Morgan Snook

Morgan Snook, Jr. (1735-1818) was born in Dorset, England. He was a merchant, magistrate, and fisherman at the British outpost on the island of St. Peters (now St. Pierre) and later at Fortune Bay. He served as a ship's pilot for Captain James Cook during the 1765 survey of the south coast of Newfoundland. Snook's story is a prime example of the human impact of the transfer of lands resulting from the Treaty of Paris.
Biography
The Snook family emigrated from Dorset in the 1750s to the Fortune Bay area on the south coast of Newfoundland. They settled on St. Peters island as merchants and fishermen, and here Morgan Snook, Jr. became magistrate and constable for the crown. When St. Pierre (with Miquelon) became French territory with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, he was tied up and set adrift in a small open boat by the French authorities. Thomas Graves of the (along with Captain Charles Douglas and James Cook), had just surveyed the property of all settlers on St. Pierre before it was turned over to the French. Graves' report to the Lords of Trade indicates the family owned the following property prior to 1763: Morgan Snook, Sr. - one dwelling house 36' by 16', another house 24' by 14 ', a third house 14' by 12', and a salt house; the total value was 78 pounds. Morgan Snook, Jr. owned a fish stage, a house, a fisherman's house, a lumber house, another dwelling house and a picketted garden for a total value of 241 pounds. Snook came ashore in Grand Bank and established a family. In 1765, he was a pilot aboard the during the first command of Captain James Cook, a 1763-1767 nautical survey of Newfoundland following the Seven Years' War. Snook was paid four 4 shillings a day for his work.<ref name=Whiteley1975/> Morgan Snook was killed in a fist fight in 1818, and his wife Ann Woolridge Barnes died in the same year. Some of their children and descendants remained in Newfoundland while others left for Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu