Sir John George Bourinot, Victorian Canadian: His Life, Times, and Legacy 9780773569263

Table of contents :
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Illustrations
1 Family Background and Early Years
2 Student and Journalist, Toronto, 1854–58
3 A Period of Transition, 1858–60
4 Journalist and Parliamentary Reporter, Halifax, 1860–67
5 Freelance Writer, Sydney, 1867–69
6 Officer of the Canadian Senate, 1869–73
7 From Senate to Commons, 1873–80
8 Clerk of the Commons: An Ambition Realized, 1880–1902
9 Authority and Adviser on Constitutional Matters
10 Author and Consultant on Procedure at Meetings
11 Family Life, 1880–1902
12 Historian and Littérateur
13 The Royal Society of Canada – Twenty Years of Service
14 Last Illness and Death
15 A Canadian Robert, the Erskine May of Canada, or Simply a Great Victorian Canadian?
Appendices
1 Continued Use and Updating of Bourinot's Books after His Death
2 Memorials to Bourinot
3 A Note on Sources
Notes
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y

Citation preview

Sir John George Bourinot, Victorian Canadian His Life, Times, and Legacy

John Bourinot's advice on constitutional issues was sought by governors general and prime ministers but, because it was generally given behind the scenes, Canadian history books and biographies of late nineteenth-century statesmen give him little if any credit. In Sir John George Bourinot, Victorian Canadian Margaret Banks corrects this oversight and shows the importance of his work. As clerk of the House of Commons, Bourinot advised the speaker and other members of the house on parliamentary procedure; he also wrote the standard Canadian work on the subject. A founding member of the Royal Society of Canada, he played a leading role during the Society's first twenty years. Ahead of his time in writing intellectual history, Bourinot was also an early supporter of higher education for women. He was a man of contrasts, an early Canadian nationalist as well as an imperialist. In spite of the constitutional changes of 1982, there is still much in Bourinot's writing that is relevant today. MARGARET A. BANKS is professor emeritus of law at the University of Western Ontario, where she was law librarian for many years.

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Sir John George Bourinot, Victorian Canadian His Life, Times, and Legacy M A R G A R E T A. B A N K S

McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal &t Kingston • London • Ithaca

© McGill-Queen's University Press 2001 ISBN 0-7735-2.191-7 Legal deposit second quarter 2001 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for its activities. It also acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for its publishing program.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Banks, Margaret A., 1928Sir John George Bourinot, Victorian Canadian: his life, times, and legacy Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-2191-7

i. Bourinot, John George, Sir, 1837-1902. 2. Intellectuals—Canada—Biography. 3. Canada. Parliament— Officials and employees—Biography. 4. Authors, Canadian (English)—19* century—Biography. 5. Political scientists—Canada—Biography. I. Title. FC5O6.B68B35 2001 971.05^92 000-901475-6 FIO33.B68B35 2001 Typeset in 10/12 Sabon by True to Type

Contents

Preface vii Acknowledgments xi Illustrations xix 1 Family Background and Early Years 3 2 Student and Journalist, Toronto, 1854-58 3 A Period of Transition, 18 5 8-60

10

23

4 Journalist and Parliamentary Reporter, Halifax, 1860-67 27 5 Freelance Writer, Sydney, 1867-69

52

6 Officer of the Canadian Senate, 1869-73

62

7 From Senate to Commons, 1873-80 76 8 Clerk of the Commons: An Ambition Realized, 1880-1902, 89 9 Authority and Adviser on Constitutional Matters 110 10 Author and Consultant on Procedure at Meetings 11 Family Life, 1880-1902 12 Historian and Litterateur

163 177

13 The Royal Society of Canada - Twenty Years of Service 199

144

vi

Contents

14 Last Illness and Death

222

15 A Canadian Robert, the Erskine May of Canada, or Simply a Great Victorian Canadian? 225 Appendices 1 Continued Use and Updating of Bourinot's Books after

His Death

239

2 Memohrials to Bourinot 252 3 A Note on Sources 254 Notes Index

259 355

Preface

Sir John George Bourinot is best remembered today as the original author of Bourinot's Rules of Order, a title not used for his book, A Canadian Manual on the Procedure at Meetings, until sixteen years after his death in 1902. Members and staff of Canadian legislatures and others interested in procedure in the Parliament of Canada may know that Bourinot also wrote a larger book called Parliamentary Procedure and Practice, but many confuse these two Bourinot books, not realizing the difference between them. In fact, Bourinot's writing on parliamentary procedure, both in its original sense and as adapted to the needs of ordinary societies, was only one aspect of his many-faceted life. He began his career as a journalist and parliamentary reporter. He soon gained recognition as an historian and litterateur. In 1880, after holding various offices on the parliamentary staff in Ottawa, he was appointed clerk of the House of Commons, a position he held until his death. In 1882., he became a founding member of the Royal Society of Canada and continued to be one of its most active members during the last twenty years of his life. He was consulted by governors general, prime ministers, lieutenant governors, and provincial premiers on constitutional matters, and by speakers and clerks of the legislatures of the Canadian provinces on questions relating to parliamentary procedure. He has been called Canada's first political scientist. A full-length biography of Sir John George Bourinot is long overdue. Bourinot's expertise was greatest in the fields of parliamentary procedure and constitutional law and history. Initially, I became aware of

viii

Preface

him because my own research interests are primarily in these areas. Gradually, however, I became interested in other aspects of his life and work, and developed a desire to learn more about him and to write a comprehensive biography. This involved a great deal of study and research on my part. Although my original training was in history (Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1953), my principal occupation during most of my working life was that of a law librarian. I also held faculty appointments in both law and graduate history at The University of Western Ontario, but the teaching I did was mainly in the form of individual reading courses, thesis supervision, and examining on legal and constitutional topics. When history students wanted to work in these areas, they were generally referred to me because history professors' interests were in other types of history - social, economic, regional, intellectual, or women's studies. I had been away from general Canadian history for a long time and therefore had to review and update my knowledge in this area. I had never been a specialist in the history of Nova Scotia, and because Bourinot was a native of that province and much of his journalistic and historical writing related to it, I had to acquire some knowledge of that province's history. Though I once had a basic knowledge of American history, I had to review the events of the Civil War (1861-65) in order to understand Bourinot's many editorials on this subject when he was editing a Halifax newspaper. I do not claim to have read everything that Bourinot wrote, but I have read a great deal of it. His early publications include a novel and several short stories. I have read all of them, as well as many of his books and articles, his journalistic work and parliamentary reports. His personal papers are scattered - indeed, my search for them took me from coast to coast, from Cape Breton Island, where Bourinot was born, to Vancouver Island where, until her death in 1996, one of his granddaughters lived. In addition, because Bourinot corresponded with many prominent people, letters from him are preserved in various manuscript collections - for example, in the papers of Sir J. William Dawson, principal of McGill from 1855 to 1893, in the McGill University Archives. During his lifetime Bourinot received many honours recognizing the importance of his contributions to Canada and a wider community. This was true in spite of the fact that much of his advisory work in the areas of parliamentary procedure and constitutional law was done behind the scenes; it was his writing that made the public aware of his expertise in these areas. In our own time, it is probably because so much of his work was done privately that his important contributions have received little or no recognition in general Canadian history

ix

Preface

books. However, some attention has, been paid to his literary and historical writing by scholars interested in nineteenth century Canadian literature, and by intellectual historians. His work for the Royal Society of Canada has been recognized in a recent history of the Society and in a new biography of Sir J. William Dawson, the Society's first president. It is hoped that this biography of Bourinot will introduce to a varied group of scholars and others the life of a gifted Victorian Canadian who contributed much to his country. At the same time, it may broaden the knowledge of those already familiar with some aspects of Bourinot's life. In the acknowledgments to his book, No Holds Barred: My Life in Politics, John Crosbie, in his usual entertaining way, remarks that his manuscript had to be sent to a literary "fat farm" to be reduced in bulk, and that Geoffrey Stevens had accomplished this slimming task for him. My manuscript suffered the same fate, except that I had to perform the slimming task myself. Complicating the situation was the fact that some of the readers who appraised it, though wanting a shorter manuscript, suggested additions which interfered somewhat with the slimming process. Inevitably, I have had to omit some things that I would have liked to retain but, on the whole, I think the omissions and additions have combined to improve the biography.

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Acknowledgments

Papers in the possession of Sir John George Bourinot at the time of his death in i^oz passed to his third wife, Isabelle, Lady Bourinot, and on her death in 1930, to her younger son, Arthur. Over the years that followed, Arthur donated many of Sir John's papers to the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, now renamed Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management. Arthur Bourinot died in 1969, leaving his papers to the National Library of Canada. This came to be the beginning of its collection of papers of Canadians best known for their literary work. Arthur's papers included some of his father's papers, and the National Library transferred some, but not all, of them to the Public (now the National) Archives of Canada. I am grateful to many present and former staff members of these three institutions - the Nova Scotia Archives, the National Library of Canada, and the National Archives of Canada - for facilitating my research on Bourinot, both on my visits to Halifax and Ottawa and in correspondence when problems arose as I was writing the biography. I will not attempt to list all of them -1 would be sure to forget someone - but a few deserve special mention - in the Nova Scotia Archives, Lois Yorke, Darlene Brine, Julie Morris, and, more recently, Troy Wagner; at the National Library of Canada, Joyce Banks, Lorna Knight, Linda Hoad, and more recently, Michel Brisebois and Peter Rochon; and at the National Archives of Canada, Loretta Barber, Brian Murphy, and Robert Albota. Thanks are due as well to Margaret Murphy and her staff at the Leg-

xii Acknowledgments

islative Library of Nova Scotia for their assistance regarding parliamentary debates in pre-Confederation Nova Scotia when Bourinot was reporting them. There is also a collection of Bourinot papers in the Beaton Institute at the University College of Cape Breton in Sydney, Nova Scotia. It consists mainly of copies of papers in other archival institutions but, except for a very few items, they are not copied from the Bourinot papers in Halifax or Ottawa. For facilitating my research in Sydney and for answering inquiries later, I am grateful to Robert J. Morgan, director of the Beaton Institute, and to members of his staff, Lois Ross and Kate Currie. Special thanks are due to Derek Aylen of Ottawa, a great-grandson of Bourinot and his second wife, Emily (nee Pilsbury), for putting me in touch with his aunt, Gwynneth Graham (nee Aylen), daughter of John and Emily's daughter, Desiree Elise (Daisy), and her husband, Henry Aylen. I visited Mrs Graham in Duncan, British Columbia, in 1993 and from papers in her possession learned much that I had not known about Emily Bourinot, a very talented woman. Mrs Graham corresponded with me until shortly before her death in 1996, giving me additional information about her family. I am very grateful to her. I also thank Derek Aylen for writing out for me his recollections of his grandparents, Daisy and Henry Aylen, and for his delightful drawing of John George Bourinot in youth and in maturity. I have also had the good fortune to meet Isabelle Dorey-Taylor of Port Stanley, Ontario, a granddaughter of Bourinot and his third wife, Isabelle (nee Cameron). Mrs Dorey-Taylor is a daughter of Sydney Bourinot, the elder son of Bourinot's third marriage, and I am grateful to her cousin, Marion Cameron of Guelph, Ontario, for putting us in touch. Mrs Dorey-Taylor has some interesting papers and photographs which have added to my knowledge of the family, and I thank her for letting me use some of the photographs as illustrations for this book. In addition, she put me in touch with Arthur Bourinot's elder daughter, Suzette McDonald of Bronxville, New York, and through Mrs McDonald I have heard from Arthur's younger daughter, Esme Lewis, who lives in South Africa. All the direct descendants of Sir John Bourinot I have met or with whom I have corresponded have agreed to my quoting freely from letters written by him. Bourinot's published works (except for new editions prepared by others, notably Bourinot's Rules of Order) are, of course, now in the public domain. I express my thanks as well to Dorothy Moseley of Ottawa, the widow of Egerton Moseley, son of Sir John Bourinot's sister, Josephine, youngest of Senator John and Jane Bourinot's children. Mrs Moseley

xiii

Acknowledgments

recalls stories about Bourinot told to her by her mother-in-law. Mrs Moseley's daughter, Joan Bourinot Wallace, is doing genealogical research on the Bourinot family; I have enjoyed discussing this with her. I have also been in touch with descendants of Sir John's brother, Marshall Bourinot. On my visit to Sydney in 1989,1 had an interesting telephone conversation with Marshall's grandson, also named Marshall, who lived in Arichat. A retired newspaper publisher and a Member of the Order of Canada, he was very much interested in Bourinot family history. He died two years later at the age of eighty-seven. His daughter, Marian Bourinot Dickie, of River John, Nova Scotia, has carried on his interest in the family history. Arnoldina Bourinot of Montreal, wife of Earle Bourinot, another grandson of Sir John's brother, Marshall, put me in touch with Mrs Dickie in 1993 and I had some correspondence with her at that time. I appreciate the efforts of all these people to add to my knowledge of Bourinot family history. I am grateful to Marcel Caya, McGill University archivist when I visited Montreal in 1994, and to members of his staff: Robert Michel, Jane Kingsland, and Odile Bourbigot, for their assistance with my research on the Bourinot letters in the Sir J. William Dawson papers at McGill. I also wish to thank Peter McNally of the McGill University Graduate School of Library and Information Studies for providing me with information that he came across regarding Bourinot. Members of the House of Commons staff have been helpful in answering my questions on a variety of topics. In particular I want to thank Marie Andree Lajoie, David Gussow, Terry Moore, Michael Lukyniuk, Stephen Delroy, and Audrey Dube. I extend my thanks to Michael Dence, executive director of the Royal Society of Canada, for authorizing access as required by me to the files of the Royal Society held by the National Archives of Canada. Although not many of the files relate to the early years of the Society's history, some of them were useful in directing me to other sources. The McClelland and Stewart Archives in Mills Memorial Library, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, contain information about the updating of Bourinofs Rules of Order, McClelland and Stewart being the publisher of this book from 1918 to the present. For directing me to this material I am grateful to Alvin L. Potter of McClelland and Stewart. I also express my thanks to Jack McClelland for giving me permission to see his papers, and to Charlotte Stewart-Murphy and Carl Spadoni of Mills Memorial Library for making them available to me. In the course of my research I have visited or been in touch with many other people and institutions regarding specific inquiries. Some have been able to provide the information I wanted; others have not. I extend my thanks to all of them; those unable to provide the informa-

xiv Acknowledgments

tion often spent a great deal of time trying to locate it. The names of people who have assisted me with specific inquiries follow. My thanks go to Mary-Anne Nicholls, archivist of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, and her staff for their help with my research. I was delighted to find there a record of Bourinot's first marriage, for which I had been searching for some time. Henri Pilon, archivist of Trinity College, Toronto, was most helpful in providing me with records relating to Bourinot as an undergraduate at Trinity. Fred Neal, archivist of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, checked records for me regarding births, marriages, and deaths in the Bourinot family. Tanya Padley, who was on the staff of the Archives of the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia during my 1991 visit, helped me find information about St Luke's Church, Halifax, and the Anglican Church on Cape Breton. For checking the records of the Law Society of Upper Canada regarding members of the Bourinot and Aylen families and related matters, I am grateful to Susan Binnie, formerly research coordinator at the archives of the Law Society. I am also indebted to Dr Binnie for putting me in touch with Derek Aylen. Had it not been for her, I might never have met him or his aunt, Gwynneth Graham, who gave me so much information about Bourinot's second wife. Stephen Wood and Lori Wood of the Oshawa-Whitby Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and Brian Winter, archivist, Town of Whitby, went to a great deal of trouble trying to locate records of the first marriage of Bourinot's first wife, Bridget Delia Houck, and of the death of her first husband. (Delia was described as a widow of the Town of Whitby when she married Bourinot in 1858.) They were unsuccessful, but I appreciate all the work they did for me. Officials of the Maine State Bar Association, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners, and the clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County in Boston have promptly responded to my inquiries regarding George Bourinot, John George's eldest child, who left Ontario before completing his legal studies and may have gone to Maine or Massachusetts. There is no record of his being admitted to the bar of either state, but I appreciate the efforts made on my behalf to locate information about him. On the other hand, Joseph F. Fullum of the Boston Public Library was able to confirm the existence of a short-lived newspaper called The Canadian, published in Boston in 1868. John George Bourinot wrote an article for this newspaper, but careful research on Mr Fullum's part failed to locate any surviving issues of The Canadian. Members of the staff of the Archives of Ontario have been most helpful in answering specific inquiries. In particular, I want to thank Sandra Guillaume, Leon Warmski, and Jim Suderman.

xv Acknowledgments

My former colleagues on the staff of the libraries at The University of Western Ontario have been most gracious, since I took early retirement in 1989, in helping me with my research. Since I retired, I have had three successors as head of the Law Library, each with a different title and many more responsibilities than I had relating to the new technology. I wish to thank George Robinson, John Eaton, and the present incumbent, John Sadler, for making me welcome in the Law Library, now called The John and Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library. Members of the staff: Marianne Welch, Debbie Grey, Barbara Fetchison, Leslee Ingram, and Linda Aitkins have all assisted and encouraged me in many ways. So have Laurena Storey, formerly of the Law Library, now of Technical Services, and Eleanor Jones, now retired, but continuing to take an interest in my writing on Bourinot. Mary Ann Mavrinac, now head of The D.B. Weldon Library, and her staff have been most helpful and cooperative, answering all sorts of inquiries and guiding me in right directions. In Reference, I wish to thank Walter Zimmerman, Maureen Ryan, Tom Adam, Elizabeth Mantz, Jennifer Robinson, Ann Morris, John Tyndall, and Alex Jurio. I also wish to record my indebtedness to the late Barry Taylor, who always gave excellent reference service. In Interlibrary Loans, David Murphy and Laurraine Pastorius have tracked down and obtained for me obscure publications not readily available. I am most grateful to them. Dave Newman, whose collections responsibilities include history and political science, has answered numerous questions about new publications on order or being considered for acquisition by the Libraries. John Lutman, head of both The J.J. Talman Regional Collection and The James Alexander and Ellen Rea Benson Special Collections, has provided me with information and guidance relating to these collections. John Martin, now retired, was also most helpful when he was on the staff of Special Collections. So was Edward Phelps, John Lutman's predecessor as head of the Regional Collection. Theresa Regnier, a long time member of the staff of the Regional Collection, has also given me valuable assistance. I want to say a special word of thanks to Guy St-Denis, now of the Allyn and Betty Taylor Library, but formerly with the Regional Collection, who then turned up Bourinot letters in places I would never have thought of looking. John Clouston, formerly of The D.B. Weldon Library, now chief librarian of the Cardinal Carter Library, King's College, London, Ontario, has assisted me in many ways. In particular, he suggested including "Victorian Canadian" in the title of the book. This, I admit, caused some problems. Both Dr Clouston in suggesting the words, and I in accepting them, thought it obvious that Bourinot was a Victorian

xvi Acknowledgments

Canadian (his life spanned almost exactly the Victorian era), but one of the readers assigned to appraise the manuscript wanted me to remove the words "Victorian Canadian" from the title because I had not defined the term or developed it as a theme throughout the manuscript. Another reader liked "Victorian Canadian," but wanted me to explain and elaborate it. In revising the manuscript, I tried to do so in the hope that this would satisfy both these readers. I am pleased that the reader who objected to "Victorian Canadian" read the revised manuscript and expressed satisfaction with the way in which I had developed the theme. I am grateful to Jill Costill of the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis for locating and photocopying for me Bourinot letters in the Benjamin Strattan Parker papers and for granting me permission to quote from letters in this collection. I wish to record my thanks to the Duke of Argyll for granting me permission to quote from letters written by his ancestor, the Marquis of Lome (later the ninth Duke of Argyll), when he was governor general of Canada (1878-83). Likewise I thank the Marquis of Aberdeen and Temair for granting me permission to quote from letters written by his grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen, to Bourinot. Lord Aberdeen (later the first Marquis of Aberdeen and Temair) was governor general of Canada from 1893 to 1898. Because of the need to shorten the manuscript, the quotations from the letters of both Lord Lome and Lord and Lady Aberdeen are less numerous than when I requested permission. Gary Levy, editor of the Canadian Parliamentary Review, has given me permission to repeat in this book much that I wrote in my article "New Insights on Bourinot's Parliamentary Publications," published in the Canadian Parliamentary Review, volume 15, number i (Spring 1992). I extend my thanks to him. I am most grateful to Allan Brown of Ottawa for granting me permission to use his photograph of the Emily Bourinot window in Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa, as an illustration for this book. Expense has prevented its reproduction in colour, and although some of the beauty of the photograph is lost in the black and white version, it clearly illustrates the scriptural theme on which the window is based. Several friends, not already listed in these acknowledgments, have assisted me in special ways. Larry Lewis shared with me the excitement of finding, in the archives of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, a record of Bourinot's first marriage. He also helped me with some of my early research on Bourinot in the Archives of Ontario. Over the years, John Blackwell and Laurie Stanley-Blackwell of St Francis Xavier University,

xvii Acknowledgments Antigonish, Nova Scotia, have sent me all sorts of references to Bourinot that they have come across in their own research. These have been most useful and I appreciate their continuing interest in my Bourinot biography. I am grateful as well to Edith and Dick Mockler who, on one of my visits to Ottawa, kindly drove me to Kingsmere so that I could see the area where Bourinot spent many summers. I also thank Karen Foti, co-author of the sixth edition of my book, Banks on Using a Law Library, for checking some Bourinot references for me in libraries in Ottawa, where she now lives. The names of others who helped with specific questions, though not mentioned here, are found in the relevant notes. Although I have a computer and printer and have mastered the art of word processing, I find typing a long manuscript too tiring. Therefore, I am grateful to Grace Mclntyre for her fast and efficient work in typing it and to her husband, Ken, for picking up and delivering chapters. The benefit of word processing is, of course, that changes can be made later without having everything re-typed. I wish to thank Michael Nolan of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, The University of Western Ontario, for reading those parts of the manuscript dealing with Bourinot's career as a journalist, for commenting on them, and for offering me encouragement. Dr Nolan's experience as a journalist and author make him well qualified to assess my writing in this area. I am in the unusual position of expressing sincere thanks to a publisher who did not publish my book. John Flood, director of Carleton University Press, had my manuscript assessed and forwarded it to the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme, for consideration for a grant in aid of publication. I am grateful to Dr Flood and to his administrative assistant, Suzanne Williams, for their interest in my manuscript and their efforts to have it published. Unfortunately, by the time a grant was approved, Carleton University Press had gone out of business. I wish to thank the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme for all the work performed in relation to the manuscript. Michelle Legault, Isabelle Bosse, and Simon Lapointe, publications officers, were all most cooperative. I also wish to thank the anonymous readers who appraised the manuscript for Carleton University Press and the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada. By incorporating many of their suggestions into the text, I believe I have improved it. Being the world's worst parcel wrapper, I am grateful to Margaret Van Daalen, who parcelled up the various versions of the manuscript and helped me (in one case during a postal strike) to get them off to

xviii Acknowledgments

Carleton University Press, the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, and McGill-Queen's University Press. Marianne Welch and Donnie Wright gave me much help with reading the page proofs, and Grace Mclntyre typed the index at short notice. I especially appreciate their taking the time to assist me during the busy season leading up to Christmas 2000 when they had many other things to do. Finally, I am delighted that McGill-Queen's University Press is the publisher of this book. I extend my thanks to Philip Cercone for supporting its publication and to Brenda Prince, who has answered numerous questions for me. On the editorial side I am grateful for Joan McGilvray's cooperation and good advice and for Wayne Larsen's careful editing of the manuscript.

John Bourinot, father of John George Bourinot. Formerly in possession of Gwynneth Graham, Duncan, BC. Now in Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management (NSARM)

John George Bourinot. Royal Society of Canada collection, NA, €37795.

John George Bourinot, seated, 1888. William James Topley collection, NA, PAzyn^. (Probably taken the same day as the preceding illustration.)

Emily Alden Bourinot. Formerly in possession of Gwynneth Graham; now in NSARM.

Two of a group of small photos of Emily Alden Bourinot (nee Pilsbury), J.G. Bourinot's second wife. In album in memory of Emily, formerly in possession of Gwynneth Graham; now in NSARM.

Emily Alden Bourinot in fancy dress, probably for ball given by the Earl and Countess of Dufferin in Ottawa, 1876. Formerly in possession of Gwynneth Graham; now in NSARM.

Desiree Elise (Daisy) Bourinot, daughter of J.G. and Emily Bourinot, as a little girl. Formerly in possession of Gwynneth Graham; now in NSARM.

Desiree Elise (Daisy) Bourinot, at 16, December 1882. William James Topley collection, NA, PA20877I.

Emily Alden Bourinot seated, with her daughter Desiree Elise (Daisy), standing behind her. Formerly in possession of Gwynneth Graham; now in NSARM.

Stained-glass window in memory of Emily Alden Bourinot, Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa. Photograph taken by Allan Brown, Ottawa. Reproduced with his permission.

Residence of J.G. Bourinot, 141 Cooper Street, Ottawa. Bourinot had the house built and lived there from 1887 to 1902.. A high-rise apartment now stands on the site. William James Topley collection, NA, PAzyi35.

Isabelle Bourinot's group at the 1896 fancy dress ball In possession of Isabelle Dorey-Taylor.

Isabella Bourinot (nee Cameron), J.G. Bourinot's third wife, in fancy dress for the ball given by the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen, Ottawa, 1896. In possession of Isabelle Dorey-Taylor, Port Stanley, Ontario.

Sydney and Arthur Bourinot, sons of J.G. and Isabelle Bourinot. In possession of Isabelle Dorey-Taylor.

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Sir John George Bourinot, Victorian Canadian

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i Family Background and Early Years

BIRTH AND BAPTISM

The date of John George Bourinot's birth is given in most biographical accounts as Z4 October 1837. However, the parish records of St George's Anglican Church, Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, record his baptism on 10 December i836. x It seems likely, therefore, that his correct birth date is 24 October 1836. Throughout his life, Bourinot appears to have been sensitive about his age and to have pretended to be at least a little younger than he was. For example, he somehow managed to age only six years between 1881 and 1891, the census records for Ottawa noting his age in the former year as forty-four and in the latter as fifty.1 Perhaps the fact that in 1889 he married a woman in her early twenties had something to do with his slow aging!3 THE B O U R I N O T S

AND THE M A R S H A L L S

John George was the first-born child of John and Margaret Jane (nee Marshall) Bourinot. John and Jane (she used her middle name) were married in St John's Church, Arichat, Cape Breton, on 19 September 1835.4 The Marshalls were a "blue-blooded" family and, according to family legend, Jane's father disapproved of her marriage to a newcomer a few years her junior.5 There are differing accounts as to when John Bourinot immigrated to Cape Breton, but it was almost certainly a relatively short time before his marriage.6 Some Jersey and Guernsey merchants had set up

4

Sir John George Bourinot

fishery establishments on Cape Breton and he may have come over in connection with one of them.7 The elder Bourinot was born on 14 March 1814 at Grouville, on the Channel Island of Jersey, and educated at Caen in Normandy, France. The Bourinots were Huguenots, originally from Normandy, but whether they fled to Jersey after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 or were there earlier is not certain.8 Jane Marshall Bourinot was of United Empire Loyalist descent. Her grandfather, Captain Joseph Marshall of the King's Carolina Rangers, was born near Omagh, the county town of Tyrone, Ireland. His wife, Margaret - Jane's grandmother - was English, having been born in the seaport town of Whitby in Yorkshire.9 In 1784, after the close of the American Revolution, the Marshalls arrived in Nova Scotia, where Joseph received 1,050 acres of land in Country Harbour in what was then the County of Sydney (later Antigonish County).10 It was there that their son, John George Marshall - Jane's father - was born in 1786. The family moved to Guysborough in 1794, and the younger Marshall was educated there and in Halifax. He was admitted to the bar of Nova Scotia "in the Michaelmas Term of the Supreme Court, in the year iSoS,"11 practising first in Pictou and later in Halifax. In 1809, he married Catherine Jones. It was probably in Pictou that the Marshalls' daughter, Margaret Jane, was born. In 1811, John George Marshall succeeded his father as representative of the County of Sydney in Nova Scotia's House of Assembly. He was a member until 1818, and again from 182,0 to 1823. In the latter year he resigned his seat, on being appointed chief justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas and president of Sessions for the Island of Cape Breton. He lived in Sydney for the eighteen years that he was on the bench; it was during this period that his daughter, Jane, met and married John Bourinot. When Nova Scotia's Inferior Courts of Common Pleas and the offices of president of Sessions were abolished in 1841, John George Marshall retired on a pension. During the rest of his long life, he devoted his time and talents to social and religious causes, especially the promotion of temperance, travelling widely at his own expense in both North America and Europe to lecture on this subject. He wrote extensively on legal, political, religious, and social topics, producing four books and innumerable articles. A man of deep religious conviction, he has been described as "a Puritan of the Puritans." "If he erred at all," wrote his grandson John George Bourinot at the time of Marshall's death in 1880 at the age of ninety-four, "it was in the uncompromising character of his opinions, for he could rarely, if ever, brook opposition to the principles in which he himself believed as the best calculated to promote human happiness."12

