The first settler on Bell Island in Newfoundland was Gregory Normore (1717-1783) who appears to have emigrated from the Isle of Jersey in the Channel Islands about 1740. He had first came over as a fisherman in 1839 but it was in the winter of 1740 that he built his home on Beach Hill. This hill was on the East End of Bell Island where there was plenty of warm sun and sheltered by high cliffs. In addition to the densely populated spruce, fir and birch and fertile soil, there was also abundant fishing grounds.¹

There is a story written by Addison Bown³³ that is featured on the Bell Island History page of the Bell Island web site. How much of the story is based on fact and how much on folklore remains to be seen. With that statement in mind, if you have not already read this story, please do it now. Click here and close the window to come back here when you're done.

The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador²⁹ may have used Bown's work as its source when it stated that the 'girl' Gregory married was a Miss White, daughter of an English planter, from Carbonear. Susan Squires²⁴ and Ruth Archibald²⁶ report his wife as "Catherine White" while Rev. John Hammond in his book, "Beautiful Isles", listed her as Catherine Cook.¹

Ruth Archibald²⁶ wrote, "The one major problem I have with Bown's speculation involves WHEN he actuually arrived in Newfoundland and when he married "Miss White". You will note that all records of Catherine and Gregory Normore and their children indicate children born in the 1760's - 1780's. It is far more likely that Gregory and Catherine were married closer to 1760. There is some other indication, ... that while Gregory may well have been in Newfoundland for years before, they didn't settle on Bell Island until the 1760's. (This includes the fact that Bell Isle Beach was in possession of the French in 1762.) There is also some evidence that Gregory was in possession of fishing rooms elsewhere around Conception Bay; these may have been bequeathed to the several of his sons who moved away from Bell Island and be clues to the disconnected Normores."

Both Turk³ and Hammond¹ wrote of a fishing room owned by Gregory:

NORMORE, Gregory from Channel Islands, had right to a fishing room in Portugal Cove, NFLD 1769, formerly owned by Thomas HIBBS, who had died.

Bown stated, "From that union came several daughters and five sturdy sons, whose names were Henry, Gregory, Edward, Robert and Oliver." Hammond attributed six sons and only two daughters to Gregory and Catherine:

• Robert [1764-1831]
• Henry [1772-1860]
• Mary
• Ann
• Edward [@1776]
• Oliver
• Thomas [1786]
• Gregory

However, it's extremely likely that the third daughter Bown referred to was Elizabeth. Her story can be reached through the menu box above.

At look at the 1794-95 census of Bell Island shows a Cath. Normore, a landowner born in that country, was a widow with one female child. There were 4 males and 1 male servant. This census does not give names or relationships of other people in the household other than if they were servants. A version of this census at one of the Newfoundland genealogy sites shows one person as a Protestant and the rest Roman Catholic. It runs counter to reason that this land-owning, voting family, which for generations since has been often found in the Church of England, would not be Protestant as in this time and place usually the landowners and wealth were in the hands of the Protestants. Hammond, however, shows this same census data with Catherine's household marked as being all Protestants. Thus, the warnings we've all heard about not believing everything you find on the web is well warranted.

E. R. Seary's book entitled "Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland"³⁵ attributed the name as English. He found many early instances of the Normore name:

• Charles, of Lower Island Cove, 1754
• Thomas Narrowmore of Bay Bulls, 1793
• Catherine Normore, in possession of property, Bell Island, 1794-5, "born in Newfoundland"
• Peregrine, of St. John's. 1800
• Henry, proprietor and occupier of fishing room, Grates Cover Winter 1800-01
• Giles Narmore, of Cutwell Arm (Twillingate district) , 1851
• Normore. of Cann Islands (near Seldom, Foqo district), 1859
• John, fisherman of Sunday Cove Island, 1866"

Bown wrote, "Gregory Normore, the pioneer, died in 1785 and his headstone, made of grey English sandstone imported from the Old Country, is still to be seen in the old Church of England cemetery at a high point of land on the Beach Hill overlooking the ground he was the first to own." [Hover your mouse over the stone to read what it says.]

Some people have commented about the excellent shape that Gregory's headstone is in believing it dating back to his death. It's not that old, however.

Gregory I's death was commented on by a correspondent of Ruth Archibald's²⁶. "Strangely, we have Gregory Normore's headstone, but not one of his wife, Catherine, nee White.  Gregory's stone was brought out from England by his great-grandson, Henry Bennett, a sea captain who settled and died in P. E. I. Henry was your great grandfather Bennett's eldest brother.  So perhaps Gregory's body is buried elsewhere.  Who can tell us?  Intriguing, isn't it?¹⁴" Ruth comments, "This from another Gregory descendent in 1988.  This Henry Bennett's mother was Catherine Normore, a granddaughter of the original Gregory.

"Harbour Grace Anglican Burial Records (1775-1779) as transcribed and posted on Newfoundland Gen Web, lists Gregory Normor(sic) as buried July 16, 1783, Planter in Belisle(sic).   It is unclear from these records whether Gregory was buried at St. Paul's, or simply listed in the records there.  I've found no record in subsequent years of his wife's." ³⁸

Some of the children's descendants have been traced down to this day. The menu on those pages will change to listing the different grandchildren but includes a reference back to this page so you can follow all the family lines.

The Design of the Normore Site
In his major work on Bell Island, Rev. John Hammond¹ presented a family tree for the Normores. That tree is the basis for major content and design of this site which branches to separate pages for each of Gregory and Catherine's children and supporting pages. The Charles that Seary found does not seem to be a child of Gregory and there are a number of seemingly unconnected Normores in Newfoundland. This leads me to suspect that Gregory may have had a brother who followed him to Newfoundland. Thus, in addition to pages for each of Gregory's children, I've created a separate page for 'Disconnected' Normores reachable via the menu box below and in the title area of every page.

Many thanks to Jeannette Wells <wellsj@morgan.ucs.mun.ca> who contributed over 300 names and many references to the content of this page as well as virtually the whole Pippy line came from June (Pippey) Middleton. And, thanks to my newly discovered cousin, Yvonne Kavanagh Stone <george.stone@sympatico.ca>, who showed me the way to discover my Kavanagh/Normore connection and the many others who shared their research with me.

Now, use the menu box below to learn all about the family history of Gregory and Catherine Normore of the Great Bell Island of Newfoundland.