Esmond Butler
Secretary to the Governor-General


Esmond Unwin Butler (1922 - 1989), one of the key developers of the Order of Canada, served six Canadian governors general over 31 years.

Born in Wawanesa, Manitoba, Butler served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the 1939 -45 war and saw service on the Murmansk run. After the war and studies, he worked as a journalist for United Press in Switzerland.

Assistant-Secretary to Vincent Massey

In 1955, he joined Governor-General Vincent Massey's staff. Butler was hired to deal with the press which had been critical of Massey's personality ("as prim as a glass of sherry") and his appointment (the London Times objected to the appointment of a Canadian to the govenor general's post). Butler spent two years with Massey.

Northern Tour 1956

In March, 1956, Butler accompanied Governor-General Massey on his "Northern Tour". The photograph shown below was taken at Resolute Bay, N.W.T.

Butler posing with Inuit child

Assistant Press Secretary to Queen Elizabeth (1958 -1959)

Queen Elizabeth, who was facing criticism from the Commonwealth that all her staff were British, asked Massey if Butler could join her staff as assistant press secretary. In 1958, Butler became the first Empire representative at the Palace serving Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace for 16 months. Butler spent holidays with the Royal family and while at the Palace met Georgiana North, niece of the Earl of Guilford, whom he married in 1960.


Secretary to Governors-General Vanier to Sauve (1959 - 1985)

Butler returned to Canada in 1959 as secretary to Georges Vanier. Butler's appointment was not without controversy. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker wanted to appoint his press secretary Jim Nelson, but Vanier did not want Diefenbaker's man in the position. The Queen's private secretary recommended Butler and the Queen herself may have recommended Butler to Diefenbaker. Butler was retained as Secretary by succeeding Governors-General Roland Michener, Jules Leger, Edward Shreyer and Jeanne Sauve. Madame Sauve replaced the tradition-bound Butler in 1985. Butler was subsequently appointed Ambassador to Morocco.

Order of Canada

In 1967, Butler was instrumental in the establishing of the Order of Canada, the country's highest honour which recognizes citizens for outstanding achievements or for exceptional contributions to the culture of the country.

Butler is shown coordinating the Order of Canada investitures in the photographs below.


Jules Leger receiving the Companion of the Order of Canada
August 2, 1973


Joyce Bryant and Governor General Jules VanierOctober 24, 1973



Lorraine Monk with Governor-General Roland Michener
October 24, 1973


Canada Post Official First Day Cover: Roland Michener Stamp

On October 21, 1992, Canada Post issued a pair of stamps commemorating the accomplishments of Governor-General Roland Michener.

 
The official first day cover cachet features a photograph of former Ontario Premier John Robarts receiving the Order of Canada from Roland Michener. Celarly seen in the background is Esmond Butler.



Esmond Butler Franking
Free mail privileges were granted to all letters sent from the Secretary to the Governor-General.

October 11, 1965
Governor -General Georges Vanier


Esmond Butler 1


October 25, 1967
Governor-General Roland Michener



Esmond Butler 3

Centennial Era Perfins
1967 - 1973



At least 15 different companies and provincial governments and agencies perforated initials through their stamps (perfins) for security purposes during the Centennial period. This post shows a few Centennial era perfins.

Perfin Users

Canadian General Electric Company
International Harvester Company of Canada
Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company of Canada
Canadian National Railways
Canadian Pacific
Canadian Westinghouse
Great Northern Railway
Legislative Assembly (Ontario)
Mutual Life Assurance Company of Canada
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Co.
Province of Saskatchewan
Swift Canadian Co. Ltd.
Steel Company of Canada
Workmen's Compensation Board of B.C.

(Reference : Centennial Definitive Series 1967 - 73)


Canadian National Railways





The CN logo created in 1960 was described as
an icon by media analyst Marshall McLuhan.


