FOOTNOTES:
[45] Afterwards Sir Dennis George, Baronet. He was father of the late Sir Rupert D. George, Secretary of the Province for many years, and of Sir Samuel Hood George, who was for a short time member of Assembly for the County of Halifax. Capt. George married Miss Cochran, of Halifax.
[46] Baron de Seitz died at Halifax in the following year. He was buried under St. Paul's Church with military honors, with his full uniform, sword and spurs, according to the ancient custom in Germany when the last Baron of the race dies. His monument, a quaint old German performance, may be seen in the east gallery of St. Paul's, with his armorial bearings, etc. Among his effects advertized for sale was his diamond ring and coach with 3 horses.
[47] New York was finally evacuated by the British Troops on the 25th November, 1783.
[48] Note.—Tradition says that the town was then so crowded by refugees and soldiers, that the cabooses from the transports were removed from the vessels, and ranged along Granville Street in rear of Government House, for the accommodation of the people.
[49] The tower now on Mauger's Beach was not built until about the commencement of the present century.
[50] The locality of this orphan house is uncertain.
[51] S. W. corner of Sackville and Hollis Streets.
[52] The House afterwards voted £700 for the cost of the day's entertainments.
[53] Anthony Stewart was a gentleman from the province of Maryland; he was the father of the late Judge James Stewart, who married a sister of the late Chief Justice Sir B. Haliburton and who died in 1830, and was succeeded on the Supreme Court Bench by R. J. Uniacke, junior.
[54] Sheriff Clarke was father of the late David Shaw Clarke, for many years Clerk of the Peace, and one of the police Magistrates of the town.
[55] Mr. Marchington was a Loyalist from New York. He commenced business in Halifax soon after his arrival, and accumulated a large landed property in the town. He owned all the land on the north side of the lane known by his name, leading from the ordnance into Argyle Street, since called Bell's Lane, also the wharf adjoining the Ordnance yard, long known as Marchington's wharf, afterwards the property of Tim Connors. He died at Halifax; he was the grandfather of Major Welsford, killed in the Crimean War, whose monument is to be seen in the old English burial ground.
[56] Among these negroes was a coloured preacher, the Rev. John Marrant, who had been ordained in London in 1785, as a minister of Lady Huntingdon's connection. He laboured among the people of his own colour while in Nova Scotia, and having accompanied them to Sierra Leone, officiated among them there for several years. He returned to England, and died in 1791.
[57] John Butler Dight was the nephew and heir of the Hon. John Butler, one of the early councillors. Under the will of his uncle, he assumed the name of Butler only and was afterwards know as John Butler Butler. He first was engaged in keeping a shop in the town; having acquired a fortune by the death of his uncle, he became a member of council and obtained a situation in the Commissariat department, after which he was removed to the seat of war with the army under Lord Wellington and others. Being owner of a large property near Windsor, he came back to Halifax in about 1833, and died at Windsor. He was the father of Colonel Edward S. K. Butler of 35th regiment, who afterwards settled and died at Windsor.
[58] Note.—Uncertain as to where the Cornwallis Barracks were situated.
[59] Note.—Mr. Stewart was the son of Anthony Stewart, before mentioned, a Loyalist gentleman from Maryland. He was Solicitor General and afterwards a Judge of the Supreme Court. He married a sister of the late Chief Justice, Sir B. Haliburton. Judge Stewart's residence was the yellow brick house at the corner of Pleasant Street and Morris Street, afterwards the residence of Mr. Alexander Stewart, Master of the Rolls, but not related to Judge James Stewart. The late Reverend James Stewart, of Dartmouth, was his grandson.
[60] Among Field's portraits remaining in Halifax, are those of the Hon. Michael Wallace, Hon. Wm. Lawson, Hon. Andrew Belcher and Mrs. Belcher, Bishop Charles Inglis, Rev. Dr. Archibald Gray and Mrs. Gray, the late Andrew Wright, of the firm of Belcher & Wright, and his sister Mary, the Dr. W. J. Almon, and others. That of Sir John Wentworth, a full half length, the best performance of Field in this country, was removed from the Rockingham to Government House by Sir John after the club had been dissolved, and became Government property. It was afterwards removed to the Province Building, whence it was taken some years ago, and is said to have fallen into private hands, having been either lent or given away by order of one of the gentlemen who, some years ago, occupied the office of Provincial Secretary. It is to be hoped that ere long it will find its way back to its place in the Building.
That of Commissioner Inglefield, also a member of the club, hung for many years over the mantle piece of the committee room of the Legislative Council Chamber, but was afterwards presented to the late Admiral Inglefield, father of Sir Edward Inglefield, lately Admiral on this station.
CHAPTER VI.
1800. At the commencement of the century Halifax presented a prosperous condition. The population now approached 9,000. Trade was brisk, and the place was enlivened by a large garrison and the presence of a Prince of the Blood Royal. The harbor was the resort of the fleet and was the principal station of the naval commander. The war was at its height and the Prize Court in full operation. Several privateers had been fitted out by the merchants of the town and captures of French vessels were frequent, though the trade of the port occasionally suffered from the French cruisers on the coast. Among the captures from the enemy at the time, the most remarkable was that of two prizes, one French and one Danish, brought in by Captain William Pryor, commander of the Privateer Nymph, of Halifax.
Several public buildings were commenced this spring. On the 5th June the Prince laid the corner stone of the Masonic Hall. His Royal Highness was Grand Master of the Masons of Lower Canada, and acted for the Hon. Richard Bulkeley, Grand Master of Nova Scotia, when age and infirmities prevented him from attending. A masonic procession was formed and the ceremony is said to have been one of the finest which Halifax ever witnessed. The band of the Prince's own regiment, the 7th Fusiliers, performed under the direction of Mr. Selby, organist of St. Paul's, one of the craft.
On the 10th April, Sir John Wentworth laid the corner stone of the Round Church (St. George's) in Brunswick Street. The Legislature this session voted £500 towards its completion. The land on which the church was erected had been purchased some time previously by the Committee of Superintendence. The design is said to have been the work of the late John Merrick and Mr. J. Fliegar of the Surveyor General's department, and for some years surveyor to Governor Wentworth while Surveyor General of Woods and Forests in Nova Scotia. St. George's old church, then known as the Dutch Church, was at this time occupied by the congregation of the north suburbs, many of whom were the descendants of the first German settlers. Though always an independent congregation, it had been considered part of the parish of St. Paul's, the whole Township of Halifax having been originally included in that parish, and it continued so until legally erected into a separate parish by the name of St. George's parish, under the Act of the Legislature passed for that purpose in 1827. The Rev. George Wright was at this time minister of St. George's congregation. He had lately succeeded Mr. Houseal, who was styled Missionary to the Germans.
A sum of money, as we have seen, had been voted by the Legislature for the erection of a Government House. Much discussion had arisen in the House of Assembly and with the Executive authorities, the funds to be appropriated for this purpose, and some difference of opinion existed regarding the site for the building. It was finally arranged that it should be placed in the field between Hollis and Pleasant Streets, to include the site of the old hospital. The corner stone of this edifice was laid by the Duke of Kent on the 11th of September. A procession was formed which proceeded from the old Government House, accompanied by a band of music, and the ceremony was concluded by a prayer by the Rev. Doctor Robert Stanser, Rector of St. Paul's. Isaac Hildrith was the architect, and John Henderson chief mason. No building since erected in Halifax exceeds Government House in neatness of design and solidity of workmanship. Some of the old brick buildings now remaining in the city were erected by Mr. Henderson.
The old market house was taken down this year and the new one commenced. This old market occupied the site of the recent City Court House. The new one was erected in the open space opposite the King's wharf, where the new brick market house now stands. It was a flat-roofed wooden building intended to accommodate the butchers only. A pitched roof was afterwards put on this building. There was a small green market built at the same time next the north line of the fuel yard, which was afterwards removed. These buildings were erected at the expense of Government, the sum of £2,252 having been granted by the House of Assembly to be appropriated to the erection of this new meat market, also to the repair and extension of the market slip or public landing, and for the fish-market, and, at the same time, £250 was voted to the heirs of the late Joseph Gerrish who claimed some interest in a portion of the old market house lot. A small piece of ground at the corner of the military fuel yard, next to the new market house, was about the same time purchased from Mr. Kidston who then occupied it for weigh scales and other purposes. The Grand Jury refused to accept the grant from the Crown of the old market house lot in the way it had been drawn by the Secretary of the province. The Council declined to make the alterations in the grant required, and concluded that the old building and the lot should remain under the control of the Commissioners of Public Markets, and ordered the old buildings to be taken down and the ground leased.
In March the House of Assembly was in session. The elections of Mr. Tonge for the County and Mr. Pyke for the Town were declared void by the House in consequence of some defect in their qualifications. On the 9th April following, the new election for the town took place, and on the 14th, Andrew Belcher was returned by a majority of 65 votes. Mr. Michael Wallace was returned for the County. Mr. Tonge, having been also chosen by a country constituency, fell back on the double return and retained his seat. On the 12th March, the House attended at St. Paul's church in a body, when the Rev. Dr. Stanser, then chaplain, preached before them.
This summer His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent took his final departure from Halifax. The usual addresses were presented by the House of Assembly, His Majesty's Council and the people of the Town. He embarked in H. M. Ship Assistance on the 3rd August, and sailed on the 4th. His embarkation was attended with full military ceremony, the troops lining the streets. His Royal Highness, accompanied by the Governor and Council and the principal Naval and Military Officers, proceeded on foot through the avenue formed by the troops to the King's Wharf, whence he reached the ship under salutes from the batteries, the artillery corps and the ships of war. Several of the old inhabitants not many years since recollected the scene, and could describe the feelings evinced by the townspeople on the occasion. His tall commanding figure in full military uniform, his hat surmounted by the lofty white plume, then worn by the fusiliers, could be seen above the heads of the surrounding crowd as he walked down the line with a smile of recognition for his friends, on passing them, amidst the plaudits of the crowd.[61] Though the Duke exhibited on all occasions the most kind temper in civil life, and his manner and conversation with those he liked almost amounted to familiarity, yet his sternness in military affairs never forsook him. Eleven soldiers had been sentenced to death for mutiny and desertion, and had been left by the Duke for execution, which was carried into effect under his orders a few days after he left our shores. On the 7th August, those unfortunates were brought out on the Common, dressed in white, with their coffins, accompanied by the Revd. George Wright, the Garrison Chaplain, and Doctor Burke, the Roman Catholic clergyman, in the presence of the whole garrison. Eight of them were reprieved under the gallows, and the three who belonged to the Newfoundland Regiment were hanged. Public feeling was against the Duke in this affair. It was thought that on the eve of his departure he should have granted a remission of the death sentence, which, as General Commanding, he had power to do, until the King's pleasure should be known. Three executions only a day or two after his departure, produced a disagreeable impression of His Royal Highness in the minds of the people of Halifax, who had just taken leave of him with so much kind feeling.
