Canada. Post Office Department

The Canada Post Office Department was the government body responsible for postal affairs in Canada and, historically, systematically compiled and issued postal directories and guides. Six of its works are held in this collection, with representative titles including the Canadian Postal Guide and the List of Post Offices in Canada, with the Names of the Postmasters ... for the years 1864, 1865, 1866, 1872 and 1873. Updated year by year, these works record the distribution of post offices across Canada and the names of their postmasters, serving postal administration, reference and official inquiry; they are distinctly official reference works. As the name is an institutional one, public information is limited, and its internal history and staffing cannot be described in detail. Nevertheless, its publications provide continuous, systematic primary sources for studying the Canadian postal network and local society of the period, possess considerable historical value, and reflect the department's dual character as both an administrative body and a compiler of documentary records.