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Jonathan Belcher
(1710-1776)
by Peter Landry
www.blupete.com
The father of Jonathan Belcher, also named Jonathan (1682-1775), was born
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Belcher, sr., was the Governor of Massachusetts,
1730-41; and, after that, Governor of New Jersey (1746-75); and, indeed, I learn,
the founder of Princeton University. Our subject’s mother, Mary, was the daughter
of the Governor of New Hampshire, William Partridge.1
Belcher,
as a young man, was to receive degrees from several universities including Harvard
in 1728. In 1730, Belcher was in London and had entered the Middle Temple; he
was called to the English bar in 1734. After seven years of trying to make a mark
in the English courts (all along being supported by his father), in 1741, Belcher
went off to Ireland to see if he might be able to make a living there. Belcher
was to spend "five years of unremunerative labour" in Dublin, when,
finally, in 1746, he was to cash in on his connections and was appointed "deputy
secretary to the lord chancellor of Ireland." In 1754, Belcher was to receive
an appointment that was better to his liking: the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia,
its very first one. He arrived at Halifax in the early part of October of that
year; and, was immediately to take up his judicial duties 2,
and, in addition, was named by Governor Lawrence to Council.
Belcher’s career,
that as Chief Justice 3, was
to unfold mostly after that period with which I deal in my first book (particularly
Part 6, beginning with Chapter 4). Belcher draws our interest because he was
sitting on Council when the fateful decision was made under the leadership of
Governor Lawrence to deport the Acadians in the year 1755.
Chief Justice
Townshend, in his article on Belcher, writes that Belcher was "a man of strong
will, and possibly of despotic temperament." Townshend continues in his description,
"he had an imperious temper, and was impatient of opposition" and then
proceeds to point out that such a disposition in days in which Belcher operated
was required by judges and government administrators, alike. 4
With
the death of Governor Charles Lawrence, in 1760, Jonathan Belcher, being the next
senior man in the province, was to stand in as its chief administrative officer.
Though, I dare say, that Belcher would have been very pleased to be appointed
the governor, that was not to happen. Henry Ellis, the former governor of Georgia,
was appointed to take Lawrence’s place as governor, but Ellis never left England
to take up his post. On November 21st, 1761, Belcher was sworn in as lieutenant
governor. 5 This position, however,
he was to only keep until the appointment of Montague Wilmot, who, in 1763, was
to become the lieutenant-governor.
To round out the picture, I should say,
that Belcher, within two years of his arrival in Nova Scotia, went off to Boston,
there to marry, on Apr 8th, 1756, Abigail Allen. They were to have seven children
born to their union, but only two lived to adulthood. 6
Dying at Halifax on March 30th, 1776, Belcher was buried in St. Paul’s Church.
FOOTNOTES:
1 For material, see: "Jonathan Belcher,
First Chief Justice of Nova Scotia" by Chief Justice Charles Townshend, NSHS#18
(1914), pp. 25-57; "The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and Its Judges – 1754-1978"
(The N. S. Bar. Soc., 1978); "Biographical Directory" as contained in
The Royal Navy and North America (London: Navy Records Society, Vol. 118, 1973)
at p. 424; Winsor’s Memorial History of Boston (1882), vol 2., p. 551; and, of
course, the DCB.
2 The first trial over which Belcher
presided occurred in 1754. The charge was murder. A killing had taken place in
a mix up between two sailing vessels in the Bay of Fundy. A trading vessel made
the mistake of firing upon a British man-of-war. The vessel was captured, and
since one of the men aboard the British vessel was killed, a trial at Halifax
ensued. The matter unfolded before a grand jury and none of the four charged were
found to be guilty. The captain, Joseph Hovey was released, though three of his
crew were found guilty of lesser crimes and sentenced to six months each, and,
upon their release were to be put aboard the British man-of-war they had the misfortune
to get tangled up with in the first place. (See, Akins, History of Halifax City
NSHS#8 (1895), p. 44.)
3 Justice Townshend in his article,
op. cit., at p. 32, writes that though he was on the bench from 1754 to 1776,
"Not a vestige of any of his decisions remains."
4
Townshend writes (op. cit., pp. 33,35,55) that Belcher "was quite determined
to be the sole master in his own court. It can hardly be doubted that no Barrister
nor even brother judge would venture to question his rulings in any case."
5
See Haliburton, History of Nova Scotia, vol. 1, p. 317.
6
See the details on Belcher’s seven children, as were complied by Eaton, and which
are set out by Townshend in his article on Belcher, op. cit., pp 56-7.
NOTE: The WHHS would like to thank Pete Landry for his kind permission in the
use of the above article. For more fascinating reading on the History of Nova
Scotia please visit –
Blue Pete
– History
www.blupete.com
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