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 side but one thing was needed--a fixed place in St. Johns at
which letters for despatch by outgoing vessels could be deposited, and
at which captains on their arrival could deliver the letters with which
they had been entrusted in Great Britain.
The first post office was established in 1806 by Sir Erasmus Gower, who
appointed Simon Solomon postmaster. The governor communicated with the
secretary of the general post office, who though not prepared to include
Newfoundland in the British postal system, promised to forward all
letters addressed to the island, by the first outgoing vessels. Three
years later, the number of merchants settled at Brigus, Harbour Grace
and Carbonear on Conception Bay made necessary an arrangement, by which
the letters reaching St. John for any of those places were forwarded to
their destination by any vessels which might be going thither.
The charge on letters passing through the London post office to
Newfoundland was one shilling and threepence, if conveyed to Halifax by
packet, and eightpence, if sent by private vessel, to which sums was
added the postage from the place in Great Britain at which the letter
was deposited, to London. There can be little doubt that but a small
proportion of the correspondence passing between Newfoundland and Great
Britain was exchanged by these expensive means. Advantage would be taken
of the departure of any vessel, to place the letters in charge of the
captain, who would collect the sum of a penny or twopence for each
letter from the person to whom he delivered them at the port of
arrival.
The course of post within the island was also very expensive. The owners
of sailing vessels running between St. John's and ports on Conception
Bay collected a shilling for each single letter they delivered.
Governor Cochrane, in 1826, appealed to the postmaster general in London
to establish a regular post office in St. John's, in order that his
despatches from the colonial office might reach him with security.
Failing that, he asked that the despatches might be sent, to a company
in London, which was in constant communication with Newfoundland.
The chamber of commerce of St. John's, in 1836, presented a memorial to
the colonial office, asking that the sailing packets running between
Falmouth and Halifax might call at St. John's on their voyages. But the
governor, in forwarding the memorial, deprecated the application, on
account of the fogs and gales which prevail on those coasts, and the
ignorance of the sailing masters regarding the localities. The admiralty
refused to entertain the application.
With the establishment in 1840 of the Cunard steamship line to run
between Halifax and Liverpool, and the inauguration of the scheme to
make the Nova Scotia port the distributing centre for the mails for all
parts of North America, provision was made for a sailing vessel of not
less than 120 tons to leave Halifax for St. John's in connection with
the steamer arriving at Halifax, and the post office at St. John's was
incorporated into the imperial system. The postmaster, Simon Solomon,
who had died in December 1839, was succeeded by his son, William Lemon
Solomon, and the latter was placed on the pay-roll of the general post
office with a salary of L100 per annum.
Governor Prescott gave his attention to the inland post office and
endeavoured to have established a regular colonial system, but the
assembly to which he directed his recommendation did not act upon it.
The governor had, however, managed to secure to the postmaster some
regular compensation for his services in attending to the exchanges on
the island.
There was at this period a communication every second day with the ports
of Brigus, Harbour Grace and Carbonear, by a sailing vessel, which
carried passengers and letters. The postmaster received a payment of
sixpence each upon all letters, and twopence on all newspapers received
from other places, and twopence each upon letters despatched from his
office. This brought him an income of between L30 and L40 a year.
The establishment of the post office and its peremptory intervention in
the exchange of communications between the merchants of St. John's and
their correspondents abroad was a novelty, which was not wholly welcomed
in that city. Although the post office had been at their service for
thirty-five years, it was without official authority to claim exclusive
right to the transmission of correspondence. The merchants could use it
or not as suited their convenience.
There were few communities that could dispense with the benefits of a
post office more easily than St. John's. The merchants all did business
on Water Street, and their warehouses looked out on the harbour;
consequently the arrival or departure of a vessel was known to every
person interested, and letters could be placed in the hands of an
outgoing captain or received from one who had just arrived, with the
least possible inconvenience. They could be delivered up to the last
moment before the vessel left the harbour, and received as soon as it
had been made fast at the docks.
The necessary formalities of a post office proved inexpressibly irksome
to the merchants of St. John's, and Solomon was made to feel the
irritations of their impatience. He seems to have been one of those
officials who make much of the functions of their offices. He delighted
in the parti-coloured pencils, which his regulations prescribed. He was
indignant with the merchants, who could not be made to understand why he
used a red pencil to indicate that a letter had been prepaid, and a blue
one to show the receiving postmaster in England that the postage had not
been paid. All the trappings dear to the accountant's soul, were to them
merely hindrances to the prompt posting and receiving of their letters.
Then there were difficulties of another sort. One of the merchants was
notified that there was a packet in the post office for him, on which
postage to the amount of five shillings and threepence was due. He, at
first, refused to accept the packet, declaring that it could only
contain newspapers, but, yielding to curiosity, he took it, and finding
his surmise to be correct, endeavoured to return the packet to the
postmaster, declining to pay the postage. The postmaster reported the
case to England for instructions. He was told that the acceptance of the
parcel carried with it the necessity on the part of the merchant of
paying the postage, but whether the postmaster succeeded in bringing the
recalcitrant merchant to a sense of his obligation is not recorded.
The postal situation in Newfoundland remained unchanged until 1848, when
Elgin, the governor general, of the British North American provinces
announced to the government of the island, that the British government
had decided to grant autonomy to the several administrations in the
colony, and called a conference in Montreal to settle the questions
arising from this concession.
Newfoundland was not represented at the conference, but the decisions
adopted and the course taken by the other colonies stimulated the
Newfoundland government to establish a postal system within the island.
On April 26, 1850, a committee of the assembly was appointed to inquire
into the subject. That the question had been fully discussed before this
action was taken by the assembly is evident from the fact that three
days later the report of the committee was presented to the house.
The interval between the time of its appointment and the date on which
it made its report precluded the committee from making anything like
exhaustive inquiries. They were satisfied, however, from the information
they had obtained as to the volume of correspondence passing to and from
the ports of Conception Bay, that a scheme would be practicable for
establishing a system, which should carry postal facilities to the
principal settlements as far north as Twillingate and as far as Gaultois
on the south-west coast. They were encouraged to make the proposition by
the rapid progress made by the post office at St. John's during the
eight years of its operation. The revenue of this office had increased
from L595 in 1841 to L1545 in 1849.
The committee proposed as an interim measure that the stipendiary
magistrates in the ports at which post offices should be established,
might be called upon to act as postmasters in those places. The
foundation of the service to the north would be a conveyance by
messenger from St. John's to Portugal Cove. From this point, a sailing
vessel would carry the mails to Brigus, Harbour Grace and Carbonear;
from Carbonear, a messenger would cross the peninsula to Heart's Content
on Trinity Bay; a sailing vessel would serve Trinity and Catalina on the
other side of the bay, and from the latter point a messenger would
continue the transmission to Bonavista. From Bonavista, the mails would
be carried to the outermost points of the system, Greenspond, King's
Cove, Cat Harbour, Fogo and Twillingate, by vessel and messenger. It was
estimated that the several services within this part of the system would
cost L575 a year.
