Abram Kean Jr.

Abram Kean (July 8, 1855 – May 18, 1945) was a Newfoundland sealing captain and politician. He was a renowned sealer who captured over a million pelts during his career. Kean is most famous for his role in the 1914 SS Newfoundland sealing disaster. Born in Flowers Island, Kean embarked upon a career in the Newfoundland cod fishery at the age of 18, but quickly shifted his interests to the seal fishery. He was twice elected to the Newfoundland House of Assembly in 1885 and 1897, and he briefly served as the acting Minister of Marine and Fisheries under Premier James S. Winter. Although Kean's career on the ice was remarkably successful, it also came with controversy. His crews were accused of stealing seal pelts from other vessels during the 1898 SS Greenland disaster. In 1914, Kean, as the master of the SS Stephano, ordered 132 wayward sealers from the SS Newfoundland to finish the seal hunt and return to their vessel despite an ongoing storm. Kean was acquitted of responsibility by a government inquiry, but his reputation was greatly damaged. After an attempted return to the House of Assembly in 1919, Kean was appointed to the Legislative Council of Newfoundland in 1927, where he served until it was abolished in favour of a commission of government. He retired from the seal fishery in 1936 before dying in St. John's in 1945.