Historic Events
It was the site where responsible government was given Newfoundland in 1855. It was at this building that Newfoundland entered in the Commission of Government in 1934 and the location of the Newfoundland National Convention from 1946–1948 then in 1949 when Newfoundland entered into Confederation with Canada.
It was also the site of a number of political riots and disturbances. One of those was the public protest on April 5, 1932 for maladministration and corruption in government when all the windows were broken, doors smashed and furniture destroyed, which cost $10,000 to repair. The Prime Minister, Sir Richard Squires, barely escaped the building at that time.
The building was also the site of Newfoundland's first bank robbery, in 1850. Located in the basement of the Colonial Building was the Newfoundland Savings Bank and it was robbed of £413.
On July 28, 1959 the provincial legislature had its last working session in the building before relocating to the newly completed Confederation Building on Prince Philip Drive.
Read more about this topic: Colonial Building
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“Never is a historic deed already completed when it is done but always only when it is handed down to posterity. What we call “history” by no means represents the sum total of all significant deeds.... World history ... only comprises that tiny lighted sector which chanced to be placed in the spotlight by poetic or scholarly depictions.”
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