Cape Breton's Magazine

George Leonard & the Fish Business From a Conversation about Buying Fish, from Dingwall to Port Hawkesbury (Was it your grandfather or your great? grandfather who would be the first person in your family involved in the fish busi? ness here?) George Leonard: Oh well, our people go back to United Empire Loyalists, of course. They were the first draft dodgers. I guess! They left New England because they didn't want to fight against the king, the English king. As you know, the United Empire Loyalists settled--Saint John River Valley, and a lot of Ontario, parts of Quebec. And our crowd went from New England down Deer Island, in the Bay of Fundy. It's called Leonardville after them. And they became seafaring people. And of course, sea captains. There's a lot of them buried in the cemetery in Leonard? ville. So they tell me. I've never seen it, but I've seen pictures.... And they just carried on and were involved in seamen and sea captains, and eventually got into the fishing industry. In the first place--my grandfather moved into Saint John, New Brunswick, and they set up an operation in Saint John, which expanded into Montreal. And then eventual ly he ended up with a I great big j plant in Port Hawkesbury of all places. My fa? ther used to say the two big plants in North Sydney would fit inside it. And I have pictures of it, and it's a tremen? dous big plant. Which eventually burned down in the 1930's. But before that my father and his brother moved down here (to North Sydney)-- I would think it would have been in the very early 1920's, or just after the First World War. And my un? cle, my father's brother, went to Sydney. And they had a re? tail/wholesale outlet on the Esplanade. And then my father had a small plant here in North Sydney. Which gradually expanded and Left: George's grandfather, W. F. Leo- went to two or three differ- nard, 1853-1946. A company logo reads ''' locations. And the larg- "''Tr,''!.''."''' .'''' '.'Tk est location was down behind pickled fish, Leonard's extra salted her- , ', ''., t -u *.x. ring, and Leonard's finnan haddles." ''at' s now the library, the Bird Island Tours RESERVATIONS SUGGESTED 1-800-661-6680 TOURS 7 DAYS A WEEK July 1 - August 28: 9 AM & 10 AM & 1:30 PM August 29 - September 25: Seal & Eagle Tours 10 AM September 26 - October 15: Fall Colour Tours 10 AM Along our rugged coast, masmsEm'sEES A 2 1/2 HOUR CRUISE FROM MOUNTAIN VffiW BY THE SEA Camping and Cabins 4 miles off Trans-Canada Hwy. (Route 105) 339 BIG BRAS D'OR • (902) 674-2384 69