The Nova Scotia Post: Early Mail and Markings 1724-1877

Patrick Burns
Released August 2025. Exhibit series # 124.
140 pages, 8.5" x 11", spiral.
Colour C$ 40.00 [ISBN 978-1-989280-53-9].

The primary catalyst for Patrick Burns to begin this work was the publication in 1985 of Dr. JJ MacDonald’s book The Nova Scotia Post Its Offices, Masters and Marks 1700 – 1867. The large number of postmarks are due to Post Office Inspector Arthur Woodgate's long tenure and the fact that he mandated that dispatching postmarks were to be struck on the reverse of the letter or envelope.

The search for information and material in archives – including the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, the British Postal Museum & Archive at Phoenix Place in London and the British National Archives at Kew Gardens – as well as universities and museums mainly in Canada and England, stamp publications, auction catalogues, antique shops and bookstores took many years.

In the early 1980s, the author began compiling a census, now comprising thousands of pages, of detailed descriptions, photocopies initially and scans later on of all of the rare, scarce and not so scarce markings and handstamps, earliest and latest recorded uses, with auction details and hammer prices. He built and maintains a separate register – currently in excess of 300 pages – entitled A Compilation of the Earliest Nova Scotia Military, Civilian & Related Correspondence and Documents in Private Collections – 1710 to 1776. The end result is an extensive reference library of Nova Scotia postal history.

One evening in late 2015, after trying several phrases and word combinations and perusing numerous pages of his search engine, he came across an item of potential interest being offered by a book dealer in the United States. It was an early manuscript letter datelined Louisbourg, 4th December 1724, eleven years after construction of the great French fortress in Cape Breton. After a rapid series of communications and obtaining scans of the item, a deal was finally made. The letter, written in English by a Dutch trader in Louisbourg, is currently the earliest recorded letter from Nova Scotia, penned 11 years earlier than the previous record holder – also from Louisbourg – datelined 29 October 1735.