1884 in Canada

Canada-related events during the year of 1884

←

1883
1882
1881

1884
in
Canada

→

1885
1886
1887

Decades:

1860s
1870s
1880s
1890s
1900s

Part of a series on the
History of Canada
Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe
Timeline (list)
Pre-colonization 1534–1763 1764–1867 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–present
Historically significant
Events Sites People
Topics
Agricultural Cultural Constitutional Economic Former colonies Immigration Indigenous Medicine Military Monarchical Population Sports Religion Territorial evolution Women
By provinces and territories
Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nunavut Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon
Cities
Brampton Charlottetown Edmonton Fredericton Halifax Hamilton Lethbridge Markham Moncton Montreal Northwest Territories capital cities Ottawa Quebec City Saint John Regina Richmond Hill Saskatoon Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg (Name etymologies)
Research
Bibliography Historiography Historians Surveys
Canada portal
v t e

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Victoria^[1]

Federal government

Governor General – Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice
Prime Minister – John A. Macdonald
Chief Justice – William Johnstone Ritchie (New Brunswick)
Parliament – 5th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Clement Francis Cornwall
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – James Cox Aikins
Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Robert Duncan Wilmot
Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Matthew Henry Richey
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Beverley Robinson
Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Thomas H. Haviland (until July 18) then Andrew Archibald Macdonald
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Théodore Robitaille (until October 4) then Louis-Rodrigue Masson

Premiers

Premier of British Columbia – William Smithe
Premier of Manitoba – John Norquay
Premier of New Brunswick – Andrew George Blair
Premier of Nova Scotia – William Thomas Pipes (until July 15) then William Stevens Fielding (from July 28)
Premier of Ontario – Oliver Mowat
Premier of Prince Edward Island – William Wilfred Sullivan
Premier of Quebec – Joseph-Alfred Mousseau (until January 23) then John Jones Ross

Territorial governments

Lieutenant governors

Events

January 2 – "Humber Railway Disaster" 32 men and boys were killed upon the head-on collision of a Grand Trunk Railway commuter train with an unscheduled freight train No. 42C near Toronto. Most of the dead were workers being transported on the freight train to the Ontario Bolt Works in Swansea, Ontario.
January 10 – David Scott elected as the first mayor of Regina
January 17 – The Parliament Building's new electric lights were turned on, for the first time.^[2]
January 23 – John Jones Ross becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Joseph-Alfred Mousseau.
June 22 – The seven surviving members of the 25-man Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, led by Adolphus Greely, are rescued by Winfield Scott Schley. One more died on the homeward journey.^[3]
July 28 – William Fielding becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing William Pipes.
September 15 – The Nile Voyageurs depart for Africa
October 15 – The La Presse newspaper is founded
November 7 – Calgary is incorporated as a town, changing its name from Fort Calgary
Parliament of Canada passes the Indian Advancement Act, encouraging democratic elections of chiefs. Mohawks at St. Regis, Ontario, resist the provision, preferring their traditional method of choosing leaders.

Births

January to June

February 10 – Rork Scott Ferguson, politician (d.unknown)
February 18 – Andrew Watson Myles, politician (d.1970)
April 6 – Walter Huston, actor (d.1950)
April 12 – Maurice Brasset, politician and lawyer (d.1971)
April 30 – Murdoch Mackay, politician (d.1963)
May 1 – Henry Norwest, sniper in World War I (d.1918)
June 11 – William George Bock, politician (d.1973)

July to December

July 25 – Davidson Black, paleoanthropologist (d.1934)
August 27 – John Edward Brownlee, politician and 5th Premier of Alberta (d.1961)
September 2 – Angus MacInnis, politician (d.1964)
September 27 – Silby Barrett, labour leader
December 15 – James Macdonnell, soldier, lawyer and politician (d.1973)

Deaths

January 14 – Pierre-Eustache Dostaler, farmer and politician (b.1809)
January 31 – Charles Dewey Day, lawyer, judge and politician (b.1806)
February 20 – Abram William Lauder, lawyer and politician (b.1834)

Full date unknown

John Ferris, businessman, explorer and politician (b.1811)

Historical documents

Opposition Leader Edward Blake touches on several Liberal Party principles and political points^[4]

Essay on disadvantages of Confederation for Manitoba^[5]

Winnipegger Alexander Begg lectures in London on his years in the Northwest^[6]

