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Seals have been linked to the development of
public administration, the need for an authentic written instrument, and
distinction for hundreds of years. English and French heraldic traditions
dominate Canadian Seals.
Saint John was the first incorporated city in Canada. The 1785 Charter
incorporating Saint John made provisions for a seal:
"...and they and their successors forever shall have one common seal to serve for the ensealing of all and sungular their grants, deeds, conveyances, contracts, bonds, articles of agreements, assignments, powers and warrants of attorney, and all and singular their affairs and things touching or concerning the said Corporation , and the same seal they shall have power from time to time, as they shall think proper, to break, change, alter and new make so as that at the said time there doth not exist any more than one common seal for the purposes aforesaid."
At Council's second meeting, on May 32, 1785, Mayor
Gabriel Ludlow was "requested to report at the next meeting a proper
device and inscription for the City Seal." Three days later, Mayor Ludlow
presented a design and inscription for the seal.
One year later, on July 1, 1786, the Mayor presented "a
seal for the Common Council of the said City," designed by Ward Chipman,
Saint John's first recorder. It was at a cost of 26 Pounds and 16 Shillings to
the city, and that seal has been serving Saint John as the official corporate
seal for 200 years.
The Common Seal has, over the course of time since 1786, come to be displayed and used in the form of armorial bearings. It appears as an unauthorized Coat of Arms on letterheads, cards, programs, flags, souvenirs, and other civic property. It has also been improperly used by other city and non-city agencies such as Civic Hydro, the School Board, restaurants, musical and military organizations, and non-profit groups.
O FORTUNATI QUORUM JAM MOENIA SURGUNT!
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Brunswick Community College - Saint John.
