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Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
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Surgeons,
Smallpox,
and the Poor
A History of Medicine
and Social Conditions
in Nova Scotia,
1749-1799
ALLAN EVERETT
MARBLE
McGill-Queen's University Press

Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo
© McGill-Queen's University Press 1993
ISBN 0-7735-0988-7
Legal deposit third quarter 1993

Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
This book has been published with the help of

grants from the Social Science Federation of Canada,
using funds provided by the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Hannah
Institute for the History of Medicine, and the
Dalhousie Medical Alumni Association.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Marble, Allan Everett

Surgeons, smallpox and the poor: a history of medicine
and social conditions in Nova Scotia, 1749—1799
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-0988-7
1. Medical care — Nova Scotia — History - 18th century.
2. Medicine - Nova Scotia — History - 18th century.
3. Nova Scotia - Social conditions. I. Title.
R463.N68M37 1993 362.1'o9716'09033
C93-090263-7
This book was typeset by Typo Litho composition inc.

in 10/12 Baskerville.
Dedicated to the memory of
Drs James Boggs and John Fraser,
ancestors of the author
Contents
Portraits 12, 36, 72, 100

Acknowledgments ix
Figures and Tables xi
Preface xv
Introduction 3
1 Arrival, Settlement, and an Initial
Concern for Health Care, 1749 (o.s.)—1753
(n.s.) / 13
2 A Decade of Military and Naval
Surgeons, 1753-1763 / 37
3 Poor Relief Takes Precedence over Health
Care, 1763-1775 / 73
4 A New Order of Medical Men: The
Loyalists, 1775—1784 / 101
5 Health Care and Poor Relief at the End of
the Century, 1784-1799 / 145
Appendices
1 Passengers in the Cornwallis Mess Lists
with Health-Care Occupations / 193
2 An Explanation of Medications and
Treatments Administered by Surgeons in
Halifax during the Period 1750—53 / 195
viii Contents
3 An Act to Prevent the Spreading of

Contagious Distempers, 1761 / 200
4 An Act to Prevent Importing Impotent,
Lame, and Infirm Persons into this
Province / 202
5 Loyalist Physicians and Surgeons Who
Settled in Nova Scotia during 1783 / 204
6 Summary of Claims for Property and Loss
of Income Made by Loyalist Doctors Who
Came to Nova Scotia, Compared with the
Sums Allowed and the Pensions Awarded
by the Loyalist Claims Commissioners / 209
7 The Indenture of Apprenticeship of
William James Allmon / 212
8 Physicians and Surgeons in Charge of
Hospitals in Halifax and Environs,
1749-99/214
9 Causes of Death of Nova Scotians
between 1749 and 1799 / 217
Notes 219
Bibliography 319
Index 331
Acknowledgments
During the last fourteen years, I have accumulated a debt of grati-

tude to archivists and librarians at Trinity College Library in Dublin,
the Royal College of Surgeons of England Library, The Wellcome
Institute for the History of Medicine, the British Museum, the
Public Records Office, and the medical archives at each of Guy's
Hospital, St George's Hospital, St Thomas' Hospital, and St Barthol-
omew's Hospital, in London. In Scotland, I was provided with the
very able and friendly assistance of librarians and archivists at the
universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St Andrews, as well as at the
Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Edinburgh and Glasgow and the
Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh.
In the United States, I was fortunate to be able to study records at
the Countway Library at Harvard University, the University of
Pennsylvania Archives, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the
Boston Public Library, the New England Historic Genealogical Soci-
ety, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Medical Society of New
Jersey, the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Massachu-
setts, and the New York Public Library. In Canada, I found the staff
at the Osier Library at McGill University very helpful, as were the
staff at the Centre d'Etudes Acadiennes, Universite de Moncton,
and the New Brunswick Museum. I also received useful advice and
permission to study and copy valuable maps and paintings from
both the National Archives and the National Gallery of Canada.
Within Nova Scotia, the staff at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia
(PANS) have been particularly helpful over the last fourteen years,
identifying source material which has greatly enriched this book.
Other archives and museums in Nova Scotia that have assisted me
are the Nova Scotia Museum, Parks Canada, the Legislative Library,
the Kellogg and Killam libraries at Dalhousie University, the Acadia
x Acknowledgments
University Archives, the Colchester Historical Society Museum, the

Yarmouth County Museum and Historical Research Library, the
Beaton Institute at the University College of Cape Breton, the Sim-
eon Perkins Museum, and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
Two of my colleagues have spent many hours helping me prepare
and edit this book. I refer here to Donald F. Maclean and Terrence
Punch, both of Halifax. Mr Maclean read the entire manuscript and
made several suggestions regarding style and presentation that have
enhanced the literary quality of the book. Mr Punch has very gener-
ously provided me with information of both an historical and bio-
graphical nature and has also offered valuable suggestions that were
implemented in the final version of the manuscript. Others who as-
sisted me by providing items of information included Mary Ar-
chibald of Shelburne, Dr George Bate of Saint John, Robert Bond of
Toronto, Leone Cousins of Kingston, Laleah Cunningham of To-
ronto, John Duncanson of Falmouth, Brenda Dunn of Parks Can-
ada, Marie Elwood of the Nova Scotia Museum, Olga Grant of
Rothesay, Andrew Gunter of Kentville, Gary Harden of Liverpool,
Roy Kennedy of Tatamagouche, L.S. Loomer of Windsor, Dr Ron
McDonald of Parks Canada, Ronald Angus MacDonald of An-
tigonish, Shirley McCormick of Middleton, Bev Miller of Halifax,
Marion Robertson of Shelburne, Scott Robson of the Nova Scotia
Museum, Vernon Spurr of Dartmouth, David States of Halifax, Jim
St Clair of Mull River, Dr Brenton Stewart of Moncton, Ira Suther-
land of Ottawa, John Swift of Maine, Margaret Wagner of Annapo-
lis Royal, Ellen Webster of Halifax, Robert Webster of Toronto, and
Stephen White of the Centre D'Etudes Acadiennes, Moncton. From
PANS, I was assisted by the late Dr Phyllis Blakeley, Darlene Brine,
Barry Cahill, Margaret Campbell, Allan Dunlop, Philip Hartling,
Sandra Haycock, John MacLeod, Gary Shutlak, and Lois Yorke.
Finally, I am grateful to Mr Peter Blaney of McGill-Queen's Press
for the advice and direction he gave me during the review and pub-
lication process, and to the staff at the Audio Visual Division, Faculty
of Medicine, Dalhousie University, who prepared the many figures
which appear in the book.
Figures and Tables
FIGURES
1 A plan for fortifying the town of Halifax by

John Bruce / 20
2 A map of the south part of Nova Scotia,
including the plan of Halifax surveyed by
Moses Harris, and a view of Halifax
drawn from a top mast by Harris / 21
3 Evidence of an epidemic at Halifax,
1750-51 / 28
4 Civilian, naval, and military surgeons,
apothecaries, chymists, and druggists in
Halifax, 1749-53 / 35
5 Text of the first newspaper
advertisement by a medical practitioner in
Canada / 39
6 Civilian deaths in Halifax from January
1755 to August 1756/49
7 Plan of Halifax showing line of forts,
batteries, and all buildings in the town,
circa June 1755 / 50
8 "A View of Hallifax [sic] in Nova Scotia from
Cornwallis Island, with a Squadron going
off to Louisbourgh [sic] in the year 1757,"
by Thomas Davies / 53
xii Figures and Tables
9 Patients in the naval hospital at Halifax,

1757-61 / 54
10 Deaths in Halifax during the period June
1757 to May 1758/56
11 "Part of the Town and harbour of
Halifax in Nova Scotia looking down
George Street to the opposite shore called
Dartmouth," by Richard Short / 60
12 Annual grant (in British pounds) from
Whitehall for the province of Nova Scotia
and for the civilian hospital, the orphan
house, and all medical services,
1753-63 / 63
13 Number of children in the orphan house at
Halifax, 1752—62, and the yearly
mortality / 69
14 Civilian, naval, and military surgeons in
Nova Scotia, 1753-63 / 71
15 Location of the civilian hospital, military
hospital, orphan house, and workhouse in
Halifax / 77
16 "A Plan representing Part of the Town of
Halifax in Nova Scotia looking down Prince
Street to the opposite Shore," by Richard
Short / 78
Nova Scotia, 1763-74 / 97
18 Description of Nova Scotia as a healthy
place to live by an anonymous author / 99
19 Total number of deaths in Nova Scotia
during the period 1775-76 / 104
20 "The Hospital and Entrance of Bedford
Basin," by James S. Meres / 132
21 Plan of the Naval Yard, Halifax, drawn
from the original prepared by Captain
Charles Blaskowitz in 1784 / 134
xiii Figures and Tables

Nova Scotia, 1775-83 / 143
23 Plan of Sydney drawn by James Miller in
1795 / 166
24 Civilian, naval, and military surgeons,
physicians, apothecaries, chymists, and
druggists in Nova Scotia, 1750-1800 / 173
25 Deaths in Nova Scotia, 1749—99 / 186
26 Mean age of civilian Nova Scotians at time
of death during the period 1780—99, as
compared to life expectancy at birth of
Canadians in 1981 / 187
2 7 Death rate of civilians in Nova Scotia
during the period 1749-84, as compared to
1984 / 188
28 The shingle of Dr Isaac Webster,
physician and surgeon at Cornwallis from
1791 to 1851 / 189
TABLES
1 Treatment for William Kneeland by

William Merry, Surgeon, 1750—53 / 40
2 Treatments for Joseph Kent, John
Buttler, and John Winston by John Grant,
Surgeon, 1752-53 / 41
3 Number of Families and Inhabitants in
Nova Scotian Settlements, and Medical
Practitioners Serving Them, 1755-61 / 70
4 Civilian Surgeons Who Came to Nova Scotia
in 1775-82 / 142
5 Regimental Surgeons who Came to
Halifax during the American
Revolution / 142
6 Academic Qualifications of Civilian
Doctors in Nova Scotia, 1784-99 / 170
xiv Figures and Tables
7 Members of Nova Scotian Families Who

Studied Medicine/Surgery Abroad / 172
Preface
The history of eighteenth-century medicine and surgery in Nova

Scotia has, to date, received very little attention from either amateur
or professional historians. Nor has much been written on the his-
tory of the poor, the workhouse, or social conditions in general in
Nova Scotia during the last half of the eighteenth century. The pur-
pose of this book, therefore, is to address these topics and to present
an accurate account of the type of health care available to Nova Sco-
tians during the period, as well as the nature of the charitable and
humanitarian attitudes and treatment that confronted the poor, the
insane, and the criminal element of society in the province from
1749 to 1799.
On 5 March 1937, Miss Relief Williams read a paper1 before the
Nova Scotia Historical Society entitled, "Poor Relief and Medicine in
Nova Scotia, 1749-1783." This paper, which dealt specifically with
the poor, the orphan house, and smallpox and inoculation in Hali-
fax during the pre-Loyalist period, represented the first scholarly
paper on these topics. Earlier, in 1904, Dr D.A. Campbell wrote an
article on the history of medicine in Nova Scotia for the Maritime
Medical News.2 This article, entitled "Pioneers of Medicine in Nova
Scotia," described the major groups of people who settled in Nova
Scotia and gave short biographical sketches of over seventy eighteenth-
and early nineteenth-century physicians and surgeons who practised
there. Unfortunately, Dr Campbell's paper was of limited use since
he did not identify the sources for much of the information he
presented.
During the fifty or so years since Miss Williams's paper was pub-
lished, only two papers, both of which I wrote myself, have appeared
on the history of eighteenth-century medicine in Nova Scotia. In
1980, I read "The History of Medicine in Nova Scotia, 1783—1854"3
xvi Preface
before the Nova Scotia Historical Society. This paper, which was
later published in the Society's Collections, began with the year in
which Miss Williams's study ended and extended the story up to
1854, when the Medical Society of Nova Scotia was established. It
dealt mainly with the education of doctors who practised in Nova
Scotia, the enactment of legislation to regulate the profession, and
the difficulties associated with the establishment of civilian hospitals.
The second paper,4 entitled "He Successfully Exercised the Medical
Profession: the Career of Michael Head in Eighteenth-Century
Nova Scotia," was published in the Nova Scotia Historical Review in
1988. It gave a detailed account of the life and experience of a sur-
geon who practised in Nova Scotia from 1755 to 1805, in both the
town of Halifax and in rural Nova Scotia. To my knowledge, this is
the only extensive biography of an eighteenth-century Nova Scotian
surgeon that has been published, though several short biographies
of eighteenth-century Nova Scotian surgeons can be found in the
Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
In this book, I have purposely presented the history of medicine
and social conditions within the context of general Nova Scotian his-
tory. In taking this approach, I am following the advice of William
Bynum, who has written5 that a more comprehensive picture of the
history of medicine would result if writers would consider such
matters as the role of the state in providing for medical care, the
structure of the total medical community, and the physical condi-
tions which people had to endure, and study individual patients
through wills, diaries, and personal letters. Another author, Thomas
McKeown, has recommended6 that writers of medical history should
examine the conditions under which men and women have devel-
oped, along with the major factors that have affected their level of
health care: "It is imperative that there should be a critical evalua-
tion of the influences on which human health depends." Over the
past fourteen years, I have researched the conditions under which
the health-care system developed in Nova Scotia and the influences
that the many government, military, and religious bodies had on its
development, in every primary source I have been able to identify in
archives in Nova Scotia, Canada, United States, Great Britain, and
Ireland. The result is this book, which I believe represents the first
definitive history of medicine and social conditions in Nova Scotia
during the eighteenth century.
Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
Introduction
In the last half of the eighteenth century, a large number of sur-

geons were sent to Nova Scotia because the colony, particularly Hal-
ifax, was the rendezvous for many military regiments and naval
ships preparing to attack Louisbourg and Quebec. Halifax was also,
during the American Revolution, Britain's major naval base in
North America.1
Although the surgeons were welcomed by the local residents, two
concomitants of the regiments and ships decidedly were not: the
smallpox and the poor. All the major smallpox epidemics in Nova
Scotia during the last half of the eighteenth century occurred soon
after the arrival of Royal Navy ships and regiments from Europe.
The regiments also brought to Halifax many camp followers who
frequently were left destitute when the regiments either departed
for battle or returned to Europe. These abandoned people added to
the large number of transient poor and represented a crippling
financial burden for the small town.
Of the 366 medical personnel who arrived in Nova Scotia during
the period 1749 to 1799, 340 were surgeons, twenty-one were de-
scribed as physicians, and five were referred to as apothecaries,
chymists, or druggists. This meant that during the last half of the
eighteenth century in Nova Scotia, the surgeon was often called
upon to perform the duties of physician and apothecary, as well as
practise surgery. The disease that the surgeons were most frequently
asked to treat was the smallpox. Their patients, in addition to sol-
diers and seamen, were for the most part the poor, many of whom
were inmates of the workhouse and the poor house.
This role was quite different from that of the eighteenth-century
surgeon in Great Britain, where the division of responsibilities
among physician, surgeon, and apothecary had been delineated
4 Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
clearly since the sixteenth century; the physician diagnosed illness

and administered medication, the surgeon performed surgical oper-
ations, and the apothecary prepared and compounded drugs.2 Each
of the three disciplines had a strong college or society to protect its
own area of responsibility3, and, in the eighteenth century, the Brit-
ish army recognized all three by having on staff a physician general,
a surgeon general, and an apothecary general.
On 1 July 1745, the Company of Surgeons of London was created
when the surgeon members, led by William Cheselden (1688—1752),
separated from the barbers. The new company continued the barber-
surgeons' established practice of having students examined by a
court of examiners at the end of a seven-year apprenticeship.4 The
court was also responsible for examining surgeons for the navy and
the army. Although there was no compulsory professional curricu-
lum, it was customary for surgery students to spend some time at
one or more of the medical schools and hospitals in London, Edin-
burgh, or Glasgow.5 Each student was required, afterwards, to write
an examination in anatomy and surgery. If successful, he would re-
ceive qualification as a surgeon, assistant surgeon, or hospital mate
and be given a specific rating. The surgeon could apply to write, at
a later date, an examination to improve his level of qualification.6
Surgery in the eighteenth century was a very crude art. Antisep-
tics and sterile techniques7 were unknown, and patients usually were
not anaesthetized during surgical procedures.8 It is not surprising,
therefore, that eighteenth-century surgeons did not open the thorax
at all, and that the only abdominal procedures were the manage-
ment of external ruptures, and lithotomy (perineal incision to re-
move stones in the bladder). The two principal surgical procedures
were amputation and blood-letting. On the battlefield, wounds to
the arms and legs were treated by simple amputation; because of al-
most certain infection at the incision site, there was a high degree of
mortality. Blood-letting, or phlebotomy,9 had been practised since
ancient times, for early physicians noticed that febrile patients who
haemorrhaged frequently recovered, while those who did not bleed
naturally succumbed to the fever. The use of blood-letting was sup-
ported by physicians and surgeons in the eighteenth century. Even
Dr Hermann Boerhaave (1668—1738), considered to be the centu-
ry's most influential physician, prescribed moderate blood-letting to
relieve fevers.
As the eighteenth century progressed, three additional subjects
were added to the surgeon's curriculum. These were physiology, pa-
thology, and chemistry. John Hunter (1728-93), the most highly
esteemed surgeon of his day in Great Britain, raised surgery to the
5 Introduction
level of a definite branch of science with his research into compara-

tive anatomy and physiology. A student of William Cheselden's in
London, Hunter is considered by some to have been the founder of
surgical pathology, and his Treatise on the Blood, Inflammation, and
Gunshot Wounds (1794) is a classic. However, Giovanni-Battista Mor-
gagni (1682-1771) of the University of Padua, Italy, is more gener-
ally considered to be the founder of modern pathology. His book On
the Seats and Causes of Diseases Investigated by Anatomy (1761) became a
classic reference. The third subject, chemistry, was introduced in
1747 into the medical curriculum at the University of Glasgow by Dr
William Cullen (1710-90), who, from 1755 to 1778, taught chemis-
try and later medicine at the University of Edinburgh. His book, en-
titled First Lines of the Practice of Physic for the Use of Students in the
University of Edinburgh, published in 1776 and reprinted in many edi-
tions, was read by surgeons and physicians alike.10
The eighteenth-century hospital was a place to heal the sick, a be-
nevolent institution established primarily for the treatment of the
poor and helpless. However, while it was not intended to house the
criminal element of society, it did, as Porter put it, "function as a so-
cial balm as well."' * William LeFanu has written that although hos-
pitals in the eighteenth century were intended to care for the poor,
in the first half of the century they functioned "more like Dickensian
work-houses than like hospitals as we know them today."12 The con-
cept that a hospital was to be solely a medical institution is of rela-
tively recent origin. Specialty medical treatment such as for the
insane was totally disregarded in the eighteenth century; Arnold
Chaplin has estimated that there were "thirty-seven mad-houses in
London" during the century. Prisons were hotbeds of disease, and
very little, if anything, was done to provide medical treatment for
the prisoners. The general condition of hospitals and infirmaries
during the eighteenth century has been described as unpleasant.
James Gregory (1753—1821), who succeeded William Cullen as pro-
fessor of medicine at Edinburgh in 1790, wrote of the Edinburgh
Infirmary, when he was first appointed there in 1779, that "both the
deficiency of good air and the great abundance of noxious effluvia
contribute to make the air in hospitals bad, and almost poisonous."
In the same year he initiated a program to ensure hospital and per-
sonal hygiene and to ventilate and cleanse the Infirmary. A daily
fumigation using tar water and muriatic acid was used to clean the
air, the tile floors were mopped daily, and the walls of the rooms
were whitewashed on a regular basis.13
The majority of London hospitals were established or rebuilt be-
tween 1719 and 1745. The medieval hospitals of St Bartholomew
and St Thomas were rebuilt during that period, and they were sup-
plemented by the establishment of the Westminister Hospital in
1719, Guy's in 1725, St George's in 1733, the London in 1740, and
the Middlesex in 1745. By 1755 there were twelve hospitals in Lon-
don housing upwards of a thousand beds.14 It is important to un-
derstand, however, that this development was not brought about by
the medical profession or by governments, but was the result of hu-
manitarian and philanthropic motives. Porter, in his study of the un-
derlying ideology of the eighteenth-century hospital in England and
Scotland, has pointed out that the hospitals and infirmaries founded
during the eighteenth century owed their birth not so much to the
great landowners as to the prosperous manufacturers and mer-
chants. 15 The voluntary hospitals, such as St George's and the Edin-
burgh Infirmary (founded in 1741), were financed by subscriptions,
collections following charity sermons, proceeds from theatre per-
formances, donations from societies, and donations of materials and
labour by the general public, l6 as part of what Porter has described
as a popular movement rather than an aristocratic one. The hospi-
tals so established were intended as places were the sick would be
healed, as opposed to workhouses where discipline was of primary
importance. Patients with chronic, terminal, and infectious diseases
were barred from the hospital, whereas those with curable illnesses
such as scurvy, abscesses, burns, broken limbs, etc., were treated. No
patient who could pay for a cure was admitted to the hospital, since
this would interfere with the private practice of local physicians,
apothecaries, and surgeons.
THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, SMALLPOX has been confused with

measles, probably because of the small size of the skin eruptions.
Syphilis, or la grosse verole, caused major skin eruptions and was
therefore called the great pox. Smallpox has three forms: variola
major, or true virulent smallpox; variola minor, a mild form; and va-
riola vaccinae, the disease, primarily of cattle, known as cowpox.17
The origin of smallpox is obscure, but it was described in China as
early as the third century. Smallpox probably first appeared in west-
ern Europe during the early Middle Ages.18 By the eleventh cen-
tury, it was a well-known disease in England but was thought, prior
to the seventeenth century, to be mainly an affliction of children.
During the last half of the seventeenth century, smallpox appears to
have become more virulent: the number of deaths from the disease
among both children and adults increased so considerably that it be-
7 Introduction
came included as one of the principal causes of death. Peter Razzell

compared the number of smallpox deaths to the number of all
deaths in London between 1574 and 1730 and found that the per-
centage of deaths from smallpox rose from 1.6 to 8.2 percent during
that period.19 And in Europe, smallpox is said to have destroyed
more young people throughout the eighteenth century than any
other disease.20 Major smallpox epidemics were recorded in Lon-
don on numerous occasions during the last half of the seventeenth
century, but unlike most fevers, smallpox disregarded class lines and
attacked the upper class and royalty with the same ruthlessness as it
did the poor.21
Thomas Sydenham, the leading British physician of the seven-
teenth century, proposed a treatment for smallpox involving a cold
regimen that included light bed coverings, an abundance of fresh
air, and cool beverages. This was contrary to the treatment that was
prevalent at the time based on heat, sweating, bleeding, and purging.
Hermann Boerhaave followed Sydenham's method, but there was
no universally accepted treatment or cure for smallpox identified
during the eighteenth century.
The procedure of using inoculation as a preventative measure
against smallpox was introduced into Constantinople around 1672
and appears to have arrived there from Persia or China. It involved
removing some of the thick liquid from a pustule borne by a person
with smallpox and rubbing it into a small scratch on the recipient's
skin. Inoculation soon became generally accepted in Turkey. In
March 1718, the British ambassador to Turkey and his wife, Lady
Mary Wortley Montague, instructed the embassy surgeon, Charles
Maitland, to inoculate their son. The inoculation proved successful
and, upon their return to England, they had Maitland inoculate
their daughter in London. In April 1722, Maitland inoculated the
two daughters of the Prince of Wales. However, the success of these
inoculations did not ensure immediate acceptance of the practice.22
All during the eighteenth century in England, there was a measure
of reluctance to inoculate, due, mainly, to the expense of the proce-
dure; the belief by some religious groups that it was against the
teachings of their church; the absence of major smallpox epidemics
in Great Britain from 1725-46; and the fear of contagion. A signifi-
cant number of those who had been inoculated developed the viru-
lent smallpox, rather than the expected mild attack. It also became
clear that the inoculated were capable of spreading the disease. On
the other hand, people vaccinated with variola vaccinae, or matter
from a cowpox pustule, were protected against smallpox and incapa-
ble of transmitting it. This observation was made later, in 1797, by

Dr Edward Jenner,23 and by 1801, over 100,000 people in England
had been vaccinated.
In North America the first inoculation for smallpox took place in
Boston on 26 June 1721, when the physician Zabdiel Boylston inoc-
ulated his son Thomas during a smallpox epidemic that has been de-
scribed as the worst in Boston's history. Of a total population of
10,700, more than half, 5,789 contracted smallpox naturally, and
of these, 842 died. In contrast to the general but cautious acceptance
of inoculation in Britain, Boylston and the Reverend Cotton
Mather, the person who had urged that inoculation be adopted by
Boston physicians, found themselves embroiled in a vicious contro-
versy. Leading citizens in Boston were outraged and horrified that
Boylston had deliberately infected someone with smallpox and for a
brief period his life was in danger. This fracas delayed the general
acceptance of inoculation, which only came into use in Philadelphia
and New York in 1731. The fear of contracting smallpox from inoc-
ulation persisted, however, and in the 17405, the colonial govern-
ments in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia issued
proclamations prohibiting its use. It was many years before the gen-
eral public recognized that, while some persons died from inocula-
tion, most were made immune by the procedure. There were still
some who believed that inoculation could spread the disease to other
members of the community, but the experience gained from a small-
pox epidemic in Boston in 1752 caused many people to change their
minds: a total of 5,545 Bostonians caught smallpox naturally, dur-
ing the epidemic, and 539 of them died. However, of the 2,214 who
were inoculated, only thirty died.24
In England, the London Smallpox Hospital was established in
1746, and the College of Physicians declared its strong approval of
inoculation in 1754. Whereas inoculation had hitherto been a proce-
dure carried out for a fee, it was now available gratis to the poor and
the general public. In North America, the first inoculation hospital
was established within the city of Boston in 1764, and in Russia, Em-
press Catherine summoned the English physician, Thomas Dims-
dale, to St Petersburg in 1768 to inoculate herself and her family.
In the same year, William Buchan published the first edition of his
very popular Domestic Medicine, in which he recommended that par-
ents should inoculate their own children and outlined clearly how
the procedure should be executed. He also advocated that clergy-
men inoculate their parishioners.25
In Canada, Quebec suffered a terrible epidemic of smallpox in
1702-03 when, according to J.J. Heagerty, nearly one-quarter of the
9 Introduction
town's nine thousand residents died.26 In 1732—33, over 1,700 Que-

becers died from smallpox, while from 1755—57, the disease is said
to have decimated the native Indian population in the vicinity of the
town of Quebec, as well as about five hundred residents of the town
itself. Heagerty writes, "The worst sufferers at this time were the
Acadians [expelled from Nova Scotia in 1755] who had endeav-
oured to recoup their fortunes by settling in and around Quebec."
Meanwhile, in seventeenth-century England, widespread poverty
and dislocation arose from the unemployment created by the neces-
sity of modernizing industry and agriculture. Craft guilds and ma-
norial feudal systems were undermined by expanding industries
such as clothweaving and mining; wood burning gave way to coal
and large factories were established. Drifting men and women gath-
ered in the cities, especially London, where they constituted a large
mass of casual workers, criminals, and the poor. It has been esti-
mated that, at the turn of the eighteenth century, more than half of
the population of England were earning less than they spent. This
meant that many had to be supported from the poor rates which
represented, at one time, half of the revenue of the Crown. 27 It is
not surprising that in the eighteenth century there was significant
emigration to the new world, both voluntary and forced, from Lon-
don and all parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland.28 As described
by Hofstadter,
The great Immigrations of the eighteenth century were a motley compound

of the white and the black, the free, the semi-free, and the enslaved ... The
eighteenth century settlers of America were men and women who had seen
... the ravages of war and social conflict, and whether they came as freemen
with some capital, as indentured servants, or as transported convicts, they
were the off-scourings and the victims of the wars and economic disloca-
tions, the exploitation and religious persecution, that racked Europe at the
end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century.
THIS BOOK DESCRIBES HOW MEDICINE AND SURGERY were practised

in Nova Scotia during the province's period of early settlement,
while it was serving as a major military and naval base, and after it
became a refuge for the Loyalists. At the time of the settlement of
Halifax, as chapter i shows, the Lords of Trade and Plantations,
under the leadership of Lord Halifax, took great care to provide
proper food and health care during the settlers' passage across the
Atlantic in May and June 1749. Upon arrival in Halifax, settlers
were provided with a hospital ship, the services of surgeons and a
io Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
midwife and, within the first year, a general-hospital building. In

this period, the colony also saw its first major epidemic, which raged
in Halifax during the fall and winter of 1750—51.
Chapter 2 describes the rendezvous of many regiments and ships
in Halifax during the period 1755 to 1763, and the two smallpox
epidemics they brought with them. Many temporary hospitals for
soldiers and seamen were established at this time in Halifax and
Louisbourg, along with Halifax's first civilian hospital, the operation
of which caused a dispute among the civilian surgeons. The latter
part of the chapter is concerned with the demise of the civilian hos-
pital, and London's severe reduction of financial support for the ser-
vices of surgeons and a midwife for the civilian population. The court
records of the period indicate the type of medication and treatment
which, during the 17508, Halifax civilians received from surgeons.
Appendix 2 explains these medications and the disease or illness
that each was expected to treat.
Chapter 3 is concerned primarily with the treatment of the poor
in Nova Scotia between the Seven Years' War and the American
Revolution. Many were camp followers who had been abandoned by
regiments that had left Halifax either for war or to return to Great
Britain. Surgeons were involved in the operation of the workhouse
(Bridewell) and, later, the poor house set up to cope with the multi-
tude of idle, helpless, and indigent people. Financial resources di-
rected previously towards providing medical services for civilians
were used, because of the destitute condition in which much of the
province's population lived, to feed, clothe, and shelter poor people.
The chapter also indicates the degree to which surgeons in Nova
Scotia, prior to the American Revolution, participated in the deliber-
ations of the recently established House of Assembly.
The American Revolution dominated every aspect of life in Nova
Scotia during the period 1775—83, not the least because of the ar-
rival in the province of thirty thousand Loyalists, including fifty-five
civilian surgeons, who increased the number of medical personnel in
the province from seventeen in 1775 to sixty-five in 1785. These
events are described in chapter 4, along with the smallpox epidemic
experienced during the fall and winter of 1775-76. Ironically, this
epidemic was a major factor in the American decision to cancel a
planned attack on Halifax.
The concluding chapter describes the provincial government's
renewed attempts to provide for the poor, once again by diverting
money that could have been spent on medical services to the work-
house, the poor house, and the indigent poor. Halifax and Dart-
mouth had also to provide medical services for 530 Maroons from
11 Introduction
Jamaica during the period 1796 to 1800, as well as for a large num-
ber of prisoners taken in 1793 from the French islands of St Pierre
and Miquelon and from French warships during the Napoleonic
Wars. The chapter also looks at the initial, unsuccessful attempt to
regulate the practice of medicine in Nova Scotia and the reasons why
the province lagged behind Lower Canada and the American colo-
nies in this respect. Finally, statistics are provided on the number of
deaths in Nova Scotia during the period 1749-99, the mean age at
time of death, infant and child mortality, the death rate, and leading
causes of death during the last half of the eighteenth century.
A W O R D IS R E Q U I R E D ABOUT THE METHOD of dating USed in this

book. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted by Great Britain until
2 September 1752, and the day following was declared to be 14 Sep-
tember 1752. To bring "old style" dates into line with modern reck-
oning for the eighteenth century, add eleven days. I distinguish old
style (o.s.) from "new style" (n.s.) dates in chapter i, but in later
chapters the reader should understand that all dates are modern or
new style, unless otherwise indicated. At the time that the calendar
was adjusted as described above, the date of the new year was also
changed. Whereas hitherto the year had begun on 25 March, the
years following 1752 were declared to begin on i January. Because
different countries in Europe did not all use the same calendar be-
fore 1752, it was common until then to designate the dates between
i January and 25 Marsh using two years. Thus, i February 1749/50
meant i February 1750 according to the Gregorian calendar, but
i February 1749 according to the Julian calendar. At a meeting of
Council held on 31 August 1752 (o.s.),3° it was resolved "that an
advertisement be printed and dispersed thro' the Province for the
better information and regulation of all persons in regard to the al-
teration of the chronological stile [sic], for regulating commence-
ment of the year, and for correcting the Calendar now in use."
Dr John Cochran (1730-1807) came to Rev. Dr Thomas Wood (ca. 1711-1778)
Halifax with the ist Regiment of Foot arrived in Halifax from New Jersey in
in 1758 and was in Halifax in 1761. He 1752. He ministered and practised in
was director general of the medical Halifax and Annapolis Royal until his
department of the American army in 1781 death at Annapolis.
and died in New York State. Silhouette by unknown artist.
Miniature in oil on canvas, artist
unknown. (Medical Society of New
Jersey)
Dr John Thomas (1724-1776) came to Dr John Day ( -1775) arrived in Nova

Nova Scotia with New England troops Scotia in 1758, the year he was
in May 1755 and was present at the siege appointed an assistant surgeon at the
of Fort Beausejour. He returned to naval hospital in Halifax. He died in a
Boston in April 1756 and died of smallpox fire in Boston Harbour.
near Quebec City in June 1776. Portrait by unknown artist.
Pastel on paper by Benjamin Blyth.
(Massachusetts Historical Society)
CHAPTER ONE
Arrival, Settlement, and

an Initial Concern for
Health Care,
1749 (°'s-) ~ J753 (n-s-)
At the beginning of 1749, the land mass known today as Nova Scotia
held approximately 14,000 people: about 10,800 persons of French
origin1, 1,000 native Indians, 2 and 2,300 civilian and military per-
sonnel of English origin.3 Between the ceding of mainland Nova
Scotia to the English by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and the arrival
of the Cornwallis settlers in June 1749, Britain made no attempt to
colonize Nova Scotia. The only major influx of English-speaking
people into the colony during this thirty-six year period was from
June 1745 to July 1749, when New England troops and their British
army replacements occupied the fortress of Louisbourg.4 Mean-
while, the Acadian French population quadrupled in this period
from 2,500 in 1713^ to 10,800 in 1749.
In March 1749, an advertisement6 appeared in the London Gazette
regarding a proposal to establish a permanent settlement in Nova
Scotia. This advertisement was directed mainly to officers and pri-
vate men discharged from His Majesty's land and sea services follow-
ing the War of the Austrian Succession, which had ended in late
1748. In part, it read: "That all such persons as are desirous of en-
gaging in the above settlement, do transmit by letter, or personally
give in their names, signifying, in what regiment or company, or on
board what ship they last served, and if they have families they in-
tended to carry with them, distinguishing the age and quality of such
persons to any of the following officers appointed to receive and en-
ter the same in the Books opened for that purpose." The advertise-
ment stated further that the books7 would be closed "as soon as the
intended number shall be completed, or at least on the 7th day of
April 1749." The transports would be made ready to receive such
persons on 10 April (o.s.), and be ready to sail on the twentieth.
The same terms proposed to private soldiers and seamen would

be granted to carpenters, shipwrights, masons, joiners, brickmakers,
bricklayers, and all other artificers necessary in building or hus-
bandry. The concluding paragraph read: "That the same conditions
as are proposed to those who have served in the capacity of Ensign
shall extend to all surgeons, whether thay have been in His Majesty's
service or not, upon their producing proper certificates of their
being duly qualified." Edward Cornwallis8 was appointed captain
general and governor-in-chief in and over the province of Nova Sco-
tia on 6 May 1749 (o.s.). On 15 May 1749 (o.s.), thirteen transports
under his command sailed from Spithead, England, for Chebucto
Harbour.9 Cornwallis arrived in Chebucto aboard the sloop of war
Sphinx on 21 June 1749 (o.s.), and by i July 1749 (o.s.), all thirteen
of the transports, carrying a total of 2,547 passengers, had safely ar-
rived. The passengers included 1,174 families,10 665 single men,
440 children, and 420 servants. Because of the large number of sin-
gle men, the average size of family was only 2.2 persons. A total of
137 heads of family were recently released army personnel and 435
were retired recently from the Royal Navy. Thus, about one-half of
the families arriving in Chebucto in June 1749 were recently retired
servicemen, and the other half were artificers with various civilian
occupations.
Thirty-eight of the passengers'l gave their occupations as one of
the following: apothecary (two); apothecary's mate (two); assistant
surgeon (one); chymist and druggist (one); chymist and surgeon
(one); doctor and surgeon (one); lieutenant and surgeon (one); mid-
wife (two); pupil surgeon (one); surgeon (sixteen); and surgeon's
mate (ten). The names of these thirty-eight persons, and the addi-
tional information provided on them in the passengers lists, appear
in Appendix i.
The fifty years preceding the founding of Halifax have been
described as "the lost half-century" and the "barren age" in English
medicine.12 Patients in 1750 were treated in the same way that
their grandparents had been in 1700. Between the age of Thomas
Sydenham and Isaac Newton, which ended circa 1700, and the age
of Albrecht von Haller and Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, which cov-
ered the last half of the eighteenth century, surgeons in England de-
veloped few new operations, and no attempt was made to address
the health problems of cities, the army, or the fleets. There was al-
most no advance in the understanding of disease and its treatment,
and there seems to have been no ethical objection to secret remedies,
personal nostrums being often a part of the prestige of the success-
ful practitioner of physic. In England, eighteenth-century medicine
15 Arrival, Settlement, and Health Care
was "pluralist through and through. An enormous range of healers

practised freely and lucratively."13 The period has been described as
the "golden age of quackery."14
Dr Thomas Sydenham (1624—89) attempted to direct mens' minds
away from speculation and back to the bedside, and toward practise
of the straightforward clinical observation originally espoused by
Hippocrates. In the early eighteenth century, however, Sydenham's
methods were largely ignored by the majority of English physicians
and surgeons. The eighteenth century represented "the adolescence
of modern medicine," a period when "the wisdom of antiquity was
still part of the physician's intellectual background."15 Diagnostic de-
vices such as the thermometer and the microscope were being used
by a few physicians in France and Germany, but were not used in
England until the later years of the century, when they were intro-
duced primarily through the efforts of the eminent surgeon John
Hunter. These measurement devices were not in general use by
physicians and surgeons, however, until the mid-nineteenth cen-
tury.
In Scotland, a reawakening in medicine took place twenty-five
years earlier than in England. Medical education had been reorga-
nized in Scotland mainly due to the influence of Hermann Boerhaave
of Leyden. His student, Alexander Monro, primus, (1697—1767) at
Edinburgh, and Monro's student William Cullen (1712—90) at Glas-
gow created a growing spirit of enquiry at those two universities. In
1731, the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh began to publish its
Medical Essays and Observations, some twenty-five years before a sim-
ilar publication appeared in England. During the period 1700—50,
medical teaching was sadly wanting in England. The only two uni-
versities, Cambridge and Oxford, were restricted to members of the
established church and required twelve years of study before the MD
was granted. Also, the degree was largely based on the theoretical
since Oxford did not have a hospital until 1758 and no regular in-
struction in anatomy until 1750. As William LeFanu has pointed out,
these two universities were dormant in medicine during the period.
Formal education of apothecaries in England did not begin until the
17608, and surgeons' training was very informal prior to 1745, the
year the surgeons separated from the barbers and formed the Com-
pany of Surgeons of London.
It is not surprising, therefore, that most of the thirty-eight medical
personnel with Cornwallis were surgeons or assistant surgeons. It is
surprising, however, considering the stagnation in medicine in En-
gland, that those making the plans for the new settlement of Halifax
would make the detailed efforts described below to ensure that the
i6 Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
passengers had a high level of medical and surgical attendance, both

during the crossing and for the first few years after the founding of
Halifax. This was, indeed, in marked contrast to the relative neglect
which the Lords of Trade had displayed towards the English garri-
son at Annapolis Royal during the period 1713—49.
On 30 March 1749 (o.s.), Mr Bevan, an apothecary and chymist,
made proposals to the Lords of Trade and Plantations16 for sup-
plying medicines for the settlers destined for Nova Scotia. On that
same date, Major Lockman, who had been recommended for em-
ployment as surgeon and physician to the intended settlement in
Nova Scotia, acquainted their lordships that he was a surgeon to HM
Guards at Hanover, had been surgeon at the hospital in Mecklen-
burgh, and also inspector general of health at Barbados in 1723 and
1724. Their lordships directed Major Lockman to bring forth such
persons as might give them further satisfaction of being duly quali-
fied, which he promised to do.
The Lords of Trade met next on 3 April 1749 (o.s.). Presented to
them was a paper, prepared by the celebrated physiologist Stephen
Hales,17 relating to the importance of having ventilators on the ships
bound for Nova Scotia. The Lords ordered "that Mr Kilby do en-
quire of Mr Sutton as to what number of ships can be furnished with
air pipes before the 2Oth" of April.18 At the same meeting were Mr
Middleton, surgeon general to the army abroad, and the apothecary
general, Mr Garnier, whose opinions had been sought concerning
proper measures to be taken for preserving the settlers' health in
Nova Scotia. They told their lordships that they had met with the
physician general, Dr Wilmot, and were of the opinion "that the best
choice of medicines to be sent with the new settlers would be those
used in the Hospitals in Flanders, which might be prepared accord-
ing to the Pharmacopoeia printed for them there, that two chief sur-
geons and two apothecaries should be sent with them to reside at the
head settlement, and a mate at each of the other settlements, who
might be appointed out of such as have entered their names to go to
Nova Scotia, upon their qualifications being examined at Surgeons'
Hall."19 The Lords ordered further "that the Solicitor and Clerk of
the Reports do transmit a list of such surgeons as have entered upon
the books of this office for Nova Scotia to Mr Hawkins, Master of
Surgeons' Hall, and desire him to make a return of the qualifications
of such as have been examined there." Also, "Major Lockman
was desired to pass his examinations at Surgeons' Hall, upon
return whereof their Lordships would further consider his appli-
cation."
On 7 April, Mr Middleton, Mr Garnier, and Dr Wilmot related20
to the board "that the medicines, utensils, etc., be dispensed to the

mates of the several divisions from the principal apothecaries, and as
we are informed no less than 17 surgeons have entered themselves
upon the encouragement offered by the government, [and as] many
of whom have served in the Navy and Army, they may be of great
service in the several settlements."21 On 8 April was read the
return 22 of surgeons whose qualifications had been examined at
Surgeons' Hall: James Handasyde, second mate, third rate, March
1747; Josiah Irwin, second mate, third rate, 4 September 1746;
Mark Story, third mate, third rate, April 1747; Edward Turner, sec-
ond mate, third rate, February 1743; Thomas Wilson, second mate,
any rate, July 1744; John Sherman, second mate, third rate, Decem-
ber 1743; John Inman, surgeon, fourth rate, 6 October 1741; Leon-
ard Lockman, surgeon, John Steele, surgeon, Fenton Griffith, John
Farquhar, Alexander Abercrombie.
Each of the last five persons listed received certificates of their
respective qualifications on the day the return was read. It was
ordered further "that the Solicitor and Clerk of the Reports do write
to Mr Hawkins to desire a special Court may be held on Thursday
next for examining such as have not yet [been] examined, and
reexamining those who may be desirous of gaining a higher qualifi-
cation and make a return thereof to their Lordships. Mr Bevan
attending, as desired, and the report and invoice laid before the
Board by Dr Wilmot, Mr Gamier, and Mr Middleton, having been
communicated to him, he represented to their Lordships that he
apprehended the quantity [of medicines] insufficient." He also rep-
resented that it would be proper to allow a medicine chest for each
ship during the voyage. As a result of this recommendation, medi-
cines were put in twelve chests for the use of the settlers and the
Roehampton was designated as a hospital ship.23
On 14 April, the surgeon general, Mr Middleton, laid before the
board a return from the surgeons' company of persons they had ex-
amined. The Lords agreed that the following persons should be ap-
pointed for the intended settlement of Nova Scotia: William Merry
and Thomas Reeves, apothecaries; Robert Carr and Alexander
Abercrombie, apothecary's mates; Leonard Lockman, John Steele,
and Matthew Jones, surgeons; and Robert Grant, John Grant, and
Mr Belchiss, surgeon's mates.24
At their last meeting prior to the ships' departure for Nova Scotia,
the Lords of Trade authorized Mr Bevan to provide a set of surgical
instruments as requested by the surgeons destined for Nova Scotia.
Of the thirty-eight persons who arrived in Nova Scotia with occu-
pations related to medicine and surgery, two were midwives and
thirty-six were surgeons, apothecaries, chymists, or druggists. It

seems unlikely that these people would have been motivated to em-
igrate to Nova Scotia to set up practice in a new settlement consisting
of only 2,500 settlers. They would have been aware that, as Cornwal-
lis25 put it, many of the settlers were "poor, idle, worthless vaga-
bonds that embrace the opportunity to get provisions for one year
without labour." It would be apparent to anyone, at that time, that a
settlement the size of Chebucto26 would be able to provide employ-
ment for no more than three to five practitioners. It seems likely,
then, that many of the surgeons who entered their names and who,
indeed, came to Chebucto with Cornwallis, did not remain in Hali-
fax, but left, with a large percentage of the passengers, for New En-
gland within a month.
There are several reasons why many of the original settlers quit
Chebucto (Halifax) and moved to New England during July 1749.
To begin with, they could find greater employment opportunities
and better agricultural land in and around the established townships
of New England. The passenger lists note that 158 heads of family
described their occupations as husbandry or related to husbandry;
only sixty-nine of these 158 families (forty-four percent) appear
in the records of Halifax after the end of July 1749- Settlers were
also fearful of attack by the French and Indians. This fear was
present also among the New England settlements, but it was more
pronounced in the much smaller and more vulnerable town of
Chebucto. During the first two weeks after their arrival, the Corn-
wallis settlers had no military protection. It was only after 25 July
that the soldiers in Hopson's 2gth and Warburton's 45th regiments
were transferred from Louisbourg to Chebucto in order to protect
the new settlement.
During the first six to eight weeks after arrival, the majority of
settlers continued to live on the transports in Chebucto harbour.
The passengers on at least five ships were transferred, however, to
George's Island. On 6 July 1749 (o.s.), Cornwallis sent five of the
transports to bring Lieutenant Governor Hopson and his garrison
from Louisbourg to Halifax. 27 The latter arrived in late July. The
Louisbourg garrison consisted of about two thousand persons, mili-
tary and civilian, but it is difficult to say how many of the civilians or
disbanded soldiers28 took up residence in Chebucto and how many
continued on to New England.
Constant fear of attack by the French and the Indians led Corn-
wallis, on 26 June 1749 (o.s.), to order the transfer to Chebucto,
aboard the Fair Lady, of a company 29 of the 4oth Regiment garri-
soned in Annapolis.30 He requested Paul Mascarene, who had been
ig Arrival, Settlement, and Health Care
lieutenant governor of the town and fort at Annapolis Royal, travel

