Hugh Finlay was born in Scotland around 1730. He arrived in Québec early in 1763, bringing with him his knowledge of business and political connections in Glasgow and London, his financial capital, fluency in English and French, and the knowledge that he would be appointed Postmaster of the colony upon his arrival.

At Québec, Finlay and his partner Stephen Moore opened a retail business selling a wide range of goods. Unfortunately, the 1760s were not financially sound years and, within a year, Finlay and Moore had to abandon the business to their creditors.

Acting on instructions from London, Finlay’s appointment as Postmaster at Québec was confirmed on 10 June 1763 by Benjamin Franklin and John Foxcroft. One of Finlay’s first duties was to establish a weekly postal service between Québec and Montréal with a stop at Trois Rivières, and to arrange for a monthly service south to New York City to connect with the mail packet from England. He also established post houses located at specific intervals along the King’s Road with keepers to provide horses for mail couriers and free ferry passage for the couriers. Finlay’s efforts led to the Post Office turning a profit. Finlay earned a good income of one-fifth of the receipts.

In January 1773, Finlay was appointed "Surveyor of the post roads in the continent of North America." In September of that year, possibly in response to merchant complaints that mail service to New England was slow and unreliable, he set out to find a more direct route up the Chaudière River and down the Kennebec River to Maine. His survey of the post roads, the postal employees, and the strength and weaknesses of the system were detailed in a journal he kept from 13 September 1773 to 26 June 1774.

In 1774, Benjamin Franklin was dismissed because of his writings in support of the American Revolution and Finlay was appointed to replace him as Deputy Postmaster General with John Foxcroft. The invasion of the St. Lawrence Valley in 1775 by the American revolutionaries nearly destroyed the postal system and Finlay’s income from it. His appointment as Deputy Postmaster General in a government under siege became all but meaningless.

In the years after 1775, Finlay became a member of the Legislative Council, engaged in property transactions and was appointed Superintendent of post houses. In 1784, he became the Deputy Postmaster for the Province of Quebec and the first to reside in Canada. He wanted to restore the successful and lucrative mail service to New York, but he was forced to settle for an alternative overland route to Halifax. As Deputy Postmaster General for British North America, he extended the postal service as far west as Detroit, arranged for a stopover at Halifax for the England-to-New York City transatlantic packets, and, in 1792, negotiated the first Canada-United States postal convention.

Although Finlay was successful in rebuilding the postal service, his income from the Post Office and the Legislative Council was not sufficient to cover his debts. When the Post Office suffered some financial reverses, Finlay was dismissed in 1799 for irregularities and replaced in April 1800 by George Heriot. Finlay died 26 December 1801, deeply in debt.

Andrew Horrall

Source

Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. V. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983, pp 314-319.