Post Office

  • On October 6, 1832, Bolton became the site of the first Post Office in Albion Township.1
  • The post office was named ‘ALBION’ and it continued under the name ‘ALBION’ for the next 60 years
  • George Bolton was appointed Postmaster which required him to provide premises for the Post Office which he did by housing it within his recently built log store
  • Two letters sent to James Bolton from England, one dated in 1833 and the other in 1834, have been preserved.  The folded letters were sealed with wax.
  • The letters’ four-month journeys from Suffolk England to Albion are chronicled by various postmarks including those of Quebec, York and Newmarket.
  • From the 1830s until 1878, George Taylor delivered mail throughout Albion, first on foot, then on horseback, ‘gig’ or sled.2    The 1851 census records him as a farmer (Lot 11, Con 5, ALBION) and mail driver
  • In 1892, postmaster Samuel Snell was finally successful in petitioning the Federal Government to change the Post Office name to BOLTON.3 4
  • The existing post office in Bolton was built in 1962 to a Canada Post 1200 Plan.5
  • Cal Daines was the last appointed local postmaster in Bolton.  In 1981, postal service became a Crown Corporation under the name Canada Post.  All subsequent postmasters in the village have been civil servants.
  • For a full list of Postmasters and Post Office locations, see chart below

LetterS to James Bolton

This 1833 letter was sent to James Bolton by his friend William Wilson. Note the way the letter is addressed. Envelopes were not yet used, so the letter was folded on itself and sealed with red wax.

This 1834 letter was sent to James Bolton by his nephew- by- marriage, William G. Guy. The post mark for Quebec City is visible.

Post Office – Albion and Bolton

PostmasterBornOccupationAppointedPost Office locationVacancy
George Bolton1799Mill ownerOct 6, 1832Log store: Mill St at KingJuly 6, 1834
Samuel B. Sterne1804Store keeperJuly 7, 1834Log store: Mill St at King1835
James Cupper Bolton1812Mill owner's assistant1836Log store: Mill St at King1836
Samuel B. Sterne1804Store keeper1837Log store: Mill St at King1842
Samuel Walford1784Soap/candle chandler1843Log store; later, house at 15 King St WJune 1867**
George Evans1825Hotel ownerSept 1, 1867Exchange Hotel: Queen St NJan 18, 1881
Samuel J. Snell1852DruggistMar 1, 1881Drug Store: 15 Queen St NFeb 9, 1908**
Lincoln Hutton1860Real Estate AgentApr 1, 1908Storefront: 43B Queen St NMar 23, 1927**
Byron R. Leavens1900WW1 veteranSept 26, 1927Storefront: 1 Queen St NJan 2, 1945**
Mary M. Leavens1899Acting postmistressJan 5, 1945Storefront: 33 Queen St NFeb 3, 1947
Calvert F. Daines1913WW2 veteranFeb 4, 1947Storefront: 33 Queen St Nn/a
** their death
  1. Library and Archives Canada  Post Offices and Postmasters  Item 7871 BOLTON  bac-lac.gc.ca/eng
  2. Historical Atlas of Peel, Walker & Miles Third Reprint Edition, pg 62
  3. ibid. pg 64 col 2
  4. Esther Heyes, Story of Albion, Bolton Enterprise, pg 138
  5. Document written by Calvert Daines, former Postmaster