To the south, there would be couriers down the coast to Trepassey,
serving Ferryland on the way; and to Placentia, by way of Salmonier and
St. Mary's; thence on to Gaultois with stopping places at Burin and
Garnish. The southern route should be covered for L325 a year. These
routes would displace services by vessel to Placentia, Bonavista and
Fogo, as well as couriers to Ferryland and St. Mary's, which with
expenses for the incidentals were a charge of L520 upon the colony. It
was expected that the improved services proposed would provide
travelling accommodation for the judges, school inspectors and other
officials, and by the savings thus effected, the increased outlay for
the postal system would be largely made up.
In the following year (1851) an act was passed by the legislature
providing L1000 for the establishment and maintenance of the inland post
office proposed by the committee. The appointment of all postmasters was
vested in the governor, and the management of the system was to be
placed in the hands of the postmaster of St. John's. His salary was to
be L75 a year (doubtless in addition to the L100 sterling, which he held
under his imperial appointment), the postmasters of Harbour Grace and
Carbonear were to receive, each, L15 a year, and the other postmasters
L10.
The postage on letters passing anywhere within the island was fixed at
threepence per half ounce; and on books, twopence where the weight did
not exceed six ounces, and threepence on greater weights up to sixteen
ounces. The scheme outlined came into operation on October 15, 1851.
The first report of the postmaster general was a serious disappointment.
The total receipts for the year amounted to no more than L52 2_s._
11_d._, and this amount was received entirely from St. John's and the
three offices on Conception Bay. Letters, on which postage somewhat
under L6 was due, were sent to other offices, but not one penny was
collected upon them. The committee of the assembly which examined the
accounts inclined to the opinion that the postal system might, for the
time, be restricted to the offices on Conception Bay.
Solomon was rather alarmed by these expressions of the committee, and in
his next report he dealt, in some fulness, with the peculiar
difficulties that attended the establishment of a postal system in the
colony. No very great regularity, he declared, could be anticipated
while the couriers were retarded by the marshy and swampy nature of the
roads on the most important lines. Under the most favourable
circumstances, their journeys were made over mere tracks or footpaths,
while the less frequented routes lay through wilds where neither roads
nor paths had been formed and where unbridged rivers and streams had to
be crossed, the couriers being often obliged to wade to a considerable
depth, exposed to strong, rapid currents.
The postmaster general acknowledged that it was on his advocacy of the
system that Delaney, the chairman of the committee, introduced the
subject into the assembly. He was under no illusions as to the rapid
growth of the revenue; his object was to secure to the inhabitants, who
were excluded for the greater part of every year from the advantage of
communication with the capital, a ready means of maintaining intercourse
with the centre of the social and commercial life of the island. He was
encouraged by the increasing revenue to believe that his efforts were
being crowned with success.
The step the committee feared might be forced upon them was not taken.
On the contrary, the postal system was extended liberally in every
direction in which it seemed to be required, in adherence to the
principle which guided the postmaster general in advocating the inland
service.
In 1858, the colony, having decided on the desirability of direct
communication with the mother country, sent to England two
delegates--Little, the attorney general and Lawrence O'Brien--to confer
with the government and leading shipowners on the subject of a steam
service from a British port to St. John's. When the delegates made their
first report, they had not succeeded in their objects, but they were
encouraged by the recognition accorded to the scheme by the British
government and by the promise of a subsidy of L3000 a year to any
satisfactory service the government of Newfoundland might arrange for.
It was not long before plans were submitted for their consideration. In
the same year, the North Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company
laid before Little a proposition for a regular service between
Liverpool, St. John's and a port in the United States. The company were
prepared to undertake a contract for trips of a frequency of not less
than one every four weeks, with additional trips during April, July and
August, for L10,000 a year. A contract was made on this basis, the
understanding being that the British government would contribute L3000
of this amount. But the British government, being satisfied from earlier
experiences with the personnel of this company that they could not be
depended upon to fulfil their arrangement, declined to sanction the
contract, and the arrangement fell through.
In intimating to the Newfoundland government their refusal to endorse
the contract, the British government expressed their willingness to
assist in procuring a competent contractor; and in October of the same
year, an agreement was made with the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam
Navigation Company, known more generally as the Lever or Galway Company,
for a service of virtually the same frequency as that provided for in
the earlier contract, between Galway, St. John's and a United States
port. The rate of compensation was to be L13,000 a year, of which the
British government was to contribute L4500 a year.
Though for political reasons, this company enjoyed an unusual degree of
favour on the part of the British government, it failed entirely to
satisfy the conditions of the contract, and after a short period of
futile effort, it ceased altogether. It was not until 1872 that an
arrangement with the Allan line provided the first direct communication
with Great Britain.
In 1860, on the death of Solomon, John Delaney, who had made the postal
service his special care while a member of the assembly, was appointed
postmaster general. His first measure was to provide for St. John's what
he described as a penny delivery service. After consultation with the
chief post office inspector in Canada, he submitted his scheme to the
legislature. He proposed to divide the city into two sections, to each
of which he proposed to appoint a letter carrier to deliver the letters
from door to door, not gratuitously as at present, but for a
compensation of a penny for each letter delivered. The plan was put into
operation on September 1, 1863, but it had little success at the time.
Steps were also taken in 1863 to improve the accommodation to the
outports by substituting a steam vessel for the sailing boats, by which
the exchange of mails was effected. In November 1860, a contract was
made with Aaron DeGraw, of New York, for a service north and south from
St. John's. The steamer "Victoria" was to run twice in each month to
Twillingate on the north, and to La Poile on the south-west coast,
calling at all the post offices _en route_. The consideration was L3750
a year.
The contract provided for the service for five years. But a few months
after it went into operation, the contractor represented that he was
unable to continue, unless the terms were modified. He asked that the
trips on the northern section might be reduced from fortnightly to
monthly during the winter, and that he might omit certain of the ports
of call; or, if the legislature were unwilling to lower their
requirements, that he might have his compensation increased by L1500 a
year.
The application of DeGraw was not entertained by the legislature, and
the contractor dropped his service shortly after. Recourse was had to
the sailing vessels until 1863, when a more satisfactory arrangement was
concluded with Robert Grieve on June 2, 1863. The contract stipulated
for fortnightly trips in each direction, and the compensation was fixed
at L4500. The "Ariel" was the steamer employed by Grieve for the
service.
The coastal service, thus satisfactorily established from St. John's
down the east and along the south coasts as far as La Poile, was
extended to Port aux Basques on the south-west corner of the island by a
sailing vessel. This completed the postal communications on the southern
shore of the island.
The west coast was still to be comprised in the system. In 1873,
arrangements of an experimental nature were made to send mails from Port
aux Basques (or Channel as the post office was called) to St. George's
Bay, Bay of Islands and Bonne Bay on this coast. A courier service was
also set in operation to provide communications to those settlements
during the winter, but many difficulties were encountered owing to the
inacquaintance with the country on the part of the couriers, who had to
pass on their way between Channel and these bays.
The arrangement thus experimentally entered upon continued until 1881,
when the sailing craft, which carried the mails to Bonne Bay was
withdrawn, and the steamer "Curlew," by which Channel post office
received its mails from St. John's, extended its trips up the north-west
coast as far as Bonne Bay.
The conveyance of the mails up this coast was carried on to the top of
the island in the following year. Two trips were made by couriers from
Bonne Bay to Flower Cove at the gulf entrance to the straits of Belle
Isle. From Flower Cove, the journey of the courier ran along the shore
of the straits to Pistolet Bay at the northernmost point of the island,
and thence on the Griquet which looked from the north of the island on
the Atlantic, and down the Atlantic coast to St. Anthony.
Another courier set out from Flower Cove and travelling due east across
the island carried the mail to Conche, which served the settlements on
Hare Bay. At the same time that the process of encirclement was
proceeding from the western side, the settlements of Western Cove, Mings
and Coachman's Cove on White Bay, the northernmost of the series of
great bays by which the Atlantic coast is indented, were having the
benefits of communication extended to them from Bett's Cove, in Notre
Dame Bay.
The benefits of these trips were so greatly appreciated by the fishermen
in the northern parts of the island that the department arranged for
regular fortnightly services during the winter from Bonne Bay along the
west coast to the top of the island, and thence down the east coast as
far as Canada Bay. On the other side the steamers which carried the
mails northward from St. John's to the settlements on Notre Dame Bay,
also conveyed bags for the settled districts in White Bay. These were
sent forward monthly from Bett's Cove. Thus was completed the system of
coastal service by which every part of the island was brought into
communication with the capital of the colony.
On the larger and more thickly settled bays, it was obviously impossible
for the steamers which sailed from St. John's to stop at any but the
more populous villages, and within each of these bays smaller craft
plied to the less important settlements. In 1881, there were eight such
sailing vessels in the service of the post office: one each in Bonavista
and Trinity Bays, three in Placentia Bay, two in Fortune Bay, and one
which effected the exchange of mails at Harbour Breton. In Conception
Bay, where there were two towns and several villages a steamer was
employed.
But though the settlements in Newfoundland were at this period
practically all on the coasts, and depended mainly on seacraft for the
means of communication, the conveyance of mails to the northern
settlements was in the winter one of great danger and difficulty.
As early as 1863, it was determined to make the experiment of serving
these settlements by couriers who should travel over an overland route.
In February of that year, Smith McKay undertook the delivery by land, so
far as that was possible, to Greenspond, on the stretch of coast between
Bonavista and Notre Dame Bay, and to Fogo and Twillingate, islands in
Notre Dame Bay. The success attending this trip induced the postmaster
general to make a contract for three trips each winter.
The government also planned the construction of a road, which would make
communication easier between the northern outports and St. John's. The
work was entered upon with vigour, the reports of progress making an
interesting feature of the annual papers of the legislature. In 1868, a
serviceable road was constructed to Gander Bay, an inlet of Notre Dame
Bay, whence the mails were conveyed to the important villages of
Twillingate and Fogo by sailing vessel.
In 1870 the road was complete. It was estimated to be 210 miles in
length. There were six relay stations on the route, and ten men employed
in the conveyance. The course pursued by the courier took him from
Harbour Grace, his starting point, down the shore of Conception Bay;
thence along the isthmus separating Trinity from Placentia Bay, serving
the settlements on each side of the isthmus. From the top of the
isthmus, the road maintained a northerly direction, running generally
parallel with the Atlantic coast, as far as Greenspond, from which point
it turned westward across the country to Gander Bay.
The postal accommodation on the peninsula of Avalon was greatly
augmented by the completion of the railway between St. John's and
Harbour Grace in 1884. On January 1, 1885, all the principal offices at
the bottom of Conception Bay were supplied with mails daily, and Heart's
Content and other offices on Trinity Bay had their mails three times a
week. The extension of the branch to Placentia in October 1888 gave that
village the benefit of an expeditious service three times a week.
The northern settlements were given the benefit of the more speedy
service afforded by the railway. The winter arrangements were expedited
and extended. In 1870, when this service was put on a settled footing,
ten couriers were employed. In 1890, their number was increased to
fifty-four. The mails for the northern districts were despatched from
St. John's by railway to Broad Cove station, where they were taken over
by the couriers. Their greater number enabled the couriers, not only to
shorten their relays, but to establish a trunk line to the settlements
of Hall's Bay and Little Bay on Notre Dame Bay, with branch lines
running to the more important settlements to the east and west. The
overlapping of the western and northern courier systems at White Bay
gave the dwellers in those remote regions the opportunity of replying to
their letters without loss of time.
Communication was established with the settlers on the Labrador coast in
1875. Previous to that time, mails were sent as the opportunity was
afforded by sailing vessels visiting that coast. In that year, a regular
fortnightly service was put in operation, the steamer by which the mails
were carried connecting with the steamer on the northern route.
The "Ariel," which was first employed on this route having been lost in
September of the same year, its place was taken by the "Walrus," whose
work gave much satisfaction to the department. In 1881, an arrangement
was made by which the steamer running on the northern route from St.
John's extended its trip to Battle Harbour, where it was met by the
Labrador vessel, which served all the settlements as far north as Nain.
A money order system was an early adjunct to the primary functions of
the post office. In 1862 the postmaster general of Prince Edward Island
proposed on exchange with Newfoundland, on the basis of the arrangement
between that colony and Canada. The postmaster general, Delaney, was
eager to accept the proposition, but there were delays, and it was not
until 1864 that an exchange was adopted. This exchange was not with
Prince Edward Island, however, but with Great Britain.
At the beginning of 1865 exchanges were established with Canada, Nova
Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and in 1867 with New Brunswick. In 1866
a domestic exchange was set on foot, the system embracing the twelve
leading post offices besides St. John's.
Delaney endeavoured to come to an arrangement of the same character with
the United States, but the department at Washington was unable to adopt
the proposition at the time, and it was only in 1876 that arrangements
were completed for an exchange through the intermediation of the
Canadian service.
The comparative lack of banking facilities in the island gave the money
order system an unusual utility. At the end of 1865, the amount of the
money orders exchanged was $13,112. In the first ten years the business
expended to $58,712; in twenty years, its volume had increased
thirteen-fold, being $174,740.
Though a steam vessel could make the voyage from the shores of Cape
Breton to the south-west coast of Newfoundland in a few hours, the
course of communication between the island and Canada and the United
States was lamentably infrequent. As late as 1895, mails were exchanged
with these countries no more frequently than once a week.
The completion, however, of the railway across the island in the autumn
of 1896, changed the aspect of affairs. Trains travelled from St. John's
to Port aux Basques, three times a week, touching in their course the
bottoms of the great bays, which mark the coast lines on either side of
the island. On each of the bays, steamers plied in close connection with
the trains, thus giving all the settlements of the island the maximum of
benefit to be obtained from a single line of railway. A steamer ran from
the western end of the line at Port aux Basques to North Sydney in Cape
Breton, and by a night's voyage, Newfoundland was brought into
connection with the system of communications on the continent of North
America.
The exchange of mails between Canada and Newfoundland remained at a
frequency of three times a week until 1914 when it was increased to a
daily service each way; and the inland service has been so improved that
there is no district in the island, however remote, has not at least a
weekly communication with the capital, while nearly all the towns and
villages of any importance exchange mails with St. John's every day.
In the sphere of telegraphy the progress has not been less marked.
Unlike Canada and the United States, but as in the mother country and
most other countries, the telegraphs are under the control of the
government, and administered by the postmaster general. Until 1901, this
was not the case. By a concession granted by the legislature in 1854,
the Anglo-American Telegraph Company obtained the exclusive privilege of
communicating abroad by telegraphy, and of erecting and operating lines
within the colony.
