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We begin his story with the inscription on his  head-stone, which states that he was born  in Kenford in Devonshire and that he died at Lance Cove, April 30th, 1805, at the age of seventy years.  James Pitts's interest in ships and his knowledge of navigation  indicate that he might have been an officer of the Royal Navy.  Further evidence in this direction is the fact that when he became established at Lance Cove, officers from the British men-of-war, which were then patrolling in Conception bay, used to visit his home and were lavishly entertained by him, and later by his sons.  His granddaughter, Frances (Fanny), when she was an old lady, used to proudly display to visitors at the old homestead a yellowed lace fichu worn by her mother at a ball given by her father and uncles for the captain and officers of HMS Rattler.¹⁰  A small brook flowing over the cliff side near the cove is still called Rattler's Brook.  Tradition has it that this name derives from the name of a horse, owned by one of the Pittses, that fell to its death near this location.  Presumably the horse was named after the ship.

The census returns for 1794-95 lists James Pitts as a planter at Bell Island with a wife and four children and further indicate his having been in the country for forty-three years.  This means that he was only seventeen years old when he first came to Newfoundland.  On November 29th, 1780, when he was forty-five years of age, he married Ann Hiscock of Portugal Cove.  Her name is entered in the Register of Marriages of the Anglican Cathedral, St. John's, as Ann Eastcock.  It is not uncommon for Newfoundland names to be variously spelled.

According to strong tradition, Ann Eastcock was a  daughter of a British naval officer by the name of Peyton, and was a widow when she married James Pitts.  She and her husband  had carried on a prosperous business at Portugal Cove until the latter's death, which resulted from an  accidental fall through a flake where a thorn pierced his ear drum.   He is buried at Portugal Cove.   Many ships, including men-of-war, visited the Hiscock establishment for supplies of fresh meat and vegetables.  It was in this connection that James Pitts met Mrs. Hiscock and later married her. In 1848, Bishop Edward Field purchased Mrs. Hiscock's property from James (Junior) and William Pitts for the sum of 18 pounds sterling.¹¹

10. Daily News. Feb. 2, 1922

11. Register of Deeds. Vol 11, p. 135.