1850 in Canada

← 1849 1848 1847 1850 in Canada → 1851 1852 1853
Decades:	1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s
See also:	History of Canada Timeline of Canadian history List of years in Canada

Events from the year1850 in Canada.

Incumbents

• Monarch —Victoria

Federal government

• Parliament:3rd

Governors

• Governor General of the Province of Canada—James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
• Colonial Governor of Newfoundland—Charles Henry Darling
• Governor of New Brunswick—Edmund Walker Head
• Governor of Nova Scotia—John Harvey
• Governor of Prince Edward Island—Dominick Daly

Premiers

• Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada—
  • Robert Baldwin,Canada West Premier
  • Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine,Canada East Premier
• Premier of Nova Scotia—James Boyle Uniacke

Events

• January 14 –Malcolm CameronvisitsWashington, D.C.about a trade reciprocity agreement.
• September 7 – After tense negotiations, the first of theRobinson Treaties,theRobinson-Superior Treaty,is signed. This treaty betweenWilliam Benjamin Robinsonand an assembly ofOjibwechiefs from the shore ofLake Superiorcreates a system ofIndian reservesand ultimately opens up the area to European settlement.
• September 9 – The second of the Robinson Treaties, theRobinson-Huron Treaty,is signed between Robinson and theOjibwechiefs ofLake Huron.The Lake Huron chiefs, led byShingwaukonse,are more resistant to the signing of the treaty as they are more familiar with the treaty system and are more threatened by encroachment from Europeans, as well as having tense relations with theCanada Westgovernment following theMica Bay Incident.
• October 11 – TheSt. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroadopens.

Full date unknown

• In the United States, theFugitive Slave Actis passed. It provides that even free persons can be made a slave if suspected of being a runaway. As a result, more fugitive slaves and free Black persons come to Canada.
• The site ofJohn By's headquarters during the construction of theRideau Canalis incorporated asBytown.
• Golddiscovered inBritish Columbia,andcoalonVancouver Island.
• The Canadian government passes theRailway Guarantee Act.

Births

January to June

• January 27 –Louis-Philippe Hébert,sculptor (died1917)
• March 7 –Éphrem-A. Brisebois,police officer (died1890)
• April 15 –William Thomas Pipes,politician and Premier ofNova Scotia(died1909)
• April 29 –George Murdoch,politician and 1st Mayor ofCalgary(died1910)
• March 13 –Hugh John Macdonald,politician, Minister and 8thPremier of Manitoba(died1929)
• May 1 –Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn,10thGovernor General of Canada(died1942)
• May 6 –Joseph-Hormisdas Legris,politician and Senator (died1932)

July to December

• July 11 –John Augustus Barron,politician and lawyer (died1936)
• September 27 –William Pugsley,lawyer, politician and 10thPremier of New Brunswick(died1925)
• December 15 –Joseph-Alphonse Couture,veterinarian
• December 31 –John Wycliffe Lowes Forster,artist (died1938)

Full date unknown

• Daniel J. Greene,politician and Prime Minister ofNewfoundland(died1911)
• Charles Braithwaite,politician and agrarian leader (died1910)

Deaths

• February 23 –Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron Aylmer,army officer and colonial administrator (born1775)
• April 23 –William Wordsworth,poet (born1770)