To which his Excellency the Lieutenant Governor was pleased to make the following answer:
"Mr. Chief Justice and gentlemen of the Supreme Court and grand jury:
"I have the highest sense of this testimony of your zeal for the public welfare and your esteem for me. I should be much wanting in my duty if I did not embrace this opportunity of returning my thanks for the late pious, learned and eloquent charge from the Bench, and I doubt not, gentlemen, but your vigilance and fidelity in the service of your country will have its desired effect.
"While I have the power to sit in the chair, be assured the authority of Government shall be ready to support the law, for the law, gentlemen, is the firm and solid basis of civil society, the guardian of liberty, the protection of the innocent, the terror of the guilty, and the scourge of the wicked.
"Charles Lawrence."
Governor Lawrence in his letter of 12th January, 1755, says, "I am now preparing to build three batteries of 10 guns each in front of the town, and contemplate finishing them in good time. These batteries were erected along the line of the shore. The middle or King's battery stood where the Queen's wharf now is, there was another at the present Ordnance Yard, another near the site of Fairbanks wharf, and a fourth at the present Lumber Yard, which latter still remains."
The batteries along the front of the town were completed during the summer of 1755, and a plan of them sent to England in June of that year. They were twelve feet in height above high water mark, two hundred and forty feet in length, and sixty-five in breadth. The parapet raised on these was seven feet high, and the materials consisted of logs and timber framed and filled up with gravel, stones, earth and sand. The material consisted of 9500 logs of 25 feet, 1280 tons of square timber and 25,000 tons weight of gravel and earth, the whole expense about £5,300. The work was commenced in January, 1755, and completed late in the summer. 20 guns were mounted on these three batteries in July of that year – the other batteries were afterwards added.
An attempt was made this year to involve the Government in a dispute with the Indian tribes. Paul Laurant, an Indian Chief of the Mic-Mac tribe, appeared before the Council on 12th February, 1755, and informed them that he and another Indian Chief named Algamud, had set out from Beausejour for Halifax in order to treat of peace, but that the Chief had fallen sick at Cobequid and had intrusted him with the proposals. They demanded the whole eastern section of the Province, from Cobequid to Canso, to be set apart for them as feeding and hunting grounds. Being asked what security he could give that the Indians would keep the peace, he said he could say nothing to that, being only desired to bring in the terms. The Council dismissed him with a promise of an answer in writing. An answer in writing was drawn up and signed by the Governor on 13th February, 1755, which expressed a willingness on the part of the Governor and Council to allow them such lands as would be sufficient for their purposes. It mentioned the perfidious breaches of all former treaties on the part of the Indians, and where their conduct was complained of that the Tribes themselves had disallowed all authority on the part of their Chiefs to make such treaties, and that the Governor and Council demanded a full attendance of Chiefs before them, with full power to treat, before any further proceedings could be taken.
On the 3rd and 4th July, the Council was engaged with the French Deputies, again on 14th, 15th and 28th same month.
The defence of the settlement was the next subject of deliberation and the protection from the incursions of the French along the Bay of Fundy and from Louisburg, both nations being at the time arrayed against each other in open warfare.
On the 18th February, 1755, Mrs. Green, wife of Hon. Benj. Green, and her family, Captain Horatio Gates and Mrs. Gates, with Captain Hale and their servants and baggage, were received on board Captain Rogers' sloop for Boston. Captain Gates had been one of the Aides-de-Camp of Governor Cornwallis, he was afterwards a General in the American Revolutionary Army.34
The loss of the Mars, a 70 gun ship, occurred off the harbour in May, 1755. It was in an easterly gale and supposed to be the fault of the pilot. Guns and crew were all saved. The Mars rock at the western entrance of the bay marks the spot. The guns and stores were brought to Halifax. Admiral Holborn's letter announcing the loss of the ship bears date the 28th May, off Halifax Harbour.
30th December, 1755, Montague Wilmot and Charles Morris, having been appointed to the Council, were sworn in. The other members were John Collier, Mr. Cotterell, Robert Monkton and Captain Rous.
A number of French prizes, taken by the fleet under Admiral Boscawen, were this summer brought into Halifax. There were in these 19,998 gallons of rum and brandy.
A Mr. Ellis had for several years held the office of Governor of Nova Scotia, and received the emoluments, but never came out. Lt. Governor Lawrence received the appointment of Governor-in-Chief on the resignation of Mr. Ellis, and Colonel Monkton became Lt. Governor; their commissions were read and they sworn into office on 23rd July, this year.
The following census of the town appears to have been taken about 1755 or 1756: —
The only other event of this year worthy of notice was the following melancholy affair detailed in Col. Sutherland's letter from Lunenburg, dated 12th September. "Yesterday," he says, "I received the melancholy account of Mr. Payzant's house being burned in Mahone Bay, and that he himself and other people who were with him, were killed by the Indians. I immediately sent out an officer and party, which returned this morning, by whom I am informed that on Payzant's Island the house is burned, he with another young man killed and scalped, a woman servant and child also killed and scalped near the water side. His wife and four children missing. The young man was son to a family which lived on Captain Rous's Island. As his hands were tied the gentlemen immediately conjectured some further mischief was done there, and on their arrival they found the man thereto belonging, likewise scalped. It appears that Captain Rous's is the most advanced settlement, that they first came there and took the boy to conduct them to Payzant's." Mr. Payzant came to this country with a strong recommendation from Mr. Pownall, secretary to the Board of Trade. The death of James Payzant, Esquire, a clerk in the office of the Secretary of State, of the age of 100 years is announced in the London Gazette for 1757. This was probably the father of the gentleman who came out to Halifax, to whom Mr. Secretary Pownall's recommendation referred.
1756. January 26th, the term of Henry Wynne and William Manthorn's licences of the Dartmouth and Halifax ferry having expired, John Rock petitioned and obtained the same on the terms of his predecessors.
On the 30th June, 1757, Lord Loudon arrived at Halifax with the troops from New York, destined for the invasion of Cape Breton.
Saturday, 16th July, 1757, His Excellency acquainted the Council that the Earl of Loudon had this day represented to him that a fever had broken out among the troops, under His Lordship's command, occasioned by the great quantities of rum that were sold to the soldiers by unlicensed retailers, and if continued must prove of fatal consequences to the service; and unless steps were immediately taken to effectually stop the same, he would feel himself justified in ordering all liquors found in the possession of such unlicensed retailers to be destroyed. The Council empowered the Provost Marshal and his deputies to enter such houses, seize the liquors and place them in the King's store until the army and navy departed.
On the 1st November, 1757, the grand jury of the County of Halifax petitioned the Governor and Council on behalf of the inhabitants of the town, that the town should be put into some state of defence "for the preservation of the place, the inhabitants, their families and effects." They stated that the property, etc., was insecure from the want of proper defences; that the people were willing to assist in the work, and intimated that if their prayer could not be heard, humbly beg that they "may immediately know it in order to take the first opportunity of convoying themselves, their families and effects, to a place of safety in some of the neighbouring Colonies." A previous petition had been presented to the Governor, to which no answer had been returned. The names attached to the petition were, Robert Saunderson, Joseph Rundell, John Anderson, Paul Pritchard, Hugh McCoy, Joseph Fairbanks, William Schwartz, Robert Campbell, William Pantree, John Killick, John Brooks, Henry Wilkinson, Walter Manning, John Slayter, Richard Catherwood, Joseph Pierce, Alexander Cunningham, Richard Tritson, Jonathan Gifford and Benjamin Leigh.
The boundaries of the Township of Halifax were settled by order in Council 20th May, 1758, as follows: That until said township can be more particularly described, the limit thereof shall be deemed to be as follows:
To comprehend all the lands lying southerly of a line extending from the westernmost head of Bedford Basin, across the northerly head of St. Margaret's Bay, with all the Islands near to said land, together with the Islands called Cornwallis Island,35 Webb's and Rous' Island.36
Minutes of Council 21st June, 1758: Mr. Josiah Marshall proposed to build a workhouse, 50 feet long, 20 feet wide and 8 feet high, in the town. The timber to be laid close, with a roof double boarded and shingled; to have 4 windows on each side, each window to have nine panes of glass and three iron grates; to have a staircase in the entry and a whipping post. The building to be placed on a good dry wall. Mr. Marshall's tender for £200 sterling, finding materials and labour, was accepted.
To Charles Morris, Joshua Mauger and Charles Proctor, Esquires. "Whereas, it has been thought proper to convert to the use of the public, a piece of land called Goreham's Point and the lands next ajacent, lying in the north suburbs of Halifax, formerly allotted to sundry persons, who have cleared and improved the same and erected some buildings upon them; they were directed to value the lands and proportion each owner's extent therein, and report to His Excellency. Dec. 9th, 1758."
This is the site of the Commissioners' House in the present Dockyard.
December 9th, 1758. Peter Marquis de Conte and Gravina, convicted for intent to commit rape on a child under the age of ten years, was sentenced by the Court to walk between the hours of 11 and 12 this day from the north to the south side of the Parade, and from thence to the jail with a paper placed on his breast with his crime inscribed thereon, and to be confined for three months and fined thirty pounds; to remain in jail till the same be paid. Governor Lawrence remitted the first part of this sentence. The Marquis de Conte was a Sicilian nobleman; he had been an officer in Goreham's Rangers.
December 29th, 1758. It appears by an advertisement of this date, that Governor Lawrence had wells sunk and pumps erected as reservoirs against fires, and that they had been damaged by some unknown person. His Excellency caused them to be put in repair.
Governor Lawrence, in his letter to the Board of Trade, 3rd November, 1759, mentions that the masonry of Sambro Light House had been some time finished, and that the lantern was then in progress of erection. That a chart of the harbour was also in progress, as also proper directions for piloting in ships with safety. Copies of these directions were enclosed in his letter.
It appears that in the year 1758, the Governor appropriated out of the old crown duty money for the Light House £1,000, for the Work House £500, for the Church £400, and for the Meeting House £100.
For the Work House £5,456, for the Church £350 18s. 6d., Meeting House £174 0s. 4d., Jail £208 11s. 9d.
Captain Rous was placed in charge of the Light House, a post which he occupied for many years. This was not Captain John Rous, the member of Council, but a relative of his from New England.
21st December, 1758. The Governor and Council appropriated the sum of £400, raised by duties on liquors, towards the church in Halifax, under the direction of Benjamin Green, John Collier, Charles Morris, Robert Saunderson and Henry Newton, commissioners for that purpose.
[Extract of letter from Louisburg, June 9th.]
"Admiral Saunders, with the squadron under his command, arrived in good condition on the 21st April off Louisburg, but on account of ice blockading the harbour, was obliged to bear away on the 26th for Halifax, whence he arrived on the first of May."
June 16th, 1759. Peter Marquis de Conte and Gravini, was released from his imprisonment, he having paid his fine. This gentleman died at Halifax. His will is recorded in the probate office.
Thursday 16th August, 1759, William Cotteral, Robert Grant and Montague Wilmot, Esquires, Councillors, being absent from the Province, the Governor appointed Richard Bulkeley, Thomas Saul and Joseph Gerrish, who were this day sworn in and took their seats.
February, 1760, two Indian Chiefs attended the Council, and were presented with laced blankets, laced hats, etc. They were informed that the same would be sent to the Chief of the St. John's Indians, and that the treaty of peace would be ready to be signed to-morrow, and if the wind was favourable they should embark on Sunday.
In Council 11th March, 1760, the Governor appointed the Hon. Jonathan Belcher, Benjamin Green, John Collier, Charles Morris, Richard Bulkeley, Thomas Saul and Joseph Gerrish, Esquires, and William Nesbitt, John Duport, Joseph Scott, John Creighton, Sebastian Zouberbuhler, Edward Crawley, Charles Proctor and Benjamin Gerrish, Esquires, to be justices of the peace for the town and county of Halifax. Charles Morris, John Duport, Joseph Scott, Joseph Gerrish and Edward Crawley, Esquires, to be justices of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for the county of Halifax, to the several of whom His Excellency then administered the oath requisite.
CHAPTER IV
Notwithstanding the advantages held out by Government to the settlers at Halifax, and the repeated large grants of money by Parliament, the people were rapidly removing to the old Colonies. Little progress had been made in clearing the country. The fishery, one of the main inducements of the settlement, was almost altogether neglected, and the population was reduced to much less than half its original number. They subsisted chiefly on the money expended by the Army and Navy, and were dependent on Boston for their provisions and many other necessary supplies.
In 1755, Dr. Breynton, the minister at St. Paul's, estimated the inhabitants of Halifax at 1,300, eight hundred of whom professed themselves members of the Church of England; and again in 1763, eight years later, according to the Doctor's returns to the Propagation Society, the number was still found not to exceed one thousand and three hundred souls; nine hundred and fifty of them being of the Church of England, and three hundred and fifty Protestant Dissenters and Roman Catholics.
Up to the year 1757, the enormous sum of £560,000 sterling had been expended on the settlements, and though in some respects the Colony had been considered a failure, yet in a military point of view it was of incalculable importance to Great Britain, and to its position as a naval and military depot may be ascribed in a great measure the downfall of the French power in America.
On 30th June, 1757, Lord Loudon with his transports and 12,000 regulars and provincials arrived at Halifax, and on July following, Admiral Holborn arrived with his fleet. This armament, which was destined for an attack on Louisburg, left Halifax early in August, but having proved a failure the fleet returned to England in September, but Loudon returned with his army to New York; they both left Halifax on the same day, 16th August. Holborn arrived at Louisburg on 20th, where finding the French fleet superior to his own, he continued to cruise off Louisburg harbour until 24th September, when he encountered a severe gale of wind which scattered his fleet, several ships were lost, eight sail got safe to Portsmouth, and the rest got to New York. This powerful armament consisted of 13 sail of the line – the Newark 80 guns, Invincible 74, Grafton 68, Terrible 74, Northumberland 68, Captain 68, Bedford 64, Orford 68, Nassau 64, Sunderland 64, Defiance 64, Tilbury 64, Kingston 60, Windsor 54, and the Sutherland 50, with several others which afterwards joined them, and 16 smaller vessels of war. The naval forces amounted 10,000 men, and the land forces to 12,000, six thousand of whom were provincial troops. Loudon left three regiments at Halifax, and several of the vessels remained to winter here.
In May of this year the Governor and Council offered a bounty for sowing land with grass on the peninsula of Halifax, also for the erection of stone fences around the lots, and for raising grain and potatoes.
Loudon was succeeded in the supreme command by Abercrombie, another incompetent – a debilitated old man who remained in command for a short time. He was succeeded by Sir Jeffrey Amherst.
In the following spring about 12,000 troops arrived at Halifax, under the command of General Amherst. They were soon followed by Admiral Boscawen from England with a large fleet consisting of 23 ships of the line and 18 frigates. This great fleet arrived in Halifax harbour in May, 1758, accompanied by 120 transports. The land forces amounted to 12,260 men. On Sunday, 28th May, they set sail from Halifax, 157 vessels in all. They were met by General Amherst, with part of the force, as they went out of the harbour. Governor Lawrence accompanied the army and took command of one of the Brigades, Colonel Monkton being left in command during his absence.
After the siege, which was protracted for two months, part of the fleet and army returned to Halifax, and some of the vessels remained to refit. The colony was sacked for provisions and the town turned into a camp for the troops. A number of the provincial soldiers and others, having enriched themselves with the spoils at Louisburg, became settlers in the town. All the ammunition and stores, with a quantity of private property, were removed to Halifax, and the town once again began to assume a prosperous appearance.
This year was also memorable as the one in which Representative Government was established in Nova Scotia. The subject of calling a Legislative Assembly had undergone much discussion. It had been represented by the Governor and Council, to the authorities in England, that such a step at that particular time would be fraught with much danger to the peace of the colony. Chief Justice Belcher, however, having given his opinion that the Governor and Council possessed no authority to levy taxes, and their opinion being confirmed in England, it was resolved in Council on 3rd January, 1757, that a representative system should be established and that twelve members should be elected by the province at large, until it could be conveniently divided into counties, and that the township of Halifax should send four members, Lunenburg two, Dartmouth one, Lawrencetown one, Annapolis Royal one, and Cumberland one, making in all twenty two members, and the necessary regulations were also made for carrying into effect the object intended.
