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In: History - American·History - British·History - Modern (1750+)
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #37238.
The work is a scholarly survey of the development of the postal system in British North America, written by William Smith in the early twentieth‑century. It opens with a clear statement that the Canadian post office was never an autonomous body but an extension of a British network that had been operating for three‑quarters of a century. Smith explains that his study will draw on records from the General Post Office in London, the British Museum, colonial legislatures, and the Public Archives of Canada, while also acknowledging the assistance of contemporaries such as Edward Porritt. The detailed table of contents shows a chronological progression from the earliest colonial mail arrangements through the Revolutionary period, the establishment of a distinct Canadian service, and the eventual transfer of control to the provinces. The introductory chapter situates the first North‑American post office in 1639 Boston, linking it to broader debates over monopoly and the evolving relationship between the colonies and the Crown.
Written in a formal, documentary style characteristic of historical monographs of the 1920s, the book combines narrative description with extensive citations of official documents, legislative journals, and personal accounts such as Franklin’s account book. Smith’s voice is that of a careful archivist, attentive to institutional detail and to the political tensions that shaped postal policy. Readers with an interest in the administrative history of Canada, the colonial relationship with Britain, or the evolution of communication infrastructure will find the volume rewarding, as will scholars of early‑modern British imperial bureaucracy and enthusiasts of the postal heritage of North America.
The opening · free to read
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 in operation for nearly three-quarters of a century, with well-established modes of administration. Obviously, either reference should be made to well-known works on the older colonial postal system, or an account of it must be attempted in this volume.
Although careful studies of some aspects of this history have been made, this part of colonial history has, on the whole, received less of the attention of students than has been devoted to throwing light upon other phases of that history; and, what was important for my purpose, little has been done in the way of describing the relations between the colonial postal system and the general post office in London, to which it was subordinate.
The materials for this portion of the history are to be found in the records of the general post office, London, the British Museum, and in the journals of the colonial legislatures. A very interesting document is Franklin's Account Book, which is in the Boston Public Library.
The materials for the history of the post office in the provinces now composing the Dominion of Canada, are in the records of the general post office, the larger portion of which have been transcribed for the Public Archives of Canada; in the correspondence between the colonial governors and the colonial office, which can be found either in the original or in transcripts in the Public Archives, and in the Journals of the Provincial Legislatures.
In the preparation of the chapter on the postal service of Newfoundland, I had the advantage of a rather close acquaintance with that service, due to my having had charge of it some years ago for a period of several months. The material on which the chapter is founded has been gathered from the records of the general post office, and the legislative papers of the colony.
In collecting my material, I have received ready assistance from all to whom I have applied. To all these my hearty gratitude is tendered. A word of special acknowledgment is due to Mr. Edward Porritt, author of The Unreformed Parliament of Great Britain, who kindly read the manuscript, and to whose experience I am indebted for many valuable suggestions.
WILLIAM SMITH.
August 1920.
Communications in Canada prior to the Conquest--Extension of colonial postal service to Canada--Effects of colonial discontents on post office.
Beginnings of exclusively Canadian postal service-- Administration of Hugh Finlay--Opening of communication with England by way of Halifax--Postal convention with United States.
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.
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.
The beginnings of the postal service in the Maritime provinces--Complaints of newspaper publishers--Reception given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances.
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.
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.
Diminution of powers of deputy postmaster general--Commission on post office appointed--Its report--Efforts to secure reduction of postal charges.
Continuation of account of post office in Maritime provinces-- Departmental inquiry into conditions--Agitation for reduced postage.
Reversal of attitude of British government on post office control--Instructions to Lord Elgin--Provincial postal conference--Control of post office relinquished to colonies.
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