Document Record

Title

Records and correspondence sent from the Postmaster General
Lettres envoyées

Identifier

lac_mikan_133142
164088
RG 3 B 2 1
R169-51-X-F
Government
oocihm.lac_mikan_133142

Document source

Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Language

English
French

Description

Mail delivery within Canada first started in 1693 when the Portuguese born Pedro da Silva was paid to deliver mail between Quebec City and Montreal. Official postal services began in 1775 and was under the control of the British Government up to 1851. It was not until 1867 when the newly formed Dominion of Canada created the Post Office Department as a federal government department headed by a Cabinet minister, the Postmaster General of Canada. The Act took effect in April 1868, providing uniform postal service throughout the new country. In October 1908, the first free rural mail delivery service was instituted in Canada. The Post Office Department was also an early pioneer of airmail delivery with the first airmail flight taking place in June 1918, carrying mail from Montreal to Toronto. The Post Office Department was rebranded as “Canada Post” in the late 1960s, even though it had not yet been separated from the government. In October 1981, the Canada Post Corporation Act came into force, abolishing the Post Office Department and creating the present day Crown corporation which provides post service, the Canada Post Corporation.
This collection consists of letterbooks containing copies of outgoing correspondence from the Office of the Deputy Postmaster General relating to all aspects of postal administration for the years 1851 to 1902. It also consists of selected letters addressed to Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Elson Ltd., Engravers and the American Bank Note Company, both of New York City, for the engraving, printing and supply of postage stamps. These items cover the period 1851 to 1867.

URL

https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_133142