with the company of soldiers. All arrived at Chebucto on 12 July
1749 (o.s.). On the following day, aboard the Beaufort, Cornwallis
held his first council meeting. 31
Cornwallis mentions32 in a letter to the Lords of Trade that he is
including "A copy of a Plan for the Town with a line of defence
offered me by Mr Brewse [Bruce]". Figure i is a photograph of this
plan.33 The proposed system of defence fortifications to surround
the town was to be built by soldiers of the sgth and 45th regiments.
A second plan, which must have been prepared within a month of
the Brewse plan, was drawn by Moses Harris,34 a Cornwallis settler.
The Harris plan, which appears in the upper right of the composite
map and plan shown in Figure 2, depicts a much more elaborate sys-
tem of five forts around the town, which was laid out in twenty-nine
blocks, each consisting of sixteen lots.35 Figure 2 also shows the
exact location of the town in relation to Chebucto harbour and the
site of the military camp of Warburton's Regiment.
Cornwallis's letter to the Lords of Trade gives a first indication of
the confusion and chaos which existed in Chebucto during the
month of July 1749. The letter begins by informing 36 the board that
"the number of settlers, men, women, and children is 1,400." What
happened to the remainder of the 2,547 passengers who arrived in
Chebucto during the last week of June 1749? in a disgusted tone,
Cornwallis stated that many of the settlers were quitting the settle-
ment and that many of the sailors:
only wanted a passage to New England. Many [of the passengers] have
come as into a Hospital, to be cured, some of veneral [sic] disorders, some
even incurables. I do all I can to make them useful, but I shall be obliged, I
believe, to send some of them away. I published a proclamation37 in the
terms advised by your Lordships with regard to such as should desert the
settlement and made the penalty to whoever should be absent two days to-
gether without permission forfeiture of all rights and priviledges of settlers.
Eight fellows that had gone off to Canada and were brought back, I pun-
ished [them] by striking their names out of the Mess Books, and out of your
Lordships Lists, and ordered them to leave the Province.
Cornwallis's penalty proved to be no deterrent whatsoever to the

more than one thousand persons who left Chebucto during July.
They could obtain easy transportation to New England. A total of
eighteen ships are recorded as having cleared Halifax for New En-
gland ports during the period 21 July to 31 August 1749 (o.s.).38
John Salusbury recorded in his diary3$ that "Gates [Horatio Gates,
Figure i
A Plan for Fortifying the town of Halifax by John Bruce, drawn sometime in
July 1749. (Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom,
SP42/38f224)
Figure a
A Map of the south part of Nova Scotia, including the plan of Halifax surveyed
by Moses Harris, and a view of Halifax drawn from a top mast by Harris. (National
Archives of Canada, NMC 1012)
afterwards a revolutionary general] is ordered to the Harbours

mouth after a schooner supposed lurking to take off some of our
people [was sighted], we brought [the] four deserts [deserters] from
Point Pleasant."
In his third letter40 to the Lords of Trade, Cornwallis wrote, "The
Town has been marked out, lots drawn, 41 and now everyone knows
where to build his house. A great many houses are begun, and many
huts. Loghouses are already up for about half a mile on each side of
the Town." He continued, "A good many people from Louisbourg
have settled here and several from New England, and they tell me
above 1,000 more desire to come down [to Chebucto] before win-
ter." The Allotment Book,42 which details the names of those who
drew the 464 lots in the five divisions of the town on 8 August 1749
(o.s.), makes clear that, of the total number of 606 heads of family (or
single men) who were granted lots or parts of lots in the five divi-
sions, the names of only 419 (69.1 percent) are to be found on the
Cornwallis mess or passenger lists. The striking fact is, however, that
419 represents only 35.7 percent of the 1,174 heads of family who
made up the Cornwallis passenger lists. The remaining 187 families
allotted land on 8 August, whose names are not included on the
mess lists, probably arrived in Chebucto as part of the Louisbourg
garrison transferred to the new settlement during the period 24-
26 July 1749 (o.s.).
Since the Louisbourg garrison did not arrive until after Cornwallis
had written his second letter to the Lords of Trade, it can be pre-
sumed that the i,4oo43 settlers he referred to had arrived with him.
As already noted, only 419 of the 606 families allocated land on
8 August were Cornwallis passengers. If each family that arrived
with Cornwallis averaged 2.2 persons, the 419 families represent
about 925 people, some 475 fewer than the 1,400 reported by Corn-
wallis. It is rr y contention that a significant number of Cornwallis
settlers in Chebucto were not allocated lots of land because they
were Roman Catholic. Blatant discrimination against Roman Catho-
lics in the new town played a part in the move to New England of
many of the original Chebucto settlers. Since the Penal Laws, in
effect since 1704, prohibited the granting of land in the colonies to
Roman Catholics, it is unclear why officials entering the passengers'
names in the books in England would have accepted Roman Catho-
lics. It may have been that prospective passengers were not asked to
state their religion, since there was no mention of religious prefer-
ence in the London Gazette's advertisement of March 1749. It is also
possible that many of the 420 anonymous servants, Cornwallis pas-
sengers, were Roman Catholic and quit the settlement to escape

their servitude.
In any event, a comparison of the names of passengers on the
Cornwallis mess lists with a number of eighteenth-century Halifax
records indicates that 191 Cornwallis families not allotted land on 8
August 1749 (o.s.) were residing in Chebucto after that date. Why
191 families (representing about 420 persons) were not allotted land
is not known.44 Statements by Cornwallis,45 Salusbury,46 and
others47 suggest that every settler who was head of a family was, in
fact, allotted land. Nonetheless, there is evidence that those Corn-
wallis passengers who were Roman Catholic were probably not allot-
ted land.48
Among the settlers who apparently quit the settlement of Chebucto
during July 1749 were at least twelve surgeons.49 Eighteen of the
medical personnel residing in Chebucto on the day of allotment
were granted lots in the five divisions of the town, while in 1750,5°
three received grants of land in the town and in the South Suburbs.
Although nine of the twelve surgeons who quitted the settlement
(seventy-five percent) were single, only fourteen of the twenty-four
who remained (fifty-eight percent) after 8 August were unmarried.
It is surprising that twenty-four surgeons would decide to remain in
a settlement of about two thousand persons. It may be that a number
of them actually did not plan to remain very long, and stayed the
winter of 1740-50 because of the subsidization that they and their
families were guaranteed until i July 1750 (o.s.). The surnames of
surgeons listed in Appendix i suggest that all were of English origin
and that they were Anglican, Presbyterian, or Lutheran, but not
Roman Catholic.
It is likely that no more than four or five of the surgeons and
apothecaries were actually practising their profession during the fall
of 1749 and the winter of 1749—50. It is probable also that they
would have been in the employ of Cornwallis and housed in the
hospital ship Roehampton. The majority of surgeons and apothe-
caries were occupied, however, in building their houses on the lots
which they had drawn. In order to hasten the building, Cornwallis
advertised in the Boston newspapers1 for carpenters to come to
Chebucto. Cornwallis had also employed, prior to 24 July, all the
carpenters he could get from Annapolis and from the ships in
Chebucto harbour, in order to build log houses. He offered the
French at Minas considerable wages to work in Chebucto and those
who responded stayed until the first of October.52 Cornwallis's con-
certed effort to bring in carpenters led to rapid construction of the
numerous buildings shown in the sketch by Moses Harris that ap-

pears in the lower right of Figure 2.
In his letter53 to the Lords of Trade in August 1749 (o.s.), Corn-
wallis stated, "In a few days more I should have been able to have
discharged most of the rest [of the Transports]." He continued:
"The Council has found it absolutely necessary to continue Warbur-
ton's Regiment at least for the winter upon the same footing it was
upon at Louisbourg." Later, on 11 September, he wrote that "the
Troops have been employed in carrying the line," which meant that
they were building a barricade of logs and brushwood around the
town.54 This temporary barricade55 was erected in order to protect
the settlers from attacks by the French and Indians56 during the
winter of 1749-50.
Cornwallis also reported57 that 1,574 settlers were victualled in
Chebucto during the first week of September. This included the 116
settlers who came on the ship Sarah, which had arrived from
Liverpool on 30 August. Prior arrangements58 had been made for
a surgeon and a chest of medicines to accompany the passengers,
but I was unable to determine whether a surgeon actually did arrive
on the ship. On 17 October, Cornwallis reported that there were
three hundred houses covered in at Halifax;59 on 7 December,
he reported60 that the number of settlers victualled in the town
was 1,876, "besides the artificiers and labourers from Boston and
Minas." A letter from Halifax, dated 7 December 1749 (o.s.) and
published in Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle (February
1750, 7), states that "there are already about 400 habitable houses
within the fortifications and not less than 200 without."
In addition to the twenty-four surgeons and apothecaries who ar-
rived with Cornwallis and who are known to have resided in Halifax
after 8 August 1749 (o.s.), at least three surgeons61 arrived before
the end of the year. Two of them, George Slocombe62 and William
Catherwood,63 were surgeon and surgeon's mate with Warburton's
45th Regiment. The third was William Skene,64 surgeon with Phil-
ipps's Fortieth Regiment, a company of which Cornwallis had
summoned to Halifax on 12 July 1749 (o.s.). By the end of 1749,
therefore, the number of surgeons and apothecaries in Halifax to-
talled twenty-five. Two of the surgeons who had been Cornwallis
passengers, Robert White and Joshua Sacheverell, died65 during the
fall of 1749.
sdkfhjksdfhdlsfhdshf
in the new settlement. St Paul's Anglican Church burial records66 indi-
cate that, between 21 September 1749 (o.s.) and 21 April 1750 (o.s.),
a total of 237 persons died, 172 civilians and 65 soldiers or mariners.
The mortality rate among the civilian population was, therefore, ap-
proximately nine percent during the seven-month period, a rather
high figure.67 Nearly a century later, T.B. Akins68 claimed that
"about this time a destructive epidemic made its appearance in the
Town, and it is said nearly 1,000 persons fell victim during the au-
tumn and following winter," which probably refers to the autumn
and winter of 1749—50. However, if there were 1,876 settlers vict-
ualled on 7 December 1749 (o.s.) and 2,367 victualled69 during the
period from 18 May to 4 June 1750 (o.s.), it seems unlikely that as
many as a thousand persons could have died from an epidemic dur-
ing the winter of 1749—50. Moreover, a study of the Boston newspa-
per70 of the period reveals numerous references to Halifax but no
mention of an epidemic which ravaged half the population. On
19 March 1749/50, Cornwallis wrote71 to the Lords of Trade that "a
frame is put up for a hospital to receive the sick. There has never
been above 25 in the hospital ship at one time." In the same letter,
he wrote, "The winter has passed without complaints of any kind."
These statements suggest that there could not have been an epi-
demic of the proportions reported by Akins.
The victualling list from which these figures are drawn, updated
to the end of June, 72 includes only fifteen of the twenty-one sur-
geons (seventy-one percent) known to have been in Halifax in May
and June of 175O.73 Inasmuch as the Halifax settlers were guaran-
teed provisions until the end of June 1750 (o.s.), one would expect
that the names of everyone actually residing in the settlement at that
time would appear in the list. Thus, one year after the settlement of
Halifax was founded, only nineteen of the thirty-six original sur-
geons, apothecaries, and chymists (fifty-three percent) were still
there.
The frame for the hospital mentioned above had been erected by
19 March 1750 (o.s.). It was located on the site of present-day Gov-
ernment House and was probably one of the two buildings desig-
nated by the letter K in the Moses Harris plan of Halifax shown in
Figure 2. One of the three buildings shown in the left foreground of
the "View of Halifax drawn from ye Topmasthead" may also have
been the hospital. However, this drawing positions the hospital (as-
suming that one of the buildings is, indeed, the hospital) nearer to
the water's edge than it actually was. The hospital received its first
patients sometime between 19 March and 9 July 1750 (o.s.), the day
that the hospital ship Roehampton cleared Halifax and sailed to New
York.™
It appears, from correspondence, that Cornwallis had much diffi-

culty in convincing the Lords of Trade of the necessity of continuing
the hospital for a period longer than one year. Their attitude to-
wards maintaining a civilian hospital is not surprising. In mid-
eighteenth-century England, only the poor were treated at public
expense and only sometimes was treatment given in a hospital. More
frequently, it was provided in an alms house or poor house.
"It is important," as Knowles states, "to emphasize that during the
i8th century most of the care given in Hospitals was nursing and the
Hospital remained an institution for the sick poor."75 In Paris, the
death rate among patients at the Hotel-Dieu Hospital in 1788 was
nearly twenty-five percent; frequently two to eight patients occupied
one bed. Attendants living in the hospital were noted to have a death
rate of six to twelve percent year. Unlike France, which built hospi-
tals in its colonies and staffed them with nuns and surgeons who
were members of religious orders,76 England did not appear to
believe that it should provide its colonists with hospitals for an
extended period. The first hospital in New England was not estab-
lished until some two hundred years after the Mayflower's arrival at
Plymouth. The hospital in Halifax pre-dated similar institutions in
Philadelphia (1751) and New York (1771). Military hospitals were
very common in both French and English colonies, although for the
most part, they were only temporary establishments.
The first indication that the Lords of Trade were becoming un-
easy about the new settlement at Halifax appears in a letter to Corn-
wallis dated 16 Febuary 1749/50. They questioned the number and
amount of expenditures.77 Cornwallis replied.78 "According to your
Lordships directions, I this day discharged some of the surgeons
and mates that may be spared." According to an earlier letter,7^ the
medical personnel being paid during the first year were two sur-
geons and two apothecaries at ten shillings per day, two surgeon's
mates at five shillings per day, and a midwife at fifty pounds per
year. Further scepticism about financial matters relating to Nova
Scotia was expressed in a letter dated 5 March 1749/50 from Chris-
topher Kilby, Esq., agent for the settlement, complaining of the
poorly filed information about matters concerning Halifax. On the
same date, a request for medicines for the hospital in Nova Scotia
was turned down and the secretary of the board was ordered to
write a letter informing Mr Oswald, one of the commissioners for
Trade and Plantations, that without the board's direction,80 he
should not respond to the requests of Mr Davidson, treasurer of the
colony of Nova Scotia. Hugh Davidson later was called81 to London
to answer questions regarding his accounts and explain why the cost
of the settlement had been £76,976 in 1749, rather than the £40,000
granted82 by Parliament on 23 March 1749 (o.s.) "towards the

charge of transporting to His Majesty's Colony of Nova Scotia, and
supporting and maintaining there such reduced officers, etc."
THREE EMIGRANT SHIPS, with a total of 795 passengers, arrived dur-

ing the summer of 1750: the Alderney^ on 23 August, the Ann84 on
2 September, and the Nancy on 16 September.85 This brought to
3,200 the population of the town by 22 September, according to
Hugh Davidson.86 He stated before the Lords of Trade that, owing
to ventilation, the people of the Nancy and the Alderney had arrived
in good health, whereas "Mr Dick's ship was somewhat sickly." There
are no specific references to the type or extent of the sickness which
affected the Ann passengers. On 5 October, Cornwallis wrote87 to
Leonard Lockman "that the sick should be removed to the house of
Major Lockman where there are chimneys and the persons that are
in health that are there, to be removed to the place where the sick
now are. You are hereby directed to make such a disposition to them
if it appears to you to be necessary for their comfort and to hire such
of the persons in health among them to attend the sick as may be
necessary, promising them a reasonable allowance for their service."
This order may have been precipitated by the death of Matthew
Jones, one of the principal surgeons at the hospital, who was
buried88 on 7 October. Quite likely, "the sick" to whom Cornwallis
referred were Germans, since on 5 November, a letter89 was sent to
Mr Lewis Hays, Keeper of the Provisions, informing him that the
government had contracted with persons to victual the sick Germans
at a certain rate per diem per person, and that Hays should stop this
allowance for Germans who were returned by Chief Surgeon Lock-
man as being well. Salusbury noted in his diary (16 November): "It
is hoped this weather will clear the air and make the settlement more
healthy. We have had more sickness this fall than last." Cornwallis
wrote,9" referring to the Ann, that "the Germans were very sickly
and many dead." On 11 December, the Boston Gazette reported that
"the buildings on the opposite side of the Harbour91 increases daily.
The people are very sickly especially the meaner sort [the poorer
people], and the Germans, which is probably owing to change of cli-
mate, want of necessaries, and bad [medical] attendance." Dick's ex-
planation to the Lords of Trade concerning the lack of ventilators
on the Ann92 was that "there was no person in the country [i.e., Hol-
land], that could have fixed it."
Another possible source of the sickness that appears to have taken
its toll during the fall and winter of 1750-51 was the transports that
brought Lascelles's Regiment from Ireland. It had been noted that
Figure 3
Evidence of an epidemic at Halifax during the winter of 1750—51.
1 Arrival of an Irish regiment, 12 August, 1750

