The History of the Post Office in British North America

by William Smith

The second leading route was that between Halifax and Fredericton by way of Truro. This route, which was begun in 1812, was discontinued at the close of the war. It had been found so advantageous, however, that it was re-established in the beginning of 1817, as the permanent route between Quebec and Halifax.

From Truro, a courier travelled through the eastern counties to Pictou and Antigonishe. This was a district which Howe regarded with much satisfaction. He wrote that the large immigration from Scotland and other parts of Great Britain had increased the number of settlements and thrown open the resources of this part of the province to that extent, that the revenue of the eastern districts would soon surpass that from those in the west.

Antigonishe collected the letters from all the eastern harbours and settlements, and although the post office had been open for only about nine months, the results, as Howe conceived them, were very encouraging. The expenses of the courier at this period far outran the revenues, and accordingly the legislature made a contribution of £130. The remainder of the shortage was made up partly by postages and partly by private subscriptions.

Howe, the deputy postmaster general, set forth the favourable aspects of the service with an eagerness that betokened nervousness, and indeed there was some reason for this feeling. When his statement reached England, the secretary at once drew the attention of the postmaster general to the fact that, while Howe had done extremely well, his actions in appropriating the revenue to any specific object and in establishing new routes and making new contracts without first receiving departmental sanction were inconsistent with the principles which governed the post office.

But it was something that, while Heriot's official zeal was embroiling him with the governor general of Canada, Howe was managing to secure the good will of the lieutenant governor of his province, and his compromises with post office principles were passed over with a slight warning. Howe retired in 1818 on account of old age, and was succeeded by his son, John Howe, junior.

The postal service of New Brunswick did not advance with equal step with that of Nova Scotia. Until 1820 there was no progress made in improving the system, except that the conveyance between St. John and Fredericton had been increased from fortnightly to weekly.

The first district off the established lines to manifest a desire for postal accommodation was that on the Miramichi river.[232] There were two flourishing settlements on the river—Chatham and Newcastle—largely engaged in lumbering and fishing, and some means for the exchange of letters was a necessity.

For some years before 1820 a courier travelled between these settlements and Fredericton along the course of the Nashwaak river. He was paid partly by a subsidy from the legislature of New Brunswick, and partly by private subscription. Those who did not subscribe to the courier, might or might not receive their letters. It depended on the caprice of the courier. If he chose to deliver them, he exacted a payment of eleven or twelve pence for each letter. This arrangement was far from satisfactory, as the following illustration will show.

In February 1824, a brig from Aberdeen reached Halifax, bringing a mail, which contained sixty letters for the Miramichi settlements. These letters were forwarded to Fredericton by the first courier. It happened that among the persons to whom the letters were addressed were a number who were not subscribers, and the courier refused to take the letters for these persons with him.

The consequence was that the letters had to be returned to Halifax, to take the chance of the first vessel that might happen to be sailing in that direction. To guard against any similar mishap in future, Howe left the letters for the Miramichi districts with the captains who had brought them over, and allowed them to arrange for their onward transmission.