This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.Find sources: "1861 in Canada" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2023)

←

1861
in
Canada

→

Decades:

Part of a series on the
History of Canada
Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe
Timeline (list)
Pre-colonization 1534–1763 1764–1867 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–present
Historically significant
Events Sites People
Topics
Agricultural Cultural Constitutional Economic Former colonies Immigration Indigenous Medicine Military Monarchical Population Sports Religion Territorial evolution Women
By provinces and territories
Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nunavut Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon
Cities
Brampton Charlottetown Edmonton Fredericton Halifax Hamilton Lethbridge Markham Moncton Montreal Northwest Territories capital cities Ottawa Quebec City Saint John Regina Richmond Hill Saskatoon Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg (Name etymologies)
Research
Bibliography Historiography Historians Surveys
Canada portal
v t e

Incumbents

Monarch — Victoria^[1]

Federal government

Parliament — 6th then 7th

Governors

Premiers

Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada —
- George-Étienne Cartier, Canada West Premier
- Antoine-Aimé Dorion, Canada East Premier
Premier of Newfoundland — Hugh Hoyles
Premier of New Brunswick — Samuel Leonard Tilley
Premier of Nova Scotia — James William Johnston
Premier of Prince Edward Island — Edward Palmer

Events

April 12 - American Civil War starts
April 14 – A major flood hits Montreal
April 15 – Nova Scotia: resolution for provincial union by Joseph Howe for referral to the other British North American provinces in July.
May 13 – The UK declares its neutrality in American Civil War.
June 1 – The UK bans naval craft or privateers of American belligerents from carrying prizes into British ports or territorial waters.
November 8 – 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 – Viscount Monck becomes Governor-General.
December 3 – The UK sends reinforcements to British North America.
December 23 – The UK demands release of Confederate diplomats taken from Trent.
December 26 – 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 – Joseph-Mathias Tellier, politician (died 1952)
March 10 – Pauline Johnson, poet, writer and performer (died 1913)
March 10 – Clifford Sifton, politician and Minister (died 1929)
March 19 – Lomer Gouin, politician and 13th Premier of Quebec (died 1929)
March 20 – Herménégilde Boulay, politician (died 1942)
May 13 – Margaret Marshall Saunders, writer
April 15 – Bliss Carman, poet (died 1929)
June 7 – George Henry Murray, politician and Premier of Nova Scotia (died 1929)

July to December

July 11 – John Best, politician (died 1923)
September 5 – Tobias Norris, politician and 10th Premier of Manitoba (died 1936)
September 18 – Ella Cora Hind, journalist and women's rights activist (died 1942)
September 19 – Charles Ernest Gault, politician (died 1946)
October 31 – James Bowman, politician (died 1940)
November 4 – Raoul Dandurand, politician (died 1942)
November 6 – James Naismith, sports coach and innovator, inventor of basketball (died 1939)
November 17 – Archibald Lampman, poet (died 1899)
November 26 – Laura Borden, wife of Robert Borden, 8th Prime Minister of Canada (died 1940)
December 22 – Sara Jeannette Duncan, author and journalist (died 1922)

Deaths

February 3 – Louis-Théodore Besserer, notary, soldier, politician, and businessman (born 1785)
February 13 – Denis-Benjamin Viger, politician, businessman and politician (born 1774)
November 9 – Howard Douglas, soldier, educator, author, inventor, and colonial administrator (born 1776)

References

^ "Queen Victoria | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 5 December 2022.

v t e History of Canada
Year list (Timeline)	18000 BCE–1500 CE 1534–1763 1763–1867 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–present
Topics	Canadians - (Persons of significance) Constitutional Crown and Indigenous peoples Cultural Economic Etymology Events of significance Former colonies and territories Heritage Minutes Historic Sites Immigration Chinese immigration Military Conflicts Operations Peacekeeping Victories Monarchical Population history Sports Territorial evolution Women
Provinces and territories	Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Quebec Prince Edward Island Saskatchewan Yukon (Name etymologies)
Cities	Brampton Charlottetown Edmonton Fredericton Halifax Hamilton Lethbridge Markham Moncton Montreal Northwest Territories capital cities Ottawa Quebec City Saint John Regina Richmond Hill Saskatoon Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg (Name etymologies)
Research	Bibliography Historiography Historians Surveys
Category Canada portal

v t e List of years in Canada
Pre-Confederation Prehistory–1866	Prehistory to 1 BC 1st millennium 1000s 1100s 1400s 1500s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866
Post-Confederation 1867–present	1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Quebec	1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1635
Canadian electoral calendars	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Related	List of Canadian monarchs List of governors general of Canada List of prime ministers of Canada Population of Canada by year Timeline
Research	Bibliography Historiography
Category Canada portal

v t e 1861 in North America
Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States
Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands