Richard John Uniacke | |
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![]() Richard John Uniacke by Robert Field | |
Born | Castletown, Kingdom of Ireland | November 22, 1753
Died | October 11, 1830 76) Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia | (aged
Richard John Uniacke (November 22, 1753 – October 11, 1830) was an abolitionist, lawyer, politician, member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly and Attorney General of Nova Scotia. According to historian Brian Cutherburton, Uniacke was "the most influential Nova Scotian of his day.... His faith in Nova Scotia's destiny as a partner in a great empire was only to be equalled by Joseph Howe." [1] He devoted 49 years to public service in Nova Scotia. He fought in the American Revolution and later sought to emancipate Catholics and Black Nova Scotians who were slaves in Nova Scotia. [2] He is buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Church. His substantial estate (c. 1813) is preserved as the Uniacke Estate Museum Park at Mount Uniacke.
Born in Castletown, Ballintotis, Castlemartyr, County Cork, Ireland, located just four kilometres from the family estate of Mountuniacke, created by his grandfather, Captain James Uniacke. [3] Richard attended school at Lismore, County Waterford. At the age of sixteen he came under the influence of a Catholic priest and as this was abhorrent to his Protestant family, his father had him sent to Dublin where he was articled with the law firm of Thomas Garde. In Dublin Richard became fascinated with the movement for greater Irish political autonomy and he eventually joined with the Irish nationalists. This caused a rupture in the relationship with his father and being cut off from his allowance. Refusing to return home, Richard being penniless, prematurely abandoned his studies in 1773 and decided to seek his fortune in North America.
Uniacke first sought work in the West Indies, traveling to St. Kitts in December 1773 where an elder brother was serving in the Army. However, Uniacke quickly came to detest the cruelty and hypocrisy of plantation slavery. He moved on to Philadelphia in 1774 to seek a position. Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, Uniacke met Moses Delesdernier, a merchant organizing settlers for land in the Chignecto area of Nova Scotia at the head of the Upper Bay of Fundy. Uniacke agreed to join as a partner and agent for the settlement. [4]
Uniacke arrived with Delesdernier at Hopewell Cape, near present-day Moncton in 1775. Uniacke found the settlement conditions difficult but enjoyed the adventure of frontier travel across the Isthmus of Chignecto, visiting the scattered settlements of the region. [5]
In 1776, Uniacke joined the American rebels in the Battle of Fort Cumberland, despite the loyalty of his father-in-law Delesdernier. Under the leadership of Jonathan Eddy, American Rebels laid siege to Fort Cumberland and pillaged the local population who remained loyal to the British. Uniacke participated in some of these actions and while trying to commandeer supplies heading for the Fort he was captured.
Shortly thereafter he was sent as a prisoner to Halifax. As a rebel, Uniacke faced being charged with treason. If found guilty, he would have been hanged. It is likely due to his family connections, the fact several military officers in Halifax had been stationed with several of his brothers, and the fact he provided evidence for the crown that led to his release. [6] Uniacke, since the time of the Eddy Rebellion, had developed an animosity for Americans, once stating they were " a race of the most lawless profligate and wicked monsters that exist on the face of the earth". [7]
Seven years later, after the American Revolution, Uniacke became a member of the House of Assembly for over twenty years, representing Sackville Township 1783–1785, Halifax County 1785–1793 and Queens County 1798–1805. In 1808 he was appointed to the Nova Scotia Council. [8]
Uniacke took up the cause of religious reform in Protestant-dominated Nova Scotia. In 1783 he redrafted a bill passed by the Nova Scotia House of Assembly to repeal the law passed in 1758 that had proscribed Catholics. The bill had been struck down by the British government. Uniacke's redraft was confirmed thus allowing Catholics to own land, build churches and hire priests. In 1786 Uniacke was one of the founding members of the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax; established to assist needy Irish regardless of whether they were Protestant or Catholic. In subsequent years Uniacke put forward additional amendments to laws which allowed Catholics to establish schools and to vote in elections. His efforts to bring about complete emancipation of Catholics continued until success was achieved through the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829.
While many blacks who arrived in Nova Scotia during the American Revolution were free, others were not. [9] Black slaves also arrived in Nova Scotia as the property of White American Loyalists. In 1772, prior to the American Revolution, Britain outlawed the slave trade in the British Isles followed by the Knight v. Wedderburn decision in Scotland in 1778. This decision, in turn, influenced the colony of Nova Scotia. Led by Uniacke, in 1787, 1789 and again on January 11, 1808, the Nova Scotian legislature refused to legalize slavery. [10] [11] [4] Uniacke defeated the efforts of James De Lancey to have slavery legally recognized in Nova Scotia. (The Slave Trade Act outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 outlawed slavery altogether.)