The system established under this privilege was naturally confined to
the more populous districts, and indeed, it covered little beyond the
peninsula of Avalon. The outlying parts of the island, embracing all the
settlements on bays north of Trinity, and west of Placentia Bays were,
in general, without the means of communicating with the capital by
telegraph.
The company turned a deaf ear to all appeals which did not promise an
augmentation of their profits. They had no objection to the government
running lines to the remoter regions, as such messages as would be sent
to St. John's from those parts must pass over the company's lines when
they came within the system marked out by the company for themselves in
virtue of their monopoly. The government would, in that case, bear the
loss entailed by the maintenance of these lines, and the company would
absorb the additional revenue arising from the transmission of these
extra-territorial messages over their lines.
With the development of the fishing, mining and lumbering industries in
all parts of the island, the extension of the means of telegraphic
communication beyond the peninsula of Avalon became a necessity, and the
government had no option but to provide these means, wherever the
importance of the districts seemed to demand it.
Thus there grew up two systems, an inner and an outer one, the latter
depending on the former for the means of access to the capital of the
island. All messages to and from the outer system were subject to a
double charge, for transmission over both systems. While messages
circulating within the peninsula of Avalon had the advantage of the
moderate charge of twenty-five cents for ten words, messages from
outside the peninsula were subject to double that rate.
The government were helpless in the matter. They endeavoured vainly to
come to terms with the company by which they might erect a line of their
own from St. John's to Whitbourne, a village about sixty miles from St.
John's, at which the lines of the outer system connected with those
belonging to the company. The company, however, stood firmly on the
letter of the bond, and it was not until the approach of the time when
the monopoly, which was for a period of fifty years, would expire, that
they became at all unbending.
An event of far-reaching importance took place in November 1901 in the
arrival of Marconi to experiment as to the possibility of opening
communication across the Atlantic by his wireless system of telegraphy.
Early in December, he caught at his station on Signal Hill near St.
John's some signals sent out from the Lizards in Cornwall, thereby
establishing a new agency for conducting communication between Europe
and America. When he had assured himself of the success of his
experiments, he set about obtaining a site for a permanent station on
Cape Spear. But no sooner had the Anglo-American company become aware of
his intentions than they notified him that his proposed measures would
be an infringement of their monopoly.
Thus blocked, Marconi resolved to return to England, but an opportune
invitation from the Canadian government led him to turn his attention to
the advantages that might be obtained on the eastern coast of Cape
Breton. He was not long in selecting a site at Table Head, near Glace
Bay, where he erected a station, and has demonstrated the feasibility of
wireless communication across the Atlantic for commercial purposes.
_INDEX_
Allan, William, postmaster of York, recommended to be deputy
postmaster general of Upper Canada, 104
Amherstburg, post office opened at, 101
"Anglo-Saxon" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 312
Annapolis, post office opened in, 178
Antigonishe, distributing office for all settlements to eastward, 180
Antill, (John), postmaster of New York, 69
Augusta, post office opened at, 89
Bache, Richard, appointed secretary of the revolutionary post
office, 64
Baie Verte, post office opened at, 182
Barbadoes, postal arrangements for, 4
Barons, Benjamin, deputy postmaster general for southern division,
35, note 2
Belleville, post office opened at, under name of Bay of Quinte, 117
Bermuda, Canadian mails from Great Britain, sent to, 124
Berthier, post office opened at, 79
"Bohemian" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 313
Boston, post office opened in, 2;
communication with New York, 6;
postage between Philadelphia and, 10;
postage from Virginia, 10;
Cunard steamers land Canadian mails at, 225
Brantford, post office opened at, 117
"Britannia," Cunard steamer, makes first trip to Halifax, 219
British Columbia, beginnings of postal service to, 322;
inland service, 324, 326;
rates of postage, 325;
incorporation into dominion postal service, 326;
completion of Canadian Pacific railway, 326;
expansion of service between Confederation and, 1914, 327
British North America, royal commission recommends postal systems
in, be put under one superior, 235
Buchanan, James, British consul at New York, advocates communication
between colonies and Great Britain by way of New York, 186
Canada, Post Office in--
_Pre-revolutionary Period._
Post office established by Franklin, 1;
connected by mail service with New York, 1;
arrangements under French regime, 39;
postage rates as fixed by act of 1765, 43
_Revolutionary Period._
Connection with New York discontinued, 65;
Americans make proposals for its continuance, 65;
service between Montreal and Quebec resumed after expulsion of
Americans, 72;
Haldimand's objections to resumption of regular service, 72
_Post-revolutionary Period._
United States forbid Canadian couriers to carry mails over its
territory, 80;
Canadian post office obliged to send mails for England by
Halifax route, 81;
its disadvantages, 81;
sketch of postal system in 1827, 155;
financial statements to be submitted to legislatures, 206;
fixed salaries to be paid, with exclusion of all
perquisites, 206;
difficulties in way of satisfactory arrangements for
administration, 207;
first financial statement laid before legislature, 210;
legislature of Upper Canada demands surplus revenues, 211;
Lord Durham's recommendations regarding post office, 212;
defects of postal administration disclosed by royal
commission, 234;
legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal
conference, 271;
provincial governments assume control of post office, 273;
great expansion of, 275;
reduction in postage rates, 275;
revenue from 1851 to 1867, 275
_Post-Office of Dominion of Canada._
Number of post offices in 1867 and 1914, 327;
railway mail service expansion, 327;
reductions in postage, 328;
Canada becomes a member of the Universal Postal Union, 329;
imperial penny postage introduced, 330;
imperial scheme of newspaper postage proposed by postmaster
general of Canada, 330;
expansion of money order and savings bank system, 331
"Canadian" (the first) steamship of Allan line wrecked in St.