5 Family Background and Early Years

One is left with the impression that when John Bourinot married Jane Marshall in 1835, ne acquired a truly formidable father-in-law. Yet Marshall's memoirs, though confirming that he was "a Puritan of the Puritans," also show a kinder, gentler side of his personality and even display a sense of humour. On one occasion he was invited by the secretary of the Temperance Society in York, England, to be a guest of the family. The secretary's mother protested that "we can never entertain a Judge," but "the kind old lady found, by experience, that I was not such an awful character, as she had imagined; and that I could eat, drink, and sleep, and talk and walk, and in other respects, conduct myself like other plain and common sense persons."13 Marshall gave his wife credit for leading him away from the bad habits and associations of his youth.14 Evidently he had not always been "a Puritan of the Puritans. "'5 At his eldest son's baptism in December 1836, John Bourinot listed himself in St George's parish register as a merchant.16 He kept a general store; his literary interests, to be inherited by his eldest son, led him to offer for sale there recent British periodicals "with their extracts of such authors as Charles Dickens, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and G.P.R. James."17 A generation later, when his third son, Arthur Henry (Harry), had taken over the family business, a Nova Scotia directory listed A.H. Bourinot & Co as "Wholesale and Retail Dealers in Flour and Meal and Staples of all Kinds."18 In addition to his work as a merchant, John Bourinot was appointed to various other positions, which brought him into local prominence. He was a lieutenant-colonel in the Cape Breton reserve militia. From the 18405 he was a justice of the peace; among the duties of this office was participation in the county sessions, which provided local government for the area. From at least the 18505 until his death in 1884, Bourinot was the French vice consul in Sydney. His Norman background and the fact that he was fluently bilingual were no doubt factors in this appointment, an important one because the French Atlantic fleet called in regularly from St Pierre for mail, coal, and other supplies. From 1863 to 1884 Bourinot was also the Lloyd's agent in Sydney. Although John Bourinot remained throughout his adult life essentially a Cape Bretoner, maintaining a residence in Sydney until his death,19 his career took him further afield. A Conservative in politics, he represented Cape Breton County in the pre-Confederation Assembly of Nova Scotia from 1859 to 1867.^° In the latter year, he was appointed to the Senate of the newly established Dominion of Canada, remaining a member until his death. In both legislative bodies he strove especially to promote Cape Breton's economic

6

Sir John George Bourinot

development by trying to obtain grants for railways, canals, and other improvements.11 John and Jane Bourinot had eleven children, six sons and five daughters. One son and three daughters died in infancy or early childhood. In addition to John George, Marshall, Arthur Henry, Herbert, and Wilmot survived into adulthood as did Elise, born in 1841, and Josephine Hortense, the youngest of the eleven children, who was born in 1854. As a child, John George, the eldest, may have been called "George" to distinguish him from his father. Throughout his life, the younger Bourinot generally used both names or both initials in his signature and on the title pages of his books. He seems at times to have been known to his family as George and at other times as John. Marshall, the Bourinots' second child, became active in promoting various Cape Breton mining ventures. Later, he was collector of customs at Port Hawkesbury, where his son, John C. Bourinot, a merchant, briefly published the Eastern Journal (1889-90). John C. Bourinot was also mayor of Port Hawkesbury and, as a Liberal, represented Inverness County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1916 to 192.5. Arthur Henry (1840-1880), who took over the family business, also, like his father, held other positions, including that of vice consul in Sydney for Sweden and Norway, and justice of the peace. Nothing seems to be known about Herbert (1850-1882) and very little about Wilmot (1854-1901). The latter's chief claim to fame - or notoriety - was in being expelled, along with several other students, in March 1869, "for the remainder of this term" from the school he was attending in Sydney. The students were said to have used "very insolent and abusive language" and to have been guilty of "general insubordination and bad conduct" such as throwing coal and eggs at the teacher.22 Three years later, Senator Bourinot was trying to find employment for Wilmot in the dominion civil service. In a letter to Alexander Campbell, postmaster general in Sir John A. Macdonald's ministry, he described Wilmot as dull at school but bright in business/3 Whether his efforts were successful is not known. Elise Bourinot was still living in the family home on the Esplanade when John George's third wife, along with their two small sons, visited Sydney in i894.Z4 Josephine Hortense appears to have been born the same year as her brother, Wilmot. There is no evidence to suggest that they were twins, and since her date of birth was 7 November 1854, it is likely that he was born early in the same year. Josephine married Frederick Moseley, a Sydney barrister, and had two children, John and Egerton. (Her brother, who died in early childhood had been

7 Family Background and Early Years

named Egerton.) She was living with her son John in Halifax at the time of her death in 193 8.Z5 SYDNEY IN THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY

In what sort of community did John George Bourinot spend the first eighteen years of his life? "A village of half a thousand," as Sydney was described in 1840, four years after Bourinot was born.16 The island's coal mines constituted its chief riches. In 1844, Sydney was said to be "improving steadily and rapidly," with many new buildings being constructed.27 Sydney had been founded in 1785 as the capital of Cape Breton, the year after the latter ceased to be part of Nova Scotia and was made a separate colony as a refuge for United Empire Loyalists. Sydney's oldest portions were established along the waterfront.18 This was true of the Bourinot home, built in the 17905 and considered one of the village's "most conspicuous private dwellings."19 In later life John George remembered it as "a large white house, with a wide generous verandah and green shrubberies," adding that "in its quaint low rooms, filled with mementos of French sailors, many eminent men known in the naval history and in the official records of France" had partaken of the hospitality of its owner, Senator Bourinot, long a vice-consul of France.30 Cape Breton proved to be less successful as a separate colony than New Brunswick, which was established at the same time. Therefore, in 1820, the British government decided to re-annex Cape Breton to Nova Scotia. This reduced Sydney from being a colonial capital to being Shiretown to Cape Breton County, which then included the entire island.31 During the first century of its history, Sydney had no form of selfgovernment.31 While Cape Breton was a separate province, Sydney was governed directly by the lieutenant governor and council. For sixty years or so after annexation, local affairs were looked after by the general or county sessions, in which the elder Bourinot, as a justice of the peace, participated from the i84os.33 From 1785 to 1854 Sydney was a garrison town. The last garrison was removed at the outbreak of the Crimean War.34 St George's Church, where Bourinot was baptized, was built primarily as a garrison chapel. Its records go back to 1785 and the original building was completed in 1791, at which time the Island of Cape Breton was formally erected into a parish under the name of St George's.35 The loyalists of Cape Breton "were soon overwhelmed by successive waves of Scottish immigrants."36 Before long the Scots were to form a

8

Sir John George Bourinot

large majority of the island's population. Many of them were Roman Catholic Highlanders, and St Patrick's Church, Sydney, was founded in 182,8. Churches of other denominations were established later.37 In addition to Loyalists and Scots, there were Micmac and Acadians on the island. The elder Bourinot, as a Channel Islander of French Huguenot descent, did not fit into any of the main groups, but his marriage to Jane Marshall had given him loyalist connections. Sydney had had a schoolmaster as early as 1786, and one or more schools from 1796 on. At first they received some support from the British government and by the 18305 from the Nova Scotia government.38 There were newspapers in Sydney in the 18405 and 18505, though most of them were short-lived. Best known of the early ones was The Spirit of the Times and Cape Breton Free Press, which was published from December 1841 until i846.39 The first Sydney paper to have a comparatively long life was The Cape Breton News. Begun in July 1850, it was published until about 1872.4° Because of Sydney's small population, its newspapers tended to be tailored to an island-wide readership.41 With the majority of Cape Breton's population being of Scottish origin, and some of these Scots being poor, illiterate, and Gaelic speaking, publishing an English-language newspaper in the 18408 was a precarious undertaking. However, even then, "there was a small but active educated elite throughout Cape Breton" which supported such publishing ventures, as well as the development of schools, churches, libraries, and agricultural and literary societies.41 The elder Bourinot certainly belonged to this "educated elite." In 1840, he spoke to the Sydney Mechanics Institute on "The Characteristics of some Authors most celebrated in the world of modern literature."43 Thus, although John George Bourinot spent his childhood and early youth in a small community that has been described as "a provincial backwater,"44 he was a member of a prominent family and enjoyed advantages not shared by many residents of the Island of Cape Breton. One of these was an excellent education.

