Page Ten

There was little information I could find concerning several other of the old Lance Cove families: the Hammonds, Bickfords, Sparkes and Clements.  The Laheys, also, though they didn’t live right in the cove, were early arrivals.   It is only known with any certainty that they all arrived early in the 19th century.

The Hammonds, originally members of the Church of England, intermarried with the Kents and followed the Roman Catholic religion.  They lived together on land obtained from the Pitts brothers, in a little community "up over the hill", on the east side of the cove.   Farming, rather than fishing, was their sole occupation, and they greatly extended their property by clearing new land to the east and west of the Pitts boundary.   The Hammonds also kept sheep and cattle and these, together with their garden produce, provided them with a comfortable living.   Even after the opening of the iron ore mines, they still maintained their farms, and fresh milk and butter could always be obtained from the Hammonds.  They were especially known for their kindness, friendliness and generosity.  Aunt Kate, the village midwife for many years, delivered a whole generation of Lance Covers, including myself, into the light of day.  I have in my possession a little crystal rum mug, a gift from her on the occasion of my christening. No doubt 'twas filled initially to toast the occasion.  I have also in my possession an old  trunk given to me by "uncle" Mike Hammond for my first venture away from home.  It has followed me wherever I've gone, and is presently sitting at the foot of my bed.  We've got one more trip to make together, I hope: back home.

Henry Bickford married Amy Cooper, daughter of Edward and Judith Cooper, 1827.  An entry in the baptismal register of St. Thomas’s church, St. John’s, states that the Rev. H. J. Fitzgerald baptized James, the son of Henry and Amy “Beckwith” of Lance Cove on August 19th., 1827.

The Bickfords occupied the north-west extremity of Lance Cove where they cleared land and established the community now known as Bickfordville.  Henry’s son, Edward, married Martha, a granddaughter of George Rees, and taught school in Lance Cove from c. 1857 until 1870.  He then went to New Perlican as a school teacher and remained there until his death.  It was Edward who composed the will of George Rees, and this manuscript, along with an old letter written by him from Old Perlican in 1877,  serves to illustrate his mastery of the art of writing, as well as his beautiful penmanship.  It is said that Henry came from Wales.