Charles Fenerty
Portrait of Charles Fenerty
Born
January 1821 Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Died
June 10, 1892 Sackville, Nova Scotia Canada.

Charles Fenerty Monument

Nova Scotia Industrial Exhibition of 1854

Cover of Fenerty's peom, Betula Nigra

Charles Fenerty (January, 1821 – 10 June 1892) was the Canadian inventor of newsprint made from wood pulp. Charles Fenerty was born c1821. He died on June 10, 1892 in his home in Upper Sackville, Nova Scotia. Before wood pulp, paper was made from rags. Papermaking began in Egypt (see Papyrus) c3000 BC. And in 105 AD, Ts'ai Lun a Chinese inventor, invented modern papermaking using rags, cotton, and other plant fibres by pulping it. Then in the 18th century a French scientist by the name of René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur suggested that paper could be made from trees. Though he never experimented himself, his theory caught the interest of others, namely Matthias Koops. In 1800 Koops published a book on papermaking made from straw. Its outer covers were made from trees. His method wasn't like Fenerty’s (pulping wood), instead he simply ground the wood and adhered it together. His book does not mention anything to do with wood pulping. Image File history File links Charlesfenerty. ... January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... The coronation banquet for George IV 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Sackville can refer to several different things: Named individuals Baron Sackville Lionel Edward Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville Edward Sackville-West, 5th Baron Sackville (1901-1965), writer and musicologist. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages None (English,French,Gaelic) Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Myra Freeman Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 11 10 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 12th 55,283... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Sackville can refer to several different things: Named individuals Baron Sackville Lionel Edward Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville Edward Sackville-West, 5th Baron Sackville (1901-1965), writer and musicologist. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages None (English,French,Gaelic) Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Myra Freeman Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 11 10 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 12th 55,283... Image File history File links Cf-monument. ... Image File history File links Cf-monument. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (972x1377, 483 KB) Summary This is a scan of the origianl that I own. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (972x1377, 483 KB) Summary This is a scan of the origianl that I own. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x830, 62 KB) Summary This is the cover of the poem Betula Nigra that won him first prize at the NS Industrial Exhibition. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x830, 62 KB) Summary This is the cover of the poem Betula Nigra that won him first prize at the NS Industrial Exhibition. ... The coronation banquet for George IV 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... An inventor is a person who creates new inventions, typically technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. ... Newsprint is low-cost, low-quality, non-archival paper. ... International Paper Company Wood pulp is the most common material used to make paper. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages None (English,French,Gaelic) Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Myra Freeman Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 11 10 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 12th 55,283... Piece of paper Paper is a thin, flat material produced by the compression of fibers (or fibres). ... Å¢ For other uses, see Papyrus (disambiguation). ... Cài Lún (Wade-Giles: Tsai Lun, 蔡倫) (ca. ... René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur. ...

Around 1838 a German weaver by the name of Friedrich Gottlob Keller read Réaumur’s report and got curious. He experimented for a few years and in 1845 he filed for a patent for the ground wood pulp process for making modern paper. This was the beginning of a very large industry that exists to this day. In that same year Henry Voelter bought the patent for about five hundred dollars and started making paper. Keller didn’t have the funds to do it. And actually, at one point he didn’t have any money to renew his patent. Keller died a poor made, but well remembered in Germany as being the first to discover the process.

At exactly the same time Charles Fenerty was working on the same idea. He began experimenting around 1838, and it was in 1844 when he made his discovery public. He worked for his father in saw mills, supplying the Halifax dockyards with their large demand for lumber (mainly for shipbuilding). There were some paper mills in the area too. Fenerty’s inspiration came as a result of his environment. He was a lover of nature, and knowledgeable in the natural sciences. The demand for paper was on the rise, and at the same time the supply of rags to produce the paper was declining. It came to the point where Europe starting cutting down their shipments of cotton to North America drastically (since they were their main supplier). Fenerty was well aware of this. The mill owners and farms knew each other very well in the Sackville, Bedford area. It’s believed that Fenerty often stopped at these paper mills. Seeing how paper is made and comparing it to the saw mills, it’s not difficult to imagine how Fenerty got the idea; the process is very much the same; fibres from the cotton is extracted and used to make paper. Trees too have fibres, and he was well aware of this too. Halifax can refer to any of several things: Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia Halifax (UK Parliament constituency) Earl of Halifax, The Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax Halifax bank Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax County, Nova Scotia Halifax (electoral district) (Canada) Halifax class frigate HMCS Halifax (FFH 330...

