A Complete Set of Canadian Measures This set of 7 measures includes one half Gill up to the one Gallon. They were produced in the United Kingdom by L. Oertling of London. All are engraved Dominion of Canada, A. D. 1874.  Each is engraved with the unit size (Imperial Half Gill, Imperial Gill, Imperial Half Pint, Imperial Pint, Imperial Quart, Imperial Half Gallon and Imperial Gallon). Only the one gallon has L. Oertling engraving. Each set produced was given a serial number. All but the one gallon are from set 83, the gallon is from set 47.
A set of standard measures would have been issued to each Weights and Measures office, and have would been used to test the accuracy of various containers used for trade of liquid and other materials. This set of antique measures have weathered well and are still in excellent condition.
This New Brunswick
Standard Half Gallon or 1/16th Bushel would have been part of a set of
measures ordered for New Brunswick prior to confederation in 1867. Each of the separate territories; Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, Lower Canada (Quebec), Upper Canada (Ontario), and
British Columbia would have been issued standard measures most probably
based on British Weights and Measures legislation.
The Dominion of
Canada passed its own Weights and Measures legislation in 1868. In 1874 one hundred sets of these Standard Measures were delivered and issued to the various Weights and Measures offices across the country. At a later date the number of offices was reduced to 68. It is unsure what might have happened to the 32 sets that were then redundant, perhaps they were returned to Ottawa. It has been suggested that number of measures have been given as gifts on the occasion of a senior civil servant or a politician's retirement.
I discovered that as a measure was place on a solid surface that it produced a nice melodic ring. Being inquisitive, I tested the tone of each measure to determine the key. As each successive measure is twice the size of the former one it was not a surprise to find that they are harmonically correspond to a musical scale. My findings were as follows; Gallon-F, Half Galon-A#, Quart-F, Pint-A#, Half Pint-F, Gill-A, Half Gill-D. One would expect that the Gill and Half Gill should have been A# and F. I am puzzled to understand why there is a shift, perhaps a minor change in the milling of the two smaller measures. The New Brunswick Half Gallon-A.
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