History of Halifax City

Colonel John Goreham was a native of Massachusetts; he was with General Pepperal at the siege of Louisburg in 1745, as Lieutenant-Colonel of his father's regiment raised in Massachusetts. He afterwards had command of a company of Rangers at Annapolis and came down to Chebucto with his rangers to meet Governor Cornwallis in 1749. He took precedence next to Governor Mascarene at the council board. He is styled Captain Goreham by Mascarene and by Cornwallis in his commissions and correspondence. That of Lieutenant-Colonel was probably militia rank only. It is probable he returned to Boston soon after the settlement was formed as his name does not appear on the Council books after 1752. He had a brother, Joseph Goreham, who was also a member of Council in 1766; he afterwards attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the British army. He was engaged in the border skirmishes on the isthmus from 1754 to about 1758, and was afterwards appointed Commandant at Newfoundland.

Lieutenant-Colonels Horseman, Ellison and Merser, who were afterwards appointed to the Council, were the officers in command of the regiments which came from Louisburg. They all retired soon after to England.

Charles Lawrence was a Major in Warburton's Regiment of Infantry. He came up with the army and was engaged during 1749 and '50 in the French wars at Cobequid. He acted as Brigadier General under Amherst at Louisburg; he was a member of the Council and sworn in Governor of the Province on the death of Governor Hobson; the first assembly was convened during his administration, (2nd October, 1758); he died unmarried on 11th October, 1759, it is said of an inflammation, caused by overheating himself at a ball at Government House; he was deeply respected by the whole community, and the Legislative Assembly caused a monument to be erected to his memory in St. Paul's church "from a grateful sense of the many important services which the Province had received from him during a continued course of zealous and indefatigable endeavors for the public good, and a wise, upright, and disinterested administration." This monument has now disappeared from St. Paul's Church. His escutcheon remains in the East Gallery. Lawrence, though an active and zealous governor, by his desire to favor the officers of Government with a partiality for his military friends, brought on himself an organized opposition from the leading inhabitants of the town, who petitioned the Home Government for redress of their grievances, which they in a great measure attributed to the Governor and his Lieutenant Colonel Monckton. His resistance to the desire to call a Legislative Assembly was among the chief charges against him. His death shortly after the petition put an end to the difficulties. He was succeeded by Judge Belcher as Administrator of the Government.

Charles Morris was a native of England; he was Captain of Provincials under General Pepperal at the siege of Louisburg in 1745. He had been engaged by Governor Shirley of Boston in a survey of the interior parts of Nova Scotia with a view to British colonization, in 1745. He also commanded one of the Provincial Companies sent to Minas under Colonel Noble in 1747. He was in Halifax in 1749, and in company with Mr. Bruce the Military Engineer laid out the town and peninsula. He was appointed to the Council in 1755. Though Surveyor General of the Province he acted for some time as Judge of the Supreme Court during the time of Chief Justice Belcher, which offices were both afterwards filled by his eldest son Charles. Captain Morris died in 1781, and was succeeded in the office of Surveyor General by his son Charles, whose son, the Hon. Charles Morris, also filled the same office and was a Member of Council in 1808. He was the father of John Spry Morris, Esq., afterwards Surveyor General, who was the fourth in succession who had charge of the Surveying Department in Nova Scotia. There are numerous descendants of Captain Morris in Halifax.

Jonathan Belcher, the first Chief Justice, was a native of Massachusetts, son of the Governor of that province, of an eminent colonial family; he was appointed Chief Justice of Nova Scotia in 1754, when a young man, and administered the government on the death of Governor Lawrence; Chief Justice Belcher arranged and revised the laws as they appear on our first Statute Book, and rendered good assistance to Governor Lawrence in founding the settlements at Horton, Cornwallis, Falmouth, &c., in 1758, '9, and 1760. Judge Belcher died poor; the Legislature voted a provision to his only daughter. His son, the Honorable Andrew Belcher, was for many years a resident in Halifax and member of Council.