The Quarter Sessions having authorized the establishment of a military exercising ground on the north end of the Common, an act for which they had no authority, laid the groundwork of much dispute and controversy with subsequent military commanders, who on several occasions later undertook to interfere with the City authorities in beautifying and improving the Common.
The death of the Hon. Richard Bulkeley, late Secretary of the Province, occurred this year; he was in his 83rd year. Mr. Bulkeley came to Halifax as Aide-de-Camp to Governor Cornwallis in 1749, and had twice administered the Government as Senior Councillor. Also that of Anthony Henry, the King's printer. He published the Royal Gazette at Halifax for about 40 years. John Howe was his successor in the office of King's printer.
1801. Early this year it was proposed to establish a bank in Halifax by means of a joint stock company whose capital was to be £50,000 in shares of £100 each. A committee of management was named consisting of Edward B. Brenton, William Forsyth, Foster Hutchinson, Lawrence Hartshorne, James Forman, James Fraser and Captain John Beckwith. They required a monopoly, which was refused them by the House of Assembly, and the project fell through.
The winter of 1800-1801 had been very sickly. Smallpox had made its appearance in town early in the autumn, and 182 persons had died of it between September, 1800, and the month of February following.
Several fires occurred during the winter. Sir John Wentworth's stables at the lodge were burned down. The most disastrous fire which had occurred in the town for many years took place on the 5th February, when the block fronting the old Government House on Hollis Street was partially destroyed.
On the 13th February this year, the society known as the Sun Fire Company was established at Halifax. It was, perhaps, the first Fire Company ever instituted in the town. Those known as the Phœnix Fire Company, the Hand and Hand and the Heart and Hand were of a subsequent date. The Sun Fire Company in the year 1810, included most of the principal inhabitants of the town. Their names will be found in the [Appendix].
1802. A considerable outlay of money appears to have been made on the streets of the town about this time. The commissioners appointed for this purpose were Charles Morris, J. G. Pyke, Lawrence Hartshorne, Michael Wallace and William Lyons. The expenditure this year on the streets amounted to £930, and in the two succeeding years to £696 and £808. The sum of £500 had been granted in 1801 towards the expense of paving some of the streets; the remainder probably was raised by assessment.
The names of the town magistrates in 1802, were John Newton, Custos, Jonathan Binney, Geo. W. Sherlock, J. G. Pyke, Dr. Michael Head, W. Taylor, Stephen H. Binney, Jas. Gautier, Wm. Cochran, Charles Morris, Junior, Daniel Wood, William Thompson, Michael Wallace, Charles Hill, Richard Kidston, P. Marchington, Jonathan Tremain, James Clarke, William Schwartz, Hibbert N. Binney and John Bremner. These are the Magistrates for the County of Halifax. They all appear to have been residents in the town. Lewis M. Wilkins was Sheriff; John Newton and H. N. Binney were joint Collectors of the Customs; Daniel Wood, Inspector; John Cleveland, Collector of light duties; and John H. Fliegar, Gauger. The Firewards of the town were Mr. Pyke, Mr. Wallace, Mr. Hill, Mr. Cleveland, Mr. Clarke, William Millet, Elias Marshall, Thomas Fillis, Andrew Liddell, John Fillis, Wm. Lyons, Thomas Boggs, John Howe and Garret Miller.
The Royal Nova Scotia Regiment on being disbanded this year, presented an address to Sir John Wentworth, their Colonel, in August. The names of the officers of this Regiment were Lt. Cols. Francis Kearney and Samuel V. Bayard,[62] Major Geo. Thesiger, Capts. John Solomon, Jones Fawson, Alexander Howe,[63] John Allen, William Cox and Joshua W. Weeks, Capt. Lieutenant John G. Degreben; Lieutenants Thomas Morris, Otto W. Schwartz, Phillip Kearney, Eric Sutherland, George H. Monk, Michael Pernette, Charles Rudolf, John C. Ritchie, John Emerson, Timothy Ruggles, Richard Green, Isaac Glennie, Hebbert Newton, Thomas A. C. Winslow, Alexander Hamilton, Charles W. Solomon and John Fraser; Ensigns James Moore, Robert Bayard, Henry Green, Thomas Wright, Richard Gibbons; Paymaster Benning Wentworth, Surgeon John Fraser.
Governor Wentworth directed his reply to this address from "the Lodge."
The population of Halifax had again decreased towards the end of the year 1802. The returns of the number of inhabitants in the town and on the peninsula were as follows:—
| Men. | Women. | Boys. | Girls. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whites | 1924 | 2489 | 1790 | 1669 | 7872 |
| Blacks | 96 | 166 | 81 | 108 | 451 |
| In Naval Yard | 25 | 36 | 27 | 27 | 115 |
| Dutch Village | 15 | 16 | 30 | 33 | 94 |
| Total | 8532 |
There were 1000 dwelling houses in the town and peninsula. In taking the census, the wards of the town were distinguished as follows: North Barracks Ward, Pontac Ward, Market House Ward, Governor's Ward, Meeting House Ward, South Barracks Ward, South Suburbs and North Suburbs.