Much discontent prevailed in the town, and also in other parts of the province, in consequence of the opposition of Governor Lawrence to the calling of a Representative Assembly. Hitherto the Government had been carried on solely by the Governor and Council, who possessed both Legislative and Executive authority. Under the Royal instructions the Governor was directed to call a Representative Assembly as soon as the circumstances of the country would permit, but the Governor was of opinion that it would be injudicious to proceed to a popular election until the country was better prepared for it. After repeated remonstrances from the people of Halifax and some pressure from his Council, it was on the 7th January resolved in Council that an assembly should be called, and a plan was drawn up and submitted to the Board of Trade for the sanction of the home government. We find, however, that in February following it was resolved by the inhabitants of Halifax to petition the Crown against the conduct of Governor Lawrence, not only as regards his unwillingness to establish a representative government, but his oppressive and overbearing conduct in other respects to many of the leading inhabitants. This petition was entrusted to one Ferdinando Paris, a gentleman in London, accompanied by affidavits and a power of attorney, conferring on him authority to represent the subscribers before the Privy Council and the Board of Trade and Plantations. A subscription was set on foot, and about £120 sterling subscribed, to meet the expenses of the application to Government. These documents were certified by Chief Justice Belcher as authentic, on 14th March. As these proceedings bear date in February, 1757, it is probable that the resolution of the Council of the 7th January had not been made known. The petition and power were signed by the following residents of the town who reputed themselves as a committee appointed by the people for the purpose of forwarding their views: Robert Saunderson, William Pantree, Malachi Salter, Jonathan Binney, Otto Wm. Schwartz, Robert Campbell, Henry Ferguson and John Grant. These papers were also accompanied by a copy of an address from the people of Halifax to Lt. Governor Robert Monkton, praying that certain sums of money, collected as rum duties, etc., might be expended on the fortifications of the town as a protection to the inhabitants, and offering to contribute both labour and money for the purpose. It also complains of the "miserable management of those who have had the direction of the defences." This petition bears date 19th October, in the same year. The language of one of the letters addressed to Mr. Paris, the request on the subject of the Halifax grievances and the overbearing military rule of Governor Lawrence, bespeak much excitement to have existed in the town on the subject. The feeling appears to have prevailed principally among the leading inhabitants. We find that the list above referred to was signed by Mr. Binney, Mr. Salter, Mr. Pantree, Mr. Schwartz, Dr. Grant, Mr. Saunderson, Mr. Fairbanks, Mr. Robt. Campbell, Mr. Butler, Mr. Suckling, Mr. Vanput, Mr. G. Gerrish, Mr. Gibbon, Mr. Wiswell, Mr. Mason, and many others.
On the first of November following, the Grand Jury of Halifax petitioned Governor Lawrence that some immediate steps may be taken to fortify the town so that the inhabitants might be placed in a more secure position in case of invasion. They refer to a petition presented to Lt. Governor Monkton on the same subject, to which no reply had been made, and concluded by asking that they might know without further delay what they were to expect; that if no further security is to be provided for the settlement they may have an opportunity of conveying themselves, their families and effects to a place of greater safety in some of the neighbouring Colonies. The names of the Grand Jury were Robert Saunderson, Joseph Rundell, John Anderson, Paul Pritchard, Hugh McKay, Joseph Fairbanks, William Schwartz, Robert Campbell, William Pantree, John Killick, John Brooks, Henry Wilkinson, Walter Manning, John Slayter, Richard Catherwood, Joseph Pierce, Alexander Cunningham, Richard Tritton, Jonathan Gifford and Benjamin Leigh.
On Monday, the 2nd of October, 1758, the newly elected members met in the Court House in Halifax, pursuant to summons from the Provost Marshall; their names were as follows:
They sent Messrs. Nesbitt, Newton and Rundell, to wait on the Governor, who sent Messrs. Morris and Green from the Council to swear them in. They then chose Robert Saunderson their speaker, which was confirmed by the Governor, who addressed them as follows: "Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives: His Majesty having been most graciously pleased by his royal instructions to his Governors of this Province to direct the calling an assembly of the freeholders to act in conjunction with his Governor and Council as the Legislative Authority, when such a measure should be found essential to his service; I am to assure you that it is with particular pleasure I now meet you convened in that capacity, in consequence of a plan some time since formed here for that purpose, with the advice and assistance of His Majesty's Council, and by me transmitted to the Lord Commissioner for Trade and Plantations to be laid before His Majesty for his approbation.
"Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:
"I entertain the most sanguine hopes that you are come together unanimously disposed to promote the service of the Crown, or in other words, the real welfare and prosperity of the people whom you have the honour to represent, in every point to the utmost of your authority and capacity.
"This, I presume, you will conceive is justly to be expected, not only from the immediate regard due to the Civil Rights and Interests of your constituents, but likewise from the unspeakable obligations you are under to demonstrate in their behalf your dutiful sense of His Majesty's paternal concern for the prosperity and security of those his subjects in those distinguishing marks of his royal favour and protection which we have from time to time so happily experienced in the fleets and armies sent out for our immediate preservation when we were under the most imminent danger of being swallowed up by a merciless enemy; also in the ample supplies of money for so many years annually granted for the support and encouragement of this infant colony; and moreover still, in the continuance of His Majesty's royal bounty for that purpose, when from the seeming inclination of the inhabitants to have an assembly convened some time ago, it might have been presumed, and indeed by an article of His Majesty's Instructions, which I shall order to be laid before you, it has been judged that the Colony has become capable of providing for the necessary support of government here, as has been usual in all His Majesty's other American Dominions.
"Gentlemen of both Houses:
"As my Military occupation requires my attendance as early as possible upon the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces to the Westward, and as the Lieutenant Governor is now necessarily employed, and will be for some time to come, upon an enterprise of importance in a distant part of the province, there is not at present an opportunity of entering upon such particulars as might otherwise call for your attention; I am therefore earnestly to recommend to your serious consideration the expediency, or rather the necessity of unanimity and dispatch in the confirmation of such Acts or resolutions of a legislative nature, as the Governor and Council under His Majesty's Royal Instructions have found expedient, before the forming of an assembly and indispensably necessary for promoting the welfare and peaceable Government of this people.
"You may depend upon it, Gentlemen, on my return to the Government you will find me perfectly disposed to concur with you in enacting such further laws, making such amendments to the present ones, and establishing such other regulations as shall appear upon more mature deliberations to be consistent with the honour and dignity of the Crown and conducive to the lasting happiness of His Majesty's subjects where I have the honour to preside.
Charles Lawrence."
The House then resolved that the members should all serve without pay for the session. The calling of the Legislature had been delayed till the autumn in consequence of both the Governor and Lt. Governor being absent with the Army at Louisburg. Governor Lawrence came up to Halifax from Louisburg specially to meet the Legislature.
The Governor in his letter to the Board of Trade about this time noticed particularly the serious effects on the settlement of the enormous importation and retail of spirituous liquors, and expressed a hope that the Legislature would check it.
On 2nd July, 1761 (second session) the House voted £50 for a public clock in the Town.
The following year (1759) Halifax was again the rendezvous for part of the fleet and army both before and after the siege of Quebec; not a few of the more enterprising settlers followed the camp and enriched themselves during the war, Admiral Darell with 4 ships of the line arrived in Halifax Harbor in April and left for the St. Lawrence on 5th May.
At the news of the victory, the town was illuminated, and fire works, bonfires and other public entertainments lasted several days.
Between the years 1759 and 1763 the harbor had been the constant resort of the squadrons under Lord Colville and others; the place was enlivened by the presence of a large army and navy, and at the close of the war several gentlemen of condition were induced to become settlers.
Peace having been proclaimed in 1763, the 28th day of December of that year was solemnized at Halifax as a day of thanksgiving on account of the termination of the war. Though the town possessed all the advantages to be derived from the presence of the naval and military forces, the resident population did not increase. From the notitia parochialis of the Rev. Dr. Breynton, the Rector of St. Paul's, the number of inhabitants in the town did not exceed 1300 souls. However, in 1769, six years after, the Doctor makes the following return: Inhabitants in and about Halifax including Garrison, Acadian French and fishermen, by the late public survey 5000 souls, of which 200 are Acadians and 55 protestant dissenters. The number of births that year was 200 and the deaths 190.