1789 in Canada explained

Events from the year 1789 in Canada.

Incumbents

George III[1]

Governors

Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester

Thomas Carleton

John Parr

John Elliot

Edmund Fanning

Events

Births

Historical documents

Wilberforce on slave trade's effects in Africa and on Middle Passage with its 12.5% death rate, plus 4.5% rate from Caribbean seasoning[6]

Lord High Chancellor tells Secretary of State that colonies should get civil liberty without political liberty, which leads to independence[7]

Pre-industrial status of U.S.A. makes it dependent on British goods; such status will continue while so many seek agricultural work and wealth[8]

Letter-to-the-editor points out suffering of poor people when they can't afford price of flour in Montreal and upper Canada[9]

Bibliographer concludes state of literature and sale of books are very low in Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick[10]

Lower Canada

Profile of Quebec's constitution, population, laws, "circulating property," land tenure, agriculture, science, commerce and import/export[11]

Lengthy petition to Gov. Gen. Lord Dorchester with scores of signatures calls for preservation of Quebec Act and Canadian laws[12]

Council suggests setting up free school in each parish (teaching "reading, writing, and cyphering"), county schools and "a collegiate institution"[13]

Provision made for four remaining Jesuits in Canada and transfer of Jesuit property to Canadian citizens (Note: "savages" used)[14]

Warning against "False Copper Coin;" supply entering province in tubs of butter with false bottoms; refuse any copper coin over 1 shilling[15]

"Mercatorius Honestus" lays out business rules under which "Trade will flourish[...], Bankruptcy [and] Confusion will cease, and honesty [return]"[16]

Government circulates plan for new agricultural society to raise grain quality and prevent "scarcity[...]this country unfortunately feels at present"[17]

New bridge over Saint-Charles River is 700 ft. long, has two lanes plus walkways, and will begin replacement of Canada's inconvenient ferries[18]

Bishop of Nova Scotia's sermon in Trois-Rivières attended by Protestants, Catholics and Jews; 100 loaves of bread distributed to poor[19]

For sale: "Pawney Boy," about 17, "an excellent servant to attend table;" 9 years with current owner, who "has now no further use for him"[20]

"For Sale, a Stout, Healthy Mulatto Girl, 26 years of age, or thereabouts"[21]

"Quebec plan" to transport Newgate convicts to Canada instead of Botany Bay follows unspecified "unhappy fate" of transported Irish[22]

Masons (in Quebec City?) to have 450 loaves of bread distributed, "considering the distressed situation of the poor in the present scarcity of flour"[23]

Quebec City dance to be held "once a fortnight during the Season;" gentlemen are asked to retire after 2 dances to allow newcomer men to dance[24]

Pianofortes for sale, plus strings and music (Haydn, Bach, Clementi and others) for that instrument and harpsichord, guitar and violin; lessons too[25]

Upper Canada

Secretary of State tells Gov. Gen. Lord Dorchester that expenditures of Indian Department are too high and "abuses" by staff need investigation[26]

Dorchester seeks "comfort of the Indians" in ending disputes among Six Nations leaders and evicting whites at Grand River[27]

Council committee has ways to regularize shipping on Great Lakes "to establish the Empire of the British Flag upon the Fresh water Oceans"[28]

Nova Scotia

Provincial agriculture society to be set up especially to support knowledge of land improvement, cultivation, seeds, orchards and cattle[29]

Students in both Latin and English divisions do well in examinations at King's Collegiate School (referred to as "academy" and "seminary")[30]

King's College of Nova Scotia to be founded and maintained by province with annual subsidy plus fund to purchase house or grounds in Windsor[31]

"Wants a place, a Negro Woman, who can cook and do all kinds of Household Work, and be well recommended for Honesty and Sobriety"[32]

Halifax man seeks missing Black apprentice Hannah Thompson, who "chews Tobacco like a Man" and has legs "very much scalded" years ago[33]

Falmouth man seeks "Negro Woman Slave, named Philis, but calls herself Betty," age 37, and Irish servant John McNeal; reward of $8 for each[34]

Overseers of the Poor call for contractors to supply Halifax Poor House with 50 cords of wood and "Fresh Beef, soft Bread, and single Spruce Beer"[35]

Churchwardens thank "the Managers of the Navy and Army Theatre" for £20 donated for "the distressed and indigent at this inclement Season"[36]

Digby minister: "[T]he greater part of people seem to consider attendance on divine worship[...]as left intirely to their own choice and humour"[37]

Halifax druggist has "a General fresh assortment of Medicines [including] Camphire and Saffron; Sago Powder [and] Essence of Peppermint"[38]

New Brunswick

Courts may, instead of burning convicted felon "in the brawn of the left thumb," impose fine or whipping, plus imprisonment[39]

U.S. cornmeal is being imported because their wheat gets subsidy in France; N.B. mills at standstill though they lower price of meal about one third[40]

Praise for production of two comedies "by a company of Gentlemen[...]with great life and humour" in province's "first dramatic exhibition"[41] Winter amusement in Fredericton includes sleighing, dancing, rope dancers and man "dancing on a wire"[42]

Prince Edward Island

Proprietors seek exemption from British law to allow them to bring settlers from U.S.A. to make Island "of that Importance of which it is capable"[43]

Bishop of Nova Scotia surprised Charlottetown vestry has not built church; they "lament" not attending to "regular exercise of religious duties"[44]

Pacific Coast

Suggestion (following Pacific coast exploration summary) that Hudson's Bay Company fur be shipped to Asia by East India Co. (Note: "savages" used)[45]

John Meares relates capture of his trading company's crew and ship by Spanish navy in Nootka Sound[46]

French Revolution

In Paris, "the murmurings and discontents of the people increase daily [and] divisions [grow] more alarming and violent"[47]

Towns tell deputies sent to Estates-General in Paris to propose various principles, "and it appears[...]English Constitution is taken as a basis"[48]

"Here [in Paris] it is astonishing to see the fermentation which reigns among the minds of people of all ranks, professions, and denominations"[49]

"In the national assembly, the debates continue to be carried on with increasing violence, and bid defiance to monarchy"[50]

"A National Revolution" - Bastille taken, its governor executed, Queen in flight, King detained, British ambassador threatened, etc.[51]

Drafting declaration of rights presented to National Assembly was difficult, given how "vicious" previous French government was[52]

"Wonderful" revolution is talk of Europe and influencing affairs in neighbouring countries; Britain "is minding her own business"[53]

Edmund Burke hears "there are considerable emigrations from France," even to "the frozen regions, and under the British despotism, of Canada"[54]

Elsewhere

Notice: 2,500+ "chaldrons" of coal for sale at Spanish River, Cape Breton, with payment taken in flour, bread, pork, rum, molasses, sugar etc.[55]

Hudson's Bay Company's monopoly rights are "silent usurpations [that bring] discredit upon an enlightened age and nation"[56]

Description of waterways between Lake Superior and Great Slave Lake also assumes latter connects with Pacific by mistaken "Cook's River"[57]

Travelling down Dehcho (later Mackenzie River), Alexander Mackenzie befriends Dene (Slavey and Dogrib) who at first are terrified[58]

U.S. House hears duty on molasses will harm New England fishers, fishery and shipbuilding, and that some may move to Nova Scotia[59]

