My purpose, in the searches for material which led to the present volume, has been to give as complete an account as it lay in my power to do, of the beginnings and growth of the Canadian post office, with which I was associated for thirty-six years. As my studies progressed, however, I found it would be necessary to widen my field. The Canadian post office did not come into being as an independent organization. It was but the extension into newly-acquired territories, of a system which had been

Beginnings of postal service in former American colonies. Benjamin Franklin relates that when the news reached America in 1763 that peace had been concluded between England and France, he made preparations to visit Canada, for the purpose of extending to it the postal service of the North American colonies, and that the joy bells were still ringing when he left Philadelphia on his journey northward. Franklin has universal fame as a philosopher and statesman, but is perhaps less widely known as o

Colonial post office under Queen Anne's act—Early packet service. For some years various circumstances had been arising which made it necessary that the post office in Great Britain and the colonies should be established on a footing different from that on which it then stood. The legislative union between England and Scotland in 1707 called for a uniform postal service throughout Britain; but without additional legislation the postmaster general of England could not dispose of the revenues of t

Communications in Canada prior to the Conquest—Extension of colonial postal service to Canada—Effects of colonial discontents on post office. Having described the several arrangements, which were made to enable the older British colonists to correspond with the mother country and with one another, we shall now turn to Canada. In the first place an account must be given of the route pursued by the courier, who was shortly to begin regular trips between New York and Montreal. The route is the olde

The post office during the Revolution—Its suppression. But the time was well past when the question as to what was or what was not an allowable tax possessed any but an academic interest. Though the stamp act was repealed a few months after it went into operation, the trouble it aroused was not allayed. The gratitude of the colonists which followed upon the repeal gave way to renewed irritation when it was found that the ministry in London had only postponed, not definitely abandoned, its scheme

Beginnings of exclusively Canadian postal service—Administration of Hugh Finlay—Opening of communication with England by way of Halifax—Postal convention with United States. A point has now been reached, beyond which the sequence of events in the American post office no longer forms an integral part of the narrative. There had, indeed, been no actual postal connection between Canada and the revolted colonies since the beginning of war. Communication between Quebec, Montreal and New York had been

Administration of George Heriot—Extension of postal service in Upper Canada—Irritating restrictions imposed by general post office—Disputes with the administrator of the colony. George Heriot, who succeeded Finlay, had been a clerk in the board of ordinance for many years before his appointment as deputy postmaster general. He was a man of some literary ability, his history of Canada which was published in 1801 being a high-priced item in catalogues of Americana. Of Heriot's zeal and intelligenc

Administration of Daniel Sutherland—Postal service on the Ottawa river, and to eastern townships—Ocean mails. On Heriot's retirement, a number of London merchants who traded to Canada, recommended that the postmaster of Montreal, Daniel Sutherland, be appointed as his successor, and the appointment was made in April 1816. [167] Sutherland entered upon his duties with full knowledge of the postal service in Canada, as he had been postmaster of Montreal since 1807. An effort was made at this time

Postal conditions in Upper Canada—Serious abuses—Agitation for provincial control. To those who have followed the course of events thus far, noting the uncompromising attitude of the general post office towards all propositions for the extension of the postal system in Canada, it will be obvious that a struggle for the means of communication impended, which the rapid growth of the country was fast precipitating. The general post office claimed that it, and it alone, had power to establish a post

Thomas Allen Stayner deputy postmaster general—Restrictions of general post office relaxed—Grievances of newspaper publishers—Opinion of law officers of the crown that postmaster general's stand is untenable—Consequences. Owing to failing health, Sutherland retired from the service in 1827. He was succeeded by his son-in-law, Thomas Allen Stayner, the last of the deputies of the postmaster general of England, and in many respects the most notable. Stayner was brought up in the post office, and a

