Halliday’s Farm, St. John’s
Original 18″x30″ acrylic painting.
I was given the privilege by retired RNC Sergeant Jim Penton to recreate a little piece of lost Newfoundland history and bring back to life as a painting this no longer existing structure: Halliday’s Farm, Nagle’s Hill, St. John’s.
Poking around in the farm’s past, I made a few on-site visits for photos and to create sketches, plans and elevations to visualize the barn before finalizing it as a finished painting!
Jim spent his summers there as a young boy courtesy of his uncle Bill Halliday, who was William Cabot Halliday’s son. Working closely with Jim and with Cliff Halliday and sons (of Halliday’s Meat Market), and armed with a handful of photographs and many interesting stories, we managed to recreate the barn that overlooked St. John’s in the early 1960’s before the sprawl of the city surrounded the Confederation Building (seen in the background).
Site Plan & Elevations (South & West).
The barn was built for the Hallidays circa 1941 by the family of Garland Clarke and his father Stephen and sons.
The wood used for the barn’s construction was cut off the land in the area. A mill was set up close to the location of the barn where all the lumber that was used could be milled. The Clarke family stayed on the site of construction in a small bunk house they had built, and they had all their meals provided by Mrs. Mary Halliday, (wife of the barn owner William Cabot Halliday).
Rough Concept Sketch.
At age 7, William Cabot Halliday (1896-1972) lost his father. With the financial backing of family and friends he took over the barn at age 14, an amazing endeavour for such a young man!
The farm operation housed a variety of livestock including: horses, pigs, sheep, and of course cows for both beef and dairy. These were sold through their first Butcher Shop on Plymouth Road, St. John’s, and then later at the present location on the corner of 103 Gower Street and King’s Road, where Halliday’s Meat Market continues to operate today. (In 2014 CBC’s Land & Sea did a feature on Halliday’s Meats in recognition of it’s 100th year of operation).
The civic address of the barn is 434 Allandale Road. (The road was originally called Upper Long Pond Road, then Nagle’s Hill, and is now currently Allandale Road). The barn was eventually torn down in the early 1990s.
Final Layout Concept Sketch.
This wonderful and personal information comes courtesy of Mrs. Betty Wood, daughter of William Cabot Halliday.
Thank you so much Betty for this great glimpse into times past!
This painting is available as a 16″x 23.75″ Limited Edition Giclée of 10 in total.
For more info or to purchase please click here.
3 thoughts to “Halliday’s Farm, Nagle’s Hill, St. John’s, NL”
Beautiful.
I remember going to the farm with my dad and sister, and my sister was twirling around and fell right into the trough. Then we would help by placing the cardboard into the milk jugs. Good memories.
I heard a few great stories of this farm while I was working on this piece. I’m really happy to hear the painting brought back some great memories for you Marilyn. Thanks for sharing that with me!