1881 in Canada

Canada-related events during the year of 1881

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Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Victoria^[1]

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

Premiers

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)
March 18 – Oliver Seibert, professional ice hockey player (d.1944)
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.1966)

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Historical documents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 ^[2]

British editorial labels CPR and Canada bad investments ^[3]

Wilfrid Laurier accuses Conservatives of "having sacrificed the public cause to personal cupidity" ^[4]

Governor General speaks on prospects of Northwest Territories ^[5]

Importance of steamboats to colonization along Saskatchewan River ^[6]

Ojibwa entertain Governor General at Rat Portage (Kenora), Ont. (Note: racial stereotypes) ^[7]

Chief Poundmaker tells Cree and Blackfoot legends to Governor General on tour ^[8]

Colourful Blackfoot riders meet Governor General (Note: "savage" and other stereotypes) ^[9]

Journalist describes beautiful Qu'Appelle Valley in gorgeous sunset ^[10]

Nova Scotia woman tries to find maid for $4/month, and describes some of the work ^[11]

References

^ "Queen Victoria | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
^ 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

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v t e 1881 in North America
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Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands