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I 3 1833 01950 1771 97r.6 N872ca v. 9-10 Nova Scotia Historical
rol'lictiins of the Nova ''IcSi^Histor^ica^Society
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COLLECTIONS
FOR THE YEARS 1893-9S.
HALIFAX : Nova Scotia Printing Company, 1895.
Allen County Public Library Ft. Wayne^ Indiana
TABLE OP"
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Objects of Collection t 5
Rules and By-Laws 7
List of Papers read before the Society, since its Foundation 9
" Officers 13
" Members . ^ 14
The Voyages and Discoveries of the Cabots 17
A Chapter in the History of the Township of Onslow, N. S 39
Richard John Uniacke _ 73
Ships of War Lost on the Coast of Nova Scotia and Sable Island,
during the Eighteenth Century 119
Louisbourg : An Historical Sketch 137
In Memoriam 197
General Index to Papers printed in Collections 205
CORRIQETMDA.
Page 6i. Strike out " David," signature to letter, and substitute " Daniel." Page 93. Strike out " Not long," at the beginning of the last paragraph,
and insert instead " Some seven years." In the same paragraph strike out the words in brackets in the fifth line from
the bottom, and substitute therefor, " Sir Thomas Andrew Strange."
OBJECTS OF COLLECTION.
1. ^lanuscript statements and narratives of pioneer settlers, old letters and journals relative to the early history and settlement of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick. Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, and the wars of 1776 and 1 8 12 ; biographical notes of our pioneers and of eminent citizens deceased, and facts illustrative of our Indian tribes, their history, characteristics, sketches of their prominent chiefs, orators and warriors, together with contributions of Indian implements, dress, ornaments and curiosities.
2. Diaries, narratives and documents relative to the Loyalists, their ^expulsion from the old colonies and their settlement in the Maritime
Provinces.
3. Files of newspapers, books, pamphlets, college catalogues, minutes of ecclesiastical conventions, associations, conferences and synods, and all other publications, relating to this Province, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.
4. Drawings and descriptions of our ancient mounds and fortifications, their size, representation and locality.
-5. Information respecting articles of pre-historic antiquities, especially implements of copper or stone, or ancient coins or other curiosities found in any of the Maritime Provinces, together with the locahty and condition of their discovery. The contribution of all such articles to the cabinet of the society is most earnestly desired.
6. Indian geographical names of streams and localities, with then- signification and all information generally, respecting the condition, language and history of the iVIicmacs. ]\Ialicetes and Bethuks.
7. Books of all kinds, especially such as relate to Canadian history, travels, and biography in general, and Lower Canada or Quebec m particular, family genealogies, old magazines, pamphlets, files of news- papers, maps, historical manuscripts, autographs of distinguished persons, coins, medals, paintings, portraits, statuary and engravings.
8. We solicit from Historical Societies and other learned bodies that interchange of books and other materials by which the usefulness of
6
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
institutions of this nature is so essentially enhanced, — pledging ourselves to repay such contributions by acts in kind to the best of our ability.
9. The Society particularly requests authors and publishers, to present, with their autographs, copies of their respective works for its library.
10. Editors and publishers of newspapers, magazines and reviews, will confer a lasting favor on the Society by contributing their publications regularly for its library, where they may be expected to be found always on a file and carefully preserved. We aim to obtain and preserve for those who shall come after us a perfect copy of every book, pamphlet or paper ever printed in or about Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland.
11. Nova Scotians residing abroad have it in their power to render their native province great service by making donations to our library of books, pamphlets, manuscripts, &c., bearing on any of the Provinces of the Dominion or Newfoundland. To the relatives, descendants, &c., of our colonial governors, judges and military officers, we especially appeal" on behalf of our Society for all papers, books, pamphlets, letters, &c., which may throw light on the history of any of the Provinces of the Dominion.
RULES AND BY-LAWS.
1. This Society shall be called The Nova Scotia Historical Society.
2. The objects of the Society shall be the collection and preservation of all documents, papers and other objects of interest which may serve to throw light upon and illustrate the history of this country ; the reading at the meetings of the Society, of papers on historical subjects ; the publica- tion, so far as the funds of the Society will allow, of all such documents and papers as it may be deemed desirable to publish ; and the formation of a library of books, papers, and manuscripts, affording information, and illustrating Historical subjects,
3. Each member shall pay towards the funds of the Society Five Dollars at the time of his admission, and two dollars on the second day of January in each suc<:eeding year, but any member shall be exempted from the annual payment of Two Dollars and shall become a Life Member, provided he shall at any time after six months from his admission pay to the Treasurer the sum of Forty Dollars in addition to what he had paid before. The sums received for Life Memberships shall be invested, and the .nterest only used for ordinary purposes. Persons not resident within fifteen miles of Halifax may become members on payment of Two Dollars at the time of admission, and One Dollar annually thereafter.
No person shall be considered a member until his first fee is paid, and if any member shall allow his dues to remain unpaid for two years, his name shall be struck from the roll.
4 Candidates for membership shall be proposed at a regular meeting of the Society by a member ; every proposal shall remain on the table for one month, or until the next regular meeting, when a ballot shall be taken ; one black ball m five excluding.
5. The regular meetings of the Society shall be held on the second Tuesday of every month, at 8 P. M. And special meetings shall be con- vened, if necessary, on due notification of the President, or in case of his absence, by the Vice-President, or on the application of any five members.
6. The annual meeting of the Society shall be held on the second Tuesday of February of each year, at 8 P. M., at which meeting there
8 NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
shall be chosen a President, three Vice-Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary and Treasurer. At the same meeting four members shall be chosen, who, with the foregoing, shall constitute the Council of the Society.
The election of members to serve on the N. S. Library Commission, under the provisions of Chapter 17, N. S. Acts of 1880, shall take place each year at the annual meeting, immediately after the election of Officers and Council.
7. All communications which are thought worthy of preservation shall be minuted down on the books of the Society, and the original kept on file.
8. Seven members shall be a quorum for all purposes at ordinary meetings, except at the Annual Meeting in February, when ten members shall form a quorum. No article of the constitution nor any by-law shall be altered at any meeting when less than ten members are present, nor unless the subject has either been discussed at a previous meeting, or reported on by a committee appointed for that purpose.
9. The President and Council shall have power to elect Corresponding and Honorary Members, who shall be exempt from dues ; and the duties of the Officers and Council shall be the same as those performed generally in other Societies.
10. The Publication Committee shall consist of three, and shall be nominated by the Council. To them shall be referred all manuscripts &c., for publication ; and their decision shall be final.
General List of Papers Read before the Nova Scotia Historical Society.
1878 June 23 Sept. 5 Oct. 3 Nov. 7
1879.
Jan. 2 Mar. 6
June 5 Nov.
Feb. Mar. Apr.
May
June Nov. ] Dec.
1881. Jan.
Inaugural Address
History of St. Paul's Church. Part I
Autobiography of Revd. Wm. Cochran. . Telegraphy in Nova Scotia and neigh boring Provinces
Early Settlement of Shubenacadie
Journal of Colonel Nicholson at Siege of
Annapolis
Translation from the French, relating to
tlie religious beliefs of the Indians prior
to the discoverj^ by Cabot
Journey to Yarmouth in 17— by Mather
Byles
Early Journalism in Nova Scotia
History of St. Paul's Church. Pts. II., Ill Governor Cornwallis and the first Council Witherspoon's Journal of the Siege of
Quebec
Walter Bromley and his labors in the cause of Education, by late John Young.
f'Agricola)
Sketches of the Winniett, DeLancy, and
Millodge families •
Revolutionary Incidents in Nova Scotia,
1776-1778
Sketch of Brook Watson, by Revd. Hugh
Graham
Brook Watson's account of the Expulsion of the Acadians
Feb. Mar.
Apr. 7
May 5
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
1882.
Hon. A. G. Archibald.
Rev. Dr. Hill
Rev. Dr. Cochran —
G. E. Morton, Esq....
Mi-:s E. Frame
T. B. Akins, Esq. . . .
Robt. Morrow, Esq. Hon. Dr. Almon —
J. J.
Rev, T. B
Early History of the Dissenting Church in Nova Scotia
Biographical Sketch of Rev. Jas. Murdoch
Biographical Sketch of Alexander Howe . .
Account of the Manners and Customs of the Acadians, with remarks on their removal from the Province ; by Moses Delesdernier, 1795
Letter (dated June 27, 1751) from Surveyor Morris to Governor Shirley, with a plan for the removal of the Acadians
Extracts from the Boston News Letter, 1701-1760, and from Halifax Gazette, 1752
Judge Croke (a Biography)
Chapter from the life of S. G. W. Archibald
Government House
Nicholas Perdue Olding, (a Biography) .
Petitions to the Council of Massachusetts Bay from residents of Yarmouth, and from Council of Cumberland . ...
Proposal of Capt. John Allen as to capture of Halifax and conquest of Nova Scotia
Jan.
Feb. Mar, July 3 Oct. "
Stewart, Dr. Hill Akins, Esq
do.
Esq.
J. T. Bulmer, Esq. . . . W. A. Calnek, Esq . J. T. Bulmer, Esq : .
Vol. i. p. 18. do. 35.
Vol. i. p. 59.
Vol. Vol. Vol,
vi. p. 91. ii. p. 63. ii. p. 17.
Vol. ii. p. 31.
do. do.
Rev. Dr. Patterson.
Miss E. Frame
W. A. Calnek, Esq .
Vol. Vol.
T. B. Akins, Esq.
do.
Miss E. Frame
Hon. Sir A. Archibald Israel Longworth, E^q Hon. Sir A. Archibald Rev. Dr. Patterson . . .
T. B. Akins, Esq. do.
Who was Lebel ? •
Nomenclature of the Streets of Halifax. . .
A visit to Louisburg
History of St. Paul's Church. Part IV ... . Chapter in the Life of Sir John Wentworth
Jas. Hannay, Esq., St
John, N. B
Rev. Dr. Hill
P. Lynch, Esq
Rev. Dr. Hill
Hon. Sir A. Archibald
Li. p. 135. ii. p. 129.
Vol. ii, p. 100.
Vol. ii. p. 110. Vol. iii. p. 197.
Vol. ii. p. 11.
Vol. iii. p. 13.
10 NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
PAPERS READ BEFORE THE N. S. HISTORICAL SOCIETY. -Continued.
Date.
1882
Nov. 2 Dec. 7
1883.
Jan. Mar. Apr.
May July Nov.
Dec.
1884. Jan. 3
Mar. 6
May 1 Nov. 13
Dec. 4 1885.
Title.
Ed ward How and his family
M.S. Journal of Mr. Glover, Secretary to Admiral Cockburn, when conveying Napoleon to St. Helena in 1815
The Province Building
Early Reminiscences of Halifax
The Stone Age of the Micmacs
Newfoundland, past, present and future. ,
Early Life of Sir John Wentworth
Nomenclature of the streets of Halifax. Part II
Tour with General Campbell, in July and August, 1875, along the coasts of Nova Scotia, by Lieut. Booth, R. E
Celebrated persons who have visited Nova Scotia
Ships of War wrecked on coasts of Nova Scotia and Sable Island in 18th century
Hon. S. B. Robie (a Biographv)
Plans submitted to the British Government in 1783 by Sir Guy Carleton—
1. For the founding of a Seminary of learn-
ing at Windsor, N. S. ;
2. For the establishment of an Episcopate
in N. S
Samuel Vetch. 1st English Governor of Nova Scotia
Feb. Mar. Apr.
May Oct. Nov.
Dec.
1886.
Jan. Feb. ]
5 Samuel Vetch. 1st English Governor of
! Nova Scotia. Part II
12 Exodus of the Negroes in 1791, with extracts
I from Clarkson's Journal
9 Saga of Eric the Red, with an account of the discovery of Vinland. Translated
I (by Capt. Ove Lange)
7 j Early History of St. George's Church (Pt. I) l;01d Churches of Cornwallis and Horton. . Letters from Rev. Jacob Bailey to Re\
Mather Byles
Letter from Duke of Kent to Dr. William
Aim on
3 The League of the Iroquois
Whence Obtained.
W. A. Calnek
Nepean Clarke, Esq . .
Hon. Sir A. Archibald,
P. Lynch, Esq
Rev. Dr. Patterson . . . E. Hepple Hall, Esq , . Hon. Sir A. Archibald.
Rev. Dr. Hill . . . T. B. Akins, Esq
P. Lynch, Esq . . .
S. D. Macdonald, Esq. Israel Long worth. Esq
T. B. Akins, Esq
Rev. Dr. Patterson . . .
Published in
Collections.
Vol. iv. p. 247.
Vol. ix. p. 119.
Vol. vi. p. 133. Vol. iv. p. II.
May 13 Nov. 4 Dec. 2
1887.
Jan. Feb. Mar.
Apr.
Nov. Dec.
Expulsion of the Acadians, Part I
Method of the Acadian French in cultiva- ting their lands, especially with regard to raising wheat.
Judge Isaac DesChamps, 1785 . . .
Bermuda
Expulsion of the Acadians, Part II
Centennial Memories
14 Vinland
3 Early Reminiscences
of Halifax, Part II.
Early History of St. George's Church, Pt. II
Acadian Boundary Disputes and the Ash- burton Treaty
Colonist Plants of Nova Scotia
Memoir of John Clarkson, by his brother, (the celebrated) Thos. Clarkson
A Study of " Sam Slick " :
Early Journalism in Nova Scotia I J. J. Stewart, Esq
do. . . . Vol. iv. p. GJ.
Hon. Sir A. Archibald Vol. vii. p. 129.
P. .lack. Esq
Rev. Dr. Partiidgc Rev. A. W. Eaton.
Hon. Dr. Almon — Rev. Dr. Patterson
Hon. Sir A. Archibald
T. B. Akins, Esq . . . . Hon. Sir A. Archibald do.
Rev. Dr. Burns
Hon. L. G. Power —
P. Lynch, Esq
Rev. Dr. Partridge . . .
Judge R.L. Weatherbe Dr. Geo. Lawson
Hon. Sir A. Archibald F. B. Crofton, Esq. ...
Vol. vi. p. 137.
Vol. V. p. 11.
Vol. V. p. 39.
Vol. Vol. Vol.
vii. p. 17. vii. p. 73. vi. p. 17.
Vol. vi. p. 91.
LIST OF PAPERS READ. 11 PAPERS READ BEFORE THE N. S. HISTORICAL SOCmTY.— Continued.
Date.
1888. Jan. 20
Feb. 21 M 29 Mar. 27 Apr. 10 Nov. 13 Dec. 20:
Jan. 15
Mar. 12
Apr. 9 Nov. 12 Dec. 10
1890.
Feb. 13 Nov. 18 Dec. 9
1891.
Jan. 15
Feb.
Mar
Title.
Statement with reference to " French Cross " at Aylesford
The settlement of the early Townships, Illustrated by an old census
T. C. Haliburton, Writer and Thinker ....
The Aroostook War
Howe and his contemporaries
The Loyalists at Shelburne
Pictographs on Rocks at Fairy Lake
North West Territory and Red Rive pedition
:er Ex-
The Early Settlers of Sunbury County Memoir of Governor Paul Mascarene .
Legends,.of the Micmac Indians
United Empire Loyalists
Inquiries into the History of the Acadian District of Pisiquid
History of Beaubassin
Early Reminiscences of Halifax, Part IIL An Historical Note on " John Crowne ". . ,
Nov. 10
1892. ^Jan. 12
Whence Obtained.
John E. Orpen, Esq. ..
D. Allison, Esq.,LL.D. F. B. Crofton, Esq . . . C. G. D. Roberts, Esq. Hon. J. W. Longley . . Rev. T. W. Smith . . . . Geo. Creed, Esq
Lt.-Col. Wainwright .
James Hanney, Esq., St. John, N. B
J. Mascarene Hub- bard, Boston
Rev. S. T. Rand
C. F. Eraser, Esq
H. Y. Hind
Judge Morse, Amherst
P. Lynch, Esq
Prof. A. McMechan
Hon. L. G. Power
Rev. Geo. Patterson.
Richard John Uniacke
The Portuguese on the North East Coast of America, and the first European set- tlement there |
Facts and enquiries concerning the origin p ^ Lawson
and early history of Agriculture ini ^j^' j) " [
Nova Scotia
Reminiscences of Halifax, Part IV Peter Lynch, Esq., Q.c
Extracts relating to Nova Scotia, fromj
Boston paper. 1719 to 1762 ^Miss Elizabeth Frame
Feb. glHooped canon found at Louisbourg jRev. G. Patterson, d.d
Nov. 8lA Jo\irnal kept by Rev. Dr. Mather Byles Hon. W. J. Almon,
I during a visit to London in 1784 m. D
Dec. 13 A chapter in the History of the Township
I of Onslow, Nova Scotia I. Longworth, Esq., Q.c
1893. I
Jan
10 Rambles among the Leaves of my Scrap-
I Book W. H. Hill. Esq
Feb. 11 The Log of a Halifax Privateer in 1757 .... Prof. A. McMechan . Apr. 27 Sir William Alexander and the Scottish!
I Attempt to colonize Acadia 'Rev. G. Patterson,D.D
iSanford Flemming
July 28; The " Royal Wilham "
Esq., c. M. G
Published in
Collections.
Vol. vii. p. 45.
Vol. vi. p. 53.
Vol. ix. p. 73.
Vol. ix. p.
Nov. 14 The Voyages and Discoveries of the Cabots Rev. M.Harvey, LL.D.jVoL ix. p. 17. Dec. 12 The Recollect Fathers in Canada G. Patter.son,Esq.,M.A.
1894. j
Feb. 13! Critical Observations on Evangeline F. Blake Crofton, Esq.
Mar. 20 Origin and History of names of places in
Nova Scotia
NoY. 27 Louisbourg (An Historical Sketch).
1895. j I
Jan. 22 The Irish Discovery of America Hon. L. G. Power —
Feb. 12 Notes on the History of the Dock-yard ati
I Halifax C. Stubbing, Esq . . . .
Early MilitaiT Historv of Hahfax .W. H. Hill. Esq
!Rev. G. Patterson,D.D. J. P. Edwards, Esq. . . | Vol. ix. p. 137.
PAPERS PRINTED IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, BUT NOT INCLUDED IN
FOREGOING LIST.
An Account of Nova Scotia ill 1743 Vol. L, p. 105.
Trials for Treason in 1777 // I., p. 110.
Diary of John Thomas ; Surgeon with Winslow's
Expedition ag-ainst the Acadians tf L, p. 119.
Papers relating to Acadian French // II., p. 146.
Winslow's Journal of the Expulsion of the Acadians,
1755 , IIL, p. 71.
Winslow's Journal of the Siege and Capture of Fort
Beausejour, 1755 „ IV., p. 113.
Papers connected with the administration of Mr.
Vetch, 1710-13 , IV., p. 64.
Gordon's Journal of Second Siege of Loiusburg „ V., p. 97.
Letters and other Papers relating to the early history
of the Church of England in Nova Scotia n VII., p. 89.
History of Halifax, by Dr. T. B. Akins „ VIII., The whole.
OF THE
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
ELECTED mil FEBRUARY, 1895.
PRESIDENT:
Hon. M. H. Richey.
VICE-PRESIDENTS :
Rev. John Forrest, D. D., Hon. J. W. LoNGLEY, Hon. L. G. Power.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY :
F. B. C^ROFTON, Esq.
RECORDING SECRETARY:
A. A. Mackay, Esq.
TREASURER :
R. J. Wilson, Esq.
COUNCIL :
J. J. Stewart, Esq., ^ Rev. T. W. Smith, D. D., A. H. Mackay, Ll. D., Hon. C. J. Townshend.
LIBRARY COMMISSIONERS:
Hon. R. L. Weatherbe, Hon. M. H. Richey, Rey. John Forrest, D. D., A. H. Mackay, Ll. D.
PUBLICATION COMMITTEE:
Ret. T. W. Smith, D, D., A. H. Mackay, Ll. D., J. J. Stewart, Esq.
AUDITORS :
F. VV. Bowes, W. L. Brown.
14
NOVA SOOTIA HrsTomcAL soctErr.
MEMBERS.
Allen, T. C. Allison, Augustus. Allison, David. Archibald, Charles. Archibald, Mrs. Charles. Baker, Hon. L. E., (Yarmouth) Bell, F. H. Blackadar, C. C. Blackadar, H. D. Blackadar, H. W. BoAK, Hon. Robert. Bowes, F. W. Brown, W. L. BuRGOYNE, John. Burns, Rev. Dr. R, F. Burns, Adam. Cahan, C. H. Campbell, D. A. Chipmam, B. W. Chisholm, Joseph A. Church, Hon. C. E. Clark, Robert. Cory, C. D. Crawford, Rev. E. P. Crofton, F. B. Dennis, William. DesBrisay, Hon. M. B., (Bridge- water) DeWolf, J. R. DeWole, J. E.
Dodd, Hon. Murray, (Sydney). Djull, John. DuFFUS, John. Eaton, B. H,
Edwards, J. P., (Londonderry).^ Farrell, Dr. E. Faulkner, G. E. Faulkner, Rev. Prof. Fielding, Hon. W. S. Flemming, Sanford. Forrest, Rev. Principal. Eraser, C. F.
Fraser, Hon. D. C, (New Glas- gow)
Fuller, Hon. H. H. Fyshe, Thomas. Gordon, Rev. D. M. Goudgf, Hon. M. H., (Windsor). Graham, Hon. W. Green, F. W. Hague, Rev. Dyson. Harrington, C. S. Harris, C. E. Harris, R. E. Hill, W. H. Hind, H. Y,, (Windsor) Howe, Sydenham, (Middleton). Hubbard, J. M., (Boston) Hunt, .T. Johnston. Jack, Rev. T. C, (Maitland) Johnson, J. A. Johnston, Hon, J. W. Kenny, T. E., m. p. Knight, Jas. A. Layers, G. E. Lawson, George. Lenoir, M. U. LiTHGOW, J. R. Longard, E. J. Longley, Hon. J. W. LoNGWoRTH, Israel, (Truro) Lyons, W. A. MacDonald, C. D. Macdonald, Roderick. Macdonald, S. D. Mack AY, Adams A. Mackintosh, J, C. Mader, Dr. a. I. McDonald, Hon. Chief Justice. McGhie, Leonard J, McGiLLiVRAY, Hon. A., (Anti- gen ish) McMechan, a. McNeil, Alex. McShane, Lt.-Col. J. R. McKay, Alexander. McKay, A. H. McNab, John.
