Baltimore's Mansion

R.G. Moyles is professor emeritus of English at the University of
Alberta, the co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities:
British Views of Canada, 1880–1914, and the author of The Salvation
Army and the Public.

The title of this book refers to the beginnings of the town Ferryland,
Newfoundland, where Wayne Johnston was born. In 1621, Lord Baltimore,
having been granted land in Newfoundland, established his colony in
“Avalon” and at Ferryland built a stone house (the “mansion”) as
a governor’s residence. The history of the town is a fascinating one,
as is the history of Wayne Johnston’s family.

Johnston, a brilliant writer, invests his family’s story with
mystery, intrigue, drama, and poignancy. The implacable anticonfederacy
of Johnston’s father is the unifying theme. The reader is entertained
by the author’s enormous gift for storytelling and enlightened by what
his book reveals about the referendum, the fishery, and other essentials
of life in Newfoundland. Johnston’s greatest strength, however, lies
in his ability to evoke the universal through the particular.