History of Halifax City

by Thomas B. Akins

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].