Captain Wm. Cotterell was the first Provost Marshal or Sheriff, (there being no county divisions at this time). He was succeeded in that office in 1750 by Captain Foy, who held that situation many years, and received a small pension on his retirement. Mr. Cotterel afterwards acted as assistant Provincial Secretary.

William Nisbett came out with Cornwallis in 1749 as one of the Governor's clerks. He practised as an attorney and solicitor. He was appointed Attorney General on the resignation of Mr. Little, which office he held for 25 years. He was one of the first representatives in the General Assembly of 1758, and was elected speaker on 4th December 1759. He continued in the Chair of the House (with the intermission of one session when sick) until 1783, when he retired on a small pension and died the following year aged 83. In 1763 he declined a seat in the Council. During the period of his being Speaker, the House sat for 11 years without being dissolved. The old house in which Mr. Nisbett resided situated in Grafton Street, Block letter E, Collins' division, mentioned in a former chapter, still remains, though much changed by the cutting down of the street many years ago. He left no male descendants. His daughter, Mrs. Swann, died in the old Grafton street house about 60 years ago.

Archibald Hinshelwood was one of Governor Cornwallis' clerks, and performed the duties of Deputy Secretary with Mr. Cotterell and others for many years. Most of the drafts of the letters sent to England by the first three Governors are in his handwriting. He was elected a member of Assembly for Lunenburg in 1759 and again in 1765. Lord William Campbell the Governor appointed him to the Council in 1773, but he died before taking his seat. His property on Argyle Street after occupied by the City Water office fell to his nephew, (he having no children), who left two sons in the navy, both of whom died young. The old property was sold about 60 years since and purchased by Mr. W. A. Black, who resided there many years.

Otis Little was Captain of one of the New England Independent Companies. He was probably a native of England. Being in England in 1749, he came out with Governor Cornwallis, who appointed him Commissary of Stores, from which office he was dismissed on suspicion of having traded in the supplies for the settlers. He acted as first Attorney General of the Colony, and was probably a lawyer by profession. He was the author of a well-written pamphlet on the resources of Nova Scotia, written in 1748, with a view to encouraging British emigration to the province. Capt. Little left a daughter, who died unmarried at Halifax early in the present century.

John Baptiste Moreau, designated gentleman and schoolmaster in the book of the settlers, had been originally a Roman Catholic priest, and Prior of the Abbey of St. Matthew at Breste. He joined the expedition under Cornwallis in 1749, and went to Lunenburg with the settlers in 1752. He received ordination as a clergyman of the Church of England in 1750, and officiated to his countrymen and the Germans in the County of Lunenburg, where he died much esteemed and regretted in the year 1770. He left a son, Cornwallis Moreau, who was the first male child born in Halifax, and was called Cornwallis after the Governor. This old man was living at La Have, in Lunenburg County, in the year 1848, being nearly 100 years of age. He received pecuniary assistance from the Nova Scotia Philanthropic Society in that year.

Doctor John Breynton came up from Louisburg with the army, where he had been acting Chaplain to the Forces. He succeeded Mr. Tutty at St. Paul's in 1751 or 1752, in conjunction with Rev. Thomas Wood. Mr. Breynton was inducted Rector in 1758 or '9, under the provisions of the Statutes of the Province, and Mr. Wood acted as Curate or Vicar. After Mr. Wood's removal to Annapolis in 1763, Mr. Joshua Wingate Weeks, from New England, became assistant minister at St. Paul's. Dr. Breynton received his degree of D. D. in 1770. He died in 17 – , and was succeeded at St. Paul's, as rector, by the Rev. Doctor Robert Stanser, afterwards Lord Bishop of the Diocese. Dr. Breynton was esteemed an eloquent preacher, and was in the habit of addressing the settlers in English, French and German.

