James Hannay

1842-1910

James Hannay (editor, journalist, lawyer, historian, and writer) was born 22 April 1842 in Richibucto, Kent County, New Brunswick but it was in Scotland that Hannay began his education at New Kilpatrick Parish School. At the end of the 1850s, the family returned to New Brunswick where he finished his education at the Saint John Grammar School. Hannay studied law and in October 1867 he was declared barrister. That same year he became official reporter of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick, a position he held until his retirement in April 1873. He published two volumes of court decision reports, which are now volumes twelve and thirteen of The New Brunswick Reports. In 1899 Hannay received an honorary doctorarte of Civil Law from Acadia University.  Between 1868 and 1873 he wrote four historical ballads of Acadia, including “Aubrey” and “LaTour,” which were published in Saint John’s Stewart’s Literary Quarterly in 1868 and 1869, and “The Maiden’s Sacrifice” and “Port Royal,” which were published in the Saint John Telegraph in 1873. The four ballads were later published in a small volume called Ballads of Acadia.  Hannay began a career in journalism in 1872 when law no longer suited his liking. He began his newspaper career with the Saint John Daily Telegraph, though he still held his position with the Supreme Court until 1873. From 1883 until 1885, he moved to Montreal where he worked as an editor for The Montreal Herald, and from then until 1888 he was employed in the United States with The Brooklyn Eagle as an editor and writer. In 1888, he moved back to his native province where he worked in Saint John as editor of The Gazette. In 1893 he assumed the position of chief editor of the Daily Telegraph, also in Saint John. Hannay wrote the introduction and historical notes to Nine Years a Captive: John Gyles’ Among the Malicite Indians, from 1689 to 1698 (1875). That same year he wrote a history of Saint John and was working on a more comprehensive history of Acadia, which was published in Saint John in 1879 as the History of Acadia.  His other works included “History of the Queen’s Rangers,” printed in the Saint John Sun in 1883, “History of the Loyalists,” which appeared in the Telegraph in 1894, “The Township of Maugerville,” which was published in a volume of the New Brunswick Historical Society, of which he was president, and History of the War of 1812, published in 1901 in Saint John and by the Halifax Historical Society. His biographical work, “Life and Times of Sir Leonard Tilley,” appeared in the Saint John Daily Telegraph in 1897. He also wrote and published History of New Brunswick (1909) and New Brunswick, Its Resources and Advantages (1902). James Hannay died on 12 January 1910 at the age of 68, and was buried in Fredericton. 

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Saint John

Archival Material

• James Hannay collection
  ⌄
  Location

  Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  MC64

  Date Range of Material

  1784-1909

  Extent

  0.75 metres of textual records

  Scope and Content Note

  This collection contains some of the listings of historical materials compiled by James Hannay in the first decade of the 20th century. It includes handwritten and typescript lists of documents of government offices and government bodies in New Brunswick -- Auditor General's office, the Crown Lands office, the Executive Council, the House of Assembly, the Legislative Library, the Lieutenant-Governor, and the Provincial Secretary. It also includes listings of records of the Clerk of the Peace, Registrar of Deeds, Registrar of Probate, and other administrators of the counties of Albert, Carleton, Charlotte, Gloucester, Kent, Kings, Madawaska, Northumberland, Queens, Restigouche, Saint John, Sunbury, Victoria, Westmorland, and York, in New Brunswick. The collection also includes similar listings of records of civil administrators of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island as well as Hannay's working notes, copies of his correspondence with the Dominion Archivist (1909), a sketch of the career of L. A. Wilmot (MS4/4), and typescript copies of pages from "Journal of Acadia, 1694-1695" by M. de Villebon (MS4/6) and "La Mothe Cadillac," (MS4/7) a memoir relating to Acadia and New England. In addition, the collection includes an original record book (MS11/2), dating from 1869-1883, containing information on carpentry and tailoring work completed in the Fredericton area. It is believed that this record book belonged to carpenter Charles Moffitt (1821-1905). Names of customers, sums charged, and payments made are noted. There are hard-bound, typescript copies of a Calendar of the Papers of the House of Assembly of the Province of New Brunswick in 2 volumes (MS13/1 & 2) - 1786-1835 and 1836-1858, as well as original trade and advertising cards (MS11/1), dating to the 19th century, for businesses located in Fredericton, Saint John, and elsewhere (including George H. Davis, druggist, and S. F. Shute, in Fredericton; W. H. Hayward, in Saint John), and a single reward of merit card, issued to Julia Fowler and signed by her teacher, Mary N. Jacob, the first Anglican deaconess.

• James Hannay fonds
  ⌄
  Location

  New Brunswick Museum Archives

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  5249

  Date Range of Material

  1853-1909

  Extent

  40 cm of textual records

  Scope and Content Note

  Fonds consists of correspondence, writings and research materials belonging to James Hannay. The correspondence includes letters to and from W.O. Raymond, W.F. Ganong, Charles G. D. Roberts, and Joseph Howe, 1857-1909. There are copies of Royal Navy reports on Bay of Fundy fishery, 1853, and typescripts of writings by Hannay, including articles clipped from newspapers, 1870-1909. Research notes and background material included the original of a "Report to British cabinet on the Railway between Halifax and Quebec," 1857, and handwritten notes on the Tilley family, 1889.