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 L.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 L.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, L.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.
[Footnote 61: NOTE.--After the Prince's departure Governor Wentworth
occupied the Lodge on the Basin, which had been built on his land. He
resided there for some time after retiring from the Government.]
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 L.50,000 in shares
of L.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 Phoenix 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 L.930, and in the two succeeding years to L.696 and
L.808. The sum of L.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.
[Footnote 62: Col. Bayard retired from active service and settled in
Annapolis County. He was the father of the late Dr. Bayard of St. John,
and grandfather of the present Doctor William Bayard of that city.]
[Footnote 63: Capt. Howe was a descendant of the Hon. Ed. Howe, one of
Cornwallis' first councillors.]
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 L.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 L.2,500 was voted to complete the building, a
considerable sum having been voted and expended the previous year.[64]
[Footnote 64: The building cost about L.18,000.]
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 L.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 L.4,292 had
been expended on the building since the last session, which was L.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 L.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 L.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 Gaspe 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."
[Footnote 65: Thomas Heath, who left a wife and two children in this
town.]
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]
[Footnote 66: A report of these trials was published in 1810 by Mr.
Bagnall at the office of the newspaper called the "Novator," taken from
the notes of two students at law, Charles R. Fairbanks, afterwards
Master of the Rolls, and Andrew W. Cochran, who for many years was
Secretary of the Province of Lower Canada and member of Council.]
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 L.571, L.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 L.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 L.994
860 lbs. sugar 49 15 6
111 " tea
702 " rice
236 " flour
1560 loaves bread to 255 persons 36
----------
L.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 L.255
Donations from individuals, &c. 384
----
L.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.
THE PROVINCE BUILDING.
Decisive measures were adopted this session by the Legislature for the
erection of a building for the accommodation of the legislative bodies,
the courts of law and the public offices, on the site of the old
Government House on Hollis Street. Commissioners were appointed and
plans and elevations prepared or procured by Mr. John Merrick. Chief
Justice Blowers, Mr. Speaker Wilkins and Judge Hutchinson has the
planning of the interior arrangements, and George Grassie, Winkworth
Allen and John Merrick were the commissioners to erect the building. Mr.
Richard Scott was the builder employed to conduct the work. The building
was fully completed and finished, ready for the sittings of the Courts
and Legislature, in 1820, at the cost of L.52,000.
A new steeple and an addition of 16 feet to the northern end was added
to old St. Paul's Church this year, at the cost of L.1000, granted by
Government, L.500 from a fund known as the Militia Arms Fund, and the
remainder from funds arising out of the forfeited estate of one Jonathan
Clarke. Hibbert N. Binney and H. H. Cogswell were the churchwardens.
Their advertizement for tenders for the work appears in the Gazette. The
sum of L.500 from the Arms Fund was at the same time granted to St.
George's Church towards finishing the interior of that building. These
works were commenced this year, but were not finished until late in
1812. But one capital criminal conviction is recorded in 1811, that of
one Sarah Wilson for burglary. She was sentenced to death, but
afterwards reprieved.
On the 27th May the sloop of war, Little Belt, Capt. Bingham, arrived
from a cruise. She reported having fallen in with the United States
frigate, President, by whom she was fired into, and had sixteen men
killed and twenty-one wounded, and the rigging of the ship much cut up.
The two nations being at peace at the time, the affair caused much
excitement in Halifax. Explanations were offered on the part of the
Captain and Officers of the U. S. frigate, which only tended to show the
bitterness of feeling which shortly afterwards manifested itself in open
hostilities. Early this season non-intercourse was established between
the United States and Great Britain.
Sir George Provost was now appointed to the chief command in Canada. The
inhabitants of Halifax presented a congratulatory address on his
promotion on the 19th August. He sailed for Quebec on the 25th, and Sir
John Cope Sherbroke, his successor, arrived with his family from England
on 16th October following in the ship Manilla.
On 26th September a poll was opened by Capt. Jones Fawson, then Sheriff,
for the election of two members for the town and four for the county.
John Pryor, John Geo. Pyke and William H. Taylor were nominated; the
latter retired and the two first were declared elected. The four old
members for the county were returned. Mr. William Sabatier was nominated
but afterwards retired from the contest.
The merchants of Halifax, on 20th July, petitioned the Governor
respecting the state of trade, etc., stating that they were agreed to
take gold and silver coins at the following values, viz: A Guinea, L.1 3
4, Halifax currency; a Johannes, at L.4; a Doubloon, at L.3 17 6; an
Eagle, at L.2 10; the old French Guinea, at L.1 2, and all the other
decimal parts of the same coins at a proportional value; English and old
French Crowns, at 5s. 6d; Spanish Dollars, (including those which
heretofore passed current at 4s.) at the rate of 5s. At this time
British silver was unknown at Halifax--Spanish silver was the current
coin. It came up from the West Indies and Spanish America in the course
of trade, and the British Government found it more convenient for
various reasons to pay their troops stationed here in Spanish silver
than to import British coin for that purpose.
The names attached to this petition were William Bowie, Garret Miller,
Starr & Shannon, Charles Loveland, Moody & Sinclair, Alexander McDonald,
William A. Black, Martin Gay Black, John Albro, Charles Boggs, Henry
Ford & Co., Henry Austin, Michael Forrestall, Jonathan and John
Tremaine, John W. Pyke, Matthew Richardson, Richard Tremain, Samuel
Head, M. D., Kidston, Dobson & Telford, H. Taylor, John Liddell & Co.,
Capel Hines, Jas. Ewing, George W. Mitchell, Prescott Lawson & Co.,
James Fraser, Winkworth Allen, Smith & Thom, Scaiffe & Baine, R. Lyon,
Sr., Andrew Belcher, Forsyth, Black & Co., Lawrence Hartshorne, Charles
Hill, Forman Grassie & Co., John Lawson, James Leaver, William Minns,
John Osborne and John Owen.
A proposition concerning some alteration in Water Street, near the
Ordnance Yard, was made by Captain Gustavos Nichols of the Royal
Engineers. It was understood that the town would not agree to the
proposal unless the Military authorities surrendered a road in
continuation of Hollis Street, southward. The subject had been mooted
for a long period previous to this time, but no arrangement could be
agreed on between the military and the town authorities. Captain
Nichols' letter makes an offer according to the plans therein enclosed.
This letter and plans are not now forthcoming among the City or
Provincial Records, and therefore the particulars of the proposition
made by the Engineer Department cannot now be understood. Copies of
these plans may possibly exist at the Lumber Yard and Engineers' office.
On the 17th March, the Irish Society celebrated the anniversary of St.
Patrick this year by a dinner at Mason Hall, which was attended by the
Governor, General Balfour, Commissioner Inglefield, Judge Croke, the
Captains of the Navy in port and the Staff of the Garrison, etc. The
Hon. Charles Morris was President, and Samuel Hood George, afterwards
Sir Samuel, was Vice. The dinner was at five o'clock, the fashionable
hour in those days. The Governor and principal guests retired at nine.
The rest of the company sat late, but the utmost harmony and good
feeling prevailed. These national festivals were better attended in
those days, when no political animosities existed to disturb the harmony
of the good people of Halifax.
On the 11th May, there was a public examination of the Halifax Grammar
School under old parson Wright--a ceremony in which the inhabitants at
this period took much interest. On this occasion Mr. Edward Monk, son of
Judge Monk, took the first prize; Lewis M. Wilkins, the late Judge, won
the second, and the third was given to James Bailey, and the fourth to
Edward Fairbanks, a brother of S. P. Fairbanks, Esq., and of the late
Judge Charles R. Fairbanks, Master of the Rolls.
A Company was formed this year, in Halifax, for prosecuting the
codfishery. The managers were John Lawson, Henry H. Cogswell, William
Pryor, Garret Miller, John Brown, John William Morris and Charles
Loveland. A large capital was raised in shares of L.50 each.
On the 20th November, the fleet sailed for Bermuda, consisting of the
Flag Ship of Admiral Sawyer, the Spartan and Melampus, Frigates; the
Atalanta, Ratler and Indian, Sloops-of-War.
At the commencement of the year the following Ships of War, under the
command of Sir John Borlase Warren, were on this station, viz.:
Swiftsure, 74; Guerriere, 40; Melampus, 36; Aeolus, 39; Cleopatra, 32;
Euridice, 24; Little Belt, 22; Halifax, 18[67]; Indian, 18; Emulous, 18;
Atalanta, 18; Colibre, 18; La Fantome, 18; Plumper, 12 and the
schooners Vesta, Juniper, Holly, Barbare, Bream, Cuttle and Chub. The
old Centurian was the receiving ship; she remained for many years off
the dockyard. The Pyramus was afterwards used as a receiving ship for
the fleet lately sold and broken up; she was an old-class 50 taken from
the Danes at the capture of Copenhagen.
[Footnote 67: This brig was the only vessel of war ever built at the
Halifax Dockyard.]
The Eighth and Ninety-eighth British regiments, the Nova Scotia Fencible
Infantry, with a battery of Artillery and a company of Engineers
composed the Garrison of Halifax. Captain Philip Van Cortlandt was Town
Major, and Stephen Hall Binney, Barrack-master. The former was succeeded
by Lieutenant John McColla as Town Major, who resided in Halifax for a
number of years, and was Adjutant General of the Provincial Militia.
Major-General Balfour[68] commanded the Garrison. Captain J. N.
Inglefield, R. N.,[69] was Commissioner of the Dockyard, and Mr. P. F.
Wallis, first clerk. Mr. W. was father of Admiral Sir Provo Wallis, who
distinguished himself in the action of the Shannon and Chesapeake.
[Footnote 68: General Balfour was this year removed to New Brunswick,
where he died Lieutenant Governor of that Province.]
[Footnote 69: Commissioner Inglefield was grandfather of Vice Admiral
Sir Edward A. Inglefield, lately in command of the Squadron at Halifax.]
A Marine Humane Society existed at Halifax in 1811. Their drags, for the
recovery of drowned persons, were advertised as being lodged in the
respective stores of Hon. And. Belcher, John Pryor, John Brown, Samuel
Muirhead and John Starr.
The 30th September was marked by a severe gale of wind from the S. E.,
by which many of the wharves in the town were ripped up and much damage
done to the shipping in the harbour and along the coast.
The year terminated by a proclamation opening the Port of Halifax to
vessels of neutrals. The proclamation bears date the 24th December.
Among the deaths recorded this year was that of James Gautier, Esq., for
many years clerk of His Majesty's Council and keeper of the public
records in the Secretary's office. He died poor. The Legislature voted
L.30 to defray the expenses of his funeral. He left no family.
The principal retail merchants in the town at this time were Martin Gay
Black, Smith & Thom, Carret & Alfort at the corner lately occupied by
Messrs. Duffus; John Liddell & Co., H. Ford, McDonald & Co., Robert
Lyon, W. Bremner, John Lawson, Kidston, Dobson & Telford, Scaiffe &
Bain, Thomas Heaviside, James Fraser, Arthur Brymer, all Dry
Goods--Moody & Sinclair, C. & R. Hill & Co., Red store, road leading to
Dockyard, Thomas Leaver and William Remmington, all Auctioneers, William
Minns and Geo. Eaton, Stationers. Mr. Minns occupied the old building in
Barrington Street below the Parade, opposite Dalhousie College, where he
died about 1825. He conducted a paper called the Weekly Chronicle for
above 20 years. Windham Madden and William Conroy kept Livery Stables.
1812. Orders had been issued early this season to put the Forts in
repair; the works on the Citadel Hill having again fallen into a
dilapidated condition. Captain Nichols, commanding the Royal Engineers,
made an elaborate report, and operations were commenced forthwith under
his superintendence. The United States had now declared war. Commodore
Rogers, in command of an American Squadron, had fallen in with the
British Frigate Belvidere, 36 guns. She sustained the attack for two or
three hours and at length got off with the loss of several of her crew
killed, the Captain and 22 wounded. The Belvidere came into the harbor
on the 27th June, and on the following evening a special dispatch
arrived from the Governor of New Brunswick with intelligence of the
Declaration of War. Sir John immediately made the necessary arrangements
for calling out the militia. All able-bodied men between 18 and 50 were
to be billetted for service and a portion of them to be immediately
embodied. This was arranged by Order in Council dated 28th June. The
Belvidere, after she had escaped from the American Squadron, captured
three American merchant vessels which she brought in with her. Halifax
being the headquarters of the Naval force under Admiral Warren, who had
upwards of 60 pendants under his command, prizes now began to be brought
into port. The Court of Admiralty under Judge Croke was in active
operation, and the newspapers of the day appear filled with
advertizements of sales of prizes and prize goods. Cartels frequently
came and went between Halifax and the American ports for the exchange of
prisoners. With all this bustle of business money became plenty, and the
foundations of small fortunes began to be laid by the Crown lawyers and
the prize agents. The presence of a large army and navy caused much
dissipation in the town. Festivities of all kinds prevailed.
Subscription assemblies at Mason Hall were kept up during the winter
under the management of Mr. Jeffery, Collector of the Customs, Capt.
Brenton, of the navy, and Lieut.-Col. Robertson, of the garrison. Dinner
parties at Government House, and balls and levies on state days, with
the frequent rejoicings on the news from time to time of the success of
the British Armies, both in Europe and America, completed the round of
Halifax festivities.
The capture of the British ship Guerriere, a first class frigate
commanded by Capt. Dacres, belonging to the Halifax squadron, by the
Americans, in August, caused much talk and excitement throughout the
community. Capt. Dacres, a young and inexperienced officer, it was
thought had surrendered too early to the enemy. He had only left the
harbor a short time when he lost his ship.
In July, a press warrant was granted to Rear Admiral Sawyer for 48
hours. Desertions from the navy were frequent and large offers were
reported to have been made by the enemy for such able seamen as would
come over to the American navy. The Commander-in-Chief, in consequence,
found it necessary to publish a proclamation at Halifax offering the
King's pardon to all who had deserted, on their returning to their duty.
Letters of Marque against the Americans were ordered in Council on 31st
July, and all vessels were prohibited from leaving the port without
special license, for the space of one month.
The old Halifax Artillery Company was at this time a very popular corps,
and included many of the young merchants as well as tradesmen of the
town. It was at one time supposed that the property owned by those whose
names were on its roll comprised no small part of the wealth of our
town.
An Act of the Legislature was passed this year regarding that part of
the public road or highway which leads from Fort Massey to the
exercising ground on the Commons. His Majesty's service required that
this piece of road should be enclosed for the purpose of enlarging the
Artillery Park. It was therefore enacted that when the officers of His
Majesty's Ordnance should have laid out a new road agreeable to the plan
submitted to His Excellency Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, and filed in the
Surveyor General's office, measuring fifty feet in breadth, through the
field of John George Pyke, and shall have procured a release from Mr.
Pyke, and shall have completed said new road, that the Engineer should
take in 310 feet in length of that part of said road which now leads
from Fort Massey to the exercising ground on the Common, forever for the
Ordnance Department at Halifax. The new road to be substituted therefor.
1813. The arrival of DeWatteville's regiment of Germans in May on their
way to reinforce the army at Quebec, and of the American ship Volante
with a valuable cargo and mounting 21 guns taken by H. M. Brig Curlew,
Capt. Michael Head,[70] and the accession of the 64th Regiment to the
strength of the garrison were the chief events during the spring of
1813.
[Footnote 70: Brother of the late Dr. Samuel Head of Halifax.]
On Sunday morning, the 6th, June, the inhabitants of Halifax were
surprised by the arrival of His Majesty's Ship Shannon, Capt. Broke,
with her prize the United States Frigate Chesapeak, Capt. Lawrence. The
engagement which was said to be the result of a challenge on the part of
Capt. Broke, took place off Boston Harbor a very short time after the
Shannon left Halifax. The enemy surrendered after about 20 minutes
fighting. Capt. Broke ran his ship in upon the Chesapeak, and captured
her with his boarding party who, "rushing upon the enemy's deck, carried
away everything before them with irresistible fury." Capt. Lawrence, and
his First Lieutenant, Ludlow, were killed; the latter died at Halifax on
the 13th June. The engagement was one of the most bloody on record. The
Shannon had 30 men killed and 57 wounded, and the Chesapeak 74 killed
and above 100 wounded, all within the short space of little more than
fifteen minutes. When the ships came up the harbor the decks were being
swabbed and the scuppers ran quite red. Numbers of the inhabitants of
the town put off in boats and visited the ships. Though the bodies of
the slain had been nearly all removed from sight, yet the marks of the
slaughter were terribly conspicuous. Mr. Provo Wallis, a Halifax man,
one of the Lieutenants of the Shannon, brought in the prize. He received
his promotion as Commander soon after, and later became a full Admiral
and Knight Grand Cross of the Bath. On the 8th, the funeral of Capt.
Lawrence took place. The body was landed under minute guns from the
ships and the procession proceeded from the King's Wharf to the old
English Burial Ground attended by an immense concourse of people. The
coffin was covered by the U. S. colours and six British Post Captains
bore the pall. The 34th Regiment formed the firing party. The officers
of the garrison, His Majesty's Council, the principal civil officers and
heads of departments, and all the officers of the navy in port followed
in procession, the American officers walking next the coffin.
On the 10th August, following, an American Brig with a flag of truce
arrived for the bodies of Capt. Lawrence and Lieutenant Ludlow, which
were taken up and carried to their native country. That of Capt.
Lawrence lies in the yard of Trinity Church, Broadway, New York, where
his tomb is to be seen on the left of the entrance.
A memorial of the merchants of Halifax, numerously signed, was presented
to the Colonial Secretary through the Governor, complaining of the
permission of American vessels to resort to the British West Indies, and
of the right of fishery conceded to the Americans by the Treaty of 1783,
and praying that the interests of Nova Scotia might be considered in any
future negotiations. Among the principal signers were William Sabatier,
John Black, John Pryor, Geo. Grassie and Enos Collins. At this time the
English Government was very jealous of British Colonial rights, and was
ready to fight in their defence.
The town and its vicinity had for the last two years abounded with
French prisoners of war. Those taken from American prizes now increased
the throng. A prison had been erected at Melville Island, at the head of
the North West Arm, for their accommodation, and soon became crowded.
Many of the French sailors were ingenious workers in wood and bone, and
made articles of use as well as ornament, which they sold to the
numerous visitors who were freely permitted access to Melville Island.
It was the favorite resort of the young people on Sundays and holidays,
where a pleasant hour could be passed in conversing with the French
prisoners and examining their toys. The French naval officers were on
parole of honor, and resided in Dartmouth and Preston. They spent their
time chiefly in field sports, occasionally visiting Halifax, where they
mixed freely in society. M. Danseville, the Governor of St. Pierre and
Miquelon, resided in the house near Preston lately owned by the Hon.
Michael Tobin, known as the Brook House, where he entertained his
friends with great politeness and hospitality. Many of the French
prisoners were permitted to come to town and work for the inhabitants. A
number of our own Halifax people were at this time languishing in French
prisons. The sum of L.130 sterling was subscribed in Halifax for their
relief, and remitted to England in the month of July of this year.
Great quantities of prize goods were sold at auction this year, taken
principally from American vessels. The American trade was terribly cut
up by the British cruisers. On one occasion we find advertised for sale
at public auction by order of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, dated 19th
March, twelve full-rigged ships, eight brigs, seven schooners and ten or
twelve small vessels, with their cargoes.
On 7th September, the merchants of Halifax petitioned the Governor and
Council for permission to export to the States portions of the prize
goods as being particularly adapted to the American market. The
following names, among others, appear attached to this petition: John
Lawson, Temple F. & Lewis E. Piers,[71] Jas. Forman, Samuel Head, M. D.,
Hartshorne, Boggs & Co., James and Michael Tobin, James Hamilton, Roy
Leslie & Co., Carrett & Alport, Scaiffe & Bain, G. Grassie, James Ewing,
William Annand, Matthew Richardson, William Phillips, James Russell,
Miles W. White, Smith & Thom, John Brown, W. H. Reynolds & Co., Harding
& Hill, A. McDonald, Henry Ford, Stephen W. DeBlois & Co., Wm. Bremner,
John Moody & Co., Collins & Allison,[72] Henry Austin, William Stairs,
Richard Tremain & Co., G. N. Russell, Jonathan & John Tremain.
[Footnote 71: Messrs. Piers were the grandsons of Mr. L. Piers, who came
with Cornwallis in 1749. Descendants of Temple F. Piers still reside in
Halifax.]
[Footnote 72: This firm was Hon. Enos Collins and Joseph Allison, both
of whom became members of His Majesty's Council. They succeeded to the
business of Prescott & Lawson on the wharf afterwards known as Collins'
wharf, where Mr. Collins, in 1823, built the range of stone stores, a
part of which is occupied by the Halifax Banking Company.]
On the 7th September, Sir Borlase Warren with his fleet arrived in
Halifax Harbor in eight days from the Chesapeake. The fleet consisted of
the St. Domingo, 74 guns, Diadem, 64, Diomede, 50, Junon, 38, Romulus,
36, Success, 32, Fox, 32, Nemesis, 28, Loupcervier, 18, Mariner, 15,
Highflyer, 10, and several transports.
The following passage from Murdoch's history affords a lively picture
of the condition and aspect of Halifax at this period, drawn no doubt,
in some measure from his personal recollection:
"The effects of the war upon the people of Halifax were very
marked. Our harbor had become the temporary home of the ships
of war, and the place where their prizes were brought and
disposed of. Our youths were eager to participate in the path
that seemed to lead by a few steps to honor, glory, and
fortune; and indeed when it is borne in mind that several
Halifax lads rose to be admirals, we can hardly wonder at the
school-boys' desire to wear the white stripe on his collar,
and the ivory-handled dirk that indicated his authority to
command men. The little capital, then occupying a restricted
space, became crowded. Trade was active, prices rose. The
fleet increasing, provisions were in great demand, and this
acted as a large bounty in favor of the agriculturist and the
fisherman. Rents of houses and buildings in the town were
doubled and trebled. A constant bustle existed in our chief
streets, cannon were forever noisy; it was a salute of a
man-of-war entering or leaving, practising with guns or
celebrating something or somebody. There is another side to
this picture which must not be omitted. The moral condition of
the town had become dreadful in the extreme. Eight or ten
thousand soldiers, sailors, and prisoners of war let loose in
a little town of less than 10,000 inhabitants can well be
imagined."
The upper streets were full of brothels; grog shops and dancing houses
were to be seen in almost every part of the town. A portion of Grafton
Street was known under the appellation of Hogg Street from a house of
ill-fame kept by a person of that name. The upper street along the base
of Citadel Hill between the north and south barracks was known as "Knock
him Down" Street in consequence of the number of affrays and even
murders committed there. No person of any character ventured to reside
there, nearly all the buildings being occupied as brothels for the
soldiers and sailors. The streets of this part of the town presented
continually the disgusting sight of abandoned females of the lowest
class in a state of drunkenness, bare headed, without shoes, and in the
most filthy and abominable condition.
The Acadian School was this year established by Walter Bromley, Esq., on
the Lancaster system. It was intended chiefly for the instruction of the
poor. Mr. Bromley had been paymaster of the 23rd Fusiliers, and having
retired from the army while that regiment was in garrison at Halifax,
devoted all the energy of his philanthropic mind to the amelioration of
the condition of the poor. He first opened his school on 13th January,
1814 in the old building in Argyle Street, then lately used as a theatre
for amateur performers, where he held Sunday school for poor children of
all denominations and had a large class of blacks, both children and
adults, to whom he devoted particular attention. Many colored men and
women who afterwards became valuable servants, and some of whom entered
into business in Halifax, owed their success and subsequent christian
life to the exertions of Mr. Bromley. His labors to improve the
condition of the Mic-mac Indians will be remembered by not a few
individuals now living. His house was open to them at all times, where
those who were not addicted to the habitual use of spirits were
hospitably treated, clothed and furnished with means of following their
hunting and other occupations. This continued until he left the country.
The old play house having fallen into decay, the present stone building
was erected on its site in 1816 and apartments for Mr. Bromley were
therein provided. A printing press which had been established by him at
the Acadian School became the means of disseminating his views regarding
education throughout the province, and his little pamphlets, entitled
Appeals to the People of Great Britain on behalf of the Indians of Nova
Scotia, were very forcible and touching. The first edition of T. C.
Halliburton's history of Nova Scotia was issued from Bromley's press in
1824. When Bromley left Halifax in 1828, the poor lost a true friend and
the Indians their chief patron.
Halifax was visited by a great gale of wind in the autumn of 1813. The
Gazette of the 19th November says:
"On Friday evening last, a most tremendous gale, or rather
hurricane from the south-east, rushed up the harbor with such
destructive violence as has not been witnessed since the
tornado which happened in September, 1798. The lapse of little
more than one short hour left but few vessels at their anchors
and of those scarcely one that had not sustained material
injury. Its utmost fury being felt about dead low water, less
damage was sustained by the wharves and stores than might
otherwise have been expected, but several shallops and small
craft were sunk, and many others wrecked and torn by the sea.
H. M. Ships St. Domingo, Hogue, Maidstone, two brigs and a
schooner were driven on shore. Fourteen other men of war,
including small ones, suffered by vessels being driven against
them. The Barossa, Diadem and the old Centurian suffered
least. There were forty-six merchant vessels, transports and
prizes, all large vessels except about seventeen, stranded;
most of them having been got off again. Twenty-four, including
store ships and transports, suffered more or less injury, and
a brig, a transport and one or two sloops sank and were
totally lost. Several schooners were sunk at Prospect, and two
large vessels were reported overset off the harbor. A number
of lives were lost during the gale, and many seamen badly hurt
on board the ships of war."
Among the deaths recorded this year was that of James Creighton,
Esq.,[73] in his 81st year. He was the son of one of the settlers who
came with Governor Cornwallis in 1749, and had acquired a large property
in the neighborhood of the town which was inherited by his son who was
the ancestor of the family of that name now in the city. The fields in
the north suburbs adjoining the common were for many years known as
Creighton's fields; long since laid off into building lots, including
the streets known as Maynard Street, Creighton Street and Bauer Street,
etc.
[Footnote 73: Mr. Creighton was not related to Lieutenant Creighton, who
afterwards settled in Lunenburg and was known as Col. Creighton. He came
out, however, in company with him in the same vessel, being friends;
they were both from the same part of England.]
The death of Sir Samuel Hood George, Provincial Secretary of the
Province, took place this year in England, where he went for the benefit
of his health. He died of consumption in the 24th year of his age.
In the month of January, 1813, a murder was committed on the Market
Wharf, which caused considerable excitement in the town. About 7 o'clock
on Monday evening, January 25th, five soldiers, having had some dispute
with the shallop men on the wharf, attacked them with their bayonets and
badly wounded four men, Frederick and Henry Publicover, Cornelius Uhlman
and George Teele. The main guard from the King's Wharf being called out,
three of the soldiers were secured. Henry Publicover died of his wounds
and the Coroner's Jury brought in a verdict of wilful murder against
some persons unknown. One of those who had been apprehended, a young
soldier named Oliver Hart, was tried and convicted of the murder at the
Easter term of the Supreme Court, but was afterwards pardoned by the
Governor. Much dissatisfaction existed in the community in consequence
of the termination of this affair.
In the month of March the crew of a Spanish schooner, the Serifina, was
brought into Halifax. They had killed six of their fellow-sufferers upon
the alleged necessity of saving their own lives by subsisting on the
flesh of those they killed. Investigations were entered into, the result
of which does not appear.
The Commissioners of Streets for the town were appointed on the 12th
May. They consisted of James Forman, John Albro, Michael Tobin,
Frederick Major, James Fraser and John Allen. The three former remained
in office until about 1829 or 1830, when a new system was inaugurated
under the management of H. H. Cogswell and others. Matthew Forrester was
the Overseer and Superintendent of Streets under the Commissioners for
many years. The old Commissioners, a short time before their retirement,
undertook to remove all obstructions to side paths; many old houses
stood on banks with cellar doors projecting into what was supposed to be
part of the street. Others again were approached by flights of steps,
all of which were removed to the detriment of many buildings in the
suburbs. At this time the town was adorned in many places by ranges of
trees in the sides of the streets. St. Paul's Church was surrounded by
large old willow trees; a range of fine old willows extended from
William Pryor's corner down the eastern side of Hollis Street past the
Lumber Yard Gate. A fine range of willows of less dimensions also ran
along that part of Argyle Street between the late H. H. Cogswell's stone
house and the residence of the late R. J. Uniacke, since sold for a
country market. Again in Poplar Grove, and the old Grenadier fort house
which stood on the site of the present Trinity Chapel in Jacob Street,
on both sides of Brunswick Street, particularly on the east side, there
were several fine clusters of Lombardy poplar trees of gigantic size,
several being in front of the residence of James Kirby. There were also
some fine trees in other parts of the town. These were all cut down
without mercy by Mr. Forrester, under the directions of the
Commissioners before the year 1830, and the lower stairs of a number of
buildings were buried in levelling the streets. Albermarle and Grafton
Streets were at this time in a very rough condition, particularly the
former, where banks of earth and stones were to be seen in the centre of
the street, sufficient in some places to obstruct carriages. These were
removed by the new Commissioners.
The town was at this time supplied with water by public wells and pumps
in various parts of the town. A pump stood at the north end of the
Province Building Square, in George Street, known as Black's pump;
another at the south end of the square; another, known as the White
pump, stood in the centre of Prince Street, where it is crossed by
Albermarle Street; this was one of the last to be removed. There were
two known as the Sisters at the corner of Duke and Hollis Streets, near
the site of the building occupied by the People's Bank. There were four
or five along the east side of Brunswick Street, one at the foot of
Cornwallis Street, and a number in the south suburbs and other parts of
the town; also two in Barrington Street in front of the Parade.
1814. During the winter of 1813-14 some distress existed among the poor
in the upper streets. This part of the town was chiefly occupied by
people of the lower order, and in consequence of the war had become a
resort for soldiers and sailors. Barrack Street, before mentioned, was
known as "The Hill" and was as well known through His Majesty's
dominions for its evil reputation as the worst haunts of Plymouth or
Portsmouth in England.
On the 25th February a public fast was proclaimed by the Governor, after
which we do not find any further proclamations of this kind for many
years.
A press warrant was granted to Rear Admiral Griffiths on 28th February,
when many of the idle and worthless vagabonds of the town were happily
secured for His Majesty's service, where they would be brought under
wholesome restraint.
It had been arranged this spring that a residence for the Admiral of the
station should be erected. The British Parliament had granted the sum of
L.3000 for this purpose, which being found insufficient, the House of
Assembly of this province voted L.1500 towards its completion. A site was
selected in the field between the Naval Hospital grounds and Gottingen
Street, and the present building known as Admiralty House was commenced
this year, but not finished until some time after. Why the local funds
of the province should have been devoted to this purpose does not
clearly appear.
The arrival of the English packet on 21st May furnished news of the fall
of Napoleon Bonaparte and the entry of the allied armies into Paris. It
being Sunday, the event was celebrated all Monday by a military review
with salutes, and the whole town was illuminated in the evening. A
military band performed during the evening on the flat roof of the old
market house, long since removed to make way for the present brick
structure, and the streets were crowded to a very late hour. The
merchants and many of the principal inhabitants met at the Exchange
Coffee House and other places, where hot suppers were consumed in honor
of the occasion.
Among the captures this year was that of the American privateer, Snap
Dragon, six guns and 70 men, brought in by H. M. Sloop, Martin on 5th
July, taken off Sambro Light, and on the 13th, the United States Sloop
Rattlesnake, 18 guns, by the Leander frigate, taken near Shelburne
Harbor. About the same time 340 British prisoners were brought to
Halifax in Cartels from Salem in Massachusetts. The Rattlesnake was
afterwards sold and fitted out as a privateer by merchants in Liverpool,
Queens County.
The British forces having captured Washington in August, 1814, a large
number of black slaves, of both sexes, from the plantations along the
Potomac and Chesapeake Rivers, who had deserted their masters, took
refuge on board the British men-of-war while they laid in Chesapeake
Bay. Sir George Cochran, the naval commander, sent them on to Halifax,
where many of them arrived in September, following in a transport ship
and the Brig Jasper. They were afterwards located at Preston and
Hammond's Plains. Many of the domestic slaves remained in the town as
servants, attaching themselves to the inhabitants. Those who went to the
country, being unused to cold and hard labor, were unable even with the
assistance of the Government allowance to make their living; soon became
paupers and a burden to the community, a condition in which their
children and grand-children largely remain. At the close of the war a
quantity of American soldiers' uniforms, taken at Castine, in Maine,
were served out to the Chesapeake negroes. Their grotesque appearance in
the blue and yellow coats, occasionally intermixed with the green and
red facings of the corps called the York Rangers, (at the peace
disbanded in Halifax,) must be within the recollection of many of our
old inhabitants.
The grand event of this year for Halifax was the fitting out of the
expedition for the invasion of the State of Maine. This expedition
consisted of the 29th, 60th, 62nd and 98th British Regiments, with
artillery and some militia. The two brigades were commanded by Major
Goslin and Colonel Douglas; the whole being under the command of
Lieutenant-General Sir John Cope Sherbrooke. Rear Admiral Griffiths
commanded the squadron, which was composed of 3 seventy-four gun ships,
the Bulwark, Dragon and the Spencer, with two brigs, a schooner and ten
transports. Castine was taken on 1st September, and the town of Michias
by Lieut.-Col. Pilkington, on the 11th. Thus all the State or District
of Maine fell into the hands of the British as far west as the old
bounds of Acadia. This territory was originally part of Nova Scotia, and
at the peace of 1783 had been conceded to the Americans through the
ignorance and imbecility of Lord Gambier, who had been intrusted by the
British Ministry with the settlement of our lines. The British
Government was erroneously induced to relinquish this conquest at the
close of the war, a policy which has deprived this Dominion of the
fairest timber lands of New Brunswick, and caused the loss of the most
direct line of communication between the Canadian provinces through
British territory, a loss which the whole expense incurred by the
British Government during the war could not now repay. Sir John, having
left a garrison to take care of his conquest, soon returned with his
little army to Halifax. Several Halifax merchants availed themselves of
the opening afforded to make money, sent agents with supplies of goods
to establish shops at Castine, etc. The British authorities collected
the Revenue of Maine while in occupation, which amounted to a
considerable sum of money. This fund was placed by the colonial minister
in the hands of the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, who appropriated
it in various ways as he thought most for the benefit of the country. It
was from this fund that Dalhousie College was afterwards built and
endowed by the Earl of Dalhousie, who succeeded Sir John Cope Sherbrooke
in the government, the Legislature of the Province having been induced
to vote the sum of L.5,000 currency towards the same object.
In the autumn the small pox made its appearance in Dartmouth and Preston
and was very fatal among the Chesapeake negroes.
The old Rockingham Club, which in the days of Prince Edward and Sir John
Wentworth dined periodically at the Rockingham Hotel on the Basin, had
ceased to exist, but it appears to have revived about this time under
the name of the Wellington Club. A dinner at the Rockingham by the
Wellington Club was announced in the papers of 26th August to take place
on the 30th instant at half past four o'clock. Five o'clock was the
fashionable dinner hour. The Governor's dinner cards of this date were
all for that hour.
The old Rockingham was destroyed by fire nearly half a century ago. It
stood on the shore of the Basin, a short distance north of the Rotunda.
After the departure of the Prince it became a house of entertainment,
kept successively by Graves, Paine and others. It was a favorite resort
being a convenient distance from town. The approach from the post road
was by a carriage drive next to the Rotunda, between two beech trees,
from which hung suspended a sign with the Wentworth Arms. When destroyed
it was the property of the estate of David Muirhead.
In September the body of General Ross, who had been killed before
Baltimore, was brought to Halifax for interment. He was buried in the
old English burial ground with all military honors. No monument to his
memory appears in St. Paul's Church.
On the 24th November, the Man-of-War Brig Fantome, 18 guns, went on
shore at Prospect. She soon went to pieces, as also a schooner which
accompanied her. No lives were lost.
The merchants presented several petitions to the Governor this year
relative to the trade of the port. The following names appear appended
to these petitions, among which we will find those of many of our
principal citizens whose faces were once familiar to many now living:
James Forman,[74] Belcher & Wright,[75] John Clarke, William Rudolf,
John Stayner, Rufus G. Taylor, William Strachan, William Young, Jr.,
Austin & Stairs,[76] Jessie Woodward, Richard Kidston, Lawrence Doyle,
John Carrol, Henry Yeomans, Francis Stevens, Benjamin Etter, John
Merrick, W. C. Wilkie, Charles Boggs, And. Smith, William Duffus, James
Kerby, Charles Tropolet. Again, Thomas Wallace, Bowie & DeBlois,[77]
Hosterman & Etter, John & David Howe,[78] W. A. & S. Black,[79] James
Baine, Martin Gay Black, Duncan McColl, Thomas Cleary, Robert Phelon,
Levi Moses & Co., and John A. Barry.[80]
[Footnote 74: For many years Custos of the County.]
[Footnote 75: Hon. Andrew Belcher, son of the first Chief Justice and
member of Council. His partner, William Wright, was son of old Parson
Wright of the Grammar School. Neither left male descendants in Nova
Scotia.]
[Footnote 76: Hon. Wm. Stairs, Sr., afterwards in Council.]
[Footnote 77: William Bowie, killed in a duel with R. J. Uniacke.]
[Footnote 78: Both brothers of the late Hon. Joseph Howe, Provincial
Secretary, etc.]