"Gentleman [reports] that last month, at New-York, General Washington was proclaimed and crowned George I, King of America"[60]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kings and Queens of Canada . aem . 24 February 2021 . 11 August 2017.
  2. Gutman, Judith Mara. Through Indian Eyes. New York: Oxford UP, 1982. Print.
  3. Belton, Robert James. Sights of Resistance: Approaches to Canadian Visual Culture. Calgary: U of Calgary, 2001. Print.
  4. Glover, Richard (ed.), David Thompson's Narrative, 1784–1812. Champlain Society : Toronto, 1962.
  5. Terrill, Frederick William. A Chronology of Montreal and of Canada from A.D. 1752 to A.D. 1893 ...Salt Lake City, UT: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. Print.
  6. "Parliamentary Register; House of Commons; Tuesday, May 12," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 39 (August 17, 1789), Page 7 of 8. (See also comments of MPs (Pages 3 of 8 and 5 of 8) following Wilberforce testimony; and also various reasons to support "Slave Trade" (pg. 1) made in London meeting) Accessed 20 June 2023
  7. E.A. Cruikshank (ed.), "From Lord Thurlow to W.W. Grenville" (September 1-10, 1789), The Correspondence of Lieut. Governor John Graves Simcoe, with Allied Documents(...); Volume I, 1789-1793 (1923), pg. 5. (Base URL: https://archive.org/details/correspondenceof01simc/page/n5/mode/2up) Accessed 29 June 2023
  8. "Quebec, September 3," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1256 (September 3, 1789), pg. 2. Accessed 28 June 2023
  9. "Montreal, Dec. 21, 1789; To the Gentlemen who form the Montreal Committee," (Quebec) Herald, Miscellany & Advertiser, Vol. I, No. 6 (December 28, 1789), Pages 6 of 8 and 1 of 8. Accessed 22 June 2023
  10. L.T. Rede, "An Introductory Discourse on the State of Literature in North and South America," Bibliotheca Americana(....) (1789), pgs. 20-1. (Base URL: https://archive.org/details/cihm_39988) Accessed 27 June 2023
  11. "From the London Evening-Post; A Brief state of the Province of Quebec[....]," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 10 (January 26, 1789), Page 3 of 12. Accessed 16 June 2023
  12. "To His Excellency the Right Honourable Guy Lord Dorchester" (December 31, 1788), (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 9 (January 19, 1789), pgs. 78-82 (Note: pages are out of order). Accessed 16 June 2023
  13. "Report of a Committee of the Council on the Subject of Promoting The Means of Education" (November 26, 1789; in English and French), pgs. 25-6 (See also Quebec Gazette ad (pg. 3) of teacher offering free tuition because of "Hardness of the Times at present") Accessed 26 June 2023
  14. "Letter of Reverend Father de Glapion to Monsieur Louis Germain (Langlois), fils" (December 31, 1789), The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents; Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France; 1610-1791; Vol. LXXI (1901), pgs. 99-107. Accessed 29 June 2023
  15. "Quebec, February 19; Beware of Counterfeit Money!," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1227 (February 19, 1789), pg. 3. Accessed 28 June 2023
  16. "Advertisement Extraordinary" (October 1, 1789), The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1262 (October 8, 1789), pg. 3. Accessed 28 June 2023
  17. "(Circular) To the Curates of the Country Parishes[....]" (March 1789), Papers and Letters on Agriculture[....] (1790; in English and French), pg. 2 (See also resolves of Quebec branch of society (pg. 3), including electing equal number of "English" and "Canadian" directors) Accessed 27 June 2023
  18. "Quebec, September 24," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1259 (September 24, 1789), pg. 3. Accessed 28 June 2023
  19. "Three Rivers, July 2," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 31 (July 6, 1789), Page 3 of 8. (See also his charge to Lower Canada's Anglican clergy) Accessed 20 June 2023
  20. "Quebec, Feb. 1, 1789; To Be Sold[....]," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 12 (February 9, 1789), Page 4 of 8. Accessed 16 June 2023
  21. "Quebec, May 25th, 1789; For Sale[....]," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 28 (June 1, 1789), Page 5 of 8. Accessed 20 June 2023
  22. "The new destination of the convicts in Newgate[....]," The Nova-Scotia Gazette, and the Weekly Chronicle Vol. XIX, No. 1190 (January 27, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (lefthand page, right column). Accessed 13 June 2023 (See also Quebec Gazette (February 26, pg. 3 note that 400 Woolwich convicts going to Canada and Nova Scotia)
  23. "The fraternity of Free-Masons[....]," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 31 (June 22, 1789), Page 6 of 9 (centre column). Accessed 20 June 2023 (See also word that British government is sending "a large additional supply of Wheat, Flour and Pease for the relief of the Inhabitants" (pg. 4))
  24. "Quebec Assembly," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 7 (January 5, 1789), Page 2 of 8. Accessed 16 June 2023
  25. "Quebec, June 12, 1789; For Sale, By Francis Vogeler[....]," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 31 (June 22, 1789), Page 9 of 9. Accessed 20 June 2023
  26. "From W.W. Grenville to Lord Dorchester" (October 20, 1789), Records of Niagara; 1784-9 PDF pgs. 74-5. Accessed 29 June 2023
  27. "From Lord Dorchester to Sir John Johnson" (June 2, 1789), Records of Niagara; 1784-9 PDF pgs. 67-8. Accessed 29 June 2023
  28. "First Report of the Committee of the Executive Council[...]on I[n]land Navigation" (January 19, 1789), Records of Niagara; 1784-9 PDF pgs. 50-55. Accessed 29 June 2023
  29. "Halifax, Nov. 3; Plan of a Society for promoting Agriculture[....]," The Royal Gazette: and the Nova-Scotia Advertiser Vol. I, No. 32 (November 3, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (righthand page, left column). Accessed 15 June 2023 (See also articles of association of Kings County Agricultural Society)
  30. "Halifax, February 10," The Nova-Scotia Gazette, and the Weekly Chronicle Vol. XIX, No. 1192 (February 10, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (righthand page, left column). Accessed 13 June 2023
  31. https://bnald.lib.unb.ca/legislation/act-founding-establishing-and-maintaining-college-province "An Act, for founding, establishing and maintaining a College in this Province"
  32. "Wants a Place[....]" (March 23, 1789), The Nova-Scotia Gazette, and the Weekly Chronicle Vol. XIX, No. 1198 (March 24, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (righthand page, right column). Accessed 13 June 2023
  33. "Run Away[....]" (December 30, 1788) The Nova-Scotia Gazette, and the Weekly Chronicle Vol. XIX, No. 1189 (January 20, 1789), Page 1 of 2 (lefthand page, left column). Accessed 13 June 2023
  34. "Run away from the Subscriber[....]" (June 18, 1789), The Royal Gazette: and the Nova-Scotia Advertiser Vol. I, No. 14 (June 30, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (lefthand page, right column). Accessed 14 June 2023
  35. "Bread, Beef, Spruce Beer and Cord Wood," The Nova-Scotia Gazette, and the Weekly Chronicle Vol. XIX, No. 1188 (January 13, 1789), Page 3 of 3 (righthand page, right column). (See also notice (Page 2 of 2, righthand page, centre column) of mandatory meeting to vote funds to support Halifax poor) Accessed 13 June 2023
  36. "The Wardens of St. Paul's Church[....]" (January 13, 1789), The Nova-Scotia Gazette, and the Weekly Chronicle Vol. XIX, No. 1189 (January 20, 1789), Page 3 of 3 (righthand page, centre column). Accessed 13 June 2023
  37. Roger Viets, "A Sermon on the Duty of attending the Public Worship of God" (delivered April 19, 1789), pg. 5. (Base URL: https://archive.org/details/cihm_64830/page/n1/mode/2up) Accessed 27 June 2023
  38. "Philipps, Drugist," The Royal Gazette: and the Nova-Scotia Advertiser Vol. I, No. 10 (June 2, 1789), Page 1 of 2 (front page). Accessed 14 June 2023
  39. https://bnald.lib.unb.ca/legislation/act-relating-punishment-persons-convicted-felony-within-benefit-clergy "An Act relating to the punishment of persons convicted of Felony within the Benefit of Clergy"
  40. https://web.lib.unb.ca/winslow/fullrecord.cgi?id=6965&level=3 "Letter from Ward Chipman to Edward Winslow"
  41. "From a Correspondent," The Saint John Gazette, and the Weekly Advertiser Vol. III, Numb. 149 (March 20, 1789), Page 7 of 18 (righthand page, left column). Accessed 12 June 2023
  42. Letter of Sarah Winslow (January 10, 1789; "modernized rendition"), Loyalist Women in New Brunswick, 1783-1827. Accessed 27 June 2023
  43. https://ia600608.us.archive.org/4/items/cihm_49929/cihm_49929.pdf "Petition of the Proprietors of Land in the Island of Saint John(...); 1789"
  44. "Charlotte-Town, May 25," The Royal Gazette: and the Nova-Scotia Advertiser Vol. I, No. 16 (July 14, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (righthand page, left column). Accessed 14 June 2023
  45. Alexander Dalrymple, "Plan for Promoting the Fur-Trade(...)by Uniting the Operations of the East-India and Hudson's-Bay Companys (1789), pgs. 25-32. (Base URL: https://archive.org/details/cihm_27753) Accessed 27 June 2023
  46. John Meares, "Appendix; No I; Copy of the Memorial," Voyages Made in the Years 1788 and 1789[...] (1790), Images 687-9 (See also "a faithful abstract" of Meares' memorial) Accessed 26 June 2023
  47. "London, December 6; A letter from Paris[....]," The Nova-Scotia Gazette, and the Weekly Chronicle Vol. XIX, No. 1197 (March 17, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (lefthand page, right column bottom). Accessed 13 June 2023
  48. "Parisian Topics, April 12," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 32 (July 13, 1789), Page 7 of 10. Accessed 20 June 2023
  49. "London, May 12; Extract of a letter from Paris, April 27," The Royal Gazette: and the Nova-Scotia Advertiser Vol. I, No. 17 (July 21, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (lefthand page, centre column). Accessed 14 June 2023
  50. "London, July 10; Paris, July 1," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 27 (September 14, 1789), Page 1 of 8. Accessed 21 June 2023
  51. "(Other Accounts from Paris[....])," The Royal Gazette: and the Nova-Scotia Advertiser Vol. I, No. 26 (September 22, 1789), Page 1 of 2 (front page). (See also detailed reports (Pages 6 of 8 and 3 of 8) of events) Accessed 15 June 2023 (See further coverage in Quebec Gazette of October 1)
  52. "National Assembly; Paris, Monday, Aug. 17; Declaration of Rights," The Royal Gazette: and the Nova-Scotia Advertiser Vol. I, No. 31 (October 27, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (lefthand page, centre column). Accessed 15 June 2023 (See also Duke of Orleans's resolves (pg. 1) published in March and consisting of several human rights, and also similar list of rights (pg. 1) from citizen assembly in Paris)
  53. https://web.lib.unb.ca/winslow/fullrecord.cgi?id=972&level=2 "Letter from Benjamin Marston to Edward Winslow"
  54. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France[....] (1790), pg. 197 Accessed 23 June 2023
  55. "Public Notice" (May 18, 1789), The Royal Gazette: and the Nova-Scotia Advertiser Vol. I, No. 10 (June 16, 1789), Page 2 of 2 (righthand page, left column). Accessed 14 June 2023
  56. "Extract of a letter from a gentleman in England to his friend in Quebec," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 33 (July 20, 1789), Page 7 of 8. (See also continuation of letter (Page 3 of 8) advocating transcontinental link to Chinese market) Accessed 20 June 2023
  57. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.41457/5 "Description of the Country from Lake Superior to Cook's River"
  58. Alexander Mackenzie, Voyages from Montreal[...]to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in the years 1789 and 1793, pgs. 32-3 (See also "Map of the North Part of America (with) Mackenzies Track from Montreal to the North Sea") Accessed 28 June 2023
  59. "New-York; Proceedings of Congress; In the House of Representatives[...]28th April, 1789," "Mr. Gerry" Gazette of the United States, No. VI (May 2, 1789), pg. 22. (Base URL:https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030483/1789-05-02/ed-1/seq-2/) Accessed 22 June 2023
  60. "Extract of a letter from Montreal, May 18, 1789," (Quebec) Herald and Universal Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 27 (May 25, 1789), Page 8 of 8. Accessed 19 June 2023

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