History of Halifax City

Among the occurences this year was the conviction and sentence of a man named William McLean, for street robbery, and the murder of a Mrs. Ann Dunbrack in July, by persons unknown. The grand Jury recommended McLean to mercy, but the Governor and Council saw no reason to grant a reprieve, and he was executed. Street robberies were at the time of frequent occurence in the town.

Articles of peace between Great Britain and the United States of America were signed in November of this year, and with France in January following.

The principal public amusements in the town during the year were subscription assemblies, held at the Pontac, and at Mrs. Sutherland's Coffee House, every fortnight. The latter establishment was in Bedford Row, opposite the Commissary offices. The national societies dined together, and levees were held and parties given at Government House on all public holidays. The Garrison consisted of the 70th, 82nd and 84th Regiments, with Baron de Seitz's46 Germans. Night riots were frequent, and continual complaints appear to have been made before the Sessions, of signs being removed from shops, and windows broken.

The views of the town and suburbs at this time show the fortifications at Citadel Hill, Fort Needham and Point Pleasant. They were supposed to have been taken by one Colonel Hicks, and were engraved and published in London. These views were mere outlines. Copies of them are to be seen at the Provincial Museum, where there are also a series of views, very neatly executed in copper plate, of the Government House, St. Paul's Church and other parts of the town. These latter were published about 1776, some six or seven years before those of Colonel Hicks.

Governor Parr and family came out in the ship St. Lawrence, and assumed the government in October.

Benjamin Green, Esq., son of the Hon. B. Green, one of the first members of Council, was elected member of Assembly for the town in February, without opposition. Mr. William Shaw was at the time Sheriff of the County.

In December, 1782, a large quantity of heavy ordnance was brought to Halifax from Charleston, South Carolina; also 500 refugees, men, women and children, arrived about the same date.

In August, 1783, a number of Negro refugees arrived from New York. It was resolved that they should be settled in different parts of the Province; however, not a few remained in Halifax, and became servants and labourers.

The Loyalists continued to come from the old Colonies, many of them in a destitute and helpless condition, until the population of the town was increased to three times its former number, and much temporary suffering in consequence prevailed. Yet many intelligent and enterprising settlers were at this period added to our population, giving new life and spirit to the town. Many spacious and commodious buildings began to be erected, taking the place of the low gamble-roofed and picketed buildings of an early day. It is very remarkable, however, that in the year 1791, only seven years after this great influx, the population had again so decreased as scarcely to exceed 5,000. In 1783, Governor Parr estimated the population at only 1,200. This was before the Loyalist emigration from New York. In 1784, one hundred and ninety-four Negro men, women and children arrived in Halifax from St. Augustin's, in a destitute condition; they did not remain in the town, but were distributed by the Government throughout the interior parts of the Province.

Governor Parr in his letter to England of November 20th, 1783, says, "upwards of 25,000 Loyalists have already arrived in the Province, most of whom, with the exception of those who went to Shelburne, came to Halifax before they became distributed throughout the Province."

Again in his letter of 15th January, 1784, he says, "In consequence of the final evacuation of New York,47 a considerable number of refugee families have come to Halifax, who must be provided for at the public expense. They are in a most wretched condition, destitute of almost everything – chiefly women and children, all still on board the vessels, and I have not been able to find as yet any place for them, and the cold is setting in very severe."48

On the 20th October, 1784, an advertizement appeared in a Halifax paper, for sale, "All that land near the entrance of the harbour and opposite to Cornwallis' Island, called Mauger's Beach, containing by particular grant 5 acres according to the plan attached to the grant." This beach had been formerly occupied for curing fish, and had buildings erected thereon for that purpose.49

The Penal Statutes had been repealed in 1783. The Roman Catholics in the town, chiefly emigrants from Ireland, having become numerous, purchased a piece of ground in Barrington Street, where they built a Chapel, which was dedicated to St. Peter. The frame was erected on 19th July, 1784, and many of the inhabitants, both Protestants and Roman Catholics, attended the ceremony. This building stood in from the street, directly opposite the head of Salter Street. It was painted red, with a steeple at the western end. It was removed in or shortly after Bishop Burke's time, on the completion of the new stone church, now St. Mary's. The Rev. Mr. Jones was the first officiating priest. The Rev. Edmund Burke, who came from Canada, officiated at St. Peter's for many years before he was appointed Bishop.

