Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Textual record
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
1.5 cm of textual records (2 folders)
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
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Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archibald Woodbury McLelan was a shipbuilder, merchant, and politician, serving as the sixth lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia. He was born in Londonderry, Nova Scotia in 1824 to Martha Spenser and Gloud Wilson McLelan, a member of the House of Assembly. He was educated in Great Village, Nova Scotia and Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy in Sackville, New Brunswick before joining his father's shipping and retail business.
McLelan went into partnership with his brother-in-law, John M. Blaikie, with whom he built ships on the Great Village River into the early 1880s. Upon his father's death in 1858 he succeeded him in the House of Assembly. He strongly opposed Confederation and was elected as the first federal member of parliament for Colchester as an Anti-Confederate. After reconciling himself to Confederation he was summoned to the Canadian Senate in 1869, where he sat as a Liberal-Conservative. He resigned from the Upper House to run again in the 1881 federal election and was returned to parliament as a Conservative. He served as minister of finance from 1885 to 1887 in the second administration of Sir John A. Macdonald. Following this position he became postmaster general and was responsible for introducing the parcel post system into Canada. In 1888 he accepted the position of lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia.
McLelan married Caroline Metzler in 1842, with whom he had three children. McLelan passed away in Halifax at the age of sixty-five in 1889.
Custodial history
The materials were accessioned by Dalhousie University Archives in 1971. The custodial history is unknown.
Scope and content
Fonds comprises business correspondence, bills of lading, and miscellaneous papers connected to McLelan's shipping business.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script note
English.
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
There are no access restrictions on these materials. All materials are open for research.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Materials do not circulate and must be used in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room. Materials may be under copyright. Contact departmental staff for guidance on reproduction.
Finding aids
Associated materials
See the Business correspondence of John M. Blaikie file (MS-2-85).
Accruals
Further accruals are not expected.
General note
Preferred citation: [Identification of item], Archibald Woodbury McLelan fonds, MS-2-87, Box [box number], Folder [folder number], Dalhousie University Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
- Bills of lading
- Business correspondence
- Business enterprises
- Business records
- Cabinet officers
- Correspondence
- Lieutenant governors--Canada
- Merchants
- Nova Scotia--History--19th century
- Nova Scotia. Lieutenant Governor
- Personal archives
- Politicians
- Postmasters
- Receipts--1860-1870
- Shipbuilding--Nova Scotia
Place access points
Name access points
- Blaikie, John M., 1837-1929 (Subject)
Genre access points
Control area
Sources
This fonds description comes from the Dalhousie University Archives Catalog. The complete, original description is available there.