In 1952, Maritime National sold the vessel to Zwicker and Company Limited, Lunenburg. More than 120 men served on board the vessel, between 1938 and 1966, under the commands of Captain Knickle, Captain Jack Mills and Captain Harry Oxner. Many of the fishermen were from small communities in Atlantic Canada including Blue Rocks and Bayport in Nova Scotia and Beaumont, Poole's Cove and St. Bernard's in Newfoundland.
Theresa E. Connor was built for fresh fish, the catch was originally packed in ice, rather than salt. In later years the salt fish trade was pursued. When fishing, the hold was often dark with very little light filtering down from above the deck. The hold of Theresa E. Connor was constructed to contain 425,000 pounds of fish.
Theresa E. Connor continued to fish, using double dories, well into the age of modern trawlers. In May 1963, Captain Harry Oxner prepared the schooner for one final trip to the Banks. With a few local fishermen, he set sail for Fortune Bay, Newfoundland to get the remainder of his crew. The trip was cut short when Captain Oxner was unable to get the additional crew for the salt fishing trip.
The schooner spent the rest of 1963 fishing with cod traps in the Labrador fishery. From 1963 to 1966 Theresa E. Connor fished for Zwicker and Company in a reduced capacity.
The Lunenburg Marine Museum Society purchased Theresa E. Connor and opened the vessel to the public in 1967. Mrs. Roland Hurst, daughter of Mrs. Theresa Eleanor Connor, officially opened the Museum on July 23.
Little did they know in 1938 then that it would be the last of the saltbank schooners to operate from the port of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Theresa E. Connor represents a way of life for generations of fishermen along the Atlantic coast. But it not just known for just being the “last” working fishing schooner but is also known for being the first floating museum in Canada as of 1967.
Theresa E. Connor is the flagship of the Museum, a unique symbol of our fishing heritage. An authentic reminder of an age of schooner fishing that lasted for almost one hundred years in Atlantic Canada.