MEMBERS.
15
Menger, John. Meynell, W, B.
MONAGHAN, p.
Moore. Rev. E. B. (Yarmouth) Morrison, Edward. Morse, Hon. W. A. D., (Amherst) Nutting, C. M., (Trm^o)
OUTRAM, F. P.
Partridge, Rev. Dr., (Frederic- ton)
Patterson, Rev. Dr., (N. Glasgow)
Patterson, G., Jr., //
Payzant, J. A.
Patzant, Mrs. Dr.
Payzant, John Y.
Payzant, W. L.
Peters, John.
Power, Hon. L. G.
Pyke, J. G., (Liverpool)
Read, Dr. H. H.
RiCHEY, M. H.
Ritchie, George. Roberts, C. G. D., (Windsor) Roche, Wm., m. p. p. Robertson, Thos., m. p. p., (Bar- rington)
Rogers, Mrs. H. W., (Amherst) Ross, W. B.
Savary, Hon. A. W., (Annapolis)
Sedgewick, Hon. Robt, (Ottawa) Shannon, E. G. Shewen, E. T. p. Shortt, Alfred. Silver, A. P. Smith, J. Godfrey. Smith, Rev. Dr. T. W. Stairs, H. B. Stairs, J. F., m. p. Sterns, R. S., (Liverpool) Stewaet, C. J. Stewart, J. J. Story, J. D. Templp:, Herbert. Thorne, E. L. Tobin, Dr. Wm. TowNSHEND, Hon. C. J. Troop, W. H. Tucker, E. D. Waldron, Major, R. A. Wallace, W. B. Weatherbe, Hon. R. L. Weldon, R. C, m. p. White, N. AV., (Shelburne) Whitman, Henry, (Boston) Wilson, R. J. Woodbury, F. Wylde, J. T. Y^ouNG, William.
LIFE fit EMBER.
Macdonald, J. S.
. CORRESPONDING I^EMBERS.
Goldsmith, Edmund, F. R. H. S.. Ward, Robert, Bermuda.
Edinburgh. Winslow, Rev. W. Copley, D.D.,
Griffin, Martin J., Ottawa. Boston, Mass.
Hannay, James, St. John, N. B.
HONORARY flf EMBER. Hill, Rev. G. W., D. C. L., England.
THE
TOY AGES AND DISCOVERIES OF THE CABOTS.
BY THE REV, M. HARVEY, LL. D., OF ST. JOHN's, NEWFOUNDLAND.
'pHE fourth centenary of tlie discovery of America has been cele- brated with a jDomp and splendor which throw all previous celebrations of the great event into the shade. The whole civilized world has shared in the imposing demonstrations. The Old World has joined hands w^ith the Xew in w^orthily expressing their sense of the greatness of an achievement which must stand alone in the records of time as one which can never be repeated, and which has influenced the destinies of humanity more widely and permanently than any other single deed accomplished by the courage and genius of man. In world- history the discovery of America must rank next in importance to the wondrous birth at Bethlehem.
These celebrations all pointed to one name^the great name of Columbus — which must ever stand apart encircled with a halo of imperishable renown. In itself, his work w^as great in its influence on the course of human development. History has justly crowned him as the completer of the globe ; as the conqueror Avho threw open the gates of ocean and subjected to us mighty realms ; who scattered the dark phantoms that brooded over the watery abysses and gave us the waves for our ships and the greatest of the continents for the crowded popula- tions of Europe. By laying open vast fields for human energy and enterprise, and giving new and exhaustless materials on which to work, he immensely widened the thoughts of man and the possibilities of human action.
Greater even than his work was the spirit in which Columbus wrought. In the depths of his own soul he conceived the great idea that by sailing westward into the unexplored abysses of ocean he would reach land. Gradually the thought rose from a shadowy possibility or a dim hope till it became a conviction, an inspiration which infused a solemn enthusiasm into his soul, before which doubt and fear vanished 2
18
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and a lofty dignity and energy possessed the whole man. His sublime faith enabled him to "see the land that was very far oif." Having struck out the daring project he held to it with a grasp like that of gravitation, and finally accomplished it in spite of mountains of diffi- culties and dangers and all the obstacles that ignorance and stupidity could fling in his path. He had a firm conviction that Heaven had destined him for a great work that would benefit the world. This nerved him to brave difficulty and danger and to bear patiently the world's scorn and opposition. It is this which touches so deeply the heart of the world to-day, and leads men to cherish his memory so gratefully. Not merely because he discovered a new world but because of the heroism, the moral grandeur 'vvhich encircle his achievement is the great navigator remembered so reverentially after four hundred years have rolled past.
With all his wonderful genius Columbus was still a man of tlie. fifteenth century, and could not overleap the limitations of his age. The impulses and ideas then current, the discoveries then made told on his sensitive, largely-enquiring mind, fired his imagination and gave a bent to his thoughts. It was a stirring era — the age of geographical discoveries and maritime adventures. In the preceding century the mariner's compass had been constructed. In 1452 the art of printing was invented. jSTew ideas regarding the world and man's destiny in it had been awakened. Blind subjection to the past was repudiated. Science had entered on her great career. A wider theatre was needed for the development of the new life of men. The narrow strip of earth consisting of parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, on which history had hitherto transacted itself, was suspected not to be the whole. The Portuguese led the way in the new career of discovery. Away down the African coast their daring mariners crept, passing Cape Bojador — (" the fearful outstretcher " as the name signifies) — which had barred the way for twenty years, penetrating the dreaded torrid zone, crossing the line, losing sight of the North Polar Star, and gazing in rapture on the Southern Cross and the luminaries of another hemisphere, till at length Bartholemew Diaz discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1486, thus opening a new way to the shores of India. The earth was continually widening in man's view. What new discoveries might not the abysses of ocean yet disclose !
Deep in the soul of one man these wonders and mysteries had sunk. - Columbus began to ponder on the secrets of the world now coming to light ; he had no materials to work on except what were common to all,
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF THE CABOTS.
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and these were poor enough, being merely the cosmographical specula- tions of the day in which imagination largely mingled, the dreams of learned men, Portuguese discoveries, and vague reports of drift-wood seen upon the ocean. It required the quick instinct of genius on the part of Columbus to link all these together and divine from them a new world in the west with that strong conviction which bore him to its shores. How little others made of the same materials that were avail- able to Columbus appears from the fact that for years he was in a minority of one, and that all the scientific men of the day condemned his scheme as visionary.
In spite of all, he arrived at the fixed conclusion that there was a way by the west to the Indies ; that he could discover that way and so arrive at Cipango, Cathay, and the countries described in such glowing terms by Marco Polo. He by no means calculated on finding a mighty continent untrodden by the foot of any European. His theory was that as the earth was a sphere it might be travelled round from east to west that only a third of its circumference yet remained unexplored : that this space was partly filled by the eastern regions of Asia, which he imagined extended so far as to approach within a moderate distance of the western shores of Europe and Africa ; and that by sailing west across the intervening ocean he would land on the eastern shores of Asia, or as he always termed it, India. Thus what Columbus actually accomplished proved to be far greater than any thing he proposed. He hoped to find a new and shorter way to India ; he discovered instead a mighty continent, undreamed of before, cut off from the old world by a wide ocean. Two fortunate errors entered into Columbus's calculations — he fancied the globe to be much smaller than it is ; and he imagined Asia to stretch much further eastward than it actually does. These happy mistakes encouraged him to venture out into the western waters under the impression that his voyage would not be unduly prolonged before he touched some of the islands off the eastern coast of Asia, little dreaming that a broad continent blocked the way.
After years of struggle and waiting his great venture was at length fairly launched. The greatest scene in world-history was about to open. The man who was to burst the gates of the Atlantic stood ready for his task. The 3rd of August, 1492, dawned— a day to be for ever memor- able in the annals of the world as that on which the three little caravals of Columbus sailed from the port of Palos in quest of the noblest trophy ever won by man. Seventy days after, on the 1 2th day of October, as
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the morning mists cleared away, Columbus and his companions wer& gladdened with the sight of a beautiful green islaad which he named San Salvador. The work was done — not to be done again at all, for- ever. The curtain was raised by the daring seaman never again to be^ drawn. Ere long, from end to end of Europe, the triumphant blast rings out, "A New World found." New light breaks in on the learned. The whole current of men's thoughts receives a new direction. The poor Geneose sailor is now the most famous man in all the world. His sublime faith in his idea has made him a ^vorld-conqueror. As he steps ashore at San Salvador he holds in his grasp the destinies of coming: generations. The Columbian Exposition, wdth all its marvellous dis- play, may be regarded not only as a monument to Columbus, but as the- culmination of that civilization to which his genius gave the first and greatest impulse.
As the news of Columbus' great discovery flew from nation ta nation it kindled in the minds of the more daring spirits of Europe a passionate desire to explore the secrets of the new hemisphere about, which marvellous tales were rapidly circulated. Among those who felt this impulse most keenly were the Cabots, father and son, who were- destined to achieve a discovery which though far from being so dazzling and brilliant as that of Columbus, yet in far-reaching results must be regarded as second only to his, and as one which places their names- high on the rolls of fame. The Cabots were the real discoverers of North America. In virtue of their discoveries, England established her claims to the sovereignty of a large portion of these northern lands. The fish-wealth of the surrounding seas soon attracted her fishermen and for their protection and development colonies were at first planted. Other nations, such as France, came to share in the spoils, but were^ finally compelled to retire from the field. That North America is now almost entirely occupied by an English speaking population, with all their vast energies and accumulated wealth, has been largely owing to the daring genius of the Cabots who, only five years after Columbus'' landing, opened a fresh pathway into the northern portion of the new hemisphere, many hundreds of miles from the scene of the first dis- covery. But for the Cabots. Spain might for a long time have monopo- lized discovery in North as well as South America. English and French enterprise might have taken different directions, and the history of North America might have been shaped in a different fashion. The^ Cabots, like Columbus, boldly pushed out into the billows of an unknowa
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF THE CABOTS.
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«ea, braving its perils, and opened the way into new and boundless Tegions of vast natural wealth. Cartier, Mar(|uette, LaSalle followed as •^explorers. " The Old Dominion " founded by Sir Walter Raleigh, was the first of that cluster of colonies which finally developed into the United States, Quebec was founded, and the occupation of Canada -commenced. All this was the outcome of the Cabots' voyages and dis- -coveries in 1497 and 1498. As truly as Columbus pioneered the way in the south, did the Cabots open a pathway for a far nobler civilization in the north, the developments of which continue to expand before our •eyes to-day. " The power for whom destiny had reserved the world •empire, of which these southern nations— so noble in aim, so mistaken in policy — were dreaming, stretched forth her hand, in quiet disregard •of Papal Bulls, and laid it upon the western shore of the ocean. It was only for a moment, and long years were to pass before the conse- quences were developed. But in truth the first fateful note that heralded the coming English supremacy was sounded when John Cabot's tiny craft sailed out from Bristol Channel on a bright May morning of 1497." — (Fiske's Discovery of America).
If then Columbus' great discovery merits a centenary celebration, should not the Cabots be accorded befitting honours 1 In four more .years the fourth centenary of their discoveries will arrive. Surely the northern people will not permit the year 1897 to pass without some worthy celebration in grateful recollection of the man who first opened Northern America to European civilization. It would be no more than «,n act of tardy justice ; for it is discreditable to England that one of the bravest of her sailors, who gave her a continent, has never yet had the smallest honour conferred on his name, or the most insignificant recognition of the vast services he rendered to his adopted country. 1^6 man knows where the ashes of John Cabot or his son repose. Not a <cape, headland, gulf, or creek in the wide region to which they led the way bears the name of Cabot, with the exception of a small, rocky islet ■ofi" the eastern coast of Newfoundland, to which the name of Cabot Island was recently given. No statue or monument has been raised to the memory of either father or son. Mr. J. F. Nicholls, city librarian, Bristol, who has M^itten an excellent memoir of Sabastian Cabot, says : ^' He who gave to England a continent, and to Spain an empire, lies in isome unknown tomb. This man who surveyed and depicted three thousand miles of coast which he had discovered ; who gave to Britain, not only the continent, but the untold riches of the deep, in the fish- •eries of Newfoundland, and the whale fishery of the Arctic Sea ; who
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by his uprightness and fair dealing raised England's name high among the nations, placed her credit on a solid foundation and made her citizens respected ; who was the father of free trade, and gave us the carrying trade of the world ; this man has not a statue in the city that gave him birth, or in the metropolis of the country he so greatly enriched, or a name on the land he discovered. Emphatically the most scientific seaman of his own or perhaps many subsequent ages— one of the gentlest, bravest, best of men — his actions have been misrepresented, his discoveries denied, his deeds ascribed to others, and calumny has flung its hlth on his memory."
Let us hope that when 1897 comes round, this reproach will be wiped away, and some suitable method will be devised for paying a tribute to one of the noblest names on the roll of England's great explorers. Canada might fittingly lead the way, as Cabot's landfall was, in all probability, on her shores, and his discoveries certainly pioneered the way for her settlement. JSTewfoundland, which specially claims him as her discoverer, should mark the approaching centenary by some becoming memorial or commemoration. Who will lead the way, and thus wipe out the disgrace of neglecting one of the noble dead who has left a landmark in history only inferior to that of Columbus 1
It is deeply to be regretted that so little is known of the voyages of the Cabots, or of the personal history of either. While every incident connected with the voyage of Columbus has been carefully collected and minutely described, and while eloquent pens have told the story in every variety of picturesque detail, and while we are enabled to follow the hero through the various scenes of his chequered career, no narra- tive or journal of the voyages of the Cabots has been preserved, and of the life of father and son the accounts which have reached us are meagre and unsatisfactory. Not a fragment of the writings of either is known to be in existence. The little we do know admits of being briefly told.
John Cabot, or Zuan Caboto, in the Venetian dialect, was a native of Genoa, but after a residence of fifteen years in Venice, he was admitted to the full rights of citizenship, in 1476. He married a Venetian lady and had three sons, of whom Sebastian was the second and was born in Venice sometime before March, 1474. Little is known about the life of John Cabot in Venice, except that he was a mariner, merchant and cosmographer and had travelled as far as Arabia. He appears to have been a thoughtful, speculative man whose ideas travelled
YOTAGZS AM DISCOVERIES OF -^Z C^^I^S 23
beyond his daily routine of occupation, and led him to take a deep interest in those maritime discoveries that were then stirring the pulses of the world.
The news of Columbus's pi^iZ discovery touched him deeply. He pronounced it ''a thing more divine than human." After going to Lisbon and Seville to hear the wondrous tale, he was fired with an ardent longing to go and do Ukewise, and share in the glory of these new discoveries. His son Sebastian, then some twenty-three years of age, appears to have inherited his father's predilections and to have entered early, like Columbus, on a sea faring life. The father could not hope for patronage in Spain or Portugal, and so he timed his face toward England, and with his wife and three s .s. se::l :l in Bristol about 1495. Doubtless he was attracted to B:i : : ::n the fact that it was then the principal seap»ort of England, aiii its merchants
were known to be engaged in maritime explorations. He, too, like Columbus, was imprssed with the idea of reaching the Cathay of Marco Polo by saiHng to the west. After much pondering he reached the con- clusion that by taking a nortji-west course, instead of following the track of the great discoverer, though he must pass through much stormier latitudes, he would find a much shorter route to the land of promise. Of the perils which he would have to encounter in these dark unknown seas which had never been furrowed by the keel of European ship, he knew nothing ; but his stout heart did not quail.
Henry TIL was then on the throne of England. The over-cautious monarch was sorely chagrined that he had missed the proffered honor of having his name transmitted to posterity as the patron of Columbus, and thus becoming master of a Xew World beyond the western seas. When then John Cabot and his son Sebastian laid before him their scheme of discovering new lands in another direction, Henry eagerly listened to their proposals, and in 1496, granted to John Cabot and his three sons " lettei^ patent " authorizing them "to sail to the east, west or north with five ships carrying the English flag : to seek and discover all the islands, countries, regions or provinces of p g --S in whatever part of the world." The parsimonious monarch, however, stipulated in this legal document that the whole expenses were to be borne by the Cabots and their connections ; but that the king was to have a fifth part of the profits. That they were able to meet such a heavy expenditure shows that they were possessed of considerable wealth, and that they were willing to risk their money as well as their Kves for the glory of their adopted country.
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Thus it came to pass that early in May, 1497, a little vessel called the Mattheiv, of the caraval class most likely, sailed out of the port of Bristol and turned her prow towards the west. She carried John Cabot and his sailor son Sebastian, and as her crew eighteen stout west-country sailors. jN'ever was a voyage of discovery, the consequences of which were so far-reaching, entered upon with less pomp and circumstance. Without flourish of trumpets or any outward demonstrations, Cabot and his English sailors sailed away into the unknown waste of waters. What dangers they encountered ; through what storms they passed ; what fears and alarms they conquered ; what feelings gladdened their hearts at the close — of all these we know nothing. No diary of the voyage has been preserved. All we know is that on the fifty-third day of their voyage— being June 24th, at 5 o'clock in the morning the glad cry of " Land ! Ho ! " rang out from the mast-head of the Mattheiv ; and that Cabot named the headland which he saw " Prima Yista."
There is a local chronicle of which the following is an extract, first published by the author of the article " Bristol " in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " : — "This year (1497) on St. John the Baptist day, the land of America was found by the merchants of Bristowe, in a ship of Bristol, called the Mcdtlieic, the which ship departed from the port of Bristowe the 2nd day of May, and came home again the 6th of August following." There is another old Bristol manuscript which records the event in still curter terms : " In the year 1497, the 24th of June, on St. John's day was Newfoundland found by Bristol men in a ship called the Mattliewy Both of these ancient records agree as to the date of the discovery of land, and the name of the ship, and both ignore the discoverer whose genius and courage pointed the way which so many thousands have since followed. Such, too often, is fame among contem- poraries. After generations recognise the merits of great men, but too frequently, the prophets are stoned or treated with bitter contempt in their own day. If we accept the foregoing date, which there is no good reason for doubting, the outward voyage extended over 53 days, and the whole time from the departure to the return of the MaWiew was 96 days. We know for certain that Cabot was in London on the 10th of August, from the following brief entry in the Privy Purse Accounts of Henry VII, preserved in the British Museum: "August 10th. To him that found the New Isle, £10." No other official notice is known to be in existence of this momentous discovery. The stingy monarch no doubt considered that he had amply rewarded Cabot, little thinking
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that the entry referred to would post his own niggardliness for the scorn of posterity. We must, however, in justice, remember that £10 were equivalent in purchasing power to £100 to-day ; and that it appears from another source that the King granted Cabot a yearly pension of £20, to be paid out of the receipts of the Bristol Custom House. The discovery of a continent was, after all, cheap at such a price.
The people of England appear to have entertained a higher apprecia- tion of the service of Cabot than their King. An old letter has been brought to light in Milan, written by Lorenzo Pasquaiigo, a Venetian gentleman then resident in London. It bears the date of August 23rd, 1497, and is addressed to his brother in Venice. The writer says : This Venetian of ours who went in a ship from Bristol, in quest of new islands, is returned, and says that 700 leagues hence he discovered terra ftrma, which is the territory of the Great Khan. The King is much pleased with this intelligence. He has also given him money wherewith to amuse himself, and he is now in Bristol with his wife, who is a Venetian woman, and with his sons. His name is Zuan Cabot, and they call him the Great Admiral. Vast honour is paid to him and he dresses in silk, and these English run after him like mad people, so that he can enlist as many of them as he pleases." Pasquaiigo adds that Cabot planted on the beach where he landed, the flags of England and of St. Mark, he being a citizen of Venice, and a large cross. Erom another source we learn that he prepared a chart of his discoveries, and also a solid globe. Both the Spanish envoys, Puebla and Ayala, writing between August 24th, 1497, and July 25th, 1498, mention having seen such a chart, and from an examination of it they concluded that the distance run did not exceed 400 leagues. The extract quoted above from Pasqualigo's letter, shows that he estimated the distance more correctly as 700 leagues. The original chart by Cabot is unfortunately lost ; but as we shall see presently, a map engraved in Germany and bearing the date of 1544, has been discovered, which there is very strong reason for believing to have been after a drawing by Sebastian Cabot. This map throws light upon the much disputed land-fall of Columbus. There is no reason for supposing that Cabot, any more than Columbus, knew of the greatness of his discovery, or even suspected that he had touched the margin of a new continent. He reported, according to Pasquaiigo, that he had reached the territory of the Grand Khan ; so that, like Columbus, he thought the western coasts of the Atlantic which he had reached, were the eastern coasts of Asia. No
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human being had yet suspected the truth ; and it took many subsequent voyages and many years to establish the existence of a new continent. In point of fact, the discovery of America was an evolution, — slow and gradual in its advances. Columbus and Cabot only raised the curtain. Sebastian Cabot, however, lived long enough to learn from the voyages of subsequent navigators the vastness of these new countries.
A second patent was granted to John Cabot, by Henry VI T, dated February 3rd, 14 98, authorizing him to sail with six ships "to the land and isles of late found by the said John, in our name, and by our com- mandment." This patent was evidently a supplementary commission. After this date John Cabot's name disappears from contemporary records ; from which it is inferred that he died before the second expedition was ready, or if he sailed as commander, that he died on the voyage. At all events Sebastian now takes his father's place, and is entitled to the credit of such discoveries as resulted from the second expedition. What these discoveries were, it is impossible from the meagre contemporary accounts and the confused narratives of later writers, to determine definitely. We do not possess a scrap of informa- tion regarding this expedition directly from Sebastian himself. What we do know is gathered from the Decades of Peter Martyr, the pages of Ramusio, Gomara and Galvano. These relate certain alleged conversa- tions with Sebastian, years afterwards in Spain, most of them recorded from memory after a considerable lapse of time. Some are at second or third hand. Eamusio alone refers to a letter he had received from Sebastian maii}^ years before.
