1871 in Canada

Years in Canada:	1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874
Centuries:	18th century · 19th century · 20th century
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
Years:	1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874

Events from the year 1871 in Canada.

Incumbents[]

Crown[]

Monarch – Victoria

Federal government[]

Governor General – John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar
Prime Minister – John A. Macdonald
Parliament – 1st

Provincial governments[]

Canada provinces 1871–1873

Lieutenant governors[]

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Joseph Trutch (from July 5)
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Adams George Archibald
Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Lemuel Allan Wilmot
Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Charles Hastings Doyle
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – William Pearce Howland
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau

Premiers[]

Premier of British Columbia – John Foster McCreight (from November 14)
Premier of Manitoba – Alfred Boyd (until December 14) then Marc-Amable Girard
Premier of New Brunswick – George Edwin King (until February 21) then George Luther Hathaway
Premier of Nova Scotia – William Annand
Premier of Ontario – John Sandfield Macdonald (until December 20) then Edward Blake
Premier of Quebec – Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau

Territorial governments[]

Lieutenant governors[]

Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories – Adams George Archibald

Elections[]

March 21 – The 1871 Ontario election: Edward Blake's Liberals win a majority, defeating J. S. Macdonald's Liberal-Conservatives
May 16 – The 1871 Nova Scotia election: William Annand's Liberals win a second consecutive majority
Oct 16 – Dec 15 – The 1871 British Columbia election^[1]

Events[]

January to June[]

March 15 – Beginning of the first session of the 1st Manitoba Legislature
April 2 – The first Canadian census finds the population to be 3,689,257
May 8 – The Treaty of Washington reaches agreements on fishing rights and Great Lakes trade between Canada and the United States
May 17 – New Brunswick abandons separate schools.

July to December[]

July 15 – Phoebe Campbell murders her husband with an axe. She is hanged the next year.
July 20 – British Columbia joins Confederation.
July 25 – Treaty 1, the first of a number of treaties with western Canada's First Nations, is signed
August 17 – Treaty 2 is signed
November 11 – The last of the British Army leaves Canada
November 13 – John McCreight becomes the first premier of British Columbia
December 14 – Marc-Amable Girard becomes the first Franco-Manitoban of premier of Manitoba, replacing Alfred Boyd
December 20 – Edward Blake becomes premier of Ontario, replacing J. S. Macdonald.

Full date unknown[]

Meteorological Service of Canada is formed
Parliament legalizes the use of the metric system
Goldwin Smith immigrates to Canada
Ontario Schools Act is passed in Ontario, requiring all students aged 7 to 12 to attend school.
The 1871 Quebec election : Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau's Conservatives win a second consecutive majority

Births[]

George Stewart Henry

January 30 – Wilfred Lucas, actor, film director and screenwriter (d.1940)
May 14 – Walter Stanley Monroe, businessman, politician and Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d.1952)
July 16 – George Stewart Henry, politician and 10th Premier of Ontario (d.1958)
July 25 – Richard Ernest William Turner, soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross (d.1961)
August 4 – Robert Hamilton Butts, politician (d.1943)
September 8 – Samuel McLaughlin, businessman and philanthropist (d.1972)
September 9 – Hugh Robson, politician and judge
October 31 – Alexander Stirling MacMillan, businessman, politician and Premier of Nova Scotia (d.1955)
December 2 – Stanislas Blanchard, politician (d.1949)
December 13 – Emily Carr, artist and writer (d.1945)

Deaths[]

Modeste Demers

January 29 – Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, lawyer, writer, fifth and last seigneur of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli (L'Islet County) (b.1786)
January 31 – John Ross, lawyer, politician, and businessman. (b. 1818)
February 20 – Paul Kane, artist (b.1810)
March 11 – John Heckman, political figure (b.1785)
July 28 – Modeste Demers, missionary (b.1809)
September 23 – Louis-Joseph Papineau, lawyer, politician and reformist (b.1786)
November 18 – Enos Collins, seaman, merchant, financier, and legislator (b.1774)

Historical documents[]

Editorial says Confederation is British Columbia's chance to remake itself^[2]

Canada should refuse to permanently share its inshore fishery with U.S.A.^[3]

Manitoba Lieutenant Governor Archibald agrees to release four Indigenous prisoners before negotiating Treaty 1^[4]

Archibald urges Indigenous people to "adopt the habits of the whites" (farming) for more comfort and safety from famine and sickness^[5]

Commissioner Simpson says in Manitoba's "immense cultivable acres," large reserves are not allowed, and treaty terms are "a present"^[6]

Treaty terms with large reserves are demanded by Indigenous leaders, with one calling himself "the lawful owner" of his people's land^[7]

Indigenous leaders continue to make "extravagant demands" and Commissioner Simpson says take it or leave it, settlers are coming^[8]

