name "New Brunswick", as well as support behind naming "Prince Edward Island" for a representative of the Braunschweiger dynasty.

In 1749, the British colony of Nova Scotia was almost completely populated by 10,000 French-speaking and Roman Catholic Acadians. This was felt to be a great problem by the British administrators of the area, especially Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis. Attracting British immigrants was difficult as most preferred to go to the warmer southern colonies. Thus, a plan was developed to aggressively recruit foreign Protestants. These came mostly from German duchies and principalities on the Upper Rhine in the present-day Rhineland-Palatinate bundesländer. The duchy of Württemberg was the major source, but there were also "Foreign Protestants" from Montbéliard in France, and parts of Switzerland and the Netherlands.

This recruiting drive was led by John Dick, who was quite successful. The British government agreed to provide free passage to the colony, as well as free land and one year's rations upon arrival. Over 2,000 of the "Foreign Protestants" arrived between 1750 and 1752, on 11 ships:

 Aldernay/Nancy (1750)  Ann (1750)  Gale (1751)  Speedwell (1751)  Pearl (1751)  Murdoch (1751)  Speedwell (1752)  Betty (1752)  Sally (1752)  Pearl (1752)  Gale (1752)

The immigrants almost all disembarked at Halifax, where they were put in temporary quarters before being shipped to other areas of the colony.

Most of the foreign Protestants settled along the South Shore between Liverpool and Halifax. The area is still inhabited by their descendants, and last names like Hirtle, Ernst, or the various ways to spell Rhodeniser are common. Many towns such as Lunenburg, Kingsburg, and Waterloo bear distinctly German names. Many of the names of islands, beaches, and points are also German.

Foreign Protestants (1750-1752)

Many passengers on the ships were listed as being from Montbeliard. At the time, Montbeliard was still an independent "Countship" (or "Principality") and not yet a part of France (until 1793). Cornwallis, in a letter to the Lords of Trade and Plantations dated 24 July 1749, had written: "there are amongst the settlers a few Swiss who are regular honest and industrious men, easily governed and work heartily: I hope your Lordships will think of a method of encouraging numbers of them to come over. A proposal was sent me when at Spithead which might perhaps answer the purpose, to make it known through Germany, that all Husbandmen, tradesmen or soldiers being protestants, should have the same rights & privileges in this province as were promised on his Majestys Proclamation to his natural born subjects, besides which, at their embarking at Rotterdam or Plymouth, or at their arrival here (as your Lordships shall think proper) each man should receive 40sh. or 50sh., and 10sh. for every person in his family, they to be at the charge of their own passage." (Nova Scotia Documents, p 565)

The Lords of Trade replied in a letter to Cornwallis from Whitehall, dated 16 October 1749, "We entirely agree with you in opinion that a mixture of Foreign Protestants would by their industriousness and exemplary dispositions greatly promote and forward the settlement in its infancy and we shall endeavour to fall upon some measure of sending over a considerable body the next year." (Nova Scotia Documents, p 588)

Lords of Trade, in a letter to Cornwallis dated 16 Feb 1750: "We must however acquaint you that we have been empowered by His Majesty to enter into contact for such a number of Foreign Protestants, and on such terms as we shall judge proper, and accordingly made an agreement with a Merchant in Holland for the transportation of a number not exceeding 1500, and have assurance from him of success in his undertaking." (Nova Scotia Documents, p 602)

Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 19 March 1750: "Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to hear that your Lordships have fallen upon some means of sending over Germans and other foreign Protestants". (Nova Scotia Documents, p 607)

Lords of Trade to Cornwallis, Whitehall, 8 June 1750: "Mr. Dick merchant at Rotterdam, who undertook to transport a thousand Foreign Protestants upon the condition of our paying him a Guinea for each person has greatly disappointed us, but by a letter we have this day received from him he acquaints us, that he shall send two hundred and eighty and that half of them are already on board, and he gives us some hopes that he shall send over another ship this year." (Nova Scotia Documents, p 612.)

By the 26 June 1750, the Lords were able to write that Mr Dick had finally met with success, and that the ship Ann was embarking for Halifax with the first load.

Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, however, remained cautious about the introduction of these settlers up in Nova Scotia. In a letter to Colonel Lawrence 13 March 1756 from Boston, he writes:

"As to the settlement of Germans at Lunenburg if the End of posting the 152 men there, which I find by your return of the cantonment of the troops are plac'd there at present, is to be a guard upon the Inhabitants of that town, the Province had better be without the Settlemt. unless an equal number at least of settlers, whose fidelity to his Majesty's government may be depended on, can be soon introduced among them: otherwise the more that Settlement increases, the more dangerous and burthensome it will grow to the province: and this instance seems to shew the risque of making entire settlements of Foreigners of any kind in so new a Government as Nova Scotia, without a due mixture of natural born subjects among them."

Source:

Smith, Leonard H., Jr, Dictionary of Immigrants to Nova Scotia, Vol I, Clearwater, Florida, Owl Books, 1985. Akins, Thomas Beamish, editor, "List of the Settlers Who Came Out with Governor Cornwallis to Chebucto, in June 1749". In "Selections from the Public Documents of the Province of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS: Charles Annand, 1869, pp 506-557. Reprint, Cottonport, Louisiana: Polyanthos, 1973 under the title "Acadia and Nova Scotia: Documents Relating to the Acadian French and the First British Colonisation of the Province, 1714-1758", p 435, 565, and others as noted.

Letter from John Dick / Lords of Trade to Cornwallis - 1750

"We have received a letter from Mr. Dick dated the 27th June NS, acquainting us that the Ship Ann, John Spurrier, Master, has sailed from Helvoetslys with 312 foreign Portestants on board, a list whereof we herewith enclose to you, together with a copy of Mr. Dick's instructions to the master of the ship."

Mr. Dick in his letter acquaints us that there is a German gentleman on board, John Eberhard Klages, is a man of Fortune and Figure in his own country, that he has paid the passage of sixteen people and a boy on condition that they are to give him their fifty acres of land each and to continue with him and cultivate it.

We recommend this gentleman to your particular countenance and regard, as you must be sensible that his favorable representation of his reception and the state of the settlement to his countrymen will be a great inducement to others to resort to the Province and when the settlers who have engaged to convey their fifty acres to him shall have cultivated them according to their engagement with him we see no reason why you should not make fresh grants to them.

We don't doubt but you will receive all these foreign Protestants in general in kindest manner as our procuring a large number next year will depend upon the accounts they send home.

We find that Mr. Dick has desired Mr. Davidson to take upon him the management of his concerns and we desire that you will take care that affairs will be so managed that Mr. Dick may not be a sufferer with respect to the money which he has advanced for those who were not able to pay their own passage, as there may not be among the old settlers a sufficient number of Persons able and willing to take off such a number of Servants upon the terms of paying for their passage; you may possibly contrive to lay down the money upon their engaging to work it out in the Public works, and that you may even make use of this opportunity to reduce the exorbitant price of labour.

We cannot make any objection to Mr. Davidson's taking the 5 per cent which Mr. Dick offers him, as this is in some degree a private transaction between them, but at the same time we must observe that in a public light it might be an encouragement to Mr. Dick who has acted in this affair with great diligence and spirit, if the Secretary was directed to transact this business as part of the duty of his office without Commission, so we bid you hearty farewell, and are,

Your very loving friends,

Dunk Halifax Dupplin J. Grenville

Lords of Trade to Cornwallis, 26 June 1750, Nova Scotia Documents, p 615.)

Source:

Akins, Thomas Beamish, editor, "List of the Settlers Who Came Out with Governor Cornwallis to Chebucto, in June 1749". In "Selections from the Public Documents of the Province of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS: Charles Annand, 1869, pp 506-557. Reprint, Cottonport, Louisiana: Polyanthos, 1973 under the title "Acadia and Nova Scotia: Documents Relating to the Acadian French and the First British Colonisation of the Province, 1714-1758", p 615-616.. http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Migration s/english/hhs/john.html

En 1749, la Chambre de commerce de Londres m'a chargé de recruter des colons pour la Nouvelle-Écosse. Dieu que j'avais encore beaucoup à apprendre alors ! Mais voilà que cinq bateaux transportant mille âmes en partance pour Halifax viennent maintenant de quitter le port de Rotterdam, près de l'embouchure du Rhin. Ma meilleure année jusqu'ici ! Cela n'a pas toujours été un commerce lucratif - au contraire, j'y ai perdu de l'argent, mais je ne perds pas espoir de me refaire dans les années qui viennent, maintenant que les choses vont bien. Il y a trois ans, j'étais un jeune négociant ici à Rotterdam. Voyant tant d'Européens de l'Est partir pour les colonies d'Amérique en transitant par ce port, je n'ai plus eu de cesse que je ne prenne moi aussi part à cette entreprise.

La Chambre de commerce m'avait autorisé à faire des démarches auprès de protestants étrangers, candidats à devenir sujets britanniques. Chaque homme se verrait attribuer 50 acres de terre en Nouvelle-Écosse, plus 10 acres pour chaque personne à charge, femme ou enfant, plus d'autres parcelles encore lorsque les familles auraient grandi ou qu'elles seraient capables d'en cultiver davantage. Leur subsistance serait également assurée pendant 12 mois et on leur fournirait tous les outils, armes et matériaux de construction dont ils auraient besoin.

J'ai ordonné à mes agents de remonter le Rhin jusque dans les régions protestantes d'Allemagne, de Suisse et de France. L'intérêt suscité, me rapportèrent-ils, a été grand, le plus grave problème étant que la plupart des gens qui auraient consenti à émigrer n'avaient pas de quoi payer leur passage. Il n'était cependant pas rare que, pour payer leur passage, les futures colons des colonies d'Amérique s'engagent à contrat dès leur arrivée auprès de fermiers ou de commerçants locaux qui réglaient alors pour eux le prix de la traversée. Selon ma formule à moi, les colons régleraient leur passage en travaillant pour le gouvernement de la colonie. Ils seraient ainsi mieux traités que les nouveaux venus dans les colonies plus anciennes. Le gouverneur avait certes besoin de bras pour construire des fortifications et d'autres ouvrages de travaux publics. Et cela devait me donner un avantage sur mes rivaux.

Mes rivaux ! Ils font tout ce qu'ils peuvent pour me frustrer du fruit de mes efforts et refroidir l'ardeur de mes futurs colons néo-écossais. Ils rencontrent les immigrants qui descendent le Rhin et, se faisant passer pour mes agents, leur font signer des contrats après les avoir découragés en prétendant que la Nouvelle-Écosse est une terre de malédiction où ils devront affronter Français et Indiens. Ils persuadent les membres de mes expéditions d'aller plutôt en Pennsylvanie ou en Caroline. Certaines des histoires qu'ils racontent sont même imprimées dans des journaux. Ils vont jusqu'à dénigrer mes efforts de recrutement auprès de la Chambre de commerce de Londres.

Devant tant d'adversité, je n'ai pu, il y a deux ans (1750), envoyer qu'un seul bateau de colons, le Ann.

Sans perdre de temps, je me suis lancé dans les préparatifs de l'année suivante. Six agents ont fait pour moi du recrutement en Allemagne, en Suisse et en France. Je me suis procuré des passeports auprès des autorités prussiennes et hollandaises pour accélérer le transport de mes recrues par le Rhin. J'ai également pris des dispositions pour améliorer les conditions de transport de celles-ci par bateau. Ainsi, par exemple, j'ai fait installer des aérateurs sur les bateaux et modifier les cargaisons de vivres pour les rendre plus convenables aux personnes peu habituées à consommer des aliments salés. Je me suis également assuré que l'on embarque des provisions d'eau supplémentaires. Mais, malgré cela, il est toujours à craindre qu'un certain nombre de passagers ne verront jamais Halifax tant le voyage est long -- plus de trois mois -- et pénible. On peut seulement espérer minimiser les pertes.

L'année dernière (1751), j'ai expédié à Halifax quatre bateaux de recrues et, des 1 004 personnes qui se sont embarquées, 918 ont survécu au voyage.

Dès que ces bateaux-là ont quitté Rotterdam, je me suis, cette fois encore, rapidement mis aux préparatifs de la saison suivante. Or, voilà que, fin décembre, la Chambre de commerce de Londres m'annonce abruptement que les autorités britanniques ne souhaitent pas envoyer de nouvelles recrues protestantes en Nouvelle-Écosse cette année ! J'avais déjà démarché environ mille nouvelles recrues, dont certaines avaient commencé à vendre leurs biens en prévision de leur départ. Après discussion, il a été convenu que j'envoie ces 1 000 immigrants additionnels si, une fois à destination, ceux-ci acceptent de travailler pour un shilling par jour pour payer leur passage, et de toucher trois pence par jour pour acheter leurs moyens de subsistance sur le marché local, au lieu de les obtenir gratuitement des agents gouvernementaux. C'est ce que j'ai finalement fait au mois de juin dernier (1752) en affrétant cinq bateaux.

P.S. : Le contrat de John Dick avec la Chambre de commerce de Londres a été résilié pour de bon vers la fin de 1752.

http://www.geocities.com/~wallyg/early.htm#Early %20Protestant%20Settlers%20Had%20Terrible %20Time%20in%20Nova%20Scotia

The first settlers of Lunenburg were primarily German speaking Protestants from various parts of Germany, Switzerland, and the Montbeliard region of France who were invited by the British to settle in Nova Scotia in an attempt to counterbalance the French presence in the province. The British Government mapped out the old town on a strict grid and gave each family a lot.

1771-1800 (Volume IV)

CORNWALLIS, EDWARD, officier, administrateur colonial et fondateur de Halifax, né le 22 février 1712/1713 à Londres, sixième fils de Charles Cornwallis, 4e baron Cornwallis, et de lady Charlotte Butler, fille de Richard Butler, 1er comte d’Arran : il épousa le 17 mars 1753, à Londres, Mary, fille de Charles Townshend, 2e vicomte Townshend ; décédé le 14 janvier 1776 à Gibraltar.

Nés dans une famille aux relations influentes, Edward Cornwallis et son frère jumeau, Frederick, devinrent pages du roi à l’âge de 12 ans. Capitaine dans le 8e d’infanterie en 1734, Cornwallis servit de courrier pour le service diplomatique, entre 1738 et 1743, et devint major du 20e d’infanterie en 1742. En décembre 1743, son père le nomma pour représenter au parlement la circonscription familiale d’Eye. L’année suivante, il rallia son régiment dans les Flandres et en assuma le commandement quand le lieutenant-colonel fut tué à Fontenoy (Belgique) en 1745. Promu lieutenant-colonel du 20e régiment cette même année, Cornwallis participa à la « pacification » de l’Écosse, y compris au quasi- massacre de Culloden, avant que son mauvais état de santé ne le forçât à résigner son commandement en faveur du major Wolfe* en 1748. L’année précédente, il avait été nommé valet de la chambre du roi et, en mars 1749, il fut promu colonel. La carrière de Cornwallis en Nouvelle-Écosse commença le 21 juin 1749, date à laquelle il arriva au large de la baie de Chibouctou sur le sloop Sphinx comme gouverneur nouvellement nommé de cette province. Sa nomination inaugurait une nouvelle politique du gouvernement britannique. Pendant des années les autorités de la métropole avaient négligé la Nouvelle-Écosse, possession britannique depuis 1713. Cependant, la guerre de la Succession d’Autriche en démontra l’importance stratégique. Afin d’assurer la sécurité des colonies de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, des troupes anglo-américaines dirigées par William Pepperrell* et Peter Warren* attaquèrent et prirent la forteresse française de Louisbourg, île Royale (île du Cap-Breton), en 1745. Quoique le traité d’Aix-la-Chapelle en 1748 rendît Louisbourg à la France en échange de Madras (Inde), le gouvernement britannique comprit vraiment qu’ « il était essentiel de donner à cette région une base militaire britannique d’un effectif comparable pour faire contrepoids et protéger la Nouvelle-Angleterre et son commerce ».

On mena cette entreprise, consistant à établir des colons britanniques dans la province, avec une rapidité saisissante. En mars 1749, lord Halifax, président du Board of Trade, soumit un rapport au duc de Bedford, secrétaire d’État pour le département du Sud, proposant la fondation d’une ville dans la baie de Chibouctou, « le grand et long port » sur la rive sud de la presqu’île dont on connaissait déjà bien le potentiel. Halifax avait reçu des suggestions au sujet du plan d’établissement de différentes sources au courant de la situation en Nouvelle-Écosse, parmi lesquelles l’influence la plus remarquable était celle de la Nouvelle-Angleterre. En fait, il estimait que, la paix acquise, la raison la plus importante pour établir la nouvelle ville était de répondre aux griefs de la Nouvelle-Angleterre. Toutefois, on fit le recrutement des premiers colons en Grande- Bretagne. Ce printemps-là, des annonces alléchantes parurent dans les journaux invitant les gens à se porter volontaires pour aller s’établir en Nouvelle-Écosse. On promettait aux futurs colons le transport gratuit et des vivres pour un an ; deux régiments de la garnison de Louisbourg commandée par le colonel Peregrine Thomas Hopson* devaient fournir une protection militaire. En mai, Cornwallis et 2 576 colons se mettaient en route pour cette province.