From these authorities, vague and often contradictory as they are, we can, however, gather that in this second voyage, in which Sebastian was the commander, in all probability a large extent of the coast of North America was explored, and we see how exalted was the courage and skill of the leader. A letter from Pedro de Ayala, the Spanish envoy then in England, and Stow's Chronicle, make it certain that this expedition sailed early in the summer of 1498, and that it had not returned in the following September. In fact we have no authentic account of its return. All the accounts agree in representing Cabot to have gone far north along the coast of Labrador till he was stopped by heavy masses of ice ; but they differ as to the latitude he reached^ Ramusio gives 67°, 30' as his highest latitude, alleging his recollection of a letter written to him by Sebastian Cabot many years before as his authority. Gomara gives 58° N. and another 56°. Euysch alone fixes
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27
it at 53°. All the accounts agree that being turned back by the ice, he followed the coast south, — according to one account to 38° X ; and at length his provision^ failing him, he shaped his course for Bristol. Thus, whatever account we follow, it must be allowed that Cabot's second voyage was a great and important achievement, as it resulted in the discovery of 1200 to 1800 miles of the coast of Xorth America. At the same time it seems to have been regarded in England as a failure, as it brought no immediate gain. In after years, however, when England put forth her strength to occupy these northern lands, and to reduce the power of Spain, these voyages of the Cabots then assumed a new importance, and furnished a ground for claiming sovereignty over them, on the right of a first discovery.
There is one other item of contemporary authority, regarding the discovery made on this expedition of 1498, which should not be over- looked. I refer to the famous map made in 1500, by the Biscayan pilot, Juan de La Cosa, who sailed with Columbus on his first and second voyages. In " Fiske's Discovery of America," Vol. II, 13 p^., the writer says :— So far as is known, this is the earliest map in existence made since 1492, and its importance is very great. La Casas calls La Cosa the best pilot of his day. His reputation as a cartographer is also high, and his maps were much admired. The map before us " (re- produced by Eiske) " was evidently drawn with honesty and care. He represents the discoveries of the Cabots as extending over 360 leagues of coast, or about as far as from the Strait of Belle Isle to Cape Cod ; and the names from " Cabo de Ynglaterra" to " Cabo Descubierto," are probably taken from English sources. But whether the coast exhibited is that of the continent within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or the southern coast of Newfoundland with that of Xova Scotia, is by no means clear. The names end near the mouth of a large river, which may very probably be meant for the St. Lawrence ; and beyond the names we see two more English flags, with the legend " Sea discovered by Englishmen." As it would be eminently possible to sail through the Gulf of St. Lawrence without becoming aware of the existence of Xew- foundland, except at the Strait of Belle Isle, one is inclined to suspect that "Isla de la Trinidad " (on La Cosa's map) may represent all that the voyagers saw of that large island."
Thus it appears that this early map confirms the accounts referred to of Cabot's second voyage, and the extent and value of his discoveries. Dr. Kohl (History of Maine) identifies " Cabo de Ynglaterra " on La Cosa's map, with Cape Eace.
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After his return from this expedition, Sebastian Cabot lived for some time in England, loved and admired for his genial, modest disposi- tion, and his ardent enterprising spirit, which was ever urging on new maritime adventures. His indomitable perseverance and high courage in carrying out his plans are attested by his contemporaries. At length he entered the service of the King of Spain, who estimated his w^orth so highly that he at once made him Pilot Major of the Kingdom, and he took up his residence in Seville. When in the service of the Spanish monarch, he made several voyages of discovery and explored the La Plata and Paraguay rivers. lie took part in the famous confer- ence at Badajos. He remained in Spain from 1512 to 1547, and then' returned to England an old man. Edward YI. proved the high esteem with which he regarded him by creating for him the office of Grand Pilot of England. He also gave him a pension of £166 per annum.
Cabot was not idle even at his advanced age. In company with others he took an active part part in opening up the trade with Russia, and gained the life appointment of Governor of the Muscovy Company. All this proves the high esteem in which he was held. He died in London probably in 1557, sixty-one years after the grant of his first patent, and when close on 80 years of age.
His friend, Richard Eden, gives us a touching picture of the old man in the closing hours of his life, when bound for that country where there is "no more sea." The music of ocean was still in his ears ; and in the wanderings of his fevered fancy, iie spoke of a divine revelation to himself of a new and infallible method of finding the longitude, which he was forbidden to disclose to any moital. The dying seaman in imagination was again on his beloved ocean, over whose billows, in his adventurous youth, he had opened a pathway. Soon he reached the quiet haven where the storms are hushed for evermore. His burial place was marked by no monument, and is entirely unknown.
Such in life and in death was one of England's boldest sailors, who undoubtedly first saw the Continent of America before Columbus, with- out being aware of it, touched its margin in the neighbourhood of Veragua, or before Amerigo Vespucci made his first voyage . across the Atlantic.
THE LAND- FALL OP CABOT.
When we come to inquire what was the land first seen by the Cabots, on the 24th of June, 1497, we find ourselves on debatable ground, where absolute certainty cannot be reached. Historians and
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antiquarians differ as to Cabot's land-fall. Still, I think that an unpre- judiced consideration of the various records available will show that the weight of evidence is strongly in favour of the conclusion that the northern part of the Island of (Jape Breton was Cabofs land-fall. It is not wonderful, however, that there should be such a diversity of opinion on this point, when we remember how meagre and fragmentary are the records. Even in the case of Columbus" land-fall different opinions exist, notwithstanding that the records have been carefully preserved, and were most minute and abundant. Even yet the controversy on the subject has not ceased, though recently there has been among those best qualified to judge, a concurrence of opinion that Columbus' land-fall was not the island that bears the name of San Salvador, but Watling Island. In the case of Cabot's land-fall there is far less reason for surprise at the doubt which hangs over it. Unfortunately, aU Cabot s papers have been lost. That such an able and intelb"gent navigator wrote an account of his own and his father's voyages can hardly be doubted. Hakluyt in his '•l)iveT5 Voyages," 1582, says Sebastian Cabot's papers were in the custody of ^Villiam Worthington, and were shortly to be printed.'' Xothing more is recorded of them, and it is not known that even a fragment of them is in existence. Biddle, one of Cabot's biographers, suggests that for certain reasons, these papers were " secured by the Spanish L'ourt, and probably destroyed. Possibly, however, they may have been deposited in the archives of Spain, where one day they may be found. Such a '''find" would be exceedingly valuable in working out the geographical evolution of the 2sorth American continent.
There are three leading opinions in regard to Cabot's land-fall. Some place it at Cape Bonavista, on the eastern coast of Newfoundland- Others hold that it was on the coast of Labrador, but dilfer as to the latitude of the place : wliile a third opinion is that it was Cape Xorih, the northern point of Cape Breton Island.
The Bonavista theory finds now few advocates. Bishop Howley, in his " Ecclesiastical History of Newfoundland."'' being its only recent supporter. The evidence in support of it is but slight. The records of the voyage which we possess do not at all accord with the appearances of the land at Cape Bonavista.
There is much stronger evidence in support of the Labrador theory, and high authorities might be cited in its favour. The great Humboldt held that the Cabots first saw land on the coast of Labrador, in 56' or
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58° N. latitude. Biddle, who has industriously collected all the floating fragments referring to the voyages of the Cabots, and commented on them in a confused sort of way, held that Labrador was their land-fall. Other names might be cited in support of this opinion ; but it is evident that some of the old authorities, such as Eden and Ramusio, mixed together Cabot's first and second voyages, and attributed to the former what occurred in the latter. Those who followed them have been led into a similar error On his second voyage, as we have seen, Cabot made the Labrador coast, and sailed along it northward till arrested by ice.
The grand authoiity for holding that Cabot's land-fall w^as Cape ISTorth, in Cape Breton Island, is the Mappe-monde bearing the date 1544, and attributed to Sebastian Cabot. This map was discovered by Von Martins in 1843, in the house of a clergyman in Bavaria, and deposited in the National Library, Paris, in 1844, where it still lies. It was engraved in Oermany or Flanders, and is stated to be a copy of Cabot's Mappe-monde, drawn in 1544. At the north of Avhat is now the Island of Cape Breton, the map bears the inscription " Prima tierra uista," "First land seen," — "uista" being the old form of "vista" in Spanish. There is a marginal legend or inscription in Spanish and Latin, stating that this land was discovered by John Cabot, a Venetian, and his son Sebastian.
This map was first re-produced by the distinguished French geogra- pher, M. Gomard, in his great work, " Les Monuments de la Geographie, Paris, 185L" Since that date it has been frequently re-produced, in whole or in part, in various standard works, such as Bryant and Gay's "United States " ; Judge Daly's " Cartography" ; Dr. Justin Windsor's " Christopher Columbus " ; Historical Magazine of America ; Harisse's " Cabots " ; Deane's Nar. and Crit. History of America " ; Dr. Kohl's " Discovery of North America," and Bourinot's " History of Cape Breton."
If this Mappe-monde be accepted as authentic, of course all doubts as to Cabot's land-fall are ended. There is not however, a complete concurrence of opinion on this point ; but the weight of learned authority seems to me in favour of the acceptance of this map as being on the whole a trust-worthy copy of that drawn by Sebastian Cabot.
Some eminent historians still retain doubts on the subject, and pro- bably for years to come the question will continue to be argued. No recent writer has given a more careful and impartial examination of the
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31
various theories advanced than Dr. Bourinot, C. M, G., in his excellent " History of Cape Breton," and there iS no one whose opinion is entitled to greater weight. After admitting the difficulties which surround the vexed subject, he considers that the great mass of evidence warrants us in accepting Cape Breton as the true land-fall, and the map as authentic ; though he does not dogmatize on the subject. He says : " The land-fall of that famous voyage is still and is likely to remain in dispute ; but as long as the Sebastian Cabot Mappe-monde, of 1544, is believed by many authorities on such subjects to be authentic, some point on the north- eastern coast of the Island of Cape Breton must be accepted as the actual " prima tierra vista " of 1497. The delineation of Cape Breton, then considered a part of the mainland, or the terre des Bretons, and the position of the Island of St. John (P. E. Island), named by Cabot, and the language of the legend or inscription on the map referring to the discovery on the 24th of June, go to support the Cape Breton theory." " It is a strong fact in support of Sebastian Cabot's claim to the authorship of this map, of which the legends could hardly have been written by one not present at the time of the discovery, that Hakluyt reprinted for the first time in Latin, with a translation " An extract taken out of the map of Sebastian Cabot, cut by Clement Adams, con- cerning his discovery of the West Indies, which is to be seen in Her Majesty's privie gallerie at Westminster, and in many other ancient merchants houses."
Dr. Bourinot cites several high authorities who hold the same view in regard to the Cabo": map. One of these is Charles Deane, Ll.D., " an authority in American History and Archaeology. In his " Voyages of the Cabots," and " Nar. and Crit. History of America," " all the important works on the subject are cited with critical acumen. Dr. Deane believes that the weight of evidence is in favour of the authen- ticity of the map, and that there is no good reason for not accepting Cape Breton as Cabot's land-fall."
The Abbe J. D. Beaudoin, a writer of much learning and acumen, is also referred to by Dr. Bourinot, as a believer in the Cape Breton theory. " He goes over the ground travelled by all writers on the subject, and combats the arguments of Biddle and other supporters of the Labrador theory. He comes to the conclusion that it is diffi- cult to deny the authenticity of the Cabot map, and that there is no reason not to accept the northern part of Cape Breton as tierra prima vista."
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" Harrisse " (Cabots 65, 85 pp.) adds Dr. Bourinot, " favours Cape Perce (old name of the north head of Cow Bay) ; but he himself effec- tually disposes of the theory by stating that it is 129 miles distant from. Prince Edward Island."
" Dr. Kohl in his " Discovery of North America," endeavoured to- show how utterly impossible it is that the map was either drawn by Sebastian Cabot, or executed under his' direction or superintendence but even this learned man concluded by saying that " he does not pre- tend to speak decisively on the subject " — that the land-fall was not Cape Breton."
Two other authorities may be named. Mt. J. C. Brevoort, an able writer whose opinion is entitled to high respect, made a careful study oi the whole subject, and in The Historical Magazine of America, (March^ 1868), emphatically accepts Cabot's map as authentic, and as being decisive in regard to the land-fall. He re-produces a section of the map in connection with his article. Clements Markham, C. B., an eminent authority, in his recently published " Life of Columbus, (The World's. Great Explorers Series) says (227 p.), " The Mattlieiu sailed in May, and at 5 o'clock in the morning of the 24th of June, 1497, land was sighted and named " Prima Terra Vista." We learn from a copy of a Mappe- monde, drawn by Sebastian Cabot in 1544, that "Prima Terra Vista '^ was the northern point of Cape Breton Island. On the map of Michael Lok, dated 1582, in Hakluyt's "Divers Voyages," copied from a chart of Verrazano, the inscription " J. Gabot 1497," is written across the land to a point named Cape Breton." Markham accepts the authenticity of the map.
One of the standing objections to the map is that the date of the discovery is given, in an inscription on the margin, as 1494 ; and it is alleged this is a proof that Sebastian Cabot could not have drawn it ; otherwise he would not have fallen into such an error. The inscription runs as follows: — "This country was discovered by John Cabot, a Venetian, in the year of our Saviour Jesus Christ, INICCCXCIIII on the 24th of June." Now this is so evidently a printer's error, that it is surprising any stress was laid on it. To correct it, the first two letters after XC should be joned together at the bottom, making a V ; and then it reads XCVII, — the correct date.
Assuming now that the land-fall is settled, what was the route followed by Cabot after sighting land 1 Judging by the records we possess, he did not immediately return to England, but continued for a
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF THE CABOTS.
33
tiire coastincr around the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and finally passed out by the Straits of Belle Isle, and so shaped his course for Bristol. When at Cape Xorth he must have seen Cape Ray on the ^Newfoundland coast which is only 58 miles ^n^. E. of the former, and, being 1570 feet high, would be visible from the high land on Cape Xorth, where, accord- ing to the account of Pasqualigo, he "landed and planted a large cross with a flag of England and one of St. Mark." Further — on his route homeward he must have coasted along the northern shores of New- foundland, and is therefore justly reckoned its discoverer. On his map JSTewfoundland is represented as a cluster of islands. Such an impres- sion was perfectly natural in the case of an explorer sailing along the coasts for the first time and viewing its great bays stretching far inland, on every side, to which no termination was apparent. The presence of fog, too, hiding the land formation, w^ould tend to strengthen the impression of its being an archipelago. The fact of there being one great island w^as not clearly ascertained till a later period.
Another question presents itself : — How long did he spend in his explorations round the Gulf after seeing land ? The letter of Pasqualigo, dated August 23rd, 1497, makes it certain that Cabot had then been in London for some time. The Bristol chronicle, already referred to, fixes the date of his return as August 6th. If we suppose that he had a favorable homeward voyage from the Straits of Belle Isle, there is nothing unreasonable in supposing that it was accomplished in 25 days. This would leave him 18 or 19 days for explorations in the Gulf. In that time he may have coasted from Cape Xorth to the Straits of Belle Isle — a distance of betw^een 700 and 800 miles — allowing for inevitable delays in passing from point to point of an unknown coast. He saw the iS'ewfoundland and Labrador coasts, but could have had no time for going farther north than the Straits of Belle Isle.
The competing theories of the landfall are now practically reduced to two — Cape ]Srorth and Labrador. There seems to me to be one insuperable difficulty in regard to Labrador being the landfall on the first voyage. Its advocates fix the latitude of the landfall at 56° or 58°. If we assume a medium of 57° this would be further north than Xain, one of the most northern Moravian mission stations, and one degree south of Cape Mugford. It is absolutely certain that the 24th of June was the day on which Cabot first saw land. At that date the coast of Labrador is beset with ice and icebergs ; and at such a high latitude as 57°, is rarely if ever accessible so early in the summer, especially to vessels approaching directly from the eastward. Even now, no captain of 3
34 NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
a sailing vessel would think of venturing so far north at such a date. In any case had Cabot made his way to this part of the coast on June 24th, he must have encountered imm.ense quantities of ice. Now, we have several accounts of his first voyage, the most reliable being that of Pasqualigo. He mentions that Cabot saw "felled trees," "snares for catching game," and speaks of " the tides being slack ;" but never men- tions ice or any difficulties presented by it. Had he met with ice fields or icebergs such a remarkable phenomenon would hardly have been omitted. At 57" N. on Labrador " felled trees would certainly not be found. The accounts of Eden and Kamusio, in which " great flakes of ice " are mentioned, and intense cold, clearly refer to the second voyage.
I am not aware that this weighty objection to the Labrador theory has been previously stated, or that it has been met by any of its advo- cates. Even if we take the lowest latitude named— 53° or 54°— on Labrador, in nineteen cases out of twenty the ice difficulty would still present itself, though perhaps in a less serious aspect.
It seems to me, for the reasons assigned, that the landfall must be sought elsewhere than on Labrador, and that the probabilities are all in favor of Cape Breton. However this may be, we will all agree with Dr. Bourinot when he says that " the voyages of the Cabots commenced a new era in the history of North America." "As the Cabots laid the foundation of the claim of England to a large portion of the North American continent from Cape Breton to Florida, so Cartier gave to France the valley of the St. Lawrence, and prepared the way for the courageous Frenchmen of Brouage who, a few decades later, made on the heights of Quebec the commencement of that dependency which France in her ambition hoped would develop until it could dominate the whole continent of North America."
The following is a literal translation of the Spanish inscription on Cabot's^Mappe-monde, as given by Dr. Bourinot jn his " Cape Breton." " No. S. This land was discovered by John Cabot, a Venetian, and Sebastian Cabot, his son, in the year of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ MCCCCXCIIIL, on the 24th of June, in the morning, which country they called ' Prima Tierra Vista,' and a large island over against the said land they named the island of St. John, because they discovered it on thejsame day. The inhabitants wear skins of animals, use in their battles bows, arrows, lances, darts, wooden clubs, and slings. The soil is very barren, and there are many white bears and stags as large as horses, and many other beasts ; likewise great quantities of fish, pike, salmon, soles as long as a yard, and many other sorts, besides a great
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF THE CABOTS.
35
abundance of the kind called b^iccalaos. There are also in the same land hawks as black as ravens, eagles, partridges, redpoles, and many other birds of various descriptions/' The error in the date contained in the foregoing has been already referred to, and the simple method for its correction.
Commenting on the foregoing inscription, Dr. Bourinot says : — - " The northern part of Cape Breton in many respects corresponds with the general features of the description given of the new land, of its inhabitants, of its animals, and of its fisheries, in the legend or inscrip- tion on the map in question — a legend which has also given rise to much speculation as to its authorship and authenticity, but which nevertheless must be taken into account, unless w^e ignore the document in its entirety. The people clothed in the skins of animals that the voyagers saw on the shore, were probably the Micmacs, who were a coast tribe, and must have frequented the northern parts of Cape Breton in consider- able numbers in early times, on account of the abundance of game. The great deer w^ere no doubt the moose, which in great numbers roamed among the hilly fastnesses and fed on the barrens of northern Cape Breton, until they have been in the course of time almost exterminated by reckless hunters. The advocates of the claim of Labrador argue that the mention of the appearance of white bears in this new found land of Cabot is in favour of their contention ; but it is not at all unlikely that these animals frequented the northern coast of Cape Breton in those early times when the island contained great numbers of wild creatures, many of which have entirely disappeared with the progress of settle- ment. It is a powerful fact in support of the Cape Breton theory that in a work written by one Pichon on " The Island of Cape Breton," two centuries and a half later than the Cabot voyages, he tells us in his chapter on the natural features of the country that the bears of Cape Breton and St. John " are much the same as those in Europe — and some of them are w^hite " — a statement which is almost conclusive on the point at issue."
It may be desirable, in closing this paper, to furnish the text in full of the important letter of Pasqualigo, to which several references have been made : —
^'(From the Calendar of Venetian State Papers : I., 262, No. 752.) Lorenzo Pasqualigo to his Brothers, Alvise and Prancesco :
" The Venetian, our countryman, who went with a ship from Bristol in quest of new islands, is returned, and says that 700 leagues hence he
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
discovered land, the territory of the Grand Cham. He coasted for 300 leagues and landed ; saw no human beings, but he has brought hither to the king certain snares which had been set to catch game, and a needle for making nets ; he also found some felled trees, wherefore he supposed there were inhabitants, and returned to his ship in alarm.
" He was three months on the voyage, and on his return saw two islands to larboard, but would not land, time being precious as he was short of provisions. He says that the tides are slack and do not flow as they do here. The King of England is much pleased with the intel- ligence.
" The king has promised that in the spring our countryman shall have ten ships, armed to his order, and at his request has conceded him all the prisoners, except such as are confined for high treason, to man his fleet. The king has also given him money wherewith to amuse himself till then, and he is now at Bristol with his wife, who is also a Venetian, and with his sons ; his name is Zuan Cabot, and he is styled the Great Admiral. Vast honour is paid him ; he dresses in silk, and these EngUsh run after him like mad people, so that he can enhst as many of them as he pleases, and a number of our own rogues beside.
"The discoverer of these places planted on his new-found-land a large cross, with one flag of England and another of S. Mark, by reason of his being a Venetian, so that our banner has floated very far afield.
London, 23 August, 1497."
