The True Story of a Welsh Godfather
Episode 7
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The Godfather’s time in Newfoundland became the basis for his wealth and power. With his skill in negotiating with governments and his ruthless business methods, he was establishing his position as founder of his own mafia family.
Williams was born at 46 George Street, Cardiff, Wales, his parents’ home, and was the youngest son of Silas and Mary Williams. He was one of eight children and known as “Jack” within the family. He left school at age 14 in 1900 and entered the timber-exporting business.
“J.O.” as he was usually known, became a commercial clerk at the age of fifteen, as did two of his brothers, Hiram and Arthur. This experience was the background for at least two other logging, trading, and shipping agency companies he set up.
In 1908, at 22 years of age, he worked for Evans and Reed, Cardiff coal exporters and importers of pit-props. In 1914, during the First World War, he worked in the Baltic area, and in August of that year, he went to Montreal, spending September to December 1914 in the Dominion of Newfoundland. In 1921 he obtained a loan from Franklin Thomas and Company of Cardiff to develop his business interests, setting up the J. O. Williams Company.
J.O. also had shares in the British and North American Trading Company but lost a great deal of money when it went bankrupt. In the future, J.O. was careful to use other people’s (and government) money to fund his business expansion.
J.O.’s Big Break
His big break came when on board the S.S. Sylvia sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia to St John’s, Newfoundland.
Williams discussed his ambitions with Sir John Hope Simpson, the Commissioner of Natural Resources and Acting Commissioner of Justice 1934–36, and Thomas Lodge, Commissioner of Public Utilities from 1934–1937. He won them over with his enthusiasm, optimism and experience and convinced them he was just the sort of entrepreneurial man they were looking for.
For their part, they could not believe their good luck in having met him. They viewed Williams as somebody who could help them make an impact in their new posts. Lodge described Williams to the Dominions Office in London as 1/3 visionary, 1/3 speculator and 1/3 businessman.
Nevertheless, time would tell that Simpson and Lodge had made a grave error of judgment about entering into a business relationship with Williams. They believed he had deliberately misled them and was only interested in ensuring the business would benefit the mafia family he was creating.
Both Simpson and Lodge would sometimes have difficulty in distancing themselves from Williams. He had manoeuvred them into positions where they had to accept how he intended running the Labrador Development Company.
He was too charismatic and ruthless a businessman for them to ever have a chance of controlling him. They were both gaining financially from working with him. In that sense, they too were part of this extended mafia family. A mafia family is not solely comprised of blood relatives.
J.O. starts business in Port Hope Simpson.
In June 1934 the first party of managerial and administrative staff landed at the site on the Alexis River. Williams had hired 520 men, including southern Inuit men from nearby communities and unemployed men from the island of Newfoundland who came on government passes to work.
Williams showed that some sort of permanent employment in addition to the cod fishery was possible in the area. Even though he brought the southern Inuit and other workers together, most Newfoundlanders did not stay for more than two or three years. It was reported that there were almost 70 families in Port Hope Simpson in 1934.
The government’s view was that Williams was helping to “develop” Newfoundland by creating jobs for those who would otherwise be unemployed. They thought he was working in the interests of the Newfoundland economy.
Things start to go wrong for J.O.
Workers were paid from $1.75 to $2.00 per cord (48 to 55-cent/m³) of pit-props, using a bucksaw for 12 hours per day. They were put on rations of mostly beans and porridge and bought deteriorating food at high prices from the company store.
Men had to go out hunting to obtain sufficient food for themselves and their families. Many of the non-Inuit, not accustomed to the way of life, came with dreams of prosperity. They soon realised that conditions were the same as in the fishery sector. They were always in debt! Eventually forcing most of them to move back to other parts of Newfoundland.
By 26 July 1934, 225 lumbermen of the Labrador Development Company had already returned to St John’s. Although the men were keen to work, they found poor accommodation and little food.
Williams prohibited any buying and selling outside his store and controlled food prices. However, one enterprising local did bring a boatload of goods upriver to Port Hope Simpson, moored offshore and proceeded to do a brisk trade before he was stopped.
Williams’ son, Eric, was sent out to report on the selling of goods by employees and ordered that those goods be returned to St John’s. No-one would be allowed to compete against William’s monopolistic high prices.
Blind eyes are turned.
Police Superintendent O’Neil had investigated the complaints of the 225 lumbermen but declared that there were no valid grounds for their grievances.
Although that appears to be a biased conclusion, it is understandable given that the government’s concern was to get people into work, whatever the conditions. It was admitted that the preparations for the 500 men were totally inadequate when they arrived, but J.O. was never reprimanded for that.
J.O. knew he was holding all the cards in this game. He was aware that any criticism of him would reflect adversely on those in the UK and Newfoundland who had not carried out any due diligence on his plans, actions and previous business background.
A Company Town is Born.
Large-scale commercial development of the woods around Alexis and Lewis Bays for the export of pit-props to South Wales had begun. By the winter of 1935, building development at Port Hope Simpson only consisted of a community hall and a seven-room medical clinic. A general store, a hall — also used as a church and a school — had also been erected at adjacent Mill Point Cove.
