New Brunswick was formed when it was decided to be too far way from Halifax, Nova Scotia to be run effectively. So how then does Canada then get control from even farther afield. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This stamp is from the 1860s. Queen Victoria is on her rightful place on the stamp. At the time there was still almost 40 years left in her then longest ever reign. As such a full face portrait of a younger Victoria goes unrecognized by me. In fact I was even wondering if the stamp was from a different New Brunswick. In fact, it is just a very old stamp and the bright color disguises that.
The stamp today is issue A5, a five cent stamp issued by the British Colony of New Brunswick in 1860. There are three color variations of this stamp; yellow green, blue green, and olive green. I think my copy is olive green, but be sure to look at the picture and tell me what you think in the comment section. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $175 mint. If it was never hinged, the value would double again. Mine was hinged and located long term in an old album, that did a great job in preserving the stamps condition. This is the most valuable stamp I have written about so far at The-Philatelist.com. To be honest, before my research, I had no idea the value or even that I possessed it.
During the American revolutionary war in the 1780s, it was decided that the still British colony of Nova Scotia was too large to be run effectively from Halifax. Therefore Nova Scotia’s territory on the western side of the bay of Fundy was broken away to form New Brunswick. Brunswick was the former name of the British royal house when it was still German. Brunswick was therefore in honour of King George III. A capital was chosen in the small inland city rechristened Fredericton after George III’s son. It was hoped that an inland city would be easier to defend than the larger coastal St. John.
After the revolutionary war a decent number of British loyalists immigrated to the new colony. This increased the ties to Britain and the colony also had close ties to New England. New Brunswick mainly sat out the War of 1812.
With the Irish potato famine of the 1840s came a large number of Irish refugees. So many as to change the demographics of the whole colony. Ireland was seeking independence from Great Britain at the time. See also this fun Irish Republic stamp of alternate history, https://the-philatelist.com/2019/03/15/ireland-1967-100-years-later-irish-stampmakers-fantasize-about-alternate-history/ There were a series of Fenian insurrections that sought to take control of some outpost in New Brunswick and hold it hostage in exchange for Irish independence. This was a huge miscalculation. It greatly overvalued the importance of New Brunswick in Britain’s eyes. It also lead New Brunswick to join in a new confederation with Canada, being one of the original 4 provinces in 1867. This ended the separate stamp issuance of New Brunswick.
The old issues returned for New Brunswick. Rule from Ottawa was not conducive to growth in New Brunswick. There became more distance between the former natural trading partners in New England. New Brunswick entered a period of economic decline.
Well my drink is empty and my next one will be from the top shelf as this stamp proved so valuable. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.