HISTORY
MINING HISTORY
MINING HISTORY
MANAGERS OF WABANA MINES
by Gail Hussey-Weir
Created August 14, 2026
by Gail Hussey-Weir
Created August 14, 2026
INTRODUCTION
On this page, I will list the names of the Local Managers of the Wabana Mines from when the first manager arrived in 1894 to start building the infrastructure needed for the mining operation, until the mines closed on June 30, 1966.
For a general history of the mining operations over the years, go to the "Mining History" page on this website by clicking the button at the end of this introduction.
In the beginning, there was one mining company, known on Bell Island as "The Scotia Company." (The "Company Names" button below will take you to the page listing the different official names of the mining companies down through the years.) Scotia company's chief engineer, Robert E. Chambers, first arrived from Nova Scotia to visit Bell Island in June 1893 to assess the property for iron ore deposits. He returned the following summer to build the first pier and tramway, and hired 160 men to start work on the surface pits. Thus, R.E. Chambers became the first mine manager in 1894. It was five years later that Scotia Company sold part of their holdings to the company known on Bell Island as "The Dominion Company." Now there were two separate companies mining the iron ore that was being shipped mainly to their separate steel plants in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, but also to other parts of the world.
In 1920, the parent companies in Nova Scotia merged, resulting in the two companies mining on Bell Island becoming, in 1922, one company that, in 1930, became known as DOSCO. All this is to explain why there are two lists below for the time period from 1899 to 1922, one for "Scotia" and one for "Dominion."
Note: My definition of "Manager" refers to the head of the mining company on Bell Island. There were supervisors for each department of the operations, but only the top man was referred to as "The Manager." He was appointed by the company's Head Office, which at first was in Nova Scotia but later in Montreal. He took his orders from Head Office. Whenever there were major decisions to be made regarding such things as expansions or cuts in production, including shut downs of various mines over the years, the final decision would have rested with Head Office.
Information about when most of these managers began and ended their time on Bell Island is often unclear. There was no company magazine or newsletter until very near the end of the Bell Island operations and, for much of the first 2 decades, there was no local Bell Island newspaper. Even then, the comings and goings of management were not always reported. Thus, for the most part, I depended on the mention of a manager in directories or in the media, such as The Daily News, to ascertain when they served on Bell Island.
For a general history of the mining operations over the years, go to the "Mining History" page on this website by clicking the button at the end of this introduction.
In the beginning, there was one mining company, known on Bell Island as "The Scotia Company." (The "Company Names" button below will take you to the page listing the different official names of the mining companies down through the years.) Scotia company's chief engineer, Robert E. Chambers, first arrived from Nova Scotia to visit Bell Island in June 1893 to assess the property for iron ore deposits. He returned the following summer to build the first pier and tramway, and hired 160 men to start work on the surface pits. Thus, R.E. Chambers became the first mine manager in 1894. It was five years later that Scotia Company sold part of their holdings to the company known on Bell Island as "The Dominion Company." Now there were two separate companies mining the iron ore that was being shipped mainly to their separate steel plants in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, but also to other parts of the world.
In 1920, the parent companies in Nova Scotia merged, resulting in the two companies mining on Bell Island becoming, in 1922, one company that, in 1930, became known as DOSCO. All this is to explain why there are two lists below for the time period from 1899 to 1922, one for "Scotia" and one for "Dominion."
Note: My definition of "Manager" refers to the head of the mining company on Bell Island. There were supervisors for each department of the operations, but only the top man was referred to as "The Manager." He was appointed by the company's Head Office, which at first was in Nova Scotia but later in Montreal. He took his orders from Head Office. Whenever there were major decisions to be made regarding such things as expansions or cuts in production, including shut downs of various mines over the years, the final decision would have rested with Head Office.
Information about when most of these managers began and ended their time on Bell Island is often unclear. There was no company magazine or newsletter until very near the end of the Bell Island operations and, for much of the first 2 decades, there was no local Bell Island newspaper. Even then, the comings and goings of management were not always reported. Thus, for the most part, I depended on the mention of a manager in directories or in the media, such as The Daily News, to ascertain when they served on Bell Island.
MINE MANAGERS OF THE SCOTIA COMPANY, 1894 - 1922