In a letter written by a family member from around 1915, the person mentions that Fenerty had shown a crud sample of his paper to a friend named Charles Hamilton in 1840 (a relative of his future wife). But on October 26th, 1844 Fenerty publishes a letter in the Acadian Recorder newspaper in Halifax, saying:


Messrs. English & Blackadar,

Enclosed is a small piece of PAPER, the result of an experiment
I have made, in order to ascertain if that useful article might
not be manufactured from WOOD. The result has proved that opinion
to be correct, for- by the sample which I have sent you, Gentlemen-
you will perceive the feasibility of it. The enclosed, which is
as firm in its texture as white, and to all appearance as durable
as the common wrapping paper made from hemp, cotton, or the
ordinary materials of manufacture is ACTUALLY COMPOSED OF SPRUCE
WOOD, reduced to a pulp, and subjected to the same treatment as
paper is in course of being made, only with this exception, VIZ:
my insufficient means of giving it the required pressure. I
entertain an opinion that our common forest trees, either hard
or soft wood, but more especially the fir, spruce, or poplar,
on account of the fibrous quality of their wood, might easily
be reduced by a chafing machine, and manufactured into paper of
the finest kind. This opinion, Sirs, I think the experiment will
justify, and leaving it to be prosecuted further by the scientific,
or the curious.


I remain, Gentlemen, your obdt. servant,

CHARLES FENERTY.


The Acadian Recorder
Halifax, N.S.
Saturday, October 26, 1844



Little attention was given, and even Fenerty himself never pursued it. But it did mark the beginning to a new industry. Dr. Oschatz was another Nova Scotia who took it further, but today most people attribute F.G. Keller as the original inventor mainly because Fenerty never took out a patent on his process.

On Canada Day in 1987, Canada Post put out a set of four stamps commemorating Canadian inventors in Communications. Both F.G. Keller and Charles Fenerty did for us what Johannes Gutenberg did for the world in the 16th century; they gave humanity a means to awareness. Gutenberg invented the Printing Press thus giving the potential of unlimited information, and giving people the chance to become more literate and educated (for example, his printing press led Martin Luther to rise and tell everyone to read the Bible for themselves, thus not relying on the Church to interpret it for them. This led to the Reformation and changed everything (the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, Age of Enlightenment, Age of Discovery, Age of Invention, Age of Exploration, Age of Communication). And it’s the Age of Communication which has led us to our present state. With Fenerty’s invention (paper now being both cheap and abundant) people become more educated, more aware; information through communication was passed more readily. Science now rockets off into the 20th century with inventions like the Telegraph, the Telephone, Photography, Radio, Television, Motion Picture, Computers, Satellites, and finally the Internet. This is now the time of Mass Communication and Information. Our world is undergoing massive change at a much more rapid pace due to science and technology, communication and information. The term communications is used in a number of disciplines: Communications, also known as communication studies is the academic discipline which studies communication, generally seen as a mixture between media studies and linguistics. ... Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (circa 1398 - February 3, 1468), a German metal-worker and inventor, achieved fame for his contributions to the technology of printing during about the 1450s, including a type metal alloy and oil-based inks, a mold for casting type accurately, and a new kind... The printing press is a mechanical device for printing many copies of a text on rectangular sheets of paper. ... Luther at age 46 (Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1529) The Luther seal Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk, [1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer, whose teachings inspired the Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines and culture of the Lutheran and Protestant traditions. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... In the traditional view, the Renaissance is understood as an historical age that was preceded by the Middle Ages and followed by the Reformation. ... In the history of science, the scientific revolution was the period that roughly began with the discoveries of Kepler, Galileo, and others at the dawn of the 17th century, ended with the publication of the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687 by Isaac Newton, and led into a new period... The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a period which includes the Age of Reason. ... The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships travelled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. ... The so-called Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships were traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. ... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... The telephone or phone (Greek: tele = far away and phone = voice) is a telecommunications device which is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly voice and speech) across distance. ... Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of light. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... The tower of a personal computer. ... For other uses, please see Satellite (disambiguation) A satellite is an object that orbits another object (known as its primary). ...

Charles Fenerty was also a well known poet of his time. He published over 35 (known) poems. Some popular poems of his are: Betula Nigra (about a Black Birth tree), Essay on Progress (published in 1866), and the Prince’s Lodge (about Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, written c1838 and published in 1888). In October of 1854, Fenerty won first prize for his poem Betula Nigra at the Nova Scotia Industrial Exhibition. Fenerty travelled to Australia then returned again to Halifax in 1865. He held several positions: Wood Measurer, Census Taker, Health Warden, Tax Collector for his community, and Overseer of the Poor. He was also very involved with the Church. The Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (2 November 1767 – 23 January 1820) was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son of King George III and the father of Queen Victoria. ...

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Biography at Fultz House Museum
• The Official Charles Fenerty Website
• Canadiana Online : Essay on Progress by Chalres Fenerty
• The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Canada Post : Chalres Fenerty Stamp

References

• Fergusson, Charles Bruce., Charles Fenerty, William Macnab & Son, Halifax, N.S., 1955
• Punch, Terrence Michael., Some Sons of Erin in Nova Scotia, Petheric Press Ltd, 1980
• Hunter, Dard., Papermaking Through Eighteen Centuries, William Edwin Rudge, New York, 1930
• Acadian Recorder, Halifax Nova Scotia, 1817 - 1892
• Halifax Herald, The, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1840 - 1892
• NovaScotian, The, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1830 - 1880
• Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management (NSARM)
• Family Archives
• Personal Files (passed down from relatives)