History of Halifax City Part 4

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

The loss of the Mars, a 70 gun ship, occurred off the harbour in May, 1755. It was in an easterly gale and supposed to be the fault of the pilot. Guns and crew were all saved. The Mars rock at the western entrance of the bay marks the spot. The guns and stores were brought to Halifax. Admiral Holborn's letter announcing the loss of the ship bears date the 28th May, off Halifax Harbour.

30th December, 1755, Montague Wilmot and Charles Morris, having been appointed to the Council, were sworn in. The other members were John Collier, Mr. Cotterell, Robert Monkton and Captain Rous.

A number of French prizes, taken by the fleet under Admiral Boscawen, were this summer brought into Halifax. There were in these 19,998 gallons of rum and brandy.

A Mr. Ellis had for several years held the office of Governor of Nova Scotia, and received the emoluments, but never came out. Lt. Governor Lawrence received the appointment of Governor-in-Chief on the resignation of Mr. Ellis, and Colonel Monkton became Lt. Governor; their commissions were read and they sworn into office on 23rd July, this year.

The following census of the town appears to have been taken about 1755 or 1756:--

Masters of families paying poor tax 256 Male children between 12 and 21 years of age 182 Male children under 12 291 Transient persons who pay no taxes 108 --- 837

Married women 241 Girls unmarried above 12 years old 261 Girls under 12 years of age 345 Women servants 71 --- 918 ---- 1755

The only other event of this year worthy of notice was the following melancholy affair detailed in Col. Sutherland's letter from Lunenburg, dated 12th September. "Yesterday," he says, "I received the melancholy account of Mr. Payzant's house being burned in Mahone Bay, and that he himself and other people who were with him, were killed by the Indians.

I immediately sent out an officer and party, which returned this morning, by whom I am informed that on Payzant's Island the house is burned, he with another young man killed and scalped, a woman servant and child also killed and scalped near the water side. His wife and four children missing. The young man was son to a family which lived on Captain Rous's Island. As his hands were tied the gentlemen immediately conjectured some further mischief was done there, and on their arrival they found the man thereto belonging, likewise scalped. It appears that Captain Rous's is the most advanced settlement, that they first came there and took the boy to conduct them to Payzant's." Mr. Payzant came to this country with a strong recommendation from Mr. Pownall, secretary to the Board of Trade. The death of James Payzant, Esquire, a clerk in the office of the Secretary of State, of the age of 100 years is announced in the London Gazette for 1757. This was probably the father of the gentleman who came out to Halifax, to whom Mr. Secretary Pownall's recommendation referred.

1756. January 26th, the term of Henry Wynne and William Manthorn's licences of the Dartmouth and Halifax ferry having expired, John Rock pet.i.tioned and obtained the same on the terms of his predecessors.

On the 30th June, 1757, Lord Loudon arrived at Halifax with the troops from New York, destined for the invasion of Cape Breton.

Sat.u.r.day, 16th July, 1757, His Excellency acquainted the Council that the Earl of Loudon had this day represented to him that a fever had broken out among the troops, under His Lordship's command, occasioned by the great quant.i.ties of rum that were sold to the soldiers by unlicensed retailers, and if continued must prove of fatal consequences to the service; and unless steps were immediately taken to effectually stop the same, he would feel himself justified in ordering all liquors found in the possession of such unlicensed retailers to be destroyed. The Council empowered the Provost Marshal and his deputies to enter such houses, seize the liquors and place them in the King's store until the army and navy departed.

On the 1st November, 1757, the grand jury of the County of Halifax pet.i.tioned the Governor and Council on behalf of the inhabitants of the town, that the town should be put into some state of defence "for the preservation of the place, the inhabitants, their families and effects."

They stated that the property, etc., was insecure from the want of proper defences; that the people were willing to a.s.sist in the work, and intimated that if their prayer could not be heard, humbly beg that they "may immediately know it in order to take the first opportunity of convoying themselves, their families and effects, to a place of safety in some of the neighbouring Colonies." A previous pet.i.tion had been presented to the Governor, to which no answer had been returned. The names attached to the pet.i.tion were, Robert Saunderson, Joseph Rundell, John Anderson, Paul Pritchard, Hugh McCoy, 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 Tritson, Jonathan Gifford and Benjamin Leigh.

The boundaries of the Township of Halifax were settled by order in Council 20th May, 1758, as follows: That until said township can be more particularly described, the limit thereof shall be deemed to be as follows:

To comprehend all the lands lying southerly of a line extending from the westernmost head of Bedford Basin, across the northerly head of St.

Margaret's Bay, with all the Islands near to said land, together with the Islands called Cornwallis Island,[35] Webb's and Rous' Island.[36]

[Footnote 35: Now McNab's.]

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

Minutes of Council 21st June, 1758: Mr. Josiah Marshall proposed to build a workhouse, 50 feet long, 20 feet wide and 8 feet high, in the town. The timber to be laid close, with a roof double boarded and shingled; to have 4 windows on each side, each window to have nine panes of gla.s.s and three iron grates; to have a staircase in the entry and a whipping post. The building to be placed on a good dry wall. Mr.

Marshall's tender for 200 sterling, finding materials and labour, was accepted.

To Charles Morris, Joshua Mauger and Charles Proctor, Esquires.

"Whereas, it has been thought proper to convert to the use of the public, a piece of land called Goreham's Point and the lands next ajacent, lying in the north suburbs of Halifax, formerly allotted to sundry persons, who have cleared and improved the same and erected some buildings upon them; they were directed to value the lands and proportion each owner's extent therein, and report to His Excellency.

Dec. 9th, 1758."

This is the site of the Commissioners' House in the present Dockyard.

December 9th, 1758. Peter Marquis de Conte and Gravina, convicted for intent to commit rape on a child under the age of ten years, was sentenced by the Court to walk between the hours of 11 and 12 this day from the north to the south side of the Parade, and from thence to the jail with a paper placed on his breast with his crime inscribed thereon, and to be confined for three months and fined thirty pounds; to remain in jail till the same be paid. Governor Lawrence remitted the first part of this sentence. The Marquis de Conte was a Sicilian n.o.bleman; he had been an officer in Goreham's Rangers.

December 29th, 1758. It appears by an advertis.e.m.e.nt of this date, that Governor Lawrence had wells sunk and pumps erected as reservoirs against fires, and that they had been damaged by some unknown person. His Excellency caused them to be put in repair.

Governor Lawrence, in his letter to the Board of Trade, 3rd November, 1759, mentions that the masonry of Sambro Light House had been some time finished, and that the lantern was then in progress of erection. That a chart of the harbour was also in progress, as also proper directions for piloting in ships with safety. Copies of these directions were enclosed in his letter.

It appears that in the year 1758, the Governor appropriated out of the old crown duty money for the Light House 1,000, for the Work House 500, for the Church 400, and for the Meeting House 100.

Again in 1760, for the Light House 987 5s. 5d.

" 452 10 10 " 635 6 8 ---- -- -- 2075 2s. 11d.

For the Work House 5,456, for the Church 350 18s. 6d., Meeting House 174 0s. 4d., Jail 208 11s. 9d.

Captain Rous was placed in charge of the Light House, a post which he occupied for many years. This was not Captain John Rous, the member of Council, but a relative of his from New England.

21st December, 1758. The Governor and Council appropriated the sum of 400, raised by duties on liquors, towards the church in Halifax, under the direction of Benjamin Green, John Collier, Charles Morris, Robert Saunderson and Henry Newton, commissioners for that purpose.

[Extract of letter from Louisburg, June 9th.]

"Admiral Saunders, with the squadron under his command, arrived in good condition on the 21st April off Louisburg, but on account of ice blockading the harbour, was obliged to bear away on the 26th for Halifax, whence he arrived on the first of May."

June 16th, 1759. Peter Marquis de Conte and Gravini, was released from his imprisonment, he having paid his fine. This gentleman died at Halifax. His will is recorded in the probate office.

Thursday 16th August, 1759, William Cotteral, Robert Grant and Montague Wilmot, Esquires, Councillors, being absent from the Province, the Governor appointed Richard Bulkeley, Thomas Saul and Joseph Gerrish, who were this day sworn in and took their seats.

February, 1760, two Indian Chiefs attended the Council, and were presented with laced blankets, laced hats, etc. They were informed that the same would be sent to the Chief of the St. John's Indians, and that the treaty of peace would be ready to be signed to-morrow, and if the wind was favourable they should embark on Sunday.

In Council 11th March, 1760, the Governor appointed the Hon. Jonathan Belcher, Benjamin Green, John Collier, Charles Morris, Richard Bulkeley, Thomas Saul and Joseph Gerrish, Esquires, and William Nesbitt, John Duport, Joseph Scott, John Creighton, Sebastian Zouberbuhler, Edward Crawley, Charles Proctor and Benjamin Gerrish, Esquires, to be justices of the peace for the town and county of Halifax. Charles Morris, John Duport, Joseph Scott, Joseph Gerrish and Edward Crawley, Esquires, to be justices of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for the county of Halifax, to the several of whom His Excellency then administered the oath requisite.

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, Na.s.sau 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 gra.s.s 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 quant.i.ty of private property, were removed to Halifax, and the town once again began to a.s.sume 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 a.s.sembly 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 c.u.mberland one, making in all twenty two members, and the necessary regulations were also made for carrying into effect the object intended.