Edmonton local mail, December 11, 1967
4 cent (February 8, 1967 issue)


Edmonton, June 25, 1969
BABN 12 1/2 x 12 sheet stamp



Edmonton, March 19, 1970
BABN 12 1/2 x 12 sheet stamp



Edmonton, July 18, 1972




Canadian Pacific







Winnipeg Tag





Preston, June 12, 1968



Thunder Bay to Aylmer, April 7, 1971
4 cents perfin (Not CP correspondence)





Penetanguishene, August 12, 1970
BABN 12 1/2 x 12 sheet stamp


Great Northern Railway






Province of Saskatchewan











Swift Canadian Co. Ltd.






Workmen's Compensation Board of B.C.

M./S. "Gripsholm":
WWII Repatriation Ship

M./S. "Gripsholm" was an ocean liner built in 1925 for the Swedish American Line for use in trans-atlantic crossings from Goteborg, Sweden, to New York City. From 1927 onwards she was also used as a cruise ship.


The "Gripsholm" in New York pre-WWII

During WWII, "Gripsholm" was chartered by the U.S. State Department and used as an exchange and repatriation ship under the protection of the Red Cross. In May 1942, she made her first repatriation voyage from New York to Goa in order to leave Japanese diplomats and embark American prisoners of war. "Gripsholm" made 12 round trips to other parts of the world, carrying over 27,000 passengers until 1946 when she was returned to the Swedish American line.


"Gripsholm" as an exchange/ repatriation ship during WWII

Two "Gripsholm" related covers are shown in this post showing her different roles.

1. Cruise Ship : 1939 Around South America Cruise

From January to March 1939, "Gripsholm" sailed around South America and up the Amazon. The souvenir cover shown below was mailed from Valparaiso, Chile, on February 17, 1939.






2. Repatriation Ship : 1943 letter to passenger on "Gripsholm"

The second cover was mailed in October, 1943, from Ocean Falls, B.C., to Mrs. S.V. Logan, passenger on "Gripsholm", c/o Canadian Minister, Canadian Legation, Rio de Janiero, Brazil.


70 cents paying the one oz. air mail rate to Brazil
(No markings on the back of the envelope)

United Nations Evacuation Center:
Tubabao, Philippines
1949 - 1951

In 1949, 6,000 Russians were granted temporary refuge on the Philippine Island of Tubabao. This post explains why the Russians fled to the Philippines and shows a cover mailed from Canada to a Ukrainian representative in the Philippine evacuation centre.

"White" Russians in Exile

After the Russian Civil War of 1922-24, soldiers of the anti-Bolshevik "White" Army and their families fled Russia. Several thousand Russians settled in China, many of whom became residents of Shanghai. The Russians remained in China until the late 1940s but were forced to evacuate during the Chinese Civil War as the Chinese Red Army was securing victory over Nationalist forces in mainland China.

The Philippine government provided temporary refuge for the 6,000 Russians escaping from China. In 1949, the United Nations International Refugee Organization (IRO) established the United Nations Evacuation Center (UNEC) on the Philippine island of Tubabao.


Tubabao Evacuation Center

The Russian refugees were then offered permanent settlement in other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, as well as South American nations.


Mail from Evacuation Center Tubabao

 Guinan to Hong Kong, May 23, 1950

(The camp was located about 15 miles from the village of Guinan)

IRO - UNEC Post Office cachet applied to all refugee mail

May 19, 1950

Mail to Evacuation Center Tubabao

The cover below was sent by the Ukrainian Service, Winnipeg, to the Ukrainian National Group Representative at the Tubabao Evacuation Center on January 30, 1950.


Return address


The air mail letter rate for 1/4 ounce was 25 cents
(5 cent stamp fell off)




Post Office Receiver Handstamp


IRO - UNEC Post Office cachet used as a receiver
February 11, 1950

St. Stephen, New Brunswick:
Textiles and Chocolate

A cover is an historical artifact which captures a moment in Canadian history. The cover which is the subject of today's post takes us to World War II and the Canadian textile industry, and serves as a catalyst to learn more about St. Stephen, New Brunswick.



