Peddle - The Church Lads Brigade in Newfoundland: a peoples story: 1892-2017: 125th anniversary book

The Church Lads Brigade

in Newfoundland

A Peoples Story

18922017

th Anniversary Book

Geoff Peddle

Flanker Press Limited

St. Johns

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Peddle, Geoff, author

The Church Lads Brigade in Newfoundland : a peoples story

Includes index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-77117-573-9 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-77117-574-6

(epub).--ISBN 978-1-77117-575-3 (kindle).--ISBN 978-1-77117-576-0 (pdf)

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from Library and Archives Canada.

2016 by Geoff Peddle

All Rights Reserved. No part of the work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic or mechanicalwithout the written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed to Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, 1 Yonge Street, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M5E 1E5. This applies to classroom use as well.

Printed in Canada

Flanker Press Ltd.

PO Box 2522, Station C

St. Johns, NL

Canada

Telephone: (709) 739-4477 Fax: (709) 739-4420 Toll-free: 1-866-739-4420

www.flankerpress.com

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We acknowledge the [financial] support of the Government of Canada. Nous reconnaissons lappui [financier] du gouvernement du Canada. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. Lan dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de lart dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation for our publishing activities.

Contents

Foreword by Lieutenant-Governor, His Honour, Frank Fagan, Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador and Honorary Patron of the CLB

It gives me great pleasure as honorary patron of the Church Lads Brigade to offer my sincere congratulations on the occasion of your 125th anniversary. Since Harold Blacklers pioneering work of organizing a group of young lads in St. Johns in 1892, the CLB has had a positive and abiding presence in our province.

The CLB has earned a tremendous respect from the community at large. Many of its members answered the call of King and Country in the First World War. The band has played for royalty, community events, and led many parades. The dedicated CLB officers have trained and equipped thousands of young people to face the challenges of life in a positive and professional manner. The CLB has been a stalwart presence to many.

In this your 125th year, I offer you on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador our congratulations and thanks for your outstanding dedication and commitment to the youth of our province over the past 125 years and wish you the very best with your continued good work.

Frank F. Fagan, CM, ONL, M.B.A.

Greetings from Colonel Keith Arns, Governor and Commandant of the CLB

Dear Readers,

The CLB has had a long and proud history of youth training within the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and I am very pleased to bring greetings on this, our 125th Anniversary.

Throughout 2017 we will be holding a number of events in celebration of the Brigades anniversary and will be starting our anniversary celebrations with the launch of this book, The Church Lads Brigade in Newfoundland: A Peoples Story by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Geoff Peddle. The compilation of a history encompassing 125 years is an enormous undertaking, requiring hundreds of hours of dedication and commitment in research and writing. The Brigade is extremely grateful to our bishop for taking on this enormous task.

During the past 125 years, the CLB has been an integral part of the fabric and soul of our society. The Brigade has touched the lives of thousands throughout the province and continues to this day to make a difference in the lives of so many. While we have faced many challenges during our history, the Brigade has been successful in adapting to change when required and continues to be a vibrant organization serving the whole community.

Bishop Peddle has explored our history from a peoples perspective, and as you read this wonderful book you will gain a unique understanding of the CLB from its origins within the church to the present day as we march into the future.

As governor and commandant of the CLB, it is an honour to thank Bishop Peddle for this work of art, and I trust that you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Sincerely Yours,

Keith Arns, Colonel

Governor and Commandant

Acknowledgements

There are a great many privileges that come with being bishop of this diocese of the Anglican Church, but none is greater than being chaplain to the Church Lads Brigade (CLB). The writing of this book to celebrate their 125 years of service to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador has been a labour of love for me. I dedicate this work to those many hundreds of fine young persons who wear the CLB uniform today and to all who lead them, teach them, and inspire them.

The CLB is the oldest and the largest Anglican youth organization in Canada today. It is also one of the most recognizable civic organizations in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, known nationally for its regimental band. There have been over 20,000 members in Newfoundland since 1892, with over 12,000 still living. It is not unusual to find as many as three or four generations of the same family in the CLB. At the end of 2015, approximately 600 members in eighteen active companies were still listed on strength.

The story of the Church Lads Brigade is also the story of the Anglican Church in Newfoundland and Labrador, and so I begin with the planting of that church, because it is important to share the wider account of how the CLB weaved itself into the fabric of the Anglican Church. I locate the story of the Brigade in Newfoundland within the still wider story of the Anglican Church because the relationship between the two is rich and multifaceted. In fact, I regard the CLB as the beating heart of Anglicanism in Newfoundland for over a century and the place where the church has been most real to generations of young persons and their families.

It is impossible for me to capture all of the relevant history, but it is my hope to record those landmarks of history that have shaped us as Anglicans and as CLB members over time. I believe it is important for us to know where we have come from in order to better understand where we are going. I also hope to shed light on why the CLB has survived here in ways it has not elsewhere. This book to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Brigade in Newfoundland is in four parts: