Friday, April 15, 2011

Looking for former light keepers at Swallowtail and photos


Colourful sky behind Swallowtail Light at sunset January 3, 2011

We were successful in being awarded a grant from Heritage Canada Legacy Fund in April.  This grant is dedicated to the former lightkeepers at Swallowtail Light on Grand Manan Island and will involve returning the brass fog bell to the peninsula this summer, upgrading the trails, parking and installing a winch for the stairs. 

The one problem we have is a gap in our knowledge of all of the light keepers and assistant light keepers who have worked at Swallowtail Light.  We are also interested in getting copies of any photographs of the former keepers that can be added to the historical display we are developing.

Please let us know if you have anything that might be of help.

2 comments:

  1. my mother, marjorie grossman (nee mallock) has ties to swallowtail. she is now 83 and spent her childhood on GM and Swallowtail. Her mother was from GM (Ethel Claire Lahey) and Ethel's parents were Daniel and Rose Lahey, I believe. My mother remembers her grandfather's store on the island when she was a child and I think he was involved with the lighthouse keeping. My mother is an only child, so we dont have much information. I dont know if you have information on the Lahey's and their involvement with swallowtail or not.

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  2. George Lahey was one of the keepers and ran a store while he was light keeper, working by day at the store and at night at Swallow Tail. We celebrated his work with the return of the bronze fog bell in 2012. http://swallowtailkeepers.blogspot.ca/2012/07/july-7-flag-raising-and-bell-ringing.html
    We are still looking for more detail of keepers from the late 1940s to the 1950s.

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