John Creighton was an officer in the army. He served in the Dragoons at the Battle of Fontenoy. Having been discharged at the peace of Aix la Chappelle, he was placed on half pay as Lieutenant of Warburton's Regiment of Infantry, and came out with the expedition in 1749. Mr. Creighton was sent to Maligash with Col. Lawrence in 1752 to assist in forming the settlement at Lunenburg, where he continued to reside until his death, which took place in 1807. He was Colonel of the Militia, Judge of the Common Pleas, and for some time a member of His Majesty's Council, to which he was appointed in 1776. Col. Creighton was a native of the South of England. He left numerous descendants in this country. His youngest son, Col. Joseph Creighton, half pay of 56th Regiment of foot, died at Halifax about 1854. His grandson, the Hon. John Creighton, of Lunenburg, was a member of the Legislative Council. Mr. James Creighton, the ancestor of the family of that name now in Halifax, came out with Col. Creighton. It does not appear there was any relationship between them. Mr. James Creighton became one of the most thriving and influential settlers in the town, and was the ancestor of one of our most numerous and estimable families. Col. Creighton's daughters married, one to the late Judge Wilkins and another to Hon. Hibbert N. Binney, both of whom have left numerous descendants.

Perigrin Thomas Hopson, the second Governor at Halifax, was Commander-in-Chief at Louisburg when that place was delivered up to the French after the Treaty of Aix la Chappelle. He came up with the army and was sworn in a member of Council in August, 1749. He succeeded to the government on the resignation of Governor Cornwallis in August, 1753. He did not remain long at Halifax. In 1757 he was gazetted a Major General, and in the following year was appointed to the command of the forces destined for the West Indies. He died before Guadaloupe a short time before the Island was captured.

John Collier was a Captain in the army and Member of Council in 1752. He was appointed by Governor Cornwallis one of the magistrates of the town, and had command of a section of the militia; one of the divisions of the town being named after him. He died at Halifax in 1769. It is uncertain whether he left any descendants.

Richard Bulkeley accompanied Governor Cornwallis to Nova Scotia as one of his A. D. C. in 1749. He was appointed Secretary of the Province in or about 1759, which office he held until 1793 when, on his retirement, he was succeeded by his son, Michael Freke Bulkeley, who died a few years after his appointment, 1796. Capt. Bulkeley was called to His Majesty's Council in 1759, and as Senior Councillor, he administered the government on the death of Governor Parr, in 1791. He held, at various times, the offices of Judge of Admiralty, Brigadier General of Militia, and Grand Master of the Masons. He died December 7th, 1800, at the age of 83, beloved and respected by all classes throughout the province. He was justly esteemed the father of the settlement, being the only person of consideration then living who came in 1749. He had been twice married. His first wife was a daughter of Capt. Rouse, R. N.; she died in 1775. He had three sons, all of whom died before him. His residence was at the corner of Prince and Argyle Streets, opposite the south-west corner of St. Paul's Church. The old stone house built by him still remains; it was for many years the residence of the late Hon. H. H. Cogswell, and is now known as the Carlton House. Mr. Bulkeley was buried under St. Paul's Church. His escutcheon, with the bull's head crest, hangs in the west gallery. The Hon. Richard Bulkeley was the only person who ever held the rank of General of Militia in this country.

Capt. Horatio Gates was A. D. C. to Governor Cornwallis with Capt. Bulkeley. He had been in command of an independent company of provincials in New York in the year 1737. After his arrival in Halifax he was employed for a short time in the country against the Indians and French. In 1762 he was appointed A. D. C. to General Monckton, with the rank of Major, and accompanied him in the expedition against Martinique. Gates was afterwards better known as a General in the American Revolutionary Army. Sir Robert Walpole, in a letter dated 1778, says Gates was the son of a housekeeper of the Duke of Leeds. Sir Robert was his God-father.