The sum of £8,900 had been expended by the Commissioners on the building of Government House, and but the first story had been completed. Much dissatisfaction was expressed in the House of Assembly with the course pursued by the Commissioners. Belcher, Hutchinson, Cochran and Beckwith had kept no minutes of their proceedings. Wallace appears to have had the principal supervision. He was censured by the House for having acted without the concurrence of those associated with him, and for exceeding the limits prescribed him by law. But his zeal and ability were commended and no corrupt motives were attributed to him. In 1804 an additional sum of £2,500 was voted to complete the building, a considerable sum having been voted and expended the previous year.[64]
Several fires occurred in June which were supposed to be the work of incendiaries. It had been proved beyond all doubt that buildings in several parts of the town had been set on fire. A patrol of militia under Colonel Pyke was ordered to patrol the streets from sunset to sunrise, and all suspected persons who could not give a good account of themselves at night were ordered to be arrested. A reward of £100 was offered for discovery, and several arrests were made. A boy who confessed to having attempted to set fire to the Dockyard was sent out of the province.
On the 2nd September the 97th regiment arrived in the harbor and landed immediately at the King's Wharf. On the 14th the fleet arrived from Jamaica under the command of Commodore Baynton, consisting of the Cumberland, 74, Bellerophon, 74, Ganges, 74, Vanguard, 74, Goliah, 74, Thesis, 74, Elephant, 74 and the Pelican, Brig. The 7th regiment embarked shortly after, and the town people presented a farewell address to Col. Layard and Lieut.-Col. Edwards. In April the Governor and Council were prevailed on to grant a press warrant to Capt. Bradley of the Cambrian for ten days in the town to enable him to fill up the number of his crew, it being 50 short of its complement.
The Rev. Dr. Burke was at this time Roman Catholic Vicar General of Nova Scotia under the Bishop of Quebec; he afterwards administered the Episcopal office in Halifax as Bishop of Zion. Dr. Burke was a gentleman of education and highly esteemed in the community.
The death of a very aged inhabitant, John Murphy, occurred this year. He was 90 years of age, and had been one of the first settlers of the town. He had acquired a large property in fields in the south suburbs, where he kept a large number of cows, and for a great many years supplied the principal inhabitants with milk and butter. The fields extending northward from Smith's tan yard to the corner house formerly occupied by the late Sheriff Sawyer, were known formerly as Murphy's fields.
1803. The following is an account of the butchers' meat sold in the Halifax market for six months commencing July 1st and ending December 31st, 1802.
| Sheep. | Calves. | Oxen. | Pigs. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July | 785 | 264 | 157 | — |
| Aug | 964 | 147 | 186 | — |
| Sept | 1409 | 91 | 273 | 21 |
| Oct | 1017 | 85 | 224 | 76 |
| Nov | 928 | 78 | 465 | 407 |
| Dec | 883 | — | 614 | 692 |
| Total | 5986 | 665 | 1919 | 1196 |
The above is exclusive of the meat issued under contract for the Navy, but it is to be assumed it included the Army contract.
1804. This spring the House of Assembly recommended that the old market house should be taken down and a new building erected on the ground for the purpose of a County Court House and police office. This was the brick building lately used for city purposes. An Act was passed in 1804 with that object.
The trade of the port was much depressed this season by the number of captures made by the enemy, and from the low prices obtained for fish in the West India market, where the merchants of Halifax were undersold by U. S. fishermen.
Among the events of the year was the arrival of several distinguished prisoners, among whom was General Brunet and suite, who put into Halifax on their way to England, having been made prisoners at St. Domingo. Governor Wentworth assigned them the old Rockingham Inn, near the Prince's Lodge on the Basin, as a place of abode while here. They were shortly after removed to England.
In the autumn General Boyer, commandant of the garrison, undertook to try the metal of the Haligonians by causing a false alarm of invasion. The report was spread early in the morning that the French were off the harbor. Before 10 o'clock, A.M., about 1,000 militia men were embodied and at their respective posts. Two hundred of them were artillery men. The dress companies were all in uniform and fully equipped. Among the first who appeared on the parade ground with their guns were Parson Wright, head master of the grammar school, and the Solicitor General, James Stewart, better known as Judge Stewart.
1805. Press warrants were granted by the Council on the 6th May to Vice Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell, then in command of the station, for fourteen days. He afterwards demanded an extension of his warrant for six months, which was refused by the Council at their meeting on the 18th. In their reply to the Admiral they mention that the number of seamen engaged in the West India trade, etc., had been so reduced by captures, imprisonment and other causes that there were not sufficient in the port to man the vessels, and that all the seamen to be found in the town would not now be enough to meet half the demand for one sloop-of-war in the fleet. Moreover, that there were many at the time in French prisons whose families were supported by charity in the town. This, together with the high rate of wages in the United States, had reduced the commerce of the port to the greatest necessity. Finally, that the execution of impress warrants on shore were attended with much disturbance and annoyance to the laboring poor and others not fit for service, and the Council were of opinion that it should only be resorted to on the most urgent occasions and when advantage from it was to be reasonably looked for.
Mitchell, finding he could not prevail on the Council, undertook, in the following October, to send press gangs through the town without warrant. An armed party of sailors and marines from the Cleopatra, frigate, under the command of one or more officers, were sent out. The citizens resisted and a riot ensued, which resulted in the death of one person and the wounding of several others. One of these encounters occurred in the store of Messrs. Forsyth & Co., where a number of merchant sailors had secreted themselves. General Wentworth called a meeting of the Council on 23rd November, and it was ordered that the Solicitor-General should proceed to prosecute all persons belonging to the ships war who had been engaged in impressments. The Attorney General, R. J. Uniacke, Mitchell's father-in-law, was in England at the time, on leave of absence. The Admiral's gang had broken open the store of Forsyth & Co. under the pretense of looking for deserters, and Sir Andrew defended his conduct under the authority of a warrant from the Admiralty, but he was condemned in heavy damages for his illegal proceedings.
