The Golden AgeThe Golden Age

1830-1863

William Cooper

William Cooper was Lord Townshend’s Land Agent. He had replaced Edward Abell after he was stabbed.

Cooper became involved in shipbuilding with Lord Townshend’s money and would lose it when the ship he had built sank.

William Cooper would be fired and would go on to form the Escheat Party on Prince Edward Island.

The Escheat Party The Escheat Party whole platform was to Escheat the land

for the tenants. Cooper added a powerful punch to the party as he was very

well known and a very fiery speaker. Their main base of support were the poor Irish and

Scottish Catholic tenants who just received the right to vote.

Their first run at election only had them elected in 5 seats. As a result Cooper held a rally in 1836 where he fired up the crowd telling them not to pay their quit-rents.

His actions would get himself and two other members of his party suspended from the assembly.

Lord Durham

Cooper became even more popular after being suspended. The escheat movement was gaining more support since Cooper had been tossed.

In 1838 the Colonial Secretary asked Lord Durham to report on the land issue in Prince Edward Island.

In his report Lord Durham called for a full Island-wide Escheat of the land.

Durham’s report gave the Escheat party the ammunition it needed and would win the next election

Cooper Goes to England

Cooper and the Escheat Party had won the election but Charles Fitzroy would not pass an Escheat bill.

Cooper would go to England in hopes to have them Escheat the Island. They would not even meet with Cooper.

The Colonial Secretary would write Charles Fitzroy and have him publish a letter stating there would never be an Escheat of the Island.

Cooper was finished he would go into a depression and then move to California.

Charles Fitzroy

Questions1. ___________ Man Lord Townshend hired to replace his

dead land agent.2. ___________ Lord Townshend’s money was lost on

this.3. ___________ These two groups of people had just

received the vote in 1830. (2)4. ___________ New political party started in 1830.5. ___________ Governor of the Island in 1836.6. ___________ Asked to report on the land issue on P.E.I.7. ___________ Governor who published a letter stating

there would never be an escheat.

Responsible Government

In a responsible government the elected assembly holds the power and the appointed Governor can only advise.

In the 1840’s the Government of Prince Edward Island was run by the Governor and a few close friends. This power group became known as the Family Compact.

The Family Compact were a small group of elites, local landlords and land agents who were all interrelated.

Responsible Government

Joseph Pope was the leader of the Family Compact in the Assembly. A shipbuilder and land agent from Bedeque, he had moved to the Island in 1820.

Pope’s young apprentice was Edward Palmer, the son of James B. Palmer. He was extremely right wing and disliked reform of any kind.

The head of the Reformers was a former “Tory”, George Coles. Considered to be uneducated for not attending university, Coles was further looked down upon for owning a tavern and brewery.

Belfast Riot

In the 1846 election the “Tories” lost both their seats in Belfast and a new by-election was held in the area.

While voting two separate fights broke out between the Irish and Scottish in which 2 Irishmen and 1 Scott were killed.

The election was held again later that same month only to be guarded by 200 militia.

Responsible Government

The Governor of Prince Edward Island in the 1840’s was an unpredictable man by the name of Henry Huntley.

Huntley would favor the Tories and then the Reformers as he allowed personal arguments to interfere with his political life.

Joseph Pope after being kicked out of the Executive Council had enough and he and Palmer would go to England and return with yet another Governor, Donald Campbell.

Responsible Government

George Coals would invite Edward Whelan to Prince Edward Island to start a Liberal newspaper, The Examiner.

Donald Campbell insisted that although other British Colonies had Responsible Government, the Island did not have enough educated men to govern itself.

The Colonial Secretary was pressuring Campbell to grant Responsible Government at this time but he refused.

Responsible Government

In 1849 the Colonial Office decided that the Island population was large enough that it could sustain its own government without the help of England.

Joseph Pope who had been leading the Tories saw the change that was about to take place and became a Reformer.

Edward Palmer would now become leader of the Tories. He strongly believed responsible government was nothing more than “rule by the mob.”

Responsible Government In 1850 the Assembly decided to withhold all money

from the government until responsible government was granted.

An election was called that summer and the Reformers won a clear majority in the Assembly.

In November of the same year Donald Campbell, the last obstacle to responsible government, dies.

Alexander Bannerman was appointed Governor and given instructions to grant Responsible Government.

In March 1851 George Coles became the Island’s first Premier.

Colony Grows Up

The 1830’s and 1840’s was the Island population grow due to the large number of immigrants from Western England, The Highlands and Ireland.

In 1848 2500 families owned their land, 5400 were tenants, and 900 were squatters.

Charlottetown was incorporated in 1855 to become the first city on the Island.

Isaac Smith would become the most famous architect of the time and he designed most of the new buildings in Charlottetown.

Crossing The Strait

Because of the ice in the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence the Island would be cut of in the winter.

The iceboat was the main source of transportation to and from the Island in the winter.

The iceboats made one crossing a week. Manned by a captain and 4 crewmen, it cost $4 to ride, and $2 if a person helped.

The boats were rowboats covered with tin on the outside. They had two rails on either side of the keel so the boat could be used like a sleigh.

Shipbuilding

The shipbuilding industry began when England was cut off from the Baltic Forrest.

The ships would be built, loaded with lumber and sailed to England for sale.

Some builders would keep the ships and create a trading fleet.

Most of the shipbuilders were immigrants from West Country in England whose names included: Yeo, Pope, Peake, Davies, Haviland, Douse, Cambridge, and Duncan.

Shipbuilding

West Prince began to fill up as people moved to build shipyards.

By the 1850’s shipbuilding passed agriculture as the main industry on the Island.

Summerside was founded at this time and replaced Princetown as the capital of Prince County.

During the 1850’s and 1860’s only Great Britain built more ships than the Island.

Shipbuilding

The most famous shipbuilder was James Yeo of Port Hill.

Arriving on the Island poor in 1819, he began working in a shipyard in Bideford.

He became a land-agent and skimmed money from the collections.

James Yeo would eventually own 5 shipyards on the Island which were partially supplied from stolen timber.

A strong Conservative he would represent Port Hill from 1839-1867.

Shipbuilding

James Peake Sr. was the second largest shipbuilder on the Island.

He built and owned a huge merchant fleet and owned three piers (Peakes Quay) in Charlottetown.

Most of his ships were built in Mt. Stewart. James Peake Jr. would take over the business

and lose his father’s fortune and would end up working as a chalkboard marker in a snooker hall in Vancouver.

Questions1. __________ Editor of the Liberal Newspaper.2. __________ Used to cross the Strait in winter.3. __________ Powerful group of interrelated

families.4. __________ Liberal newspaper.5. __________ Famous Island Architect.6. __________ Government in which the power

lies with the elected assembly.7. __________ City incorporated in 1855.8. __________ Erratic and unpredictable

governor.

Questions9. __________ The most famous shipbuilder.10. __________ This would surpass agriculture as the main

industry in 1850.11. __________ Replaced Princetown as capital of Prince

County.12. __________ The only place to build more ships than P.E.I. 13. __________ England was cut off from this source of wood

in 1807.14. __________ There were, on average, this many ships built

on P.E.I in the 1860’s.15. __________ Owner of Peake’s Quay

Schools

In the mid 1800’s most people could not read or write.

Schools were private all with different standards. In 1852 George Coles passed the Free

Education Act stating that any community that paid to build a school the government will pay for a teacher.

The Act also made it mandatory for teachers to be certified and the schools would be visited by an inspector twice a year.

Religion

Almost everyone went to church in the 1850’s or at least claimed to be of one faith or another.

45% of the Island was Catholic while the remaining 55% were Protestant.

The most outstanding Church leader of the time was Reverend Donald MacDonald of the Church of Scotland.

People took their faith very seriously to the point where one faith would not intermarry with another and religion even flowed into things like politics.

The Two Acts

Coles after passing the Free Education Act would expand the electorate by passing the Franchise Act allowing all men over 21 to vote.

Up until this point only property owners could vote.

The second Act was the Land Purchase Act in which the government would purchase land from the proprietors and sell it to tenants. Coles however need 100,000 pounds from the Colonial Office but was refused.

The Land Commission In 1860 the Colonial Office agreed to appoint a 3 man

commission to investigate the Land Question on P.E.I.

The Landlords were confident that the report would favor them that they insisted they report be binding.

The report was released in 1861 and blasted the land system, the landlords, and especially the Colonial Office. A recommendation that a 100,000 loan be given to buy out the landlords.

The proprietors would find a loophole and have the report tossed.

Questions1. __________ Act granting teachers to communities that built

a school.2. __________ 45% of the Island population was of this faith.3. __________ 55% of the Island population was of this faith.4. __________ The most famous circuit preacher on the Island

at this time.5. __________ Act allowing all men over the age of 21 to vote.6. __________ Act allowing the government to purchase land

from landlords and resell it.7. __________ Commission set up in 1860 to investigate the

land issue.

Review1. __________ Taking land from proprietors and giving it

to the tenants.2. __________ Founder of the Escheat party.3. __________ Asked to report on the land situation on the

Island in 1838.4. __________ Published a letter stating there would never

be an escheat of the Island.5. __________ Government in which the power lays with

the elected assembly.6. __________ Leader of the Family Compact.7. __________ “Snarlers”.

Review8. __________ Famous architect of the 1830’s9. __________ Storm that hit the Island in 1851.10. __________ Used to cross the strait in the winter.11. __________ Most famous shipbuilder on P.E.I.12. __________ Average number of ships built a year

on the Island in the 1830’s.13. __________ Famous preacher of the Free Church

of Scotland.14. __________ Act giving communities with schools

a certified teacher.

Review15. __________ Publisher of the Liberal newspaper.16. __________ Erratic and unpredictable governor in the

1840’s.17. __________ Allowed all men over the age of 21 to

vote.18. __________ Catholic newspaper.19. __________ Protestant newspaper.20. __________ Commission set up to investigate the land

issue.21. __________ William Cooper was a land agent for this

man.

Review22. __________ Act allowing the government to purchase

land from the landlords and resell it.23. __________ Second largest shipbuilder on the Island.24. __________ Governor that granted Responsible

Government.25. __________ Reformer who owned a Tavern and

brewery in Charlottetown.26. __________ Son of James Palmer who joined the

Family Compact.27. __________ A riot broke out here in 1847 over an

election.

Review

28. __________ Closely related group that held power in the assembly.

29. __________ Conservative governor who refused to grant responsible government.

30. __________ “Snatchers”.

31. __________ Meeting of Protestants in 1857.

Review32. How did the landlords get out of not having to

follow the recommendations of the Land Commission's report?

33. Why were the ice boats important?34. Why didn’t the Family Compact want the Island

to have Responsible Government? What reason did they use?

35. What reason would Coles have for the Franchise Act?

36. What was the Island school system based on? Why?

Terms Isaac Smith James Yeo George Coles Yankee Gale William Cooper Joseph Pope Alexander Bannerman Donald Campbell Lord Durham Edward Whelan Ice Boat James Peake Sr. Rev. Donald MacDonald

Work Quietly Now!

Now that you have been given work to do you should all be working quietly….like good little children…not annoying little brats like Jack…and Monica (aka “Cat-Killer”)…they don’t like you…shhh