Lawrence, 308
"Canadian" (the second) steamship of Allan line, wrecked, 311
Cape Breton, establishment of postal service in, 183
Cayley, William, inspector general of Canada, representative at
postal conference in Montreal, 268
Cedars, post office opened at, 89
Chambly, arrangements for delivery of mails at, 79
Charlestown, delays in postal service of, 35;
included in packet system, 35
Charlottenburg, post office opened at, 89
Chester, Pa., postal rate from Philadelphia to, 7
"City of Manchester" steamship of Inman line lost off Nova Scotia
coast, 309
Colonial Postal Systems,
in their relations to Great Britain, policy regarding extensions
of service, 97, 100, 103;
remonstrance of Upper Canada against excessive and illegal
postage, 133;
reply to these remonstrances, 134;
legality of control of colonial systems by Great Britain, 135, 136;
Great Britain refuses information as to revenues, 141;
considerable profit on colonial service, 142;
reception given to address from Upper Canada, 148;
attack on administration of Canadian post office, 160;
contentions against imperial absorption of surplus revenue from,
sustained by law officers, 165;
acceptance of decision by postmaster general, 166;
course of procedure to establish proper relations, 169;
act of imperial parliament, 4, William IV. c. 7, 170;
draft act for adoption of legislatures, 170;
accountant appointed, 171;
how the British proposals were viewed in Maritime provinces, 188,
in Upper Canada, 193, 202,
in Lower Canada, 199;
Stayner on British proposals, 200;
Stayner's views accepted by legislative council of Lower
Canada, 202;
British government willing to amend proposals, 203;
royal commission appointed to investigate conditions in colonial
service, 233;
commission recommends that postal system in British North America
be put under one resident deputy postmaster general, 235;
proposition of postmaster general to withdraw from control of, 263;
conditions of withdrawal, 266;
Lord Elgin instructed by colonial secretary on subject, 267;
his message to Canadian legislature, 267;
legislative committee in Nova Scotia consider the subject, 267;
conference of provincial representatives in Montreal, 268;
their report, as laid before governor general, 269;
British treasury approves generally conclusions of report, 270;
Nova Scotia legislature adopts terms of report in act, 270;
Canada and New Brunswick concur, 271;
act sanctioning arrangement passed by imperial parliament, 271;
Prince Edward Island enters arrangement, 272
"Columbia" steamship of Cunard line lost off Nova Scotia coast, 309
Committees of Correspondence take measures to establish colonial
post office, 60
Connecticut, terms of first post office bill in, 9
Cornwall, post office opened at, 89
Coteau du Lac, post office opened at, 89
Crane, William, urges direct steamship service between Great Britain
and Halifax, 217
Crown Point, post office opened at, 65
Cunard, Samuel, awarded contract for transatlantic steam service, 218
Dashwood, secretary of colonial post office prisoner of war, 66;
liberated by exchange, 69;
appointed postmaster general of Jamaica, 79
Delancy, Peter, deputy postmaster general for southern division,
35 note 2
Delaware, Falls of, postal rate from Philadelphia to, 7
Deputy postmaster general, relations to governor, 96;
limitations on his freedom of administration, 97;
agent for collection of United States postage, 126;
newspaper postage, perquisite of, 160;
nomination of postmasters withdrawn from, 239
Detroit, postal communication opened with, 89
Digby, post office opened in, 178
Dongan, Thomas, governor of New York, endeavoured to establish
postal service in colonies, 7
Dorchester, New Brunswick, post office opened at, 182
Durand, details of his journey between Quebec and Halifax with
mails, 81
Durham, Lord, recommendations respecting Canadian post office, 212
Eastern Townships, mail communication opened between Three Rivers
and, 117
Elizabethtown, post office opened at, 89
Fairbank, Richard, first postmaster in Boston, 2
Falmouth, Maine, defiance of post office monopoly at, 50
Finlay, Hugh, appointed postmaster of Quebec, 42;
interferes on behalf of _maitres de poste_, 46;
appointed post-office surveyor, 46;
explores country between Quebec and New England, 47;
inspects postal service from Maine to Georgia, 50;
appointed joint deputy postmaster general of northern division of
North America, 58;
reputed author of account of siege of Quebec, 69;
his activities outside post office, 74;
appointed superintendent of _maitres de poste_, 76;
loses position of deputy postmaster general of northern division
of North America, and becomes deputy postmaster general of
Canada, 79;
report on route between Quebec and Halifax, 85;
appointed deputy postmaster general of British North America, 86;
removal from this position, 94;
death, 74
Fort Edward, post office opened at, 65
Fothergill, Charles, postmaster of Port Hope, 144;
attacks post office management, 144
Foxcroft, John, joint deputy postmaster general, 2, 27;
prisoner of war, 66;
liberated by exchange, 69;
appointed British packet boat agent at New York, 79
Franking Act, passed by legislature of Upper Canada, 209;
on Stayner's objections it was disallowed, 210
Franklin, Benjamin, postmaster of Philadelphia, 1;
deputy postmaster general, 1, 2, 26;
established post office in Canada, 1;
increases postal facilities, 26;
nature of his influence in administration of post office, 27;
his views on post office revenues as taxes, 55;
his dismissal as joint deputy postmaster general, 58;
his continued good relations with officials of general post
office, 59;
appointed postmaster general of revolutionary post office, 64;
his views on nature of postage quoted in support of imperial
control, 145
Fredericton, post office opened in, 178
Gagetown, post office opened at, 182
Gaspe, slender postal accommodation in, 162
Goddard, William,
labours for establishment of revolutionary post office, 60;
his career, 60;
draws up scheme, 63;
unsuccessful candidate for postmaster generalship, 64; appointed
surveyor, 64
Grand Trunk Railway, construction of, 278
Great Western Railway, construction of, 278
Grenville, post office opened at, 116
Guelph, post office opened at, 153
Halifax, post office established at, 33, 173;
postage rates to, by sea, in 1765, 44;
petition that Halifax be terminal port of transatlantic
steamers, 217;
British government agrees, 218;
contract awarded to Samuel Cunard, 218;
scheme for concentrating all mails from Great Britain for North
America at, 219;
its failure, 220;
Nova Scotia asks that the post office at, should be maintained
by imperial post office, 245;
removal of post office to Dalhousie college building, 252
Hamilton, post office opened at, 117
Hamilton, Andrew, deputy of patentee for American post office, 9;
his plans for establishment of postal service, 9;
his death, 17
Hamilton, John, succeeds his father, Andrew Hamilton, as deputy
postmaster general, 17
Hawkesbury, post office opened at, 116
Hazen, R. L. of executive council of New Brunswick, representative
at postal conference in Montreal, 268
Head, Sir Francis Bond,
orders dismissal of postmaster of Lloydtown, 213;
demands authority to dismiss postmasters whom he deemed guilty of
disloyalty, 214;
orders removal of postmaster of Toronto, 214
Heriot, George, succeeds Finlay as deputy postmaster general, 96;
personal characteristics, 96;
unsuccessful aspirant to seat in legislative council, and to
superintendency of _maitres de poste_, 97;
in disfavour with governor, 98;
altercation with Sir Gordon Drummond, 109;
retirement, 113
Heyman, Peter, appointed postmaster of Virginia, 13
Horton, post office opened in, 178
Howard, James, dismissed from postmastership of Toronto, on charge
of disloyalty, 214
Howe, John, the elder,
deputy postmaster general of Maritime provinces, 180;
his capable management, 180;
his retirement, 181
Howe, John, the younger, succeeds his father, 181;
controlled majority of newspapers in Halifax, 187;
criticism of, 251;
his death, 251
Howe, Joseph, urges direct steamship service between Great Britain
and Halifax, 217
Hudson's Bay Company,
conveys the mails to and from Manitoba and North-West
territories, 317;
limitations on correspondence, 318
Hull, post office opened at, 116
"Humboldt" steamship of the American line lost off Nova Scotia
coast, 309
Hume, Joseph, M.P., obtains information respecting Canadian postal
service, 161
"Hungarian" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 309
Hunter, Peter, Lieutenant Governor,
had road constructed from Bay of Quinte to York, 100;
endeavours to secure mail service to Upper Canada, 100
Hunter, William, joint deputy postmaster general, 26
Huntingdon, Herbert, confers with general post office respecting
Nova Scotia post office, 191
Illegal conveyance of letters in Canada, 150;
in Nova Scotia, 249;
in New Brunswick, 256
"Indian" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 309
Johnston, J. W., Solicitor General of Nova Scotia, representative
at postal conference in Montreal, 268
Kennebec route, Finlay explores, 47
Kingston, Upper Canada, post office opened at, 89
Kingston, New Brunswick, post office opened at, 182
Knox, William, scheme of communications between England and North
America, 87
Labrador, mail service opened between Newfoundland and, 342
Lachine, post office opened at, 89
Lancaster, post office opened at, 89
Lanoullier, Nicholas,
obtained privilege to establish post office in Canada, 40;
his plans, 41;
failure, 41
Lanoullier de Boisclair,
his difficulties in maintaining roads, owing to popular
indifference, 78;
his death, 78
Letters, mode of calculating postage on, 20
Lloydtown, postmaster of, dismissed for part in affairs of 1837, 213
London, post office opened at, 117
Lovelace, Francis, Governor of New York, arranged for postal service
between New York and Boston, 6
Lower Canada,
condition of route between Montreal and Quebec, in 1783, 78;
mode of communication with Great Britain, 105;
frequency of service between Quebec and Montreal, 105, 109;
report of assembly on surplus postal revenues, 1827, 149;
Stayner declines to give information to committee of assembly, 161;
lack of postal accommodation in, 161, 196;
address of assembly to King respecting post office, 163;
report of legislative committee on postal affairs, 1836, 199;
Stayner admonished to cease sending surplus revenue to England, 199;
agitation caused in general post office over post office bill of
Lower Canada, 205
Macaulay, John, former postmaster of Kingston, chairman of committee
of legislative council on postal affairs, 207
Mackenzie, William Lyon,
presented petition for investigation of post office, 143;
interviewed Colonial Secretary respecting postal affairs, 167;
his views on administration of post office, 167;
evidence of, before Lower Canada committee on newspaper
postage, 196;
challenges action on underpayment, 197
_Maitres de Poste_, lack of regulations for, 45;
Finlay's interference on behalf of, 46;
unsuccessful efforts to assimilate their position to that of
masters of post houses in England, 75;
indispensable for the carrying of mails, 75;
character of their service, 97;
amenities on post road, 99
Manitoba, and North-West provinces,
early postal arrangements in, 316-321;
proposition for direct overland service with Canada, 320;
Manitoba incorporated into Canadian postal system, 322;
United States postal service utilized for communication with other
provinces, 322;
direct railway communication with Eastern Canada, 322;
expansion of service between Confederation and, 1914, 327
Marconi, Guglielmo, proved success of transatlantic wireless system
of telegraphy in Newfoundland, 345
Maritime provinces,
early means of communication between places in, 175;
with Great Britain, 176
Maryland, postal rate from Philadelphia to, 7;
proceedings of legislature respecting establishment of post
office, 12
Massachusetts, terms of first post office act in, 9, 10;
postal rates to, 10;
post office act of, disallowed, 10;
rejects draft of new bill, 12
Matthews, Captain John, chairman of post office committee of
assembly of Upper Canada, 143
Michillimackinac, postal communication opened with, 89
Miramichi, arrangements for delivery of mails at, 181;
post office opened at, 182
Money Order System, establishment of, in Canada, 276;
in Nova Scotia, 280;
in Newfoundland, 343;
expansion of operations between 1868 and 1914, 330
Montreal, post office opened at, 1, 42;
description of route between New York and, 37;
post road between Quebec and, 38;
mail service opened between New York and, 42;
mail service opened between Quebec and, 43;
frequency of service between New York and Montreal at outbreak
of revolutionary war, 65;
embraced in revolutionary postal system, 66;
postmaster resents having soldiers billeted on him, 71;
governor orders his dismissal, 72;
Daniel Sutherland postmaster of, 114;
conditions in post office at, 128;
mean situation of post office, 194
_Montreal Gazette_, proprietor of, begins attack on Stayner
respecting newspaper postage, 159
Neale, Thomas, given patent for American post office, 8;
assigns his patent, 17
New Brunswick, postal system of,
transferred to control of deputy postmaster general of Nova
Scotia, 155;
establishment of inland service in, 178;
postal charges in, 178;
changes in routes as result of war of 1812, 179;
no additions to service until 1820, 181;
communication with Great Britain by way of United States, 185;
objections of Nova Scotia to arrangement, 186;
condition of, in 1841, 255;
report of legislature, 256;
erected into separate department, 257;
demands for reduced postage, 258;
legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal
conference, 271;
provincial government assumes control of, 273;
expansion of postal service, 281;
rates of postage, 281;
revenue and expenditure, 282;
attitude of government towards deficits, 282
New Castle, Pa., postal rate from Philadelphia to, 7
New England, confederation of, postmaster appointed for, 7;
direct route from Quebec to, surveyed, 47;
Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire assists in establishment of
another route to Canada, 49;
Governor Hutchinson of Massachusetts not encouraging as to route, 49
Newfoundland, post office in,
early mode of communication with England, 333;
postage rates to, 333;
connection with England by Cunard steamers at Halifax, 334;
inland postal system established, 336;
efforts to secure direct service to England, 338;
improvements and extensions of inland service, 339-342;
railway available between St. John's and Harbour Grace, 342;
communication with Labrador, 342;
money order system established, 343;
government telegraphs, 344
New Hampshire, terms of first post office act in, 9, 11;
postage rates to, 10;
act allowed by privy council, 11
New Haven, modes of evading post office monopoly at, 51
New Johnston, post office opened at, 89
Newspapers, transmission of,
not provided for in imperial postal act, 61;
arrangements for distribution of, by post, 61;
defects in scheme, 62;
agitation for change in method of collecting postage, 158;
rates charged, 158;
postage is perquisite of deputy postmaster general, 160;
attack on this system, 160;
Stayner advises change of system, 165;
question of postage in Maritime provinces, 186;
W. L. Mackenzie's evidence on evasions, 196;
Stayner's defence of his practice in taking perquisites, 198;
abolition of postage, as perquisite, and establishment of fixed
rate, 241;
postage after provinces take control of post office, 276;
imperial scheme of postage proposed, 330;
rates between 1875 and 1914, 332
New York, city of, earliest postal arrangements for, 4;
communication with Boston, 6;
postage rates from Philadelphia, Boston and Virginia, 10;
headquarters of colonial postal system, 19, 60;
John Antill postmaster of, 69
New York, colony of, terms of first post office act in, 9;
postage rates to, 10;
act allowed by privy council, 11
