From Wallace to Pugwash: A Letter for Harriet Amelia Wilson
On December 17, 1860, a small envelope travelled from Wallace to Pugwash, Nova Scotia. It was addressed simply: Miss Harriet Amelia Wilson, Pugwash The envelope is an attractive little piece of postal history. It is embossed with a delicate floral design and bears a 5¢ blue Nova Scotia Queen Victoria stamp. On the reverse are two clearly struck postal markings: WALLACE DE 17 1860, PUGWASH DE 17 1860 The letter made the short journey between the two Cumberland County communiti
4 hours ago7 min read
A Letter from Halifax to Clifton, N.B.
Wetmores, Hannington, and an Intercolonial Connection in 1866 This February 1866 cover addressed to Rev. David I. Wetmore at Clifton, Kings County, New Brunswick, was mailed from Halifax and bears a five-cent Nova Scotia Queen Victoria stamp. On the back are the names Atkinson & Hannington, Dorchester, N.B., along with an embossed Halifax stationer's imprint: Z. S. Hall, 155 Hollis Street, Halifax, N.S.The letter itself has disappeared, but the cover survives, minus its back
2 days ago9 min read
Samuel Strong, A Merchant, Six Covers, and a Web of Connections
Postal covers are often treated as the frame around a letter, the letter itself is assumed to contain the history. In the case of Samuel Strong of Halifax, many of the letters have disappeared, but the covers have survived. Six of them—spanning 1859 to 1863—are enough to open a surprisingly wide window onto his life and business. They lead from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, to Bradford, England, to Lisburn, Ireland, to Glasgow, Scotland and to London, and connect with the transatl
5 days ago23 min read
David Frieze, Merchant, Maitland
Long before there was a firm called Frieze & Roy, there was simply David Frieze — merchant, of Maitland, Hants County — trading lumber, settling accounts, and keeping up correspondence across half a dozen ports. This post gathers five pieces of mail addressed to him personally between 1850 and 1856, well ahead of the partnership years covered elsewhere on this blog. Where family and company background overlaps with the Grace Dodd post or the coming piece on the Frieze & Roy p
Aug 298 min read
Miss Mary Ward, Beech Hill, Nova Scotia
A cover to a daughter of Beech Hill's founding family This small cover is addressed simply to “Miss Mary Ward, Beech Hill, Nova Scotia,” franked with Nova Scotia's 2¢ dull violet Queen Victoria stamp (Scott # 9). There is no circular datestamp, no backstamp, and no manuscript date — only the stamp itself, the address, and an embossed floral wafer seal on the reverse. Working out who “Miss Mary Ward” was, and when this letter might have reached her, turned into a fuller piece
Aug 254 min read
Mercy Homer, Dressmaker, Clyde River
This cover was mailed to Miss Mercy Homer at Clyde River, Nova Scotia, franked with a 5¢ blue Nova Scotia Chalon-head stamp (Scott # 10, the colony's 1860–63 Queen Victoria issue). It carries two backstamps: Halifax, N.S., OC 29 1867, and Shelburne, N.S., OC __ 1867 (the day is not legible on this example). The Cover The stamp is Nova Scotia's own pre-Confederation issue — the colony had only joined the new Dominion of Canada four months earlier, on July 1, 1867, but contin
Aug 258 min read
Charles Spurden, Baptist Seminary Principal, Fredericton
This cover carries a Nova Scotia “Cents” issue 10¢ stamp (Scott NS # 12), the vermilion-orange denomination portraying a diademed Queen Victoria, sent from Wolfville, Nova Scotia to Rev. Charles Spurden, D.D., at the Baptist Seminary in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Backstamps read Wolfville, N.S., JU 14, and Windsor, N.S., JU 14, 1861, with a Fredericton receiving mark present but too worn to read a date from. A broken wax seal and a manuscript notation on the reverse appear t
Aug 259 min read
