April 11, 1934
96, And Still Active
Gooseberry Cove, March 24 — This place claims to possess the oldest man, from Bonavista Bay right around the whole of Trinity Bay, in the person of Richard Seward, who has already passed his 96th birthday. Mr. Seward, locally known as “Uncle Dicky,” really belong to the nearby settlement of South Port, but for the past two or three months he has been living with his daughter, Mrs. William Flynn.
In his early days he took part untiringly in the seal fishery, having gone altogether seventeen springs to the icefields, and one of these occasions, when under Captain Andrews, their vessel collapsed and foundered, thus leaving them on the ice pans about one hundred miles from the nearest land. It was at that particular time that “Skipper Dick” walked to the South Side and from thence across Trinity Bay on ice, after a most trying time of eight days and nine nights on the ice. What pluck! What determination! And, what a man!
At present “Uncle Dicky” is still enjoying excellent health, just as when a couple of years ago, he went to St. John’s from South Port in a small motor boat; and he is hoping “to see a good many more sunsets, if “it pleases God.”
______________________
Transcribed by Wanda Garrett, September 2014. Updated February 2015 and February 2019
These transcriptions may contain human errors. As always, confirm these as you would any other source material.