Newfoundland Rangers
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The Newfoundland Rangers, a defunct police force of the pre-confederation dominion of Newfoundland instituted in 1935. The force were disbanded on July 31, 1950, and most of the officers became Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers.
The Newfoundland Commission decided to model the Newfoundland Ranger force on the RCMP and not the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary which at the time were in operation at St. John's. The recruits had to be single, between the age of 21 to 28, have attained Grade 11, stand at least 5 feet 9 inches tall and weigh not more than 185 lbs. Training was administered by a staff sergeant on loan from the Canadian Government. The uniforms were similar to the RCMP and they were armed with .38 Colt revolvers.
The force was recommended by Deputy Minister of Justice Brian Dunfield in 1932 to the Amulree Commission. The Newfoundland Constabulary was to remain as the police force for the major centers on the Avalon and Bonavista peninsulas while the Rangers would service remote areas of the island and Labrador.
The force was placed under the Department of Natural Resources and the first person chosen as Chief Ranger was Leonard T. Stick, an officer of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. [1] The force did not recruit any female officers and had reached a maximum contingent of 72 members. The uniform, although similar to the RCMP consisted of a khaki tunic and breeches with a brown stripe, fur caps as winter attire. The dress uniform was of blue serge and accompanied by swords. The crest was of a caribou head inscribed with the motto ubique, meaning everywhere.
The former estate of Sir Robert Bond, the Grange, located at Whitbourne was used as training facilities. Amongst the training in law enforcement they were also trained in how to record vital statistics and submit monthly reports. They were responsible for carrying out policies of six government departments;
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- Department of Finance, collection of customs duties and other fees and act as wreck commissioners. [1]
- Department of Natural Resources, inspection of logging camps, enforcement of game laws, issuing game licenses and directing the fighting of forest fires. [1]
- Department of Public Health and Welfare, issuing relief payments, arranging medical treatment and hospitalization and escorting mental patients to hospital in St. John's. [1]
- Department of Justice, enforcement of criminal law, investigation of suspicious deaths and in some areas acted as deputy sheriffs. [1]
- Department of Home Affairs and Education, acted as truant officers and organized adult education programs. [1]
- Department of Public Utilities, supervising the maintenance and construction of public roads, wharves and breakwaters. [1]
Harold Horwood's novel White Eskimo is based upon Frank Mercer, a Ranger who in 1936 travelled across the Kiglapait Mountains in the middle of the winter to investigate a murder and retrieve the body back to headquarters, a feat that was celebrated in the media of the time. Dean Bragg made a similar feat when he traveled over 140 miles to the interior of Labrador and back to investigate a plane crash. In Earl Prilgrim's novel Will Anyone Search for Danny? gives an account of Dan Corcoran who had left his detachment at Harbour Deep to go to Port Saunders and became lost and eventually found many days later.
Chief Rangers who had served with the force;
- Major Leonard Stick, 1935 - 1936
- Fred Anderton, 1936 - 1939
- E.W. Greenley, 1939 temporary replacement for a few months
- Ray D. Fraser, 1939 - 1944
- Edward LeDrew Martin, 1944 - 1950
The force was called upon to attend political meetings and also act as observers and during the 1948 referendum they operated the poling stations. A lasting tribute to the Rangers is a poem that appeared in the Ranger Bulletin (No.6, 1943) entitled Courtesy is the Best Policy, it reads in part:
To be a real policeman
Be big and strong by heck
But let the strength be always found
Just above the neck.