Le premier problème auquel Cornwallis se heurta à son arrivée fut de choisir l’endroit précis de l’établissement : cette décision lui causa certaines difficultés. Le commodore Charles Knowles, ancien gouverneur de Louisbourg, et le capitaine Thomas Durell, qui avait dressé la carte de certaines parties de la Nouvelle-Écosse, avaient recommandé la haute falaise surplombant le bassin de Bedford (le fond de la baie, rebaptisée ainsi en l’honneur du duc de Bedford) mais ce lieu se trouvait trop à l’intérieur des terres pour convenir à Cornwallis. D’aucuns en Angleterre avaient suggéré l’endroit qui s’appelle aujourd’hui la pointe Pleasant, à l’embouchure du port, mais Cornwallis s’y refusa, à cause de la terre rocailleuse et de l’éventualité de mers houleuses en hiver ; de même, il écarta la proposition suggérant le côté du port où se trouve Dartmouth, parce que le terrain opposé, plus élevé, dominait cet emplacement. Finalement, il choisit le flanc d’une colline sur le côté ouest de la baie, qui commandait toute la presqu’île, pour le nouvel établissement nommé Halifax en l’honneur du président du Board of Trade. Sa situation avait comme avantages la pente douce de la colline (baptisée plus tard Citadel Hill), l’emplacement convenant à l’accostage de bateaux, l’excellent mouillage pour de plus grands navires près de la côte ainsi qu’une bonne terre. Suivant les termes d’Archibald McKellar MacMechan*, « le temps a ratifié la sagesse du choix de [Cornwallis] ».

Grâce à l’arrivée du gouverneur intérimaire, Paul Mascarene*, et de certains de ses conseillers d’Annapolis Royal, Cornwallis fut à même de former son gouvernement. Le 14 juillet 1749, son premier conseil, comprenant entre autres Mascarene, John Gorham* et Benjamin Green, prêta serment. Selon sa commission et ses instructions, Cornwallis ne devait édicter de lois qu’avec le consentement d’un conseil et d’une chambre d’Assemblée mais le Board of Trade admit que, dans les circonstances, il était impossible de convoquer une assemblée. Pour des raisons diverses, on n’en forma une qu’en 1758 sous le gouverneur Charles Lawrence*. Les premières lois du nouveau gouvernement eurent tendance à suivre les modèles de la Virginie qui avaient influencé les précédents gouvernements de la Nouvelle-Écosse. De même, pour créer un système judiciaire, Cornwallis prit exemple sur celui de la Virginie ; il établit une Cour générale pour traiter des délits graves et une Cour de comté pour les délits mineurs.

Cependant, la principale préoccupation du gouverneur fut de rendre l’établissement habitable avant l’hiver. En dépit des difficultés, il put rendre compte de progrès soutenus. Le 24 juillet, il adressa au Board of Trade des plans détaillés de la ville et, le 20 août, annonça qu’il y avait eu tirage au sort des lots et que chaque colon savait où il devait construire. Déjà, bien des gens de Louisbourg étaient arrivés et d’autres arrivaient de la Nouvelle-Angleterre. À la mi-septembre, les soldats avaient formé une ligne de palissades et, en octobre, avaient terminé deux des forts. Dès septembre, Cornwallis avait exprimé sa satisfaction parce que « tout se passait très bien, en fait beaucoup mieux qu’on aurait pu l’espérer ». S’il se plaignait de l’« irrégularité et l’indolence » de nombre de colons, pour la plupart soldats et marins licenciés, il vantait les quelques Suisses parmi eux qui lui apparaissaient comme des « hommes honnêtes et laborieux, facilement dirigés et [qui] travaillent avec ardeur ». Par la suite, le Board of Trade décida d’envoyer un « mélange de protestants étrangers », qui « par leurs dispositions industrieuses et exemplaires favoriseraient grandement cet établissement dans ses débuts », mais, d’après Cornwallis, le premier groupe envoyé en 1750 était « dans l’ensemble de pauvres vieux diables ». D’autres Suisses et d’autres Allemands arrivèrent pendant le mandat de Cornwallis ; en 1753, ils établirent leur propre village à Lunenburg [V. Jean Pettrequin* ; Sebastian ZOUBERBUHLER].

En plus de ses problèmes à Halifax, Cornwallis eut des difficultés encore bien plus grandes. En octobre 1749, le gouverneur intérimaire de la Nouvelle-France, Rolland- Michel Barrin* de La Galissonière, envoya des forces armées sous la direction de Charles DESCHAMPS de Boishébert et de Louis de La Corne* à la rivière Saint-Jean (Nouveau- Brunswick) et à l’isthme de Chignectou, espérant ainsi limiter l’établissement britannique. L’année suivante, Cornwallis envoya Lawrence dans l’isthme à la tête d’un détachement pour consolider les droits britanniques sur la région ; après un affrontement avec La Corne en avril, Lawrence érigea le fort Lawrence (près d’Amherst, Nouvelle-Écosse) en septembre, de l’autre côté de la rivière Missaguash, en face des positions françaises de Beauséjour. En 1749, l’abbé LE Loutre, missionnaire français auprès des Indiens, était revenu dans la province ; Cornwallis jeta le blâme sur lui, « un misérable bon à rien s’il en fut jamais », pour ses ennuis avec les Indiens. Au commencement, le gouverneur avait noué des liens amicaux avec les Micmacs aux alentours de Halifax mais il entendit bientôt dire que les Indiens, dans toute la province, s’étaient « ligués » avec Le Loutre. En août 1749, ils commencèrent leurs déprédations, capturant un navire à Canseau (Canso), en attaquant un autre à Chignectou et faisant tomber quatre hommes dans une embuscade près de Halifax. Cornwallis proposa alors d’« extirper complètement » les Micmacs, mais le Board of Trade le prévint que ce parti pourrait mettre en danger les colonies britanniques avoisinantes en créant « un redoutable ressentiment » parmi les autres tribus. Les attaques indiennes continuèrent alors que la guerre de Sept Ans était déjà bien engagée.

Peu après l’arrivée de Cornwallis, plusieurs Acadiens s’étaient présentés devant lui, le priant de leur faire connaître leur situation sous son gouvernement. Sur ses directives, ils revinrent plus tard avec tous leurs délégués, qui réclamèrent l’autorisation de prêter le serment d’allégeance avec réserve, tel que le faisait prêter l’ancien gouverneur Richard Philipps*. Cornwallis, qui avait une piètre opinion de ce dernier, tenait à montrer aux Acadiens qu’ « il [était] en [son] pouvoir de les dominer ou de les protéger » ; il exigea un serment d’allégeance sans équivoque qui les obligerait à porter lés armes pour la couronne britannique. En septembre, 1 000 Acadiens répondirent qu’ils quitteraient la province plutôt que de prêter le serment sans réserve. Constatant qu’il ne pouvait pas forcer les Acadiens à accepter cette exigence, Cornwallis décida de les laisser en paix jusqu’à ce qu’il ait reçu des instructions du Board of Trade. Pendant ce temps, il essaya de couper leurs communications avec les Français de la Saint-Jean et de l’isthme, et il améliora ses moyens de les surveiller en établissant de petits postes dans la région des Mines (près de Wolfville) et en y construisant un chemin. Conformément aux instructions du Board of Trade, il ne fit rien jusqu’à la fin de son mandat qui pût provoquer le départ des Acadiens.

Les désordres survenus à l’extérieur de Halifax avaient convaincu Cornwallis qu’il faudrait accroître la force militaire ; en octobre 1749, il demanda deux régiments supplémentaires au Board of Trade, tout en l’assurant qu’avec ces renforts il rendrait la Nouvelle-Écosse « plus florissante que n’importe quelle partie de l’Amérique du Nord ». Lorsqu’on le sermonna sévèrement, en février 1750, sur la nécessité de réduire les dépenses publiques au strict minimum, il ne le prit pas en bonne part : « Messeigneurs, sans argent, vous n’auriez pu avoir ni ville ni établissement, même pas de colons. » Ainsi commença une longue bataille à propos des dépenses, où Cornwallis se montra, selon ce qu’écrivit MacMechan, « direct, voire même brusque ». Quoique le Board of Trade compatît aux difficultés de Cornwallis et que ce dernier obtînt le régiment supplémentaire destiné à l’expédition de Lawrence à l’automne de 1750, il fut forcé de suivre, dans l’ensemble, les ordres d’un gouvernement qui s’alarmait de plus en plus du coût de la Nouvelle-Écosse. Ainsi, en juin 1750, le Board of Trade enregistra de nombreuses plaintes contre Hugh Davidson, le secrétaire de Cornwallis, surtout pour avoir « négligé » de transmettre les états des fortes sommes dépensées à Halifax, et demanda, entre autres, pourquoi on avait envoyé suffisamment « de livres de pain » pour ravitailler 3 000 personnes pendant un an alors que seulement 1 500 à 2 450 personnes avaient été réellement nourries. Troublé de ce que « quiconque sous [ses] ordres ait pu être même soupçonné de malversation », Cornwallis envoya Davidson dans la métropole pour répondre aux accusations. Il précisa cependant que le Board of Trade n’avait pas grande raison de s’étonner du supplément des dépenses puisque £44 000 avaient été dépensées uniquement en Grande-Bretagne cette année-là, dépassant ainsi de £4 000 la subvention tout entière accordée par le parlement. En novembre, Cornwallis changea quelque peu de tactique ; il espérait qu’en exposant les difficultés énormes soulevées par l’établissement de la ville, il se verrait approuver par le Board of Trade et justifierait l’excès de ses dépenses. D’autant plus effrayé par les dépenses que représentait le maintien d’une garnison à Chignectou, il espérait qu’on les accepterait, étant donné « le grand pas que cela représent[ait] pour faire de cette presqu’île ce qu’elle était destinée à être, à savoir une colonie florissante ».

