The Historic Quilt

In the mid-thirties, in the midst of the depression, isolated from the activities of their parish by the removal of the ferry service across Placentia Gut, the ladies of Jerseyside organized a branch of the Jubilee Guild, to be primarily concerned with producing knitted articles and handcrafts, in the hope of earning a few much needed dollars.

As the knitting needles flashed, the talk naturally turned to the past and its glories and from this evolved the idea of a pictorial history of Placentia to be fashioned with needle and thread.

After much discussion a general plan was decided upon and Mrs. Neila Murphy, President of the Guild, was assigned the task of creating the overall design and completing the individual drawings which would then be done in needlework by the group.

Mrs. Murphy's qualifications consisted of drawing lessons in ink and charcoal whilst a pupil of the Irish Sisters and a husband who had a natural aptitude for drawing. Together they worked out the overall design and the detailed drawings to be transferred to the individual squares. The project was then completed by the guild.

The period from the early history of Placentia up to and including the First World War was represented . The central place of honour was naturally assigned to the beautiful War Memorial erected to the memory of forty-two young men of the area-out of a then population of less than six hundred - who had given their lives in the First World War.

The Basque fishermen, the French period, the early Franciscan Church; the fishery, the coming of the railway were each assigned a square. The blue background, together with the cord which framed the quilt, represented sea and sky, the red rose the English, the fleur-de-lye the French, and the harp belonged to the Irish.

Today the historic quilt is a museum piece and a treasured heritage from our past. We of the Placentia area view it not as the work of idle hands, to while away a tedious hour, but as a valiant gesture by a group of women who accepted not defeat, surrendered not to depression but flaunted their banner of courage in the face of the harsh realities of the ugly thirties. Long may their spirit live in Newfoundland!

Katherine M. Murphy

Southeast Placentia

These are the ladies who make the Quilt.

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