Part II
10th - 15th Parliaments (1905 - 1926)
This post is the second in a series dealing with mail from the House of Commons. In this part, mail from the 10th to 15th Parliaments (1905 - 1926) is shown.
During this period, the House of Commons sat in three different buildings:
1. Original Parliament Building : 1867 - 1916
In 1857, Ottawa was chosen as the permanent capital of the Province of Canada. The Parliament Building constructed for the province became the Parliament Building of the Dominion of Canada in 1867.
Parliament Hill circa 1895
House of Commons before 1916
On February 3, 1916, the Parliament Buildings caught fire. With the exception of the Library of Parliament, the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings was destroyed and seven people died.
2. Victoria Memorial Museum: 1916 - 1920
The newly completed Victoria Memorial Museum was chosen as the temporary parliament building. The House of Commons met in the museum auditorium and one of the exhibition halls was prepared for the Senate.
Opening session of the House of Commons at the Victoria Memorial Museum after the Parliament Buildings fire of 1916.
3. Rebuilt Parliament Building: 1920 - present
Rebuilt Parliament Building
The first parliament sat in the new building on February 26th, 1920. The Duke of Devonshire, Governor General, opened the 4th Session of the 13th Parliament in the newly rebuilt Centre Block on Parliament Hill. The ceremony was exceptional because it took place in the House of Commons, rather than the Senate, which had not yet been constructed.
Rebuilt House of Commons, 17th Parliament (1930-35)
10th Parliament : January 11, 1905 - Sept. 17, 1908
Prime Minister : Sir Wilfred Laurier
William Mulock
William Mulock (1844 - 1944) was born in Bond Head where his father practised medicine. He graduated from the University of Toronto 1863 and was called to the Bar in 1867. Mulock served his Alma Mater successfully as Senator and Vice-Chancellor 1873-1900 and became Chancellor in 1924. First elected to the House of Commons in 1882, he was Postmaster General in the Laurier cabinet 1896-1905. There he introduced Imperial penny postage, the trans-Pacific cable and far-reaching labour legislation. Knighted in 1902, Sir William was Chief Justice of Ontario 1923-1926.
William Mulok to Hamilton, April 15, 1905
Mulok celebrating his 100th birthday with protégé Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King 1944
William Foster Cockshutt
William Foster Cockshutt (1855-1939) was a merchant and manufacturer. He was president of the Cockshutt Plow Company. Cockshutt was an unsuccessful candidate in the federal riding of Brant South in 1887. He was first elected to the House of Commons for the electoral district of Brantford in 1904. A Conservative, he was defeated in 1908 but was re-elected in 1911 and 1917.
William Foster Cockshutt
William Foster Cockshutt to Brantford, March 12, 1908
Sir John A. Macdonald statue
Sergeant-At-Arms : Henry Robert Smith
The Sergeant-at-Arms performs many ceremonial and administrative duties and, as a commissioner of oaths, is one of the officers who may administer the oath of allegiance to newly elected Members. Bearing the Mace, the Sergeant-at-Arms precedes the Speaker as he or she enters and leaves the Chamber each day. The Sergeant-at-Arms occupies a desk at the Bar of the House when the House is sitting. In accordance with the Standing Orders, the Sergeant-at-Arms preserves order in the galleries, lobbies, and corridors and is responsible for taking into custody strangers who misbehave in the galleries. Traditionally, the position has been held by military officers.
Lt. Colonel Henry Robert Smith (1843-1927) was the Sergeant-at-Arms from 1892 to 1918.
Henry Smith
Sergeant-at-Arms
Napoleon Antoine Belcourt
Napoléon-Antoine Belcourt (1860-1933), a fluently bilingual lawyer and journalist, was elected to the House of Commons as the Liberal member for Ottawa in 1896, 1900 and 1904. He served as Speaker of the House in 1904 and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1905 and to the Senate in 1907. Belcourt, born in Toronto, was president of the Association canadienne-française d’éducation de l’Ontario (1910-1912 and 1920-1930) and defended the cause of bilingual schools before the Privy Council in London, playing a key role in the Unity League, which succeeded in rallying English opinion to the Franco-Ontarian cause. In 1924, he was made an Officer of France’s Légion d’honneur.
Napoleon-Antoine Belcourt
Napoleon-Antoine Belcourt to New York, June 7, 1904
Joseph Adelard Dubeau
Joseph Adelard Dubeau (1873- 1937) was first elected to the House of Commons for the electoral district of Joliette in the general elections of 1904. A Liberal, he was re-elected in 1908 and was defeated in 1911 and 1917. 
Joseph Adelard Dubeau
House of Commons to Brooklyn, March 21, 1903
11th Parliament : January 20, 1909 - July 20, 1911
Prime Minister : Sir Wilfred Laurier
Arthur Cyril Boyce
Arthur Cyril Boyce (1867-1942) was the Conservative Member of Parliament from 1905 to 1917.
Arthur Cyril Boyce
Arthur Cyril Boyce to Toronto, March 11, 1910
12th Parliament : November 15, 1911 - Sept. 6, 1917
Prime Minister : Sir Robert Borden
Pierre Blondin
Pierre Edouard Blondin was elected to the House of Commons representing the Quebec riding of Champlain in 1908 and 1911, A Conservative he was defeated in the 1917 election. He held many cabinet positions in Sir Robert Borden's cabinet including Postmaster General, Minister of Mines, Secretary of State of Canada, and Minister of Inland Revenue. As well, he was Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees of the Whole of the House of Commons. In 1918, he was called to the Senate representing the senatorial division of The Laurentides, Quebec and was re-appointed to the Cabinet as Postmaster General of Canada. From 1930 to 1936, he was the Speaker of the Canadian Senate.
Pierre Blondin
Pierre Blondin to St. Jerome, May 12, 1913
Charles-Avila Wilson
Charles-Avila Wilson (1869 – 1936) was a lawyer, politician, and judge. Wilson was elected to the House of Commons the for the electoral district of Laval in the 1908 federal election. A Liberal, he was re-elected in 1911. He was later appointed a judge.
Charles-Avila Wilson
Charles-Avila Wilson to Toronto, May 14, 1914
Registered letter
13th Parliament: March 18, 1918 - October 4, 1921
Prime Minister : Sir Robert Borden
Robert King Anderson
Robert King Anderson (1861 -1950) was a physician, teacher and politician. Anderson was the Unionist/Conservative Member of Parliament for the Ontario riding of Halton from 1917 to 1935. Prior to his career in federal politics, he was mayor of Milton, Ontario. He also served in the Canadian military with the 20th Halton rifles with the ranks of major and paymaster.
Robert King Anderson
Robert King Anderson to Peterborough, March 2, 1918
John Wesley Brien
John Wesley Brien (1864 -1949) was a physician and politician. He was elected in the 1917 election as a Member of the Unionist Party to represent the Ontario riding of Essex South.Prior to his federal political career, he had just served a year in the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a medical officer before being forced to return home due to injury.
John Wesley Brien
John Wesley Brien to Walkerville, October 4, 1919
Gustave Boyer
Gustave Boyer (1871-1927) was official lecturer on agriculture in the Province of Quebec and contributed on agricultural questions for the La Patrie and Le Canada. He was the Member of Parliament for the riding of Vaudreuil from 1904 to 1922. In 1922, Boyer was appointed to the Senate representing the senatorial division of Rigau until his death in 1927.
Gustave Boyer
Gustave Boyer to St-Hyacinthe, April 1, 1919
Horatio Hochen
Horatio Hochen (1857-1937) had a media career as a printer, publisher and journalist. From 1912 to 1914, Hocken was Mayor of Toronto. He served in the House of Commons from 1917 to 1930. In 1933, Hocken was appointed a member of the Senate of Canada.
Horatio Hochen
Horatio Hochen to Walkerville, June 22, 1920
Jean-Joseph Denis
Jean-Joseph Denis (1876-1960) represented Joliette in the House of Commons from 1917 to 1928 as a Liberal. He resigned his seat in the House of Commons 1928 after he was named puisne judge in the Quebec Superior Court.
Jean-Joseph Denis
Jean-Joseph Denis to Montreal, June 19, 1919
William Barton Northrup: Clerk of the House of Commons
William Barton Northrup was the Conservative Member of Parliament for the Ontario riding of Hastings East serving from 1892- 1896, and 1900 - 1917. From 1918 to 1924, he was the Clerk of the House of Commons.
William Barton Northrup Clerk of the House of Commons
Ottawa to Toronto, August 21, 1919
"J.K.F." franking
Herbert Macdonald Mowat
Herbert Macdonald Mowat (April 11, 1863 - April 24, 1928) was a lawyer, jurist, and Canadian parliamentarian. A nephew of longtime Ontario premier Oliver Mowat, Herbert Mowat ran unsuccessfully for the Liberals in the 1911 federal election but was elected to the House of Commons in 1917 as a Liberal-Unionist from the Ontario riding of Parkdale. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1921 and served on the bench until his death.A longtime member of the Canadian Militia, he was not accepted for overseas service during World War I. Instead, he acted a military recruiter serving as Brigade Major of the 3rd and 8th Infantry Brigade at Camp Borden.
Herbert Macdonald Mowatt
Charles Arthur Gauvreau
Charles Arthur Gauvreau was the author of Captive et Bourreau, Les épreuves d'un orphelin, and Histoire de Trois-Pistoles. He was the Member of Parliament for the riding of Temiscouata from 1897 to 1924.
Charles Arthur Gauvreau
Charles Arthur Gauvreau to Minneapolis, June 3, 1919
14th Parliament: March 8, 1922 - September 5, 1925
Prime Minister : William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Anderson Black
William Anderson Black (1847 – 1934) was a successful Nova Scotia businessman who made significant contributions to the shipping and insurance industries. In 2007, Black was inducted posthumously int the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. At 76 years old, Black was the oldest person ever elected to the House of Commons winning the Halifax riding for the Conservative party. He was 83 when he last won election and he died in office.
William Anderson Black
William Anderson Black to Derby, Vt., March 31, 1924
William Anderson Black to Halifax, March 24, 1924
15th Parliament: January 7, 1926 - July 2, 1926
Prime Minister : Arthur Meighen
Murray MacLaren
Murray MacLaren, (1861 – 1942) , physician, was the Conservative Member of Parliament for the New Brunswick riding of St. John- Albert from 1925 to 1935. MacLaren was the Minister of Pensions and National Health. From 1935 to 1940, he was the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.
Murray MacLaren
Murray MacLaren to Liverpool, March 26, 1926
