1881 in Canada explained

Events from the year 1881 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Victoria^[1]

Federal government

- Governor General – John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne Prime Minister – John A. Macdonald
Chief Justice – William Johnstone Ritchie (New Brunswick)
Parliament – 4th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

- - - - Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Albert Norton Richards (until June 21) then Clement Francis Cornwall Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Joseph-Édouard Cauchon Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Robert Duncan Wilmot Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Adams George Archibald Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Beverley Robinson Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Thomas Heath Haviland Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Théodore Robitaille

Premiers

- - - - Premier of British Columbia – George Anthony Walkem Premier of Manitoba – John Norquay Premier of New Brunswick – John James Fraser Premier of Nova Scotia – Simon Hugh Holmes Premier of Ontario – Oliver Mowat Premier of Prince Edward Island – William Wilfred Sullivan Premier of Quebec – Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau

Territorial governments

Lieutenant governors

Lieutenant Governor of Keewatin – Joseph-Édouard Cauchon
Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories – David Laird (until December 3) then Edgar Dewdney

Events

January 17 – The Interprovincial Bridge connecting Ottawa to Hull, Quebec, opens
February 16 – The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated
April 4 – The 1881 census finds Canada's population to be 4,324,810
May 24 – The overloaded steamer Victoria capsizes on the Thames River near London, Ontario, killing 182 people.
October – Clifton, Ontario, is renamed to Niagara Falls.
December 2 – Quebec election: Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau's Conservatives win a majority

Full date unknown

Manitoba's boundaries are extended north, east and west. Ontario disputes the eastward extension.

Births

January 2 – Frederick Varley, artist and member of the Group of Seven (d.1969)
January 20 – Fred Dixon, politician (d.1931)
March 18 – Oliver Seibert, professional ice hockey player (d.1944)
June 17 – Tommy Burns, only Canadian born world heavyweight champion boxer (d.1955)
September 27 – James Ralston, lawyer, soldier, politician and Minister (d.1948)
October 23 – Al Christie, film director, producer and screenwriter (d.1951)
November 4 – Hector Authier, politician, lawyer and news reporter/announcer (d.1971)
November 19 – Robert James Manion, politician (d.1943)
December 20 – Télesphore-Damien Bouchard, politician (d.1962)
December 29 – George Washington Kendall (d.1921)
December 31 – Albert Sévigny, politician (d.1961)
December 31 – Elizabeth Arden (birth name, Florence Nightingale Graham), founder, Elizabeth Arden cosmetics (d.1966)

Deaths

January 28 – Luc Letellier de St-Just, politician and 3rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1820)

Historical documents

John A. Macdonald expounds on CPR's troubled past and secure future in House of Commons speech^[2]

British editorial labels CPR and Canada bad investments^[3]

Wilfrid Laurier accuses Conservatives of "having sacrificed the public cause to personal cupidity"^[4]

Governor General speaks on prospects of Northwest Territories^[5]

Importance of steamboats to colonization along Saskatchewan River^[6]

Ojibwa entertain Governor General at Rat Portage (Kenora), Ont. (Note: racial stereotypes)^[7]

Chief Poundmaker tells Cree and Blackfoot legends to Governor General on tour^[8]

Colourful Blackfoot riders meet Governor General (Note: "savage" and other stereotypes)^[9]

Journalist describes beautiful Qu'Appelle Valley in gorgeous sunset^[10]

Nova Scotia woman tries to find maid for $4/month, and describes some of the work^[11]

Notes and References

Web site: Queen Victoria The Canadian Encyclopedia . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . 5 December 2022.
Canada; Parliament; House of Commons, Debates of the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada; 4th Parliament, 3rd Session (1881), pgs. 485-98. Accessed 4 October 2019 http://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/4/h4-4013-e.html
A Wrong Forecast of a False Prophet; Editorial from London "Truth," September 1st, 1881 ("From Press Clippings of A.B. Chaffee, Manager, International Railway Guide, Montreal, Que."). Accessed 5 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1014/1.html
Ulric Barthe, Wilfrid Laurier on the Platform; Collection of the Principal Speeches[...] (1890), pgs. 143-6. Accessed 5 October 2019 http://www.archive.org/stream/wilfridlaurieron00lauruoft#page/142/mode/2up/
Canada; Department of Agriculture, The Canadian North-West: Speech Delivered at Winnipeg [by] Governor General[...] (1881). Accessed 5 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/959.html
"Wreck of the Saskatchewan Steamer," from Edmonton Bulletin (November 5, 1881). Accessed 4 October 2019 http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/thewest/sasksteamerwreak.htm
William H. Williams, Manitoba and the North-West; Journal of a Trip from Toronto to the Rocky Mountains[...] (1882), pgs. 32-3. Accessed 4 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1020/39.html
William H. Williams, Manitoba and the North-West; Journal of a Trip from Toronto to the Rocky Mountains[...] (1882), pg. 105 and after. Accessed 4 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1020/112.html
William H. Williams, Manitoba and the North-West; Journal of a Trip from Toronto to the Rocky Mountains[...] (1882), pgs. 118-19. Accessed 4 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1020/125.html
William H. Williams, Manitoba and the North-West; Journal of a Trip from Toronto to the Rocky Mountains[...] (1882), pg. 66. Accessed 5 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1020/73.html
Letter of Eliza Cunningham to her mother, Catherine McQueen, April 19, 1881, Dartmouth, The McQueen Family Papers, Atlantic Canada Virtual Archives. Accessed 5 October 2019 http://atlanticportal.hil.unb.ca/acva/en/mcqueen/letters/search/text.php?pt=1&d=575