Colonial Building, St. John’s, Newfoundland - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

When the Colony of Newfoundland was granted representative government in 1832, the legislature had no place to call home. For over a decade they convened in a variety of places, finally authorizing funds for a building of their own in 1846. Construction began in the spring of 1847 and Colonial Building was officially opened on January 28, 1850.

This Colonial Building was designed primarily by James Purcell, an Irish stonemason who had been brought to St. John’s by the Catholic Church in order to superintend the construction of the Basilica of St. John’s. It was designed in the neoclassical style and composed of stone imported from Purcell’s home: County Cork, Ireland.

Newfoundland’s government transitioned from a representative form to the more autonomous responsible government in 1855. This lasted until debt incurred during World War I and the consequences of the Great Depression drove the government to the brink of bankruptcy in 1933. A group of appointed commissioners from Great Britain took over administration of the colony in 1934 and this arrangement lasted until Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949. Throughout all this time, Colonial Building served as the seat of government regardless of what form it took. Even afterwards, it continued to serve as the seat of provincial government until the new Confederation Building opened in 1960.

The stamp was issued in 1928, the same year that Richard Squires was elected Prime Minister. Squires’ administration was marred by accusations of corruption, and public discontent reached a boiling point in 1932. A demonstration that rapidly escalated into a full scale riot almost resulted in the destruction of Colonial Building. All windows were smashed and doors were broken down. There was even an attempt to set the building on fire. Squires himself barely escaped the mayhem and was removed from office shortly thereafter.

Today, after extensive renovation, the building has been restored to its 1850s appearance. This included a tower at the top known as a lantern. Apparently this feature was removed from the building sometime before the stamp was issued since it’s not present on the stamp. Colonial Building has been a Provincial Historic Site since 1974.

A stamp of this design was first issued in January of 1928, hence the date of issue noted below. But the astute philatelic observer will note that the stamp image that I’ve included is actually a re-engraved version that didn’t appear until sometime later on in 1929. This was the result of a change in government contracts which replaced the current printer with a competitor. Although the new printer strove to match the designs as closely as possible, numerous small differences in the re-drawn dies exist, affording stamp collectors the opportunity to make use of their magnifying glasses.

Stamp Issuing Country: Newfoundland Date of Issue: 3-Jan-1928 Denomination: 20 cents Color: grey black Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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