Printed billhead letter, dated Charlottetown, P.E. Island, June 17, 1892, addressed to Wm. McPhail of Grand Entry. The printed letterhead identifies the sender as James E. Grant, manufacturer of lobster cans, lobster packer’s supplies, and purchaser of canned lobsters and salt mackerel, noting he was sole manufacturer of the « Eureka » hammer-opening lobster can for the province, and dealt in tin plates, block tin, pig lead, and bar copper.
The handwritten body itemizes a purchase of linings for 104 c/s tallies at $8.32 plus a case charge of $0.13, totaling $8.45. A handwritten note below the tally instructs the recipient to deliver enclosed linings marked for Hugh Clark(e), which had missed the last steamer, and requests that any lobsters ready for shipment be sent aboard the schooner Sam Drake, then lying in the recipient’s harbour.
The document offers a detailed glimpse into the supply chain and correspondence practices of the late 19th-century Prince Edward Island lobster canning industry, including its trade with the Magdalen Islands (Grand Entry).