History of Halifax City

by Thomas B. Akins

FOOTNOTES:

[29] On September 29th, 1752, the first fire regulations were published at Halifax, among which are found the following: Two or three Magistrates may order a house to be pulled down or blown up to stop a fire, the owner to be indemnified by the house owners of the Town. The fire wards to be appointed by the Justices of the Peace, each to carry a red staff 6 feet long, with a bright brass spear 6 inches long on it; and other regulations. This custom is still kept up in the City, or was until very lately.

[30] Governor Cornwallis reduced the Rangers. He thought Goreham very incompetent to command them.

[31] This story was related by the late Titus Smith, who received it from his father.

[32] The names of the settlers who arrived after June and July, 1749, are not to be found among the records of the country.

[33] Mr. Nisbett was Attorney General at the time. He had been acting in that office since the Spring of 1752.

[34] See [Biographical note] in the last Chapter.

[35] Now McNab's.

[36] Now known as Lawlor's and Devil's Islands.

CHAPTER IV.

Notwithstanding the advantages held out by Government to the settlers at Halifax, and the repeated large grants of money by Parliament, the people were rapidly removing to the old Colonies. Little progress had been made in clearing the country. The fishery, one of the main inducements of the settlement, was almost altogether neglected, and the population was reduced to much less than half its original number. They subsisted chiefly on the money expended by the Army and Navy, and were dependent on Boston for their provisions and many other necessary supplies.

In 1755, Dr. Breynton, the minister at St. Paul's, estimated the inhabitants of Halifax at 1,300, eight hundred of whom professed themselves members of the Church of England; and again in 1763, eight years later, according to the Doctor's returns to the Propagation Society, the number was still found not to exceed one thousand and three hundred souls; nine hundred and fifty of them being of the Church of England, and three hundred and fifty Protestant Dissenters and Roman Catholics.

Up to the year 1757, the enormous sum of £560,000 sterling had been expended on the settlements, and though in some respects the Colony had been considered a failure, yet in a military point of view it was of incalculable importance to Great Britain, and to its position as a naval and military depot may be ascribed in a great measure the downfall of the French power in America.

On 30th June, 1757, Lord Loudon with his transports and 12,000 regulars and provincials arrived at Halifax, and on July following, Admiral Holborn arrived with his fleet. This armament, which was destined for an attack on Louisburg, left Halifax early in August, but having proved a failure the fleet returned to England in September, but Loudon returned with his army to New York; they both left Halifax on the same day, 16th August. Holborn arrived at Louisburg on 20th, where finding the French fleet superior to his own, he continued to cruise off Louisburg harbour until 24th September, when he encountered a severe gale of wind which scattered his fleet, several ships were lost, eight sail got safe to Portsmouth, and the rest got to New York. This powerful armament consisted of 13 sail of the line—the Newark 80 guns, Invincible 74, Grafton 68, Terrible 74, Northumberland 68, Captain 68, Bedford 64, Orford 68, Nassau 64, Sunderland 64, Defiance 64, Tilbury 64, Kingston 60, Windsor 54, and the Sutherland 50, with several others which afterwards joined them, and 16 smaller vessels of war. The naval forces amounted 10,000 men, and the land forces to 12,000, six thousand of whom were provincial troops. Loudon left three regiments at Halifax, and several of the vessels remained to winter here.

In May of this year the Governor and Council offered a bounty for sowing land with grass on the peninsula of Halifax, also for the erection of stone fences around the lots, and for raising grain and potatoes.

Loudon was succeeded in the supreme command by Abercrombie, another incompetent—a debilitated old man who remained in command for a short time. He was succeeded by Sir Jeffrey Amherst.

In the following spring about 12,000 troops arrived at Halifax, under the command of General Amherst. They were soon followed by Admiral Boscawen from England with a large fleet consisting of 23 ships of the line and 18 frigates. This great fleet arrived in Halifax harbour in May, 1758, accompanied by 120 transports. The land forces amounted to 12,260 men. On Sunday, 28th May, they set sail from Halifax, 157 vessels in all. They were met by General Amherst, with part of the force, as they went out of the harbour. Governor Lawrence accompanied the army and took command of one of the Brigades, Colonel Monkton being left in command during his absence.

After the siege, which was protracted for two months, part of the fleet and army returned to Halifax, and some of the vessels remained to refit. The colony was sacked for provisions and the town turned into a camp for the troops. A number of the provincial soldiers and others, having enriched themselves with the spoils at Louisburg, became settlers in the town. All the ammunition and stores, with a quantity of private property, were removed to Halifax, and the town once again began to assume a prosperous appearance.

This year was also memorable as the one in which Representative Government was established in Nova Scotia. The subject of calling a Legislative Assembly had undergone much discussion. It had been represented by the Governor and Council, to the authorities in England, that such a step at that particular time would be fraught with much danger to the peace of the colony. Chief Justice Belcher, however, having given his opinion that the Governor and Council possessed no authority to levy taxes, and their opinion being confirmed in England, it was resolved in Council on 3rd January, 1757, that a representative system should be established and that twelve members should be elected by the province at large, until it could be conveniently divided into counties, and that the township of Halifax should send four members, Lunenburg two, Dartmouth one, Lawrencetown one, Annapolis Royal one, and Cumberland one, making in all twenty two members, and the necessary regulations were also made for carrying into effect the object intended.

Much discontent prevailed in the town, and also in other parts of the province, in consequence of the opposition of Governor Lawrence to the calling of a Representative Assembly. Hitherto the Government had been carried on solely by the Governor and Council, who possessed both Legislative and Executive authority. Under the Royal instructions the Governor was directed to call a Representative Assembly as soon as the circumstances of the country would permit, but the Governor was of opinion that it would be injudicious to proceed to a popular election until the country was better prepared for it. After repeated remonstrances from the people of Halifax and some pressure from his Council, it was on the 7th January resolved in Council that an assembly should be called, and a plan was drawn up and submitted to the Board of Trade for the sanction of the home government. We find, however, that in February following it was resolved by the inhabitants of Halifax to petition the Crown against the conduct of Governor Lawrence, not only as regards his unwillingness to establish a representative government, but his oppressive and overbearing conduct in other respects to many of the leading inhabitants. This petition was entrusted to one Ferdinando Paris, a gentleman in London, accompanied by affidavits and a power of attorney, conferring on him authority to represent the subscribers before the Privy Council and the Board of Trade and Plantations. A subscription was set on foot, and about £120 sterling subscribed, to meet the expenses of the application to Government. These documents were certified by Chief Justice Belcher as authentic, on 14th March. As these proceedings bear date in February, 1757, it is probable that the resolution of the Council of the 7th January had not been made known. The petition and power were signed by the following residents of the town who reputed themselves as a committee appointed by the people for the purpose of forwarding their views: Robert Saunderson, William Pantree, Malachi Salter, Jonathan Binney, Otto Wm. Schwartz, Robert Campbell, Henry Ferguson and John Grant. These papers were also accompanied by a copy of an address from the people of Halifax to Lt. Governor Robert Monkton, praying that certain sums of money, collected as rum duties, etc., might be expended on the fortifications of the town as a protection to the inhabitants, and offering to contribute both labour and money for the purpose. It also complains of the "miserable management of those who have had the direction of the defences." This petition bears date 19th October, in the same year. The language of one of the letters addressed to Mr. Paris, the request on the subject of the Halifax grievances and the overbearing military rule of Governor Lawrence, bespeak much excitement to have existed in the town on the subject. The feeling appears to have prevailed principally among the leading inhabitants. We find that the list above referred to was signed by Mr. Binney, Mr. Salter, Mr. Pantree, Mr. Schwartz, Dr. Grant, Mr. Saunderson, Mr. Fairbanks, Mr. Robt. Campbell, Mr. Butler, Mr. Suckling, Mr. Vanput, Mr. G. Gerrish, Mr. Gibbon, Mr. Wiswell, Mr. Mason, and many others.

On the first of November following, the Grand Jury of Halifax petitioned Governor Lawrence that some immediate steps may be taken to fortify the town so that the inhabitants might be placed in a more secure position in case of invasion. They refer to a petition presented to Lt. Governor Monkton on the same subject, to which no reply had been made, and concluded by asking that they might know without further delay what they were to expect; that if no further security is to be provided for the settlement they may have an opportunity of conveying themselves, their families and effects to a place of greater safety in some of the neighbouring Colonies. The names of the Grand Jury were Robert Saunderson, Joseph Rundell, John Anderson, Paul Pritchard, Hugh McKay, Joseph Fairbanks, William Schwartz, Robert Campbell, William Pantree, John Killick, John Brooks, Henry Wilkinson, Walter Manning, John Slayter, Richard Catherwood, Joseph Pierce, Alexander Cunningham, Richard Tritton, Jonathan Gifford and Benjamin Leigh.

On Monday, the 2nd of October, 1758, the newly elected members met in the Court House in Halifax, pursuant to summons from the Provost Marshall; their names were as follows:

Joseph Gerrish,	Esquires.
Robert Saunderson,
Henry Newton,
William Foy,
William Nesbitt,
Joseph Rundell.
William Best,	Gentlemen.
Alexr. Kedie,
Jonathan Binney,
Henry Ferguson,
George Suckling,
Robert Campbell,
Willm. Pantree,
Joseph Fairbanks,
Philip Hammond,
John Fillis,
Lambert Folkers,
Philip Knout.

They sent Messrs. Nesbitt, Newton and Rundell, to wait on the Governor, who sent Messrs. Morris and Green from the Council to swear them in. They then chose Robert Saunderson their speaker, which was confirmed by the Governor, who addressed them as follows: "Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives: His Majesty having been most graciously pleased by his royal instructions to his Governors of this Province to direct the calling an assembly of the freeholders to act in conjunction with his Governor and Council as the Legislative Authority, when such a measure should be found essential to his service; I am to assure you that it is with particular pleasure I now meet you convened in that capacity, in consequence of a plan some time since formed here for that purpose, with the advice and assistance of His Majesty's Council, and by me transmitted to the Lord Commissioner for Trade and Plantations to be laid before His Majesty for his approbation.

"Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

"I entertain the most sanguine hopes that you are come together unanimously disposed to promote the service of the Crown, or in other words, the real welfare and prosperity of the people whom you have the honour to represent, in every point to the utmost of your authority and capacity.

"This, I presume, you will conceive is justly to be expected, not only from the immediate regard due to the Civil Rights and Interests of your constituents, but likewise from the unspeakable obligations you are under to demonstrate in their behalf your dutiful sense of His Majesty's paternal concern for the prosperity and security of those his subjects in those distinguishing marks of his royal favour and protection which we have from time to time so happily experienced in the fleets and armies sent out for our immediate preservation when we were under the most imminent danger of being swallowed up by a merciless enemy; also in the ample supplies of money for so many years annually granted for the support and encouragement of this infant colony; and moreover still, in the continuance of His Majesty's royal bounty for that purpose, when from the seeming inclination of the inhabitants to have an assembly convened some time ago, it might have been presumed, and indeed by an article of His Majesty's Instructions, which I shall order to be laid before you, it has been judged that the Colony has become capable of providing for the necessary support of government here, as has been usual in all His Majesty's other American Dominions.

"Gentlemen of both Houses:

"As my Military occupation requires my attendance as early as possible upon the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces to the Westward, and as the Lieutenant Governor is now necessarily employed, and will be for some time to come, upon an enterprise of importance in a distant part of the province, there is not at present an opportunity of entering upon such particulars as might otherwise call for your attention; I am therefore earnestly to recommend to your serious consideration the expediency, or rather the necessity of unanimity and dispatch in the confirmation of such Acts or resolutions of a legislative nature, as the Governor and Council under His Majesty's Royal Instructions have found expedient, before the forming of an assembly and indispensably necessary for promoting the welfare and peaceable Government of this people.

"You may depend upon it, Gentlemen, on my return to the Government you will find me perfectly disposed to concur with you in enacting such further laws, making such amendments to the present ones, and establishing such other regulations as shall appear upon more mature deliberations to be consistent with the honour and dignity of the Crown and conducive to the lasting happiness of His Majesty's subjects where I have the honour to preside.

Charles Lawrence."

The House then resolved that the members should all serve without pay for the session. The calling of the Legislature had been delayed till the autumn in consequence of both the Governor and Lt. Governor being absent with the Army at Louisburg. Governor Lawrence came up to Halifax from Louisburg specially to meet the Legislature.

The Governor in his letter to the Board of Trade about this time noticed particularly the serious effects on the settlement of the enormous importation and retail of spirituous liquors, and expressed a hope that the Legislature would check it.

On 2nd July, 1761 (second session) the House voted £50 for a public clock in the Town.

The following year (1759) Halifax was again the rendezvous for part of the fleet and army both before and after the siege of Quebec; not a few of the more enterprising settlers followed the camp and enriched themselves during the war, Admiral Darell with 4 ships of the line arrived in Halifax Harbor in April and left for the St. Lawrence on 5th May.

