Events from the year 1881 in Canada.
Incumbents Crown Monarch – Victoria
Federal government Governor General – John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne Prime Minister – John A. Macdonald Chief Justice – William Johnstone Ritchie (New Brunswick) Parliament – 4th
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Albert Norton Richards (until June 21) then Clement Francis Cornwall Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Joseph-Édouard Cauchon Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Robert Duncan Wilmot Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Adams George Archibald Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Beverley Robinson Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Thomas Heath Haviland Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Théodore Robitaille
Premiers Premier of British Columbia – George Anthony Walkem Premier of Manitoba – John Norquay Premier of New Brunswick – John James Fraser Premier of Nova Scotia – Simon Hugh Holmes Premier of Ontario – Oliver Mowat Premier of Prince Edward Island – William Wilfred Sullivan Premier of Quebec – Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
Territorial governments
Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of Keewatin – Joseph-Édouard Cauchon Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories – David Laird (until December 3) then Edgar Dewdney
Events January 17 – The Interprovincial Bridge connecting Ottawa to Hull, Quebec, opens February 16 – The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated April 4 – The 1881 census finds Canada's population to be 4,324,810 May 24 – The overloaded steamer Victoria' capsizes on the Thames River near London, Ontario, killing 182 people. October – Clifton, Ontario, is renamed to Niagara Falls. December 2 – Quebec election: Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau's Conservatives win a majority
Full date unknown Manitoba's boundaries are extended north, east and west. Ontario disputes the eastward extension.
Births January 2 – Frederick Varley, artist and member of the Group of Seven (d.1969) January 20 – Fred Dixon, politician (d.1931) March 18 – Oliver Seibert, professional ice hockey player (d.1944) June 17 – Tommy Burns, only Canadian born world heavyweight champion boxer (d.1955) September 27 – James Ralston, lawyer, soldier, politician and Minister (d.1948) October 23 – Al Christie, film director, producer and screenwriter (d.1951) November 4 – Hector Authier, politician, lawyer and news reporter/announcer (d.1971) November 19 – Robert James Manion, politician (d.1943) December 20 – Télesphore-Damien Bouchard, politician (d.1962) December 29 – George Washington Kendall (d.1921) December 31 – Albert Sévigny, politician (d.1961) December 31 – Elizabeth Arden (birth name, Florence Nightingale Graham), founder, Elizabeth Arden cosmetics (d.1966)
Deaths January 28 – Luc Letellier de St-Just, politician and 3rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1820)
Historical documents John A. Macdonald expounds on CPR's troubled past and secure future in House of Commons speech Canada; Parliament; House of Commons, Debates of the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada; 4th Parliament, 3rd Session (1881), pgs. 485-98. Accessed 4 October 2019 http://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/4/h4-4013-e.html
British editorial labels CPR and Canada bad investments A Wrong Forecast of a False Prophet; Editorial from London "Truth," September 1st, 1881 ("From Press Clippings of A.B. Chaffee, Manager, International Railway Guide, Montreal, Que."). Accessed 5 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1014/1.html
Wilfrid Laurier accuses Conservatives of "having sacrificed the public cause to personal cupidity" Ulric Barthe, Wilfrid Laurier on the Platform; Collection of the Principal Speeches[...] (1890), pgs. 143-6. Accessed 5 October 2019 http://www.archive.org/stream/wilfridlaurieron00lauruoft#page/142/mode/2up/
Governor General speaks on prospects of Northwest Territories Canada; Department of Agriculture, The Canadian North-West: Speech Delivered at Winnipeg [by] Governor General[...] (1881). Accessed 5 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/959.html
Importance of steamboats to colonization along Saskatchewan River "Wreck of the Saskatchewan Steamer," from Edmonton Bulletin (November 5, 1881). Accessed 4 October 2019 http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/thewest/sasksteamerwreak.htm
Ojibwa entertain Governor General at Rat Portage (Kenora), Ont. (Note: racial stereotypes) William H. Williams, Manitoba and the North-West; Journal of a Trip from Toronto to the Rocky Mountains[...] (1882), pgs. 32-3. Accessed 4 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1020/39.html
Chief Poundmaker tells Cree and Blackfoot legends to Governor General on tour William H. Williams, Manitoba and the North-West; Journal of a Trip from Toronto to the Rocky Mountains[...] (1882), pg. 105 and after. Accessed 4 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1020/112.html
Colourful Blackfoot riders meet Governor General (Note: "savage" and other stereotypes) William H. Williams, Manitoba and the North-West; Journal of a Trip from Toronto to the Rocky Mountains[...] (1882), pgs. 118-19. Accessed 4 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1020/125.html
Journalist describes beautiful Qu'Appelle Valley in gorgeous sunset William H. Williams, Manitoba and the North-West; Journal of a Trip from Toronto to the Rocky Mountains[...] (1882), pg. 66. Accessed 5 October 2019 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1020/73.html
Nova Scotia woman tries to find a maid for $4/month, and describes some of the work Letter of Eliza Cunningham to her mother, Catherine McQueen, April 19, 1881, Dartmouth, The McQueen Family Papers, Atlantic Canada Virtual Archives. Accessed 5 October 2019 http://atlanticportal.hil.unb.ca/acva/en/mcqueen/letters/search/text.php?pt=1&d=575
References