Nova Scotia Archives

African Nova Scotians in the Age of Slavery and Abolition

Edward 'Ned' Beals, Preston

Ned Beals (sometimes known as 'Sky') was a pedlar and handyman, walking to the city to sell his goods and find odd jobs. Beals was a popular subject for both professional and amateur photographers. Photos of him reflect a kindly and genial nature. Despite, or perhaps in part because of this, he was sometimes treated unkindly. According to J.P. Martin (The Story of Dartmouth, 1957), Beals was on one occasion so cruelly taunted by a street gang that he threw a rock through a plate glass window on Portland Street in hurt and bewildered retaliation.

Date: [ca. 1890]

Photographer: George H. Craig

Credit: Dartmouth Heritage Museum

Reference: George H. Craig Photograph Collection, 1885 - 1894 Dartmouth Heritage Museum image number A562; accession number 92.7.189

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