The town artillery at this time consisted of three companies commanded by Captains Charles Morris, Bremner and Fillis, and there was another under Capt. McIntosh of Spryfield, which did duty at York Redoubt, composed principally of market fisherman who were regularly trained to battery exercises. Governor Wentworth appears to have been assiduous in his efforts to keep up the local defences of the town, and to have placed much reliance on the volunteer companies for that purpose.
There was a plentiful harvest this year throughout the whole province. Provisions of all sorts were plentiful in the town, so much so that the arrival of the fleet and a large export to Bermuda and Newfoundland did not augment the prices. The importations of flour from the United States, both this and the following year, were very extensive.
In October an unfortunate French prisoner named Pierre Paulin was executed on the common for the murder of a fellow prisoner. The Governor and Council refused to reprieve him.
In December the town was illuminated and other joyful demonstrations made by the inhabitants on the news of the Battle of Trafalgar.
1806. In the month of February, Lieut.-General Gardner, the commandant of the garrison, died at Halifax; his funeral was attended with much military pomp and ceremony. He was buried under old St. Paul's Church.
A general election occurred in 1806, when Edward Mortimer of Pictou, Simon B. Robie, S. G. W. Archibald and William Lawson were returned for the county, and John George Pyke and Foster Hutchinson for the town. Cochran, the old member, petitioned against Lawson on the ground of qualification.
The Government House remained still unfinished. The sum of £4,292 had been expended on the building since the last session, which was £2,000 more than had been voted.
On the 29th April Halifax was thrown into alarm by the appearance of a number of large vessels in the offing. Signal guns were fired from the alarm posts in the harbor, and the military and militia were under arms. There was another alarm of French invasion on or about the 20th May, when several large vessels were again reported off the harbor. The militia of the town were again assembled, but the greater part of them were without arms. Governor Wentworth had previously made several applications to the Imperial Government for arms for the Halifax Militia, but it does not appear that much attention was paid to his solicitations.
Among the advertisements which appeared in the Gazette this year was notice of a periodical publication to be called the "Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Magazine or Historical Library," which was offered for sale at the book stores of Messrs. Morrison, Bennet, Edmund Ward and William Minns. Morrison kept his book and stationer's shop at the corner of Duke and Granville Streets, afterwards known as Joseph Robinson's hat store, now owned by Mr. Kiezer. He was succeeded in his business by George Eaton, who was the principal book seller and stationer in the town for several years. This old building, with others along the upper side of Granville Street was destroyed by fire about 1827. At this time there was a law in existence to prevent persons building wooden houses in the town above a certain height. The present wooden building at the corner was then erected under this law and did not exceed what by measurement was deemed one story and a half. Several stone and brick buildings were erected in consequence of this law. That to the south of Kiezer's corner occupied by Mr. Simonds and others, another in the same block built by the late William Macara, druggist, and the large double three story stone building in Barrington Street, nearly opposite St. Paul's, were all erected about this time by Mr. Matthew Richardson on the site of the late Andrew Belcher's garden. Several old gamble roofed houses, the remnant of the first settlement, were destroyed by the above-mentioned fire.
On 22nd December, the American Government laid an embargo on all vessels within American ports bound to any foreign places, and the officers of the Customs throughout the States were directed to refuse clearances to all such vessels. This was a great check to trade, and Halifax felt the result in the scarcity of provisions and particularly of flour, which went up immediately to £5 per bbl., the inhabitants having been in a great measure dependent on the States for that article.
A sailor named John Wilson had been taken from the American Frigate Chesapeake on charges of mutiny and desertion. He was tried in Halifax by Court Martial on board the Flag Ship Belleisle on 26th August, condemned and executed 31st. Two other seamen were in October following executed on board the Jason, Capt. Cochran, for mutiny.