Jonathan Binney was a native of Hull, a small village near Boston. He came to Halifax shortly after the settlement was formed, and was engaged in business. He was elected a Member of Assembly for the town in 1761, and in 1764 was elevated to the Council. In 1768 he was sent to the Island of St. John (now Prince Edward Island) as Second Judge of the Local Court, and afterwards held the offices of Collector of the Revenue at Canso and Collector of Imports and Excise at St. John Island. He was charged with errors in his accounts by Mr. Legge, the Governor of the province, under which he went to England in 1776, where he completely refuted the charges made against him. Mr. Binney married Hannah, daughter of Mr. Henry Newton, a Member of Council, and is the ancestor of the whole Binney family now in Nova Scotia.

Joseph Fairbanks was from Massachusetts. He was one of the representatives in the first House of Assembly, summoned in 1758. Mr. Fairbanks left no children. His nephew, the late Rufus Fairbanks, became heir to all his property in Halifax, which at the time of his death was very considerable. Mr. Rufus Fairbanks was for many years one of the magistrates of Halifax; he married a daughter of Charles Prescott, sister to the Hon. Charles Prescott, of the firm of Fairbanks & McNab; of Hon. Charles R. Fairbanks, many years a Member of Assembly for Halifax and Judge of Admiralty and Master of the Rolls, and of Samuel P. Fairbanks, formerly Member for Queens County, with other children.

Benjamin and Joseph Gerrish were both from New England. The former was a member of His Majesty's Council, appointed in 1768, and Agent for Indian Affairs in 1760. The latter was many years Naval Storekeeper at Halifax. He was also a Member of Council. His appointment to the Board bears date August 16th, 1759, from which he was suspended in 1762 for non-attendance. He died at Halifax in 1774. Mr. Joseph Gerrish built a residence in the north suburbs, south of the Dockyard, between Lockman and Water Streets, and had a fruit garden, the old stone wall of which remained on the east side of Lockman Street until about 1835. One of these gentlemen carried on business for some years in company with Mr. Gray, who was connected with him by marriage. Mr. Gray was father of the late Rev. Dr. Benjamin Gerrish Gray, minister of St. George's, and afterwards Rector of Trinity, St. John, New Brunswick, who was succeeded by his son, the Rev. Dr. William Gray, lately deceased. He was also ancestor of Mr. Charles Gray, British Consul at Virginia. The Hon. John Gray, of St. John, New Brunswick, and Benjamin Gerrish Gray, Esq., barrister at law, of Halifax, are their descendants; one the son of Mr. Charles Gray, the other of Dr. William Gray. A Mr. John Gray came out with Governor Cornwallis in 1749 as a Deputy Secretary; probably Mr. Gray who was in partnership with Gerrish was the same person.

Major Leonard Lochman, (spelt wrongfully Lockman) was a German doctor and practised his profession in early life. He came out with the settlers in 1749 and resided in the north suburbs, where he built a residence for himself and had a large garden. This old house was lately pulled down. It stood on the upper side of Lockman Street and was built with a hipped or gamble roof. He received the rank of Major in the army for services performed to the British Government. He died at Halifax, and was buried under the little old Dutch Church, in Brunswick Street, where his escutcheon and monument with armorial bearings are still to be seen. The street between Brunswick Street and the water, which was laid out between the German lots, was named Lockman Street in compliment to the Major, who was for many years a leading man in Dutchtown. It is not known whether he left any descendants in the province.

The names of Jonathan Prescott, Malachi Salter, Richard Gibbons, Lewis Piers and Otto William Schwartz appear among the principal inhabitants of the town in 1750. Mr. Salter was from New England, had been extensively engaged in the fishery, and had visited Chebucto Harbor in 1744, five years before the settlement, while on a fishing voyage along the coast. Chebucto was the frequent resort of Cape Cod and Marblehead fishermen previous to the settlement. He was a Member of Assembly and Justice of the Peace for the town in 1759. The old house at the corner of Salter and Hollis Streets, afterwards the residence of the Hon. W. Lawson, and later of Mr. Esson, was built by Mr. Salter and was his place of residence for many years. During the American revolt, Mr. Salter, with several other gentlemen of the town, became suspected of treasonable correspondence. He was twice under prosecution, but on a full investigation nothing appeared to have been said or written by him of sufficient moment to warrant the charges. Mr. Salter was the ancestor of the family of that name now remaining in Halifax. He died at Halifax, in January, 1781, aged 65.