2 Arrival of the Ann from Rotterdam, 2 September, 1750
3 Death of Matthew Jones, principal surgeon at the hospital, 5 October, 1750
on at least one of the Irish transports, there was a great deal of sick-
ness. Figure 3, which was constructed from the burials recorded in
St Paul's Anglican Church, shows that, during the eight months
from August 1750 to March 1751, a total of 333 persons, an average
of forty-two per month, had died.93 In contrast, the average mortal-
ity for the twenty-seven months following March 1751 was only
twelve per month. It would appear that some form of epidemic rav-
aged the population during the late summer, fall, and winter of
1750—51.94 While this epidemic has not been precisely identified
from the primary-source literature, it is my belief that it was typhus
fever, which, in the middle of the eighteenth century, would have
been identified as camp, hospital, jail, or ship fever, or simply under
the general category of fever.
Sir John Pringle (1707-82), a student of Boerhaave and later phy-
sician to the military hospital at Flanders, began in 1742 to study fe-
brile illnesses prevalent in crowded military camps. He noted that in
winter and spring, inflammatory fevers were common, whereas dur-
ing the summer and fall, the body fibres were more relaxed, fluids
more rarefied and disposed to putrefaction. The prevalent disease
in the summer and fall was the putrid fever, which he referred to as
bilious in his book, Observations on the Diseases of the Army, published
in 1752. He noted that people with bilious fever became yellow with
jaundice. Pringle attempted to investigate fevers by paying special
attention to heat, cold, moisture, and dampness, as well as the putre-

faction of the air. He noted that fevers seemed to be endemic in sit-
uations where there were vapours and putrid effluvia from human
excrement lying about the camp during hot weather, as well as from
rotting straw, and from air in crowded places. He enforced sanitary
regulations, attempted to purify the air in military camps, and laid
down guidelines of sanitation and ventilation in military hospitals. It
is likely that Dr Alexander Abercrombie would have known Dr Prin-
gle since they both served in Flanders at the same time. Assuming
that Abercrombie agreed with John Pringle's beliefs concerning the
prevention of fever in military camps and hospitals, it is possible that
Abercrombie applied the same sanitation and ventilation proce-
dures to the civilian hospital that he was in charge of in Halifax from
1750 to 1758.
In his Synopsis Nosologie Methodicoe, published in 1769, William
Cullen divided fevers into two general categories: synocha, or in-
flammatory fever, distinguished by a strong hard pulse; and low
nervous fever or typhus, characterized by prostration, weak pulse,
and delirium.95 The word typhus means smoke or mist, and was first
used in the medical literature by F.B. de C. Sauvages in his book on
the classification of diseases, published in Leyden in 175Q.96 Cullen
divided typhus fever into typhus petechialis, which manifested itself
in a skin rash and haemorrhage spots over the chest and abdomen,
and typhus icteriodes, where the patient suffers from a low fever and
jaundice. In typhus petechialis the fever is severe and malignant, with
the appearance of gangrene. It is referred to as putrid because of
the dissolution of bodily fluids and solids. This was the type of fever
which Pringle had observed in military barracks or camps, hospitals,
and crowded ships during the summer and fall months, and was
very likely the epidemic which broke out in Halifax in August and
September of 1750, brought there by ships such as the Ann and the
Irish transports.
In addition to Matthew Jones, who was one of the chief surgeons
at the hospital, two other surgeons, John Wildman and Robert Kerr,
both Cornwallis passengers, died during the late summer of 1750,
because of the epidemic. This meant that only sixteen of the original
thirty-six surgeons and apothecaries (forty-four percent) who ar-
rived in June 1749 (o.s.) were still in Halifax at the end of 1750. A
total of seven new surgeons appear in the records of Halifax during
1750. William Draper, surgeon, was listed as residing in Halifax
prior to June 175O.97 Probably he was among the approximately one
thousand persons who are said98 to have come to the province from
the New England colonies during the winter and spring of 1750.
3° Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
Each of the three emigrant ships mentioned previously had at least

one surgeon on board, John Baxter^ on the Alderney, Johann Ulrich
Klett100 on the Ann, and John Duckworth101 on the Nancy. Two ad-
ditional surgeons were members of regiments stationed in Halifax in
1750. Arthur Price,102 surgeon with Lascelles's Regiment, arrived in
August 1750, and Richard Veale103 was appointed surgeon with the
Forty-fifth Foot on 30 September, replacing George Slocombe who
was buried from St Paul's five days earlier. Edward Crafts, "surgeon
of the Town of Halifax," sold Lot 84 in Collier's Division on 29 Sep-
tember. 104 Thus, at the end of the year, there were twenty-five sur-
geons, apothecaries, chymists, and druggists in the town of Halifax.
As already mentioned, the 353 passengers on the Alderney, includ-
ing Doctor John Baxter, were encouraged to establish themselves on
"the opposite side of the Harbour over against George's Island"; in
other words, to found the settlement which soon became known as
Dartmouth. During the first six months of 1751, the settlers residing
in Dartmouth were attacked on at least three occasions by Indians.
Salusbury records that "the Indians attacked Dartmouth, one poor
boy105 returned scalp'd." On 13 May, he records: "Dartmouth at-
tacked by a large party of Indians. Near 20 killed and taken, men,
women, and children." The entry106 in the London Magazine or Gen-
tleman's Monthly Intelligencer, dated Halifax 25 June 1751 (o.s.) prob-
ably refers to Salusbury's statement that, "some days ago about
60 Indians attacked the Town of Dartmouth and killed about 8 of
the inhabitants. They also carried off about fourteen prisoners."
The terror and insecurity which these attacks created was so great
that, upon the arrival on 10 July of the Speedwell with 212 passen-
gers,107 the governor and Council decided to employ108 them to
build a picket line of fortification at the back of the settlement of
Dartmouth. The Speedwell was the first of four transports with for-
eign Protestants from Germany and Switzerland to arrive in Halifax
in 1751. The others were the Gale, which arrived on 29 July with
205 passengers;109 the Pearl, which came on 14 September with 232
on board;110 and the Murdoch with 269 passengers, J11 which arrived
on 25 September. In all, a total of 918 passengers arrived in Halifax
on these ships, having survived a mortality rate during the four
crossings from Rotterdam of between 4.2 to 12.1 percent.112 The in-
tention was to locate the foreign Protestants in a new settlement.
However, because of the fear created by repeated Indian attacks, it
was decided to have the new settlers remain in Halifax for the winter
of l
7bl-5*-
Among the 918 passengers who arrived from Europe in July and
September 1751, eight listed their occupations as surgeon.113 Only

four of these, Johannes Matthew Lutgens, Christopher Adam Nicolai,
Johann Berghard Erad, and Alexandre de Rodohan, appear in later
eighteenth-century records for Nova Scotia. It is likely that the other
four left Halifax shortly after their arrival. In addition to these eight
surgeons, at least five new surgeons appeared in Halifax in 1751.
One was John Phillipps, who might possibly have been one of the
three persons by that name on the Cornwallis passenger lists.114 He
was appointed115 surgeon for all independent companies of Rang-
ers on 4 June 1751 (o.s.). A second was Jonathan Prescott, who had
been a surgeon and captain of a company at Louisbourg in 1745. He
addressed a memorial116 to Council in June of 1751 asking for per-
mission to establish a still in the town. William Urquhart, who could
have been in Halifax in 1749 or i75o,117 was listed118 as a surgeon
in Halifax on 9 September 1751 (o.s.). A fourth, George Franche-
ville, first appeared in Halifax in April 1751, when he bought Lot 14
in Callendar's Division.119 Dr Francheville remained in the colony
until he died 120 in August 1781. A surgeon named George Winslow
was recorded121 as having sold Lot E8 in the North Suburbs on 26
August 1751 (o.s.). Winslow does not appear in either the victualling
list of May-June 1750 or in the July 1752 census for Halifax. One of
the original surgeons, Alexander Hay, who was surgeon's mate at
the hospital, was buried from St Paul's on 2 May 1751 (o.s.). So now
only twelve of the original thirty-six surgeons, apothecaries, and
chymists on the Cornwallis passenger lists (thirty-three percent)
were residing in Halifax at the end of 1751, six having died, and the
remaining eighteen having left the settlement.
None of the ships bringing the foreign Protestants to Halifax in
1751 appears to have brought fever into the settlement as the trans-
ports had the year before. The Boston Gazette of 27 August 1751
(o.s.) reported, "That place [Halifax] is very healthy, and the people
in high spirits, and ... they hope soon to see a flourishing settlement."
Very little reference to the hospital is made in the records of 1751,
except for the memorial 122 of John Grant presented and dismissed
at a December meeting of Council. In this memorial, Grant and
other (unnamed) persons wrote to Council, "praying that surgeons
in Government pay may be prohibited from practicing and dispens-
ing medicines to private persons for money."
A letter 123 from Whitehall to Cornwallis in March 1751/52 stated
that the House of Commons had voted £21,069 "to make good the
exceedings incurred last year in the services of Nova Scotia, and
£40,450 for this year to defray the charges of the current year." The
tone of the letter indicated that the Lords of Trade were still disap-
pointed with the magnitude of the cost of the settlement at Halifax.
Thus:
Upon considering the establishment of civil officers in the Province, which

is very large, we are in hopes that you will be able to reduce it by lessening
the profits of such officers as are not held singly, and by striking off some of
those officers which were necessary at the very beginning of the settlement,
but were never intended to be continued longer. In this particular the peo-
ple ought to be accustomed to provide for their own convenience and at
their own charge, and the public we should imagine might be directly re-
lieved from the charge of [a] midwife, apothecaries, and surgeons, as there
must be now many families both used and very well able to bear such ex-
penses. We hope that a reduction may also be made in the expenses of the
Hospital.
At this time, Cornwallis had great difficulty in explaining to the

Lords of Trade that the settlers were not able to pay for their own
medical expenses. Even under constant urging to reduce spending,
Cornwallis demonstrated much compassion for the welfare of his
people by continuing with construction of the orphan house. That
establishment opened on 8 June 1752 (o.s.) with Mrs Ann Wenman
as matron at a pay of three pence per day for each orphan housed.124
The orphan house, probably the second of the two buildings desig-
nated by the letter K in the Harris plan (Figure 2), was located on
Bishop Street across from the hospital. The first record of the num-
ber of children in the orphan house and hospital is for the period
August to October 1752, when the two establishments contained
fifty-five orphans and forty-nine patients.125 The minutes of Coun-
cil126 for 24 August recorded the direction that "one or more apart-
ments in the Public Hospital in Halifax ... be conveniently fitted up
with iron bolts, bars, and locks for the reception, lodging, and deten-
tion of sick and infirm prisoners for debt."
The settlement of Halifax increased further with the arrival of
five more ships in August and September 1752, carrying a total of
1,007 foreign Protestants.127 Governor Hopson had been instruct-
ed, 128 in April of 1752, "to have all ships or vessels inspected imme-
diately upon arrival before persons on board are landed to enquire
into the Health and condition of those on board. If any distemper or
infectious disease is found on board, the said persons are to be
landed and placed in a Lazaretto or other building erected for that
purpose a convenient distance from the settlement." However, none
of these five transport ships appears to have brought fever into Hal-
ifax, although the mortality rate on the Pearl and the Sally was
15.5 percent, the highest among any of the eleven ships bringing
foreign Protestants to Halifax in 1750, 1751, and 1752. It should be
noted that, whereas passengers on the Ann were detained aboard in
Halifax harbour for only five days, passengers on the Pearl, Gale,
and Sally, which arrived in 1752, were detained for fifteen to twenty-
one days.129 This extended period of detention could be interpreted
as a form of quarantine. After the Pearl arrived in Halifax harbour
on 10 August, it was reported at the Council meeting referred to
above that the ship had "been inspected by the surgeon and found
to be generally in good health and no appearance of a contagious or
infectious disorder" existed. The last ship to arrive in 1752, the Gale,
experienced twenty-nine deaths during passage and probably had
some form of sickness on board. Hopson, who had replaced Corn-
wallis as governor of Nova Scotia on 3 August 1752 (o.s.), reported
to the Lords of Trade on 16 October that on 26 September, "the last
of these settlers were landed, when there were about 30 of them that
could not stir off the beach, eight of them orphans who immediately
had the best care taken of them, notwithstanding which two of them
dyed [sic] after being carried to the Hospital, within about 12 days
time there were 14 orphans belonging to these settlers that were
taken into the Orphan House." In addition to the foreign Protes-
tants, Hopson's Regiment (the Twenty-ninth), consisting of 619
personnel,130 arrived on 3 August 1752 (o.s.). Since the census of
Halifax and surrounding area taken in July 1752 listed 906 families
and a total of 4,248 persons,131 the civilian population by the end of
1752 would have totalled about 5,250 persons. The military popula-
tion consisted of 2,200 soldiers in three regiments: Hopson's 2gth;
Warburton's 45th; and Lascelles's 47th.
By the end of 1752, there was a total of twenty-five surgeons,
apothecaries, and chymists in Halifax, eleven of whom had been
Cornwallis passengers. The only new surgeon to arrive in 1752 was
the Reverend Thomas Wood, who had been at Louisbourg as sur-
geon to Shirley's Regiment in 1746. After being ordained a clergy-
man in the Anglican church in London in 1749 and returning to his
home in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he petitioned in late 1751 for
a transfer to Nova Scotia.132 The Reverend Mr Wood was "bred to
physick and surgery" and appears to have practised medicine in Hal-
ifax while he was vicar of St Paul's Church. 133
On 16 September 1752 (n.s.), the Shubenacadie Indians signed134
a peace treaty with Governor Hopson. Soon after, on 22 November,
Rev. J.B. Moreau wrote,135 "Peace having been made with the sav-
ages, the Government contemplates establishing a new colony." This
alluded, of course, to plans to establish the town of Lunenburg. But

the establishment of Lunenburg was delayed for fear of Indian at-
tacks, until, on 12 April 1753 (o.s.), Claude Gisiquash, "an Indian
who stiles [sic] himself Governor of LeHeve [sic], appeared this day
before Council and having declared his intention of making peace,"
signed136 with Governor Hopson a document drawn up for that
purpose. This meant that peace treaties had now been signed with
most of the Indians in the central and eastern regions of Nova Sco-
tia. In addition to the Indian threat, the governor was also deter-
mined that the foreign Protestants destined for the new settlement
work off their debts in Halifax before he would allow them to leave
the town.137
An incident had taken place near Country Harbour, in eastern
Nova Scotia, in which Indians had scalped138 two men and taken
captive two others. The latter, John Connor and James Grace,
escaped and, bearing six Indian scalps, arrived in Halifax harbour
on 15 April 1753 (n.s.), three days after Gisiquash had signed the
peace treaty. Governor Hopson must have been perturbed by this
untimely incident. His letter139 reporting the incident concluded,
"What turn this may take, I can as yet form no judgement." Appar-
ently, there was no immediate hostile response from the Indians
who signed the treaties, and on 10 May, Council "resolved that the
settlement intended to be made at Merlegash [sic] be called the
Township of Lunenburg and that the District thereof to be here-
after ascertained." On 26 May, Hopson wrote140 further to the
Lords of Trade that, "as everything is now in readiness I propose to
send out the Foreigners in three days. They are to go to Merleguash
[sic], a harbour about sixteen leagues to the westward from this place
where there has been formerly a French settlement by which means
there is between three and four hundred acres of cleared land which
is to be equally divided amongst the settlers who consist of about six-
teen hundred persons." Halifax was the only major English settle-
ment in Nova Scotia during the period 21 June 1749 (o.s.) to 7 June
1753 (n.s.), the day on which the Lunenburg settlers sailed from
Halifax for their new home.141 During that four-year period, the
number of medical personnel entering Halifax totalled sixty. While
the number of surgeons and assistant surgeons providing medical
attention to the settlers was reduced in this time, varying between
twenty and thirty (Figure 4), it can be seen that the Lords of Trade
ensured that a sufficient level of health-care workers, including a
midwife, was provided. Contrary to popular belief, the majority
(approximately eighty-seven percent) of the surgeons, apothecaries,
and chymists in the new settlement were civilian rather than mili-
Figure 4
Civilian, naval, and military surgeons, apothecaries, chymists, and druggists in
Halifax, 1749—53.
tary. During the same four-year period, the civilian population of

