1861 in Canada
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Events from the year 1861 in Canada.
Incumbents
Federal government
- Parliament â 6th then 7th
Governors
- Governor General of the Province of Canada â Edmund Walker Head
- Colonial Governor of Newfoundland â Alexander Bannerman
- Governor of New Brunswick â Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon
- Governor of Nova Scotia â George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
- Governor of Prince Edward Island â Dominick Daly
Premiers
- Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada â
- George-Ãtienne Cartier, Canada West Premier
- Antoine-Aimé Dorion, Canada East Premier
- Premier of Newfoundland â Hugh Hoyles
- Premier of New Brunswick â Samuel Leonard Tilley
- Premier of Nova Scotia â James William Johnston
- Premier of Prince Edward Island â Edward Palmer
Events
- April 12 â The American Civil War starts
- April 14 â A major flood hits Montreal
- April 15 â Nova Scotia: resolution for provincial union by Joseph Howe for referral to the other British North American provinces in July.
- May 13 â The UK declares its neutrality in American Civil War.
- June 1 â The UK bans naval craft or privateers of American belligerents from carrying prizes into British ports or territorial waters.
- November 8 â The Trent Affair: British packet steamer Trent stopped by United States warship in international waters. Two Confederate diplomats taken off and imprisoned in Boston.
- November 28 â Viscount Monck becomes Governor-General.
- December 3 â The UK sends reinforcements to British North America.
- December 23 â The UK demands release of Confederate diplomats taken from Trent.
- December 26 â Confederate diplomats taken from Trent released.
Full date unknown
- Joseph Howe became Premier of Nova Scotia
- Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott becomes the first Canadian-born Black to graduate from medical school.
- 1861 Newfoundland general election
- The Cariboo Gold Rush starts in British Columbia.
Births
January to June
- January 15 â Joseph-Mathias Tellier, politician (died 1952)
- March 10 â Pauline Johnson, poet, writer and performer (died 1913)
- March 10 â Clifford Sifton, politician and Minister (died 1929)
- March 19 â Lomer Gouin, politician and 13th Premier of Quebec (died 1929)
- March 20 â Herménégilde Boulay, politician (died 1942)
- May 13 â Margaret Marshall Saunders, writer
- April 15 â Bliss Carman, poet (died 1929)
- June 7 â George Henry Murray, politician and Premier of Nova Scotia (died 1929)
July to December
- July 11 â John Best, politician (died 1923)
- September 5 â Tobias Norris, politician and 10th Premier of Manitoba (died 1936)
- September 18 â Ella Cora Hind, journalist and women's rights activist (died 1942)
- September 19 â Charles Ernest Gault, politician (died 1946)
- October 31 â James Bowman, politician (died 1940)
- November 4 â Raoul Dandurand, politician (died 1942)
- November 6 â James Naismith, sports coach and innovator, inventor of basketball (died 1939)
- November 17 â Archibald Lampman, poet (died 1899)
- November 26 â Laura Borden, wife of Robert Borden, 8th Prime Minister of Canada (died 1940)
- December 22 â Sara Jeannette Duncan, author and journalist (died 1922)
Deaths
- February 3 â Louis-Théodore Besserer, notary, soldier, politician, and businessman (born 1785)
- February 13 â Denis-Benjamin Viger, politician, businessman and politician (born 1774)
- November 9 â Howard Douglas, soldier, educator, author, inventor, and colonial administrator (born 1776)