mud was put on a bee sting.

Georgina believed many people that died in the past, died of little things such as appendicitis, something easily cured today. Her son Alan had it and Dr. O'Neill said his appendix had burst and he was going to die. Instead, he had apses on it. Although the grandmothers helped a lot, Georgina believed God was their biggest helper. By the time she had her first child, doctors were stationed in St. Alban's. Before this, people relied on a hospital ship called the Lady Anderson. This ship visited the bay during the non-winter months. The ship also visited the schools. The schools had a Red Cross program that supplied cod oil, cocomalt, and milk.

Georgina said that life got easier as the world became more modernized. Some good changes in her life were getting a gas washer and electricity. "Heaven on Earth," she said.

Georgina remembered many stories about her time growing up - some good, some bad. One is the storm of 1952 in St. Veronica's when the trees on the back of her house were blown down and it looked like something with an axe had cut them down. Another sad story was when Bill MacDonald passed away. He was home on leave from the Navy during Christmas. She also remembered a funny story when Leo LeRoux threw a bun of bread at her father and burst a boil on the side of his face.

To sum up Georgina's experiences during her lifetime, she gave us some advice to describe the rough life she endured. Even though life was hard, people always found a way to get through. To quote Georgina, "Where there's a will, there's a way."