Interview #62
Name: Irene Hoskins
Sex: Female
Age: 84
Place of birth and date: St. Alban's, January 6, 1915
Education: Grade 10
Religion: Roman Catholic
Occupation: Homemaker
Number of children: Ten
Names of Children and where they lived:
Philip - Deceased Levi - St. Alban's
Arthur - St. Alban's Delores - Deceased
Junior - St. Alban's Mary - Bishop Falls
Willie - St. Alban's Lila - Toronto
Ann - Toronto Jonus - St. Alban's
Phone: 538-3363
Place of interview: St. Alban's
Date of interview: April 7, 1999
Interviewers: Carla Collier and Sheri Peters
Irene Hoskins is the daughter of Philip Willcott and Clare Cox. She has two brothers and one sister. Her Grandmother on her father's side was Susie and she did not know her grandfather's name but he died at age sixty-one. Her grandparents on her mother's side were Betty and Sam Cox. He came from England and he worked in Gaultois at a Blacksmiths business.
Her parents lived in St. Alban's all their life but some winters they would move to a winter home down Conne River, down to "Southins"(the south end). They did this for three or four winters.
When Irene was a young girl they would have concerts at Christmas, Easter and "times" at the hall. They wore paper dresses to the concerts. The paper was tough, it didn't tear easily. She also loved to go trouting and she said she was a tomboy. She also went skating when there was ice on the bay.
Irene would help her family by tending to the garden and the animals. She had to carry manure for the vegetables and she also carried kelp from the land wash for the vegetables.
Irene went to school in a one-room school house. It was where the old doctor's was. Her first teacher was Sally Collier. Some other teachers mentioned were Ms. Shanahan, Ms. Hayward, and Ms. Dinn. She went as far as grade eleven in school.
The old church was where the fire hall is today. Father St. Croix was the resident priest then. Father St. Croix also had the first radio. The kids would go over on the beach and listen to the radio. The music was very loud because Father St. Croix would leave his window open. To light and heat their home they would use wood stoves and kerosene lanterns. To wash their clothes they would get water from a brook. They would use a scrub board and a big tub. They had to get around by footpaths and boats because there were no roads. Men worked mainly in the woods. They got fifteen cents per hour and would work ten hours days. The boys would make ten cents per hour. Irene recalled very harsh winters with a lot of snow. They would even get snow right until April.
During the Christmas season, they would go to dances at other peoples houses and they would get a bottle of syrup, some candies and apples. Maybe they would get one toy such as a horse on wheels or a doll.
On St. Anne's Day, they would row down to Conne River for Mass and afterwards they would have something to eat. Then they would come back up to St. Alban's for a "time" (dance at the hall). Irene recalled getting a new dress for St. Anne's Day and one for the 15th of August, which is the Feast of the Assumption. During the Easter Season it was Holy Week. They attended mass a lot, even at seven o'clock in the morning. They would save up their eggs from the winter and eat them on Easter Sunday.
Irene remembered George Hoskins having a sawmill and store. They would trade logs for food. Sammy D. Collier had a store and Sam Hoskins had one too. Some bigger stores were Garlands and Co-Op. You could purchase a pack of biscuits for thirty-five cents, beef or pork for ten cents a pound, butter for twenty cents a pound and flour for $2.50 for 100 pounds.
They would order clothes from Eaton's catalogue or a second hand store. Irene recalled a Dr. Parsons who lived in Hermitage coming in to St. Alban's when someone needed him during the summer months. In the winter time there was no doctor or nurse, so they had to rely on home remedies. Some illnesses back then were Scarlet fever, Typhoid fever that would last for twenty-one days, Tuberculosis, and Depteria which is sore throat.
Some midwives around that she could remember are Joanie Collier, Betsy Willcott, Angie Cox, Eve Collier, and Sarah Snook who was from Miller's Passage. There was a Granny morris down Conne River that delivered her husband. She fell through the ice and perished in the cold. Irene said the midwives were as good as doctors.
Back then weddings were held in peoples houses. They would get married early in the morning that was the priest's rule. Tea and cake would be served followed by a dance at a hall. At the time of the tidal wave there was a wedding that day. Irene's father and another man were drunk and out on the water in a dory. They were trying to collect barrels of molasses that the Co-Op store had lost in the water. The tide rose as high as where the town hall is today. They were walking to a wedding and the road started shaking. She remembered Father St. Croix saying all the dishes came out of his cupboard and were broken.
Back then they believed there was a ghost at Gully Brook. Jim Hoskins believed he seen it at one time. He ran home and jumped into bed with all of his clothes on. Irene's son Art, daughter Delores and Tommy were out Goat's Cove in Lucy Hoskins house. They believed they saw the ghost of their Grandmother coming down the steps.
Irene recalled one year in June getting a batch of snow that killed all of their sheep. They were not expecting snow so they had sheared all of their sheep and the sheep perished. The post office was located out on Birchy Point. Martin Davis and Mr. Fiander were the post masters and Mary Hunt was the telegraph operator.
Irene believes the first settlers in St. Alban's were Tom and George Collier from Harbor Gully. She also says the best things that happened to Bay d' Espoir was when the roads came through and when Hydro came.
Irene Hoskins had a lot of useful information to offer us and was a great help in
preserving the past.