File MS-13-75, SF Box 81, Folder 2 - Letters from R.D. George and Joseph Howe to Andrew Madden

Joseph Howe was born 13 December 1804 in Halifax, NS, the son of John and Mary (Edes) Howe. He married Catherine Susan Ann McNab on 2 February 1828. Howe was a printer, journalist and editor of the Novascotian from 1828-1841 and joint editor of the Morning Chronicle from 1844-1846. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia from 1836-1863, and held a variety of positions in the Executive Council, including the position of premier from 1860-1863. Howe is known for his part in the libel case on behalf of freedom of the press in Nova Scotia in 1835, and for his part in the winning of responsible government in 1848. Howe was made Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia on 7 May 1873 and died less than a month later on 1 June 1873.

Andrew Madden, MD, was born in Dromore, County Down, Ireland, on 2 February 1782, the son of Edward Madden and Rose Brannigan. He came late to medicine, graduating at the age of thirty-five with his diploma as surgeon and physician from Glasgow University in 1817. Later that year, he sailed from Glasgow for Quebec, serving as the ship's surgeon and responsible for some 300 passengers. While passing through the Gut of Canso the ship was forced to land in Pictou, Nova Scotia, where the passengers were put ashore.

According to tradition, Madden was so taken with the Strait or Gut of Canso that he never took up his land grant in Quebec, but returned and settled at Arichat, where he practiced served as the province's health officer for 40 years. He died 30 January 1858 and was buried on his 76th birthday. He was married to Ann Jackman, born in Halifax ca. 1798 and died in Arichat, Nova Scotia, on 23 March 1868.