At the news of the victory, the town was illuminated, and fire works, bonfires and other public entertainments lasted several days.

Between the years 1759 and 1763 the harbor had been the constant resort of the squadrons under Lord Colville and others; the place was enlivened by the presence of a large army and navy, and at the close of the war several gentlemen of condition were induced to become settlers.

Peace having been proclaimed in 1763, the 28th day of December of that year was solemnized at Halifax as a day of thanksgiving on account of the termination of the war. Though the town possessed all the advantages to be derived from the presence of the naval and military forces, the resident population did not increase. From the notitia parochialis of the Rev. Dr. Breynton, the Rector of St. Paul's, the number of inhabitants in the town did not exceed 1300 souls. However, in 1769, six years after, the Doctor makes the following return: Inhabitants in and about Halifax including Garrison, Acadian French and fishermen, by the late public survey 5000 souls, of which 200 are Acadians and 55 protestant dissenters. The number of births that year was 200 and the deaths 190.

Among the local occurrences of the year 1759, was the trial of Thomas Lathum, baker, for the murder of Lieutenant Collins of the Royal Navy. It appeared that Mr. Collins, Captain Sweeney, Doctor Johns, Mr. Fulton and others of the Navy, had been sipping at the house of one John Field, and late in the evening proposed to go out in search of some women with whom one of them had made an engagement. They knocked at the door of one Hewitt, and inquired for Polly. On being refused admission, it appeared that Thomas Lathum, the brother-in-law of Hewitt, who lived in the neighbourhood, hearing the noise, came to his own door and demanded of the gentlemen in the street whether they intended to rob Mr. Hewitt. They replied that they were gentlemen and not robbers. Some further words provoked a scuffle, in which Fulton was dragged by Lathum into his house. The affair terminated in Lathum discharging a gun after the party, and mortally wounding Collins. Captain Sweeny had previously called the guard, who shortly after the affair arrived and took Lathum into custody. Lathum was tried on the 24th April, 1759.

The names of the grand jury, who found the bill of indictment, were Michael Francklin, foreman, Charles Proctor, Abraham Bowyer, Walter Manning, James Quinn, Nathan Nathans, J. Pernette, John Craig, Terrence Fitzpatrick, John Kerby, Jonathan Pierce, James Porter, Henry Sibley, J. Flanagan, Michael Moloney, Robert Cowie, Charles Terlaven, Jonathan Gifford and James Browne.

On the 11th March, 1760, the following gentlemen were appointed Justices of the Peace for the county of Halifax, viz.: The Hon. Jonathan Belcher, Hon. Benjamin Green, Hon. John Collier, Hon. Charles Morris, Hon. Richard Bulkeley, Hon. Thomas Saul, Hon. Joseph Gerrish, William Nesbitt, John Duport, Joseph Scott, John Creighton, Sebastine Zouberbuhler, Edward Crawley, Charles Proctor and Benjamin Gerrish, and on 30th December following, Malachi Salter, Alexander Grant, Johnathan Binney and John Burbidge were added to the number. Messrs. Morris, Duport, Scott, Gerrish and Crawley were appointed Justices of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas.

Governor Lawrence, who had been for 7 days ill, died of inflammation of the lungs on the morning of the 19th October, 1760. The Council were immediately summoned, and Chief Justice Belcher sworn in to administer the Government. A question had arisen on a previous occasion, between Mr. Belcher and Mr. Green, as to the eligibility of the Chief Justice to the office of administrator of the Government, which was decided in favour of the Chief Justice, but some years after, the question was determined by the British Government declaring that the two offices of administrator of the Government and Chief Justice, should never be held by the same person.

It was resolved in Council, that the funeral of the late Governor should be at the public expense, and a monument to his memory was afterwards voted by the Assembly to be placed in St. Paul's Church.[37]

The funeral of Governor Lawrence took place on the Thursday following, 24th October, at 4 p. m. The procession began from Government House as follows:—

The Troops in Garrison, the Military Officers, two field pieces 6 pounders, the Physicians, the ministers, the corpse in a coffin covered with black velvet, and the pall, to which were affixed escutcheons of His Excellency's arms, supported by the President and the rest of His Majesty's Council.

The Mourners, the Provost Marshall, the House of Assembly, the Magistrates, the Civil Officers, the Freemasons and a number of the inhabitants. The Bearers, Clergy, Physicians and all Officers, Civil and Military had linen and cambric hat-bands.

The corpse was preceded near the church by the orphans singing an anthem. The pulpit, reading desk and the Governor's pew, were covered with black and escutcheons, and a most pathetic Funeral Sermon was preached by the Reverend Mr. Breynton, Rector of the Parish, after which the corpse was interred on the right side of the Communion Table.

Minute guns were fired from one of the batteries, from the time the procession began, until the interment, when the whole was concluded with three volleys from the troops under arms.

The Supreme Court, which began on Tuesday following, was hung in mourning and escutcheons.

The following fulsome eulogium, to the late lamented Governor, appeared in the newspapers of the day: "The Lieutenant Governor was possessed of every natural endowment and acquired, accomplishment necessary to adorn the most exalted station, and every amiable quality that could promote the sweets of friendship and social intercourse of human life.

"As Governor, he exerted his uncommon abilities with unwearied application, and the most disinterested zeal in projecting and executing every useful design that might render this Province and its rising settlements flourishing and happy. He encouraged the industrious, rewarded the deserving, excited the indolent, protected the oppressed and relieved the needy. His affability and masterly address endeared him to all ranks of people, and a peculiar greatness of soul made him superior to vanity, envy, avarice or revenge.

"In him we have lost the guide and guardian of our interests, the reflection on the good he has done, the anticipation of great things still expected from such merits, and circumstances which, while they redound to his honour, aggravate the sense of our irreparable misfortune."

About the end of October, Commodore Lord Colville arrived in the harbor with the Northumberland and three other ships of the line and several frigates from Quebec. The Sloop-of-War England also arrived from England with dispatches and next day sailed for Louisburg and Quebec. Several transports also came in about the same time with Col. Montgomery's Highlanders to relieve the two battalions of the 60th Royal Americans.

Among the advertisements in the Halifax Gazette of 1st November, 1760, is the following:

"To be sold at public auction, on Monday the 3rd of November, at the house of Mr. John Rider, two Slaves, viz.: a boy and girl, about eleven years old; likewise, a puncheon of choice old cherry brandy, with sundry other articles."

