PUBLICATIONS
ISAAC C. MORRIS
1900 Visit to Bell Island
by Gail Hussey-Weir
Created January 2022; updated January 2026
Isaac C. Morris (1857-1937): St. John's businessman, politician, writer and public speaker. He was born in St. John's, where he operated a sail-making business and served on the Municipal Commission and the city Council. He was a prolific writer for the St. John's newspapers on the social and political issues of the day, and it was in this capacity that he became "one of the important people in Bell Island's history never to have lived there." There were no newspapers published on Bell Island in the first few decades of the iron ore operations, and no newspaper correspondents living on Bell Island to report on all the mining and other activity going on there. Morris liked to travel outside St. John's on summer weekends and holidays, visiting communities and chatting with locals about their history and culture. You might say he was an early folklorist because he would make note of who he met and what they told him. When he returned home, he would write up these experiences for publication in the St. John's periodicals. He visited Bell Island on at least 5 occasions between 1897 and 1911 and reported in The Daily News on the mining activity and social life, and changes he had observed over that time period.
The following newspaper articles by I.C. Morris were published in The Daily News August 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18, 1900. The series was entitled, "Bell Island! Its Condition and Prospects" in the August 11-16 articles, and then, "Bell Island! Its Settlement and People and Some of Its Past History" in the August 17-18 articles. These articles describe Morris' third visit to Bell Island which occurred on Saturday, August 4, 1900.
BELL ISLAND!
ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS
by I.C. Morris
Part 1, published in The Daily News, Aug. 11, 1900, p. 4
ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS
by I.C. Morris
Part 1, published in The Daily News, Aug. 11, 1900, p. 4
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Part 2, published in The Daily News, Aug. 13, 1900, p. 4
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Part 3, published in The Daily News, Aug. 14, 1900, p. 4
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Part 4, published in The Daily News, Aug. 15, 1900, p. 4
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Part 5, published in The Daily News, Aug. 16, 1900, p. 4
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BELL ISLAND!
ITS SETTLEMENTS AND PEOPLE AND SOME OF ITS PAST HISTORY
Part 6, published in The Daily News, Aug. 17, 1900, p. 4
ITS SETTLEMENTS AND PEOPLE AND SOME OF ITS PAST HISTORY
Part 6, published in The Daily News, Aug. 17, 1900, p. 4
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Part 7, published in The Daily News, Aug. 18, 1900, p. 4
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FOLLOWING ARE ADVERTISEMENTS FOR AN EXCURSION TO BELL ISLAND AS PUBLISHED IN THE DAILY NEWS, AUGUST 14-17, 1900
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Advertisement in The Daily News, Aug. 14, 1900.
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Following are three advertisements in The Daily News, Aug. 15, 1900. You will notice that the names "Bell Island" and "Bell Isle" are being used interchangeably.
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Advertisement in The Daily News, Aug. 16, 1900.
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Postscript regarding the August 16th excursion to Bell Island from The Daily News, Aug. 17, 1900:
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