A number of emigrants arrived in Halifax this year from England. Three hundred passengers came in the Sally transport, in a great measure destitute of clothing and provisions. Fresh provisions became very dear, and the merchants of Halifax had flour up to £3 10s. per cwt. The Governor and Council, in consequence, ordered the admission of provisions from the United States to afford relief to the inhabitants.

The House of Assembly was dissolved this year; it had sat fourteen years without being dissolved, in consequence of the American troubles. The only alteration in the Halifax representation was the return of Capt. William Abbott for the County. Mr. Francis Green, second son of old Councillor Green, was again chosen Sheriff of Halifax in 1784.

1785. January 3rd, Mr. Sampson Salter Blowers, a barrister from Boston who came among the Loyalists, was appointed Attorney General in the place of Mr. Gibbons, who had received the appointment of Chief Justice for the Island of Cape Breton, then a separate province.

The Orphan house being no longer in use, was ordered to be let on a lease for one year.50

In September, 1785, a number of whalers from Nantucket came to Halifax; three brigantines and one schooner, with crews and everything necessary for prosecuting the whale fishery, which they proposed to do under the British flag. Their families were to follow. A short time after they were joined by three brigantines and a sloop from the same place.

On the twentieth of October following, the Chief Land Surveyor was directed to make return of such lands as were vacant at Dartmouth to be granted to Samuel Starbuck, Timothy Folger, and others, from Nantucket, to make settlement for the whalers. The Town of Dartmouth had been many years previously laid out in lots which had been granted or appropriated to individuals, some of whom had built houses, and others though then vacant, had been held and sold from time to time by their respective owners. Most of these lots were reported vacant by Mr. Morris, the surveyor, and seized upon by the Government, as it is said, without any proceeding of escheat, and re-granted to the Quakers from Nantucket, which caused much discontent, and questions of title arose and remained open for many years after.

At a Court of Admiralty held on Friday, the 27th August, 1785, for the trial of piracies committed upon the high seas, M. Buckley and Belitham Taylor were tried, committed and sentenced to death for running away with the schooner John Miller of Chedabucto and her cargo. Two men were also hanged this year for robbery committed to the eastward of Halifax.

The death of the Chief Justice, Bryan Finucane, having occurred this year, Judge Isaac Deschamps filled the office until the appointment of Chief Justice Pemberton. Judge Finucane was buried under St. Paul's Church. His escutcheon is in the gallery.

A general election occurred in 1785, when Mr. S. S. Blowers, John George Pyke, Richard John Uniacke and Michael Wallace were returned for the County, and John Fillis and William Cochran for the town.

The whale fishery was the chief subject which engaged the attention of the public during the year. Much advantage was expected to accrue to the commerce of the place from the Quakers from Nantucket having undertaken to settle in Dartmouth. They went on prosperously for a short time, until they found the commercial regulations established in England for the Colonies were hostile to their interests, and they eventually removed, some of them, it is said, to Wales and other parts of Great Britain, where they carried on their fishery to more advantage.

A petition was presented this autumn to the Governor and Council from a number of merchants, tradesmen and other inhabitants, praying for a Charter of Incorporation for the Town. This was the first occasion on which the subject was brought prominently before the public. It was, however, not deemed by the government "expedient or necessary" to comply with the prayer of the petition. The reasons are not given in the Minute of Council, which bears date 17th November, 1785. The names of the Councillors present were Richard Bulkeley, Henry Newton, Jonathan Binney, Arthur Goold, Alexander Brymer, Thomas Cochran and Charles Morris. The functions of His Majesty's Council at this period of our history embraced all departments of executive authority in the Colony. They were equally supreme in the control of town affairs as those of the province at large. The magistrates, though nominally the executive of the town, never acted in any matter of moment without consulting the Governor and Council. The existence of a corporate body having the sole control of town affairs would in a great measure deprive them of that supervision which they no doubt deemed, for the interest of the community, should remain in the Governor and Council.

1786. It was customary at this period to celebrate the Royal birthdays and almost all public holidays by a levee at Government House, a review of the troops in garrison on the Common, and occasionally a public ball, either by the Governor at Government House or by the inhabitants of the town at the public assembly room. This custom continued in Halifax until about the year 1844 or 1845, when it was broken through by Governor Falkland. On the 18th June, 1786, Queen Charlotte's birthday was celebrated in the town by a levee and review, and in the evening by a ball in the old Pontac building. The confectionery on this occasion was very superb. It was prepared by one Signor Lenzi. The ball commenced at half-past eight, supper was announced by the elevation of a curtain that separated the two rooms. In the middle of the table there arose an artificial fountain, with the temples of Health and Venus at the top and bottom, all constructed of sugar. The Gazette of the time says, they "did not go home till morning."

A regular post communication was opened this summer with Annapolis; a courier was engaged, who went through once a fortnight with the mail between Halifax and Annapolis. John Howe, who had lately come to Halifax from Boston and had established a newspaper, was at this time postmaster; he succeeded Mr. Stevens. The following spring (1786) the town was so enveloped in smoke for many days as almost to impede business, caused by a great fire which raged in the woods in the neighbourhood.

On 10th October, 1786, arrived His Majesty's Ship Pegasus, commanded by His Royal Highness Prince William Henry. He was received at the King's Slip by Governor Parr and Major General Campbell, then in command of the Garrison, and conducted to the Government House, which stood in the square now occupied by the Province Building, where he was waited upon by the military and the principal inhabitants. The Prince expressed a desire that all display should be laid aside, but the people illuminated their dwellings, and by 8 o'clock the whole town was lighted and the streets crowded with people.

In the Gazette of the 9th February, 1786, appears a resolution and engagement entered into by the merchants and others at a public meeting lately held in Halifax, wherein they pledged themselves neither to buy nor sell articles imported from the United States, prohibited by the Governor's proclamation. The document is signed by 75 persons.

On 28th February, a German Society was formed in Halifax, when John W. Schwartz was chosen President, Doctor F. Gschwint, (pronounced Swint) Vice-President, Godfrey Schwartz Treasurer, Henry Uthoff Secretary. In 1790 Adolphus Veith was secretary of this Society.

On 4th March, the jail was broken open and the prisoners, six in number, all escaped, of whom five were re-taken. Mr. Green was then Sheriff. Inquiries were instituted, but no information obtained. The delapidated and insecure state of the jail at the time was the subject of public comment.

The money collected for Liquor Licences in the town, between 31st May, 1784, and 31st May, 1785, amounted to £531. Mr. Francis Shipton was Clerk of Licences.

Three vessels were fitted out during the summer of 1786 for the whale fishery, – the schooners Parr and Lively, and the ship Romulus.

This year the merchants and shipowners formed themselves into a society called the Halifax Marine Association, for the benefit of trade. The following year Nova Scotia was erected into a Bishop's See. The Right Reverend Charles Inglis was appointed Bishop. He arrived from England on 16th October, and made Halifax his residence.

On the 3rd July, 1787, the Pegasus, frigate, commanded by Prince William Henry, arrived again at Halifax, 15 days from Jamaica. On Friday, at half-past two o'clock, the troops were drawn up in double line from the wharf to Government House. The Prince landed at the slip under a salute from the artillery on the King's Wharf. He was accompanied to Government House by the Governor and Council, where he received an address from the inhabitants. There was a dinner and ball at Government House in the evening, and a brilliant illumination of the town.

This month two whalers returned bringing 1,060 barrels oil and 72 cwt. whalebone. It is not mentioned whether these vessels belonged to the Quakers or to some of the merchants of the town.

On the 24th June, the Freemasons had a grand procession. They walked to St. Paul's Church, where they heard a sermon from the Rev. Mr. Weeks. The Prince reviewed the troops in garrison on 30th July, consisting of the 57th and 37th Regiments, and the first Battalion of the 60th Regiment.