La querelle atteignit son paroxysme en 1751. En mars de cette année-là, le Board of Trade avisa Cornwallis qu’il ne conserverait pas l’estime du parlement s’il ne s’abstenait pas de faire des « excédents » à l’avenir. La réponse de Cornwallis fut encore plus brusque qu’à l’accoutumée : « Vous flatter, Messeigneurs, avec des espoirs d’économies » serait « dissimulation de la pire espèce ». Cette réponse croisa une autre lettre, datée de juin, du Board of Trade qui, en fait, l’accusait d’avoir négligé de le tenir au courant des événements depuis le mois de novembre précédent ; quand Cornwallis répondit en septembre, il annonça qu’il était à bout de patience. Avec une délectation manifeste, il énumérait les difficultés particulières qu’il avait déjà présentées au Board of Trade, impliquant par là qu’il aurait pu s’épargner cette peine, étant donné le peu d’aide qu’il avait reçu ; il terminait en souhaitant que l’on désignât son successeur. Il n’avait été nommé que pour deux ou trois ans et sa santé avait été médiocre, mais il se peut fort bien que son retour en Grande-Bretagne ait été précipité par le fait qu’il était dans l’impossibilité de développer la colonie comme il l’entendait. Il quitta Halifax en octobre 1752, et Hopson lui succéda. Cornwallis poursuivit alors sa carrière politique et militaire. En 1752, il échangea son grade de colonel du 40e d’infanterie, reçu en mars 1750, pour celui du 24e d’infanterie. L’année suivante, il fut élu député de Westminster, siège qu’il détint jusqu’en 1762. Quand la guerre de Sept Ans éclata, Cornwallis embarqua une partie de son régiment sur la flotte de l’amiral John Byng* en partance pour secourir Minorque. La flotte revint sans avoir accompli sa tâche. Cornwallis et deux autres colonels passèrent devant un conseil de guerre pour avoir participé à la décision de laisser Minorque à son sort. Un tribunal bienveillant les disculpa pour des raisons techniques mais les trois hommes furent l’objet de rudes satires de la part de la presse. Toutefois, les puissants amis de Cornwallis eurent suffisamment d’influence non seulement pour lui permettre de rester dans l’armée mais aussi pour qu’il obtienne la promotion de major général en 1757. En octobre de cette année-là, Cornwallis prit part à un deuxième incident du genre de celui de Minorque : il se joignit en effet, en tant que commandant de brigade, à l’expédition du général sir John Mordaunt contre l’arsenal de la marine française de Rochefort. Après une semaine de réunions peu concluantes, auxquelles Cornwallis participa, on décida de retourner en Angleterre. Cette fois, Cornwallis ne fut pas jugé mais la presse l’attaqua de nouveau. À la suite d’une tournée de service en Irlande, il fut promu lieutenant général en 1760 et devint gouverneur de Gibraltar en 1762. Le poste ne lui convenait pas mais, quoiqu’il eût à maintes reprises demandé sa mutation, sa conduite à Minorque et à Rochefort témoigna peut-être contre lui, et il demeura à Gibraltar jusqu’à sa mort.

Les lettres d’Edward Cornwallis révèlent les traits d’un homme austère, ayant un sentiment aigu du devoir, qui se persuada de l’importance de sa mission, celle d’encourager une présence britannique en Nouvelle-Écosse, et qui sermonnait volontiers les autorités parce qu’elles refusaient de fournir les moyens, selon lui nécessaires, de mener sa tâche à bien. Trop franc parfois, il profita probablement de ses amis à la cour pour présenter des critiques dont ni le genre ni la manière de les faire ne pouvait provenir d’un gouverneur ordinaire. Néanmoins, personne ne peut mettre en doute son intention de faire ce qu’il pensait être le mieux pour la Nouvelle-Écosse ; presque personne n’a critiqué ses décisions fondamentales concernant Halifax. Parce que la malchance ou une faiblesse personnelle poursuivit ses entreprises européennes, il se peut fort bien que les trois ans de Cornwallis en Nouvelle-Ecosse fussent les plus réussis de sa carrière.

J. M URRAY B ECK

Un portrait représentant supposément Cornwallis se trouvait dans la Government House à Halifax en 1923. En 1929, le gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Écosse fit l’acquisition d’un portrait authentique qui se trouve aux PANS. Une grande statue de Cornwallis fut dévoilée sur la place de l’hôtel Nova Scotian en 1931.

Passenger Lists for Ships Carrying the "Foreign Protestants" to Nova Scotia http://www-umb.u-strasbg.fr/tele/pdf/Chantiers5.pdf

73 Families 18 May 1751 "SPEEDWELL" Joseph Wilson, Master

Name Age From Trade Alternate Spelling Aissens, Julius 39 Vriesland Farmer Anshutz, Paul Heinrich 40 Cook Becker, Henry 40 Swiss Farmer BAKER Bertling, Frederick 44 Berlin Shoemaker Beyer, Henderick 39 Saxony Farmer Bowen, Andrew 30 Strassbourg Farmer Bruins, Gertje 30 Vriesland Farmer Bruise, Christian 24 Groenigen Farmer Brumbter, Hans 38 Alsace Farmer Buglemeyer, N. 26 Miner Carver, Mathew 19 Wurttemberg Mason Clair, Stiefen 41 Swiss Farmer Classen, Henderick 42 Groenigen Joiner GLAWSON Crever, John 27 Saxony Farmer d'Orseille, Pierre 25 Swiss Farmer Dahn, John 24 Swiss Sadler DeMayer, Bernard 26 Vriesland Farmer Denneman, Jan 43 Shoemaker Drilliot, Casper 25 E. Vriesland Joiner DRILLIO Friedenberg, Conrad 29 Smith Fuhtz, Johann Andrew 32 Saxony Farmer FULTZ Gertzens, Gelle 45 E. Vriesland Farmer GETSON/GETZEN Guio, Francois 13 Normandy Farmer Haake, Michael 26 Wurttemberg Cooper Halpin, John 19 Ireland Brasier Hammer, John Christian 37 Saxony Shoemaker Hatt, Conrad 38 Swiss Smith Hatt, Jacob 37 Swiss Smith Humb, Christopher 32 Miner Isler, Adam 40 Alsace Farmer Isler, Martin 41 Alsace Farmer Itsinga, Thomas 30 Vriesland Watchmaker Janse, Hendrick 33 E. Vriesland Farmer Jansen, Hekke 35 E. Vriesland Tailor Jansen, Abraham 25 Groenigen Farmer Jansen, Bern't 34 Hamburg Tailor Jesson, Christian 24 Hamburg Wine Cooper Jesson, Gothart 22 Hamburg Wine Cooper Keller, J. Laurence 48 Vriesland Schoolmaster Krever, Andr. Christopher 16 Saxony Farmer LeRoy, Louis 33 Wurttemberg Surgeon Ley, Joseph 48 Swiss Farmer LLOY Ley, Michael aka Smith 38 Swiss Smith Leysterbach, Henderick 39 Groenigen Glazier Libsdorff, Casper 26 Hamburg Shoemaker Lutjes, Geritt 39 Vriesland Farmer Metler, Alexander 30 Swiss Farmer Metzelar, Ulrich 40 Hamburg Butcher METZLER Mey, George 30 Berlin Shoemaker Mosser, Petter 38 Swiss Farmer MOSER Muson, Jacob 40 Swiss Smith MOSER Neuhas, Christian 25 Hesse Raadbacher, Frantz 16 Strassbourg Huntsman Ranneveld, Gottlieb 40 Desau Tailor Romkies, Bruin 27 Groenigen Wool Comber Rosty, Christian 19 Swiss ROAST Rosty, William 38 Swiss ROAST Scherenberg, Jacob Hamburg Butcher Schmid, Christoph 16 Miner Schomacher, T. 22 Hamburg Theology Schoonveld, Janse 22 Groenigen Farmer Schoter, Hans Jurg 17 Wurttemberg Shoemaker Schryver, John Paul 17 Saxony Farmer Seidler, Gottleib 36 Hamburg Shoemaker SADLER Slyter, Philip 44 Holstein Tailor Staal, George 46 Miner Stahl, Hendrick 32 Saxony Miller Suderusch, George 60 Groenigen Shoemaker Symons, Johannes 40 Hesse Farmer Timmensason, Hendrick 54 E. Vriesland Farmer Van Olthoff, Frederick 16 Sweden Cadet Weiderhold, Adolph 35 Warbourg Late Sergeant Welsch, George 28 Wurttemberg Brewer Zeemans, Daniel 50 Groenigen Shoemaker

I had this sent to me some time ago by Cameron and I think its worth passing his mail onto to all you French Amey hunters. He writes:-

Some “ameys” by various different spellings lived in the Principality of Montbeliard— which existed from approx 900 AD till about 1795.

The principality bordered the Rhine river between what is now – France and Switzerland. In about 1794/5 France invaded Montbeliard for the last time and Annexed it to France. The Principality was not French or any other nationality per se – it was just Montbeliard. It has been speculated that it was the first protestant land in the world. The area has often throughout history been called Alsace, or Alsace-Lorraine. Note that there is also a city of Mont-beliard.

A large number of ‘foreign protestants’ left in 1749/51/52 and settled in Nova Scotia. The British military recorded the names and corrupted the actual spellings generally. It would NOT be correct to generalize and conclude that the settlers were necessarily French. They were considered Huguenots = protestants—there would have been significant animosity between many of them for [catholic] France. Many would never use a French spelling – preferring a German one instead, though most were not in fact German.

In history, Montbeliard was a safe haven for non-catholics fleeing – for example Spain’s expulsions of the Jews starting in the 1200s+, as well as Portugal, and of course, France.

I am a descendant of the Langill line as well as related families from (and in) Montbeliard. Tlhe ‘Amey’ line could be speculated to be of Spanish origin. My line is related to several Spanish lines including Darez/s, Amey/z/s, Sandoz. If you search under Langille, you may find some of these names. There are several databases of Langilles, listing an Amey variant at:freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~langille/. My Langill line never spelled it the French way with an ‘e’ at the end, but family researchers often settle on the ‘Langille’ version to rationalize it.

Cameron

The Foreign Protestants Lincoln Street facing north from King. Photo courtesy Knickle's Studio. In March of 1750, Governor Edward Cornwallis wrote from Halifax to the Board of Trades and Plantations in London: "Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to hear that your Lordships have fallen upon some means of sending over German and other foreign Protestants."

The British governor had become discouraged by the quality and disposition of the settlers who accompanied him to Nova Scotia in 1749. Despite efforts to attract recently released officers and industrious workers, British offers of land grants and free victuals had convinced large numbers of London's poorest classes to risk the transatlantic journey to the New World. After only a few months in the new settlement of Halifax, Cornwallis realized that the first settlers were poorly equipped for the rigours of colonial life and his request for more suitable immigrants soon followed.

From 1749 to 1753, a large number of these foreign Protestants were enticed to Nova Scotia by agents of the British. They played a crucial role in the initial expansion of the British colony and in particular the founding of Lunenburg.

Cornwallis' proposal to the authorities in London for foreign Protestants was not a novel idea. Governor Shirley of Massachusetts had long been pushing the British to establish permanent settlements in Nova Scotia to protect his colony's trade and fishing interests in the region.

Halifax had been established in 1749 as a counterbalance to the powerful French forces at Louisbourg and Quebec. However, Shirley's plans for the colony suggested further settlement throughout the province to spread British dominance and minimize the influence of the Acadian population. He instructed London to find "as great a Number as can be had from the Protestant Swiss Cantons, Palatines and other Northern parts of Germany, which have increased Pennsylvania within the past twenty years."

As Shirley suggests, the colonies had been drawing desirable settlers from certain regions of Europe since the early 1700s. War, political instability, overcrowding and religious persecution, particularly in the large region loosely classified under the German Empire, made life in the homeland difficult. The added incentives of free land and provisions made the New World even more attractive to the Protestant farmers and workers whom the British found to be loyal and diligent colonial settlers.

The settlers whom Cornwallis eventually welcomed to Nova Scotia came from various German states but also had Swiss, French and other non-German origins.

Though precise numbers are difficult to determine, it is estimated that about half the foreign Protestants between 1749 and 1752 were from the smaller states of Southwestern Germany such as the Palatinate, Wurttemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt. Close to twenty per cent came from the French Montbéliard region and perhaps thirteen or fourteen per cent from Switzerland. Almost one tenth of the immigrants were from areas such as Saxony and Hamburg in Northern Germany and another three per cent had origins in the Netherlands.

Voyages to the New World were fraught with hazards. Passengers faced overcrowding, the threat of disease and unpredictable weather. In addition, many travellers could not afford the passage and were forced to indenture themselves to agents in their homelands or "redemptioners" in the New World who purchased their debts of service on the ship's arrival. In 1750, the Ann arrived at Halifax after a long journey in which 17 of her 322 passengers died. Later that year the Alderney and the Nancy arrived bringing more than 400 passengers. Further arrivals over the next two years came aboard the Speedwell, Gale, Pearl, Murdoch, Betty and Sally and significantly increased the population of the new settlement.

The immigrants were undoubtedly concerned about their fate during the first months spent in their new homeland. Many were settled in and around Halifax, some reportedly on the Dartmouth side of the harbour and perhaps toward Bedford. A few were apparently investigating properties near Minas and Piziquid, but the promise of land which had drawn them to Nova Scotia had not yet been honoured.

According to reports from Governor Cornwallis in 1751, hostility from the French and native Mi'kmaq was impeding plans to settle the foreign Protestants on agricultural lands elsewhere in the province.

The immigrants' resources, often meagre to begin with, were quickly diminished by the prolonged stay in the Halifax region where a lack of arable land left them with little subsistence. The promise of two years of government support was drawing to a close when a decision was finally made.

In 1753, Governor Thomas Peregrine Hopson, Cornwallis' successor, announced plans to remove a large group of foreign Protestants from the unpromising soil in the vicinity of Halifax to a new settlement called Merligash on the southern shore of Nova Scotia.

The region called Merligash dates from as early as 1630 when Sir William Alexander granted land at "Mirliguesche" during early attempts to colonize Nova Scotia (or New Scotland) for his native Scotland. The colony was later ceded to France and a French census of 1683 noted people living at "La Heve and Merliguaiche".

In his "Description of Nova Scotia" in 1720, Major Paul Mascarene suggested Merligash as one of several sites deemed more suitable than Annapolis Royal for the provincial seat of government. The following year a coastal survey by Mascarene and Governor Philipps mentioned LaHave and Merligash, saying the latter had "a harbour fit only for small vessels, but…the best Improvable Land of any other along this coast."

Shortly before arriving at Chebucto in 1749, Cornwallis reported an Acadian settlement at Merligueche Bay where his landing party found "very comfortable wooden houses covered with bark, a good many Cattle and Sheep, and clear ground."

The advantages of cleared land, a suitable harbour and the accessible water route to Halifax swayed the authorities in favour of the Merligash location. On May 10, 1753 the Council at Halifax "resolved that the settlement to be made at Merlegash [sic] be called the township of Lunenburg."

Most place names of the period were chosen to honour royalty and Lunenburg was no exception. The name comes from the ancestral title of the ruling British monarch, George II, who was Duke of Brunswick- Luneburg.

A town plan was drawn up for Lunenburg and lots were drawn, most likely in St. Paul's Church in Halifax, by the men who would own property in the new township. Transports from New England were commissioned to ship the people and their considerable baggage along with building materials and provisions to the new settlement.

The commander chosen to lead the expedition was Colonel Charles Lawrence. He was accompanied by 92 regular troops and 66 rangers for the military defence of the settlement. Reports indicate as many as 500 of the men and boys were also available and able to serve in the militia.

Lawrence's second in command, Captain Patrick Sutherland, was appointed chief magistrate. Two justices of the peace assigned to Lunenburg, Sebastian Zouberbuhler and John Creighton, sailed with the first expedition and settled permanently in the town. Two surgeons, Leonard Lockman and a German named John Burghart Erad, were also among the first settlers. Captain John Steinfort was chosen as muster-master and the storekeeper appointed to oversee provisions was John Sutherland.

