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Cold hard cash was scarce in old Port Sarnia

Phil Egan If you lived in Port Sarnia in the 1840s you probably didn’t have any cash in your pocket. These were the days before Confederation, and before the arrival of the railroad.
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One of Sarnia’s earliest homes is the 182-year-old Skilbeck Cottage at 112 Maria St. In 1847, Sarnia’s first money-lending institution was run out of the back room of the brick cottage, launching what would become the first trust company in Canada. The home was recently designated an historical landmark under the Heritage Act. Journal Photo

Phil Egan

If you lived in Port Sarnia in the 1840s you probably didn’t have any cash in your pocket.

These were the days before Confederation, and before the arrival of the railroad. Barter was the most common method of trade in a village that was still relatively isolated. If you wanted something at George Durand’s store, or needed the services of a tailor or a wagon-maker, you offered something in trade.

The currency of the day might be flour, pork or potash. If you brought six animal skins to a tanner, you would only expect to take three of them home.

The Bank of Montreal, Canada’s oldest bank, began issuing its own bank notes in 1817. Although it stopped issuing them in 1841, quite a few remained in circulation through the 1840s. Few of these made their way to Port Sarnia, however, and the Bank of Montreal didn’t arrive in town until 1866.

If you did have cash, it was likely to be U.S. silver coins or Eagle dollars, or Spanish, Portuguese, French or British currency – all of which were readily accepted. Trade had brought these foreign currencies into Canada, and they were universally accepted as legal tender.

Figuring out the daily exchange rate between all of these foreign coins or notes was a nightmare, especially for businesses making capital expenditures.

Robert Skilbeck, who had been Port Sarnia’s assessor, decided to form a syndicate among the village’s wealthier citizens in order to make capital available. The members of the Port Sarnia Syndicate pooled their resources and loaned money out to the highest bidder. Interest rates were scandalously high – sometimes reaching close to 50%.

The Syndicate, later renamed the Building & Investment Company and later Lambton Loan & Investment, was run from Skilbeck’s home at 112 Maria Street. The property was recently proposed for designation as a heritage property.

In 1852, the Bank of Upper Canada opened a branch in Sarnia in the home of Alexander Vidal, who became its manager. Six years later, the government decided to reject the use of British currency, moving to a decimal system like that used in the United States.

The government began to issue its own paper money, which circulated alongside the bills issued by the Bank of Montreal and other banks.

When the Bank of Upper Canada failed in the 1860s due to reckless land speculation tied to the growth of railroads, the Bank of Montreal became Sarnia’s first permanent bank. It opened on October 1, 1866 above Moses Masuret’s Grocery Store on Front Street.

Confederation and a national fiscal policy would come the following year.


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