Isaac Randell Explained

Honorific Prefix:The Honourable Captain
Isaac Randell
Birth Name:Isaac Robert Randell
Birth Date:15 February, 1871
Birth Place:Port Rexton, Newfoundland
Death Date:15 January, 1942
Death Place:St. John's, Dominion of Newfoundland
Nationality:Newfoundlander
Occupation:Master mariner, businessman, politician
Known For:Commanding the rescue ship, SS Bellaventure, during the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster.
Member of the House of Assembly for Trinity
Term:1923 - 1928
Predecessor:Archibald Targett
Successor:Frederick Gordon Bradley
Party:Liberal Reform, Liberal-Progressive
Mother:Mary Fowlow
Father:Capt. John Randell Sr.
Relatives:Robert Fowler (1st Cousin)

Isaac Robert Randell (February 15, 1871  - January 15, 1942) was a mariner and politician in Newfoundland. He represented Trinity in the Newfoundland House of Assembly from 1923 to 1928.

The son of John Randell and Mary Fowlow, he was born in Port Rexton and was educated there and at the Navigation School in St. John's. He left school at a young age to work with his father in the Labrador fishery. He earned his mate's certificate in 1892 and his master's certification in 1895. Randell was first given command of a ship in 1895. He later commanded vessels engaged in Arctic exploration for the government of Canada.

Randell was commander of the Bellaventure which rescued 420 members of the crew of the SS Newfoundland who had survived what is now known as the 1914 sealing disaster. The men had endured two nights of freezing rain and blowing snow on the North Atlantic ice fields without shelter or food. One of the rescued men died shortly afterwards in St. John's where the survivors had been brought for medical care. The crew of the Bellaventure also recovered the bodies of 69 men who had not survived the ordeal.[1] [2]

Randell joined A.H. Murray and Co. in 1920, was their agent in Brazil for 14 months and later became a director for the firm.

In 1903, he married Effie Beatrice Taylor. The couple had two sons and five daughters.[3]

Randell was first elected to the Newfoundland assembly in 1923 and was reelected in 1924. He was named to the Legislative Council of Newfoundland in 1931. He died in St. John's in 1942.[4]

Ship's Commanded

Notes and References

  1. Newfoundland Spring Sealing Disasters to 1914 . Ryan . Shannon . Canadian Nautical Research Society . The Northern Mariner . III . 3 . 15–48 . July 1993.
  2. Web site: The 1914 Sealing Disaster . Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage . Memorial University.
  3. Book: Who's who in and from Newfoundland . 1927 . 274.
  4. Encyclopedia: Randell, Isaac Robert. . 520 .