On the 7th July the fleet, consisting of the Leander, Commodore Sawyer – Pegasus, Prince William Henry – Ariadne, Capt. Osborne, the Resource, and the Brig Weazel, Commander Hood, fell down to the beach, intending to proceed to Quebec the first fair wind. They sailed on the 14th. The Pegasus, with the Prince, returned to Halifax early in November. He received an address on the 6th, from the House of Assembly then in Session. At two o'clock on that day, the barge of the Pegasus with the Royal Standard flying, preceded by the Commodore in his barge, with his pendant, and the Captains of the other ships of war in their barges, proceeded slowly in procession from their ships to the King's Wharf, where the party landed under a salute of 21 guns. They were received at the stairs by the Governor, Council and Assembly, and the troops, under General Ogilvie, being ordered up, they proceeded to Government House, where a number of members of the Legislature were presented to him. They then proceeded through the lines of troops to the Golden Ball,51 where a handsome dinner was prepared, and where the Prince dined with the members of 52Assembly and the principal officers of Government. He retired at 6 o'clock, after which a ball was given in the evening at Marchington's new building in Water Street, adjoining the Ordnance Yard, called the British Coffee House. The Prince entered the ball room a little after 8 o'clock, and at 12 the company were conducted into the supper room. The table was handsomely decorated and contained places for 200 people. The Prince is said to have displayed great affability in conversation on the occasion.

An Act was passed this Session authorizing the sale of the Orphan House, the Court House, the Public Slaughter House, and the Old Jail, and to erect a Jail, and also to erect on the Lower Parade a Public Hall, a Province House of Brick or Stone for the setting of the Legislature and Public Offices. The Commissioners appointed for this purpose were John Newton, Richard John Uniacke, John George Pyke and Mr. Taylor. Such parts of this Act as have been executed were afterwards repealed by Act of 1797.

1788. An Election for Members for the Town took place this winter, which was attended with extraordinary excitement. On the 20th February the poll opened, at the Court House, in Halifax; the candidates were Mr. Charles Morris and Jonathan Sterns. It closed on the Friday following, when it stood: Morris, 415; Sterns, 274. Majority for Morris, 141. Mr. Morris was carried through the Town and then taken home to his father's house. Hand-bills had been posted up reflecting on the government. Serious riots at the election occurred and many persons were hurt, some of whom received fractures of the skull and other severe injuries. Armed persons paraded the Town assaulting individuals. As this was a very remarkable election, and resulted in more turbulence and riot than had ever before occurred in the town on such occasions, we here copy the following extract from Anthony Henry's Gazette of 25th February: – "The unwearied and spirited exertions of a number of respectable gentlemen in a great measure calmed the minds of the people, and prevented their violence being carried to any very great length; nevertheless it was utterly impossible, in such confusion, to prevent many persons from being wounded and hurt, two of whom, we are sorry to inform the public, remain in a dangerous state; one having his skull fractured by some persons who rushed out of Laycock's house on the beach, and the other having been dangerously wounded by a shot from a window in the same house. We are likewise sorry to inform the public, that Mr. Benjamin Mulberry Holmes and his son, have been much beaten and abused by the populace on Friday night, and were it not for the very fortunate and timely interposition of Mr. Tobin's man and some others, it is probable they would have fallen a sacrifice to an enraged multitude."

The excitement had been caused partly by certain proceedings on the part of the judges of the Supreme Court against Mr. Sterns and Mr. Taylor, two practising lawyers in the town, whose names had been struck off the roll by Chief Justice Deschamps. One of the gentlemen, Mr. Sterns, was the defeated candidate at the election.

On the 3rd June, Bishop Inglis held his primary visitation of his Clergy, when he delivered a charge, received an address, and held a confirmation in the afternoon at St. Paul's, when one hundred and twenty young persons went through the ceremony of confirmation.

A heavy rain-storm occurred on Saturday, 5th July, when the streets of the town were very much injured by the torrents of water which poured down the hills. It was estimated that the rainfall was upwards of 186 tons of water to an acre, which, allowing the rain to have fallen equally on the whole peninsula, would make the fall of water on that small space equal to 345,000 tons, in four hours.

July 30. Arrived five sail of whalers, having on board the following valuable cargoes:

Sloop "Watson," Danl. Ray, Master, 150 bbls. sperm, 50 do. headmatter.

Brigt. "Lucretia," J. Coffin, Master, 250 bbls. sperm, 300 bbls. black oil, and 3000 cut bone.

Brigt. "Somerset," S. Gardner, Master, 230 bbls. sperm.