BOURINOT'S EARLY EDUCATION "Letters to the Spirit of the Times reflected the dismal state of educational standards in Cape Breton."45 This is probably why John and Jane Bourinot chose to have their eldest child educated privately. Their choice of tutor proved an excellent one. The Reverend William Young Porter, a native of Yorkshire and an Oxford graduate, was from 1840 to 1859 assistant rector of St George's Church, Sydney, and a travelling

9

Family Background and Early Years

missionary to outlying parts of Cape Breton. Before his ordination to the Anglican priesthood, he had been employed at Sydney as a teacher by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.46 Porter has been described as "a capital teacher, with an especial liking for his profession."47 Exactly when he began to tutor young John George Bourinot is not recorded, but he soon saw "promise in his bright pupil" and took "the utmost pains to bring him forward."48 Porter was amazed at Bourinot's "quickness of perception and the intellectual grasp which he exhibited - a faculty quite beyond his years."49 It was undoubtedly Porter who taught Bourinot penmanship. Unlike many prolific writers, Bourinot maintained throughout his life a beautiful, clear handwriting.50 This was in marked contrast to his father, whose handwriting is almost illegible. John Bourinot, Sr was later to attribute his eldest son's academic achievements at Trinity College, Toronto, "to a great degree, to the sedulous attention paid to his son by the Reverend W.Y. Porter, whose pupil he was."51 In light of the fact that Porter's duties at St George's and as a travelling missionary allowed him to bestow on young Bourinot only "a partial and interrupted attention", a contemporary newspaper noted that "the result is highly honourable to both parties. "5i Some thirty years later, when it was suggested to a future prime minister of Canada, John (later Sir John) Thompson, that he hire a tutor for one of his sons, he refused because he considered it difficult, perhaps even impossible, for a boy to learn alone.53 Clearly that had not been John George Bourinot's experience. For him, private study under the guidance of an accomplished tutor had worked very well indeed.

2, Student and Journalist, Toronto,

1854-58

UNDERGRADUATE, TRINITY COLLEGE

In an age when one can fly from Halifax to Toronto in two hours, following a fifty-minute flight from Sydney to Halifax, it is difficult to appreciate how long and arduous a journey young John George Bourinot undertook in the autumn of 1854 when he set out from Sydney to begin his studies at the University of Trinity College, Toronto. For a while in the early 18505, it had appeared that a railway might be built from Halifax to Quebec City, but the project did not materialize, the building of the Intercolonial Railway being delayed until after Confederation.1 Thus Bourinot's journey probably took place mainly, if not entirely, by water. It was by then possible to travel all the way to Toronto by steamship because canals had been built in the gap between Montreal and Prescott where a series of rapids had earlier made it necessary for travellers between Montreal and Kingston to transfer to stagecoach for part of the journey/ In later life Bourinot was said to dislike travelling. He did travel extensively by rail in Canada and the United States, and occasionally he took short trips by water, but he never could be persuaded to cross the Atlantic. Perhaps it was memories of that initial voyage of 1854 that dissuaded him. Once in Toronto, Bourinot must have found it quite a change from Sydney. Toronto had been the capital of Upper Canada, but when Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841 to form the Province of

ii Student and Journalist, 1854-58 Canada, it had lost this status (thus having one thing in common with Sydney), Kingston being the capital of the United Province from 1841 to 1844 and Montreal from 1844 to 1849. However, unlike Sydney, Toronto was to become a capital again. After the burning of the Parliament Building in Montreal in 1849 by a mob opposed to Governor General Lord Elgin's signing of the Rebellion Losses Bill, the capital alternated between Toronto and Quebec City, Toronto being the capital from 1849 to 1851, Quebec from 1851 to 1855, Toronto from 1855 to 1859, and Quebec from 1859 to 1865. Thus when Bourinot arrived in Toronto in the fall of 1854, the parliament and government of the Province of Canada were in Quebec, but a year later, in the fall of 1855, Toronto would again become the capital of Canada and would remain so for the rest of the time that Bourinot lived in the city. This was to have an effect on his career. Between 1851 and 1856, the population of Toronto increased from 30,775 to 41,761.3 It was a period of railway construction, during which Toronto was growing into a major manufacturing centre. The boom times of these years were followed in 1857 by a post-Crimean War depression; recovery did not begin until the early i86os.4 By then Bourinot had returned to Nova Scotia. Describing Toronto in 1850, one writer has noted its "blending of British institutions with the environment of frontier America."5 Its population was overwhelmingly of British origin and its educational and religious institutions followed the British pattern. On the other hand, Toronto's merchants "were apt to buy from New York rather than from Britain via Montreal."6 Cultural and political events centred at St. Lawrence Hall, which opened in 1851. Literature and science also flourished, the Toronto Atheneum having been founded as a library, museum, and lecture society in 1848, and the Canadian Institute, which presented lectures on many topics, especially scientific ones, in i849.7 When John George Bourinot entered the University of Trinity College in 1854, it was a very new educational institution. It had been established to take the place of the University of King's College, which was originally a Church of England institution, though open to all denominations of Christians. Secularized in 1849, just six years after classes began, it was renamed the University of Toronto on i January i85o.8 The site chosen for the new Anglican university was on Queen Street West beyond Garrison Creek.9 Classes began at Trinity in 1852, the year its Royal Charter was granted.10 In the first eight years of the college, the total number of matriculants entering the arts course was 145, an average of 18 annually.11 There were also divinity students (the Diocesan Theological Institution

12, Sir John George Bourinot

at Cobourg having moved to Toronto to become the Faculty of Divinity at Trinity12) and medical students (the Upper Canada School of Medicine having become Trinity's Faculty of Medicine13). In 1852,, the first year of Trinity's existence, there were 18 students in arts, 13 in divinity, and 5 in medicine.14 At the front of one of the Bourinot scrap books in the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management is a copy of "The Calendar of the University of Trinity College, Toronto, for the year of Our Lord, 1855." It notes that candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts had to complete nine terms and pass two examinations - one, the "Previous Examination," at the end of the Lent term in the second year, the other, the final examination, taken at the beginning of the tenth term from matriculation. The subjects for the "Previous Examination" were one of the historical books of the New Testament, Paley's Evidences of Christianity, the Church Catechism, one Greek and one Latin author, Latin prose composition, Euclid, algebra, and trigonometry. Those for the final examination were Old and New Testament history, one of the historical books of the New Testament, the Articles of the Church of England, two Greek and two Latin authors, Greek and Roman history, Latin prose composition, Euclid, algebra, trigonometry, mechanics and hydrostatics.15 In 1855 the Michaelmas term began on i October and ended on 2,0 December. The Lent term began on 10 January 1856 and ended on 15 March. The Easter term began on 2,9 March and ended on i July. There were slight variations in the dates from year to year, but we know that Bourinot entered Trinity College in the autumn of 1854, "having matriculated with great credit to himself."16 He "was a successful candidate out of many for a Scholarship" and "he stood first in Classics and Theology, and second in Algebra, etc."17 Clearly he had made a good beginning. Some accounts of Bourinot's life state that he received a BA from Trinity College, but this is not correct. The registrar's records show that he completed three terms in 1854-55 and three in 1855-56.l8 Thus, he completed only six of the required nine terms and did not take the final examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In addition to the "Previous Examination" and the final examination for the BA degree, there was an annual examination each June.19 It is known that Bourinot distinguished himself academically at the annual examination in June 1855, being awarded the Wellington Scholarship.20 This prize of £50 a year was said to have been "gained against many clever antagonists," and, together with the £2,5 scholarship awarded to Bourinot at matriculation, produced an income for collegiate expenses of £75 a year.21

13

Student and Journalist, 1854-58

Bourinot must also have successfully completed the "Previous Examination," taken at the end of the Lent term in his second year, that is, at the end of his fifth term, in March 1856. Commenting on his years at Trinity, the author of a sketch of his life, written in 1893, notes: "His college days are not forgotten by his fellow students. He had a passion for study, and applied himself to his books, with a devotion, perseverance and zeal, which proved the admiration of students and professors alike."" Why, after achieving such great success academically, did Bourinot leave Trinity without his Bachelor of Arts degree? According to T.A. Reed, Bourinot "was forced to leave the College during his final year for financial reasons, and was unable to write for his degree."13 Unfortunately, Reed cites no source for his statement, and one cannot help wondering whether it tells the whole story. An increase in fees and other charges, to take effect in October 1856, was approved by Trinity's governing body in March of that year. Fees would be £12.10; the cost of board, presumably for three terms, £50, and if a student remained in residence during vacation, he would be charged 30 shillings a week.24 How much of an increase this was is not recorded. Students who were a long way from home, like Bourinot, probably did remain in Toronto during the summer. Bourinot's Wellington Scholarship had been awarded in June 1855. Providing £50 a year, it was tenable for two years, so it would have continued to the end of his third year - had he remained at Trinity. The £25 scholarship, which he won at matriculation, evidently continued into his second year. If it provided £2,5 for each of the three years, his income from scholarships for the third year would have been £75. This was a substantial amount by the standards of the day and should have covered most of his expenses. If he needed additional assistance, it seems likely that he could have obtained it from his family. His father, it is true, had a large family to educate, but his grandfather, John George Marshall, was able to travel extensively at his own expense to promote the temperance cause. Surely he would have taken an interest in his clever grandson's education and provided money, if needed, to complete what was just another year of study, unless he disapproved of Trinity College with its high church associations. There is another possible explanation for Bourinot's decision to leave Trinity. Perhaps he questioned the value of some of the required courses of study and was anxious to get into what would now be called "the real world" and pursue other interests. His tutor had no doubt prepared him for the accepted academic curriculum of the time, since he attained such success at his matriculation examinations, but one wonders if Porter did not also introduce him to more modern studies

