1881 in Canada

Years in Canada:	1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884
Centuries:	18th century · 19th century · 20th century
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s
Years:	1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884

Events from the year 1881 in Canada.

Incumbents[]

Crown[]

Monarch – Victoria

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)
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.)

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 ^[1]

British editorial labels CPR and Canada bad investments ^[2]

Wilfrid Laurier accuses Conservatives of "having sacrificed the public cause to personal cupidity" ^[3]

Governor General speaks on prospects of Northwest Territories ^[4]

Importance of steamboats to colonization along Saskatchewan River ^[5]

Ojibwa entertain Governor General at Rat Portage (Kenora), Ont. (Note: racial stereotypes) ^[6]

Chief Poundmaker tells Cree and Blackfoot legends to Governor General on tour ^[7]

Colourful Blackfoot riders meet Governor General (Note: "savage" and other stereotypes) ^[8]

Journalist describes beautiful Qu'Appelle Valley in gorgeous sunset ^[9]

Nova Scotia woman tries to find maid for $4/month, and describes some of the work ^[10]

References[]

^ 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

[1] 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

[2] 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

[3] 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/

[4] 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

[5] "Wreck of the Saskatchewan Steamer," from Edmonton Bulletin (November 5, 1881). Accessed 4 October 2019 http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/thewest/sasksteamerwreak.htm

[6] 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

[7] 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

[8] 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

[9] 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

[10] 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

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Years in Canada:	1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884
Centuries:	18th century · 19th century · 20th century
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s
Years:	1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884

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