Niagara, postal communication opened with, 89
North American Colonies (now United States),
extent of postal system, 1;
first post office, 2;
mode of communicating with England, 2, 5;
early attempts at postal service between, 6, 7;
patent for postal service granted to Thomas Neale, 8;
line of posts established in 1693, 15;
revenue of postal system, 1693-1697, 15;
proposed arrangement for exchange of mails with England, 15;
effect of imperial act of 1711 on status of colonial post
office, 18;
deficient revenues from postal system, 25;
evasion of postmaster general's monopoly, 25, 50;
increase in facilities under Franklin, 26, 29;
prosperous condition of postal system, 26;
sailing packets established between England and, 29, 34;
arrangements for service to southern colonies, 35;
establishment of southern division of the postal system, 35;
summary of packet service in 1764, 36;
summary of whole postal system, 44;
surplus revenue in 1764, 44;
unpopularity of the post office, 45;
inspection report of system from Maine to Georgia, 50;
New York, administrative centre, 60;
proposition to suppress colonial post office, 64;
post office ceases its function, 65;
Foxcroft and Dashwood, prisoners of war, 66
"North Briton" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 311
Northern Railway, construction of, 278
"Norwegian" steamship of Allan line wrecked, 312
Nova Scotia, establishment of inland postal service, 178;
postal charges in, 178;
changes in route as result of war of 1812, 179;
difficulties of deputy postmaster general in complying with demands
for increased service, 179;
his success, 179;
state of postal service in 1817, 180;
legislature assisted in maintaining mail service, 180, 244;
legislature determines to take control of postal service, 190;
bill to that end disallowed, 190;
satisfactory arrangement arrived at, 191;
mail service between Pictou and Halifax improved at greatly
augmented cost, 223;
friction with Canada over maintenance of this service, 223;
defects in postal service disclosed by royal commission, 234;
characteristics of post office as compared with the Canadian post
office, 243;
demand of legislature that Halifax should be maintained by
imperial post office, 245;
deficit in revenue of, 246;
investigated by British post office official, 248;
findings of investigation, 248;
salary of deputy postmaster general, 250;
interference of local government with, 250;
Arthur Woodgate succeeds Howe as deputy postmaster general on death
of latter, 252;
agitation for reduced postage, 252;
legislative committee discuss question of provincial control, 267;
legislature adopts conclusions of interprovincial conference, 270;
provincial government assumes control of, 273;
expansion of service, 280;
mode of communication with Canada, 280;
postage rates, 280;
registration, and money order system introduced, 280;
revenue and expenditure, 281;
railway mail service in, at Confederation, 281
O'Callaghan, Dr. E. B., chairman of legislative committee on postal
affairs, 198
Ormonde, Marquess of, makes proposals for ocean steamship service, 127
Osnabruck, post office opened at, 89
Ottawa, first known as Richmond landing, 115
Ottawa River, steamer on river between Long Sault and Hull, 116
Pennsylvania, beginnings of postal service in, 7;
terms of first post office act in, 9;
postage rates to, 10;
act allowed by privy council, 11
Pensacola, included in packet system, 35
Perth, opening of post office at, 114
Philadelphia, postal arrangements between, and outlying places, 7;
postage rates from Boston, New York and Virginia, 10
Postage Rates,
in former colonies (now United States), 7, 8, 10, 13, 16, 20, 22;
mode of calculating postal charges, 20, 178;
in Canada under act of 1765, 43, 133;
under revolutionary postal system, 66;
general practice to collect on delivery, 71, 238;
mode of collection between Canada and United States, 91, 125;
Governor Simcoe's view as to disposal of surplus postage, 93;
between Canada and Great Britain, under post office regulations,
and by private ship, 122, 123;
postage rates in New Brunswick, 178;
great reduction in rate between Canada and Great Britain, 227-229;
royal commission report on inland rates, 236;
weight system introduced, 240;
agitation for reduction, 242, 252, 258;
recommendations of Nova Scotia legislature, 268;
recommendations of interprovincial conference, 270;
reductions in Canada, 275,
in Nova Scotia, 280,
in New Brunswick, 281;
rates in British Columbia, 325;
imperial penny postage, 330;
imperial newspaper rates, 330;
inland rates two cents per ounce, 331;
between St. John's, Newfoundland, and England, 333;
inland postage in Newfoundland, 334;
rates under colonial postal system, 337
Postage Stamps, introduced in Canada, 275
Postal Revenues, from 1693 to 1697, 15;
surplus in 1764, 44;
surplus from Canada in 1822, 142;
average surplus from Canada for seven years ending 1825, 148;
average surplus from Canada for 1825 and 1826, 161;
imperial act of 1834 to transfer revenues to provinces, 170;
reception of act in Maritime provinces, 188,
in Upper Canada, 193;
surplus for period ending 1834, 199;
governor general declines to stop remitting to England, 205;
legislature of Upper Canada petitions for surplus, 211;
surplus from Canada, 242;
expansion of revenue, 1868-1914, 331
Postmasters, exempt from billeting, 71;
postmaster at Montreal represented that he had been excepted from
regulation, 71;
nomination of, removed from deputy postmaster general to governor
general, 239;
Stayner's fruitless objections thereto, 240
Post Office Commission, personnel, and duties, 233;
report of, 234
Post Office Convention, between Canada and United States, 90;
between Great Britain and United States, 283
Post Office Surveyorship, established, 47;
Finlay appointed to, 47;
two appointed, 171
Post Road, between Montreal and Quebec, account of, 38;
constructed by Lanoullier de Boisclair, 41
Post Roads, arrangements with _maitres de poste_ for conveyance of
post office couriers, 43
Prince Edward Island, early arrangements for postal service, 185;
condition of postal service, 1827-1841, 260;
post office managed by provincial government, 261;
legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal
conference, 272
Quebec and Halifax mail service, details of route, 76;
trip by Durand in 1784, 81;
measures to open communication by land, 83;
improving New Brunswick section of route, 84;
proposition to follow Bay of Chaleurs route, 107;
conditions of service in 1840, 220
Quebec, post office opened at, 1;
post road between Montreal and, 38;
mail service opened between Montreal and, 43;
route from, to New England surveyed, 47;
account of earlier explorations of this route, 47;
expense of journey met by subscription in Quebec, 48;
post office building in, destroyed by fire, 239
Railways, beginnings and development in Canada, 277;
economy of time effected by use of, 278;
postal cars employed on, 278;
augmentation of expenses through using, 279;
rates of payment for mail service on, fixed by royal
commission, 279;
railways in Nova Scotia at Confederation, 281;
uninterrupted line between Atlantic seaboard and Chicago and New
Orleans, 302
Randolph, Edward, postmaster of confederation of New England, 8
Rebellion of 1837, effects of, on post office, 213
Registration, introduced in Canada, 277
Revolutionary Post Office, suggested, 60;
scheme for, 63;
Franklin made postmaster general, Bache, secretary, and Goddard,
surveyor, 64;
extended to Montreal, 66;
postage rates to Canada, 66;
arrangements for mail service, 66
Revolutionary War, mails taken possession of, by Commanders-in-Chief,
who direct their distribution, 69
Richelieu River, efforts to obtain mail service to settlements on, 79
Richibucto, post office opened at, 182
Richmond, Upper Canada, post office opened at, 115
Roads, between Montreal and Quebec, 38, 41;
between Bay of Quinte and York, 100;
between York and Kingston, and York and Ancaster, 103 (see Quebec
and Halifax).