14

Sir John George Bourinot

such as the history and geography of Cape Breton, with which some of Bourinot's publications were to deal. Bourinot's father may also have played a major role in awakening John George's interest in modern literature, history, and politics - subjects in which the elder Bourinot had a lively interest. Handwritten notes in Bourinot's copy of Trinity's 1855 calendar indicate that he was "an undergraduate" and a "Divinity Scholar." Whether the latter referred to his having won an award in the divinity courses included in the arts curriculum or to an intent to enroll in the Faculty of Divinity after completing the arts program is not clear. He could not have been enrolled as a divinity student at that time because it was necessary to be a graduate in arts from Trinity or another university before admission.25 It appears that Bourinot gave some thought to entering the Anglican priesthood - one biographical account states that his and his family's first inclination was for the Church16 - but that when he decided against this course, the traditional college curriculum seemed less important. Although he always regarded classical studies as an important foundation to one's education,27 he was more interested in British and Canadian than in Greek and Roman history, and in modern English literature than in Greek and Latin authors. What he had learned at Trinity no doubt proved a good background for some of his later writing, but he had probably acquired all he needed in six terms. He likely realized that algebra, trigonometry, mechanics, and hydrostatics would not play an important role in his life's work, though his interest in statistics probably owed something to the mathematical training he did receive at Trinity. More than thirty years later, when promoting the study of political science in Canadian universities, he was to declare that "no institution of learning should keep exclusively within the old beaten paths of classical and mathematical learning."28 Bourinot is said to have acquired a knowledge of phonography (shorthand) while pursuing his studies in Toronto/9 He certainly used shorthand throughout his life, and if he combined learning it with his academic studies, this suggests that he was already thinking of a career in journalism and parliamentary reporting and saw the need for a practical skill which would help him to secure work in these fields. Perhaps financial problems and dissatisfaction with the curriculum were both factors in Bourinot's decision to leave Trinity. During the next few years he seems to have been uncertain as to what course to follow, and leaving Trinity without a degree may have been part of that pattern. Whatever his reasons, he was to retain an interest in the college throughout his life, becoming a member of its council, as well as sometimes lecturing and examining in constitutional law and political

15

Student and Journalist, 18 54-5 8

science. At last, in 1889 - some thirty-three years after dropping out Bourinot became a graduate of Trinity, receiving the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law.30 Years later, one assessment of Bourinot's life and work credited his "dual training" - in Nova Scotia and at Trinity College - with giving him "a broad national attitude free from provincialism."31 ON THE STAFF OF THE LEADER

Little is known about Bourinot's association with The Leader. Most biographical sketches do not mention it. Of the few that do, some state that he entered the office of the Toronto Leader in i858.3i Unless he found some other employment after leaving Trinity College, it seems more likely that the correct date is 1856. What duties did Bourinot perform for The Leader! Henry J. Morgan's Bibliotheca Canadensis, published in 1867, states that he was its parliamentary reporter,33 whereas an article in the Trinity University Review, published shortly before Bourinot's death, claims that while on the staff of The Leader, he wrote "a series of editorials of a high level."34 T.A. Reed's later statement that Bourinot "showed a flare for journalism in editorials of a high order" in The Leader35 is probably based on the Trinity University Review article. Because neither editorials nor parliamentary reports in a newspaper are signed, one can only speculate as to Bourinot's role on the staff of The Leader. The early history of the newspaper and a study of its issues during the years 1856-1858, give some assistance. The only thing that can be said with reasonable certainty is that Bourinot was a parliamentary reporter for The Leader during the 1858 session of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Leader, founded by James Beaty36 in 1852,, was, at the time of Bourinot's association with it, "ably edited by Charles Lindsey,37 who was occasionally and provocatively spelled off by George Sheppard."38 By then The Leader was "emerging as the chief Liberal-Conservative organ in Upper Canada and sharing the Toronto market with its larger rival, the reform Globe."39 It may seem unlikely that Lindsey would have assigned the writing of editorials to a young man, however brilliant, just beginning his journalistic career. However, an editorial published in The Leader while Bourinot was still a student at Trinity gives the impression that parliamentary reporting for a newspaper might be combined with occasional editorial writing. The Parliament of the Province of Canada made no provision for official reporting of its debates. Therefore, the task of reporting fell to the newspapers of the day. The Leader's editorial on the subject gives its philosophy of the

16 Sir John George Bourinot proper role of a newspaper in providing such reports, as well as noting the difficulty in securing the services of competent reporters. Parliamentary news was interesting, it declared, but to meet the demands of the general reading public, a digest - rather than verbatim reports - was all that a newspaper should be expected to provide, since debates of real value were the exception rather than the rule. To extract from them sufficient material to interest the general reader, the journalist must employ "the narrative, the commentary ... the wit," without which parliamentary discussion was "stale, flat and unprofitable."«° Since Parliament sat for limited periods, the editorial continued, a newspaper could not afford to retain permanently the services of one good reporter, unless he was also capable of editorial duty. The reporter paid by the week had to take his chances of an early prorogation or dissolution, and it was unreasonable to expect any competent man to resign a permanent engagement to accept employment subject to such contingencies. The editorial's chief aim was to transfer the principal burden and expense of reporting debates from the newspapers to the Parliament of the Province of Canada. If Parliament decided to employ reporters, the daily newspapers, it declared, would probably still furnish a sketch or narrative of proceedings; they might even circulate, as an extra, the official record, or extract speeches considered worthy of the widest circulation. At the time this editorial was published, on 9 February 1856, the second session of the fifth Parliament of the Province of Canada was about to begin. The first session had been held in Quebec, ending on 30 May 1855, and between sessions the government had moved to Toronto, thus continuing the perambulating system which would replace Quebec with Toronto as the capital until 1859. With Parliament meeting in Toronto, in a building on Front Street that had formerly housed the Parliament of Upper Canada,41 that city's newspapers, in the absence of official reports of parliamentary debates, no doubt felt especially burdened with the task of giving adequate coverage to parliamentary activities. The Leader's editorial did not result in any change in government or parliamentary policy with regard to reporting debates. It remained the responsibility of the newspapers. It is unlikely that Bourinot had any involvement with reporting the debates of the second session of the fifth Parliament, which lasted from 15 February to i July 18 5 6, as he was still a student at Trinity during that period. The third session of the fifth Parliament sat from ^6 February to 10 June 1857 and the first session of the sixth Parliament from 2,5 Febru-

17 Student and Journalist, 1854-58 ary to 16 August 1858. It is probable that Bourinot was a parliamentary reporter for The Leader for both of these sessions, though possible that he reported only the 1858 session. It may also be true that he wrote some editorials, especially if he was employed by The Leader when Parliament was not in session. Perhaps Charles Lindsey recognized his skill and enthusiasm and assigned him other work - both news stories and editorials. Judging by the fullness of the reports of debates during the 1857 and 1858 sessions,4Z it seems unlikely that Bourinot agreed with the author of the above editorial that parliamentary debates of real value were the exception rather than the rule. They were not verbatim reports, but, although written in the third person, they were far more than a digest. On the other hand, Bourinot, like the author of the editorial, favoured narrative and commentary. There was nothing "stale, flat and unprofitable" about the reports that were, in all probability, written by him. No doubt the most interesting events during the 1858 session were those leading up to the famous "double shuffle."43 Following the adoption on 2.8 July of a motion (actually a sub-amendment) regarding the selection of a permanent seat of government, the ministry of John A. Macdonald and George-Etienne Carder resigned, to be succeeded on 2, August by a ministry led by George Brown and Antoine Aime Dorion.44 At that time and for many years afterwards, there was a law that forced members to vacate their seats and seek re-election on accepting an executive council (that is, a cabinet) appointment.45 The defeat of the Macdonald-Cartier ministry on the seat of government question had resulted from several Lower Canadian members who normally supported the government, but who favoured the selection of Quebec or Montreal as the permanent seat of government, voting against the choice of Ottawa. It would have been difficult enough for the new Brown-Dorion ministry to maintain a majority on other questions; the need for the newly appointed ministers to vacate their seats and seek re-election made it impossible, the government being defeated on a want-of-confidence motion on 3 August. The governor general refused the reform ministry a dissolution, and the Macdonald-Cartier administration returned to office as the Cartier-Macdonald ministry, its members managing to avoid the need to seek re-election because of a provision in an 1857 act which allowed a minister to resign one office and within a month accept another without the need to resign his seat and seek re-election.46 All ministers were assigned portfolios different from those held in the previous administration. They then changed a second time, resuming their original positions. It is easy to envisage Bourinot writing The Leader's "Parliamentary Intelligence" columns during this period. He did not yet have the pro-

18

Sir John George Bourinot

cedural expertise that he acquired later, but he was learning. The reports on the consideration of the choice of a permanent seat of government for the Province of Canada include the moving of an assortment of motions and amendments, some of which the speaker ruled out of order. It must have been this debate and others during the time he served as parliamentary reporter to The Leader that sparked Bourinot's interest in parliamentary procedure. Indeed, he must have had to learn the basic rules in a hurry in order to understand what was going on. Queen Victoria had been asked to select the site of a permanent seat of government for the Province of Canada; her choice of Ottawa was said by one member to be "not acceptable to a large majority of the Canadian people."47 There was pending a main motion for an address to Her Majesty requesting that she reconsider her decision and name Montreal as the future seat of government. In those days the rule that an amendment must be relevant to the main motion and a sub-amendment to the amendment was not yet fully established in either Britain or Canada, though Canada was to take the lead in the matter, and the amendments accepted as in order by the speaker seem unusual by today's standards. The amendment was for an address to the governor general praying that no action be taken towards the erection of public buildings in Ottawa for the permanent accommodation of the executive and legislature or for the removal of public departments to that city. The sub-amendment was an expression of opinion that Ottawa ought not to be the permanent seat of government for the province. There was no way that the amendment could be incorporated into the main motion or the sub-amendment into the amendment. Presumably the amendment was offered as a substitute, which might have been permissible, but substituting an address to the governor general for one to the Queen on a different subject was of questionable propriety. During the debate, Macdonald and Cartier, the leaders of the government, made it clear that they would vote for sustaining the Queen's decision, on which she had not been advised by the Canadian government, and it was the adoption of the sub-amendment that led to the resignation of the Macdonald-Cartier ministry. Years later, in the first edition of his major work on parliamentary procedure, Bourinot dealt with the relevancy of amendments. Noting that the British practice had changed between the 1879 and 1883 editions of Erskine May's classic work on parliamentary procedure,48 Bourinot stated: "The law on the relevancy of amendments seems now to be that if they are on the same subject-matter with the original motion they are admissible, but not when foreign thereto."49 In noting that Canadian speakers had frequently decided, before the rule was

