HENRY V. BLAXLAND

Family legend:

Henry was known locally as "Harry" and he jumped ship in Halifax Harbour about 1856 or shortly there after from a British Navy man-of-war and then swam ashore on the Dartmouth side. He then made his way to the Clam Harbour area where he settled and lived for the rest of his life. He is supposed to have served in the Crimea War (1854-1856) at Sebastapol, so that would make his arrival shortly after this. He is listed in the 1861 census as Benjamin. Harry married Catherine Robson, and his first child was born about 1860 so his arrival must have been shortly befor this. He and Catherine had 9 children, 5 boys and 4 girls.

He was a very short man and very strong for his size. He could carry a 200 pound barrel of flour on his back from the wharf up the hill to his house quite a distance away. He settled in Clam Harbour in a house he built himself, after clearing the land. Where he obtained the land is not known. He also built a stone wall around the house which was still there a few years ago. He was a general handy man as well as a superb fisherman.

He is buried in Clam Harbour Cemetery and his headstone does not mention where he was born or when, but his grandson, Arthur, always claimed he was born in Faversham, Kent Co., England. His age at the time of his death in 1897 was 63 years, making him born about 1834. His wife Catherine is not mentioned on his headstone but is supposed to be buried beside him.

Arthur, his grandson also claimed that he swam ashore with a sword which was known to have been in the house that he built and there is also a story about a cross but this cross was never located. He was supposed to be related to the Blaxland's that went to Australia and that he had a brother who was a sheep farmer in Australia. This is unlikely as he would have been at least one generation if not two generations younger than those who went to Australia.

He seems to have prospered in Clam Harbour because he later sold a piece of land with the buildings to his son-in-law, Thomas Eldershaw, for 208 pounds or dollars and still had 100 acres left. Now in those days 200 pounds or dollars would be quite a bit of money and would have bought a large piece of land. This would be in the 1880's or 1890's.

Headston in Clam Harbour Cemetery: In memory of Henry V. Blaxland died December 8, 1897 age 63 years, (no mention of his wife Catherine).

Listed in the Acadian Recorder of 16 December 1897 - died at Clam Harbour, December 8, 1897 Henry Blaxland age 63 years. Leaving a widow, 6 sons and 4 daughters. Also in the Halifax Herald of 17 December 1897 and the Nova Scotian for 25 December 1897.

CHAPTER 2:

Since the first story was written we have found out some more information abour Henry or "Harry" as he was known, and these bits of information may not necessarily agree with, what, has become family tradition.

First of all, he was not very tall, about 5 foot 6 inches with brown hair and blue-grey eyes, according to the enlistment in the Royal Navy. In later life he grew a very large beard which was typical for the times.

Harry joined the Merchant Navy as a boy and served 3 months at sea. He then joined the Royal Navy and volunteered for 10 years of continuous service on the 5 April 1855, (the Crimea War was in full swing at this time). The ships he served on were the HMS Waterloo and then the HMS Hawke, on which he served 18 months and was in the Baltic where he was eligable for the Baltic Medal. The Hawke was drydocked at Sheerenss in 1855 and the crew disbanded. He then served aboard various ships in the English Channel from October 1855 until June 1856 when he was assigned to the HMS Brilliant in Portsmouth Harbour. The HMS Brilliant was a 34 gun frigate, noted for patrols of the slave trade and fishing grounds. The HMS Brilliant left Portsmouth for Halifax arriving in September 1856. Henry was discharged from the HMS Brilliant in Halifax on October 5, 1856.

As a member of the Royal Navy and his experience in the Merchant Navy he would be a well qualified seaman. When he was aboard the HMS Brilliant he was as later assigned as a blacksmith's helper. With his background as a seaman and blacksmith, and his father being a stonemason, it is no wonder that Henry prospered in Clam Harbour. Being the son of a stonemason would account for his being able to build a stone wall around his house, and as a blacksmith would enable him to make hinges etc. for his neighbors. As far as a supberb fisherman, the fact that he lived near the coast of England and his ancestry were sailors would account for it.

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Article printed in the Dartmouth Newspaper in the 1950's or 1960's.

HALIFAX COUNTY FLASHBACK

JUMPED SHIP, WALKED, SWAM TO CLAM HARBOUR

By ALICE BARDSLEY

We visited Wallace Russell recently and saw him set up the skelton of a new boat in his workshop at Clam Harbour. "A man is never to busy that he can't set a spell." he said, a merry twinkle in his eye. "Would you like to hear about Harry Blaxland and how he happened to settle in thes parts?"

"The Blaxland's in this area had their beginning many, many years ago in the person of an Englihman by the name of Harry. This man fought in the battle of Sebastapol and sailed all around the world in the British Navy - the only real fleet at the time".

ROUGH TIMES

"Times were really rough for the sailors aboard ship in those days. There were none of the fancy-do-dads found in the fleet today, no 'personal-rights'. The Captain spoke to his crew through the whine and howl of the cat-o-nine tails. Harry Blaxland had become fed up with the whole thing." So when his ship berthed in Halifax Harbour on a summer day his mind was made up. Waiting for darkness he quietly slipped over the side of his ship and swam to what is now Dartmouth, his cutlass in his teeth. Because of the season his experience in the thickly wooded country was not too harrowing. He steered in an easterly direction, laying low in daylight, lest an irate captain should be moved to send out searchers when he was reported missing. He found a trail marked by Indians and fed on blueberries that were plentiful in new growth were a fire had been. He slept the night in a cave-like windfall that smelled of bear.

FOUND SETTLEMENT

He came to a small settlement that smacked of fish and fishermen, he saw flats where large and juicy clams stuck their snouts up to feed at low tide. He met a few pioneers who needed odd jobs done and could pay for them. No one asked him any questions and Harry could turn his hand to anything. He was in turn a welder, blacksmith, fisherman - anything. The hinges he made are stll in use on Wallsce Russell's old barn, over a hundred years old and still solid.

MADE TO LAST

"Things made in those days - especially made by Harry - did not rust and fall apart if you spit on them. They were made to last and here is proof." said Wallace.

Although Harry Blaxland was a small man, he had strength beyond what anyone at Clam Harbour had hitherto seen. He could pick up a barrel of flour and carry it about on his shoulder - even up the hill to a house he had purchased. To this house he brought his bride, Catherine Robson. she was a large woman compared to her slight husband andshe bore him seven healthy children. His family branched out through the years to produce fine, upstanding citizens who still live in the same area.

What made Harry Blaxland different from other fisherfolk and sailors was that he could go true to any fishing shoal in the thickest fog without a compass. As a consequence he caught more fish than his neighbors who were obliged to stay home during foggy days along the coast.

NATURAL COMPASS

Wallace Russel still remembers - although only eleven years old at the time - (he is now eighty) when tales were still in full circulation of how the landed fisherfolk would gather in a fog so thick they could not see the end of their noses to discuss their neighbor, Harry, who was out at sea somewhere hauling in the fish. The story went from one generation to another that this gift of blind navigation was instrumental in causing Harry to finally desert the British Flag. It was told that the crude compass failed to function in a dense fog beyond Halifax Harbour. Word of Harry's unusual ability had reached the Captain whom Harry loather. When he refused to guide the ship he received a whipping that did not stop smarting until he swam in the cooling waters of the harbour on his escape journey.

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