New Brunswick Origins

“It is well known that New Brunswick was created in 1784 by the partition of Nova Scotia, but the exact day of separation is difficult to define. This is because there were many steps involved in establishing New Brunswick, beginning with the deliberations of the Privy Council in London in May and June, and ending with the arrival of the first governor, Thomas Carleton, at Saint John in November. Fortunately, there is an excellent book by C. Alexander Pincombe, The Birth of a Province: Pertinent Historic Dates in the Bicentennial Year: 1984, that explains all of the dates in detail. Many of the dates are also given in W. S. MacNutt’s classic New Brunswick, A History: 1784 – 1867. This webpage summarizes the key dates and provides some general comments and links.

When New Brunswick was established in 1784, it was a separate British colonial province. Only in 1867 did it enter Confederation as one of the founding provinces of Canada.

New Brunswick was created by an executive decision of King George III and the Privy Council, not by the British Parliament; there was no “New Brunswick Act”. The Privy Council formally proposed the partition on May 10 and held various discussions leading up to its final order-in-council of June 18. The initial provincial constitution, such as it was, consisted of Carleton’s commission and instructions and these were instruments of executive, not legislative, authority. In contrast, some other entities such as Upper Canada, Lower Canada, the Province of Canada, and Canada itself were created by acts of Parliament. (See, for example, the following offsite documents from William. F. Maton’s Canadian Constitutional Documents site: Constitutional Act, 1791 and Act of Union, 1840; and the Department of Justice site: Constitution Act, 1867.)” (Craig Walsh)

The Order-in-Council

The order-in-council of June 18, 1784 was in response to a report from the Board of Trade on the form and cost of the government of the planned province of New Brunswick, and also St. John’s Island (P. E. I.) and Cape Breton.

Carleton’s Appointment

About the process of appointing Carleton as Governor Pincombe (p. 19) wrote:

“Thomas Carleton was received by the King on July 9, 1784, his Commission or Warrant was signed by Sydney on August 2nd, but the Great Seal [of Great Britain] was not impressed upon it until August 16th. His Instructions, consisting of no less than 96 Clauses, were dated just two days later, having been approved by his Majesty in Council July 28th.”

The opening and closing lines of the commission are as follows:

GEORGE THE THIRD BY THE GRACE OF GOD of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth
To our Trusty and well beloved THOMAS CARLETON Esquire

GREETING:

Wee [sic] reposing especial Trust and Confidence in the prudence, Courage and Loyalty of you the said Thomas Carleton, of our especial Grace, certain Knowledge and mere Motion, have thought fit to constitute and appoint you the said Thomas Carleton to be our Captain General and Governor in Chief of our province of New Brunswick bounded on the Westward by the Mouth of the River Saint Croix by the said River to its Source and by a Line drawn due North from thence to the Southern Boundary of our province of Quebec to the Northward by the said Boundary as far as the Western Extremity of the Bay des Chaleurs to the Eastward by the said Bay and the Gulph of Saint Lawrence to the Bay called Bay Verte to the South by a Line in the Center of the Bay of Fundy from the River Saint Croix aforesaid to the Mouth of the Musquat River by the said River to its source, and from thence by a due East line across the Isthmus into the Bay Verte to join the Eastern line above described including all Islands within six Leagues of the Coast with all the Rights Members and Appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging

IN WITNESS Whereof we have Caused these Our Letters to be made Patent WITNESS ourself at Westminster the Sixteenth day of August in the Twenty-fourth year of our Reign.
BY WRIT OF PRIVY SEAL.
YORKE.

This post was only in effect for two years. As Jarvis (see below) explained (pp. 392-393):

“… Governor Thomas Carleton’s Commission was revoked, and a new Commission, dated the twenty-third day of August, 1786, was issued to his brother Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester, as Governor General, under whom Colonel Thomas Carleton became Lieutenant Governor, Lord Dorchester being also Governor General at Quebec. This system, — a Governor General for the British North American Provinces, with Lieutenant Governors for the various Provinces, acting under subsidiary Commissions, which authorized each Lieutenant Governor to exercise within his Province all the powers of the Governor General during his absence, continued down to the period of Confederation in 1867.”

Resources

Further Reading

• Hamilton, William B. The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names. Macmillan Co. of Canada Ltd. Toronto. 1978. p. 81.
• Hamilton, William B. Place Names of Atlantic Canada. University of Toronto Press. Toronto. 1996. p. 22.
• Jarvis, W. M. “Royal Commission and Instructions to Governor Thomas Carleton, August, 1784”. Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society. No. 6 (1905). pp. 391 – 438.
• Lawrence, J. W. Foot-Prints; or Incidents in Early History of New Brunswick (1783 – 1883). J. & A. McMillan. Saint John. 1883. p. 6. (CIHM Microfiche 08948)
• Lawson, Jessie I. and Sweet, Jean M. Our New Brunswick Story. Canada Publishing Co. Ltd. Toronto. c1945-52. p. 149-150.
• New Brunswick. Revised Statutes of New Brunswick, 1952. Volume IV. pp. 5-7.
• New Brunswick. Revised Statutes of New Brunswick, 1973. Index & Appendices. Appendix III.
• Pincombe, C. Alexander. The Birth of a Province: Pertinent Historic Dates in the Bicentennial Year: 1984. New Brunswick Bicentennial Office. 1980.
• Raymond, W. O. “A Sketch of the Life and Administration of General Thomas Carleton, First Governor of New Brunswick.” Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society . No. 6 (1905). pp. 439 – 480.

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This entry was last updated: February 14, 2017