19

Student and Journalist, 1854-58

established in Britain, that amendments must be relevant to the main motion, Bourinot cited numerous rulings, the earliest on 7 July i858, 5 ° that is during the session when he was almost certainly reporting parliamentary debates for The Leader. One wonders if, as he wrote that section of his well-known book, he recalled the debate of 2,8 July 1858, when the relevancy of certain amendments was not questioned. That Bourinot agreed with the author of The Leader's 9 February 1856 editorial that parliamentary reporting should include "commentary" and "wit" is obvious from a passage headed "A Scene in the House" in the "Parliamentary Intelligence" column in The Leader of 31 July 1858. It dealt with events in the Legislative Assembly on 30 July, after the resignation of the Macdonald-Cartier administration but before the swearing in of the Brown-Dorion ministry. As what is almost certainly an early example of Bourinot's writing, it is quoted in part below: ...During this time the members were enjoying themselves on the floor of the House, some laughing at the events which were transpiring in the political world; and others discussing freely the personnel of the "Grit Administration" ... Monsieur Piche51 entered the chamber, his jolly countenance lighted up with more than its usual brilliancy ... He then made a speech in French, which we regret we are not able to give; and being loudly called on to speak in English, the worthy gentleman did so, amidst roars of laughter and uproarious confusion. Having expended his eloquence he then struck up a favorite French air ... The song ... was proceeding merrily, when word was brought in that the Speaker was approaching. Order was soon restored; the members took their seats, and the Speaker entered.

The statement that Piche "made a speech in French which we regret we are not able to give," and that, being called on to speak in English, he did so, raises questions about Bourinot's knowledge of French and the status of that language in the Parliament of the Province of Canada. It may be that by the above statement Bourinot meant simply that the speech should not be reported because the day's sitting had not begun; after all, he did not report either what Piche said in English. There is no doubt that Bourinot had a good working knowledge of French, but his first language was English and he probably was not as fluently bilingual as his father, who spent his early childhood on the Island of Jersey (which, though British, was then still largely French speaking) and was educated in France. There are occasional statements in the younger Bourinot's writing which suggest that he had some difficulty with French. For example, in a passage published in 1869,

2,0 Sir John George Bourinot

though relating to events that had occurred ten years earlier, he referred to a young man handing his companion a letter "saying something at the same time in French, the purport of which did not reach me."52 The same young man had copied and translated "some old historical documents" which Bourinot "had hunted down in the Legislative Library" in Quebec City.53 The translation, like the copying, may have been a time-saving device for Bourinot, but it may also be true that he needed some help with the translation. On the other hand, in 1870, Bourinot was to propose reporting the debates of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada in both English and French, so at least by then he must have regarded himself as qualified to do so. In fact, his knowledge of French was not tested at that time, as the Senate decided to publish its debates only in English. One wonders whether Bourinot had to translate for The Leader any speeches given in French in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada or if the newspaper employed a French-language reporter. There is no indication in the reports as to whether any of the speeches are translations. It is difficult to imagine today a French Canadian member of Parliament meekly switching from French to English after being "loudly called on" to do so. Perhaps when Parliament was in session, some French Canadian members chose to speak English, believing that their speeches would attract more attention and be more accurately reported in the English-language press. The exact status of the French language in the Parliament of the Province of Canada is difficult to determine. The legislative union of Upper and Lower Canada, with equal representation for the two sections of the new province, although Lower Canada had the larger population, had been recommended in Lord Durham's report (1839) with the object of bringing about the gradual and peaceful assimilation of the French Canadians to the English language and ways.54 It was not surprising, therefore, that section 41 of the Act of Union, i84O 55 provided that all official documents of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada were to be in the English language only. Translations were allowed, but they were not to be kept with the official records, nor were they to have the force of the original records. There was much opposition in the Parliament of Canada, not only among French-Canadian members, to section 41,56 and it was eventually repealed in i848,57 leaving the Canadian Legislature, or either of its houses, free to make such regulations as were deemed desirable. There had never been any rule against the oral use of French in the Legislature, though there were sometimes protests when speeches were

2.1 Student and Journalist, 1854-58

delivered in that language.58 However, the rules adopted by the Legislative Assembly in 1841 included a provision (Rule 38) that motions be read in English and French by the Speaker "if he is a master of the two languages," and, if not, they were to be read in one language by the Speaker and in the other by the Clerk or his deputy.59 Rule 2.9 provided that copies of the Journals, translated into French, be laid on the table daily.60 On the other hand, in 1849, after the repeal of section 41 of the Act of Union, it was resolved in the Legislative Assembly that "in future no Bills be printed in both languages having reference exclusively to Upper Canada, and that such Bills be printed in English alone, with French marginal notes, unless otherwise required by any one Member of the House."61 Bourinot must have left The Leader soon after the close of the parliamentary session on 16 August 1858. He was married in Toronto on i September of that year and returned to Sydney before the middle of October. Though his association with The Leader had been of relatively short duration, there can be no doubt that it was an important first step in his career as a journalist, parliamentary reporter, and officer of the Senate and the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada. An unidentified and undated newspaper clipping in a Bourinot scrap book in Halifax, the context of which indicates that it belongs to the period 1873-79, notes that Bourinot "became connected at a very early age, with the Toronto 'Leader' and 'Atlas.'"61 The Atlas was a shortlived Toronto newspaper, published in daily and weekly editions from July to October 1858, when it united with the Colonist to form the Colonist and Atlas.6* If Bourinot was connected with the Atlas, it must have been for a very short time, as he had left Toronto before the last issue was published. MARRIAGE TO DELIA HOUCK

On i September 1858, at Trinity Church East, Toronto, John George Bourinot married Bridget Delia Houck, a widow of the town of Whitby.64 The marriage was performed by the Reverend Dr Frederick A. O'Meara,65 and the witnesses were H.R. Gowan66 and Sophia Earnest.67 Although Bourinot used his full name in signing the marriage register, the manner in which his name is listed in the body of the entry suggests that he was then known as George. The original entry read George Bourinot. The name John has been inserted in smaller writing, probably at his request. Little is known about Bourinot's first wife except that she used her middle name, Delia, that she was about twenty-two at the time of her

Z2, Sir John George Bourinot

marriage to Bourinot,68 and that she was uneducated. She signed the marriage register with an X, her mark. It seems astonishing that the clever and well-educated Bourinot would marry a woman who could not write her name. Indeed, one wonders how they came to meet. Peter Ward, in his study of courtship, love, and marriage in nineteenth-century English Canada, notes that a small sample of marriages in Hamilton during the early i86os found almost none that took place outside class boundaries.69 Bourinot's marriage in Toronto in 1858 certainly united a man and a woman of different social classes. It is unlikely that they met in the usual ways outlined by Ward - at balls, assemblies, or private parties.70 It is odd that The Leader's announcement of the Bourinot-Houck marriage gave the bride's residence as "St. Catherines [sic],"71 whereas the marriage register listed it as Whitby. There were Houcks in both Whitby and St Catharines, and the families were related, but no information has come to light about Delia's first husband, their marriage, or his death.72 Complicating the matter further is the fact that all published accounts of Bourinot's life which mention his first wife, until the appearance of my short biography of him in volume 13 of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography,7* give her name as Delia Hawke, and some state that she was the daughter of John Hawke.74 Was Hawke her maiden name and Houck her married name? There was a John Hawke, a boot and shoe maker at 80 Yonge Street, Toronto, in 1856, who had moved to 119 Yonge Street by 1859.75 If Delia was his daughter, perhaps she returned to Toronto after becoming a widow and served in her father's boot and shoe store. Did she and Bourinot meet when he bought boots or shoes at her father's establishment on Yonge Street? James Beaty, the owner of The Leader, had earlier been a boot and shoe maker in Toronto. He had connections in New York, where he had lived for a time after emigrating from Ireland, and by the 18405 was specializing in the leather trade, selling American leather to the shoemaking and saddlery community in and around Toronto.76 Perhaps John Hawke bought American leather from James Beaty. Was there some connection between the Hawkes, James Beaty, The Leader, and Bourinot that led to the meeting of John George and Delia? In an age when a married woman or widow tended to be described in relation to her husband or late husband, Delia's designation as "a widow of the town of Whitby" might not have precluded her being a resident of Toronto at the time of her marriage to Bourinot.

