The Diaries of Howard Leopold Morry, 1939-1965, Vol. 11 (Jan 30, 1950 - Jun 21, 1954)

• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Subjects: Newfoundland studies
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/howardmorry/id/1177

The first four volumes in this series together constituted a serialised version of Howard’s life story in four parts. The current volume is more similar to volumes 5 to 10. The diaries that those volumes transcribed were more of a traditional daily diary, with day by day observations on current events, the weather, the fishery, births, marriages and deaths, and normal and unusual occurrences. But they also included some reminiscences of Howard’s earlier life and stories he had told to him by his elders concerning significant historical events and life in Ferryland in the years before his birth. Now in this eleventh volume we see Howard following the same methodology in his diary writing, but his subject matter is quite different. The diary covers a relatively lengthy period between January 30, 1950 and June 21, 1954 - a period during which Howard was now more of a village elder and no longer in charge of the Morry fish business in Ferryland. However, he kept his hand in to some extent by provisioning his own cod trap crew each year and personally managing his own salmon nets. He also continued his roles, though to a lesser extent than previously, as a small scale farmer and livestock owner. He turned 65 the month after he started writing this diary and was over 69 when it was completed, so there is only so much physical work a man of those years can be expected to do. Howard’s eldest son, Bill, has taken on the lion’s share of responsibility for the Morry fish business, having taken over and improved the fish plant which was begun by his brother Reg just after the war. In addition, he is now taking on the kinds of quasi-governmental perks and duties that Howard himself had previously enjoyed. For reasons sometimes explained by Howard, and sometimes not, there are several short term and long term (in some cases for almost a year) lapses in the writing of this diary. In addition, some entries are made in empty spaces in the diary and not in strict chronological sequence. These can lead to some confusion at times. ...