1759. Among the town officers nominated by the Grand Jury this year were, John Fillis, Richd. Wenman, Richd. Gibbon and Wm. Schwartz as Commissioners of the poor for the town.

Surveyors of Highways, Chas. Morris, Esq., Chas. Proctor, Esq., Mr. Wm. Prescott and Mr. John Rider.

This year an Act of the Legislature was passed to regulate the Sambro Light House at the entrance of Halifax Harbor, which had been erected the previous year at the expense of £1000. The Work House was also erected this year. Firing guns within the town and peninsula was forbidden in 1758 under a penalty.

The accession of King George the Third was proclaimed at Halifax on the 11th February, 1761, with great ceremony. The proclamation was first read at the Court House door,[38] then at the north gate of the town,[39] at Government House, at the south gate,[40] and lastly on the Parade, where the troops were drawn up and a salute fired by the artillery. Lord Colville's fleet being in the harbour at the time, "each ship fired a Royal Salute, beginning with his Lordship's flagship the Northumberland."

The order of the procession on this occasion was as follows:—1st, A Company of Grenadiers; 2nd, Constables of the Town; 3rd, Magistrates; 4th, Civil Officers of Government; 5th, Constables; 6th, The Provost Marshall with two deputies on horseback; 7th, a Band of Music; 8th, Constables; 9th, The Commander-in-Chief of the Province, the Honorable Jonathan Belcher, with Admiral Lord Colville and Colonel Foster, commandant of the Garrison, and the members of His Majesty's Council; 10th, the Speaker and the members of the House of Assembly, followed by the principal inhabitants. At three o'clock the company waited on the Commander-in-Chief at Governor Lawrence's head tavern, where a very elegant entertainment was provided for them, and after dinner His Majesty's health was drunk under Royal Salute from the Batteries, also other toasts, and the evening concluded with great rejoicings and illuminations, bon-fires and artificial fire works, played off by the Royal Artillery. A sermon was afterwards ordered to be preached (13th February, 1761) in St. Paul's Church, on account of the decease of the late King, and all public amusements were ordered to cease for one month from that day. The 17th was accordingly set apart and the sermon preached by the Rev. T. Wood, the Curate. Part of St. Paul's church was hung in black, and minute guns were fired for an hour and a half, and the flags on the Citadel and George's Island were half-mast during the day.

On the 11th day of February, 1760, two Indian Chiefs of the Passamaquoddy and St. John River tribes, came to Halifax with Colonel Arbuthnot and appeared before the Council, and by their interpreter, settled with the Governor terms of peace, renewing the Treaty of 1725 and giving hostages for their good behaviour. At their request truck houses were established at Fort Frederick. Benjamin Gerrish, John Collier and Thomas Saul were appointed a Committee to prepare the Treaty in French and English, which was to be taken back with them to be ratified by their tribes. It was arranged that Colonel Arbuthnot should accompany them, and that they should be sent back at the public expense, after which His Majesty's health was drunk and the Chiefs returned to the quarters assigned them by the Governor. On the 13th the Treaty was ratified in Council and the Indians and the Governor and Council settled the table of the prices to be established at the truck houses. The Indians stated that the number of their tribes, men, women and children, was about 500. During the sitting of the Council on the 13th, Roger Morris, one of the Mic-Mac Indians, appeared and brought with him three Frenchmen who were lately arrived from Pictou, and another Indian called Claude Renie, who said he was Chief of the Tribe of Cheboudie Indians. He stated that he had left 70 of his people at Jeddore; the men were out killing moose and their families were in want of provisions. It was arranged that provisions should be sent to them and that the men should forthwith come up and conclude a peace.

Treaties of peace were afterwards concluded on 10th March following with three Mic-Mac Chiefs, viz., Paul Laurent, chief of the Tribe of LaHave, Michael Augustine, chief of the Tribe of Richibucto, and the before-mentioned Claude Renie, chief of the Cheboudie and Musquodoboit Indians; the treaty was signed in Council on that day and they received their annual presents. Another treaty of peace was signed in Council on 15th October, 1761, with Jannesvil Peitougawash, Chief of the Indians of the Tribe of Pictock and Malogomish, and the merchants and traders were notified that the Indian trade to the eastward would be thrown open under regulations in the following spring. The following summer Joseph Argunault, Chief of the Mongwash Indians, with a number of followers, appeared before the Council and executed a final Treaty of peace. The members of Council and Legislature, with the Magistrates and public officers, attended on the occasion.

The Abbe Mallaird being introduced, interpreted the treaty to the Chief, who was then addressed by the Hon. Mr. Belcher, the Commander-in-Chief. The treaty was respectively signed by the Commander-in-Chief and the Indian Chief, and witnessed by the members of the Council present, the Speaker of the Assembly and Mr. Mallaird.[41] The Chief then addressed Mr. Belcher in the following manner: That he had formerly paid obedience to another King, but that he now acknowledged King George 3rd for his only lawful Sovereign, and vowed eternal fidelity and submission to him; that his submission was not by compulsion, but that it was free and voluntary with his whole heart, and that he should always esteem King George 3rd as his good father and protector. That he now buried the hatchet in behalf of himself and his whole tribe, in token of their submission, and of their having made a peace which should never be broken upon any consideration whatever. The Chief then laid the hatchet on the earth, and the same being buried the Indians went through the ceremony of washing the paint from their bodies, in token of hostilities being ended, and then partook of a repast set out for them on the ground, and the whole ceremony was concluded by all present drinking the King's health and their Haggas. This ceremony is said to have been performed in the Governor's garden, westward of the old English burial ground, where the Court House now stands. Benjamin Gerrish, Esquire, was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and additional truck houses were built and other arrangements made throughout the Province for more effectually carrying on the Indian trade.

On the 30th December, 1760, Malachi Salter, Alexander Grant, Jonathan Binney and John Burbidge were appointed Justices of the Peace for the Town of Halifax. Mr. Burbidge was a member of Assembly; he afterwards removed to the country and settled in Cornwallis township, where his descendants now remain.

The French having invaded the British settlements in Newfoundland, and captured the fort of St. John, a council-of-war was called at Halifax, for the purpose of consulting on means of the defence of the town in case of an attack. This Council was composed of Lt. Governor Belcher, Col. Richard Bulkely, Halifax Militia, Major General Bastead of the Engineers, Col. William Foster, Lt. Col. Hamilton, Lt. Col. Job Winslow, and the Right Honorable Lord Colville, commander-in-chief of the squadron. They met on the 10th July, 1762, and continued their sittings until 17th August. They recommended to Government the embodying a portion of the militia force, and that the Batteries on George's Island, Fort George, Point Pleasant and East Battery should be put in repair and guns mounted, and the erection of such works around the town and at the Dockyard as might be considered necessary for the protection of the place. The whole to be placed under the superintendence of General Bastead of the Engineers. Some of the old works were put in repair and others added on this occasion, but the cause of alarm having subsided, further expense was deemed unnecessary.

At the first settlement it had been found necessary to occupy not only every elevated position in the vicinity, but also large spaces around the town as at first laid out, for the purposes of defence and other military objects. After the necessity for those defences had ceased, it frequently occurred that the military commanders would lay claim to the grounds as military property, and in this way obstacles had continually arisen to the extension of the town, a grievance which has continued to be felt until the present time. Those whose duty it was to plan and lay out the town appear to have been guided more with a view to the construction of a military encampment than that of a town for the accommodation of an increasing population. The narrow blocks and small dimensions of the building lots have been found to be a continual drawback on the comfort, the health and the convenience of the inhabitants, and of late years these inconveniences have been severely felt in the business parts of the city. This, however, was not the case in laying out the north and south suburbs; here the lots were of ample dimensions, and though the streets were not of the width frequently met with in modern cities, yet of sufficient dimensions to ensure comfort. It is to be regretted that the town and city authorities, during the last 35 years, have not, as in other places, exerted their authority in the arrangement and laying off of building lots, and by wholesome regulations, prevented the crowding of buildings on pieces of land not sufficiently deep to admit of proper ventilation. It is also a matter of the utmost importance to the future welfare of the city that those lands now in the hands of the military and naval boards in various directions around the city which are not immediately required for military works should be handed over to the Civil Government for public promenades and other useful purposes.

July 18th, 1768. The Chiefs of the tribes of Indians of St. John's River, named Pierre Thomas and Ambroise St. Aubon, appeared before the Council with the following requests: They said the use of rum and spirituous liquors was too common among them, and requested that a remedy might be thought of to prevent it. They also required lands for cultivation, and that they should not be required to bear arms in case of war with any of the European powers. That some further regulations of prices in their traffic should be made, and several other matters, all of which appear to have been granted them. They desired to return home as soon as possible, that their people might not be debauched with liquor in the town.

This year (1768) Mr. Joshua Mauger retired from the office of Agent of the Province in London. Mr. Mauger came up from Louisburg with the army and resided in the town as a distiller of rum, and followed the camp for several years. He received grants of land from the government in various parts of the province. The bench at the south-west extremity of Cornwallis Island, now known as McNab's Island, was named after him. Mr. Mauger was afterwards elected a member of the British Parliament.

In the month of May of this year was presented to the Legislature the celebrated revolutionary document known as the Massachusetts or Boston Letter. This was a letter addressed by Speaker Cushin of the House of Representatives at Boston, to the Speaker of the Assembly in Nova Scotia. It bears the date February 11, 1768, and was on the subject of the differences existing between the British Government and the American Colonies, then on the eve of revolt. This letter is couched in very moderate but firm language; it appears to have been received, however, with great indignation by the House, who declined to have it read. A memorial was presented to the Governor and Council in March, 1767, by Colonel Dalrymple, then commander of His Majesty's troops at Halifax, complaining of the undue occupation of grounds about the town, on which there had been palisaded forts and lines of defence. It appeared that Governor Lawrence had granted certain small tracts of land on which a palisaded line of defence had formerly been, and that such tracts of land could not be supposed to come into use on any future occasion for fortifications. That Colonel McKellan of the Engineers had advised the situation of the Work House with an enclosure, in the front of said line, and that a whole bastion of two curtains of Lutterell's fort were covered by it, and that Governor Lawrence had further laid out more of such grounds on which part of the palisading of Horseman's Fort formerly stood, all of which it appeared he did by an undoubted right of the power given him by the King's Commission, to erect and demolish fortifications, and therefore to convert the ground to other uses, it being no more serviceable for the former purposes. But it also appeared that none of the Barracks were ever granted or admitted into private occupation. That Governor Lawrence had admitted the occupation of some of the ground reserved for fortification, on condition it should be surrendered when the King's service should again require it, by which it was evident that the King's rights in their lands had been sufficiently secured. Horseman's fort occupied the ground in the vicinity of the present Roman Catholic Cathedral. Lutterell's fort stood where the old Poor House and County Jail formerly stood. In June, 1763, the Council recommended the Governor to make a grant of the Common for the Town of Halifax to trustees for the benefit of the inhabitants. The Trustees were John Collier, Charles Morris, Richard Bulkeley, William Nesbitt, Charles Proctor and Richard Best. Some question having arisen as to the limits of the common, the Council were unanimously of the opinion that the lands which had been granted without the town were not within the limits of the Common as appeared by the plan thereof laid before the Lords of Trade, and which had not been disapproved of by their Lordships. No copy of this plan is now to be found.

The number of families residing in and around the town in 1763 was estimated at 500, which would make the population about 2500 souls. There was also supposed to be, at this time, about one thousand Acadian French in and about the town.

In June, 1763, the Hon. Montague Wilmot was sworn in Lieut. Governor in place of Mr. Belcher. In the following year he received the appointment of Governor-in-Chief.

On the 29th day of September, 1766, the Germans, who had been located to the west of the peninsula, the settlement now known as the Dutch Village, petitioned the Government that a convenient road should be laid out for them to their settlement. The Surveyor was ordered to report on the petition. He reported that he found the road from the north German lots to the southward of George Bayers' stone wall, now laid out, in the most convenient place, and that the road should be at least four rods wide. That from George Bayers' stone wall the road should be on the south side of said wall and thence to run until it meets the public road leading to the town.

About this time, at the request of the Magistrates, the Hospital was granted for an alms house. This hospital was established very early for the use of the settlers, and stood on part of the land now occupied by the Government House, to the north of that building.

The church of St. Paul's had now been for some years finished, and the Town and vicinity had been, by an Act of Legislature, constituted into a parish with corporate powers in the church wardens and vestry. After the death of Mr. Tutty, the Reverend Thomas Wood, from the Province of New Jersey, was appointed to assist Dr. Breynton, and he and the doctor were jointly inducted into the parish in 1758; Dr. Breynton as rector, and Mr. Wood as vicar or curate, to assist. Mr. W. continued at St. Paul's until 1763, when he was removed to Annapolis Royal with the consent of the Governor and the church wardens and vestry, when the whole duties of the Mission at Halifax devolved upon Mr. Breynton. Mr. B. was in the habit of officiating to the Germans in their own language. In 1761, he preached in German and English to the small congregation in the old Dutch church in Brunswick Street, on occasion of its being dedicated as the church of St. George. In 1770, at the solicitation of the Governor and Council, the Chief Justice and the congregation of St. Paul's, he received from the University of Cambridge the degree of D. D., to which he was entitled from his standing in the University. Early in his ministry the Doctor established in the Town an orphan school, and provided for the tuition of 50 poor children, through the assistance afforded him by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Mr. Ralph Sharrock, a discharged soldier, was his first schoolmaster. In 1776, Dr. Breynton mentions in his report to the Society, having administered the Lord's Supper to 500 men of the Baron de Seiltz's German regiment in their own language "whose exemplary and regular behaviour" he says, "did them great honour." The following extract from a document, in reference to Dr. Breynton, said to have been written by a Dissenter, is given by Mr. Hawkins, from the records of the Propagation Society: "As a person who, during a residence of upwards of twenty years in this Province, has deservedly gained the good will and esteem of men of all ranks and persuasions. He preaches the Gospel of peace and purity, with an eloquence of language and delivery, far beyond anything I ever heard in America." He lived to a good old age, preserving the esteem of his fellow townsmen to the last. He appears to have lived on terms of Christian fellowship with the clergy of other denominations, as we find that at the annual meeting of the Church Society, which took place in St. Paul's in 1770, the dissenting ministers all attended at the Church to hear the doctor preach his Visitation Sermon. One of the last acts of his ministry was the establishment of a Sunday School in the city. This was about 1783, perhaps a little later, and was the first Sunday School instituted in Nova Scotia.

In the month of July, 1769, a large number of Indians, many of whom at this time appear to have been Protestants, attended divine service in St. Paul's Church, when prayers were read by the Reverend Thomas Wood, in the Mic-Mac language, the Governor and many of the principal inhabitants being present. The Indians sang an anthem both before and after the service. Before the service began a Chief came forward, and kneeling down, prayed for the prosperity of the Province and the blessing of Almighty God on King George, the Royal family and the Governor of the Province. He then rose up, and Mr. Wood, who understood the language, at his desire explained the prayer in English to the whole congregation. When service was ended the Indians returned thanksgivings for the opportunity they had of hearing prayers in their own language. In the following year Mr. Wood again performed divine service at Halifax in the Mic-Mac language at the residence of Colonel Joseph Gorham, where a number of Indians were assembled. He had obtained great influence with the Indians through his friendship with the Abbe Maillard, and particularly from his behaviour to him a little before his death. He was in consequence frequently called on both by the Indians and French to baptize their children and visit the sick in the absence of a priest of their own church. In one of his letters to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in 1762, he mentions having attended the Abbe Maillard during his illness of several weeks, and at his request, the day before his death read to him the office of visitation of the sick in presence of many of the French, and having performed the funeral service of the Church of England, in French, on his remains in the presence of the principal inhabitants of Halifax and a number of French and Indians. The Governor and all the public functionaries attended the funeral of M. Maillard, who was highly esteemed and beloved in the community, and the members of His Majesty's Council were the pall bearers.[42]

Mr. Wood was shortly after removed to Annapolis Royal, where he died in the year 1778. While there he applied himself to a closer study of the Mic-Mac language, and by assistance of papers left him by M. Maillard was enabled to prepare a Mic-Mac grammar and dictionary. He sent the first volume of his grammar, and a Mic-Mac translation of the Creed and Lord's Prayer to England in 1776. He continued occasionally to minister to the Indians in their own language until his death.

February 26th, 1769. Halifax harbour was so full of ice that vessels could not come in, which had not been the case for (says the Gazette for that day) ten years. The cold was intense, snow between four and five feet deep in the woods and on the peninsula, an instance of which had not been known for several years.

May 9th, 1769. Major Leonard Lockman died after a lingering illness in the 73rd year of his age; he was interred under the old German church in Brunswick Street, and a monument to his memory, with coat of arms, is yet to be seen in that church. Major Lockman was one of the leading settlers among the Germans. The street running between the German lots and Water Street in the north suburbs bears his name.

In the fall of this year the town was visited by a severe gale of wind from the S. W., which caused the destruction of much property and some loss of life.

Among the principal merchants in Halifax in 1769, the Hon. John Butler, uncle to the late Hon. J. Butler Dight, Robert Campbell on the Beach, John Grant, Alexander Brymer, Gerrish and Gray appear most prominent. Among the shopkeepers and tradesmen who advertized during the year were, Robert Fletcher on the Parade, Bookseller and Stationer, Andrew Cunod, Grocer, Hammond and Brown, Auctioneers, Robert Millwood, Blockmaker, who advertized best Spanish River Coal at 30s. per chaldron.

The period between 1770 and 1776 was one of great public excitement, emissaries from the revolted colonies were numerous, and the Governor and Council deemed it expedient as early as 1770, to prohibit all public meetings of a political nature.[43] The same spring the general election took place, after which the House sat for fourteen years without being dissolved.

In 1771, Governor Lord William Campbell issued a proclamation forbidding horse races as tending to gambling and idleness.

October 8th, 1773. Governor Legge was sworn into office.

The subject of fortifying the town came under the consideration of the Council in the following year. It was considered that the ground being rocky in many places around the town, it would not admit of entrenchments being made, and that the only practical fortifications would be temporary blockhouses and palisades, and it was resolved that the Engineers under Col. Spry do immediately proceed to fortify the Navy Yard in that manner, which may be defended by the people of the town, and afford a retreat for them. Any attempt at fortifying the Citadel Hill this season was thought to be out of the question, the season being too late, the scarcity of workmen very great, and there being no troops for its defence.

The Governor proposed and it was agreed in Council to collect a force of 1000 men with pay and provisions, and that four companies of light infantry now forming at Lunenburg be ordered up, and that 100 Acadians from Clare and Yarmouth, and two light companies from Kings County do march immediately to Halifax. The public authorities appear to have been kept in a constant state of apprehension of invasion, while a continued suspicion of many of the leading inhabitants being favourable to the revolt, seemed to have taken possession of the mind of Governor Legge, who, having differences of opinion with some of his officials, attributed their disagreement with him on subjects of finance, etc., as marks of disloyalty. He at length became so obnoxious to those in authority, that it was deemed advisable to remove him from the Government. His quarrels with Jonathan Binney, Governor Francklin and other leading men of the town, are disclosed in the official letters and minutes of Council of that day.

It was found necessary to remove the Military Stores to George's Island for safety, and additional batteries were erected there. The officers of the Town Regiment of Militia were called on to subscribe the Oath of Allegiance before going on duty. Those who subscribed were Col. Butler, Major Smith, Captains Vanput, Brown, Finney and Millet, Lieutenants Pyke, Piers, Solomon, Clarke and Fletcher, Second Lieutenants Tritton, Jacobs, Schwartz and Kerby, and Adjutant Peters. Among them we recognize several family names, the grandsires of some of our present citizens.

Among the magistrates appointed in 1771 were Joseph Gray, John Amiel and Captain Thompson of His Majesty's Ship Mermaid.

The bureau of Governor Legge, at the Government House, was broken open in 1744, and a reward of £100 was offered for the detection of the thief.

The condition of the Orphan House, and the children therein, was considered bad, and an order was issued for immediate steps to be taken for its being put on a better footing.

During the winter of 1774, Sambro Light House was without light for five successive nights in consequence of Mr. Woodmass, the contractor, not having sent down a supply of oil, for which he was dismissed by Order of Council.

The following year William Nesbitt, speaker of the House of Assembly, was appointed Custos of Halifax County, and the names of Thomas Bridge and Thomas Proctor added to the Commission of the Peace.

Col. Butler, commanding the militia force, reported that the sickness in the town, together with the daily labour of the inhabitants, rendered it difficult to make up the number of men ordered for the town guard, which duty the people considered a hardship. The guard was accordingly ordered by the Council to be discontinued.

The scarcity of provisions in the town was at this time so great that the government found it necessary to dispatch the Snow Elizabeth to Quebec for flour for the inhabitants.

The impressment of men for the Navy had been a great grievance; the trade of the country was not only injured, but the town was becoming deprived of fish and fuel in consequence of the scarcity of fishermen and labourers. The merchants petitioned the Governor and Council on the subject. The memorial was sent to the naval commander of the station; it does not appear, however, that any further attention was paid to the remonstrance.

In September, 1775, it was proposed to throw up some temporary works in addition to the old works on Citadel Hill, and to entrench about the naval yard. On consideration, it was thought too late in this season to do any earth work on Citadel Hill. Col. Spry, however, proposed the erection of Blockhouses in the neighbourhood of the town. It is probable the old Blockhouses at Fort Needham and Three Mile House, the remains of which are within the recollection of many of our citizens, may have been originally constructed about this time. They were in full repair during the war of 1812.

A continual influx of strangers from the old colonies caused Martial Law to be proclaimed on the 30th of November of this year, and it was deemed necessary by the Council that a proclamation should be issued requiring all persons not being settled inhabitants of the town, who had arrived since September, to give notice of their arrival and names to two Magistrates, and all inn and tavern keepers were required to report arrivals at their houses, and vessels were forbidden entering the North West Arm without license. One thousand militiamen were ordered for the defence of the town. The constant arrival of loyalist refugees from the revolted colonies, during this and subsequent years, rendered provisions scarce, and in addition to these troubles, the small-pox broke out in the town about the middle of July. The King's troops had all been removed from Nova Scotia to the revolted provinces, and the Governor was informed by the home authorities that no troops could be spared, and that the inhabitants themselves must defend the town. The town guard was accordingly again composed of militia.

1775. The fifth General Assembly held this year its seventh session from 12th June to 20th July. Mr. Nesbitt was Speaker. Chief Justice Belcher presided at the quarter sessions this summer, and gave a very loyal address to the Magistrates and public functionaries present; all Magistrates and town officers took the Oath of Allegiance. The general feeling throughout the town appeared to have been eminently loyal; some of the leading citizens, however, though firm in their allegiance to the British Crown, yet thought that self government in the Colonies in fiscal matters was the correct policy. This threw several under suspicion; Mr. John Fillis, Mr. Malachi Salter and Mr. Smith, who were natives of Boston, were among the number.

Mr. Legge, the Governor, proposed to raise a regiment in Halifax, to be commanded by himself, but was unsuccessful owing to his unpopularity.

In the autumn of the previous year, a difficulty had arisen regarding the importation of some tea, in which Mr. Smith and Mr. Fillis were concerned; and it having been understood that Fillis had said the measures of Government were oppressive, these two gentlemen were ordered to be removed from all offices under Government. The year previous a quantity of hay belonging to Joseph Fairbanks, intended for the King's service, had been burned. Some one in Halifax sent to Boston a statement charging Fillis and Smith as being privy to the act. They complained to the House of Assembly, then in session, when the following resolution was passed: That this House do esteem Mr. Fillis and Mr. Smith to be dutiful and lawful subjects to the King, etc., and that the "House is unanimously of opinion that the said reports are base, infamous and false, and that the authors thereof merit punishment." The garrison having been reinforced by King's troops, the Governor concluded on bringing no further drafts of militia to the town.

1776. This was a memorable year for Halifax. The British forces under General Howe having evacuated Boston, a fleet of three men-of-war and 47 transports arrived in the harbour on 30th March, with troops and a number of inhabitants of Boston. These were followed on 1st April by many more transports, nearly 100 in number, with the remainder of Howe's army and a number of Loyalist refugees. Howe demanded accommodation for 200 officers and 3000 men, and about 1500 loyalists with their families, with supplies of fresh provisions, etc. Rents of houses in the town were consequently doubled and the town soon presented the appearance of a military camp.[44] Many complaints appear against the soldiers for pulling down the fences and demolishing the stone walls on the peninsula. One Christopher Schlegall had been killed in one of the numerous affrays with the soldiers. Three soldiers were arrested and tried for murder, but no convictions occurred. Several persons were called on to give security for their good behaviour in the town.

Among the events of this year was the appearance in one of the Halifax newspapers of copies of treasonable articles from the Rhode Island and Boston papers. The printer was brought before the Council and reprimanded and cautioned against permitting any such publications again to appear in his paper.

The names of the Members of Assembly for Halifax County and Town in 1776 were Wm. Nesbitt and Henry Smith, and Thomas Bridge and Joseph Fairbanks. Mr. Fenton was still Provost Marshall with jurisdiction throughout the province, there being then no County Sheriffs at this time. Henry Newton was Collector of Customs at Halifax, James Burrows, Comptroller, Lewis Piers, Gauger of Liquors, etc.

The Magistrates of the town were John Creighton, John Burbidge, Malachi Salter, Benjamin Green, John Cunningham, George Cotnam, John Newton, Winkworth Tonge, Jos. Desbarres, Charles Morris, Junior, George Smith, J. Gray, Giles Tidmarsh, George Deschamps, Dan. Cunningham, Thomas Proctor and Thomas Bridge.

