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Articles

Volume 11, Number 2 (1986)

Thomas Hill: The Fredericton Years

  • Edward Mullaly
Submitted
May 22, 2008
Published
1986-06-06

Abstract

A study of the positions which Thomas Hill -- Loyalist editor, Orange Lodge supporter, and Tory -- unwaveringly enunciated and defended in his editorial pages is central to any understanding of the literary, social, and political history of New Brunswick -- the development of Responsible Government, the Orange Lodge and its part in the province's long-standing religious antipathies, the evolution of the party system, and freedom of the press. The pages of the Loyalist, with their poetry, short stories, and reviews, provide a cultural snapshot of the period. In sum, Hill's causes and interests were the causes and interests of New Brunswick in the mid 1800s. Yet he remains slightly served by provincial historians. A biographical study of Hill's Fredericton years recreates the context in which his values developed and the perspective from which Hill viewed those elements of provincial life he laboured so consistently to conserve or improve.