Report on Indigenous peoples of Northwest (Note: "savage," other stereotypes)^[7]

Witnesses describe tense stand-off between Mounties and armed group of Cree^[8]

Touring British scientists find Chief Crowfoot selling his personal items at Gleichen, Alberta^[9]

Louis Riel is asked to return from exile^[10]

Letter of Louis Riel declining invitation to speak in Prince Albert^[11]

Anglophone Quebeckers assess agricultural and forestry advantages of Calgary region^[12]

Newspaper controversy over encouraging deaf people to settle in Northwest^[13]

Nova Scotia woman writes to her mother about losing her newborn child^[14]

"A young man of unbounded enthusiasm," Ernest Thompson Seton becomes ornithology director at Canadian Postal College of the Natural Sciences^[15]

References

^ "Queen Victoria | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
^ "The House of Commons Heritage Collection". parl.gc.ca. March 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
^ "Discovery Of Seven Survivors of Lieut. Greeley's Party". The Cornishman. No. 314. 24 July 1884. p. 7.
^ "Speech of the Hon. Edward Blake before the Young Men's Liberal Club of Toronto(...)" The (Montreal) Times (January 17, 1884). Accessed 14 October 2019
^ Henry T. Burgess, Manitoba and Confederation (1884). Accessed 7 October 2019
^ Alexander Begg, Seventeen Years in the Canadian North-West (1884). Accessed 7 October 2019
^ George Bryce, "Our Indians;" Delivered before the Y.M.C.A., Winnipeg(...). Accessed 14 October 2019
^ Campbell Innes, The Cree Rebellion of 1884, or, Sidelights on Indian Conditions Subsequent to 1876 (1926), pgs. 11, 15-17, 39, 42-3. Accessed 6 October 2019
^ British Association for the Advancement of Science, Report of the Visit of the British Association to the Canadian North-West[...] (1884), pg. 12. Accessed 6 October 2019
^ Canada; Department of the Secretary of State; Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, Return (in Part) to an Address of the House of Commons(...): For Copies of All Papers Found in the Council Room of the Insurgents(...) (1886). Accessed 7 October 2019
^ Louis Riel, "To the gentlemen who kindly invite me to hold a public meeting in Prince Albert" Morton Manuscripts Collection, University of Saskatchewan Libraries Special Collections. Accessed 7 October 2019
^ Thomas Shepard Barwis, Calgary, Alberta, and the Canadian North West: Valuable Information for Intending Settlers (1885), pg 5. Accessed 7 October 2019
^ Jane Elizabeth Groom and "H.H.," A Future for the Deaf and Dumb in the Canadian North-West (1884), pgs. 18-20. Accessed 7 October 2019
^ Dove Crowell to Catherine McQueen, October 21, 1884, Yarmouth The McQueen Family Papers, Atlantic Canada Virtual Archives. Accessed 7 October 2019
^ "Secretary's Report; Another Director" The Canadian Science Monthly, Vol. II, No. 3 (March 1884), pg. 47. Accessed 3 April 2022

v t e History of Canada
Year list (Timeline)	18000 BCE–1500 CE 1534–1763 1763–1867 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–present
Topics	Canadians - (Persons of significance) Constitutional Crown and Indigenous peoples Cultural Economic Etymology Events of significance Former colonies and territories Heritage Minutes Historic Sites Immigration Chinese immigration Military Conflicts Operations Peacekeeping Victories Monarchical Population history Sports Territorial evolution Women
Provinces and territories	Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Quebec Prince Edward Island Saskatchewan Yukon (Name etymologies)
Cities	Brampton Charlottetown Edmonton Fredericton Halifax Hamilton Lethbridge Markham Moncton Montreal Northwest Territories capital cities Ottawa Quebec City Saint John Regina Richmond Hill Saskatoon Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg (Name etymologies)
Research	Bibliography Historiography Historians Surveys
Category Canada portal

v t e List of years in Canada
Pre-Confederation Prehistory–1866	Prehistory to 1 BC 1st millennium 1000s 1100s 1400s 1500s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866
Post-Confederation 1867–present	1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Quebec	1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1635
Canadian electoral calendars	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Related	List of Canadian monarchs List of governors general of Canada List of prime ministers of Canada Population of Canada by year Timeline
Research	Bibliography Historiography
Category Canada portal

v t e 1884 in North America
Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States
Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands