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Lot 27
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Canadian History in Letters Starting in 1820
Canadian History in Letters Starting in 1820
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Description:

Canada

Canadian History in Letters Starting in 1820



[CANADA.] Archive of three Autograph Letters Signed, 1820-1863. 9 pp. + related materials, 5.25" x 8.375" to 7.25" x 9.125".  Some staining and missing top margin on one letter; some stains from mounting on verso of another; otherwise very good.



This intriguing collection of letters touches on various aspects of Canadian history in the nineteenth century, from Governor General Dalhousie’s re-connecting with a classmate from high school in Edinburgh to the proper pension for an unpopular lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island to British railroad baron Edward Watkin’s plans for rail lines among the provinces in Canada.



Highlights and Excerpts
- George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie to George Bell, November 11, 1820, 2 pp.
“There is no feeling so pleasing to those whose lot is to be cast abroad in public service, as to meet with, or find an opportunity to oblige, an old schoolfellow. You must not be surprised that I should have lost sight of that connexion between you & me, having passed so few of my years at home since those days; but tho’ I must confess to have forgot some, yet there are many faces in Edinh with which I have been tempted to claim acquaintance, which I well recollected, tho’ they did not seem to know mine. I am however surprised that you and I should not somehow accidentally have renewed our acquaintance. I shall not forget it when I next may reach the Land of a [kin?], and in the meantime, should any opportunity enable us to oblige G W Gilchrist be assured I will catch at it with very great pleasure.”


George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie (1770-1838) was a Scottish soldier educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh. He was Governor of Nova Scotia from 1816 to 1820, Governor General of British North America from 1820 to 1828, and later Commander-in-Chief in India.


George Joseph Bell (1770-1843) was born in Edinburgh and at the age of eight entered the Royal High School, Edinburgh. He had no university education other than attending lectures on the law, but he became an eminent member of the Scottish bar and was Professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh University from 1822 to 1843.



- Statement re: Prince Edward Island, December 20, 1828, 3 pp.
“Lt. Governor Smith served upwards of ten years at Prince Edward’s Island. He has now resigned the Government more than four years and has only received about £200, altho’ he was deemed entitled to a Pension of £500 a year. Lt General Fanning & Colonel Des Barres both received Pensions of £500 a year on the Estimate at the same time for many years. The Lt Governor has suspended the Collection of the Quit Rents in consequence of a Petition to The King from the Inhabitants which is coming home by the next opportunity. Independent of this the circulating Medium consist of old Bank Tokens, smooth Shillings & half Crowns, French silver &c which cannot be remitted to this Country without a loss of £25 per cent and Bank Notes or British Silver cannot be obtained except at a high premium & even then not in sufficient quantity. There are also various difficulties to dispose of and it is therefore quite clear that nothing can be expected from the Quit Rents for at least twelve months to come.”


Charles D. Smith (1761-1855) served as lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island from 1812 to 1824. Born in England, Smith served with the British Army from 1776 to 1783 in the American Revolutionary War and returned to active service from 1795 to 1798, when he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. As lieutenant governor, he treated Prince Edward Island as a large country estate and its people as his tenants. In doing so, he came into conflict with the militia, the military, and the legislature.



- Edward Watkin to Philip Rose, February 26, 1863, Grant Trunk Railway Office.
“I very much regret the publication by Mr. Cameron of Sir E. B. Lyttons letter to me sent through you while I was in Canada last year.... It arrived at a time when from delays & doubt at the Colonial office and elsewhere, the impression of leading men in Canada had set in strongly as to the entire indifference of England to the imperial measure of the construction of the ‘Intercolonial.’”
“I need not say that I was as much surprised as Sir Lytton can have been in finding that Mr. Cameron had read the letter in the Legislative Council on the occasion of his making a speech in favor of the Intercolonial & obtaining the unanimous resolution of the upper House in its favor. I much regret that this step should have been taken although I am bound to say that the letter had the happiest possible effect upon the Public mind of the Provinces, and I beg you will apologise to Sir Lytton for me....”
“As regards the Intercolonial project, Government having offered to guarantee the Interest, delegates came over from the 3 provinces in December and negotiated the proposed terms with the Treasury. Mr. Gladstone however stuck out for a sinking Fund and as the provinces are not wealthy enough to make a Railway for posterity they objected to this, being ready, however, to pay the whole of the money at decennial periods completing the operation in 40 years.”
“The Canadian delegates also proposed to join this country and British Columbia in securing telegraphic, steam, and road communication across from Lake Superior to the Pacific. I am afraid however that Mr. Gladstone will not be ready to encounter the responsibility of the £8.500 a year, being the Imperial portion of one third of a guarantee of 4 percent upon £500.000.... Perhaps however you gentlemen at the Carlton may make a change of Government, and if so we shall hope for more cordial support.”


Edward Watkin (1819-1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. Born in England, he worked in his father’s mill business until he took an interest in railways in 1845. He published a book about railroads in the United States and Canada in 1852. In 1858, he became the manager of the Grand Trunk Railway of eastern Canada, and he served as its president from 1862 to 1869. He also advised on railways in continental Europe, Africa, and India, and he was an early advocate of both a Canadian transcontinental railway and a railway tunnel under the English Channel between England and France.


Philip Rose (1816-1883) was admitted to the bar in 1836 and was for many years a partner in the law firm of Baxter, Rose, Norton & Co. He resigned his partnership in 1872 in a dispute with his colleagues. He was a close friend of and adviser to Benjamin Disraeli. He was created a Baronet in 1874.


The failure to reach agreement on the Intercolonial Railway in 1862 led to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, and eventually to the Confederation of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) in 1867, the beginnings of modern Canada.




This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.



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