Halifax had risen from just
prior to 7 June 1753 (n.s.).
THE NEXT CHAPTER concentrates on the transformation of Halifax

from a small civilian town into a military and naval base which, in
1757 and again in 1758, was a temporary home for 22,000 soldiers
and sailors. Although the large number of military and naval per-
sonnel in Halifax during the decade brought money to the town,
and created employment there as well, it will be seen that they also
brought smallpox, which led to epidemics in 1755 and 1757. They
also left behind them a great number of camp followers and desti-
tute people to be cared for by the small civilian population. A fur-
ther result of the presence of this large, transient military and naval
population was the decline and elimination of the civilian hospital.
The Lords of Trade were adamant that the civilian population of
Halifax could be treated in the military hospitals there, but were not
sensitive to the eventuality, recognized by Governor Lawrence, that
when the military left, their hospitals closed.
Dr Silvester Gardiner (1707-1786) arrived Dr John Jeffries (1745-1819) came to
in Halifax in April 1776 after the evac- Halifax in April 1776 after the evacua-
uation of Boston, having studied with tion of Boston. He was surgeon to the
William Cheselden at St Thomas's. He military hospital at Halifax from 1776 to
died in Rhode Island. 1779. He died in Boston.
Oil on canvas by J.S. Copley. Oil on panel by an unknown artist.
(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.)
Dr Duncan Clark (ca. 1760-1808) arrived Dr William Brattle (1706-1776), who had
in Halifax in 1778 with the Sand Regi- been the attorney general of Massachu-
ment from Scotland, having studied at setts Bay, arrived in Halifax in April 1776
Edinburgh University during 1777-78. after the evacuation of Boston. He died
He practised in Halifax until his death. in Halifax in October 1776.
Painting by an unknown artist. Oil on canvas by J.S. Copley.
CHAPTER TWO
A Decade of Military and

Naval Surgeons,
1753-1763
Four years after the founding of Halifax the British presence in

Nova Scotia was still largely confined to that town, apart from a small
anglophone population at the old capital, Annapolis Royal. Within a
decade, British ownership had been established and an English-
speaking population predominated. Beginning with the placing of
foreign Protestants at Lunenburg, the trend continued as the bulk
of the French Acadian inhabitants were deported and the forts at
Beausejour and Louisbourg were captured by the British. By the
time the Treaty of Paris was signed in February 1763, an increasing
immigration of New Englanders was opening up a network of town-
ships across western Nova Scotia. During those years of demo-
graphic change and great-power conflict, the activities of civilian
medical practitioners were overshadowed by those of the military
and naval surgeons in attendance upon servicemen and civilians
alike.
For almost a decade, Halifax was truly a rendezvous for armies
and fleets. During the period 1755—63, the town was transformed
from a small, insignificant seaport on the North Atlantic into a major
military and naval base. The establishment of numerous regimental
hospitals, a general military hospital, and a naval hospital in the
town gave the Lords of Trade sufficient leverage to force the gover-
nor to close the civilian hospital and to eliminate almost all of the ex-
penditures that had previously been allowed for health care and
charitable purposes. Meanwhile, Halifax was visited by two smallpox
epidemics during this period, in 1755 anc^ again in 1757. The
second epidemic was at least partly responsible for the cancellation
of the planned attack on Louisbourg by the combined forces of Lord
Loudon and Admiral Holburne.
With the departure of the foreign Protestants for Lunenburg on

7 June 1753, Halifax lost at least eight of its surgeons. Leonard
Lockman and Johann B. Erad had been appointed 1 as surgeons to
the new settlement, while J. Ulrich Klett, J. Carl Deglen, Christo-
pher A. Nicolai, and Johann C.H. Edmund, were surgeons among
the 1,453 original settlers at Lunenburg. a John Phillipps, who in
early June had been appointed 3 surgeon for all Independent Com-
panies of Rangers, quite likely arrived in Lunenburg with the set-
tlers, or shortly thereafter, for in October 1753, he was married 4 at
Lunenburg to Anna de Labertouche. The eighth surgeon who
seems to have accompanied the settlers was John Baxter, who re-
mained only a short time before returning to Halifax. Colonel
Charles Lawrence, who had been put in charge of transferring the
settlers to Lunenburg, recorded in his journal 5 that, while the trans-
ports were preparing to leave Halifax harbour in June, he "sent an
order to Mr Baxter, one of ye surgeons of the settlement to visit the
vessel" to attend a passenger who was sick. Later, in June, Lawrence
records in Lunenburg that "Mr Baxter has indicated [that] the set-
tlers are in good health." This exodus of eight surgeons left fifteen
surgeons remaining in the town of Halifax, while an additional
seven were distributed throughout the province at Annapolis, Grand
Pre, and Fort Lawrence.6
Halifax in July 1753 appears7 to have had a civilian population of
approximately 3,500. It was protected by one sloop of war 8 and only
five hundred soldiers, a fact that concerned both Hopson and Law-
rence.9 The settlement at Dartmouth had all but disappeared and
was reported10 as having "not above five familys ... as there is no
trade or fishery to maintain any inhabitants and they apprehend
damage from the Indians."
THE EARLIEST ADVERTISEMENTS by medical practitioners in Halifax

appeared in the Halifax Gazette of 21 July 1753. The first of these
(Figure 5), placed by Henry Meriton in July, was also the first such
advertisement in Canada. The second, which appeared in the Gazette
in October, was inserted by Robert Grant, who, among other com-
modities, was offering medicines for sale. This same Robert Grant,
along with two other surgeons, William Merry and John Grant, pe-
titioned11 Council on 27 December 1753, stating:
that your memorialists having lately met with great difficulties in the recov-
ery of their debts, as surgeons and Apothecaries, which have occasioned
great animosities, expense, loss of time and troublesome Lawsuits to your
39 Military and Naval Surgeons, 1753-1763
Notice is hereby given to the Publick that they may be attended

during any disorder by a regular bred surgeon and apothecary, with
advice gratis, with medicines at the same rate as in England, and
without any charge for visits, unless sent for after the nine o'clock
gun firing. Likewise all persons under necessity of employing a man
midwife, may be served by
Their most humble servant,
Henry Meriton,
Surgeon, Apothecary, and Man Midwife;
Late a Dresser in St Thomas's Hospital, London, and
Pupil to the well known man midwife, Dr Smelley.
Figure 5
Text of the first newspaper advertisement by a medical practitioner in Canada. It
appeared in the Halifax Gazette of 21 July 1753.
memorialists, and to some of the subjects of this Province from the sup-
posed extravagence of medicine accompts and attendance to them charged.
Your memorialists, in order to prevent disputes of such pernicious ten-
dencies for the future, beg leave to submit the state of their accompts with
the price of their visits to the determination of your Honours.
In order to forward such a desirable end, we have transmitted to your
Honours, the lowest price of medicines under their different denominations
that we believe a living would be procured, under the strictist [sic] oeconomy
and from the best payments that could be wished for.
If this scheme shall be judged impracticable, or the prices thought too
high charged, we pray that your Honours will determine it in such other
manner as appears to you more equitable, and more likely to destroy the
feuds that are of constant attendants of suits of Law, as they are of great ex-
pence and loss of time to the parties concerned, which we shall punctually
observe.
Council, of the opinion that to regulate the price of medicine would

not only be unprecented but attended with infinitely more inconve-
nience than that complained of, denied the petition.
The lawsuits mentioned in the petition were, in fact, numerous.
John Grant had taken two people to the Supreme Court in 1753,
and at least one in 1754, for non-payment of fees for medicines and
attendance, 12 while William Merry had taken William Kneeland, a
carpenter, to the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in June 1753 for
Table i
Treatment for William Kneeland by William Merry, Surgeon, 1750—53
Date (o.s.) Medication or Treatment Fee (£ s. d.)
22 May 175° A large Bottle of Drops — 2 6

i June !75° Glauber Salts — i o
10 June !75° A Balsamic Bolus 2 -
12 June !75° Four Nervous Powders 6 -
12 June !75° A Cephalic Mixter, 8 oz 8 -
20 Aug. 1750 A Coroborating Plaster 5 -
21 Oct. !75° A Compd Emetic — 2 6
10 Feb. 1751 Antie letetic Pills, No. 16 4 -
26 Mar. i75i A Rhubarb Bolus - 2 6
29 May 1
T51 Scarborough Salts i '/* oz 3 -
4 July J75 1 A Colic Tincture 2 6 -
21 Aug. i75i A Cordial Bolus for night - 2 -
24 Sept. »75! A Hysteric Mixture, 8 oz 8 -
8 Oct. '75 1 Elixir Salutes, A Bottle 6 -
23 Oct. J
75! Spanish Liquorice - -
21 Jan. !753 Ingredts for an Enema - 2 6
22 Jan. 1753 Chemical Oyls and two Doses of Pills 5 -
Source: Halifax County Inferior Court of Common Pleas, Box 2, file 22, William Kneeland
vs. William Merry, PANS RG^y.
unpaid medical bills.13 The court records of these cases reveal the
types of medical treatment being administered in Halifax at the
time, though one can only speculate about the illnesses themselves.
A selection of these medications and treatment regimens is shown in
Tables i and 2. The first listed treatment was administered by Wil-
liam Merry, surgeon, to William Kneeland (Table i). John Grant ad-
ministered some of the same medicines as well as those listed in
Table 2 to Joseph Kent, attorney at law; John Buttler, distiller; and
John Winston, labourer. An explanation of these medicines and the
illnesses that they were expected to treat can be found in Appen-
dix 2.
These listings are found in court records because patients had
failed to pay for services rendered by their surgeon or doctor of
physic. As the petition suggests, medical practitioners found it diffi-
cult to make a living. Many were faced with the necessity of pursuing
a second occupation; for instance, William Merry and Jonathan
Prescott operated stills,15 while Henry Meriton opened on Sackville
Street a school "for the instruction of youth in reading, writing,
arithmetic, Latin, French, and dancing."16 Robert Grant, as his ad-
vertisement indicates, operated in Granville Street a store where he
41 Military and Naval Surgeons, 1753—1763
Table 2
Treatments for Joseph Kent, John Buttler, and John Winston by John Grant,
Surgeon, 1752-53
Date (o.s.) Medication or Treatment Fee (£ s. d.)
20 Aug. !752 An Anodyne Draught — 2 -

21 Aug. !752 6 oz of attenuating mixture 6 -
25 Aug. 1752 Two Pectoral Boluses 3 -
16 Sep. 1752 Two cooling Clysters 4 -
23 Sep. 1752 12 Anti Icteric Pills 6 —
31 Mar. 1752 A Dose of Purging Pills — 2 6

31 Mar. 1752 Ingred ts for a fermentation — 1 -
31 Mar. 1752 i oz. of Disgestive [sic] - 6
3 Apr. 1752 4 oz Camphereted Spts of Wine 4 -
5 Apr. 1752 Blooding - 2 6
xber 22 1752 '4 Three Asstringent Boluses 4 6
xber 22 1752 4 oz of the shavings of hartshorn — 1 -
xber 22 !752 3 oz of Issinglass — 1 6
xber 23 1752 Advice and Attendance 1 1O -
21 Jan. !752 4 ozs of gargarsm 4 -

29 Jan. !752 3 ozs of Asstringent Electuary 7 6
5jun- 1753 6 oz Detergent Decoction 6 -
Source: Halifax County Supreme Court, Box \,John Kent vs. John Grant; John Buttler vs.
John Grant; Catherine Winston vs. John Grant, PANS RG3g, series c.
sold groceries, medicines, and dry goods, while John Grant engaged
in the trading business.17
On i January 1754, Council issued its first instruction18 concern-
ing preventive measures to guard against epidemics brought into
Halifax by visiting ships. Council instructed Charles Hay, Esq., cap-
tain of the Port of Halifax, as follows:
You are to go aboard all ships, snows, brigantines, sloops, schooners com-
ing into the Harbour before they pass George's Island and you are to exam-
ine into the Health and condition of the passengers and crew, and know
from what Port they last sailed, and if you shall see any causes to suspect the
plague or an epidemical disease on board, or if the vessel came from a Port
where any sick diseases are supposed to be, you will bring the vessel to an an-
chor below the Island and forthwith make report thereof to the Governor
or Commander-in-Chief.
What prompted this action is unclear. It may be that Lawrence,19

president of the Council, had decided that in order to reduce the
probability of contagious epidemics entering Halifax from immi-

grant, military, or naval ships, it was time to establish formal quaran-
tine procedures. As drescribed in chapter i, at least three ships with
contagious epidemics on board (the Ann, the Gale, and one of the
transports for Lascelles's Regiment) had arrived in Halifax during
the first few years of settlement.
The civilian hospital at Halifax continued to have the support of
Hopson, even though he was constantly being pressured by the
Lords of Trade to reduce its staff and expenses. In July 1753, he
wrote20 to the Lords, pleading that
the Orphan House and Hospital are not by any means to be done without at
present. Your Lordships may be assured that I shall discontinue these and
all other Establishments as soon as they cease to be Indispensably necessary
... As your Lordships seem to be of [the] opinion that some of the surgeons
might be spared from the Establishment, I have made the most diligent en-
quiry into their employment with design if possible to lessen their number,
but as I have been obliged to send two to Merlequash [Lunenburg] I find the
remaining three barely sufficient to attend the Hospital and take care of the
Inhabitants in the Town and Suburbs and at Dartmouth, the greatest part
of whom are so extremely necessitous that they are by no means able to pay
for the attendance of a surgeon, neither is it worth a surgeon's while to
reside amongst them upon his practise only.
Alexander Abercrombie continued to hold the position of sur-

