Pedro da Silva (

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, circa 1647 -

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, 1717) was the first

post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

, in what was to become part of

. He was

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

born and was known as ''Le Portugais'' ( French for '' The Portuguese''). Pedro da Silva is known to have arrived in New France prior to 1673, having worked there as a common courier. Later on he is known to have relocated to Sault-au-Matelot (

Québec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is the ...

's lower town) and involved himself in the shipping of goods in the colony (by boat and cart). There is proof that in July 1693, Silva was paid 20 sols to take a package of letters from

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

to Québec City. In 1705, he was commissioned by the (co)-

Intendant of New France The Intendant of New France was an administrative position in the French colony of New France. He controlled the colony's entire civil administration. He gave particular attention to settlement and economic development, and to the administration of ...

Jacques Raudot Jacques Raudot (1638 - 20 February 1728, Paris) was the co-Intendant of New France between 1705 and 1710 with his son Antoine-Denis Raudot. In 1709 Raudot issued an ordinance to clarify whether individuals could legally own slaves, in New Fran ...

, as the "first courier" in New France.

Stamp

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

issued a stamp (48¢) in June 2003 honouring Pedro da Silva.

External links

O primeiro carteiro do Canadá era português (November 10, 2007)
in

Diário de Notícias ''Diário de Notícias'' () is a Portuguese daily newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal. Established since 1864, the paper is considered a newspaper of record for Portugal. History and profile ''Diário de Notícias'' was first published in ...

(

). Canada Post Portuguese emigrants to Canada 1647 births People of New France 1717 deaths People from Lisbon 17th-century Portuguese people {{Portugal-bio-stub Canadian people of Portuguese descent

Stamp

See also

External links