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 is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

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 (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, 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. History The practice of having a government official ...

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). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

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 (Commonwealth countries), Executive Council of New Brunswick (), informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of New Brunswick (), is the Cabinet (government), Cabinet of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provin ...

, he served as Surveyor General from July 10, 1866, to July 17, 1867. An ardent supporter of Canadian Confederation, Connell was elected as a Member of Parliament representing the New Brunswick

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

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, upriver from Fredericton at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River. It is near the Canada–United States border and Houlton, Maine and the intersection of Int ...

. 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 is a National Historic Site, located in

, and is now a museum run by the Carleton County Historical Society.

Electoral record

References

External links