The following list of town officers appointed by the Grand Jury for the Town in 1806, will be found interesting:
| Halifax, Nova Scotia, March Term. | Court of Quarter Sessions. |
The Grand Jury present to the Worshipful Court the following as proper persons to serve as Town Officers for the ensuing year, in the different offices to which they are named, viz:
William Lyon, County Treasurer; Henry Yeomans, Town Clerk; Samuel Muirhead, Stephen Oxley, Clerks of the Market; Richard Woodin, Michael Denny, William Hogg, Enoch Wiswell, Surveyors of Lumber and Fence Viewers; Joseph Hamilton, James Romans, Sealers of Leather; Nicholas Vass, Thomas Adams, Patrick Ryan, William Ford, John Knowdie, Frederick Stormy, Surveyors of Pickled Fish; Thomas Adams, William Ford, Cullers of Dry Fish; Nicholas Vass, William Ford, Frederick Stormy, Gaugers of Oil; John Fleigher, Gauger: Henry Shiers, Richard Woodin, William Graham, Measurers of Wood; Francis Le'Guire, Measurer of Wood and Coals for the Fuel Yard; Richard Woodin, Henry Shiers, William Graham, Measurers of Grain; Richard Woodin, Henry Shiers, William Graham, William Hogg, Measurers of Salt and Coal; John Brown, William Ford, Cullers of Hoops and Staves; James King, Edward King, Weighers of Hay; John Metchler, Surveyor of Bricks and Lime; W. G. Forsyth, Lawrence Hartshorne, John Sullivan, John William Morris, Hogreaves; John Phelan, Pound Keeper; Thomas Stone, John Atkins, John Mansfield, David Fletcher, William Shea, George Isles, Peter Laffen, Edward Herbert, John Clarke, Richard Munday, Henry Wright, Hugh Chisholm, Andrew Bowers, Francis Wade, Alexander Cummings, Patrick Tobin, Constables; Jacob Michael, Constable for Dutch Town; Peter Shaffro, Constable for Dutch Village; John Mc'Alpin, Overseer of Highways for Dutch Village and Pen.; Jacob Bower, George M'Intosh, Overseers for Harriot and Spryfields; William Adams, Constable for Harriot and Spryfields; Peter Vambolt, John Duffeney, Constables for Margaret's Bay; Christopher Boutteleer, Overseer of Highways for Margaret's Bay; Frederick Boutteleer, Measurer of Cordwood for Margaret's Bay; George Duffeney, Fence Viewer for Margaret's Bay; George Mc'Intosh, Overseer of Highways from Spryfield to Catch Harbour; William Keys, Overseer of Highways from Windsor Road to Gay's River; Robert Fletcher, Terence Canty, Constables for the Shubenacadie Fisheries; Edmund Bambrick, Jonathan Shelling, George Hiltz, Overseers of Roads from Sackville Bridge to the extremity of the County; Jacob Haverstock, Overseer of Roads from Nine Mile River to Hammond's Plain; George Dunn, George Hiltz, Surveyors of Lumber for Nine Mile River to Hammond's Plain and Windsor Road; Colin Grant, Christopher Shultz, Robert Anderson, Fence Viewers; Christopher Haverstock, Joseph Fielding, Jacob Pentz, Constables for Windsor Road and Hammond Plains; Henry Bambrick, George Fultz, Hogreaves; John Shultz, George Hershman, Hugh Bambrick, Assessors of the County Rates; Henry Miller, Pound Keeper; Edward Foster, Surveyor of Highways from Dartmouth Town Plot to the Basin; Samuel Hamilton, Constable from Dartmouth Town Plot to the Basin; Jon. Tremain, Sr., William Penny, Surveyors of Highways, Dartmouth Town Plot; David Larnard, Constable, Dartmouth Town Plot; James Munn, Pound Keeper, Dartmouth Town Plot; Henry Wisdom, Surveyor of Highways from the Ferry up the Preston Road to Tanyard; Mark Jones, Constable; John Wisdom, Hogreave; Mark Jones, Pound Keeper; George Simpson, Surveyor of Highways and Fence Viewer from Tanyard to Simpson's; Hugh Ross, Constable; Thomas Settle, Surveyor of Highways and Fence Viewer from Simpson's eastward to the new bridge; Philip Molyneux, Constable; Timothy Crane, Surveyor of Highways for all Preston, and Fence Viewer; John Richardson, Constable; Thomas Settle, Surveyor of Lumber and Bark; George Horn, Hogreave; John Stewart, Surveyor of Highways from Cole Harbour to Turner's; Robert Collins, Surveyor of Highways from Turner's to Jones'; Robert Turner, Constable; Peter Mc'Nabb, Surveyor of Highways, Eastern Passage; Benjamin Horn, Constable; Adam Archibald, Musquodoboit, Surveyor of Roads; William Gould, Constable; George M'Leod, Robert Nelson, Fence Viewers; Hugh Archibald, Pound Keeper; Archibald Crawford, Overseer of Roads for Meagher's Grant; Alex. Grant, Constable for Meagher's Grant; Peter Ogilvie, Overseer of Roads from Meagher's Grant to George Anderson's; Peter Gordon, Constable for Meagher's Grant to George Anderson's; Jacob Bayer, Overseer of Roads from Musquodoboit Harbour; John Turple, Constable for Musquodoboit Harbour; George Bayer, Overseer of Roads for Pitpiswick; George Baker, Constable for Pitpiswick.
March 5, 1806. WILLIAM LYON, Foreman.
On 11th May, 1807, it having been reported to His Majesty's Council that the Grand Jury and Sessions had refused to accept a grant of the piece of land on which the old Market House stood, upon the conditions which had been inserted in the grant, (probably on it being vested in Commissioners) the Governor and Council refused to alter the grant, and if not accepted by the Session it was ordered that the old building be taken down and the ground cleared and remain under the control of the Commissioners of Public Markets. This was the site on which the late City Court House was afterwards erected.
1808. In the month of April, 1808, the new Governor, Sir George Provost, arrived to take the place of Sir John Wentworth, who was allowed a retiring pension of £500 per annum. He brought with him the 7th, the 8th and the 23rd Regiments, consisting of about 3000 men, with Brigadier General Houghton. The Governor came in H. M. Ship Penelope. At six o'clock on the same evening of his arrival, he landed at the King's Wharf under a salute from the Batteries. Sir John Wentworth was at his villa on the Basin—the Prince's Lodge as it was called—when his successor arrived, and did not receive the official letter announcing his appointment until 18 days after the arrival of Sir George Provost. On the 13th April, Sir John came to town and the new Governor was sworn into office.
It was deemed advisable that some trusty person should be sent to the United States to obtain information as to warlike preparations then progressing in that country. Mr. John Howe, the postmaster at Halifax, was chosen. He proceeded to Boston and afterwards visited other parts of the Union. Mr. Howe was again dispatched on a second mission late in the fall, and on his return made a report to the Lieutenant Governor.