Fenian raid on Manitoba stopped at the border^[9]

Manitoba Lieutenant Governor thanks residents for rising to resist the Fenian invasion^[10]

References[]

^ https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1871-1986_ElectoralHistoryofBC.pdf
^ "The Great Duty of the Hour" The Daily British Colonist and Victoria Chronicle, Vol. 25, No. 117 (April 28, 1871), pg. 2. Accessed 11 September 2018
^ Joseph Pope, Memoirs of the Right Honourable Sir John Alexander Macdonald, G.C.B., First Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada (1894), pgs. 90-1 Accessed 11 September 2018
^ Report of the Indian Branch of the Department of the Secretary of State for the Provinces, 1871, pgs. 14-15 Accessed 30 January 2020 (See "An Obstacle" for details of incarceration and release (pg. 2, columns 3-4))
^ "The Chippewa Treaty; Second Day's Proceedings" The Manitoban, Vol. I, No. 43 (August 5, 1871), pg. 2 (column 4). Accessed 16 August 2021
^ "The Chippewa Treaty; Second Day's Proceedings" The Manitoban, Vol. I, No. 43 (August 5, 1871), pg. 2 (columns 4-5). Accessed 16 August 2021
^ "Fourth Day's Proceedings" The Manitoban, Vol. I, No. 44 (August 12, 1871), pg. 2 (columns 4-5). Accessed 16 August 2021
^ Further arguments on Treaty 1 The Manitoban, Vol. I, No. 44 (August 12, 1871), pg. 3 (columns 1-3). Accessed 16 August 2021
^ Adams George Archibald, Return to an Address of the House of Commons...for Copies of All Correspondence with Lieut.-Governor A.G. Archibald, of Manitoba...Regarding the Fenian Invasion of Manitoba, pgs. 4–5 Accessed 11 September 2018
^ House of Commons, Report of the Select Committee on the Causes of the Difficulties in the North-West Territory in 1869–70 (1874), pgs. 147-9 Accessed 11 September 2018

[1] ttps://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1871-1986_ElectoralHistoryofBC.pdf

[2] "The Great Duty of the Hour" The Daily British Colonist and Victoria Chronicle, Vol. 25, No. 117 (April 28, 1871), pg. 2. Accessed 11 September 2018

[3] Joseph Pope, Memoirs of the Right Honourable Sir John Alexander Macdonald, G.C.B., First Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada (1894), pgs. 90-1 Accessed 11 September 2018

[4] Report of the Indian Branch of the Department of the Secretary of State for the Provinces, 1871, pgs. 14-15 Accessed 30 January 2020 (See "An Obstacle" for details of incarceration and release (pg. 2, columns 3-4))

[5] "The Chippewa Treaty; Second Day's Proceedings" The Manitoban, Vol. I, No. 43 (August 5, 1871), pg. 2 (column 4). Accessed 16 August 2021

[6] "The Chippewa Treaty; Second Day's Proceedings" The Manitoban, Vol. I, No. 43 (August 5, 1871), pg. 2 (columns 4-5). Accessed 16 August 2021

[7] "Fourth Day's Proceedings" The Manitoban, Vol. I, No. 44 (August 12, 1871), pg. 2 (columns 4-5). Accessed 16 August 2021

[8] Further arguments on Treaty 1 The Manitoban, Vol. I, No. 44 (August 12, 1871), pg. 3 (columns 1-3). Accessed 16 August 2021

[9] Adams George Archibald, Return to an Address of the House of Commons...for Copies of All Correspondence with Lieut.-Governor A.G. Archibald, of Manitoba...Regarding the Fenian Invasion of Manitoba, pgs. 4–5 Accessed 11 September 2018

[10] House of Commons, Report of the Select Committee on the Causes of the Difficulties in the North-West Territory in 1869–70 (1874), pgs. 147-9 Accessed 11 September 2018

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

Years in Canada:	1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874
Centuries:	18th century · 19th century · 20th century
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
Years:	1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874

v t List of years in Canada
Pre-Confederation Prehistory–1866	Prehistory to 1 BC 1st millennium 1000s 1100s 1400s 1500s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866
Post-Confederation 1867–present	1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Quebec	1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1635
Canadian electoral calendars	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Related	List of Canadian monarchs List of governors general of Canada List of prime ministers of Canada Population of Canada by year Timeline
Research	Bibliography Historiography
Category Canada portal

v t 1871 in North America
Sovereign states	Canada United States
Dependencies and other territories

History of Canada
Part of a series on the
Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe
Timeline (list)
Pre-colonization 1534–1763 1764–1867 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–present
Historically significant
Events Sites People
Topics
Indigenous Cultural Constitutional Economic Former colonies Immigration Military Monarchical Population Territorial evolution Women
By provinces and territories
Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nunavut Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon
Research
Bibliography Historiography
Canada portal
v t