1854 Ensign, Bridgman, and Fanning Pocket Map of Canada

This is a striking 1854 Ensign, Bridgman, and Fanning map of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The map captures the ephemeral period between the 1841 founding of the Province of Canada, and the 1867 Canadian Confederation.

A Closer Look

This map illustrates administrative divisions of Canada West (Ontario) and Canada East (Quebec) to the county level, as well as waterways (including canals), cities, towns, and railways (including proposed). The more densely populated Canada West composes the main map while Canada East occupies an inset at bottom-right.

Data from the 1852 census is included, not present in earlier editions. The close interconnection between Canada and the United States, despite their relatively recent hostilities during the War of 1812, is evident, especially at Buffalo (where Ensign had an office) and Detroit.

It is noteworthy that the map indicates the locations of Hudson Bay Company trading posts at top-left, in what is now central Ontario, illustrating the sparse white settler presence. For instance, Sudbury, the largest city in the region, was built on land leased from the Ojibwe in 1850, and the settler population remained extremely small (consisting of missionaries and traders) until the Canadian Pacific Railway provided greater access in 1880s.

Canada's Evolution from Colonies to Confederation

This map was made after the 1841 union of Upper and Lower Canada to form the Province of Canada. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were not added until 1867, with other territories added subsequently, explaining their absence here. Canada had recently seen uprisings (1837) pushing for greater political reforms and autonomy for the Quebequois. The union of the two Canadas and the institution of 'responsible government' was meant to address these concerns, but discontent remained among supporters of the uprisings and Tories opposed to them. Tories burned down the Canadian Parliament in 1849 to protest what they saw as an overly generous amnesty to former rebels. Additionally, migration from the British Isles increased rapidly throughout the 1830s-40s due to land clearances and famines in Scotland and Ireland, which quickly had a political impact. In the mid-1860s, the Province of Canada confederated with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and greater autonomy was granted to the newly-created entity, the first Dominion of the British Empire.

Publication History and Census

This map was made by Edward Ensign with his partners Bridgman and Fanning and was printed by David McLellan in 1854. It is based on an earlier edition published in 1848 by Ensign and Thayer. An intermediate edition was published in 1853, explaining the copyright at top-left, and additional editions may have been published in the intervening years (late 1840s - early 1850s). All editions are quite rare, with the OCLC indicating six institutions holding any edition of the map. The current edition has no known history on the market.