geon at the hospital, while Thomas Reeve and John Steele were the
surgeon's mates. Abercrombie was paid ten shillings per day, and
Reeves and Steele received five shillings. In 1754, they were assisted
by two nurses; 21 by 1755, the establishment had been reduced to
one nurse. 22 Ann Catherwood continued to be paid fifty pounds for
her midwifery services to the residents of Halifax. 23 The total ex-
pense of medical services provided in the year 1754 was £961, and
the number of patients in the hospital during the period July to De-
cember 1754 varied from a low of sixteen in September to a maxi-
mum of twenty-six in December.24
The administration and operation of the hospital was challenged
in September of 1754 when the surgeon John Grant, desiring to
contract with the government for supplying and attending the hos-
pital, petitioned Council: 25
That your Memorialist seeing the good intentions of your Honours hath
taken the liberty of inclosing you a scheme, proposing a contract for the
Hospital of Halifax, also a small allowance for medicines and attendance at
the Orphan House, which he hopes will meet with the approbation of your
Honours, as a large annual sum would be saved to the Government by such
a contract.
That he would engage to supply each patient received into the Hospital
with proper and sufficient victuals, drink, medicines, and attendance, neces-
saries and fire, candles, and nurses at a rate of i shilling, 3 pence per day in
money and the usual allowance of salt, provisions. The Government to con-
tinue the House now occupy'd as an Hospital and to supply Beds and Bed-
dings when wanted for which he would be accountable.
That he would attend and furnish medicines for the Orphan House for
10 pounds per annum.
Council replied, "The Hospital Accounts were called for and in-
spected, and it appeared therefrom that no advantage would arise
from contracting according to the Proposals contained in said Me-
morial, it appearing also, upon inquiry, that the Hospital was in
much better order and better taken care of by Mr Abercrombie, the
surgeon thereof, than could be expected from a contractor as well as
that it is upon a more certain footing and at as moderate an expence,
the Memorial was rejected." It is probably not mere coincidence that
a month earlier, on 17 August 1754, there appeared in the Halifax
Gazette a sarcastic item that cast aspersions on Dr Abercrombie's
credibility:
We hear that a certain Northern University justly infamous for Physical Di-
plomas, hath lately, by Request, transmitted one to this Place, in order to
varnish the irregular Education, and to decorate the illegal Promotion of a
Person now in a lucrative Station, in a Physical way here. It is therefore
necesary, that the Publick may not be imposed upon, to acquaint them with
the Nature of Diplomas: They are mostly confined to Theology, Physick,
and Surgery, and cannot be obtained from any creditable University, or
Corporation, but by Persons of a liberal Education, and that on the strictist
Examination, after having defended a Thesis on the subject assigned. In-
deed such as lately appeared here, may be obtained without any of the above
Requisites, as is verified for the cases of Dr Rock, and Dr A—re—bie, both
which are the merchandise of the same University, and that without having
seen, or examined the persons on whom they are conferred. The Practice of
such a University, is by all Men of Sense despised, and the Possessors of such
Diplomas held in Contempt, in so much that by a late Act of Parliament, and
a later Order of his Majesty and Council, no man can be legally admitted
into his service without undergoing a public Examination, and bringing a
Certificate of his being qualified for the office he is to be employed in. And
so greatly absurd it is, to claim Merit from such Diplomas, and producing
them as Qualifications, or as a Testimony of a regular Education, will be

ridicul'd and gain no credit, but with the Prejudiced, the Ignorant, and the
Illiterate, it being well known that such Diplomas can be obtained for a
horse, and Ass, or A-be'r.
It seems likely that the author of this statement, possibly John

Grant,26 was attempting to discredit Alexander Abercrombie in
order to render available Abercrombie's position as surgeon to the
hospital. As indicated in chapter i, John Grant had petitioned
Council in December 1751 (o.s.) to prohibit surgeons in government
pay (i.e., at the hospital, or in the military) from practising and dis-
pensing medicines to private persons for money. Council had dis-
missed the request. In January 1755, Grant wrote to the Lords of
Trade27 that he "was surprised that Mr Abercrombie, an unexperi-
enced youth without qualifications to practise physic and surgery
should be appointed" as surgeon to the hospital. Grant continued:
That your memorialist was at the setting out of this Province appointed by
your Lordships an Assisting Surgeon to this Colony, in which place, he con-
tinued labouring for two years, and being without vanity affirm, was not the
least unprofitable of the Professions, having practised the art of midwifery,
which was not common to the other surgeons upon the Establishment.
That at the death of Mr Jones, one of the Principal Surgeons, your memo-
rialist apply'd to the then Governor, Colonel Cornwallis to be appointed in
his place, humbly hoping that his past service in His Majesty's Navy of Eight
years and in this Province, with some assurances of your Lords of having the
first vacancy, would have [entitled] your memorialist thereto.
That the sums expended in the support of surgeons and mates attending
the Hospital, the victualling, and other contingent expenses thereof, is bet-
ter known to your Lords then to your memorialist, but the sums that the
Public could long ago been served for by putting the Hospital up to offers,
and fair contract at but a fifth part, as a contract would have been had for
it not exceeding two hundred pounds sterling per annum ...
That the patients of the Hospital are soldiers of the Governor's Regiment,
who are supply'd with the provisions, medicines, fire, and other necessaries
as well as with the Province surgeons, and the inhabitants that are enter-
tained, or that would accept of the Hospital, are venerals [sic], and miscre-
ants that ought not to be supported or countenanced by the Public.
After receiving an enquiry about Grant's memorial from the Lords

of Trade, Council decided to hold a "Public Enquiry ... that all per-
sons might have the opportunity to remark of what the grievances
complained of were and of informing Council whether they know
them or any of them to be true."28 In responding to Grant, Council

pointed out29 that, contrary to his assertion regarding patients with
venereal disease, only one or two per month were treated at the hos-
pital during the period July 1754 to June i755-3° Council also made
clear that it was quite happy with the performance of the surgeons
at the Hospital. "The surgeon and his mate it is well known have
been always ready to attend gratis, out of the Hospital any such poor
industrious families as have been recommended to them by persons
who have known them unable to pay the exorbitant fees too often
demanded by the private practioners here." Lawrence wrote3' to the
Lords of Trade, after the enquiry, that "John Grant is a most auda-
cious impudent fellow whose business it has been for these four
years past to breed discontent among the people." The Lords of
Trade responded32 with an apology to Lawrence, stating that they
had concluded that Grant's memorial was without the least founda-
tion.
There is a reference to one other hospital in Halifax in 1754. It
was called the Hospital for Sick and Hurt Seamen and was men-
tioned as being in Granville Street.33 A letter34 from Robert Grant
to the board of this hospital in December 1759 (o.s.) indicates that
Major Lockman, surgeon and agent for the sick, had requested that
Grant take care of the sick sent ashore on 29 October 1750 (o.s.).
Grant explained that Lockman had been appointed surgeon and
agent for the hospital by Capt. Rous, but now found that his private
business did not permit him to assume these responsibilities. In a
second letter,35 dated 4 October 1752, Robert Grant stated that he
had been appointed to act as surgeon and agent for sick seamen at
Halifax by Captain Pye, chief commander of the squadron at Hali-
fax, as "Mr Lockman had declined to act since the pay was too low."
Richard Veale, who apparently felt that he should have had the po-
sition, subsequently wrote that "he should be appointed surgeon of
Sick and Wounded in Halifax in place of the person who is now in
the position who is not a proper person to undertake the contract."36
Robert Grant held the appointment on 16 April 1753 and was still in
the position in October 1755,37 when he reported that he had
177 sick sailors from Admiral Edward Boscawen's Fleet and seventy-
nine French prisoners under treatment in sick quarters in Halifax.
He continued as surgeon and agent to the sick and wounded seamen
until at least 10 February 1757, when the question of his pay was re-
ferred to in a letter.38
The minutes of Council for 27 June 1754 refer39 to "a stonehouse
situated on Hospital Street, built by Richard Wenman." Council re-
solved that this building be appropriated for use as a workhouse or
house of correction. It is likely that Hospital Street was the street

leadi) g to the hospital that had been established in March 1750 and
was administered, in 1754, by Dr Alexander Abercrombie. The hos-
pital was south of the palisades and just beyond Horseman's Fort.40
The street was probably an extension of Barrington Street. Just
south of the hospital was the orphan house, which was administered
by Rev. John Breynton and whose matron was Mrs Ann Wenman,
wife of the Richard Wenman mentioned above. It is likely that Rich-
ard and Ann Wenman lived in the orphan house and that, adjacent
to it, was the stonehouse appropriated for use as a workhouse.
As 1754 drew to a close, the Halifax settlers appear to have been
in good health. The average number of patients in the hospital, dur-
ing the last six months of the year, was a modest twenty. However,
Lawrence, president of Council, had reported to the Lords of Trade
in June that "there had been a daily decrease in the people in this
place [Halifax] occasioned by its inability to support its inhabitants
who began to discover that they had too much neglected agricul-
ture. 4 ' How many persons left Halifax during 1754 is not known,
but it appears that none of the surgeons left. However, William
Merry, described in the Gazette as "a noted surgeon and apothecary
of this place,"42 died during the year.
At the end of its first year of settlement, Lunenburg was reported
to have 319 houses and forty huts.43 The main health concern dur-
ing this period was the lack of a midwife, so that "many of the inhab-
itants ... laboured under great disadvantage having lost many of
their children from the want of midwifes."44 This was soon reme-
died. In November 1754, the Lords of Trade informed Lawrence
that ten pounds had been added to the establishment to pay for a
midwife for Lunenburg.45
One major event which brought at least six new surgeons into
Nova Scotia was the successful attack and capture, in June 1755, of
Fort Beausejour, the French stronghold at Chignecto. Ever since the
fort had been built in 1750, Governors Cornwallis, Hopson, and
Lawrence had agonized about its influence in inciting the Indians
and in providing the Acadians with a rallying point so that they did
not feel it necessary to take the oath of allegiance. In August 1754,
Lawrence had confided Council's concern to the Lords of Trade: "I
greatly feel that this evil [attacks by Indians] can never be absolutely
and effectively removed while the French possess the north side of
the Bay of Fundy."46
Governor Shirley of Massachusetts agreed with Lawrence. His
thoughts about ridding Nova Scotia of the French were communi-
cated to Lawrence in a letter from the Lords of Trade.47 Shirley felt
that many New Englanders would be interested in settling in Nova

Scotia, but only if the French forts at Beausejour and Baie Verte
were destroyed and the French and Indians driven out of Nova
Scotia.
To effect the capture of these forts, the Lords of Trade in-
formed.48 Lawrence "that two Regiments of Foot consisting of 500
men each are to be sent to Virginia, there to be augmented by 700
men each. Orders have also [been] sent to Governor Shirley and Sir
William Pepperell to raise two Regiments of 1,000 men each." Lieu-
tenant Governor Lawrence was advised to raise three hundred men
for an attack on Fort Beausejour planned for early summer of 1755.
On 15 November 1754, Lt Col Robert Monckton, commander at
Fort Lawrence, and Captain George Scott, one of his officers, were
sent to New England for a six-month period of preparation for the
intended siege.49
On 28 May 1755, Col John Winslow, with two battalions of Gover-
nor Shirley's Regiment, consisting of approximately two thousand
men, arrived at Annapolis Royal on their way to Chignecto.50 Each
battalion had a surgeon (Miles Whitworth in the First Battalion and
Philip Geoffrey Cast in the Second) and two surgeon's mates (John
Thomas and John Tyler, First Battalion; Jacob March and Cornelius
Nye, Second).
The two battalions arrived in Chignecto on 2 June and joined the
companies of Warburton's and Lascelles's regiments stationed at
Fort Lawrence. Under Colonel Monckton, the combined English
troops, encountering very little resistance, captured Fort Beausejour
on 16 June 1755-51 The New England Provincial Troops, including
the six surgeons, remained at Chignecto until early August 1755. On
2 August, Dr Jacob March (who had accompanied a contingent of
soldiers to Petitcodiac) was killed,52 along with twenty-two soldiers,
by the French and their Indian allies. Twelve days later, Dr Miles
Whitworth left Chignecto with Colonel Winslow for Grand Pre, in
order to prepare an evacuation of the Acadians.53 He appears to
have remained at Grand Pre until at least 3 December 1755 and was
later paid thirty-seven pounds by the Council of Nova Scotia for fifty
days of attendance to the Acadians prior to their departure.54 Al-
though the Acadians at Grand Pre were notified on 5 September
1755 that they were to be expelled,55 they did not actually depart un-
til late October.56 A further 1,664 Acadians from the environs of
Annapolis Royal were embarked57 on 8 December. Records indicate
that the only two surgeons available to provide medical attendance
for the Acadians in Grand Pre and environs were Doctors Whit-
worth and de Rodohan.58
THE FIRST FLEET OF ROYAL NAVY SHIPS ever to arrive in Halifax

dropped anchor during the summer of 1755. This fleet, ordered to
intercept all French reinforcements sent to America,59 had been
stricken with illness. So many sailors were incapacitated that the vice-
admiral of the fleet, Edward Boscawen, decided to put into Halifax,
arriving on 9 July. The sickness could have been the smallpox
acquired from French sailors taken prisoner by Boscawen's Fleet. A
smallpox epidemic had reportedly broken out in Louisbourg in June
1
755-6° On 12 July, Boscawen wrote61 that, out of the 6,154 men
under his command, i ,624 were sick with "inflamatory fever." Four
days later, "Our sick increase dayly. We are now erecting tents and
repairing houses for their reception on shore."62 By September, it
was reported63 that "the people [in Halifax] are very sickly," indica-
ting that the illness brought by the fleet had spread to the local
residents. Captain John Rous wrote to Col John Winslow from
Halifax64 that "the Fleet is in high spirits notwithstanding there has
been great destruction among them by sickness." The severity of this
destruction can be established from the records of the Hospital for
Sick and Hurt Seamen, administered by Robert Grant, surgeon. He
reports that, between 18 October and 18 November, seventy-six of
the 177 who had been captured by Boscawen's Fleet and held in the
hospital had died.65 Although Williams66 does not mention this out-
break, Figure 6, below, shows that the epidemic did in fact spread to
the civilians of Halifax.67 The average death rate among them, dur-
ing the six months preceding the arrival of the fleet, was nine per
month, whereas the rate increased by a factor of four to thirty-six
per month through September, October, and November of 1755.
The surgeon William Urquhart died in Halifax in August 1755,68
possibly from the epidemic.
Two other surgeons are found in the records of Halifax in 1755,
John Day and Dr Head. John Day was mentioned briefly in the pre-
vious chapter in connection with land allotments. It has not been as-
certained whether subsequent references are to the same person, or
to two or more persons of the same name who lived in Halifax dur-
ing the first decade of its settlement. In any case, there is no further
mention of the name until 20 October 1755, when a John Day was
married at St Paul's to the widow Sarah Mercer. The next mention
appears in the report of an autopsy performed by John Day on the
body of one Catherine Mackintosh, in Halifax. Day indicates in the
autopsy report that he was a surgeon,69 and on 10 August, Admiral
Boscawen appointed him as a surgeon's assistant in Nova Scotia.70
In the year 1768, John Day was granted71 two thousand acres of
land near Windsor, Hants County, "for service as surgeon in the
Naval Hospital."
Figure 6
Civilian deaths in Halifax from January 1755 to August 1756. Death totals for
each month have been taken from the five sources described in note 67, chapter 2.
1 Smallpox epidemic reported at Louisbourg in June, 1755