The beginnings of the postal service in the Maritime provinces—Complaints of newspaper publishers—Reception given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances. Up to this point the narrative since the American Revolution has been confined to Upper and Lower Canada. The Maritime provinces have been mentioned only in so far as it was necessary to describe the means by which the Canadas maintained communication with Great Britain. It is now time to relate the events connected with the beginnings o

Continuance of agitation in the Canadas for control of the post office—Much information obtained by committees of legislatures—Difficulty in giving effect to reforms. The proposals of the British post office for removing the objections to the existing arrangements without endangering the efficiency of the colonial postal system had a very different reception in the assemblies of Upper and Lower Canada from that which they met with in the Maritime provinces. Owing to a general indisposition on th

Durham's report on the post office—Effects of rebellion of 1837 on the service—Ocean steamships to carry the mails—The Cunard contract—Reduction of Transatlantic postage. The long controversy which had agitated the legislatures of the provinces was approaching its end. The decision on the constitutional point was given in their favour, though they did not know it; but the specific thing for which they had contended, they were constrained to relinquish. The Upper Canada legislature which had comm

Diminution of powers of deputy postmaster general—Commission on post office appointed—Its report—Efforts to secure reduction of postal charges. The arrival of Poulett Thomson as governor general marks the passing of the uncontrolled authority of Stayner as administrator of the post office in the Canadas. By the terms of their commissions, the deputies of the postmaster general in the colonies, were responsible to the postmaster general alone for the conduct of the affairs of the post offices wit

Continuation of account of post office in Maritime provinces—Departmental inquiry into conditions—Agitation for reduced postage. The information elicited from Howe by the general post office in London, and the house of assembly of Nova Scotia, in the course of the inquiry as to the financial position of the post office in that province, disclosed matter for considerable surprise to both of them. The general post office learned for the first time that for some years the provincial post office was

Reversal of attitude of British government on post office control—Instructions to Lord Elgin—Provincial postal conference—Control of post office relinquished to colonies. The ministry formed by Lord John Russell, which took office on July 6, 1846, gave its immediate attention to the condition of the post office in the North American colonies, and a few weeks after taking office, Lord Clanricarde, the postmaster general, laid a proposition before the treasury [284] which had for its object the se

Provincial administration of the post office—Reduced postage—Railway mail service—Arrangements with United States. The several provinces took over the post offices within their territories in 1851, Canada on the 6th of April, and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick three months later. The postmaster general of Canada was made a member of the executive council—the provincial cabinet—from the beginning. The postmaster general of Nova Scotia was never a member of the council, but administered the departm

Canadian ocean mail service—Want of sympathy of British government therewith. The progress of the Cunard line had a consequence which was neither anticipated nor welcomed by the British government. The plan of the government to concentrate its transatlantic communications on Halifax had been given a thorough trial and had proven a failure, and as the expressed wish of the Canadians to have their correspondence with the mother country exchanged at either Boston or New York coincided with the inte

Canadian ocean mail service ( cont. )—Series of disasters to Allan line steamers. The year 1859 was a notable one in the history of transportation in Canada. In May, the steamers of the Allan line commenced their weekly trips between Liverpool and Quebec. In November, the completion of the Victoria Bridge over the St. Lawrence carried the lines of the eastern division of the Grand Trunk into Montreal, thus connecting by uninterrupted railway communication the cities of Quebec and Portland with t

Postal service of Manitoba, the North-West provinces and British Columbia—Summary of progress since Confederation. When Sir Adams Archibald, the first lieutenant governor of the newly-formed province of Manitoba, reached Winnipeg in the summer of 1870 for the purpose of taking over his government, he made a survey of the administrative system which he found there. The postal arrangements were very simple. [313] There were but four post offices in the province, and three mail routes. The principa

The post office in Newfoundland. The position of Newfoundland, as regards postal requirements, was very similar to that of the other colonies situated on the Atlantic seaboard. The social and commercial relations of the island were almost exclusively with the mother country, and the trade was from an early period very considerable. A number of vessels sailed each year from the ports of Great Britain to those of the colony, which provided the means for the interchange of correspondence. On this s