The cover was sent by the Department of Munitions and Supply in St. John, N.B., to The Canadian Cottons, Limited (Canadian Cottons), St. Stephen, N.B. The 3 cent letter rate was prepaid with a "Mufti" definitive stamp which had been perforated with the initials OHMS. A dated cancellation should have been used to obliterate the stamp but in this case the undated SAINT JOHN N.B. roller cancellation was applied.

Commercial covers obtained by collectors rarely contain the correspondence and the above cover is no exception. However, it is likely that it concerns the supply of textiles from Canadian Cottons for the war effort.

A "MILLTOWN, N.B." circular date stamp cancellation was applied to the back of the cover on February 11, 1942.



Milltown, a town adjacent to St. Stephen, was the site of Canadian Cottons, which explains the Milltown receiver cancellation.(St. Stephen and Milltown amalgamated in 1973 to form St. Stephen)


Canadian Cottons, Ltd., Milltown, New Brunswick


Economic History of St. Stephen

St. Stephen is on the St. Croix River across from Calais, Maine. Since the late 1700s, the towns have maintained close economic and social relationships. (A book published in 1875 provides a delightful flavour of those ties.)

St. Stephen's economy was centered on the lumber and ship building economy until the late 1800s. Milltown was the site of several lumber and grist mills.In early 1880 a group of lumber merchants began promoting a large cotton mill because the market for New Brunswick lumber had collapsed in the 1870s. The St Croix Cotton Manufacturing Company (later Canadian Cottons, Limited) opened its mill, the second largest in Canada, in 1882. The mill closed in 1957.

Labour History In New Brunswick (LHTNB) , a joint University-Community organization, has this description of the Milltown Cotton Mill on its website:

The mill was one of the biggest and longest-operating cotton mills in the province and attracted workers from all parts of New Brunswick as well as from other provinces and England, Scotland and the United States. By 1950 about 1,000 workers were employed there. The mill is known in New Brunswick labour history for its record of labour activism, which goes back to the early years in the 1880s. In the 1950s the workers' union, Local 858, Textile Workers' Union of America, played a leading part in community efforts to save the mill from the shutdowns that were affecting the entire Canadian textile industry.

Milltown Monument 2007

A volunteer group led by Bill Eagan, whose mother and father both worked at the mill, raised over $180,00 for a monument paying tribute tribute to the Millworkers. On October 6 2007, the Milltown Cotton Mill Workers Monument was officially unveiled featuring a bronze statue by sculptor Peter Bustin which portrays millworkers sharing a moment together during their workday.


A female worker holds spindles of cotton yarn while a male worker heaves a bolt of woven cotton onto his shoulder.


The Monument and its surroundings

The St. Stephen monument and the efforts of LHTNB should serve as models for communities across the country wishing to pay tribute to their labour history.


"Canada Chocolate Town"

The story of St. Stephen isn't complete without talking about chocolate. In 1873 chocolate manufacturer, Ganong Bos. Limited, was founded in St. Stephen, and unlike the cotton mill is still going strong with its head office and manufacturing facilities located in St. Stephen. In 1999 a Chocolate Museum opened showcasing Ganong's history.




The Chocolate Museum, is housed in the old Ganong factory.

NOT IN AUTHOR'S COLLECTION


NOT IN AUTHOR'S COLLECTION

In 2000, St. Stephen was officially registered as ‘Canada’s Chocolate Town’ as a mark of the importance of chocolate in its past and present. St. Stephen's chocolate heritage is celebrated annually during its Chocolate Fest held the first full week of August.


A final comment

This post which began as as analysis of a cover mailed in 1942 grew into a story going back to the 18th century, taking us to the present day. It is remarkable how a postal cover can spark such an exploration.