Mr. Gibbons was acting Attorney General for several years, and a leading practitioner at the Bar of Halifax. His son, Richard Gibbons, died at Sydney, Cape Breton, at an advanced age, where his descendants are numerous. The old gamble-roofed house at the corner of Buckingham and Grafton Streets, known as Isles' corner, lately pulled down, was the residence of Mr. Gibbons.

John Duport was the English Attorney. He came out with the settlers in June, 1749, and in July following was appointed a Justice of the Peace. In 1752 he was made Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. He performed the duties of Secretary of Council for many years. He was sent as a Judge to St. John's Island in 1770, and was afterwards Chief Justice of the Island. Mr. Duport left a daughter married to Mr. P. Skey, of Falmouth, and a son who was in the army and was father of Mr. Robert Duport, later an officer in the Purveyor's department of the British Army. Judge Duport was much esteemed, and appears to have been an active public servant during the first twenty years of the settlement.

Joshua Mauger was an English trader, who had been connected with the government contracts at Louisburg, and appears to have resided in Halifax for the purpose of commerce only. In 1751 he held the office of Agent Victualler for the navy at Halifax. In 1754 he had shops established at Pisiquid (Windsor), Minas (Horton), and other places, where he sold goods and spirits to the French and Indians. He had still houses in Halifax where he made rum which he supplied to the troops and the navy. Mr. Mauger had some difficulties with Governor Cornwallis regarding illicit dealing. He went back to England about 1761, and was appointed Agent of the Province in London, which he resigned in the following year, having secured a seat in the British Parliament. He owned much property in and about Halifax. The beach at the entrance of the harbor, extending westerly from Cornwallis, now McNab's Island, was originally granted to Mr. Mauger, and still bears his name.

Michael Franklin was a merchant from England who settled in Halifax about 1752 or 1753. He was elected a Member of Assembly in 1759, and appointed to His Majesty's Council in 1762. In 1766 he received the appointment of Lieut. – Governor of the Province, which he held until 1776, when he again took his seat at the Council Board. Governor Franklin was a most active and esteemed public officer. His name appears connected with almost all the transactions of importance which occurred in the town from 1763 to 1780. During the American Revolt, his exertions in support of British authority while administering the government, were in a great measure instrumental in preserving the tranquility of the province. He married a daughter of Mr. Boteneau, of Boston, whose wife was a daughter of Peter Faneuil of that city. He left several children. The late James Boteneau Franklin, for many years Clerk of the House of Assembly, was his eldest son. Mrs. Fitzgerald Uniacke was his grand-daughter.

Lewis Piers was a grand-son of Sir Henry Piers, 1st Bart. of Tristernagh Abbey, Ireland.

The Hon. Thomas Saul was the wealthiest and most enterprising merchant from 1749 to 1760.

The names of Benjamin Gerrish, Charles King, Henry Ferguson, Joseph Fairbanks, William Piggot, William Fury, James Grant, Jacob Hurd, Daniel Shatford, Samuel Sellon, Charles Mason, Lewis Piers and Robert Campbell appear on the lists of the Grand Jury between 1751 and 1754.

The following names appear on the register of early settlers: – Richard Wenman, Thomas Keys, John Edes, John Gosbee, Ralph Coulston, Edward Orpen, John Christopher Laurilliard, Philip Knaut, Peter Burgman, Otto William Schwartz, John Jacob Preper, John Woodin, Andrew Wellner, Christopher Preper, Simon Thoroughgood.