In his role as Attorney General, to continue Nova Scotia's economic growth, Uniacke worked to increase the number of immigrants coming to the colony. In part immigration had been hindered by the cancellation of free land grants. In 1806 Uniacke pushed for a renewal of the granting of land to settlers. Furthermore, he moved to escheat large tracts of land, from holders whose only intent was to speculate on the lands they held, feeling this had further slowed the influx of new settlers. By 1820 he had escheated 100,000 acres (400 km2). These lands then became available to the government which allowed them to provide new land grants to the many immigrants that landed in the Province after the Napoleonic wars. From 75,000 people in 1815, Nova Scotia's population reached 200,000 in 1838. [12]
Uniacke was also instrumental in the establishment in 1789 of King's College (see also King's Collegiate School) at Windsor, and he sat, despite being a non-Anglican, on its board.
Throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, the threat of invasion was an every looming specter. To counter the threat Nova Scotia maintained a militia. In 1793 Uniacke was second-in-command of the Second Battalion of the militia and in 1794 was promoted to Lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Battalion.
Uniacke was perceived as a voice for the Pre-Loyalist settlers of Nova Scotia which brought him into conflict with the arrival of powerful United Empire Loyalists officials including John Wentworth, appointed Lt. Governor in 1792 and the lawyer and judge Sampson Salter Blowers who twice challenged Uniacke to duels. The second duel challenge came about after Loyalist Jonathan Sterns, the Solicitor General and an ally of Blowers, accused Uniacke of being biased against Loyalists in the courts. This led to a street fight between Sterns and Uniacke in 1798. Sterns was in poor health and died shortly afterwards. Blowers blamed Uniacke for the death and challenged him to a duel. The duel was called off when both men were bound to keep the peace by the Halifax magistrates, but Uniacke and Blowers remained lifelong enemies. [13] [14] [15]
Uniacke was the first public figure to advocate for the Confederation of Canada, 51 years before it became a reality. He wanted to save the colonies from republicanism and atheism of the United States. As a result, Uniacke advocated unions of the Maritime colonies and of the Canadas, beginning in 1806 when he presented a memoir on British North America at the Colonial Office. [16] In 1826 Uniacke brought his “Observations on the British colonies in North America with a proposal for the confederation of the whole under one government” to the Colonial Office. The “Observations” read in parts like the British North America Act of 40 years later. [16]
Soon after Uniacke arrived in Nova Scotia to work for Moses Delesdernier, Uniake married Delesderneir's daughter Martha Maria, then aged 12, on May 3, 1775. They would have eleven children before her death in 1803. [17] In 1808 he married Eliza Newton, who bore him a son in 1809. [18] He had twelve children, three sons became lawyers and one became a priest.
His son James Boyle Uniacke was a lawyer and the first Premier of Nova Scotia. Another son, Richard John Uniacke, Jr. was a lawyer, Attorney General of the colony of Cape Breton, judge, and political figure who represented Cape Breton County (after Cape Breton was re-incorporated into Nova Scotia) in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1820 to 1830.
His son Norman Fitzgerald Uniacke studied law in Nova Scotia and in 1798 furthered his law studies in London, entering the law at Lincoln's Inn; the second Nova Scotian to do so. In 1808 he was appointed the Attorney General of Lower Canada, was elevated to the Lower Canada Bench in 1825, and served in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, in later years he joined Nova Scotia's Legislative Council. Norman, as well as his father, were sympathetic to the French Canadians, and from his position on the Bench shielded the captive rebels of the Lower Canada Rebellion from the full brunt of the "bloodhounds of prosecution". [19]
His youngest son Andrew Mitchell Uniacke practiced law in the family firm. Crofton Uniacke practiced law in the family firm, in 1808 was appointed Receiver of Quit Rents, and in 1817 assumed the judgeship of the retiring Justice Croke, only to resign the position in 1819 when he moved to England where he practiced law. Uniacke's son Robert Fitzgerald Uniacke, did not follow his brothers into the law; instead, with his father's blessing, he took a path into the church, becoming minister at St. George's Church, Halifax.
The family of Richard John Uniacke dominates the plaques and monuments in St. Paul's Church (Halifax).
His substantial estate (c. 1813) is preserved as the Uniacke Estate Museum Park at Mount Uniacke. [20]
Sampson Salter Blowers was a noted North American lawyer, Loyalist and jurist from Nova Scotia who, along with Chief Justice Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange, waged "judicial war" in his efforts to free Black Nova Scotian slaves from their owners, leading to the decline of slavery in Nova Scotia.
Slavery in Canada includes historical practices of enslavement practiced by both the First Nations during the pre-Columbian era, and by colonists during the period of European colonization.
Joseph Howe was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, public servant, and poet. Howe is often ranked as one of Nova Scotia's most admired politicians and his considerable skills as a journalist and writer have made him a provincial legend.
Sir William Young, was a Nova Scotia politician and jurist.
St. Paul's Church is an evangelical Anglican church in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, within the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is located at the south end of the Grand Parade, an open square in downtown Halifax with Halifax City Hall at the northern end.
The Old Burying Ground is a historic cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road in Downtown Halifax.
The history of Nova Scotia covers a period from thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Nova Scotia were inhabited by the Mi'kmaq people. During the first 150 years of European settlement, the region was claimed by France and a colony formed, primarily made up of Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. This time period involved six wars in which the Mi'kmaq along with the French and some Acadians resisted the British invasion of the region: the French and First Nation Wars, Father Rale's War and Father Le Loutre's War. During Father Le Loutre's War, the capital was moved from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, to the newly established Halifax, Nova Scotia (1749). The warfare ended with the Burying the Hatchet ceremony (1761). After the colonial wars, New England Planters and Foreign Protestants immigrated to Nova Scotia. After the American Revolution, Loyalists immigrated to the colony. During the nineteenth century, Nova Scotia became self-governing in 1848 and joined the Canadian Confederation in 1867.
Black Nova Scotians are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th and early 19th centuries. As of the 2021 Census of Canada, 28,220 Black people live in Nova Scotia, most in Halifax. Since the 1950s, numerous Black Nova Scotians have migrated to Toronto for its larger range of opportunities. Before the immigration reforms of 1967, Black Nova Scotians formed 37% of the total Black Canadian population.
The Book of Negroes is a document created by Brigadier General Samuel Birch, under the direction of Sir Guy Carleton, that records names and descriptions of 3,000 Black Loyalists, enslaved Africans who escaped to the British lines during the American Revolution and were evacuated to points in Nova Scotia as free people of colour.
Black refugees were black people who escaped slavery in the United States during the War of 1812 and settled in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Trinidad. The term is used in Canada for those who settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. They were the most numerous of the African Americans who sought freedom during the War of 1812. The Black refugees were the second group of African Americans, after the Black Loyalists, to flee American enslavement in wartime and settle in Canada. They make up the most significant single immigration source for today's African Nova Scotian communities. During the antebellum period, however, an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 Black refugees reached freedom in Canada, often traveling alone or in small family groups.
Samuel George William Archibald was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax County from 1806 to 1836 and Colchester County from 1836 to 1841 in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. He supported the Royal Acadian School.
Richard John Uniacke was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Cape Breton County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1820 to 1830.
Moses "Daddy Moses" Wilkinson or "Old Moses" was an American Wesleyan Methodist preacher and Black Loyalist. His ministry combined Old Testament divination with African religious traditions such as conjuring and sorcery. He gained freedom from slavery in Virginia during the American Revolutionary War, was a Wesleyan Methodist preacher in New York and Nova Scotia. In 1791, he migrated to Sierra Leone, preaching alongside ministers Boston King and Henry Beverhout. There, he established the first Methodist church in Settler Town and survived a rebellion in 1800.
The Nova Scotian Settlers, or Sierra Leone Settlers, were African Americans who founded the settlement of Freetown, Sierra Leone and the Colony of Sierra Leone, on March 11, 1792. The majority of these black American immigrants were among 3,000 African Americans, mostly former slaves, who had sought freedom and refuge with the British during the American Revolutionary War, leaving rebel masters. They became known as the Black Loyalists. The Nova Scotian settlers were jointly led by African American Thomas Peters, a former soldier, and English abolitionist John Clarkson. For most of the 19th century, the Settlers resided in Settler Town and remained a distinct ethnic group within the Freetown territory, tending to marry among themselves and with Europeans in the colony.
William Nesbitt was a lawyer and political figure in Nova Scotia. He served as a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1758 to 1783.
Andrew Mitchell Uniacke was a lawyer, banker and politician in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax township in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1843 to 1847.
Jonathan Sterns was a Loyalist from Boston, Solicitor General for Nova Scotia and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1793 to 1798.
Uniacke Estate Museum Park is the historic home and preserved estate of Richard John Uniacke at Mount Uniacke (c.1813). The Uniacke Estate is part of the Nova Scotia Museum system.
William Bowie (1762-1819) was a prominent merchant of Halifax, Nova Scotia who was killed in the last fatal duel on record in Nova Scotia. At age 20, William Bowie arrived in Nova Scotia in 1782 from Stirling, Scotland, the son of Alexander Bowie and Janet Murdoch. He became president of the North British Society. Under the mentorship of Alexander Brymer, Bowie founded the firm Bowie & DeBlois and in a few years amassed a fortune and Bowie became a leading citizen in Halifax.
Uniacke may refer to:
Endnotes
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