Mr. Samuel Hood George, afterwards Sir Samuel, came out with Sir George Provost. He was appointed Provincial Secretary, and afterwards represented the County of Halifax in General Assembly. He was the eldest son of Commodore Sir Denis George, who married Miss Cochran of Halifax, and succeeded his father in the Baronetcy. This young man died early of consumption, and was succeeded both in the Baronetcy and the office of Secretary by his youngest brother Sir Rupert D. George, who remained in office until responsible government was established in the province.
The ships Milan, Observateur and Centurian were stationed at Halifax during the winter. The Centurian was the ship in which Lord Anson circumnavigated the globe. She remained in the harbour as a receiving and store ship for many years, and was broken up at the Dockyard somewhere between the years 1820 and 1823.
Among the visitors to Halifax this year was the notorious Aaron Burr, late Vice President of the United States. He passed under an assumed name.
1809. The winter of 1808-9 was remarkably severe. During the month of February the cold continued so long that the great expenditure of fuel was felt by all classes of the community. Much distress prevailed among the poor, and large sums of money were raised by subscription for their relief.
An expedition had been fitted out at Halifax, under the command of Sir George Provost, for the capture of the French Island of Martinique. It was composed of the 7th, 8th and 23rd Regiments with a Brigade of Artillery. Having succeeded in this enterprise they returned to Halifax on the 15th April. The gentlemen of the town gave a ball at Mason Hall in honor of their return. Three soldiers of the 7th Fusiliers were the only men killed in the expedition, the place having surrendered immediately on the attack being made. A tablet to the memory of these three soldiers may be seen in the gallery of the Round Church in Brunswick Street.
The Harbour was again this year the scene of another of those Naval executions, which were performed with so much severity during the time of war. A mutiny had occurred, or was supposed to have occurred, on board the Columbine on the 1st August, off St. Andrews. Four seamen and two marines were found guilty and executed on the 18th September. They were afterwards hung in chains on Meagher's Beach.
One of the most atrocious cases of piracy and murder on record occurred this autumn on the coast to the eastward of Halifax. The vessel was the Three Sisters, of Halifax, owned by Jonathan and John Tremain, merchants of the town, commanded by Captain John Stairs, brother of the late Honorable William Stairs, formerly president of the Union Bank. She was on her way from Gaspé Bay to Halifax with a cargo of fish. Edward Jordan, who had been formerly owner of this vessel or in some way concerned with her, took passage for himself and wife and four children with Capt. Stairs for Halifax. The following account is taken from a Halifax newspaper of 16th October, 1809:
"Monday, October 16, 1809.—The following are the particulars received from Capt. Stairs, of the piracy and murder that took place on board the schooner Three Sisters, belonging to this place, some account of which we gave in our last.
"This most atrocious act of piracy and murder, of which none could be guilty but the most diabolical incendiaries in human shape, took place, as has been stated, on the 13th ult. off Cape Canso, on the coast of this province, on board the schooner Three Sisters, bound and belonging to this place from the Bay Cheleaur. Edward Jordan, who has been represented as a passenger, and who had some interest in the vessel, appears to have been the exciter of this act of barbarity. Jordan having corrupted the mate, Kelly, who joined him in effecting his wicked intention, they secured the arms, and availing themselves of that moment most likely to assist their horrid design, which was when Capt. Stairs was below with one of his men,[65] shot the other man who was on deck, and taking aim at Capt. Stairs through the sky-light with a pistol, wounded him in the face and shot the man who was near him in the breast. Capt. Stairs immediately ran on deck, where he met Jordan with a pistol in one hand and an ax in the other. Capt. Stairs then retreated into cabin and searched for his pistols but found them taken from his chest with a sword; finding himself destitute of arms he again ascended the deck and saw Jordan giving the fatal blow to the man who was on the deck, when he turned from him and presented another pistol at Capt. Stairs, which flashed when they closed and the pistol in the struggle was thrown overboard. The man who had received the wound below having reached the deck, made an effort to assist his captain, but in his attempt, from weakness, fell on his face, where he was shortly after dispatched with an ax by Jordan. In the scuffle Capt. Stairs called upon his mate (Kelly) for assistance, whom he perceived was in the act of loading another pistol, but who made him no answer. At which time Jordan's wife, a fit companion for so base a monster, attacked him with a boat hook which he parried with his arm, and after much exertion disengaged himself, and seizing one of the hatches, jumped into the sea. The wind blowing a strong breeze, the vessel soon left him to his precarious fate, where he remained about three hours, when he was taken up by the schooner Eliza Stoddard, of Hingham, in an almost lifeless condition from wet and cold."
The vessel was captured and brought into Halifax, and Jordan and his wife placed on their trial before a special commission for the trial of piracies on the high seas on 15th November. The Commission of Judges who sat on this occasion were Lieut.-Gen'l Sir Geo. Provost, Vice Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, Chief Justice Blowers; Councillors, Butler, Wallace, Brenton, Hill, Uniacke and Morris; Capt. Lloyd, R. N., Capt. Lord James Townshend, R. N. and Capt. Simpson, R. N., Sir Samuel Hood George, Provincial Secretary, T. N. Jeffery, the Collector of Customs. Doctor Cooke, the Admiralty Judge, refused to attend because the Commissioners would not allow him precedence of the Governor with a veto on the proceedings of the Court. No jury was called under this commission. Jordan was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, which sentence was carried into execution on the beach some distance below Fresh Water Bridge, and the body was afterwards gibbeted on the shore some distance further down. The wife was acquitted, and a subscription was raised in the town to send her to Ireland. Dr. Burke, the Roman Catholic clergyman, Dr. Archd. Gray, minister of St. Matthew's, and Dr. Stanser, Rector of St. Paul's, acted as a committee for the purpose. The court assembled again a short time after, for the trial of the mate, Kelly, who was convicted, but afterwards pardoned.[66]
This being the 50th year of the reign of King George III, a jubilee was celebrated at Halifax on the 23rd October, with great ceremony.