Robbery of mail, between Montreal and Toronto, 171;
curious disclosure by robber, 171;
by sympathizers with disaffected, 215
Robinson, John Beverly, defends imperial control of Canadian postal
service, 144, 147
Rolph, Dr. John,
correspondence with deputy postmaster general about opening post
office at Delaware, 133;
advocates provincial control of postal system, 145
Roupell, George, deputy postmaster general for southern division,
35, note 2
St. Andrews, Lower Canada, post office opened at, 116
St. Augustine, Fort, included in packet system, 35
St. Eustache, post office opened at, 116
St. John, N.B., post office opened in, 178
St. John's, Newfoundland, post office opened at, 333;
embraced in imperial system, 334;
objections of merchants to regular post office, 335;
revenue from 1841 to 1849, 336
St. John's, Quebec, arrangements for delivery of mails to, 79
St. Stephen, post office opened at, 182
St. Thomas, Upper Canada, post office opened at, 117
Sault Ste Marie, post office opened at, 264
Savings Bank, post office, opening of, and expansion of
operations, 331
Sherbrooke, post office opened at, 118
Sorel, arrangements for delivery of mails at, 79
Stanstead, post office opened at, 117
Stayner, Thomas Allen,
succeeds Sutherland as deputy postmaster general, 153;
gains confidence of superiors and a freer hand in
administration, 154;
declines to give information to committee of Lower Canada
assembly, 161;
sustained by governor general and postmaster general in his
refusal to give information, 162;
convinced that arrangement by which newspaper postage became his
perquisite should cease, 165;
compelled to disclose information regarding post office, 194;
disregards admonition of Lower Canada legislative committee to
cease sending surplus revenue to England, 199;
his income from newspapers and other sources, 200;
powers curtailed by governor general, 230;
his character 230;
nomination of postmasters withdrawn from him, 239;
perquisites abolished, and fixed salary substituted, 241;
relinquishes control of post office in Canada, 273;
his administration characterized, 273
Steamboats, illegal conveyance of letters by, 150;
no action taken upon, 152
Sussexvale, post office opened at, 182
Sutherland, Daniel, succeeds Heriot as deputy postmaster general, 114;
retires, 130, 153
Sydney, Cape Breton, post office in, 184
Telegraphs in Newfoundland, sketch of system, 344
Three Rivers, post office opened at, 1, 42
Toronto, postmaster of, dismissed by Bond Head for lack of
loyalty, 214 (see York).
Transatlantic Mail Service--
_Old Colonial Period._
Earliest arrangements for exchange of correspondence with
England, 2;
regular packet service established, 29, 34;
service between England and West Indies, 30;
re-arrangement, 35;
summary of system in 1764, 36
_Revolutionary Period._
Packets withdrawn from regular routes, 67;
attacked by privateers, 67;
"Lord Hyde" attacked, 67;
"Sandwich," 68;
"Harriott," 68;
"Swallow" captured, 72;
"Weymouth" captured, 72;
"Le Despencer" captured, 73;
"Duke of York" captured, 73;
"Harriott" and "Eagle" captured, 73;
number of packets captured or damaged, 73
_Post-revolutionary Period._
Packet service resumed between England and New York, 80;
merchants in Canada demand re-opening of service to England by
way of New York, 80;
established between England and Halifax, 85, 86, 173;
winter arrangements for British mails to Halifax, 87;
elaborate scheme proposed by William Knox for communications
between England and North America, 87;
conditions of service between 1806 and 1819, 118;
proposition of Marquess of Ormonde for ocean steam service, 127;
communication between colonies and Great Britain almost entirely
through United States, 156;
comments of W. L. Mackenzie upon, 168
_Steamship Service._
Steamers "Great Western" and "Sirius" carry mails from British
ports to New York, 216;
petition that Halifax be terminal port for steamers, in North
America, 217;
British government agrees, and contract is awarded to Samuel
Cunard, 218;
comprehensive scheme for concentrating all mails from Great
Britain for North America at Halifax, 219;
its failure, 220;
advantages of Boston as terminal port for Canadian mails, 224;
Boston substituted for Halifax, 225;
arrangements with United States post office for transit across
its territory, 225;
Cunard steamers make New York principal port of call, 284
_Canadian Ocean Mail Service._
Canada invited to join imperial scheme for colonial service, 284;
objections of Canada, 285;
beginnings of, 286;
contract made with Hugh Allan, 286;
comparison in speed of Canadian, Cunard and Collins lines, 287;
unfriendly attitude of British government towards Canadian
line, 287;
views of Canadian government on this attitude, 289;
negotiations for employment of Canadian steamers for conveyance
of British and United States mails, 290;
favourable treatment accorded to Cunard line, 292;
report of select committee of house of commons, on steamship
service, 293;
partiality to Galway line at expense of Canadian and Inman
lines, 295;
condemnation of government of Great Britain by select committee
of house of commons, 297;
disingenuous conduct of British government towards postmaster
general of Canada, 297;
weekly service of steamers between Quebec and Liverpool, 302;
postmaster general of Canada negotiates with governments of
Great Britain and France for use of improved facilities, 302;
and with governments of France, Belgium and Prussia, 304;
difficulties owing to hostility of general post office, 304;
great proportion of mails between Canada and Great Britain
carried by Canadian line, 307;
series of disasters to steamships of Canadian line, 308-313;
parliamentary investigation, 310;
new contract with Allans, 314
United States Post Office, postal convention with, 90;
goodwill of, towards communication between Canada and Great
Britain, 120;
cordial relations with, 283;
convention of 1848 with, 283;
its services utilized for conveyance of mails to Maritime
provinces, 280,
to Manitoba, 322,
to British Columbia, 323;
dependence on, for interprovincial correspondence, 327
Universal Postal Union, Canada becomes member of, 329;
beneficent results of, 329
Upper Canada, opening of post offices in, 89;
Simcoe's plan for separate post office department in, 92;
regular mail service established in, 99;
arrangement between Amherstburg and Niagara, 101;
increased service to, 102, 104;
deputy postmaster general recommended for, 104;
difficulties of correspondence in, 105;
postal conditions in, in 1824, 132;
legislature begins agitation for improvements, 133;
exorbitant charges on letters circulating in, 133, 134;
protest of legislature, 134;
raises question of legality of imperial control of Canadian postal
system, 135;
report of assembly on subject, 136;
report of committee of assembly in 1825, 143;
recommendation that postal system should be controlled by
province, 144;
lieutenant governor opposes pretentions of legislature, 145;
report of assembly in 1829, 156;
proposition for high administrative officer in, 156, 157;
continues agitation against postal administration, 163;
legislature rejects imperial act respecting disposition of surplus
revenues, 193;
lack of postal facilities in, 195;
legislative assembly of, draw up scheme for provincial post
office, 203;
report of legislative council on post office, 207;
address to King on post office, 208;
legislature passes franking act, 209;
legislature demands surplus revenue, 211;
time occupied in conveying British mails to, by Halifax and by New
York, 221
Victoria, British Columbia, extreme isolation of, 323
Viger, Denis Benjamin, interviewed Colonial Secretary respecting
postal affairs, 167
Virginia, proposition to establish post office in, 4;
rates of postage to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, 10;
proceedings of legislature respecting establishment of post
office, 12;
early arrangements, 13;
efforts to attach to colonial system, 22;
frustration of scheme to impose act of 1710 in, 23;
included in colonial system, 24
Way Offices, a peculiarity of Maritime provinces, 248;
explained, 249
West Indies, packet boats established between Great Britain and, 31;
large postal revenues of, 31;
packet service restored, 34
Windsor, Nova Scotia, post office opened in, 178
Wolfville, post office opened under name of Horton, 178
Woodgate, Arthur, succeeds Howe as deputy postmaster general of Nova
Scotia, 252
York, first post office at, 94
York, Duke of, claim of, on American postal revenues, 7
Young, William, confers with general post office respecting Nova
Scotia post office, 191
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
2. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved from the middle of the text
to the end of the chapters in which they appear.
3. Obvious punctuation errors have been repaired.
4. The following misprints have been corrected:
"Temiscoueta" corrected to "Temiscouata" (page 83)
"Horten" corrected to "Horton" (page 178)
"govenorship" corrected to "governorship" (page 202)
"inofrmation" corrected to "information" (page 234)
"be a hugh" corrected to "be a huge" (page 312)
"that that of either" corrected to "than that of either" (page 331)
5. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
spelling, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.