Asset name:

Arthur PATEY (Coffin Man)

Description:

Arthur PATEY (Pateyville Arthur) was originally a salter, which means he salted all the fish they caught. If they caught eight or nine hundred quintals of fish, he salted them. He was born in St Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada on 24 Mar 1882 to Uriah Patey (Peatey) and Jessie Clarke. Arthur PATEY had 7 children. He passed away on 8 Jul 1956 in St Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Arthur Patey was the coffin man. If anyone died in St. Anthony, he made their coffin. The coffins were made to perfection: he'd measure the corpse and he'd make the coffin to fit. He could make a coffin, my son! You'd see him going up the road with his stick. He'd used the stick to measure coffins, to see how long he wanted them. He was the undertaker; he'd do it all. He'd lay the people out in the box, and he'd make the boxes good and tight. He had special lumber on hand; it was nice and wide. The coffins weren't made straight like a box; they were usually broad at the top and tapering at the foot. They had handles and were all padded inside. They had a special cotton material over them, which was usually purple or sometimes brown, and some coffins had a breastplate on them.

Attributes:

Intangible Cultural Heritage
Cultural Occupation
Space and/or Facility

Great Northern Peninsula culture

Art, Health

Community

St. Anthony

Source

SABRI Oral History Project, 2009 (St. Anthony)
Source 2
Source 3