Charles Connell (1810 – June 28, 1873) was a Canadian politician, now remembered mainly for placing his image on a 5-cent postage stamp. Born in Northampton in the then-British colony of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

to a family of

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

who had fled the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, he entered politics in 1846, serving in the colony's Legislative Assembly and House of Assembly.

Career

In 1858, Connell was appointed

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...

of the colony, at a time when increasing trade with the United States was forcing the British colonies to reconsider their currencies and institute a decimal system that would be more familiar to their American neighbors. New Brunswick adopted a decimal currency in 1859, and in the following year, Connell issued the first series of

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s in the new denomination. While few people had problems with the new currency, they were outraged that Connell chose to depict himself on the 5-cent stamp. In an effort to stem the criticism and charges of extreme arrogance, he offered to buy up all the stamps and burned them publicly on the front lawn of his house. He also resigned his office as postmaster general. It is unknown how many stamps survived, but they number no more than a few dozen and are now extremely rare. Some counterfeits of the stamp exist also. Despite the episode, Connell continued to serve in the colonial legislature up until 1867. He strongly urged passage of a bill that would have seen the lieutenant governor of N.B. elected, and not appointed by the British monarch. A member of the

Executive Council of New Brunswick The Executive Council of New Brunswick (french: Conseil exécutif du Nouveau-Brunswick), informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of New Brunswick (french: Cabinet du Nouveau-Brunswick), is the cabinet of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. ...

, he served as

Surveyor General A surveyor general is an official responsible for government surveying in a specific country or territory. Historically, this would often have been a military appointment, but it is now more likely to be a civilian post. The following surveyor ge ...

from July 10, 1866 to July 17, 1867. An ardent supporter of Canadian Confederation, Connell was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

representing the New Brunswick

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of Carleton in the first two Canadian parliaments. From 1865 to 1866, he published his own newspaper, ''The Union''.

Family life

On August 5, 1835, he married Anne Fisher, daughter of Peter Fisher, and sister of Lewis P. Fisher. They had seven children, one of whom died young. She died on October 5, 1895 and is buried in the Old Methodist Cemetery in

Woodstock, New Brunswick Woodstock is a town in Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada on the Saint John River, 103 km upriver from Fredericton at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River. It is near the Canada–United States border and Houlton, Maine and the inter ...

. His son George Heber went on to serve in the House of Commons.

Death and legacy

He died at his house on June 28, 1873. His 1840 house, known as the

Charles Connell House The Charles Connell House is the present name of the residence of the Hon. Charles Connell (1810–1873). It is located at 128 Connell Street, Woodstock, New Brunswick. The house was designated a National Historic Site in 1975. History This ...

is a National Historic Site, located in

, and is now a museum run by the

Carleton County Historical Society The Carleton County Historical Society (CCHS), located in southwest New Brunswick, Canada was established in 1960. It maintains an extensive collection of historical artifacts and archival material. They maintain two historic buildings, the Old Car ...

Electoral record

References

External links