A few years ago I prepared by request a short article on Sebastian Cabot for the Public Ledger, Philadelphia. I mentioned among other things in this notice that " there is still in one of the private collections of England a portrait of Sebastian Cabot, painted for Edward VI, by Holbein." Soon after a letter appeared in The Public Ledger in which the writer said regarding this statement about Cabot's portrait : " I beg to correct it. The portrait of Sebastian Cabot was purchased from the family of Charles Joseph Harford, Esq., of Bristol, about 1831-34, by Mr. Richard Biddle, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, a brother of Mr. Nicholas Biddle, also a native of Philadelphia, who spent five years in London writing the life of the discoverer of North America. He brought the portrait to his home in Pittsburg where it was destroyed, together with his fine library and all his household efl'ects, in the disastrous fire of 1845, which consumed more than a third of the city. The life of Sebastian Cabot is a work of deep and accurate research."
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF THE CABOTS,
37
I have been honoured with a communication from the writer of the foregoing extract from the Ledger. She says, " The writer of Cabot's Life was a near relative of mine. I well remember the portrait with the black cap on the head and the white pointed beard. A heavy gold chain hung from the neck, sustaining (I think) a cross. The right hand held a pair of compasses and rested on a globe which I remember was of a vivid sreen. The picture was painted on panels of wood. It was usually covered, being highly valued : and I remember the curious old volumes and manuscripts which mentioned it, and attested its genume- ness and history — all of which perished as aforesaid. It hung in the gallery of WhitehalL and in Cromwells time, if I remember aright, found its way into the family of the Earl of Errol in Scotland. The loss of this picture, and all" belonging to it, was a great trial to "Mr. Biddle ; more seemingly than all of the rest of his possessions. He did not long sinwive his misfortunes. Xow that the subject of the discovery of America is uppermost in men's minds, and there is a disposition to rob Sebastian Cabot of the honour and give all the glory to Columbus, I feel moved to write to you now (April 26th, 1893,) as I thought of doing before when your article appeared in the Ledger.''
"I see an article in the Xew York Churchman, by Bishop Perry of Iowa, who says : ' The world is invited to the city of Chicago to do honour to the Genoese discoverer, whose eyes never saw, and whose feet never trod upon any portion of the territory of the United States.' Be this as it may, Sebastian Cabot was certainly in advance of Columbus, and was the true discoverer of Xorth America."
The writer then Cjuotes from an article in Tlie Xorfh American Rerieir, by Geo. S. Hillard, on Cabot, as follows : ''He is as much more worthy of a statue in St. Paul's or Westminster Abbey than any of her naval heroes, as the extension of empire by right of discovery, and the opening of new markets by honourable enterprise are more to be desired than provinces wrested from rival nations by the iron hand of war, and commercial privileges enforced at the point of the bayonet. "
The loss of Holbein's portrait of Cabot, in the way described by the writer referred to, is a matter of deep regret. It must, I think, have been engraved before it was removed from England, as it was published a good many years ago by Mr. Xicholls, of the Bristol Library, in a tributary hrocTiure to Cabot. I was enabled to give a partial reproduc- tion of Nichols' engraving in my "Newfoundland — the Oldest British Colony.'"'
IN THE
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW, NOVA SCOTIA.
BY ISRAEL LONGWORTH, Q. C, TRURO.
]N the early history of Nova Scotia it was customary to call new ^ settlements after men of note, in the civil and military service of Great Britain. In accordance with this practice it is believed that the government of the day named the Township of Onslow in honor of Arthur Onslow, an English statesman, who was born in 1691 ; speaker of the Commons from January 1727 to 1754 ; pensioned in 1761 ; died 17th February, 1768 ; and after whom a county, and shire-town, known as Onslow Court House, in North Garohna, had been called.
The erection of the township was ordered by Governor Lawrence in Council, 24th July, 1759, though the grant did not pass the great seal of the province till the time of Lord William Campbell. The formation took place upon the application of Joseph Scott and Daniel Knowlton for themselves and fifty others, of the Massachusetts Bay, for a tract of land at Cobequid. Several were of the Fort Cumberland expedition of the previous year, and were attracted to the province from what they had seen of it, and in consequence of Governor Lawrence's proclamations* for settling the townships. The fifty-two proposed grantees, with their families, were represented to number three hundred and nine souls. A grant of fifty-two shares or rights in the township to these persons passed the Governor-in-Council, 26th July, 1759.
The township was stated as being at the head of Cobequid Basin, to extend upon the north side of said Basin, and to run westerly six miles ; from thence northerly about twelve miles ; thence easterly about twelve miles ; and thence southerly twelve miles ; and thence to Cobequid Basin six miles. All to be laid out on the north side of Cobequid River.
- Governor Lawrence issued two proclamations for settling the Townships The first in October, 1758; the second in January. 1759. (See Murdochs History of ^o^a Scotia, Vol. II., page 359.)
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Scott and Knowlton and their ' associates were to have 26,000 acres. Half were to settle in October, 1760, and the remainder in May, 176U
That the grant might not be forfeited, Scott and Knowlton, on their return to the Massachusetts Bay, prevailed upon one hundred and sixty- four others, the principal of whom was Eichard Upham, to sign a paper requesting an interest in the grant they had obtained, upon the same conditions, with which they promised to comply. Timothy Houghton and William Keyes came to Halifax as a committee chosen by these persons, and submitted to the Government the names of fifty-one they considered most desirable for settlers in Cobequid.
An order-in council passed 18th October, 1759, granting to Timothy Houghton and others, of the Massachusetts Bay, fifty-three rights or shares of 200 acres each in the township. Thirteen were to settle 30th September, 1760 ; twenty on the 30th September, 1761 ; and twenty on or before the 30th September, 1762.
The same date (18th October, 1759,) Joseph Twitchell and Jonathan Church obtained a grant of fifty shares in the township, for that number of persons including themselves, all of the same place, except Joseph Fairbanks of Halifax, gentleman.
It also appears by minute-of-council, dated 26th October, 1759, that Daniel Knowlton that d-ay applied for one hundred and fifty more shares in the township ; but there being only forty-one left, in order to accom- modate him and his associates, it Avas resolved that another township should be erected by the name of Wolfe, adjoining Onslow, and on the Eiver Sliubenacadie, in which the shares desired should be laid out.
Besides Scott and Knowlton, the only individuals comprising 'the fifty-two first intending settlers who came to the township and became grantees thereof, were Jacob and Thomas Stevens, Jacob Lynds, William Tackles, Hugh Tackles, David Cutten, Abijah Scott, and William Whippie.
It is also worthy of remark ih\t out of the large number of persons who would have been the grantees of Onslow and Wolfe, had all settled in the Province, no more came than were necessary to fill the require- ments of the Onslow grant. This resulted in the proposed township of Wolfe going to others, about the same time, under — not the more euphonious, and certainly not the more illustrious name of Truro,
The names of the first settlers, in the order they appear in the township grant, are as follows : —
Eichard Upham, William Hamilton, Anthony Elliot, Thomas Stephens, James Lyon, John Steel, James Wilson, Frances Blair,.
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
41
Jonathan Higgius, Joseph Scott, John Carter, ^Villiam Tackles, Hugh Tackles, Jacob Stephens, William Mc^'utt, the heirs of Jacob Lines, Xathaniel Gallop, Edward Brooks, David Hoar, Martin Brouks. William Blair, Ephraim Howard, Joshua Lamb, David Gay, David Blackmore, Abner Brooks, Carpenter Bradford, George Howard, Ephraim Scott John Polly, Sanuiel Xichols, Peter Eichardson, Ephraim Howard, jr., Robert Crowell, Abijah Scott, David Cutting, Isa-ac Ferrell, Daniel Knowlton, and .Mary Xnowlton. Elizabeth Blackmore, Abigail L^'pham, Caleb Putnam, Xathan Upham, Richard L'pham, jr., Xicholas Blancharcl, James Tackles, John Cutting, Soloman Hoar, William Blair, jr., William Whippy, Peter Wilson, James Brown, the heirs of Jabez Paide, Joseph Pierpont, John Howard, Daniel Calf, the heirs of Samuel Whippy, the heirs of Joel Camp, the heirs of Benjamin Brooks, Asa Scott, Erancis Harris, John Barnhill, Samuel Bencraft, John Hewett, John Polly, jr., Eeuben Richardson, William Crowell, Jonathan Higgins, jr., Mercy Brooks, Hugh Acton Tackles, Christopher Stevens, Jacob Stevens, jr., Abner :\IcXutt, Jacob Lines, jr., Silvanus Brooks, Edward Brooks, jr., Ebenezer Hoar, John Blair, and Deborah Wright.
For some unaccountable reason the grant was withheld for about eight years, during which period a number of the first settlers died, and their rights went to their heirs, widows, or daughters, whose names are included in the list of grantees.
" It appears from manuscript letters of the late Colonel Alexander McXutt, which are stiil extant, that the settlers encountered great difh- culty in procuring their grant, and that it was not only different from what they had been led to expect, bnt also much more restrictive in its terms than that of the Township of Truro. The Onslow patent reserves to the Crown ' all mines of gold, silver, lead, copper, and coal," and also ' 1000 acres for the use of a'church, a school, and glebe,' It also differed from the Truro grant, in the manner in which the quit rent was reserved, ' being one farthing per acre in three years,' and in default of payment, the grant was declared to be null and void. It was also sub- ject to forfeiture, if not registered and docketed at the Register's office within six months. It was signed by Lord William C;unpbell. on the 21st inst., audited on the 22nd, and registered on the 23rd of Eebruary, 1769. It would be interesting to ascertain the causes which occasioned this marked difference in the two grants, though perhaps it is now impossible.""^
The first settlement took place about June, 1760: though if Haliburton, and the earHest recorded dates in the Township Book,"
* Halibnrton s History, Vol. I., page 44.
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and in the Book of Records for Deaths, Births, and Marriages for the Town of Onslow " are to be taken for authority on this point, it did not commence till the following year. It is matter of record, however, that the people of both Truro and Onslow applied to the Government for aid in opening up communication with Halifax, on the fifth of August, 1760. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the statement of Mr. Haliburton that " the first British settlers, who came from the Province of Massachusetts, and were of various origin, landed in Onslow in the summer of 1761, to tlie number of thirty families, and brought with them twenty head of horned cattle, eight horses, and seventy sheep," relates to the second instalment of the signers under Scott andKnowlton, who were to settle in May of that year.
By July, 1761, the inhabitants numbered some fifty-two families. They were located at the expense of the province about the end of May of that and the previous year. They immediately set to work to raise corn and roots for their subsistence, but the second year, it is said, a severe drought, followed by an early frost, destroyed the former. They succeeded, however, in raising some corn, but scarce roots sufficient ; and cut hay for their stock. The first two or thiee years the privations tliey experienced were great, and it is matter of tradition that Joel Camp died from starvation, after eating the end of a tallow candle. The days of many were shortened from the hardships they encountered at this early period, and their sufferings would have been far greater had not Government supplied them with corn for food and for planting.
On the 17th of April, 1762, Governor Belcher sent this message to the House of Assembly : —
" From representations to me of the present distressing indigent circumstances of the inhabitants in several new townships, particularly those of Truro, Onslow, and Yarmouth, for want of supplies for pro- visions, and seed corn in the present season for improving their lands, I must earnestly recommend to your immediate examination the state of their necessities, that such relief may be speedily administered as tl;e nature of their compassionate case may in all humanity deserve froni the benevolent interposition of the Legislature, to whom alone their applica- tion must be directed, as there is no other method for their public assistance."
The members of the House having taken the communication into consideration, " Resolved that a message be sent to His Honor in answer thereto, to acquaint him that they find it impossible, by reason of the great load of debt due by the public, more than the present funds will
HISTORY OF THE TOW^'SHIP OF ONSLOW.
43
in anv degree ans^^er, to afford these poor people any present But as there may still remain in the Treasury some part of the old duty money, the Assembly A\-oiild humbly request, that so much thereof as His Honor should think necesssary, may be applied towards this charitable purpose."'
The determination of the Lower Branch having been sent to the Council for concurrence, that Body replied that they could not concur with the Assembly's request to the Governor, as he had expressly declared in his message to both Houses that "there was no other method of relieving the distresses and indigent ciroumstanc-s of the inhabitants of the several new townships but from tlie interposition of the legislature.''"
The House, not disconcerted by the strange action of the Council, resolved to send their reply direct to the Governor, and appointed Jonathan Binnev, member for the town of Halifax, and William yeville Wolsely, member for Onslow, a committer lor that purpose. Those gentlemen shortly afterwarrls reported •• that His Excellency would tc^ke the matter into consideration."
On the twenty-first of April, 1762. Archibald Hinshelwood, member for Lunenburg, by order of the Governor, laid on the table of the House an abstract of the old duty fund, showing abalance of £350 2s. Sd, remain- ing in the treasury, and acquainted the House that " His Honor was willing the same should be applied to the help and assistance of such persons in the new settlements as stood most in need of supplies."'
The House thereupon passed a unanimous resolution agreeing with His Honor in the application of the fund. Tour days later the following commission, for the relief of the inhabitants of Truro and Onslow was o-ranted bv the Governor.
c
"By THE Honorable Jonathan Belcher, Lieutenant Governor, &c., lI-c, cV'C:
Orders and instructions for Eicl\ard rj'ham. Esqiiir^. To'rnsJtip of Onsloir :
You are to acquaint the inhabitants of Truro and Onslow that the corn to be delivered them is to be paid for at the rate of 3 S per bushel, being the cost of the said corn, w-henever the Government shall demand the same.
To dehver corn to those only in real want, and where he suspects those demand who have stock to swear them.
To be as frugal as possible in the distribution, not to deliver more than for one month at a time, allowing not more than one bushel per
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
month to one person over ten years, one bushel for two children under ten years. Those who have stock of their own by no means to be sup- plied. To keep a book of the supphes, taking receipts from the head of family, to whom supply is given, of quantity, which is to be delivered to the Secretary of the Province that it may be accounted for.
To consult with the committee of both towns that you may be the better informed of those truly necessitous, as a quantity of seed wheat and barley will be shipped for the use of the towns. To deliver it to those only who have lands fit for its reception.
25 Aijnl, 1762. J. Belcher."
The order for the corn, given to Mr. Upham, was on Isaac Deschamps. It reads as follows : —
"By the Hon. Jon. Belcher, Esq., Lieut. -Governor, &c., &c.:
You are directed to deliver to Richard Upham, Esq., 1000 bushels of corn to be distributed among the indigent settlers of Onslow and Truro according to the instructions delivered him for that purpose, taking his receipt for the same, or the quantity that may be delivered him at different times till he shall receive the whole."
29 April, 1762. ■ J. Belcher.
To Isaac Deschamps, Esq.
That this timely aid to the Cobequid settlers was urgently required, and did no more than keep them alive, without materially improving their condition, may be inferred from an extract from Governor Montagu- Wihiiot's report of 27th October, 1763, to the Lords of Trade on the state and condition of Xova Scotia : —
" Within the Basin of ^linas, on that branch of it called Cobequid Basin, are the two townships of Truro and Onslow. Onslow has about fifty families. These are the most indigent, as well as the most indolent people in the colony. Several families suffered very severely last winter, and some were famished. If they are not relieved this winter there will be great danger of their starving or quitting the colony. They have but a small proportion of stock to the other inhabitants of the province. Very few people of any substance among them. Five hundred bushels of corn will be scarce sufficient to keep them from starving. If one hundred bushels of wheat for seed were sent them early in the spring, it would in a great measure alter their circumstances."
By this report Onslow was stated to have fifty-two families ; one thousand four hundred acres of dyked marsh land ; one hundred cleared upland ; 98,500 woodland, or a total area of 100,000 acres.
A later report f from the first Governor to visit the townships, gives a more hopeful account of the settlers. Lieutenant-Governor
(a) Murdoch's History, VoL II., page 581.
HISTORY OF THE TO^'NSHIP OF ONSLOW.
45
Marion Arbuthnot, in his letter of 15th August, 1776, to Lord George Germaine about his visit to the Townships of Windsor, Horton, and Cornwallis, to review the volunteer militia in each, under the command of Colonel Francklin, goes on to state : —
" After which I proceeded up Cobequid Bay and landed at London- derry, Onslow, and Truro, three townships inhabited by the otfspring of those Irish emicrrants who first settled Londonderry, m the Massachusetts, Scotchmen and Irish people, who have been brought hither soon after the place began to be settled,— a strong, robust, industrious peop e— bigotted dissenters, and of course great levellers. But, my lord how can it be otherwise, for, to my astonishment, no governor had ever visited these poor people, or sent any person among them, so as to form a iudament of the necessary steps to make those men useful subjects ; but, on the contrarv, they have been left to be the parent of their own works I found full 500 men capable of bearing arms, the finest men m the province, settled on the best land, and the most flourishing, because they are the most industrious."
In striking contrast with the friction that prevails in England on the question of home rule for Ireland, a very significant passage appears in Governor Wilmot's report, which speaks volumes for the great wisdom of the soldier statesman into whose hands were committed the destinies of ^^ova Scotia in a crucial period in its history : —
" Upon application by the settlers from New England for townships to General Lawrence, among other things to induce them to come, this was not the least prevalent, that they should be entitled to the same privileges they enjoyed in the other colonies, and in particular that of being constituted into townships and having officers chosen by the respective towns to legislate their own affairs. This would be essential to establish peace and good order among them, and promote their welfare."
As the early proceedings of a newly organized branch of the body politic are interesting to the descendants of the actors, the records of the first two Town-Meetings are here given entire : —
" Att a meeting of the Propriators of the Township of Onslow Holden at sd. Onslow The 28th day of July, Anno-Dom. 1761, The following Yots ware passed— Capn. Ephraim Hayward chosen Moderator.
,1 Granted unto Capn. Ephraim Hayward, David Hoar, and Jeams AAllson, the Privilege of a Mill-place on a Stream Lying west of sd Wilson's first Devision Lott Next Ajoyingto the sd. Lott : ^ Joyntly and Eaquily to have the above mentioned Mill Place with the pondage and privialages Belonging Thereunto— for the above mentioned Hayward to Build a^'Crist-mill, And for said Wilson and Hoar to Build a Saw Mill.
46
NOVA SOOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Both said Mills to be Built on One Dam against or near above sd. Wilson's House."
Voted 2nd. " That the above mentioned Hayward have his Second Devision Lott Laid out Ajoying East on sd. Mill River Bounded South on the Mash. The same Wedth of the other proprietors.
Voted Sly. That the above Third Division Lott north of his
said Hayward have fifty acres of his Second Devision Ajoyning to To the
" The above mentioned privileges Granted to the above sd. Capn. Ephraim Hayward on Conditions that he Build a Grist Mill in the Place above mentioned With in one year from the Date here of and keep the Same in good Repair for the Term of Seven years."
Voted 41y. That Jeams Wilson's Second Devition Lott be layed out on the East Side of sd. Mill River Bounding on the Same the Same Wedth of the Other Proprietors."
Voted Sly. That David Hoar have his said Second Devision Lott Laid at the East End of the Improvements on the North Side Beginning 20 Rods north of a Little old house, Running West 30 Rods, Running North so far the same Wedth as to make the same quantity of Land With the other proprietors in the Second Division.
Voted 61y. That Jeams Wilson and David Hoar have Three Hun- dred Acres of Land Laid out to Them as part of There Fourth Devision on the River East of said Hoar's Second Devision Lott, not Including any (Improvements or) Improved Land, Said Land to be Laid out in -a Squar form Leaveing highway es Sufficient Through the same."
The above mentioned Priviiidges Granted to tiie above sd. Wilson and Hoar on Condition that they Build a Saw Mill in the Place before mentioned or Granted In three months from the Date, and keep the same in Good Repair for the Term of Seven years, on neglect or failer there said Last Grant is to Forfeit and of none Effect."
Onsloiv, July 2S, 1761. Transcribed by me, Ephm. Hayward, P. Clerlx.
Ephraim Hayward, Moddrator. Joshua Lamb, P. Clerk.
" Onslow, September the 7, 1761. We the Subscribers Petition to Charles Morris, Esq., in Onslow to have a meeting Caled of the proprie- tors of sd. Onslow to Chose a Moddrator. 21y. To Chose a proprietor's Clerk. Sly. To Chose a Committee to take Cair of and Deall out the Stoars to the Inhabitants, and Like Wise to Chuse a Committee to Devide the Mashes and the Improved Lands, and the first Devision of the unimproved Lands, Likewise to Chuse Commissioners to Take Cair about mending the Dykes, and a Comittee to Lay out High Ways and Surveirs to take Cair they are mended or any other necessary business to be done the day apoynted for said meeting ; and to meet at David
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
47
Ciittins, jr., in sd. Onslow, at nine of the Clock on the L5th day of this Instant, September, att nine of the Clock, 1761.
Fetter Richardson, Ephm. Hat ward,
IsAEC AVarner, ^Vm. Blair,
ICHABOD :\IeCH0M, ElIJAH EiTCH,
John Polley, Jeams ^YILS0N,
Thos. Stephens.
The Warrant for calling the Meeting :— " To Mr. Ephraim Hayward, one of the proprietors of Onslow :
Aplycation being made to me that propriators may be Called then and there to act to act on the folowing perticlers :
Eirst. To Chose a Modrator.
21y. To Chose a Propriator s Clerk.
Sly. To Chose a Comittee for Calling Meetings for the future.
41y. To Chuse a Comittee for Distrebuting the Corn.
51y. To Chuse a Committee to Devide the Mash and the Improved Land," and the first Devision of the un Improved Land.
61y. To Request of the Commander-in-Cheff to apoynt Commis- sioners for mending and Repairing the Dykes.
71y. To Lay out High Ways or Roads, and to Chuse a Committee and Surveirs to Clean the Roads. , i .
Sly. To Consider of Things that will be needfull and profitable tor
the propriaty.
These are Therefore to Desiar and Impower you to call a meeting of the said Propriators to meet at the house of Mr. David Cutten, m holder in Onslow, on Monday, the 14th day of September instant, at Xme of the Clock in the fore noon.
Charles Morriss, Onslow Sept 7, 1761. J^^^^^^ Onslow, Sept. 14, 1761. At a meeting of the propriators of Onslow pursuant to a warrant granted by Charles Morriss, Escp, for calling of said meeting, meatt aCording to said arning and Voted :
Eirst. David Cutting, Maddrator.
21y. Ephraim Hayward, Propriators' Clerk,
3lV. Fetter Richardson, ^ -^^^ ^ Committee for CaUing of
41y. John Huett, - ]\ipetings for the future.
51y. Ephm. Hayward, |
61y. Fetter Richardson, ^| -g^ ,^ Committee for R
71y. Elijah Eitch, - Distrebuting the Corn.
Sly. Ephm. Hayward, |
91y. David Cutten, ^ Re a Committee to Devide and
lOly. Elijah Eitch, ^av out the Mashes and Plow
Illy. Wm. Blair, V ^^^^ ^he first Devision of
121y. Joshua Lamb, ^j^^ Improved Lands.
131v. Thos. Stephens, ;
eceivmg
48 NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
141y. Ephm. Hayward, 1 Be a Committee to Request the 151y. IsACC Warner, t Commander-in-Cheff for Commis-
161y. Petter Richardson, J sionar for Repairing the Dikes.
171y. Voted that the Comittee chosen to lay out the Mash and Improved Land and the First Devision of the unimproved Lands be a Committee for Laying out the Highways.
IBly. George Hayward, ]
191y. Jacob Linds, VRe Suerveirs of nigh Ways.
201y. Nathl. Gallop, J
21]y. Voted That Each Propriator owning, one Right have one Hundred acres and a half High or Shair Fifty Acres in the First Devi- sion of un Improved Land.
221y. Voted that the Consideration of the Method of Laying out the Lands be ajorned to Tusday, the 22 Day of this Instant with the other Business Necessary.
Meet According to the Ajornment.
231y. Voted that the 21 Vote Conserning Laying out 100 acres to a Right and 50 acres to a half Right be Reconsidered.
241y. Voted That Each Single Right have Sixty Acres Laid out in the first Devision of the unimproved Lands, and a half Right Thiity acres.
251y. Voted that the Propriators of Each Village Draw There Lotts in the tirst Devision Granted to be Laid out in the foregoing Vote by Them Selves.
261y. Voted tliat The Meeting be Desolved.
David Cutting, Moddrator. Ephm. Hayward, Propr. Clerk.
Transcribed from the original papers by me, Eph. Hayward, P, C, being a true copy>
In this account both the arrangement and the orthography have been retained, and the record, wliich is in the hand writing of Captain Ephraim Hayward, would do credit to the office of a modern attorney.
The settlement was originally held in common by the grantees, who settled different parts under their township rights, and occupied the same for a number of years, without having their lands set off in severalty. On the 8th day of February, 1780, George Thompson applied to the Supreme Court at Halifax for a Writ of Partition of the township on the petition of Samuel Lyons and others. The writ was granted and issued by D. Wood, junior, Dy. Clerk, July 28th, 1780. It was directed to the Provost Marshall of Nova Scotia or his deputy
HISTORY OP THE TOWNSHIP OP ONSLOW.
49
and included the names of the grantees, and settlers, directing that each have forty days notice of division to be made before two justices of the peace on the oaths of twelve men of the county of Halifax, after hearing all of the evidence of ownership of proprietors. The justices who acted were Eliakim Tupper and Doctor John Harris of Truro; and the jury, consisting of : —
Joseph Scott, Dy. Sheriff, Thomas Gourley,
James Fulton, Samuel Wilson,
Alexander Miller, John Oughterson,
James Dunlap, John Logan,
James Archibald, John McKeen,
Adam Boyd, Robert Johnson,
with one or two exceptions were also residents of Truro.
They returned the writ, July 28th, 1783, dividing 51,750 acres into 98J shares among 82 claimants, one being " the Church," and another ''the School."
In Trinity Term, July 20th, 1785, the Supreme Court at Halifax having heard counsel on the Writ of Partition, g^ve judgment to confirm the proceedings thereunder, pursuant to the sherifl''s return, saving only to Alexander McCurdy the possession of that piece of ground called the poundage, claimed under the return of said writ by John Barnhill, and in case it should appear that Alexander McCurdy had a greater proportion of land than he was entitled to, he should assign unto John Barnhill as much unimproved land as in the opinion of three indifferent persons appointed by the court was equivalent to the piece called the poundage reserved to Alexander McCurdy. To make the assignment under this order, the court appointed Lawrence Peppard and Peter McLellan of Londonderry, and Samuel Densmore of Noel.
To the Return a plan of the township, with the divisions made by the jury, was annexed. Copies of the plan and other proceedings were placed in the custody of the late Daniel McCurdy, with whose widow they remained for a number of years. The plan was made in two parts, one containing the marsh lands, the other the upland, which was divided into three large blocks, known as the First, Second, and Third Divisions. The plan of the marsh is still in a fair state of preservation, but a portion of the south-western corner of the upland plan is much mutilated and worn, there being no remnant of that part sufficient to delineate the lands of and surrounding Fort Belcher:
The original grant, neatly engrossed on two skins of parchment ; the upland plan, and the field notes of the jury on the partition of the
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
township, are among the papers in the office of Nathaniel Marsters King, Town Clerk.
On the 31st day of March, 1856, an act passed the legislature entitled " An Act to make certain Records of the Township of Onslow receivable in evidence." There are two sections to this act. The first receives in evidence in any court of law the old copies of the Plans of Partition of the Township then in the possession of the town clerk of Onslow, or so much thereof as is not defaced or obliterated by use. And the second constitutes the old copy of the return of the jury executing the Writ of Partition, then also in possession of the town clerk, a part of the plan, and to be received in evidence as such.
The surveyor who assisted the jury to divide the lands, and survey and make plans of the township under the Writ of Partition, was Robert, second son of Major David Archibald, of Truro. He was a justice of the peace, and afterwards became a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was also a colonel in the militia. In 1787 he removed from Truro to Musquodoboit.
" The Book of Records for Deaths, Births, and Marriages for the Town of Onslow, in the Province of Nova Scotia, Began in, the year of our Lord, 1761." This volume is well bound, though much worn from constant use. It remains in the custody of George F. Crowe, Esq., Central Onslow, a former town clerk, and a gentleman who has held the position of Municipal Councillor for the district.
Among the first births may be cited those of Jess, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Stevens, born July 22nd, 1761 ; Richard, son of Peter and Sarah Richardson, November 26th, 1761 ; and Cloe, daughter of Carpenter and Mary Bradford, January 4th, 1762.
The persons first to enter the bonds of holy matrimony were Captain Ephraim Howard and Sarah Blair, on the 8th of December, 1763 ; Joshua Lamb and Mercy Brooks, September 11th, 1766 ; Samuel Whippie and Jemmima Polly, February 17th, 1767 ; Robert Archibald, and Hannah Blair, April l^nd, 1767 ; and William Whippie and Ruth Hoar, 5th of December, 1771.
At a Town Meeting held on the 13th of September, 1763, of which Richard Upham was Moderator, and Ephraim Hayward, Proprietors^ Clerk, it was voted, " 141y. That the East side of the Island in the Uper Mash be aloued and sequestred for a buring place."
Though the inscriptions on the principal monuments erected in this hallowed resting place of the first EngHsh settlers, are not so quaint as
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
51
one to be found on an Irish limestone, under " a death's head and hour glass and a codfish just taking the hook," in the IVIethodist graveyard at Carbonear, Newfoundland : —
" Expired in 85. The prudent Mary, Dear and only wife of Jemmy Geary, Late of Carboneree. Who awfully the law^s of God did fear. For whose good works Let each who passes — pray fler soul to rest full blest for aye."
Yet a few may be given to keep green the memory of the pioneers of civilization in a once wilderness section of Nova Scotia, which, under their labours, and the enterprise of their descendants, has become one of the finest agricultural districts in the Maritime Provinces.
" Here lies interred the body of William Blair Avho departed this life on the 4th day of August, 1791, aged 75 years."
"Jane Blair Consort of William Blair, Senior, who died on the 8th day of January 1814, in the 91st year of her age,"
" Sacred to Memory of David Archibald 7th late Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th Battalion of the Nova Scotia Militia. He departed this life 25 Nov. 1814 Aged 42 years."
'■ In Memory Captain James Clark, a native of New England District of Maine, wdio was un- fortunately drowned in the Bay of Fundy the 22nd June 1815 in the 55th year of his age, being a freeholder in this Township for 30 years."
" Aaron Crowe, Senior, who departed this life October 30, 1818, Aged 75 years."
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" Joseph McLane Native Lorxdonderry, Ireland died 16 March, 1829 aged 76."
"Thomas Robertson died Jan 26, 1842 aged 69."
" In memory of James King of Onslow who died July the 18th 1848
aged 80 years. He was a native of Dumfrieshire Scotland."
" William Henry King
a senior student of Acadia College, drowned June 7th 1852, in company with Professor Chipman and three students, aged 16 years. He was universally beloved."
In Memory of James McCurdy, Senior died June 6th 1854 aged 88. Agnes Archibald his wife died May 7, 1851 aged 81."
" Erected by Mrs. Sarah
Ann Moran, to the Memory of her Father John Dickson, Esq
who died December 10, 1858 Aged 85 years. Also his wife Lydia Dickson
who died April 29, 1866, aged 89 years."
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
53
" Sacred to Memory of Jenie Gordon the beloved wife of Eev. John I. Baxter who fell asleep in Jesus on the 8th day of June A. D. 1862, in the 54:th year of her age. With permission the Presbyterian Ladies of Onslow have erected this monument as a token of respect."
" Mrs. Simon Kollock died in Truro Sep. 21, 1863 ^ aged 105 years."
Chapter 46, Acts of 1853, entitled " An Act relating to the Onslow Burial Ground," opens the burial island to all classes and denominations of persons, and provides for the appointment of three freeholders at any Town Meeting for voting money for the poor, whose name of office shal be " The Trustees of the Onslow burial ground." Under this Act the . trustees have power to fence, make roads, improve, ornament, and protect the ground, and the inhabitants are authorized at any such meeting to vote and assess the sura they expend on the ground, not exceeding fifty pounds at any one time, to be collected by same means as other monies voted at the meeting, provided twenty days written notice of the amount to be voted for such purpose is posted at four public places in the township.
Chapter 43 of the Acts of 1880, being " An Act to amend the afore- said Act," provides a mode by which persons interested in other burial grounds can be relieved from assessments thereunder.
At a Town Meeting held on the day of Is^ovember, 1853,
David McCurdy, John King, and Silas Clarke, Esquires, were appointed trustees of the burial ground, being the first chosen under the Act of 1853. Those now in office are Silas Morrison, Charles Hill, and John A. Dickson, who will no doubt strive to carry out the intention of the law, and perform the duty imposed upon them by the inhabitants, by placing that beautiful resting place for the dead in the condition that all who feel a sentiment of veneration for the memory of their forefathers must desire to see it. May each consider with Daniel Webster that " the man who feels no sentiment of veneration for the memory of his
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
forefathers ; who has no natural regard for his ancestors, or his kindred, is himself unworthy of kindred regard or remembrance."
By the seventh of August, 1761, the male freeholders over twenty- one years numbered fifty, and were entitled under the order-in-council of 20th May, 1758, to send two representatives to the General Assembly, as well as to vote in the election of twelve for the province. Truro was similarly situated. On the nineteenth of that month Governor Belcher issued warrants for the election of two members for each town- ship. Onslow returned William ^^eville Wolsely of Halifax, and David Cutten, a resident. The former, who remained but a short time in the province, had the honor of being the first sitting member for the town- ship. He attended the sessions of parliament from 17th of March, 1762, to July, 1763. On the 24th of March, 1762, he was chosen one of the five members of the House to confer with a committee of His Majesty's Council, and prepare a bill to regulate trade with the Indians, in furtherance of the Governor's message intimating that a treaty of peace had been concluded between His Majesty's government and the tribes of Indians of every district, and recommending that all reasonable methods should be pursued for preserving the same inviolate. He also acted as one of a committee of two, to intercede with the Governor for the old revenue duty, to aid his own constituents, and destitute settlers of other townships, in April of the same year, as already noticed. His last public act was to wait as one of a committee of two upon His Excellency (Governor Wilmot) 21st July, 1763, to request a recess till the 10th of August in consequence of the Council having replied in the negative to the House's message, " Whether they had any business to lay before the Assembly." Mr. Wolsely was Clerk of the Crown for the province towards the close of the year 1762, and in the former part of 1763. In the summer of this year he went to England on a visit, as it was sup- posed, when James Monk, junior, was allowed to perform his Crown duties till his return. On the 24th of April, 1764, however, Mr. Monk was appointed to the office, on account of Mr. Wolsely's continued absence from the Province, to which, so far as I can discover, he never returned. It appears by the Journals of the House under date of April 3rd, 1764, "That no attendance had ever been given by Mr. Cutten, and that Mr. Wolsely had left Nova Scotia." This statement of fact regarding Mr. Cutten's legislative career is doubtless correct, though it does not accord with the belief entertained by his descendants, who consider him the first member from Cobequid, and speak of his having
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
55
walked to the winter sessions of the House upon snow shoes, with a musket on his shoulder. If Mr. Cutten did not act, it was because he considered that his colleague, Mr. Wolsely, who resided at Halifax, was well qualified to look after the interests of the special constituents of botli : — the people of Onslow ; and he did not deem it necessary that the town should be at the expense of sending him to the Assembly. Members pay of 10/ a day did not begin till 1787. The first representa- tives had to fight the battles of the country at their own costs and charges, or look to the people wdio sent them to parliament for remun- eration.
A Town Meeting held " Pursuant to a Warrant Dated October, 1762, meat and Voted as foloeth : — •
Daniel Knolton, Moderator. Voted ThatLiett. David Cutten have four shillings a Day so long as he waits on The General Court at Halifax as our Representative, and The same to be Raised on the Rights of the proprietors proportionable as soon as he bring his acoumpt attested."
Daniel Knolton, Moddrator.
Ephm. Hayward, Proprs. Clerk.
The right of the Cobequid, and other townships, to two representa- tives apiece, under the order-in-council 20th May, 1758, was only exercised by Onslow in the case of CAitten and Wolsley. Townships soon became too numerous to be allowed such a privilege, and in 1765 an Act passed giving one member to each.
In the election of 1765 James Brenton of Halifax, barrister-at-law^ was returned member for Onslow. He was a young lawyer from Rhode Island, who came to the province at a very early period. He had a brother— the Honorable Jahiel Brenton— who remained in Rhode Island, and was the head of the family in the middle of the last century. He was father of Admiral Sir Jahiel Brenton, Baronet, and of Captain Edward Pelham Brenton, Royal Navy, also of Susannah Brenton, who married Dr. John Halliburton, R. N., father of the late Sir Brenton Halliburton, Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. Sir Jahiel married a lady of
Halifax Miss Stewart— daughter of Anthony Stewart, father of the old
Judge James Stewart who died about 1830.— James Brenton was admitted an attorney of the Supreme Court on the 9th of December, 1760.
By the records of the couit it appears that on the seventh of April, 1762, James Brenton, attorney for Caleb Lincoln, having charged the court with partiality by saying that, " they would not receive a verdict
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
in the cause The King et al. v. Caleb Lincoln unless it was against the defendant, and that there might be verdicts ad infinitum, and that he was not allowed the liberty of other attorneys in the court," whereupon " it was ordered by the court, that Mr. Brenton do make good his charge in a proper place, and that in the meantime he be not su£fered to speak at the bar of this court." On the eighth of the same month, Mr. Brenton appear- ing in court and "making an acknowledgment (of his indiscretion), asked pardon of the court, and prayed that the suspension might be taken off." The court " ordered that it be taken off accordingly."
On the 3 1st of October, 1778, Mr. Brenton was appointed Solicitor- General, and on the 12th day of same month in the following year, he was sworn in Attorney-General. He held this office until the 8th of December, 1781, when he was raised'to the Supreme Court Bench, vice assistant Judge Morris, deceased.
His conduct as a judge was brought in question in the House of Assembly, the 28th of A^vember, 1787, by Major Millege, member for Digby, who made a motion which led to his impeachment along with Chief Justice Deschamp, on charges preferred by three' attornies named Sterns, Taylor, and Wood. For having written in the newspapers about the charges Sterns and Taylor were disrobed by order of the Chief Justice on the first of April, 1788. The impeachment on thirteen articles took place in 1790, Murdoch says that : —
" Some persons deemed the attack on the judges as an unfriendly, if not a cruel act, to deprive men of their bread in the decline of life — men who could not live many years longer — men who had large families to struggle for, and who had served the public in difficult offices for many years, on charges of, at most, errors of judgment on one or two trifling occasions." He refers to them as " two old gentlemen, both highly respected and eminently loyal — and Deschamp having long been identi- fied with the colony, and Brenton, formerly secretary to the Royal Commission at Rhode Island to inquire into the destruction of the vessels of war by the disaffected."
A contemporaneous writer treats the charges as futile. The judges remained under the odium of this affair till 1792, when they were acquitted by an order of the Privy Council.
In 1770 Joshua Lamb was returned member for Onslow. Mr. Lamb was among the first settlers, and a grantee of the township. He resided on the farm now occupied by Augustus McCurdy. He was the first Registrar of Deeds for the county, and kept the office in Onslow from March 2nd, 1770, to 1777. - On the 17th of May, 1771, he was
HISTORY OP THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
57
commissioned a justice of the peace for the townships of Onslow, Truro, and Londonderry. He married Mercy Brooks, (not Mary, as stated by Thomas -Miller in his invaluable Genealogical Record) September 11th, 1766, by whom he had three sons and two daughters in Onslow : —
^ - , / Born, 29th April, 1767.
^^^^^ ■•' ] Died, 7th June, 1775.
Huldah Born, 25th July, 1 769.
Joshua " 13th June, 1771.
Sarah " 27th IS^ov., 1773.
John " 7th June, 1776.
On the 10th of December, 1774, Mr. Lamb's seat was declared vacant for non-attendance for several sessions, and offering no apology to the House for his absence. In 1777 he sold his property and removed to New England. A year or two before taking his final departure he visited Machias, Maine, and had the honor of having his name men- tioned as "Esq. Lamb, who last evening arrived here in a boat from Cobequid in Nova Scotia," in a letter from that extremely enthusiastic and erratic individual, the Rev. James Lyon, to the Honorable Council of the State of Massachusetts Bay. This letter was written in Mr. Lyon's usually extravagant and anti-British style. Among other things it sug- gested the propriety of allowing all who came from Nova Scotia to enlist in the companies of the State, to show their loyalty to the Amercan cause, and strongly recommended the council to raise and commission a corps to take Nova Scotia, and reap the benefit for the State that would attach to such an undertaking. Mr. Lyon's letter also stated : " Enclosed I send your Honors a copy of a Summons from the High Sheriff of Nova Scotia to Mr. Adams Johnson of Cobequid, requiring him to take the oath of allegiance to the British Tyrant, by which may be seen the manner in which they use those who are friendly to the American cause in that Province."
As one of our earliest public men, and the first resident member who sat for Onslow, it w^ould be interesting to know what became of Joshua Lamb in the United States, and how his descendants have fared in that great country. I have, however, been unable to ascertain anything further than that he lived to a ripe old age. On the 9th of May, 1800, his name along with those of David Gay and Martin Brooks, all grantees of the township who had leit the province, and that of the notorious Adams Johnson, were reported to the Massachusetts House of Represen- tatives, among 70 refugees from Canada and Nova Scotia, who had presented claims as entitled to relief under the provisions of the Act of
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NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
April, 1798. To Lamb, Brooks and Gay were allotted 960 acres; and the sacrifices of Johnson in decamping from Cobequid to evade the consequences of the Sheriif's writ, as well as for his great devotion to the cause of the Rebellion, were recompensed with 320.
In 1777 Charles Dickson was returned member for Onslow. Having presented himself to take his seat the 11th of June of that year, the House, by resolution, excluded him, declaring that by the refusal of the people to take the oath of allegiance they had forfeited their right to representation in the Assembly. Thirty-nine persons, being all who were asked in Onslow, had refused to take the oath before John Cunningham and George Pyke, Esquires, two Halifax Justices sent by Government to administer it to the people of the townships in Cobequid. In consequence of this refusal the townships were disfranchised for a short period. At every election from 1777 to 1793 Charles Dickson was returned for Onslow. He was born in New England, and was son of that Charles Dickson of Horton, for whom William Nisbett memorialised Governor Wilmot in 1765 for a free grant on the north side of the Basin of Minas. The memorial states that Dickson had charge of a company under General Moncton at the taking of Beau Sejour, and was at consid- erable expense in raising men for that and other services during the war, as appears from his commissions ; and shows by affidavit made by him before William Smith, a Halifax J. P., December 23rd, 1767, that he had received no grant. "'^
After the war Charles Dickson, Senior, gave up his business in Xew England and settled in Horton, from which place his son removed to Onslow about the year 1771.
* As the descendants of Lieutenant Thomas Dickson of Cumberland, and some others, have started a contention that he is entitled to the honor of being the Dickson who was an actor at Beau Sejour, a letter from late Governor Sir Adams Archibald, whose widow is a grand-daughter of Charles Dickson of Onslow, is given as a foot note, as it throws some light upon a matter about which a difference of opinion appears to exist.
" Government House, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Feb. 21, 1881.
My dear Longworth,
In reference to your note of the 10th instant about Charles Dickson, I think you are right about the family but mistaken as to the person.
The Charles Dickson, Esq., of Horton, for whom Mr. Nesbitt interested himself, must have been the father of Charles Dickson of Onslow.
In the memorial to Govr. Wilmot, drawn by Mr. Nesbitt, it is stated as the ground work of the cla,im that the memorialist had incurred expense in getting up a company and serving at the taking of Beau Sejour.
This must have been in 1755. Mr. Charles Dickson of Onslow would appear at that time to have been only nine years old. In 1796, when he died, he was in his 50th year. He must have been born in 1746 and was a boy of nine at the siege of Beau Sejour.
But there can be no doubt, I think, that our Charles Dickson was the son of that Charles. His father probably had come in from the Old Colonies when the French
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF OXSLOW.
59
Here for several years he conducted an extensive mercantile business, farmed on a large scale, built vessels on either side of the Bay, became a large laud owner in both townships, and was the most influential business man of his day. Some of his vessels were chartered by the government in 1792 in the deportation of the Maroons from ^ova Scotia to Sierra Leone.
The last vessel Mr. Dickson built was a barque cf 500 tons. She was launched full rigged, and full of people, from his ship yard, now better known as part of the upland farm of the late John Bishop, now owned by John Dixon, Esq., near the Board Landing Bridge, and in front of which a large flat of splendid marsh has since been reclaimed from the Bay. AVhile the vessel was gliding off her ways Tom Cotter, a well known piper of the period, discoursed appropriate music from the top of the cross trees of the main mast. On reaching the water, for want of sufficient ballast, she upset. Cottar's pipes were put out and all on board got a great scare and a good ducking, to the consternation of the spectators on shore, Mho beheved that a fearful catastrophe had happened, but were soon relieved to know that no more serious accident had taken place than the injury sustained by the ship. In the language of a would-be moralist of the day, If ^cas the Lord's mercy that they were not all J^iUed and droinyled tooP This occurrence was witnessed by voting and old for miles around, a launch in those days being a great event, and it proved an interesting topic of conversation in the settlement for many subsequent years.
Mr. Dickson was Registrar of Deeds for Colchester from 1777 to 1796. On September 16th, 1780, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace for the Districts of Colchester and Pictou, in the County of Halifax. In 1772 he married Amelia Bishop of Horton, who bore him
^vere aboTLt to be expelled, and after that event settled at Horton and applied tor his land which, it seems, was never eranted. But having asked for it on the north side of the Ba-in of Minas he would seeni to be directine his attention towards the part or the coast on which, ithousrh much further up the Bay.* our Charles Dickson evenuially settled. I see "Miller" savs our Onslow Charles came to >ova .-fcotia wnen he was very vouns. It could not therefore be that he had carried on bu-mess in tne Old Colonies. But if vou suppose the father did and then removed to Horton. settled and traded there, brought up a family, of whom one was Charles Dickson, the whole thing is cleared of difficulty.
The Record- of Deeds in the County of Kings would show the facts.
Old 3Irs. Soley of Lower Villa-ge. who was a Hamilton, will probably know all about what took place within a mile or two of her residence.
Peter Hamilton and Z^tr. Bulmer both beheve my solution to be the correct one.
Believe me.
Dear Longworth.
Yours truly. ^ ^
A. G. ARCHIBALD.
I. LoxGwoRTH, Esq.
60
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
a large family of sons and daughters. The girls were handsome and married well. Abigail married Andrew Wallace of Halifax, February 27th, 1798, and after his decease became the wife of Robert Lowden of Merigomish. Mary married Doctor John Murray Upham, son of Judge Upham of New Brunswick, in 1803. Olivia married Colonel David Archibald, 7th, father of the late Hon. Thomas Dickson Archibald, Senator, Feb. 5th, 1801; and after his death, John Henderson; Elizabeth married ISTova Scotia's greatest commoner, Samuel George William Archibald, 16th of March, 1802 ; and Lavinia, who was noted for her beauty among the fairest daughters of Nova Scotia in the days of Lord Dalhousie, married April 27th, 1823, the Reverend John Burnyeat, of Loweswater, England, the first clergyman of the Church of England stationed at Truro, and father of Lady Archibald of Truro.
The sons were also good looking, tall, and of fine commanding presence. Three of them at least were colonels in the militia. They inherited much of the military bearing and spirit of their grandfather, Charles Dickson of Fort Beau Sejour fame. It is also worthy of remark that these brothers, Robert, William and Thomas, were members of the House of Assembly at the same time, along with their brother-in-law, the Hon. S. G. W. Archibald, which made them men of great influence.
In 1796 Mr. Dickson visited the West Indies in one of his vessels. On his return he died of yellow fever at Halifax. At this time the highway from Onslow to the metropolis was in such a primitive state that it took Mrs. Dickson, on horse back, three days to get there. Her husband died soon after her arrival. His remains were interred in the cemetery opposite Government House. A stone is erected at his grave in the north-west corner of the ground, bearing the following inscription :
"Here lyeth the body of Charles Dickson, Esq., who died Sept. 3rd, 1796, in the 50th year of his age. He lived Respected and died Lamented."
In 1799 Daniel McCnrdy, son of Alexander and Janet McCurdy, who emigrated from the north of Ireland, and were among the first settlers of the township of Londonderry, was returned for Onslow. He was born at Londonderry 1st of April, 1768, and while quite young removed with his parents to Onslow. His brother James, who married Agnes, second daughter of Matthew and Janet Archibald, according to "Thomas Miller," had a remarkable family, — seven sons and seven daughters, — all of whom grew up, married, and had families. Two of
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
61
the sons were ministers of the Gospel ; and all of the others, one being the Honorable David McCurdy, M. L. C, were Elders of the Presby. terian Church. The good moral fibres which constituted the warp and woof in the life of the old members of this family appear to have been inherited from their ancestor, Daniel McCurdy, of Belljhelly, Ireland, which may be inferred from the religious tone running through a long letter from him, dated May 24th, 1763, written to his children Alexander and Peggy McCurdy, who had, two or three years previously, emigrated to America, which letter is preserved as an heir-loom in the family of Hon. David McCurdy, at Baddeck, C. B.f Daniel McCurdy
t " Bellyhelly, May 2h, 1763.
My Dr Childn.
I Reed Two letters from you last year wch was great pleasure to us and all friendsto hear from you & more so as you let us know of yr Being so happily fixed in a Coutry where I Believe rnost of yr Countrymen has left it. land family is purty well. I myself Enjoy but a Very Indifferent state of health, But still has Reason to be Thankfull to Di^^ne providence for all his great Mercies to me.
Dr son I find in yr letters that you &
pegey is both Living in a Gentleman's
farm &I believe by your accts that you
will both do very well. I pray God to grant
his Blessing with yr Endeavours.
yr Complain of not hearing from me
since you Left this, but be assured I sent
you Two letters last year & yr Cousin
James McElheron wrote to you likewise
and got no Answer of any of them. Dr
son you write to me Briefly to Come to
you but I am so much failed I Cannot
think of Coming But begs yonl Miss
of no Oppty in writing to me as its
the Chief pleasure I have in hearing
from you Both. Our Markets here
has been very smart. Oatmeal is at 2s.
& Everything in Proportion."
Turn Over. " Your Uncle patk & Aunt Moly & Aunt Elizth & all Eriends in Derry is well & Desires to be Rembrd to you. Yr Cousin James & Molley & Cousin Archd & wife are all well and Desires in Love to be Rembrd to you Both. Ann McColom & Sister Desires to be Rembrd to you & Ann has bound her son in Coleraine to be a Dyster. Old David Miller was not pleased you Did not Mention him in yr letter. Jams Miller DiedLast Winter & Tell pegey that Willm Moore her Lover is Dead also. My dear Childn I beg youl be mindfull of yr Duty & always be Mindfull of yr great & Bountiful! Creator in the Days of youth. Yr Mother Joyns me in Blessing to you Both yr Two little Brothers are Both well— all Neighbrs is well & Desires to be Rembrd to you wch is all at at prest from yr affte father.
DAVID McCURDEY.
To Alexander & Peggy McCurdy America.
62
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
married Eunice Wright, 4th of August, 1792. They had four sons and seven daughters. He died on the ISth July, 1815.
In 1806 Nathaniel Marsters was elected to represent the township, and he was returned for a second term in 1811. He was born in Massachusetts, June 6th, 1758. His father, Jonathan Marsters, and his uncle, Abraham, with their families, removed to Falmouth, Nova Scotia, in 1760 He shared largely in the trials and vicissitudes of a new country. He lived with his father, who was a farmer, until he was about 26 years old, when he came to Onslow, where he married Sarah^ daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Upham, 5th of July, 1787, by whom he had two sons. One of these— Richard Upham Marsters — ■ became a skillful watchmaker. He invented an improvement on the chronometer, with which he went to England and presented it to the British Government. In about two years and a half after marriage Mr. Marsters wife died. He remained a widower for nine years, and on 5th of November, 1798, married Lydia, daughter of Thomas Lynds, by whom he had two sons and a daughter. One of the sons died young. The other — Jonathan Marsters — studied law, and was afterwards Judge of the Court of Probate for Colchester. His second wife died in 1830. Mr. Marsters was an active magistrate for upwards of thirty years. On the fourteenth of February, 1820, he was appointed Coroner for the District of Colchester, in place of Matthew Archibald, deceased, had a seat in the legislature for twelve years, and was for some time Registrar of Deeds. Though he was not what is termed an educated man, yet, possessing a vigorous mind, he ro ewitli the improvements of the day, and perhaps for penetration of thought, ripeness of judgment, and whole- some counsel, he far exceeded many of superior advantages in literature. In 1790 he first became acquainted with the late Reverend Joseph Dimock. Mr. Marsters, then a widower, had been on a visit to Falmouth to see his parents and friends. In passing through Newport on his return, he made a statement in presence of Mr. Dimock, of the situation of Onslow, as it regarded the ministration of the Gospel, and dwelt on the effect produced by the preaching of Reverends Messieurs John Payzant, Harris Harding and Edward Manning. He urged the want of experimental preaching, and invited Mr. Dimock very strongly to accompany him home, which he did. Mr. Dimock had then been preaching some six or eight weeks. They made their way through newly cultivated farms and lonely deserts on foot, and in two days arrived at Onslow. The Reverend Henry Alline of New Light fame,
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF OXSLOW,
63
preached at this time in several parts of the province. Many opposed and ridiculed the cause of God, especially in the village where Mr, Marsters lived, and any one who appeared serious and attended Mr. ^lline's preaching was branded as a ^"^ew Light. What between the fear of losing his name or losing his soul, the conflict was very sharp, and Mr. Marsters often went to meeting by a back road through ihe woods to escape observation. In 1794 he was a member of the mixed communion body then called ISew Light, and clerk of the church. Mr. Dimock saw him again in the autumn before his death, and thus renewed an acquaintance of over fifty-two years standing, and was present twelve hours before he died. He preached his funeral sermon, on which occasion the Eevd. John I. Baxter made the closing prayer. This period, and doubtless many circumstances in the life of the deceased, will recur to the old inhabitants on hearing the inscription on the stone at his grave in the Onslow Cemetery : .
In Memory of ISTathaniel Marsters, Esq.,
who died 'July 19, 1843, Ae 85 years. He was for fifteen
years a member of the House of As- sembly, and for up- wards of thirty ye:.:- :-. M:u^istratc a:- ,1 L :i -'iie-r for the Couuty.
" Faith led Mm on the pilgrim's road And thus he made Ms way to God From death's strong bands Ms spirit tied To dwell with Christ his loving head."'
This monument, was erected by his only daughter, Sarah Ann King.
In 1818 Eoteit Dickson, son of Charles, was the member returned. He was not in the next General Assembly. The seat was taken by John Crowe, who sat for four years from 1826, but was not returned again till 1843, of whom reference is omitted for the present, to give some account of the men who held the position during the interval, and whom Mr. Crowe succeeded as the last township representative.
64
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
In 1830 when the Brandy Election, so called, took place, the Archibald and Dickson influence proved too strong for Mr. Crowe, and Robert Dickson was again elected. Besides being representative, he w^as a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner of Sewers, Colonel of the Militia, and last, though not least, an extensive farmer. He married Lavinia DeWolf of Horton in 1798, who bore him seven sons and three daughters. He was born in the lownship July 8th, 1777, and died there Novr., 1836. He is the same person referred to in "Sabine's Loyalists" as " having settled in Nova Scotia, where he became a member of the House of Assembly and a Magistrate for the District of Colchester, whose death occurred in 1835." This notice, no doubt, was intended for his father, Charles Dickson, who died in 1796.
In 1836 Alexander McCurdy Upham, son of Luke 2nd, son of Nathaniel, who was the son of Richard Upham, Esq., the first person named in the township grant, was returned member for Onslow. Jle was a farmer, merchant and ship-builder. His residence and place of business was at Lower North River, on the property subsequently owned and occupied by the Rev. John 1. Jjaxter. On the 2oth June, 1826, Mr. Upham married Mary Cutten, by whom he had nine children. His eldest son, Henry M., born 11th of July, 1827, now a resident of Drayton, Walsh County, Dakota, U. S. A., is remembered as the first Inspector of Schools for the County of Colchester, under the Free School System of Education in Nova Scotia.
The session of 1839 opened on the 10th of January. On the 30th of March, the House was notified that Alexander L. Archibald and Alexander McC. U[)ham, two of the members, were absent without leave, and had returned to their respective homes at Truro and Onslow. The Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms was ordered to go to their lodgings and ascertain the facts. On his report the Speaker informed the House that Mr Archibald had returned home on the 26th instant, and Mr. Upham on the 29th, and had since been absent. Whereupon Honorable Mr. Uniacke " moved, that the twentieth standing Order, b}^ which the members had subjected themselves to the censure of the House and had forfeited their pay for the session, be acted upon ; and Kesolved, that the Speaker sign no pay ticket for either, and that both remain under the censure of the House," which being secondeJ, Honorable Mr. De Wolf "moved an amendment not to interfere with the pay of the members, but to leave them subject to the censure of the House until they made a suitable apology before taking their seats next session." The amendment was lost and the original motion carried 19 to 10.
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OP ONSLOW.
65
Besides filling the positions stated, with a fair amount of success, Mr. Upham was a deacon in the Onslow Baptist church for several years, and towards the close of his life he engaged in ship-building. Though a person of few words, and not given to debating, he was possessed of superior judgment for the advantages he enjoyed, and was looked up to as one of the best members of society.
His unexpected death, on the 10th August, 1841, at the early age of 39 years and 36 days, was long regretted by a large circle of relations and friends, as well as by the community in which he had passed a short, though by no means an inactive, nor an unimportant life.
To complete the list of township members we have only to add the name of John Crowe, already mentioned, who was the third son of John and Elizabeth Crowe, born at Onslow, August seventh, 1784. His father was one of six brothers, who with their father, James Crowe, senior, and sister Margaret, emigrated from Londonderry, Ireland, in the ship Hopeivell, about the year 1761. They first settled at Windsor, from which place the brothers John and Aaron removed to Onslow. His mother, the eldest daughter of David Marshall and Sydney Holmes, was born in England in 1752.
Mr. Crowe went to sea several years while young, and afterwards became a successful farmer on the fine property now owned by his son George F. On the 7th of April, 1818, he married Agnes, daughter of WilHam McNutt and Isabella Dickson. They had six sons and two daughters. The eldest son, James Nicholas, is a farmer at Old Barns, a county magistrate, a commissioner of schools for the district of Colchester, and has held the office of municipal councillor for the important district of Lower Village of Truro and Old Barns. John is a carpenter at Chicago, Illinois ; Robie a miner at George Town, Colorado ; George F. farms on the old homestead, is a justice of the peace, and an ex-municipal councillor for his district ; while Homer, the youngest, is a practicing physician at Folly Village, in the township of Londonderry.
Mr. Crowe was first sent to the Assembly in 1826. In 1830, when the province was convulsed from the loss of revenue resulting from want of a proper understanding between the Upper and Lower ^ House relative to the duty to be imposed on brandy, notwithstanding Mr. Crowe took the popular side of the question, he found the Archibald and Dickson influence too strongly in favour of the late member for him to be re-elected that year. Circumstances, however^ 5
66
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
transpired which led to his being returned for a second term in 1843. Before the election of that year a public meeting was held in the church at Onslow to hear Joseph Howe and others speak on the great educa- tional question then agitating this province. At eleven o'clock a. m. on Monday, the 9th of October, Mr. Howe entered the church accompanied by George R. Young, James F. Gray, William Annand, and others, and took their seats at a table in ,the middle aisle in front of the pulpit. The sheriff, Charles Blanchard, Esq., then read the requisition addressed to him, signed by a number of persons, authorizing him to call the meeting. Mr. John King, of Onslow, was proposed as chairman, and simultaneously the Sheriff was named, and to save a contest on the question of the chair, the friends of Mr. King waived their objection to Mr. Blanchard, and chose Mr. King as vice-chairman, when both took their seats as moderators of the meeting. The business of the day com- menced by Isaac Logair, Esq., reading several resolutions and a speech favoring one college in Halifax, which Avas seconded by Isaac McCurdy, Esq. They were followed by G. W. McLellan, Esq., M. P. P. for Londonderry, who spoke at some length, giving his own views on the subject. On resuming his seat, Mr. John Ross moved several resolutions in amendment of the others. They maintained denominational colleges at Horton and Pictou, and proposed to concede to Mr. Howe's party to unite with the Catholics to found one in Halifax. Mr. Ross' speech contained a number of sallies and home thrusts of a political character, some of which were rather personal to Mr. Howe. E. F. Munro, Esq., seconded the amendment very forcibly, but at less length, Robert Chambers, Esq., next spoke, and adverted to the dispute of Mr. Howe with the editor of the Christian Messenger as the source of the present attack on their institution at Horton. He was followed by Mr. McLeod, a teacher in Onslow, and a student of Pictou Academy, who in a neat and able speech showed the beneficial effects of such institu- tions by contrasting the sort of teachers whfch he remembered in the neighbourhood where his youth was spent, with those which followed after the Pictou Academy began its influence. Mr. McLellan, an aged gentleman, the father of G. W. McLellan, M. P. P., made some remarks on the unhtness of a college in Halifax to benefit the country.
The Hon. Mr. Howe then rose. He spoke over two hours. His , speech w^as chiefly a reply to Mr. Ross and Mr, Munro, and abounded in humorous comments. He charged the fall of Pictou Academy, not to the spirit of animosity between sects, but to the tory party in Hahfax
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
67
and the country. Should it be admitted he had a bias against the Baptists, he asked what bias could Huntington, McLellan, Annand, or Stairs be supposed to have 1 He charged the commencement of these public agitations to the meetings of the Baptist Education Societ3\ Four Secretaries of State, he said, had sanctioned the expedient of one college — and that the Attorney General, in a printed protest, had formerly maintained that position.
Mr. Howe then proceeded to argue against the expense and exposure to immoral influences of a town education, and urged many things he considered advantages — said they only required £800., which would enable them to start with seven or eight professors, — alluded to an address which he said was signed by hundreds of Baptists at Yarmouth, praying Mr. Huntington to become again their representative, and was very confident that more petitions would be signed throughout the province in favor of the proposed plan of a metropolitan college, and against the denominational system, than were ever signed in its favor.
Immediately on closing, the Rev. Edmund Crawley, whose jDreseiice was a great surprise to the requisitionists, addressed the meeting. He said he was a man of peace, and saw no reason why the subject should not be peaceably discussed, but that he must acknowledge he was astonished when he entered the meeting, and previously, to perceive the strong excitement that existed, and especially to perceive that so many of the Presbyterians, and as he was informed, all or most of the clergy who so late as last session of the Legislature were in favor of denomina- tional colleges, and signed petitions to that effect, — nay, five of whom only two years ago signed the petition in favour of Acadia College, were now for destroying that institution, and their own Pictou Academy, and joining in with Mr. Howe for a metropolitan college. What, asked the reverend speaker, can have so rapidly changed the spirit so long cherished by the Presbyterian body, and sanctioned so many years by the name and efforts of the departed and venerated McCulloch ?
Mr. Crawley then showed that Mr. Howe, at the late college meeting at HaHfax, divided the income of the Windsor College by three instead of fifteen, the average number of students, so as to make it appear the expense of a student to the public was the enormous sum of £440 a year, thereby producing the most erroneous impression on the minds of the plain people among whom these miscalculations circulate. That Mr. Howe had thrown in £5000 which his own data excluded, and had also kept out of sight that a large academy, averaging at least forty
68
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
scholars, often having had fifty, sixty, and seventy students, had always been maintained at Windsor out of the money given by the province, while Mr. Howe's calculations went on the ground that all was expended on but three students a year.
Mr. Crawley showed also that the Hon. Mr. Bell had stated that nearly half the money given for education by the province was expended on the eighty youths said to be at college, together with five or six hundred lads now receiving their education in the various county academies.
Mr. Crawley also stated that Mr. Young had made it appear that Acadia College had received from the provincial treasury £5000 and still it wanted more.
Mr. Young rose to explain that he did not mean this. Mr. Crawley insisted that his words bore such a meaning, and read the paragraph from the report of Mr. Young's speech.
Notwithstanding all this miscalculation, and misinformation, con- tinued the reverend gentleman, I have been charged with insulting the House for daring to say they were misinformed on this subject, and therefore not suitable persons to pass the unripe and hurried measure carried during the last session. He denounced strongly this endeavour to frighten the people out of freedom of speech, and with great animation and earnestness claimed on behalf of the people of Nova Scotia, the same latitude of remark on the proceedings of their repre- sentatives, as was acknowledged in the Mother Country to be the birthright of Englishmen,— the same that Wilberforce, Clarkson, and their band of fellow philanthropists used when opposing the slavery of the sons of Africa, and must necessarily be used by every minority, however small, that sought to repel measures they deemed unjust.
Mr. Crawley then dwelt upon the unfitness of a metropolitan college for the country, and when he spoke of the influence of fashion- able habits, on the expensiveness of a town education, and the danger of immoral influences, the uncommon stillness of the assembly showed that the remarks met a very general response in the judgment of his hearers.
Mr. Crawley then proceeded to point out the political bearing of the college question. The proposed system of one college withdrew higher learning from the country, and thereby tended to deprive the people of that cultivation and mental power which is essential to the maintenance
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
69
of their liberties— whilst it placed all these advantages in the capital amongst the already powerful and the wealthy.
He closed l\v calling on the people to observe tlie true cliaracter of the plans proposed for their support, and to repel the threatened danger, for so surely as they allowed these measures to be ripened, and to operate as their contrivers seemed to design, the liberties of Xova Scotians were gone forever.
The vote of the meeting was taken by the people forming in two companies, east and west of the chiircli door, till counted. The majority appeared obviously for country culleges. They afterwards formed on either side of the road. The sheriff passed through the double line, and declared tlie number to be 150 for the country, 170 for the town. ^Ir. King also passed through the lines, and declared the number to be for the country, 202, for the town, IGl. making a majority of 41 in favor of denominational colleges. The sheriff subseqitently conceded his mistake, and the majority stood as found by the vice-chairman.
Had the slierilf been right in his first count, it might appear that Mr. King had counted John Crowe for a large number, and thus followed a precedent set by Lord Grey as a teller in the House of Lords, on the passage of the " Habeas Corpus Act.^" If the precedent were to hold good, he might well have done so, for John Crowe was such a man as might have given a famous statute to England. He was a man of the finest physique, large and well proportioned, standing about six feet four inches in his boots.
By a note to Blackstone's Commentary. A^ol. III., page 135, it appears that "Bishop Burnet relates a circumstance respecting the ' Habeas Corpus Act." which is more curious than credible : but though we cannot be induced to suppose that this important statute was obtained by a jest and a fraud, yet the story proves that a very formid- able opposition was made to it at that time."'" It was carried (says he) by an odd artifice in the House of Lords. Lord Grey and Lord Xorris were named to be tellers. Lord Xorris being a man of vapours was not at all times attentive to what he was doing, so a very fat lord coming in. Lord Grey counted him ten as a jest at first, but seeing Lord Xorris had not observed it, he went on with this misreckoning of ten, so it was reported to the House, and declared that they who were for the bill were the majority, though it indeed went on the other side : and by this means the bill passed." (1 Bs. His. Ch. 11.— iS5).
f
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" In the Oxford edition of Burnet's History, there is the following note by Speaker Onslow " : " See minute book of the House of Lords with regard to this bill, and compare there the number of lords that day in the house with the number reported to be in the division, which iigrees with the story."
Although John Crowe was a staunch Presbyterian he took the side of denominational colleges, and standing on a hummock when counted with the majority, he was the most noticeable man in the crowd. This circumstance, it is said, led to his being elected a second time in 1843, and in 1847, the last time the people of the township were privileged to have a representative, for a third term. The strong friends Mr. Crowe made by the stand he took on the educational question claimed that they would have returned him to parliament for Onslow as long as he was able to stand up and put a hat on his head, had not the township deen disfranchised ; while Mr. Crowe himself asserted that his opponents could not unseat him and resorted to the expedient of turning him out of the House by an Act of Parliament. He sat till 1851 when township representation was done away with.
Mr. Crowe was always a conspicuous figure in any public gathering, while his quiet disposition, and the easy manners he acquired in follow- ing the sea, coupled with the large fund of information he possessed concerning the early setthrs, and the great common sense he manifested in the affairs of every day life, made him an agreeable companion to all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.
The closing sentence of the inscription on a chaste freestone monument recently erected in the Onslow cemetery gives a truthful account of the Hfe and character of this worthy member of a former generation, who was the last successor of Wolsley in the representation of the township.
" Our Father, John Crowe
died Aug, 30, 1878 Aged 96 years. For many years a member of the Legislature for the Township of Onslow.
He died as he lived — a prudent upright man."
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ONSLOW.
71
And now Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, the lateness of the hour and the already too great length of this paper, to which I must thank you for having given such a patient hearing, precludes the possi- bility, even if it was thought desirable to do so, of giving further details necessary to complete the history of the first to be laid out and settled, and originally, for a considerable period, occupying the unique position of the shi^e township of the District of Cobequid, the present County of Colchester. These must be left for another chapter, and a more conven- ient season, or better still, for some one else to furnish who can do greater justice to the view propounded by Matthew Arnold, so far as it elates to everything of importance in the history of Onslow.
" The harvest gathered in the fields of the past is to be brought home for the use of the present."
RICHARD JOHN UNIACKE.
^ SKETCH. BY HON. L. G. POWER.
Read hefore the Society, 15th January, 1891.
INTRODUCTORY.
YOUTH looks forward with hope, age looks backward, sometimes with regret, and rarely with unmixed satisfaction, and middle life busies itself as a rule with active work, looking not very much before or after. The atmosphere of a society such as ours should therefore be more congenial to those whose footsteps are on the down-hill slope of life, than to younger men, and so it is ; but the man or the people who ifinore the lessons of experience, of " philosophy teaching by examples," will have to try to clamber out of many pitfalls which might have been avoided. . Hence history, particularly the history of our own country, should be, and in Xova Scotia is taught to children during their early years. The future of youth and the surroundings of middle age can be seen and understood more clearly by faculties trained in the school of the past : the " foot-prints on the sands of time " made by those who have gone before, are often useful guides for the traveller of to-day. A generation forgetful of the doings of its ancestors, is not itself likely to make much history that will be read with satisfaction by those who come after. Therefore we should treasure the memories of those dead, who in their day did good service to their country. As Mr. Howe says, in one of his most impressive poems : —
" If fitly you'd aspire, Honor the dead ; and let the sounding lyre Recount their virtues in your festal hours : Gather their ashes : higher still, and higher Nourish the patriot flame that history dowers, ^ . ^ ^ And, o'er the old men's graves, go strew your choicest tiowers.
• Upon the narrow stage of our Nova Scotian history, some men have played their parts who, in a larger sphere, might have won the attention of the whole English-speaking world ; and they have had rivals and
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followers who, in ability and influence upon their times, were separated from them by comparatively small intervals. Some of those by-gone men are well known, their names are on every lip ; some are known to students through memoirs and similar records ; and the names of others have almost passed into that sea of oblivion which flows over the life stories of most of Adam's children, I do not know any work in which the members of the Historical Society can engage, more appropriate than that of trying to rescue from this impending fate, the names of our provin- cial worthies. My paper to-night is a humble and imperfect attempt to do this for one who for many years filled a large space in the eyes of most JSTova Scotians, but who has now passed almost out of sight. The indepen- dent existence of Nova Scotia may be said to extend from about 1775, when her direct connection with New England ceased, to 1867, when her individuality became merged in the Confederation. Those four score and twelve years are covered by the lives ol three men, Richard John Uniacke, Samuel G. W. Archibald and Joseph Howe. Their lives overlapped one another ; nay, the " old Attorney General," as Uniacke was called in his later years, lived to see Howe in his early prime ; but yet the period of greatest activity of each liad closed when that of his successor began. Archibald entered the House of Assembly nt the opening of the session of 1806, Uniacke having ceased to be a member at the close of that which preceded ; and, when Howe was Hrst returned in 1837, Archibald's work in the chambei' where he had ?o long been almost without a rival, was practically ended.
The principal events in Mr. Howe's life, and his most striking char, acteristics, are fairly well known and have been duly chronicled ; although possibly enough of the strong feelings which his career called f< rtli .'-till remains to make the appeir ance of the calm, judicial biography vvdiich he so well deserved, hazily to be looked for until a further lapse of time shall have extinguished the embers of the controversies in which he was engaged. Mr. Archibald's career has been dealt with at considerable length by Mr. Longworth, in an able and interesting essay ; and his great abilities and admirable social qualities are duly recognized, even in our school histories.
As to Mr. Uniacke, the case is altogether ditTerent. As far as I am^ aware, his name is not mentioned in the histories used in our schools. In Campbell's work it is mentioned and no more ; and the same is true as to Haliburton's. Fortunately, Mr. Murdoch, who studied law in his office, knew him well and admired him, has given many interesting glimpses of his work and character. But not many persons, outside of
EICHAED JOHN UNIACKE.
75
those making a special study of our history, undertake to read Mr. Murdoch's three invaluable volumes of >'ova Scotion annals ; and, in any case, the references to Mr. Uniacke are so scattered as to convey to the ordinary reader an indefinite impression. It is, I fear, almost too late to hope for a satisfactory biography of the " old Attorney General." His public and official record can to some extent be gathered from the Journals of the two Houses of the Legislature, the Minutes of the Execu- tive Council and similar sources ; but the vivid light thrown upon one's individuality by the reminiscences of contemporaries is not largely avail- able. The people who knew him in this life have nearly all gone to join him in another, and instead of actual reminiscences we have, except in very few cases, traditions of reminiscences ; and, as usual, those tradi- tions contain a fairly large proportion of fiction.
This condition of things is much to be regretted While I do not undertake to institute any invidious comparison between his abilities and those of the two gifted men whom I have spoken of as his succesors, his was without any doubt a striking and picturesque figure, and there was about his career a halo of romance which was absent from theirs. I have long felt that something should be done to bring into clearer light the life and character of one who has many claims on our gratitude and respect ; and as no other volunteer presented himself, I have, rashly no douk, undertaken the work. I regret that it has not fallen to the lot of one better qualified, and also that an unexpected pressure of other occupations has deprived me of the leisure which I had hoped to employ in acquiring the knowledge of my subject in which I am so painfully lacking.
This paper has no pretensions to completeness or to the title of biography. It purports to be merely an imperfect and somewhat irregu- lar Iketch of Mr. Uniacke's career. That this sketch may be filled in at a future day by one who shall have given to the task the care, ability and labor which it deserves, is my earnest wish. Meanwhile, the sketch is my humble contribution towards a worthy object.
uniacke's first appearance in north AMERICA.
There is a certain flavor of romance about the story of Eichard John Uniacke's first connection with the Province of Nova Scotia. Mr. Moses Delesdernier, a native of the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland, but -for many years a resident in this Province, went to Philadelphia in the year 1774, to look for settlers to place upon lands near Fort Cumberland, owned by himself and certain associates. One day, so the tradition runs,
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while at the river side, he noticed amongst those landing from a vessel which had just arrived from the West Indies, a tall, athletic young man with a lively aspect and an elastic tread, whose dress and bearing were very unlike those of the ordinary immigrant. Struck by his appearance, Mr. Delesdernier accosted the young gentleman and asked him where he came from, and was told that he was last from the West Indies, and originally from Ireland. To a further question as to his motive for coming to JsTorth America, the answer was, that he had left Ireland to seek his fortune, and finding that nothing was to be done at the island to which he had gone, had come to see if there were not better prospects on the mainland. Being asked by Mr. Delesdernier what kind of work he would be prepared to do, young Uniacke, for he was the newly landed immigrant, replied that he was ready to do anything. Mr. Delesdernier who had been interested in the youth at first sight, there- upon employed him for the purpose of going to the Cumberland settle- ment and acting as a kind of clerk or superintendent for the proprietors. This he accordingly did.
LINEAGE AND ANTECEDENTS.
Having got the hero of my story on the stage, it may be as well to tell my hearers something of his lineage and antecedents. His genealogy will be found set forth at considerable length in the second volume of Burke's •' Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland."
Richard John Uniacke was the fourth son of I^orman Fitzgerald Uniacke, of Castletown Roche, in the County of Cork, by AHcia, daughter of Bartholomew Purdon of Gworane, or Garran James, in the same county. ^^"orman Fitzgerald Uniacke of Castletown, was the third son of James Fitzgerald Uniacke, of Mount Uniacke, who com- manded a troop of cavalry for William of Orange at the battle of the Boyne, and whose military services are said to have been of material benefit to the Mount Uniacke branch of the family. Burke traces the family back to the fifteenth century, and says that " it appears by the ancient public records that the family of Uniacke was settled at an early period in the south of Ireland^ and had possessions in the counties of Cork, Waterford and Tipperary." Castletown and Mount Uniacke are in the eastern part of Cork, not far from the beautiful Blackwater River, which for some distance up from the sea forms the boundary between that county and Waterford. For those who take an interest in heraldry, it may be stated that the arms of the Uniacke family are : " Argent a toolf passaiit proper, a chief gules " ; that the crest is a dexter cubit arm, erect, gauntletted proper, holding a hawk's lure or, and that the mottoes are " Unicus Ed,'' and " Faithful and Brave."
RICHARD JOHN' UNIACKE.
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One would naturally conclude that there was some connection between the former motto and the peculiar name of the family ; and this would seem to have been actually the case. Mi. Eichard Gordon Fitzgerald-Uniacke, a grandson of A. M. Uniacke, Esquire, the youngest son of the subject of this sketch, published in the Journal of the Coi'k Historical and Archceological Society for the year 1 894, a carefully pre- pared history of the Uniackes of Youghal. From this history, kindly loaned me by Eobie Uniacke, Esquire, I find that Canon Hayman, in 1862, gave the following account of the origin of the name, in the Youghal Parochial Magazine :
" Soon after the great Geraldine race had settled in Ireland, their chieftain in the ^Yest and South, who owned the whole territory called Desmond, was at war with one of the native princes. A desperate attempt was to be made on some castle or town wall, or some narrow breach entered where one should lead the way. When the proposal was made to the whole army as to who would undertake this exploit, or ' lead the forlorn hope,' as it would be called in modern times, one young knight, a Fitzgerald, instantly came forward and undertook to do so. He succeeded beyond the expectations of all ; and as no one else had seemed inclined to venture, or probably would have ventured, he was ever afterwards called ' Uniciis,' (the only one) ; and this appellation, after remaining among his immediate posterity in the form of Unick (or Unak) for a time, gradually glided into the present family name of Uniacke."
'■'The same tradition," Mr. R. G. Fitzgerald-Uniacke says, "is alluded to in a letter written by Sir Thomas Judkin Fitz-Gerald,' of Lisheen, to Sir Isaac Heard, Garter King of Arms, dated 6th ISTay, 1801." Be the tradition Avell-founded or not, it is certain that there has always been a warlike strain in the family, and that in modern times represen tatives of every generation of Uniackes have been in either the army or the navy. Two points in the earlier history of the family it may be well to note. The first of the name of whom we have any record is Bernard Unak, who appears from an entry on the Plea Eoll in Bermingham Tower, Dublin, to have been living at Youghal in 1305. Maurice Uniacke, of Youghal, who died in 1649, and his wife, Margaret Kearney, are " the common ancestors of all the various branches of the Uniacke family known to exist at the present day."
Norman Uniacke, the father of the subject of this ske:ch, was a well-to-do country gentleman. Eichard John was his fourth son, and was born at Castletown on the twenty-second of November, 1753. He is said to have gone to school at Lismore, on the AYaterford side of the Blackwater, and there is an impression amongst some of his descendants
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that he afterwards studied at Trinity College, Dublin. This impression does not seem to be well founded, because on the fourth of October, 1769, while in his sixteenth year, he was articled to a Dublin attorney named Garde. The Indenture of apprenticeship is preserved at Mount Uniacke, in Hants County, in this Province, and as it is not very long, and is for more reasons than one, an interesting document, it may be as well to give it in full :
" This Indenture made the fourth day of October, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine, Between Richard John Uniacke, fourth son of JSTorman Uniacke, of ('astletown in the County of Corke Gent of the one part and Thomas Garde Gent, one of the Attorneys of His Majestie's Court of Exchequer in Ireland of the other part
WITNESSETH that the said Richard John Uniacke by and with the consent of his father the said Norman Uniacke Doth by these presents put himself an apprentice to the said Thomas Garde with him to live and dwell as an Attorney's clarke or apprentice for the term of five years to be computed and to commence from the day of the date hereof during which time the said Richard John Uniacke his master's law^full com- mands shall observe his secrets keep hurt to his said master he shall not do nor suffer to be done practice as an attorney he shall not without the leave of his said master matrimony he shall not contract taverns or ale houses he shall not frequent at cards or dice or any other unlawfull game he shall not play but in all respects shall behave to his said master as becometh an apprentice.
And the said Thomas Garde for the considerations aforesaid and in consideration of one hundred and fifteen pounds to him paid by the said Norman Uniacke at or before the time of the perfection of these presents Dotli covenant and undertake to find and provide for the said Richard John Uniacke in the City of Dublin competent and necessary dyet and lodging during the said term but the said Richard John Uniacke is to provide at his own expence a horse for his own use and all other neces- sarys whatsoever except said dyet and lodging : the said Thomas Garde Doth further promise at the expiration of said five years to use his utmost endeavours to procure the said Richard John Uniacke at the proper cost and charges of him the said Richard John to be admitted and sworn one of the Attorneys.
In Witness Whereof the said parties have hereunto sett their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Signed sealed & delivered Richd Jon Uniacke (l.s.)
in presence of Thos Garde (l.s.)
Norman Uniacke Wm. McCreight "
This Indenture is marked as " Entd in the Chief Remem'rs Office the 13th of Nov., 1769.
Clanbrassill."
RICHARD JOHN UNIACKE.
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Young Uniacke did not remain with Mt. Garde until the end of the five years, hut left Ireland in December, 1773, to seek his fortune beyond the Atlantic. The cause of Lis departure I have not been able to find out, but there is little doubt but that it was a serious quarrel with his father. , This is made clear by extracts from ^«'o^man Uniacke's will, given in Ms. R. G. Fitzgeraid-Uniacke's history of the family. The testator entails lands upon his eldest son James, with remainder to his third son Gorman, remainder to his fifth son Crofton, remainder to his daughter Mary. He also devises other lands to his eldest, third alid fifth sons, passing over the second and fourth, Bartholomew and Eichard John. Of these two he speaks in exactly the same termiS, and they deserve to be quoted. To his fourth son Richard John he bequeaths five pounds sterling " which sum is to be in full of all demands he may have as my child to my real or personal estate, he having highly dis- obliged me." Tlie will also contains a provision that when his eldest son comes into possession of certain lands, he is to pay "the sum of twenty pounds sterang. by two half-yearly payments, to each of my sons Eichard John and Bartholomew rniacke.'" This will is dated 17th March, 1774, three months after Richard s leading Ireland, and nearly two years after Bartholomew had joined as an ensign the 60th Regiment, then stationed at Antigua, in the W est Indies. In what way Bartholomew and Richard John had " highly disobliged " their father does not appear. It may be added that the testator died in the end of 1776 or the begin- ning of 1777, and the will disinheriting his second and fourth sons was proved on the 3rd of March in the latter year. Tlirough the kindness of the Reverend James B. L'niacke, the present owner of Mount Uniacke, I have had an opportunity to read a paper written by his grandfather, describing his voyage to the West Indies, a portion of which I may be pardoned for quoting. Its present condition is seemingly fragmentary. It covers something over eleven pages of foolscap, and ends abruptly. It is headed " Observations on the We^t Indies and Xorth America by Richard John Uniacke, in a voyage he took from Ireland in the ship Catharine, Captn :feobert Torrance, 7th December, 1 77 3— Left Cork." It begins with an apparent inconsistency. • • Richard J no. L^niacke sailed from the Cove of Cork the 6th Dec, 1773, in the ship Catharine, Capt. Robt Torrance, for the West Indies, with a fair wind." On the 25th they made the Madeira Islands. On the 26th of January, 1774, they saw Antigua and Montserrat, the latter of which is spoken of as " mostly inhabited by Irish." In the afternoon of the same day ^'evis was sighted, and at midnight the ship came to anchor
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off Basseterre, the chief town of the Island of St. Kitts, where the voyage seems to have ended. Some of the youthful traveller's reflections upon what he saw at this island are interesting. He tells us that :
Ko race of people in the Avorld can equal what we call the Creole English in laziness, as far as I have had an opportunity of seeing them they are very fond of show, and in general very proud. However, they do not all come under this rule. A Creole lady will not stoop for a pin, but must have a black girl to reach it her, while she reclines all day long on a sofa." Again, "I have often thought how ridiculous it was that a nation, whose ancestors knew so well the value of liberty as to have maintained it with the last drop of their blood should be instru- mental in enslaving a race of people whose only crime, if I judge right, is that the same Being which created them, for reasons beyond the capacity of mortals, made them black instead of white, yet with the same ideas, and I daresay, when they have had the opportunity of polishing themselves that the English have, of superior capacitys."
The man who used this language in 1774, more than thirteen years before Wilberforce took the first step in his campaign against the slave trade, was no ordinary youth of twenty. It may be noted that the
Observations " contain no hint of the reasons which led the writer to take the voyage in the ship Catharine.
HISTORY RESUxMED.
Resuming our history where we broke off for the purpose of giving our hero's antecedents ; it would appear that young Uniacke remained at Cumberland with Mr. Delesdernier and his associates from 1774 until the end of 1776. In one respect he seems to have been like the ty[)ical virtuous apprentice, for on the third of May, 1775, he was married to Martha Maria Delesdernier, daughter of his employer. The groom was a little over twenty-one, and the bride had not attained the age of thirteen. In the latter part of 1776, Jonathan Eddy and other sympa- thizers with the revolted colonists, laid siege to Fort Cumberland, but the fort having been reinforced by 200 marines under Major Batt, they abandoned the undertaking on the 28th of November, and dispersed. Amongst those arrested, on suspicion of being implicated in the rebellion, and brought as prisoners to Halifax, was Richard John Uniacke.
I am informed that the sergeant of the guard charged with the duty of conveying the prisoners to the capital, was an Irishman named Lawlor ; that young Uniacke appealed to his fellow-countryman to take
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the hand-cuffs off him, pledging his honor at the same time to make no attempt to escape, and that the sergeant granted the request. Lawlor afterwards left the army and settled back of Dartmouth. He was a Eoman Catholic, and made it a rule to come to Halifax every spring for the purpose of making his Easter Communion. After Uniacke's admis- sion to the bar, when he was one of the leading men of the place, he did not forget the comparatively humble man who had befriended him in the day of his distress, but always insisted that during those Easter visits Lawlor should make a home of his house.
1776-1781.
There is not a little mystery and uncertainty as to young Uniacke's life from November, 1776, until the spring of 1781. Most of those settlers near Fort Cumberland who had come from the older colonies, sided with the revolutionists. The same was true, I believe, of those who came from the North of Ireland ; while the Yorkshire men, Mr. Bulmer tells us, remained firm in their allegiance to King George. It is not unreasonable to suppose that an ardent youth like Uniacke should have sympathized with his associates, more particularly when we learn that his father-in-law was more than suspected of disloyalty. Mr. Bulmer, in a paper printed in the first volume of the proceedings of the Historical Society, throws a good deal of light upon the case of the Cumberland rebels, including Mr. Uniacke. Of the prisoners brought to Halifax, charged with being concerned in Eddy's rebellion, as it was sometimes called, Dr. Clarke and Thomas Falconer were tried respectively on the 18th and the 19th of April, 1777, and found guilty, but pleaded the King's pardon before sentence and were respited. James Avery escaped from jail. Uniacke, who had apparently promised to give evidence on behalf of the crown, failed to do so or to appear in court. It is supposed that some prominent Irishmen, of whom there were several in Halifax at the time, and some officers of the garrison who knew his family in Ireland used their influence to prevent his suffering for what might reasonably be looked at as a youthful escapade. The only evidence against Uniacke is contained in the deposition of William Milburn, and is not altogether conclusive as to his guilt. Milburn swears :
" That on or about the 1 1th of November, (1776) being sent a mes- sage by Colonel Goreham commanding ye garrison at Fort Cumberland, to a place called Number 1, to one Mr. Smith, which having delivered, and the next morning being about to return to the garrison, one Mr. Eichard J. Uniacke, who liveth at No. 1 aforesaid, said that he must go 6
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along with said Smith to the rebel camp, which the deponent at first refused, but said Uniacke insisted he must go, otherwise the rebel sentries would carry him there by force, and that Colonel Eddy, as he called him, of the rebels would never forgive them if he would not go to him and would imagine they harbored any person from the garrison, he would never forgive him."
I have been unable to discover Uniacke's whereabouts, or to follow his movements at and about the time hxed for the trial. Doctor Akins was of opinion that his friends got him placed on board a ship leaving for the old country ; but if so, it could not have been for some months after the proceedings in court described by Mr. Bulraer ; because I find, in the office of the Eegistrar of Deeds, a deed from Kichard John Uniacke, Gentleman, and Martha Maria his wife, to James Brown, Gentleman, bearing date the twenty-second of August, 1777, by which for the consideration of four hundred pounds the grantors transfer to Mr. Brown the lot and house in Mollis Street, Letter C, Number 4, in Foreman's Division. This lot was on the lower side of HoUis Street, south of the property now occupied by Longard Brothers, and had been devised to Mrs. Uniacke by her aunt Martha, the widow of Paul Pritchard. On the same day, Mrs. Uniacke's father, Moses Delesdernier of Cumberland, assigned to Mr. Brown, a Bond made to him by Paul Pritchard in his life time. Both instruments were witnessed by William Lloyd, (the Deed from Uniacke and wife being witnessed also by Delesdernier) and were proved l)y him and lecorded on the following day. It is clear then that on the twenty-second of August, 1777, Uniacke was in Halifax. He probably sailed shortly after that date ; and it is possible that the proceeds of the sale enabled him to oomplete his law studies. Tliis Mr. Murdoch thought he did in England, while Dr. Akins's opinion was that it was in Ireland. The latter would seem to have been right. At Mount Uniacke I saw the following certificate and receipt : "Trinity Term 1779.
These are to certify that Richard Jno. LTniacke Gent, was admitted a member of the Honorable Society of the King's Inns, Dublin, as an Attorney of His Majesty's Court of Exchequer, and hath paid his
Admission fee ^^-^
Steward ^•
£ 18.4
Rec'd. for the use of this Honorable Society. Dated the 22nd day of June, 1779.
John Eobinson
Steward."
RICHARD JOHN UNIACKE.
83
There is no reason to doubt that young TJniacke completed his term of apprenticeship in Dublin, presumably with Mr. Garde, to whom he had been articled four years previous to his departure in the ship Catharine. Inquiry at the King's Inns in Dublin, has elicited the infor- mation that he did not, after being admitted as an attorney, proceed to seek admission to the Bar. It is barely possible that he may have gone from Dublin to London, and there studied with a view to being admitted barrister, in which case Mr. Murdoch's statement would be partially correct. It can hardly be doubted that during his stay in Ireland he revisited his home at Castletown, particularly as his father had died while he was in Nova Scotia. It may be remarked that he does not seem to have borne any ill will towards his father, as he called his own eldest son Norman Fitzgerald — -presumably after the boy's grandfather.
EARLY CAREER AT THE BAR.
Wherever Richard John XJniacke went after being admitted an attorney in Dublin, no mention of him as being in Nova Scotia is to be found until his admission as a barrister and attorney on the third of April, 1781. He was probably absent from the Province for some- thing over three years. In any case, we may assume that the time between June, 1779, and April, 1781, was well and profitably spent. He does not appear to have been obliged to wait as long for practice — he certainly had not for professional advancement — as the average young lawyer. Mr. Bulmer says that the records of the court are full of him from the date of his admission. On the 29th of December, 1781, he was commissioned by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, as Solicitor General, in the room of Richard Gibbons, appointed Attorney General upon Mr. Brenton's promotion to the bench of the Supreme Court. On the sixth of January, 1782, Lieutenant- Governor Hamond wrote to Lord George Germaine, and, speaking of Mr. Uniacke'b appointment, said he had been well recommended as a fit person, from his abilities and character, for the position of Solicitor General. Mr. XJniacke was sworn into office on the fourth of January, 1782. On the 22nd of May, 1782, a second commission as Solicitor General was issued. by the Lieutenant-Governor pursuant to the King's mandamus. A practice prevailed in those days of making appointments under the hand of the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, which in a strict sense were only provisional, and which were afterwards confirmed by royal mandamus. In the case of appointments to His Majesty's
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Council the practice was to have the commission issued from London in the first instance ; and this continued to be the rule until the coming into force of the British North America Act on the first of July, 1867. The second commission issued to Mr. Uniacke contained a reference to His Majesty's confidence in the loyalty of Mr. Uniacke, which indicated a marked change of sentiment during the five years which had elapsed since his arrest in Cumberland, and also a provision intended to prevent an abuse which was not uncommon at that time, " and you the said Richard John Uniacke are to enjoy the said office in your own person except in cases of sickness or incapacity." Mr. Uniacke apparently had influential friends who started him on the road to success ; and he was able to do the rest for himself. As Murdoch says, "he attained professional eminence, wealth and honors by great natural eloquence, talent and industry."
Judge Morse, of Amherst, has kindly placed in my hands a letter written on Xew Year's Day, 1782, by the newly appointed Attorney General Gibbons, to Col. J. F. W. DesBarres, then in London, which throws not a little light upon the doings of the official people of that day, and contains an interesting reference to his successor in the office of Solicitor General. I quote the passage in question, with the pre- liminary remark that the Chief Justice of ISTova Scotia was an Irishman named Bryan Finucane :
" In short ignorance and partiality, except in the office of Chief Justice, are as prevalent in this country as formerly. Apropos, the Chief Justice is embarked for New York en route to England, he is professionally much my friend, although he appears to be tinctured with national attachments which with some Irish recommendations has induced him to procure one Uninck (who was associated with the Rebels in attacking Fort Cumberland) to be appointed Solicitor General in my place."
A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
The next important event in Mr. Uniacke's history, of which we have any record, was his election, in 1783, to the House of Assembly as member for the township of Sackville. The fact that he was elected for this constituency would go to show that during his former residence in the neighborhood he had made a favorable impression upon the people of the district. It is a somewhat interesting circumstance that there is a piece of land — I believe on the New Brunswick side of the Missiguash River — which is, to this day, known as Uniacke's Hill.
RICHARD JOHN UNIACKE.
85
The Legislature met on the sixth of October, 1763, when the newly elected member for Sackville Township took the usual oaths and his seat. A perusal of the Assembly's journals will show that he at once took a leading place in the House. On the opening day, James Brenton, Charles Morris Jr. and Kichard John Uniacke, Esquires, were appointed a committee to prepare an answer to Governor Parr's speech. It seems contrary to all our ideas of parliamentary propriety that a member of the House who had been elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court, should, after his appointment, continue to occupy his seat. Yet this was what Mr. Brenton did. It is also contrary to our practice that the duties of clerk should be discharged by a member, but
in 1783 Mr. Richard Cunningham, member for was also
Clerk of Assembly.
There were in those days many anomalies and abuses, or wdiat would now be regarded as such, in the mode of conducting the public business ; and Mr. Uniacke worked vigorously, persistently and with a large measure of success to remove several of them. The journals of the House contain a meagre record of his official acts as member ; and in order to gain some idea of the character of his activity, it may be well to look a little closely at this record for the first two sessions of his membership. On the second day of the session of 1783, it was, on motion of Richard John Uniacke, Esquire, Resolved, that the clerk of the House should be obliged to take an oath to the following purport : " You A. B. do solemly swear, that you will faithfully and impartially discharge the office of Clerk of this House, and keep the Journals thereof without prejudice or partiality " ; and thereupon the oath was duly administered to Mr. Cunningham. It was also resolved at the same time thai no person chosen to be clerk after that session should be at the same time clerk and member of the House. It can be readily understood that a clerk who was also a member would be more strongly tempted to prejudice and partiality than one who was not ; and as oaths of office were probably taken more seriously then than they are now, Mr. Uniacke's resolution strikes one as being useful and proper. On the same day he w^as appointed on the joint committee of both Houses to examine and report on the pubhe accounts ; and on the eighth of October, Judge Brenton and he were ordered to examine and report to the House such laws as were near expiring. On the same day Mr. Uniacke obtained leave to bring in a bill to regulate the appointment of sheriffs, and at the next sitting introduced a bill for regulating the
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charges to be made by innholders. He was also appointed with Messrs. Cochran, Cunningham and Pyke on a committee to confer with a com- :mittee of the Council on a bill respecting the times of holding the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. On the 13th he, Chipman and Ritchie (grandfather of the present Judge Ritchie) were appointed ^ committee on the printing of a revised edition of the statutes which had been prepared by Judges Deschamps and Brenton and approved by the House. On the same day the Council sent down to the House an extract from a report made by two of the judges on the losses and suffering arising out of the Cumberland rebellion of 1776. Thereupon the House, on motion of Mr. Uniacke, resolved that the consideration of the business be deferred until the whole report be obtained from His Excellency the Governor ; and Mr. Uniacke and Mr. J. Gay were ordered a committee to wait on His Excellency for that purpose. To this committee Martin Gay, just elected for Cumberland, was added next day.
On the 15th of October an address to the Governor was decided upon on Mr. Uniacke's motion, asking that a new county should be created westward of Queens, and that another new county should be established which should comprehend the District of Colchester ; and it was ordered that Uniacke, Fillis, Harris and John Cunningliam be a com- mittee to prepare the said address. The case of the proposed county west of Queens was looked upon by the House as being decidedly more urgent than that of Colchester, while to-day the population of Colchester is greater than that of Queens and Shelburne together. In 1783, how- ever, Shelburne was comparatively a much more important place than it is to-day. On the sixteenth a committee whereof Uniacke was the first named, was appointed to confer with a committee of the Council with respect to a bill of Uniacke's dealing with the butchers. I fancy that there are many heads of families in Halifax to-day who would not be displeased to see some prominent public man take such action in 1891 as would make good meat a less expensive luxury than it has been during the past few months.
On the following day it was, on motion of Mr. Uniacke, resolved that the Clerk of the Crown furnish the committee on public accounts *' with a list of the names and space of time of confinement of all the prisoners, who have been committed, confined and supported at the suit of the Crown, in the county gaol of Halifax, for the last fifteen months past."
RICHARD JOHN UNIACKE. 0»
On the 18th was presented a petition from Richard J. Uniacke to the effect that he had discharged the duties of Solicitor General for nearly two years without compensation. The house allowed him for his past services, and thenceforward an item of £100 for the Solicitor General appears among the yearly appropriations. On the 20th of October it was resolved, on motion of Mr. Uniacke, that an address be presented to the Governor asking him to remove William Black- James Law and Charles Dickson, Esquires, from the commission of the peace in the County of Cumberland. On the twenty-first he moved, - That the key of this room be constantly kept in the possession of the Clerk of this House," and thereupon resolved that it should. On the 24th Uniacke moved that a day be fixed for a committee of the whole to take the report of the C unmittee on Public Accounts into consideration ; and the following day was fixed. On the 25th the report of the com- mittee, a carefully prepared and important document calling attention to several abuses, and signed on behalf of the Assembly by Messrs Uniacke, Thomas Cochran and J. G. Pyke was submitted, and was considered on that and several following days. The House appointed four distinct committees to deal with as many separate portions of the report The committee on the Poor House, in connection with which institution there seem to have been gross abuses and extravagance, was composed of Uniacke, Cochrane and Pyke. Uniacke was also a member of the committee on the revenues, which reported three bills dealin- respectivelv with the duties of customs, or as the term then was, impost, and excise, the duty on licensed houses and the transient poor. On November 7th, Uniacke moved that a d.y be fixed for the final dis- cussion and deternunation on all the public accounts, and the next day was accordingly fixed. The bills above referred to were all passed by the House, but met with vigorous opposition in the Council ; and all failed to become law during the session of 1783.
On the tenth of November Uniacke was one of a committee appointed to confer with a committee of the Council, as to a revenue bill. On the eleventh he was appointed a member of a committee to inspect and report on the public buildings. On the 13th the House rejected the Council amendments to the customs and excise bill, and as the Council adhered to their amendments, a committee of conference was appointed on the 17th, of which Uniacke was a member, The Council agreed to withdraw some of their amendments, but adhered to others, and the House held this to be a rejection of the bill. On the same day
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he was ordered to prepare an address to His Excellency asking him to appoint collectors of customs and excise in certain districts, and on the next day he was one of a committee appointed to wait on the Governor and present the address. On the same day, the eighteenth, Uniacke submitted to the House a form for the accounts of collectors of revenue, which upon his motion was entered on the Journals. It was then, upon his motion, resolved :
That this form be used by collectors, who shall account quarterly : That collectors shall keep accounts of permits for dutiable articles removed into other districts;
And that the Treasurer receive no account not duly sworn to from any collector, and that no unsworn account be passed by the House,
On the 19th Uniacke moves a resolution in favor of obtaining sup- plies for the light house, and is one of a committee to decide upon the forms to be used in accounts against the province.
On the 21st Messrs Brenton, Uniacke, Cochrane, Fillis and Pyke were appointed a committee to correspond with Kichard Cumberland, who had recently not discharged his duties as agent for the Province in London in such a way as to give satisfaction to the House. On the 22nd, Messrs Cochrane, Uniacke, Pyke, John Gay and Martin Gay were a committee to present a congratulatory address to Governor Parr and the address was passed, which amongst other things asked His Excellency to accept a gift of £500 from the province towards the maintenance of his table. An address was passed on the same day to Chief Justice Bryan Einucane, who had just got back from a visit to the old country, congratulating him on his safe return, and presenting him with £400 to defray the expense of his voyage. Those money votes were of a most unusual character ; and I have little doubt but th^t Mr. Uniacke was responsible for that to the chief justice, who was a fellow- countryman, and I believe a particular friend of his own.
On the 25th of November, it was on motion of Mr. Uniacke resolved, " That no person in future be furnished with any Minutes or Journals of this House, or be permitted to peruse or inspect the same, unless a member of this House, until such Journals shall be printed." The reason for the adoption of this resolution is not disclosed, but it was probably that the Council got through unofficial channels accurate infor- mation as to the doings of the House earlier than the members of the latter deemed desirable. On the same day, on motion of Mr. Uniacke, John Whidden, John Chipman, Thomas Caldwell and Daniel Dickson
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were appointed a committee to lay out a road from the bridge of Corn- waJlis Eiver'lo the forks of Windsor Eiver, and thence to the Halifax road. It was likewise resolved that the committee appointed to corres- pond with the provincial agent in London should take measures for the improvement of trade, to have judges appointed during good behavior instead of at pleasure, and to improve the manner ot holding Courts of Admiralty.
On the 26th, it was resolved on Mr. ruiacke's motion, that the seats of such members as had not attended during the present session be vacated. He also moved that no member be minuted in future as having attended to his duty on any day, unless he be present at the opening and closing on that day ; and also that no member be allowed pay unless he attended two-thirds of each session, and aUo at the proroga- tion. This resolution was agreed to as to future sessions. On the same day Messrs Cochran, Xewton and Uniacke were appointed a committee to inform the Governor that there was no business before the House.
.On the 27th it was announced by message that the Council would not agree to the Appropriation Bill without their amendments, whereupon the House sent the following message : " The House of Assembly have heard the resolves of His Majesty's Council of this date read, and find the same of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot on any account take the same into further consideration.'""
The prorogation was on the second of December, when amongst other bills assented to was one for the relief of Roman Catholics, less liberal in its provisions than that passed during the session of 1 782, which had been disallowed in England.
I know that I have dealt with the proceedings of this ses-ion at such length as to be tedious to my hearers ; but the record is well calculated to show the extent and character of the activity of the new member for Sackville, who was apparently the leading man in the House, and an ardent supporter of its constitutional rights, \\hich were seriously inter- fered with by the proceedings of the Council with respect to the revenue and appropriation bills. The conflict upon the questions oi ways and means and supply, was not finally ended until two months after Mr. ITniacke's death in 1830.
The session of 178-1: began on the lirst of November, and during it, as well as during that which had preceded, Cuiacke seems to have been the leading, or at least the most effectually active member. I do not propose to deal with what he did as much in detail as in the case of the
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session of 1783 ; but there are certain matters which seem to cal for brief notice. During the session of 1783 the seat of Winck worth Tonge, member for Kings County, had been declared vacant, and the House had resolved that a writ should issue for an election to fill the vacancy. The writ had never been issued ; and, on the first day of the new session, Uniacke brought the matter before the House, and an address was voted to the Governor, complaining of the disrespect shown to the decision of the House. On the third of I^ovember the committee appointed to wait on His Excellency with the address, reported that the writ had been issued. On the same day Uniacke moved, That a proper part of the House should in future be allotted for all persons who were freeholders of this province to hear the debates, reserving to the House the power to exclude strangers where desired. The motion was seconded by Mr. Philipps, and adopted. It can be readily seen what an important step this was towar.ls that publicity which seems so essential to our modern parliamentary life.
It was also on Uniacke's motion resolved, that the clerk co[)y the rules of the House, and omit the fourteenth, which restrained members from taking notes of each other's speeches, or conversing about the same out of the House. If is difficult to see any justification for the existence of the rule thus got rid of. On the fourth of November Uniacke intro- duced a bill to make lands liable for the payment of debts.
The committee of the whole House digested and agreed upon a plan for raising revenue for the support of the government during the ensuing year ; and the Solicitor General was, on the 10th of JSTovember, appointed to draft bills embodying the decisions of the committee. He accordingly introduced four bills, all of which passed the Hou.-p. On the 18th Uniacke moved for a return of defaulting accountants. On the 22nd the House resolved, tha,t George Deschamps, Esquire, C(jllector for the County of Hants, was a public defaulter, and that large sums of money were due from him. Thereupon, AFr. Uniacke moved that Mr.
Deschamps (who was also member for ) be expelled from the
House, and Mr. Delancey moved in amendment that he be only censured. The amendment wns adopted.
On the 'J3rd the House received a message from Governor Parr, complaining of the non-submission of the Journals in conformity with the previous practice. A motion to conf<jrm was voted down 17 to 8, the Solicitor General voting with the majority. It was then resolved and ordered, that the Governor be furnished with the Proceedings of the
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House in the same manner as the King was supplied with the Proceedings of the House of Commons in England. Then, upon motion of Mr. TJniacke, it was " Ordered, That the clerk of the House furnish His Excellency the Governor with the Journals of this House regularly as they may be printed.''''
On the 24th, Uniacke submitted the draft of an address to the Governor in answer to his message with respect to the Journals, to the effect that the House has given orders that the Journals as fast as they eome from the press should be delivered at the Government House instead of at the Council Chambers. The address also begged His Excellency to send his messages to the House under his own signature, and not under that of the Secretary.
On the 27th Xovember, the House decided to remove Eichard Cumberland from the position of agent in London for the province ; and, upon motion of Mr. Uniacke, Brook AVatson, Esquire, was unani- mously chosen in his stead.
On the 29th it was resolved, on motion of Philipps, seconded by Uniacke, That interest on the Treasurer's notes and warrants for the year 1785, amounting to £716 12 7, be paid out of impost and excise duties : and that ten per cent of the said duties go into a sinking fund to pay off the provincial debt. On the same day, AVilliam Shaw a member for Annapolis County, who had been found a defaulter in the office of Sheriff of Halifax, was expelled from the House : after which a resolu- tion, moved by Uniacke, to the effect that if any member in future received any public money out of the treasury, without a vote of the House, his seat should be vacated, was unanimously adopted. At a later part of the same sitting it was resolved that, "'The House of Assembly consider any amendments made by the Council to the Kevenue or Money Bills, which bills originate in this House, to be an Innovation on the Eights and Privileges of the House of Assembly, and therefore cannot allow the same to be done."' An address was agreed upon, to be presented to the Governor by Eelancey, L^niacke and Xewton, dealing with the subjects of defaulters, the limits of counties, collectors of revenue, and justices of the peace keeping taverns.
The Council's amendments to the Eevenue bills having been rejected by the House, were adhered to by the Council, whereupon the House, on the second of December, adopted an address to the Governor upon the subject, which, upon motion of L^niacke, it was resolved should be pre- sented on the next day. On the third of December the Council, probably
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feeling that they had been wrong, informed the House that the bills had been rejected by mistake and the bills were passed. As part of a com- promise, which had probably been agreed upon, Uniacke on the fourth introduced a bill to exempt molasses, rum and certain other articles, imported for the use of the navy, from duty. On the eighth of December, 1784, prorogation took place, and thus ended the active life of the fifth General Assembly, — the Long Parliament of Nova