After numerous delays due to unco-operative winds and weather conditions, the small flotilla of vessels with 642 passengers finally cleared the harbour at Halifax and arrived in Merligash Harbour on June 8, 1753. The frigate Albany under Captain John Rous provided protection during the voyage down the coast and remained in the harbour at Lunenburg until adequate defences were erected.

An extant copy of a diary carefully recorded by Colonel Lawrence has provided historians with unusually detailed information about the preparations for the expedition and the early days of the settlement of Lunenburg.

The first landing parties discovered little evidence of the early Acadian settlement with the exception of one farm occupied by a native named Paul Labrador and his Metis family. The reports of 300 to 400 acres of cleared land from the previous settlement proved to be somewhat optimistic since much of the area had been left untended for several years and was described by Lawrence as "brush".

While Lawrence directed the men in the construction of the first blockhouse and temporary shelters for the settlers, surveyor-general Charles Morris set about the task of applying the town plan to the chosen site. The gridwork of streets was set out with horizontal lines roughly parallel to the waterfront. Unfortunately, on the steep hillside site, this left the cross streets to run uphill at an uncompromising angle that has been cursed by residents and visitors to Lunenburg from that time to the present.

Street names were chosen from British royal titles of the day. For example, the street along the water was named Montagu Row for George Montagu-Dunk, the Earl of Halifax. The next six parallel streets were named Pelham, Lincoln, Cumberland, Townshend, Fox and York.

A section of four blocks halfway up the hillside was left undivided as a central site for a church, courthouse and parade ground. The central square in the old town remains today under its original mandate. The first church service in Lunenburg was conducted on this site in the open air by Reverend J.B. Moreau on Sunday, June 17, 1753.

An immediate concern for Lawrence was the potential threat of attack from the Mi'kmaq. A party of settlers was transported to woodlands across the harbour to cut pickets for a defensive palisade. This rudimentary picket line would run from the front to the back harbour across the peninsula and be defended by blockhouses placed on high ridges to afford the clearest view of the town's approaches. Evidence of the site of one blockhouse remains in the name Blockhouse Hill in the modern day town. A pentagonal fort and blockhouse sat atop the prominent hillside today occupied by the Lunenburg Academy.

Lawrence's reports indicate his frustration with the slow pace of construction in the summer of 1753. Many of the foreign Protestants were still indebted to the authorities for their transatlantic passage. However, after the many delays, unfulfilled promises and the experience of a Nova Scotia winter in Halifax, most settlers did not hesitate to abandon official building projects in favour of their own needs.

Unco-operative settlers flatly disobeyed Lawrence's instructions to erect defensive works and communal housing for initial shelter. Instead, they carried off supplies for their personal use, wreaking havoc with plans for distribution of materials and stalling efforts to protect the new settlement.

Nova Scotia's high tides confounded Lawrence by making it "impossible to land anything on the beach except at high water." A small jetty marked as King's Wharfe on early plans was apparently built to enable small boats to land building materials as needed.

Transports arrived with more materials and a second group of settlers on June 17. Two days later, Lawrence and his supporting officials decided to assign the respective town lots in an attempt to appease the unruly settlers and thus speed up construction of the settlement. The foreign Protestants were finally in possession of their long awaited Nova Scotia settlement. Unfortunately, poor weather and inadequate supplies hampered the development of the town. Several days of heavy rain delayed construction. Requests made by Lawrence for more bread and shoes indicate the lack of essential goods for the inhabitants of Lunenburg.

In the first weeks, additions to the town plan set aside land adjacent to the town as Common. Approximately 180 acres to the east of town was surveyed and subdivided by Morris into 570 Garden Lots. Eventually farm lots were surveyed as well and one of Lunenburg's first exports to Halifax was wood derived from the clearing of these properties.

Many present day place names in and around Lunenburg bear evidence of the early divisions of property, either in the names of founding settlers (Rous' Brook, Mader's Cove) or in the direction of the lots from the central town (Garden Lots, First South, Big Lots Road). The name "Fauxbourg" originated with the French- speaking Montb&È;liards and designated an area where many of the French families settled, having traded lots with their German neighbours so they could live beside their countrymen. Fauxburg is still the name of a community near Lunenburg, though it is now pronounced locally as Faux-beau.

References by Lawrence in 1753 suggest that merchants were active in the town from the earliest days of the settlement. Some of the foreign Protestants had apparently not exhausted all their financial resources during their voyage and subsequent wait in Halifax since they were making purchases of available supplies. The names of Philip Knaut and J.W. Hoffman appear in early records as business operators and by January 1754, Dr. J.B. Erad had a general merchandise business at Lunenburg.

In September of 1753, Lawrence left Lunenburg to assume the post left vacant by Governor Hopson's return to England. Despite the many hardships of the first few months, the settlement at Lunenburg had defensive works and storehouses. Most of the people had gardens and some sort of shelter including what Lawrence termed "good Framed Houses".

In the coming decade, the settlers would endure many trials - community unrest, harsh winters, seasonal droughts and raids by the Mi'kmaq in the outlying hinterlands. But the foreign Protestants fulfilled the expectations of the British in their dogged determination to make their settlement flourish.

They acquired seed and livestock for their farms, built permanent homes and erected the first house of worship, St. John's Parish Church. As gardens were improved and farm lots cleared, the settlement became a major supplier of firewood for fuel in Halifax as well as potatoes and other root vegetables exported to city markets.

Some of the settlers set up practice in their former trades, such as Christian Metzler who began one of the first of several tanneries that flourished in the area (and left their mark in the name Tannery Road). Several saw mills were established both by local entrepreneurs Philip Knaut, Anton Koch (also Coch or Cook) and Captain Strasburger and by Halifax interests including Joshua Mauger and Ephraim Cook at Mahone Bay.

In the first election held July 31, 1758 in Lunenburg, 58 electors (residents with the seven year tenure in Nova Scotia required for naturalization) chose Alexander Kedy and Philip Knaut as the first Lunenburg representatives in the Nova Scotia Assembly.

As its first decade drew to a close, Lunenburg was permanently established on the map of Nova Scotia and welcoming new neighbours. Across the province, on the former Acadian lands of the Annapolis Valley were the townships of Annapolis, Granville, Cornwallis, Horton and Falmouth. On the South Shore, a group of about seventy families from Massachusetts established Liverpool, while closer to Lunenburg, the townships of Chester and New Dublin emerged.

But the town founded by the foreign Protestants has maintained a special stature among the early settlements of Nova Scotia. The Old Town Plan of Lunenburg has been remarkably preserved in the modern era.

Though additional streets have expanded the original grid, many names still commemorate the British who encouraged the foreign Protestant migration, including some (like Lawrence) who were directly involved in the early settlement. Buildings in Old Lunenburg represent popular architectural designs from the earliest days of the town through the nineteenth century. Descriptive place names echo the European origins of the 1753 settlers and the first divisions of property in Lunenburg County.

In 1995, Lunenburg received the rare distinction of being named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This designation assures that the unique character of the Old Town will be preserved for future generations of residents and visitors as a testament to the foreign Protestants and their first Nova Scotia settlement.

Sources: Bell, Winthrop P., The Foreign Protestants and the Settlement of Nova Scotia, 1961; DesBrisay, The History of Lunenburg County, 1895; Raddall, Thomas, Halifax: Warden of the North, 1971.

Compiled by Tony Colaiacovo.

Between the years 1750 and 1752, over 2000 "Foreign Protestants" arrived in Nova Scotia on the following ships: Aldernay (1750), Nancy (1750), Ann (1750), Speedwell (1751/1752), Gale (1751/1752), Pearl (1751/1752), Murdoch (1751), Betty (1752) and Sally (1752). Shipboard conditions were difficult and voyages were lengthy, yet the majority survived the journey. At right is an image of the Gale. http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/i/p/James-A-Lipsit/PHOTO/0014photo.jpg

Book #1: Acadia. TOC Part 5, "The Intermission" TOC Chapter. 6, "Foreign Protestants By the Shipload" (1750-52).

England's desire was to have the inhabitants of Nova Scotia loyal to it. The difficulty was that the inhabitants were French. These Acadians had come over directly from France in the mid-seventeenth century and grew to a sizable population, one that had spread from its starting point at Port Royal to the fertile and ancient flood plains as surrounded their communities of Minas, Cobequid and Beaubassin (see map). The Acadian population was somewhat less than 2,000 at the time the English wrested Port Royal away from the French in 1710. For 39 years thereafter, Acadia became a forgotten country. The French sent in no help except for a few ministering priests who the English believed (with good reason) were French agents: the English changed the name of Port Royal to Annapolis Royal and put in place a small garrison both there and at the other end of the peninsula, Canso. Except for one or two at Annapolis Royal, there were no English families in Nova Scotia. In the meantime, during the years 1710 to 1749, there was continued growth in the Acadian population, such that by the mid-eighteenth century there were to be 10,000 Acadians: all of them possessing the French tongue; the French culture; and the French religion, Roman Catholicism. The proper conclusion of history is that these Acadians, at least not in any great numbers or to any great degree, did not go against their English overlords at Annapolis Royal. However, though the English tried, over and over, to get them to do it, the Acadians would not swear unconditional allegiance to the English crown. They would promise not to take up arms against the English but they were not prepared to take up arms against Frenchmen (invasive military men from Quebec). Fundamentally, what the Acadians wanted was to simply be left alone so to farm their lands and raise their families -- two things they were very good at.

The worry of the English, was, that the Acadians in a time of war would turn into "Fifth Columnists." It was a worry which caused them to take extreme measures in 1755; but, as of 1749, it was thought that all that might be necessary was to dilute the French population by putting in amongst them, or to match them community for community, inhabitants that would be loyal to the English crown; those of a culture, different than that of the French; and, principally, those who were of the Protestant religion. Englishmen would do just find. The first of them came over with Cornwallis in 1749; they, some 2,500 of them, proved to be a sad lot; only but a few of them were cut out for the pioneering life, especially a pioneering life that included cold winters and butchering Indians. The problem was that there was an easy back door to any mobile Englishman who came to the barren shores of Nova Scotia: grab the first New England schooner going south. It struck the English authorities, that if they could not muster a shipload of suitable immigrants in England, then, they might be able to do so in northern Europe where there then existed, due to centuries of war, a population which was naturally inclined to dislike the French, one, which was primarily of the Protestant faith. What was necessary was to find these willing and suitable immigrants and in this regard they hired an agent, one, John Dick.

Thus, it was, that John Dick was to be the official agent of the British government on the continent whose job it was, was to round up and convince people who wished to take passage to America to do so on one of his chartered ships and settle in Nova Scotia. Terms were to be worked out as between the British government (the Board of Trade) and Dick for his work. Terms were also worked out between Dick and his passengers whereby the cost of their passage would be financed and paid back in Nova Scotia where they were guaranteed work ("public work at Halifax"). Into the bargain, the new settler would get "free land," provisions and implements; and, victualing for the first year. The authorities in England emphasized with the recruiters that what was wanted were "young single men."1 The thought was that old men, women and children2 would not be able to contribute much to the work required in the building of a new colony; indeed, they would just be a drain. In fact, as Cornwallis was soon to observe, this was a bad policy. Single men were entirely too mobile.3 Women and children may have been a drain on the colony; but, by and large, it was only the married men who stuck around to do the work.

There was in these times a great competition for immigrants. America was is need of people and the governors of the English colonies all had their recruiting agents in Europe. Competition was keen, but, it certainly seems that John Dick had the best deal for those willing to go to the northern part of the American eastern seaboard, Nova Scotia. Those who wished to go to the more southern colonies were obliged, generally to pay their own way; though, government help on the other side was near as generous as it was to be for those who took passage to Nova Scotia. Dick's competitors were keen to fill up their own vessels which were headed to Pennsylvania or Georgia; these recruiters were ready to turn people off on the idea of going to Nova Scotia. Thus, stories were spread. Nova Scotia was, "a barren land, good for nobody but fishermen" and where the unprotected settler would be "in constant danger from French and Indians." And if that were not enough, there were those "vicious rattlesnakes."4 Another pamphleteer was to give no comfort or credit when he wrote at London: "Many unfortunate people died of cold the first winter after their settlement. This indeed, may be imputed to the want of houses, which only such as could build were able to obtain; and to see the vast flakes of snow lying about the tents of those who had been accustomed to warm fires about Newcastle and London, was enough to move the heart of stone ..."5 In fact, the winters at Halifax as far as northern winters go are quite mild, and, the evidence is that it was not the cold that knocked off so many of the English settlers in that first year, but rather disease and sickness due, most likely, to the bad habits of this first lot of settlers.

The plan, which had turned into Cornwallis' orders, was that he should get himself and his people established at Halifax and use it as a working base from which would be sent the settlers to a number of points throughout Nova Scotia for its "Englishification." This proved to be a multi-faceted problem. The Indian threat obliged the settlers to huddle together in one protected place, Halifax.6 With the arrival of the immigrant ships during 1751, Cornwallis was to acquaint his superiors that he had enough. They were proving to be more of a hinderance than help. Costs were going up and a year's worth of free victuals was not going to see the typical immigrant family through to the point when it might be considered self-sustaining. While Nova Scotia did have good farm lands (as were then, by and large, occupied by the Acadians) the part which the British had chosen to settle, along the Atlantic coast, was rock strewn and barren.7 If all the settler could do was to line up for another handout, then what was the use of more? "I should advise the not sending more till affairs change."8 The wheels of bureaucracy, if they grind at all, grind slowly; that is true today and certainly true in the mid-eighteenth century for the English government department responsible for colonial administration, the Board of Trade. The bureaucracy problem was made, back then, considerably worse because of the great amounts of time required, in these days of sailing ships, to get authoritative messages back and forth across the Atlantic. The directions or orders made in one year could not be implemented until the next. In December, 1751, the Board of Trade, upset as it was with the increasing costs of the new settlement at Halifax, and, in view of Cornwallis' comments, advised John Dick that his services were not required for 1752. John Dick was not a man to be put off that easily. He traveled to London in January of 1753 and made his case. He had already incurred great expense in getting things lined up for the forthcoming shipping season; he had numerous would-be-settlers on his hands who had sold their possessions in anticipation of the British promises. If the British were to pull their plans so abruptly, then, it would not be so easy to get things started in another year. In the end, Dick was to win out and the project was to be kept going for yet another year. Dick was to ship another 1000 souls or so to Nova Scotia during 1752; to be added to the 4000 that had come in during the years 1749-51.

While at Halifax, the "Foreign Protestants" were treated as people in transit. The lots at the core of Halifax, those inside the stockade had been awarded to the original English settlers; and, it would appear that newly arrived New Englanders were allowed to settle where they pleased including on a number of the choice lots in downtown Halifax. However, the Palatine Settlers were set up but in a temporary fashion. Since these foreigners were to be "out- settled," there was no sense in taking any great trouble with them until they were properly located; at which time they would be given their lots of land, tools, building materials, and alike. In the meantime they camped; and they waited. Two places were set up for them; the one at Dartmouth in the fall of 1750; the other principal settlement was to at the head of the North West Arm, later to be called Dutch (Deutsche, German) Village.9 A number of the single men, it would seem, were immediately housed on Georges Island in Halifax Harbour. This meant they could be put to work on a daily basis with its fortifications; and, at the same time, kept them herded together with their only escape being into the woods after a swim to the main land.10

None of these poor people piling up at Halifax could make a living there. Farming, for the reasons stated was out of the question; and, it would be years before Halifax -- with all the attending commercial opportunities -- was to become a military entrepôt, that, indeed it was to become. Cornwallis and his council might have gotten matters in hand except the problem got worse and grew in accordance with a progression of immigrant ships which sailed into Halifax Harbour during the years 1750-1752. Thousands of fearful and ill kept German/Swiss immigrants hung in and around the protected position at Halifax. Provision or victualing lists were long and getting longer as one immigrant ship came in after another. Cornwallis took the heat. It was determined by those back in London that he was a good soldier but a poor bookkeeper. As for Cornwallis: he prayed to be relieved; and, his prayers were answered.

It will be recalled that Peregrine Thomas Hopson, a British army officer of good reputation, had come over to Louisbourg with the "Gibraltar troops" to relieve the English garrison at Louisbourg during 1746. He was to continue on there with the English forces during its occupation, 1745-49; indeed, in 1747, he took over as the English governor at Louisbourg. In July of 1749, after the hand back to the French, Hopson led the English garrison that had been at Louisbourg to Halifax, there to meet the newly arrived Cornwallis. Hopson, it seems, his work done, returned to England. In the early part of 1752, Hopson was chosen to go and replace Cornwallis.

Hopson took over from Cornwallis in August of 1752. What was before him was a town full of needy settlers. Hopson's immediate challenge was to get these immigrants settled and functioning on their own. Just at this time, on August 21st, the Pearl arrived. She had left Rotterdam on June the 6th. Two hundred and twelve persons were waiting to come ashore: they were sick and tired. The report delivered to Hopson was that 39 had died at sea. This high mortality together with the general condition of those aboard led Hopson to fear a contagious disease. The order went out to leave these immigrants aboard; they were not to disembark until his health officer was satisfied that it was safe to let these new arrivals lose into the existing population at Halifax. So, there was the Pearl lying at anchor; and those aboard, lean and bedraggled, looking out with their darkened and sunken eyes at their nearby and long desired goal. Little could be done except to put some fresh water and food aboard: they would just have to wait. Besides there was no extra accommodations ashore. Things take time. When finally they came ashore they could hardly move. Some were sent off to the hospital, others were, as charity cases, to be nursed back to health by adoptive families. Then September comes, and, on the 6th, a pair of immigrant ships come limping into the harbour: the Sally and the Gale.