The death of Chief Justice Belcher occurred this year. Mr. Morris, one of the assistant judges, was appointed to fill the office of Chief Justice until another should be appointed.

1777. The jail at Halifax was at this time in a very insecure condition. Criminals were continually escaping from it, several of whom had been found guilty of being in arms against the King. The jailor was infirm and his wife took charge. There were no regulations enforced for visiting the prisoners at night, and the shackles on the prisoners were found not to be sufficient. The Provost Marshall was suspended and Mr. Bridge appointed to act in his place.

Malcolm McIntyre, Thomas Crow, John Chalk, John Sewlock, Samuel Miller, Robert McMullen, Tulley McKilley, Cornelius O'Brien, Thomas Whitteny, John Cribben and John McIntyre, all fishermen of Herring Cove, were this year rewarded for attacking and taking a shallop and apprehending seven persons, being part of the crew of an American privateer which had been driven on shore and destroyed by the armed brig Hope, off Canso, from which they had made their escape in the shallop.

1778. The names of John Hosterman, Thomas Stevens and Edmund Phelan appear as Commissioners of the Poor, John Woodin, Keeper of the Poor House, and Thomas Brown, Schoolmaster at Halifax.

On the 13th July, 1779, the Revenge, privateer, Capt. Sheppard of Halifax, was taken and destroyed by two American armed vessels. In December following, H. M. Sloop-of-War North and the armed sloop St. Helena, in coming into the harbour from Spanish River, Cape Breton, the night being very dark and a south-east storm, were driven on shore about a league from the light house; both were lost and 170 persons perished.

1780. This year the following gentlemen were in the Commission of the Peace at Halifax: William Nesbitt, Winkworth Tonge, John Burbidge, Benjamin Green, John Cunningham, John Newton, Isaac Deschamps, William Russell, W. Phipps, J. F. W. Desbarres, Charles Morris, junior, George Smith, Enoch Rust, Joseph Gray, Giles Tidmarsh, John Fillis, George Deschamps, Daniel Cunningham, Thomas Proctor, Thomas Bridge, George Sherlock and John George Pyke.

A public slaughter house was erected this year in the town and John Woodin, senior, made keeper.

March 12, 1780. John O'Brien advertizes as keeper of the tavern known as the Golden Ball, formerly kept by Edward Phelan. The Golden Ball was situate at the corner of Hollis and Sackville Streets, opposite the building now called Variety Hall, occupied by W. Harrington. The hotel called the Pontac, at the corner of Duke and Water Streets (now Roger Cunningham's corner) was at this time kept by one Willis. It was here the Town Assemblies, Public Balls and Entertainments were held.

The Court House stood at the north-east corner of Buckingham and Argyle Streets, where the store of Messrs. Northup & Sons now is. Chief Justice Belcher presided here when first appointed. This building was, some years after, burned down and the lot on which it stood, sold.

On the 15th January, this year, the town was illuminated and there were great rejoicings throughout the day for the success of the British troops in Georgia.

The Governor being informed from England that a large armament was fitting out at Brest, it was resolved in Council that the town militia should be called out for duty and a portion of the country militia got ready to march to Halifax if required. General McLean, then in command of the Garrison, was directed to put the fortifications in working order. The Halifax militia was employed in the erection of bomb batteries. Drafts of militia from the country came down and were employed for three weeks on the works.

At this period the means of communication between this country and England had been very uncertain. The intercourse of Halifax with the old colonies having been cut off, Governor Sir Richard Hughes urged on the British Government the necessity of a line of packets being established between Halifax and England. Several privateers, during this and the following years, were fitted out at Halifax to cruise in American waters. The Revenge, Capt. James Gandy, and the Liverpool, Capt. Young, the former mounting 30 and the latter 8 guns, sailed for Halifax early this spring. They were accompanied by the Halifax, Robert E. Foster, master, owned and fitted out by Alexander Brymer, one of the principal merchants of the town.

The 18th of January being the Queen's birthday the citizens and militia had a Ball at Willis' rooms in the Pontac.

In May, the Revenge brought in a richly laden Snow, bound from Cadiz to Chesapeake Bay, the Blond Frigate and an armed sloop both brought in American prizes.

For several years two large ships, the Adamant and St. Lawrence, were regular traders between Halifax and Great Britain. They were regular in their trips, spring and fall, and the merchants of Halifax depended chiefly on them for their supplies of British merchandize.

A government armed vessel called the Loyal Nova Scotian, and several other small vessels, were kept to cruise off the mouth of the harbour to prevent surprise from the pirates and privateer cruisers which infested the coast. Several were captured and brought into Halifax during this and the two following years.

In May, 1779, an election for the County took place in Halifax. John George Pyke and Francis Boyd were the candidates. Pyke was returned.

General McLean left Halifax in June with a force for the reduction of Penobscot. In August, a squadron, consisting of several men-of-war and some merchant vessels, among which were the Adamant and St. Lawrence, sailed from Halifax for his relief. The town continued to be infested with Press Gangs for the ships of war. The inhabitants complained to the Governor and Council. Several riots on the wharves having occurred in consequence of the press, proclamation was issued demolishing all impressments except under the sanction of the Governor and Council.

October 26th, 1780. The committee of the House of Assembly, at this date, reported the sum of £1500 to be granted for the erection of a "proper and convenient building in the town for a public school, and a sum not exceeding £100 per annum for a master, and £50 for an usher when the number of scholars shall exceed forty." The trustees were to be five in number, to be appointed annually by the government, and the £1500 was to be raised by lottery. This lottery was carried into effect, but the building does not appear to have been erected. How the proceeds of the lottery were disposed of is not mentioned. The Halifax Grammar School had its origin from this proceeding. It was established in the old building at the corner of Barrington and Sackville Streets, from which it has only lately been removed to the private residence of the Rev. Doctor Gilpin, the Head Master. This building was originally occupied as a place for the meeting of the Legislature, and was previously at one time used as a Guard House. It appears to have undergone very little alteration since 1780, until sold a year or two ago. It is one of, if not the oldest building in the city, except St. Paul's Church, and the old Dutch Church on Brunswick Street. The Rev. William Cochran, afterwards Vice-President of King's College, was the first head master. He was succeeded by the Rev. George Wright, who was Garrison Chaplain and minister of St. George's. On his death, in 1819, the Rev. John Thomas Twining received the appointment. He retired from the school in 1848, when the Rev. Edwin Gilpin, succeeded him.