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Thomas Youden arrived in Newfoundland in the early 1820's. He seems to have settled in Brigus, Conception Bay, where he married Elizabeth Hiscock in 1824. After Elizabeth died in 1845, he moved to Bull Cove where the people of the village gave him some land to build a house, and built a school where he taught their children until the 1860's. He also taught navigation to the young men of the area.
Thomas was said to have spoken seven languages. Oral history claims he was a prisoner of the French at Arras, France before he came to Newfoundland. He was supposed to have cut through the bars using the mainspring of his watch to make his escape. After coming to Newfoundland, he became a master mariner. He was captain of the brig "Jane" which carried cargo, until 1845 when he became a teacher. In his later years, he also painted pictures of ships, two of which are in a museum on Duckworth.St. in St. John's.
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