Confederation 75 – Gordon Winter’s Satchel

Gordon Arnaud Winter (1912-2003) was this province’s sixth Lieutenant-Governor between 1974 and 1981. But decades earlier, he served another prominent role as a negotiator and signatory to the Terms of Union of Newfoundland with Canada. At his side during that time? A well-worn brown leather satchel.

Winter began his career as a St. John’s businessman with the family firm of T. and M. Winter Ltd. and by 1946, was president of the Newfoundland Board of Trade. He announced his support for Confederation during the second referendum in 1948. Once the public voted to join Canada, the Commission of Government appointed Winter as a member of the seven-man Newfoundland delegation to negotiate the final arrangements for Confederation. These discussions were held in Ottawa through the fall of 1948.

As a Newfoundland delegate, Winter signed the official Terms of Union in the Chambers of the Senate in the Parliament Buildings on December 11, 1948.

Winter’s copy of the Terms of Union and the pen he used to sign the agreement, along with other documents and photographs related to the negotiations between Canada and Newfoundland, were deposited at Archives and Special Collections at Memorial University’s Queen Elizabeth II Library.

But not the satchel that carried many of these items back home to St. John’s. The satchel is stamped with “Newfoundland Government” above the centre lock on the front and still bears a paper name tag tied to the handle, identifying Winter as a member of the Newfoundland delegation. During talks, the delegation stayed at the Chateau Laurier hotel.

Winter only used the satchel during the Confederation negotiations. Upon his return home from Ottawa, he stored it on a shelf in a small study in his home on Winter Place. It remained there even after his death, until it was eventually removed and entrusted for safekeeping to a member of the family. It’s now stowed away in a wooden chest.

Satchel front – Brown leather bag with metal lock, two metal clasps, and a handle with a paper tag affixed
Satchel back – Brown leather bag with a Canadian Pacific Air Lines decal
Close-up of satchel lock
Close-up of decal – A beaver stands atop a red shield and navy banner with cursive lettering “Canadian Pacific / Air Lines” surrounded by blue and white rings
Close-up of paper tag with smudged blue ink: “G. A. Winter, Newfoundland Delegation, Chateau Laurier, Ottawa”

Gordon Winter kept an album of 37 black and white photographs documenting events surrounding the signing of the Terms of Union.

Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and Brooke Claxton, vice-chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Newfoundland, signed for Canada, while all but one member of the Newfoundland delegation signed on behalf of Newfoundland. The photo album is housed at Archives and Special Collections in the Queen Elizabeth II Library at Memorial University.

Colour photograph of Gordon Winter’s home at 6 Winter Place, St. John’s, NL, where the satchel and his copy of the Terms of Union were kept in an office for about 60 years.

Colour photograph of His Honour The Honourable Gordon A. Winter, Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, His Royal Highness Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Her Honour Millicent Winter, at Government House in St. John’s in 1978.

Contributed by the Winter Family Collection