3 A Period of Transition, 1858-60

RETURN TO SYDNEY

It is safe to assume that Bourinot and his wife arrived in Sydney in September or early October 1858. Perhaps they travelled from Toronto to Montreal on the Grand Trunk Railway, that portion of which had opened for traffic in 1856.* They may have continued their journey to Quebec on the Quebec and Richmond Railway, which cut south through Richmond in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada and which became part of the Grand Trunk/ The rest of their journey would have been by water. Whether John George and Delia took up residence in the Bourinot home on the Esplanade or acquired a home of their own in Sydney is not known. On 13 October 1858, Bourinot entered into articles of clerkship with an attorney, James McKeagney, who was also a member of Nova Scotia's House of Assembly.3 Presumably this was Bourinot's reason for returning to Sydney. Though he is said to have dreaded a life of professional routine,4 he had evidently decided to give law a try. Perhaps he thought that it would provide a more secure future than journalism. He now had a wife to support and in time there would in all probability be a family. The term of articling was to be the normal one of five years.5 Had he obtained his BA, it would have been reduced to four.6 At the end of the articles of agreement, after the main signatures, there is a note signed by McKeagney which states: "The above articles to be trans-

Z4 Sir John George Bourinot ferred by me to any person or at whatever time the said John George Bourinot may think proper."7 This may suggest that, even at the outset, Bourinot had doubts about completing the term. One should not, however, read too much into it because it was quite permissible to serve under "the original articles for the whole term, or any transference thereof, or new articles for the residue of such term."8 It seems likely that the time Bourinot spent as McKeagney's articled clerk was very short. Although he did not settle in Halifax until 1860, he does not appear to have gone there directly from Sydney. About this short period of Bourinot's life almost nothing is known, though there are hints in his writing a decade and more later. With the aid of these passing references, one can speculate as to what took place. A statement contained in one of Bourinot's articles on Cape Breton might be taken to suggest that, after living in Toronto, he found the social life of Sydney rather boring. He there described Sydney after "the disappearance of the troops," who until 1854 "had enlivened the monotony of the ancient town," as "one of the dullest places in British America."9 The routine of a lawyer's office, combined with an equally dull social life, probably convinced the young man that this was not the life for him. One cannot help wondering as well how Bourinot's parents and siblings received the uneducated Delia. Certainly the women in Bourinot's family could read and write. The only letters of his mother that I have seen were written in old age when her handwriting was shaky, but the handwriting in his two sisters' letters is clearly that of well-educated women.10 Perhaps they did not make Delia very welcome. This might have been another factor in Bourinot's decision to leave Sydney. One wonders if Bourinot tried to teach his wife to read and write. Surely he must have realized that having an illiterate wife might have an adverse effect on his career and social life. Mary Ellen Reisner, in her history of the Anglican Diocese of Quebec, relates the story of a young deacon who had married a woman described as being much inferior to him in station. In a letter to the bishop of Quebec, when seeking employment in the diocese, which he obtained, the young man wrote: "I have lately attended sedulously to the education of my Wife. The disparity between us is I believe daily lessening and will, I trust, gradually become imperceptible."11 This letter was written in 1858, the year in which Bourinot married Delia. One would think it natural for him to take the same steps as the young deacon. In addition to any effects Delia's lack of education might have on her husband, one would think that, when he began writing for publication, he would have liked his wife to be able to read what he wrote.

2,5 Period of Transition, 18 5 8-6o DEPARTURE FROM SYDNEY?

There is a suggestion in one of Bourinot's publications that he spent some time, probably an extended period, in Quebec City in 1859. "Ten years ago - the exact date is of no importance - I was living in the pleasant and picturesque city of Quebec," he wrote in 1869, adding that "Quebec and its suburbs became as familiar to me as the old town where I was born."IZ What was he doing in Quebec? He could not have been reporting parliamentary debates for a newspaper because the Parliament of the Province of Canada was still sitting in Toronto. The second session of the sixth Parliament lasted from 29 January to 4 May 1859, and not until the fall of that year did Quebec again become for a last period the capital of Canada before Ottawa became the permanent seat of government in 1865. The third session of the sixth Parliament did not begin until z8 February 1860, by which time Bourinot had almost certainly left Quebec. In his 1869 publication, Bourinot spoke of meeting the Abbe Letellier, who "was connected with one of the educational institutions of the city, and was considered one of the best scholars in the colony."13 To him Bourinot "was indebted not only for numerous facts respecting the early history of Lower Canada, but for many interesting details of the manners and customs of the French Canadians."14 There is also mention of Bourinot's having turned up in the Legislative Library some old historical documents and of having them copied and translated.15 All this suggests that Bourinot was studying French Canadian history and culture, but it gives no indication of how he was earning a living. There is evidence in census records that John George and Delia's first child, a son named George Marshall, was born in the United States late in 1859 or very early in i86o.16 In the article on Cape Breton cited above, when commenting on the island's being behind other parts of British America in prosperity, Bourinot remarked, "Many of the younger men go off yearly to the United States and those of them who return generally come back imbued with more progressive ideas."17 He wrote the article in 1882, but could he, in part, have been thinking of himself as a young man a generation earlier, seeking a more rewarding life in the United States? Another of Bourinot's articles on Cape Breton, published in 1870, suggests that it was to the Boston area that the young Bourinots went. Describing travels on Cape Breton Island, during which he heard "a sweet soprano voice" singing, he recognized the song as a poem called "The Bridge," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which he had first heard "many years before, beneath the shades of the elms of Harvard."18

2,6 Sir John George Bourinot

The period from the fall of 1858 to the early months of 1860 must have been a time of uncertainty for Bourinot. How he earned a living for himself, his wife, and later an infant son remains a mystery. Undoubtedly he was saddened too by the tragic death of his former tutor, the Reverend W.Y. Porter, who drowned on 21 February 1859 after falling through the ice in Sydney Harbour.19 The year 1860 would mark the beginning of a more stable period in Bourinot's career. Returning to Nova Scotia, but not this time to Sydney, he became a newspaper proprietor and editor and not long afterwards reporter to the House of Assembly, thus continuing in Halifax a career he had begun with The Leader in Toronto.

4 Journalist and Parliamentary Reporter, Halifax, 1860-67

FOUNDING THE HALIFAX REPORTER

Sometime before 2,8 July 1860, Bourinot arrived in Halifax, where he was to spend the next seven years of his life. It was on that date that he, in partnership with Joseph C. Crosskill, began to publish an evening tri-weekly newspaper, originally called The Halifax Reporter and later the Halifax Evening Reporter.1 What made him choose Halifax and how he came to be acquainted with Crosskill are matters of conjecture. The fact that Bourinot's father had been elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the general election of 1859, and from 1860 - the first session of the twenty-first assembly - was living in Halifax during the time that the legislature was in session, may have been a factor in the younger Bourinot's decision to settle there. Joseph Crosskill, born in Halifax, was a printer who had learned his trade with one of that city's newspapers, The British Colonist, and later in Boston. He was said to have "a fair experience in the practice of phonography" (shorthand) and to possess "good business capacity."1 Perhaps the elder Bourinot somehow became acquainted with Crosskill. If Crosskill was thinking of starting a newspaper and was looking for a partner to handle the editorial side, John Bourinot may have suggested his eldest son, who had acquired a knowledge of shorthand while in Toronto and had had journalistic experience with The Leader in that city. It is more probable, however, that John George Bourinot arrived in Halifax earlier in 1860 and became acquainted with Crosskill, or they may have met in Boston.

2.8 Sir John George Bourinot

Halifax in 1860 probably held more attractions for Bourinot than had Sydney two years earlier. Halifax was the capital of Nova Scotia; the legislature sat there, and its activities were to occupy much of his time during the next seven years. Founded in 1749, Halifax was incorporated in 1841,3 and after this, "great improvements" were "made in the general appearance and public institutions of the city."4 Its population, according to the census taken in Nova Scotia in 1861, was 2,4,506.* In an age before the advent of radio, television, and the Internet, newspapers played a more vital role in providing news and commentary than they do today. In the mid-i86os, eighteen newspapers were published in Halifax - one daily, seven tri-weekly, four political journals, three religious journals, one devoted to temperance, one to agriculture and another to education, the last two being published monthly.6 This gives some idea of the competition Crosskill and Bourinot faced when they began to publish The Halifax Reporter in 1860. Probably their chief competitors were the long-established Acadian Recorder and The Nova Scotian, founded in 1813 and i8z4 respectively, The Morning Chronicle, The Sun, and The British Colonist, all founded in the 18408, and The Evening Express and Commercial Record, founded in 1858.7 Early issues of The Halifax Reporter were produced in the Victoria Buildings on Hollis Street. Later, the office moved to another building on Hollis Street (Number 165), built expressly for the business. A further temporary move to Somerset House at the corner of Prince and Granville Streets took place at the beginning of 1867; in May 1867, the office moved again to Coppins' Building on Bedford Row.8 A 1975 newspaper article relating to the building at 165 Hollis Street notes that Crosskill and Bourinot owned the first steam press in Halifax. It adds that the press was described by a contemporary as "a large patent double cylinder press, specially built to print 5,000 impressions an hour ... and by ingenious apparatus, patented in Germany, the number of sheets printed is accurately shown." In fact, the author of the article notes, the press printed 3,500 sheets each hour. The Reporter also owned the first folding machine in the Maritimes; it could make up to four folds in z,500 to 3,500 sheets an hour.9 Throughout the years 1860-67, Crosskill and Bourinot were described as proprietors and editors of their newspaper, but it appears that Crosskill was chiefly responsible for the business side and Bourinot for the editorial. In a bibliography of his writings, published in 1894, Bourinot stated that when he was with the Reporter the editorials were, for the most part, from his pen.10 Though editorials are unsigned, it is assumed in the pages that follow that those noted state Bourinot's views.

2.