The Sally and the Gale had apparently met up at sea, as, they had left Rotterdam at different times, though but only days from one another: the Sally on the 30th of May and the Gale on the 6th of June. They had long and stormy passages; an illness of some kind had swept through them and carried off an unusually large number of the passengers just as had happened on the Pearl. On the Sally, 40 had died; on the Gale, 29. Hopson's action was the same as that he had taken when faced with the same sort of problem a few weeks back. This time they were to remain in the stream for three weeks. So, with winter's start expected within eight to ten weeks; the colony was faced with yet more mouths to feed, with more people to house (somehow), more sick to take care of. And in this setting, on October 16th, 1752, Hopson wrote the Lords of trade: "... among the number of these settlers which Mr. Dick has sent this year there were many, very many poor old decrepid creatures both men and women who were objects fitter to have been kept in almshouses than to be sent over here as settlers to work for their bread."11 Hopson continued, and observed that a number of the settlers that had arrived at Halifax during September of 1752 "could not stir off the beach" and that within days "fourteen orphans belonging to these settlers that were taken in the Orphan house."

Much of the ocean passage for these immigrants was to be made while confined to the lower deck; there was no choice in that -- as we are here dealing with the age of sail and the top deck was an operating deck with every square inch of it needed for line handling seamen. Certainly, when there was no breeze, then a number of the passengers would be allowed to take the air on deck in a prescribed place, one group at a time. Such a situation (families living closely together confined by the wooden bulkheads and decks all around) to mention nothing about the discomfort of it, was unhealthy. However, compared to the transports that plied the oceans in those days, the conditions aboard Dick's vessels, I should say, were not that bad. The British government sent artificers over to Rotterdam from England in order to fit ventilators so that the air between decks was refreshed. The English authorities carried out inspections before they cleared port, and, indeed, the ships from Rotterdam that Dick had sent were to call in at either Gosport or Cowes for an inspection12 before setting out on their trans- Atlantic voyage. Generally the inspectors found that conditions were good with generous margins of safety in respect to water supply. Still the typical ocean voyage of the day was long, very long; and, poor diet and tedium was the rule. So, too, storms were bound to come up which would have had the effect of striking terror into the souls of the seaborne settlers.13

John Dick's involvement with Nova Scotia in the sending of the Palatine14 ships (ten of them) during the years 1750-52 was to end with the arrival of the Sally and the Gale in September of 1752. The controversy of John Dick's role in bringing about the suffering of these Protestant settlers started back then and has, through the writings of the historians, continued ever since. With such charges as laid by Governor Hopson15 the British government was bound to carry out an investigation. The complaints were sent to Dick and he did an admirable job of refutation, such that, no other than Lord Halifax was to conclude that Dick had "perfectly acquitted himself." The ships which brought the setters to Halifax in the mid-18th century were but a small number of a larger number which had brought thousands of settlers to the more popular English colonies lying south of Nova Scotia. The fact of the matter is that a trans-Atlantic voyage in those days of sail was a risky affair: it was expected that a certain number of the passengers would die. The success of any voyage in those days was gaged by the mortality rate.16 You could make it across the Atlantic in as little as 30 days (a rare event), but if the winds and weather were against you, four months might pass before land was sighted. Provision and fit out the transports as you will, a long time at sea meant misery for all and death to some. The water in the casks turned putrid and the hard biscuit wormy; people became sick; and there was nothing to be done about it. The evidence is that the British authorities and John Dick17, whether out of compassion or commercial expediency, took all the precautions that could be taken back then. Ventilators, a new contrivance, were, with the exception of one, built into each of the transports hired by Dick. The between deck spaces, were as commodious as any; indeed, Dick went beyond that which he had to do to accommodate the immigrants.18

Overall, Winthrop Bell, in his authoritative book on the subject, was to conclude19 that "Dick's emigrants were decidedly less crowded than almost any others in the 'Palatine trade' of the period ..." That the passengers of Heyliger's vessels20 (those on the Alderney and the Nancy which came over in 1750) and those of Dick's (those on the ten that arrived during 1750-53) "fared much better in the way of provisions on the voyage than did the great majority of 'Palatine' emigrants." As for the food: salted meat, dried peas and hard biscuit, while it "would not have satisfied a modern dietician," was as of good a quality as might be, a fact sworn to by the chief passengers, themselves.21 That some of the food and the water turned bad -- well, that was not the fault of Dick, but rather, and proportionately so, of the great amount of time required to cross the Atlantic ocean. Those that came to America as a result of the "Palatine Trade" suffered as did any who came by way of the passenger ship of the age. Those who stepped ashore at Halifax during these early years did indeed suffer from the misfortunes of their passage, and did so "due to the hazards of the sea and not to anything that could be charged against human agency."22

[NEXT: Pt. 5, Ch. 7 - The Indian Threat (1749-58).]

(Now Available As A Book) The "Foreign Protestants" and the Settlement of Nova Scotia

Dr. Winthrop Bell's work on the story of the arrival of continental European settlers in Nova Scotia in 1752 is a testament to his tenacity and his abilities as a historical scholar. The work is an excellent example for historians and genealogical researchers alike. It covers the minutiae of every aspect of the migration and the early settlement of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Dr. Bell offers an explanation as to why he began his research in the opening chapter of his book on the subject.

"Some years ago I was struck by one or two discrepancies in printed statements about those European settlers. The discrepancies that particularly caught my eye had to do with the European origins of the migrants of the 1750's, and, closely connected with that, the naming ("Lunenburg") of their particular tract of settlement in Nova Scotia." (Bell, Winthrop Pickard. The "Foreign Protestants" and the Settlement of Nova Scotia:The History of a piece of arrested British Colonial Policy in the Eighteenth Century. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1961, p. 3).

One might also be inclined to believe that his connection with the South Shore of Nova Scotia, beginning in Lockeport in 1927 and continuing to the end of his life in the vicinity of Chester after 1933, might have originally provoked his curiosity. Or perhaps his own family history research inspired him to investigate things more fully. His paternal ancestry traces back to the arrival of Montbeliardian native, Jean Legarce, who landed in North America on the vessel "Betty" in 1752.

When he started his research in earnest is unspecified. There is correspondence to indicate that he was asked to undertake the work in 1949 by the President of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, Dr. D.C. Harvey.

"As to your suggestion for a paper at some time in the future, perhaps the fall of 1950, I should be delighted to have the question of the origin of the Lunenburg people settled by a scholar who knows German and something of the history of the old loose organization known as the Holy Roman Empire. I think this particularly desirable in view of the fact that Lunenburg itself will be celebrating its bicentenary in 1953." (Mount Allison University Archives, Winthrop Pickard Bell fonds, Letter from D.C. Harvey to Dr. Winthrop Bell, October 14, 1949, 6501/13/1, File No. 12, Item No. 1).

Dr. Bell's research clearly began around this time and he undertook research in Ottawa in May of 1951 until his health began to fail. Thereafter, much of his research was aided by the efforts of the staff of the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia who procured photostatic copies of documents from their holdings as well as items from the British Museum in London, England.

His work continued throughout the next decade and in 1959 he began to seek out a publisher. He had some difficulties with this process. (Mount Allison University Archives, Winthrop Pickard Bell fonds, Letter from Sir Ernest and Lady MacMillan to Dr. Winthrop Bell, June 19, 1959, 8550/1/50 - Item no. 35). Ultimately, he arranged to have his work published by the University of Toronto Press. He travelled to Toronto in the spring of 1960 to meet with his publisher but while there suffered the first of two heart attacks that year. He was forced to return to Nova Scotia and complete the process of going through the revisions via mail. It was a cumbersome process to be sure and one that was fraught with frustration.

"It was interesting to read your account of your troubles in the publication of your book. When I began to work in publishing, no university press would have feared the "forbidding appearance" of numerous footnotes, which would rather have been considered the mark of authentic scholarship; but nowadays many university presses, in this country at least (and probably also in Canada), are publishing books that are really trade books and are trying to act like trade publishers...I am very much surprised to hear that you received no galley proofs, for it is much easier and less expensive to make changes in galleys than in pages...Yes, I do indeed know what drudgery making an index is. Most authors are poor at the job, and I usually have to revise an index drastically." (Mount Allison University Archives, Winthrop Pickard Bell fonds, Letter from Ted McClintock to Dr. Winthrop Bell, July 31, 1961, 8550/1/48 - Item no. 51).

However, Dr. Bell was understandably pleased when the book was finally published in 1961 and he received the