[Footnote 79: Hon. William A. Black of the Legislative Council.]
[Footnote 80: Mr. Barry was afterwards in the House of Assembly for
Shelburne; died at LaHave aged 80 years.]
The Province Building and the Admiralty House were both slowly
progressing during the summer and autumn.
Halifax did a brisk trade during the period of the American War. The
following list of exports for the year 1813 is given by Murdoch in one
of his notes: Vessels, 412; Tons, 54,457; men, 2,868; Boards and Plank,
1,881,722 feet; Staves, 232,562; Dry Fish, 82,059 quintals; Pickled Fish
in tierces, 408; Barrels, 29,829; Smoked Herring in barrels, 142; Boxes,
6,425; Fish Oil, 49,668 gallons.
1815. The winter of 1814-15 was more severe than the previous one. The
small pox had broken out in the town and many persons died of it. A
number of the black refugee negroes had been, about the month of May,
after the removal of the prisoners, placed on Melville Island. They were
all vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease among them. They
remained here for a short time until they could be located in the
country.
The treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was
ratified in February 1815, and executed at Ghent on the 24th December
following. An immediate exchange of prisoners took place after the
ratification, and many seafaring men belonging to Halifax, who had been
confined in American prisons, were restored to their homes. Peace was
proclaimed at Halifax on 3rd March. This spring an Act of the
Legislature passed for establishing a Bridewell or House of Correction
in Halifax. It was placed under the control of the sessions, and the old
gamble-roofed building formerly used as a poor house, then situated at
the western end of the space known as the old poor house grounds, was
taken for the purpose and fitted up with cells, etc., for the prisoners.
This building was taken down, having ceased to be used after the
erection of Rock Head Prison and the Provincial Penitentiary on the
North West Arm. It was one of the oldest buildings in the town
afterwards, and was in early days the residence of Mr. Wenman, the
keeper of the Asylum. When it was first built is uncertain, but being
situate within the lines of the old forts, was probably a military
residence of some sort during the first five or six years of the
settlement.
A regular police court was this summer established in the brick Court
House. John George Pyke, John Howe and John Liddell were appointed
police magistrates. Mr. Pyke had long been custos of the county, and he
and subsequently Mr. Liddell gave regular attendance at the office. Mr.
Pyke was allowed eleven shillings and eight pence per day, and had three
police constables at his command, with the additional assistance of
Hawkins, a colored gentleman, who dressed in an old military uniform
with cap and feathers, usually escorted the criminals to and from the
workhouse, and when occasion required inflicted his 39 lashes on
juvenile offenders at the old whipping post, which stood at the
south-west corner of the building opposite Messrs. Stairs' office--a
system of punishment less expensive than paying their board and lodging
for eight or ten weeks from the taxes of the citizens.
The Spring of 1815 was very backward. The Basin had been frozen up all
winter, and was not free from ice until the month of June. On the first
of June the harbor was full of ice so as for an hour or two to impede
the progress of the ferry boats. It was partially collected from loose
ice which came down the Narrows from the Basin, and some drift ice which
was brought in in the night previously from the sea by the tide and
southerly wind.
There were two ferries at this time. The upper ferry was conducted by
John Skerry, whose memory is still cherished by many, both in Dartmouth
and Halifax, as one of the most obliging and civil men of his day.
Skerry's wharf in Dartmouth was a short distance south of the steam boat
wharf. The other ferry was the property of Mr. James Creighton, known as
the Lower Ferry, situate to the south of Mott's Factory. It was
conducted for Mr. Creighton by deputy and was afterwards held under
lease by Joseph Findlay, the last man who ran a ferry boat with sails
and oars in Halifax Harbor. These ferry boats were furnished with a lug
sail and two and sometimes four oars. They were large clumsy boats, and
occupied some thirty or forty minutes in making the passage across the
harbor. There were no regular trips at appointed hours. When the boat
arrived at either side the ferryman blew his horn (a conch shell) and
would not start again until he had a full freight of passengers. The
sound of the conch and the cry of "Over! Over!" was the signal to go on
board. The boats for both ferries landed at the Market Slip at Halifax.
An act of the Legislature had been obtained this session to incorporate
a Steamboat Company with an exclusive privilege of the ferry between
Halifax and Dartmouth for 25 years. They could not succeed in getting up
a company, steam navigation being then in its infancy, and in the
following year had the act amended to permit them to run a boat by
horses to be called the Teamboat. This boat consisted of two boats or
hulls united by a platform with a paddle between the boats. The deck was
surmounted by a round house which contained a large cogwheel, arranged
horizontally inside the round house, to which were attached 8 or 9
horses harnessed to iron stanchions coming down from the wheel. As the
horses moved round, the wheel turned a crank which moved the paddle. It
required about twenty minutes for this boat to reach Dartmouth from
Halifax. It was considered an immense improvement on the old ferry boat
arrangement, and the additional accommodation for cattle, carriages and
horses was a great boon to the country people as well as to the citizens
of Halifax, who heretofore had been compelled to employ Skerry's scow
when it was found necessary to carry cattle or carriages from one side
of the harbor to the other. The first trip of the Teamboat was made on
the 8th November, 1816. The following year an outrage was committed
which caused much excitement and feeling in the town. All the eight
horses in the boat were stabbed by a young man named Hurst. No motive
for this cruel act could be assigned, drunkenness alone appearing to be
the cause. The culprit was tried for the offence and suffered a lengthy
imprisonment. Mr. Skerry kept up a contract with the Company for several
years, until all differences were arranged by his becoming united with
the Company, and after a short time old age and a small fortune,
accumulated by honest industry, removed him from the scene of his
labors. The teamboat after a year or two received an addition to her
speed by the erection of a mast in the centre of the round house, on
which was hoisted a square sail when the wind was fair, and afterwards a
topsail above, which gave her a most picturesque appearance on the
water. This addition considerably facilitated her motion and relieved
the horses from their hard labor. As traffic increased several small
paddle boats were added by the Company, which received the appellation
of Grinders. They had paddles at the sides like a steamboat, which were
moved by a crank turned by two men. In 1818 the proprietors of the old
ferries petitioned the House of Assembly against the Teamboat Company
using these small boats as contrary to the privilege given them by the
Act of Incorporation. It afterwards became a subject of litigation until
the question was put an end to by Mr. Skerry becoming connected with the
Company. Jos. Findlay continued to run his old boats from the south or
lower ferry until about the year 1835.
On the 3rd August, the Man-of War Brig Vesta arrived from England with
the news of the Battle of Waterloo. The town was illuminated in honor of
the victory, and the inhabitants kept up their rejoicings till a late
hour in the evening. Preparations were made for a public dinner on the
occasion, which took place at Mason Hall on the 15th. The Attorney
General, R. J. Uniacke, took the chair and James Forman was
Vice-President. The committee of management were Doctor William B.
Almon, John Pyke, eldest son of old John Geo. Pyke, the custos. David
Shaw Clarke, G. Lewis and John Howe, junior, John Albro, Thomas
Heaviside, Edward Alport, Joseph Allison and William Bowie were the
Stewards. Subscriptions had been opened throughout Great Britain and the
Colonies for the families of those soldiers who were killed and wounded
in the action. The Town of Halifax including the garrison and public
officers contributed the large sum of L.3,800.
This year an Act of the Legislature passed for regulating the
appointment of Trustees and Master for the Grammar School of Halifax.
The first Act establishing this school bears date 1780.
The refugee Negroes brought to Halifax by Admiral Cockburn had been in a
great measure a burden upon the community. A proposition was made this
year by the British Government to remove them to a warmer climate, but
no steps appear to have been taken to effect the object. Had this
suggestion been carried out at the time much suffering would have been
spared to these poor people, and the inhabitants of Halifax relieved
from a burden.
On 26th February a resolution passed the House of Assembly directing the
commissioners of the poor to cause an account to be taken of the number
of black persons in the Town and the environs, who were brought to this
country from the United States of America. The following return, dated
March 6th, was signed by Richard Tremaine, Chairman of the Committee:
Men. Women. Children. Total.
In the Town of Halifax 179 56 101 336
Windsor Road 11 14 26 51
Dartmouth and Preston ... .. ... 270
Mr. Fairbanks' Estate
at Lake Porter ... .. ... 27
---
684
The men and women with families were generally in need; none appear to
have been located at Hammonds Plains at this time.
James Archibald was tried for the murder of Captain Benjamin Ellenwood
of Liverpool, N. S., before Chief Justice Blowers, in Easter term of the
Supreme Court at Halifax this year. He was convicted and executed soon
after on the Common.
Another attempt to incorporate Halifax was now made. It will be seen
that in 1785 the merchants of the town suggested the subject for the
consideration of the Governor and Council, but they disapproved of the
measure; again in 1790, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, in
consequence of complaints regarding the settlement of the poor and the
necessity of a police force, etc., drew up the following resolution,
which was passed: "Resolved, that it be recommended to this House to
present a humble address to His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, to
request that he will be pleased to grant a charter to the Town of
Halifax for incorporating the same, and enabling the inhabitants thereof
to make such by-laws as shall be sufficient to regulate the police of
said town." No step, however, was taken by the Governor and Council
relative to this resolution.
The merchants of the town had a meeting on the subject in 1816, which
resulted in a definite proposition being made, in which all the details
of the proposed charter were fully set out in a pamphlet of some length.
The following preface or introduction to this pamphlet affords a sketch
of the plan proposed:
INTRODUCTION.
The following plan for regulating the municipal affairs of
this town has been drawn up in the form of a charter, as the
clearest and best method to express the extent of the proposed
improvements. The objects have been pointed out by a thorough
investigation into the various modes of conducting the public
business; which was entered into in consequence of a
presentment made by the Grand Jury to the Court of Quarter
Sessions in the December Term of 1812. The Court having
appointed six different investigating committees of the
Magistrates to meet the various objects contemplated by the
grand Jury, their several reports combined clearly prove the
necessity of some reform; but as it would now become an
invidious as well as a useless task, to point out the
_prevailing errors_ of the present practice, which are but too
evident to admit of a doubt, the gentlemen who have undertaken
the task of sketching out the _means of improvement_, have
left it to the Public to compare the one with the other.
It will be perceived by a perusal of the following sheets,
that the Charter has but two leading objects--to establish
regularity in business, and to define and extend the powers of
the Magistrates and Grand Jury (acting as a Common Council) to
the same limits as (and not a step beyond) the powers granted
to all corporations within the King's Dominions.
The only novelty introduced is that of preserving a gradual
change of the ruling members of the corporation, without
incurring the unpleasant duty of the electing system. This is
done by the appointment of ten magistrates to act as trustees,
two of whom will go out and two others come in annually, and
the appointment of the Grand Jury of the existing year, (or if
it is preferred that of the last year, or a draft from the
whole list until it is gone through), to act as a Common
Council.
By these means the whole of the leading members of the
community (likely to take an active part in the affairs of the
town) will, in turn, partake of the duties of a respectable
office, and become intimate, and thereby feel interested in
its affairs. The various articles of consumption and of
commerce will be better inspected than they are at present;
the revenues will be regularly attended to, and every
desirable improvement in possession of other similar
communities in His Majesty's Dominions will in time, no doubt
be adopted.
The provisions of the Charter have been selected and drawn up
with the utmost care to avoid objections by an attentive
reference to the London, Philadelphia, New York and New
Brunswick Charters, and the East Company's by-laws; and the
whole is arranged and worded agreeably to the most approved
forms, in order to obviate any difficulties on the part of
Government, or from local partialities.
In debating the merits of the following pages, these three
queries will naturally occur to and guide every reflecting
mind:
1st. Whether the present management requires any improvement?
2nd. If so--is this an effectual plan?
3rd. If not--what is better?
* * * * *
N. B. When the terms of the Charter are agreed on and assented
to by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, it is proposed
to apply to His Excellency to grant it for a term of three or
five years by way of trial; during which period such
amendments may be made to it as experience shall point out to
be necessary;--after which, if it proves acceptable to the
inhabitants, application may be made to renew it for another
term of a few years, for the purpose of improving it still
further, as its deficiencies may appear; then the Charter may
be made perpetual if the inhabitants approve of it. It will be
necessary to have an Act of the General Assembly to confirm
the Charter when first granted, and on every renewal of it.
Mr. Sabatier and a few others were principally concerned in endeavoring
to forward the object, but the Governor and Council appear to have been
still influenced the belief that their own supervision of local affairs
was preferable and better suited to the circumstances of the town at
that time.
It will be seen that in the plan proposed the idea of a popular election
of members of the corporation was not even thought of either by the
Government or the people of the town.