Brigt. "Sally," P. Worth, Master, 200 bbls. do.

Brigt. "Industry," W. Chadwick, Master, 84 bbls. do. 26 bbls. headmatter, and 300 do. black oil, also 3000 cut bone.

The "Andromeda," frigate, commanded by Prince William Henry, from England, arrived on 17th August, 1788; he was again received with the usual honours and the town was illuminated. The Prince attended a sham-fight on the Common, on 10th September, in which, the 4th, 37th, and 57th Regiments took part. Three soldiers were wounded by bursting of their muskets during the performance.

On 21st October, the new Chief Justice Jeremiah Pemberton, took the oaths and his seat on the bench, and his patent was then read in open Court.

Wednesday, Oct. 22nd, was launched at the south end of the town, a handsome brig, the property of Messrs. Gouge & Pryor; she was the first vessel of the size ever built in the town.

The following gentlemen composed the Magistracy of the town this year, viz: – Benj. Green, John Cunningham, John Newton, Charles Morris, George Smith, William Sherlock, John George Pyke, Thos. Cochran, Anthony Stewart,53 W. Taylor, Stephen N. Binney, J. M. F. Bulkeley, Revd. Michael Houseal, James Gautier, William Morris, Charles Morris, junior, Daniel Wood, junior; Matthew Cahill was High Sheriff.

It appears that the rank of Esquire was not applied to any person, at this or any previous period, except Magistrates and high public functionaries, and persons to whom it was accorded in consequence of their personal wealth and rank in society. Being a member of the House of Assembly did not confer the title.

There was then no regular police establishment in the town, the Magistrates, by turns, attended to police duties with the aid of the town constables, who were annually appointed. All special matters were discussed and settled at the special sessions, which was generally a private meeting of Magistrates in the back office in conjunction with the Clerk of the Peace. Criminal charges of a delicate nature, or when private character was likely to be affected, were usually investigated with closed doors, and no information made public until found to be necessary for the ends of justice. This system continued until Mr. John George Pyke received the appointment of Police Magistrate, about 60 years since. His duties were merely to relieve the Magistrates from the more onerous duties of attending daily at the Police office. Colonel Pyke became incapacitated by age about the year 1825 or 6, when Mr. John Liddell was appointed, who had to his aid three or four Police Constables, two of whom had attended his predecessor, and the valuable assistance of David Shaw Clarke, the clerk of the peace. Such was the arrangement until the Act of Incorporation in 1848.

The "Royal Gazette" was published by Anthony Henry, until about 1801, when it fell into the hands of Mr. John Howe, from Boston.

The "Weekly Chronicle," another paper, was at this time established by Mr. William Minns, stationer, in Barrington Street, opposite the north-end of the Grand Parade. It was commenced in 1787, and continued to exist until about 1828 or 9.

Among the merchants who advertized in these papers we find the names of James Vetch, opposite the woodyard; David Hall & Co., in Hollis Street, opposite Government House, (Crown Prince Building); and George Bell, Granville St. The shops appear to have contained both groceries and dry-goods, like the country stores of the present day. A. & R. Leslie were at the corner of Duke and Water Streets, near the Pontac. Lawrence Hartshorne, Hardware, corner of Granville and George streets, between the market house and the parade. This old corner, so many years known as Hartshorne & Boggs' corner, had a gun at the corner of the platform which extended down the hill to the lower corner, occupied by one Hart, a Jew, afterwards known as Martin Gay Black's, and now occupied by the new building of the Merchant's Bank; this walk was the resort of the merchants in the morning, and the fashionable and idle in the afternoons.

1789. On the night of Friday, the 23rd January, Cochran's buildings, a range of three-storey buildings in the market square, were totally consumed by fire. Firewards were John Fillis, J. G. Pyke, R. J. Uniacke, Michael Wallace, Geo. Bell, Lawrence Hartshorne, William Lawlor, Charles Hill.

On 9th February, an advertisement appeared in the "Gazette," as follows: "I am directed by His Excellency the Governor, to acquaint the several gentlemen called upon on Friday last to form a Fire Company, that he desires their attendance at the 'Golden Ball' on Thursday next, at twelve o'clock, to agree to rules and regulations. (Signed) Jas. Gautier."