NOAD, JOSEPH, public servant and legislator; b. c. 1797 in England; d. 20 Feb. 1873 in Woodstock, Ont.

Nothing is known of Joseph Noad’s background or his career before he arrived in Newfoundland. Just out from England, he was appointed surveyor general of Newfoundland on 20 Aug. 1832. Despite the criticism of a Liberal politician, Dr William Carson*, that Noad had no stake in the colony and could only be interested in his salary and fees, he was appointed by Governor John Harvey* in 1842 to the Executive Council. With the introduction of the new constitution the following year he also became an appointed member of the Amalgamated Legislature [see Kent], from which he resigned in 1845. He continued to sit in the Executive Council until the restoration of the older form of representative government in 1848 ; he was then appointed to the Council, a body that performed both executive and legislative functions by advising the governor and acting as an upper house. On the introduction of responsible government in 1855 Noad, along with other members of the local oligarchy, was forced to resign his government position.

Noad’s major projects as surveyor general were probably street plans for Harbour Grace after the fire of 1832 (Noad Street in that town gets its name from him), and for St John’s after the conflagration of 1846. In 1847 Governor John Gaspard Le Marchant wrote of him that “the zealous and indefatigable manner in which this officer has ever discharged his duties is deserving of the highest praise and encouragement.” That summer Noad accompanied Le Marchant on a cruise along the south and west coasts of Newfoundland. His report of the survey stressed the importance to the colony of the west coast, then included in the French Shore, stating that the fertility of the soil and the valuable fisheries made the area desirable for settlement.

Noad was also a director of the Newfoundland Steam Navigation Company, a member of the St George’s Society, and a leading figure in the small Congregational church to which he had been admitted in 1833. He was twice married. Two sons of his first marriage, both of whom were educated in England, survived him. On 7 July 1835, in St John’s, he married his second wife, Emma Gaden Lilly; they had two daughters and one son. At the time of his forced retirement in 1855 Noad, like most of the other pensioned officials, left Newfoundland. He moved with his family to Woodstock, Upper Canada, where he died a poor man.

Elizabeth A. Wells

Congregational Church (St John’s), John Jones’ journal; register of baptisms. Ontario, Department of Provincial Secretary and Citizenship (Toronto), record of death of Joseph Noad. Oxford County Surrogate Court (Woodstock, Ont.), will of Joseph Noad. PANL, Newfoundland, Dept. of the Colonial Secretary, letter book, August 1830–November 1832, 367; Newfoundland, Governor’s office, Dispatches to the Colonial Office, 1824–58, John Gaspard Le Marchant to Sir Henry George Grey, 27 Aug. 1847. PRO, CO 194/114, 73. St David’s Presbyterian Church (St John’s), Register of interments. Newfoundland, Blue Books, 1838, 1842, 1845, 1847, 1848, 1872 (copies in PANL). The Newfoundland almanack. . 1849 . . . , comp. Philip Tocque (St John’s, 1849). Newfoundland Patriot (St John’s), 28 April 1835, 29 Sept. 1840. Public Ledger (St John’s), 6 Nov. 1840. Royal Gazette (St John’s), 1 Aug. 1843. Times and General Commercial Gazette (St John’s), 2 April 1873. Ethel Canfield, “Record of people and personalities of Woodstock,” unpublished ms in Woodstock Public Library (Woodstock, Ont.). W. E. Cormack, Narrative of a journey across the island of Newfoundland in 1822 (St John’s, 1856), app., “Remarks on part of the western shore of this island by the surveyor general after personal examination in 1847.”

Cite This Article

Elizabeth A. Wells, “NOAD, JOSEPH,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed November 13, 2024, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/noad_joseph_10E.html.

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Permalink:   https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/noad_joseph_10E.html
Author of Article:   Elizabeth A. Wells
Title of Article:   NOAD, JOSEPH
Publication Name:   Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10
Publisher:   University of Toronto/Université Laval
Year of publication:   1972
Year of revision:   1972
Access Date:   November 13, 2024