The market slip, the new fish market and meat market were all repaired and improved this year at the cost of £571, £500 of which had been voted by the Assembly for the purpose. The taxes gathered in the town for liquor licenses in 1809 amounted to £1400.
The Fire Insurance Association of Halifax was established on 24th April, 1809. The first directors were Andrew Belcher, Charles Hill, Lawrence Hartshorne, Foster Hutchinson, James Fraser, George Grassie and H. H. Cogswell. Mr. J. H. Fliegar was secretary and the office was kept in his house in Hollis Street, where it continued to be kept for a great many years. He was succeeded by Mr. William Newton, at whose death Mr. Tremain was appointed.
Meetings of the Committee on Trade were held during the autumn. The Halifax Marine Insurance Company first opened their office for business in Water Street, opposite the fuel yard, this year. The committee of management were George Grassie, Jesse Woodward, Garret Miller, James Kerby, Lawrence Doyle, Lewis E. Piers, John Osborne, Thomas Deblois and John Albro'.
Among the merchants of Halifax at this time we find, in addition to the above, the names of Wm. Stairs, Wm. Bremner, Hartshorne & Boggs, at the old corner of George and Granville Streets, Kidston, Dobson & Co., Richard Kenefick, who had lately brought out Irish linen goods, Forman & Grassie, Shipping Merchants; William Bowie, afterwards a partner of Stephen W. Deblois, and who lost his life in a duel with the late Judge Richard Uniacke, Alexander Izat, Dry Goods, at corner opposite two pumps, corner of Hollis and Duke Streets, now occupied by the People's Bank; Martin Gay Black, Dry Goods; Geo. N. Russell, afterwards Wallace & Russell, Hardware Merchant, corner of Hollis and Prince Streets, now occupied by the Union Bank building; Temple and Lewis E. Piers, Ship Chandlery. This firm several years later purchased the irregular shaped lot adjoining the City Court House lately occupied by Stairs, Son & Morrow, removed a range of one story buildings or sheds known as the Ratstail, and erected a building in which they carried on the ship chandlery business until the establishment was purchased by Mr. William Stairs. Henry Austin, afterwards a partner with William Stairs in ship chandlery, Water Street, south of the fuel yard, and John Owen, shop keeper and shipping merchant.
There was a small newspaper, quarto size, called the "Novator" established or published at Halifax in 1809 by one James Bagnall in Sackville Street. It was not of long continuance.
Jones Fawson was Sheriff of Halifax this year.
From the commencement of the year 1810 until the month of April, 1812, there was a constant apprehension of a rupture with the United States. The garrison and navy enlivened the town by their frequent balls and festivities. The Rockingham Club, before mentioned, continued to have their weekly dining on Saturday at the old Rockingham Hotel on the Basin. It was then customary for the merchants and other principal inhabitants, occasionally to give public dinners to the generals, admirals and principal officers of both army and navy. These dinners, as well as those of the National Societies, were held at the old Mason Hall, that building then containing the most spacious and convenient room in the city.
In January, 1811, the merchants of Halifax petitioned the King, through the Lieutenant-Governor, to permit the coal mines in Nova Scotia to be opened and worked under regulations. A proposal was made this year for the formation of a Joint Stock Bank. The books for subscription were opened at the office of Henry Yeomans, insurance broker, and were first signed on 13th February by the Committee of Trade, consisting of William Sabatier, Andrew Belcher, John Black, James Fraser, George Grassie, Charles R. Prescott and John Pryor. No further proceeding appears to have been taken towards this object.
Much suffering as usual among the poor prevailed this winter. A society for the relief of the poor had been formed, which distributed during the year ending 9th February, 1811:
| 285 cords wood which cost | £994 | ||
| 860 lbs. sugar | 49 | 15 | 6 |
| 111 " tea | |||
| 702 " rice | |||
| 236 " flour | |||
| 1560 loaves bread to 255 persons | 36 | ||
| £1079 | 15 | 6 |
Eighty-four persons in distress, with their families, and others, in Halifax, Preston, Dartmouth, Chezzetcook, Windsor Road and Lawrencetown, with several families in Digby and Shelburne, were relieved at the time from the same funds.
| Subscriptions raised for the above purposes | £255 |
| Donations from individuals, &c. | 384 |
| £639 |
The committee in charge of this fund and its distribution were Edwd. B. Brenton, Revd. Robert Stanser, Revd. Archibald Gray, W. J. Almon, M. D., Hibbert N. Binney, John Lawson, Treasurer.
On Wednesday the 19th February, a public fast was proclaimed throughout the Province, which was observed at Halifax, with due solemnity.
Two fires occurred this year, one at Commissary Buildings on Hollis Street, the spot on which the Bank of Nova Scotia stands, on 18th April, and the other at Bellemont, Mr. John Howe's residence at the North West Arm, on 6th May. Both buildings were saved.
The office of the Nova Scotia Marine Insurance Company was kept by Henry Yeomans, broker, of the Company. A new Marine Insurance Office had been started in February; George Grassie was Chairman of the Committee of Management, and John Bonnett was Secretary.