Thomas Hynes

Thomas Hynes (circa 1831 - 1908) was a Newfoundland fisherman, protester and fugitive who came to prominence in his defiance of the Newfoundland Bait Acts. Upon his death, Hynes was described as "well known" and the "most industrious man."

Biography Hynes was born in the tiny Newfoundland town of English Harbour East in Fortune Bay circa 1831 to Thomas Hynes and Elizabeth Saunders.

On 2 February 1867, he was married to Rebecca Pittman at Oderin. Sometime after the family moved to Bay L'Argent, Fortune Bay, where he lived the remainder of his life. He owned the ships 'Victory' built in 1879 and 'Rising Sun' built in 1888.

Defiance of the Bait Act In 1891, Hynes rose to prominence in Newfoundland when he was a ringleader in the defiance of the ill-fated Newfoundland Bait Act. In the spring of 1891, militarized government ships with several constables blocked the entrance to Fortune Bay and St. Pierre preventing the fishermen to set sail and sell their bait to foreign entities.

In the midst of the chaos that was ensuing in Fortune Bay, constables aboard the S.S. Fiona, manned by Captain James Francis McGrath, Hynes was a skilled escape artist who "always managed to outwit" the policemen Together they were taken by the S.S. Conscript to St. John's for arraignment. Meanwhile, rumours amongst the population of St. John's, the capital city of Newfoundland, began to persist that the fishermen of Fortune Bay were being beaten and ill-treated by law enforcement over their defiance of the bait act. This caused significant unrest and protest to happen in the city and as the trial wore on in May 1891, pressure began to mount on the Government of Newfoundland to release the prisoners. Eventually, seven were found not guilty with only Hynes and another man named William Stewart, who was not captured, being found guilty and released on bail. Soon after, the Bait Act enforcement began to unravel due to the public pressure and support of Hynes and the other fishermen.

Death Hynes, a fisherman by trade, died while working in his occupation on board the same ship that captured him 17 years prior, the S.S. Virginia Lake (formerly the S.S. Conscript), in Burin, Newfoundland. frame|center|S.S. Virginia Lake (previously S.S. Conscript) between 1888 and 1909