2 Arrival of Boscawen's Fleet, 7 July 1755 with prisoners from Louisbourg.
3 No burial records for St Paul's Church for July 1755.
4 Period in which 121 seamen and prisoners died in hospital.
A Dr Head was in Halifax as early as 4 October 1754 and was

listed72 as being of the Success, a Royal Navy sloop73 commanded by
Capt. John Rous. It is possible that Dr Head was its surgeon. Appar-
ently, he was resident in Halifax on 30 March 1755, for on that date
he was recorded as taking over responsibility for an inmate of the or-
phan house.74 It is likely that the Dr Head mentioned in the William
Best Account Book was Dr Michael Head, known to have been in
Halifax as early as 1759 and to have resided, during the period
1765—1805, in various other towns in Nova Scotia.75
After the Acadians had been deported from Nova Scotia in the
late fall of 1755, the New England Troops at Grand Pre and
Chignecto were transferred to Halifax to provide protection76 during
the winter of 1755—56. Colonel John Winslow arrived with his
troops from Grand Pre77 on 19 November 1755, and Major Jedidiah
Prebble brought his men from Chignecto78 on 9 December 1755. It
is likely that John Tyler, Miles Whitworth, Cornelius Nye, Philip
Cast, and John Thomas, the surviving surgeons sent with the New
England Troops, spent the winter with the men in Halifax. The New
Figure 7
Plan of Halifax showing line of forts, batteries, and all buildings in the town, circa
June 1755. The story of the acquisition of this plan is given in note 76, chapter 2.
(Original in PRO State Papers Domestic, Naval, 1711-1755, vol. 38, folio 224; a
reproduction can be found in PANS 00217, 15:256)
England hospital mentioned in William Best's Account Book79 in

February 1756 was probably established for these soldiers and was
located in a building on the property of John Solomon whose house
was referred to as "the Hospital house."80
In March, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts was reported81 to
have hired a number of vessels which "were shortly expected in the
Harbour to transport the New England Troops now in the Province
to Boston as soon as the term was expired for which they were en-
gaged." Capt. Richard Spry wrote from Halifax that "the Vulture [a
sloop], sailed on the gth April with 12 transports having 900 New
England troops on board, which are recalled from this Province."82
The departure of the New England Provincial Troops from Nova
Scotia left the province defended by the regulars of the 4oth, 45th,
and 47th Regiments, which had been stationed in Nova Scotia since
1750. On 21 June 1756, the army returns83 gave a total of 2,079
men in the three regiments, with 1,018 rank and hie in Halifax and
354 stationed at Chignecto. The remaining soldiers were located at
Annapolis Royal (114), Pisiquid (146), Lunenburg (114), Lawrence-
town (32), Sackville (31), Dartmouth (45), and George's Island
(32). Four military surgeons were in the province: William Skene of
the Fortieth at Annapolis Royal; Richard Veale of the 45th at
Chignecto; and surgeon and surgeon's mate Arthur Price and John
Tyler of the 47th at Halifax.
The sickness that prevailed during the fall of 1755 continued into
early 1756. On 18 April of that year, Captain Spry wrote84 of his sea-
man, "Numbers of our people are so weak and sickly that they can-
not be taken on board" ships on the harbour. There was also a high
level of mortality among civilians during the months of January to
April 1756, as shown in Figure 6.
In May 1756, Britain declared war on France.85 By 29 November,
the three regiments in Nova Scotia had been increased in strength86
to a total of 2,702 men. On 4 February 1757, Whitehall wrote to
Governor Lawrence that seven regiments, including 5,990 soldiers
together with a train of artillery, Ordnance stores, a corps of Engi-
neers, and four companies of Artillery, were to embark from Cork
for Halifax at the end of February.87 These regiments did not sail
until 8 May, arriving in Halifax on 9 July.88 They were carried on
forty-five transports and accompanied by a fleet of fifteen ships of
war and 7,135 seamen under the command of Admiral Holburne.
The hospital ship Alderney sailed as one of this armada of sixty-one
vessels. In addition to the more than twelve thousand men brought
to Halifax by Holburne, two other smaller bodies of military and
naval personnel had arrived in Halifax during the previous two
weeks. Sir Charles Hardy had arrived89 on 30 June with six ships
and 951 men, while Lord Loudon arrived from New York on the
same day with four regiments totalling about five thousand sol-
diers.90 In July 1757, there were in excess of twenty thousand sol-
diers and seaman in Halifax 91 and a civilian population of about
three thousand.
It was probably during late July 1757 that Lieutenant Thomas Da-
vies of the Royal Artillery painted the first view of Halifax. He enti-
tled his painting, "A View of Hallifax [sic] in Nova Scotia taken from
Cornwallis [later McNab's] Island with a Squadron going off to
Louisbourgh [sic] in the year 1757" (Figure 8). Lieutenant Davies
had arrived in Halifax with Admiral Holburne's Fleet on 9 July
1757. Although it is not possible to distinguish in this painting the ci-
vilian hospital building (the hospital administered by Dr Abercrom-
bie), it would have been located in one of the large buildings
immediately behind the topmast of the vessel in the foreground.
The Hospital for Sick and Hurt Seamen, which, as noted earlier,
had been administered by Robert Grant since as early as 1750, was
reorganized in 1757, so that:
such sick and wounded seamen as may be set on shore there for cure, will be
provided for in much better manner, not only in the articles of Physic and
Surgery, but also in that of diet, than can be possibly expected from the
method now practiced; for with regard to their cure, we have in our said
plan which is herewith enclosed, and which we desire you [the secretary of
the Admiralty] to lay before their Lordships, so amply provided for their as-
sistance in that respect, by the proposed number of surgeons [five] and the
allowances to be made them, in order to induce fit people to accept those
employs, as we hope will not fail of answering the good purposes designed
by this alteration: our principal motive for which is, that it cannot reason-
ably be supposed that in a business so extensive, one man with a few assis-
tants, he may be able to procure in that quarter of the world can be sufficient
to properly attend it; and to show their Lordships, we offer this plan to
them purely for the good of His Majesty's service, without meaning any re-
flection upon Mr Grant; we beg leave, if their Lordships should be pleased
to suffer it to take place, to recommend him to be Principal Surgeon.
The proposed establishment was to consist of one surgeon at £200

per annum; two assistant surgeons at £150 each; two under assistant
surgeons at £80 each; one dispenser at £80; one agent at £200; two
clerks to the agent at £50 each; medicines, instruments, "and such
necessaries as cannot be well procured at Nova Scotia, to be sent
from hence"; five hundred suits of bedding, "and Mr Grant's bed-
Figure 8
"A View of Hallifax [sic] in Nova Scotia from Cornwallis Island, with a Squadron
going off to Louisbourgh [sic] in the year 1757," by Thomas Davies (1737-1812).
Watercolour, pen, and black ink on laid paper. (National Gallery of Canada
No. 6268)
Figure 9
Patients in the naval hospital at Halifax, 1757—61.
1 Arrival of 12,000 soldiers and seamen in Halifax, g July, 1757

2 Landing of English troops at Louisbourg, 8 June, 1758
3 Louisbourg surrenders to the English, 26 July, 1758
ding to be taken off his hands at an equitable valuation"; and the

houses used by Grant as hospitals, to be hired for the Crown.92 The
location of the houses used by Robert Grant as hospitals is not
known. In addition to Grant, surgeon and agent, one of the assistant
surgeons is known93 to have been Godfrey Webb. It is probable that
John Baxter was the second assistant surgeon, while the under assis-
tant surgeons could have been John Grant94 and a Mr McCormick.95
On 16 July 1757, Governor Lawrence indicated to Council that
"the Earl of Loudon had, this day, represented to him that a fever
was beginning to spread amongst the Troops under his Lordships
Command, occasioned by the great quantities of rum that are sold to
the soldiers by unlicensed retailers, and that ... this if it continues
must unavoidably prove of fatal consequences to His Majesty's Ser-
vice."96 This was obviously a very contagious fever; it is recorded
that in July 1757, up to 949 patients, attended by thirty-two nurses,
were victualled in the naval hospital.97 Figure 9 shows the number
of seamen in the naval hospital during the period July 1757 to
March 1761. Records of the number in the naval hospital for the
months prior to July 1757 have not been found. Robert Grant was
dismissed from his position as surgeon and agent at Halifax on

23 September 1757, "for issuing slops to the sick and wounded sea-
men put under his care." He was replaced on the same day by First
Assistant Surgeon Godfrey Webb.98 It is likely that John Baxter was
appointed agent to the Hospital for Sick and Hurt Seamen on or
shortly after 23 September;99 it is recorded that he held that posi-
tion as early as 28 April 1758.100
It is difficult to assess whether the fever among the soldiers and
seamen had a significant effect on Lord Loudon and Admiral
Holburne's decision, in August 1757, to postpone the invasion of
Louisbourg. Their obvious concern over the severity of sickness
among their men is indicated in a letter from Holburne to John
Cleveland, secretary of the Admiralty. It read, in part, "We had be-
tween 900 and i ,000 men put ashore to the Hospital where I must
leave 500 sick, besides 200 dead since we sailed."101 As mentioned
earlier, Admiral Holburne had sailed from Spithead on 8 May, ap-
proximately three months previously. Almost all of the two hundred
deaths are reported to have taken place after Holburne and his men
arrived in Halifax on 9 July 1757-102 Loudon and Holburne had de-
termined, also, that the French at Louisbourg numbered six thou-
sand regular troops, three thousand men resident at Louisbourg,
thirteen hundred Indians, and seventeen ships of war.103 In con-
trast, the English force at Halifax numbered over twenty thousand
soldiers and seamen, with twenty-one ships of war.104 It would ap-
pear that the English had almost twice as many men as the French as
well as four more ships of war.
The cancellation of the siege of Louisbourg in 1757 was very un-
popular in London and New England. As a letter in Gentleman's
Magazine put it, "Lord Loudon and Admiral Holburne have been
censured for not attempting a descent on Cape Breton."105 Both
Lord Loudon and Admiral Holburne were soon replaced,106 Loudon
after his return from Halifax to New York, and Holburne after his
return to England in the fall of 1757-107
It is possible, however, that both Loudon and Holburne realized
that the fever was so serious among the seamen and troops in
Halifax that it would have been unwise to attempt an attack on
Louisbourg. Neither Loudon nor Holburne mentions sickness as the
main reason for calling off the siege, but it must have been of epi-
demic proportions. In September 1757, the governor acquainted108
Council that it was to consider measures that could prevent the
spread of the smallpox. Dr Abercrombie reported "that many of the
families109 in the Town were infected and that it would be very dif-
ficult to stop [the epidemic]." Further, "The several surgeons should
Figure 10
Deaths in Halifax during the period June 1757 to May 1758. The number of
deaths for each month has been taken from the five sources listed in note 67,
chapter 2.
1 Arrival of Lord London's and Sir Charles Hardy's Forces.

2 Arrival of Admiral Holburne's Fleet.
3 Lord Loudon indicates "fever" is spreading among the Troops.
4 Dr. Abercrombie indicates smallpox is rampant in the Town.
be desired not to inoculate110 any person." On 2 August, John Knox,

a military officer in Halifax, wrote, 111 "The Royal [ist] Regiment
with 700 rank and file only have been very sickly," and that "it ap-
pears that since this Army last embarked at their respective ports, if
they were then actually complete, have suffered by sickness, etc.,
and perhaps a few deaths, to the amount of 612 men." On i Septem-
ber, Knox recorded that "the Alderney, the Hospital Ship, one of our
squadron, has landed [at Chignecto] several sick men, and a house is
provided for their reception. Their disorders are spotted fevers and
dysenteries. It is remarkable that 17 men have died on board the
ship in the short passage from Halifax here, which exceeds the num-
ber lost by the seven Regiments in their long voyage from Europe."
As was the case in the fall of 1755, the epidemic brought by the fleet
spread to the civilian population. The number of deaths occurring
in Halifax during the fall of 1757 increased rapidly over previous
months (Figure 10). It is clear that the smallpox represented a very
serious epidemic in Halifax during October, November, and De-
cember of that year.
JJ. Heagerty, in his writings on the history of medicine in Canada,

describes an attempt by the French to introduce smallpox into Hal-
ifax in August 1757. Immediately after the French captured Fort
William Henry near Lake Champlain, Montcalm is alleged to have
ordered that a number of the British prisoners taken at the fort who
were ill with smallpox be shipped to Halifax. Heagerty points out
that this attempt to transfer the dreaded disease to the enemy back-
fired, since it is said that all of the prisoners recovered en route and
than took command of the ship after their French guards contracted
smallpox and died almost to a man.
John Grant, mentioned earlier in this chapter in connection with
the dispute among surgeons over the administration and operation
of the civilian hospital in Halifax, died in September 1757, possibly
of the smallpox.112 He had continued his campaign against what he
considered to be the improper operation of the hospital and was one
of the committee of freeholders of Halifax who complained in a
petition113 to the Lords of Trade, early in 1757, about Governor
Lawrence's inactivity in establishing a House of Representatives, the
lack of adequate defences for the town, the use of coercion of get
inhabitants to enlist in the various regiments stationed in Halifax,
and the use and condition of the hospital.114
The Expense of the Government for surgeons and medicines is very great
near £1,000 a year besides the great expense of a Hospital such as cooks,
nurses, washerwoman, bedding, soap, candles, wood, and provisions that is
generally occupied by the soldiers of Hopson's Regiment and a few miscre-
ants of the Town for no sober industrious people will go there for a "cure"
to live among soldiers in the greatest riot and confusion as the people who
go into this Hospital are of the vilent [sic] sort. How much better it would be
to have them in a workhouse with a resident apothecary of £20 per annum
to exhibit medicines which could be prescribed by the practising surgeons of
the Town which they would most readily attend to monthly gratis and as to
what may be alleged with respect to the industrious poor being assisted by
the means of those surgeons now in Pay. The contrary is pretty well known
and that they spend most of their time in attending upon the Governor and
place men, with favorite Officers and their families, and leave the poor in-
habitants to the mercy of such, as may from necessity be obliged to attend
them.
Upon his departure, Lord Loudon left the three regiments for-
merly in the province (Hopson's 4oth, Warburton's 45th, and Las-
celles' 47th) and three other regiments (the Royals, or ist; Bragg's
28th; and Kennedy's 43rd) in Nova Scotia. Colonel Bragg's 28th
Regiment was posted to Fort Cumberland, formerly Fort Beause-
jour; Colonel Kennedy's 43rd was posted to Annapolis Royal and

Pisiquid; and the Royals [the ist Regiment], was stationed at Halifax
for the winter. 115 In addition, Admiral Holburne left eight ships to
winter in Halifax for the colony's protection,116 and Admiral Col-
ville was placed in command at Halifax, in the winter of 1757-58.117
During that winter, plans were made in London to send a large
military and naval force to Halifax to prepare for an attack on
Louisbourg during the late spring or early summer of 1758. The
first segment to arrive in Halifax was that of Sir Charles Hardy, who
had returned to England from Halifax in September 1757, after the
cancellation of the siege of Louisbourg. 118 Now, his six ships of war
were anchored in Halifax harbour on 19 March 1758. Hardy wrote
to the Secretary of the Admiralty on 22 March: "The Borias [a frig-
ate] which arrived here before me brought in a very sickly ships
Company."119 Although the smallpox epidemic of late 1757 had de-
clined significantly in early 1758 (Figure 10) there were still 322 sick
seamen in the naval hospital and 171 sick on board the ten ships of
war in the harbour on 22 March 1758, representing 13.6 percent of
the seamen in Halifax. The report 120 of the state and condition of
His Majesty's ten ships in Halifax indicated that 201 seamen belong-
ing to these ships had died since 18 October 1757.
Admiral Boscawen, who had been appointed the naval com-
mander for the forthcoming siege of Louisbourg, arrived 121 in Hal-
ifax with twelve ships of war on 8 May 1758. This brought to
twenty-two the number of warships in Halifax harbour, manned by
a total of 9,525 seamen, of whom 1,070 (11.2 percent) were sick. 122
Boscawen brought not only seamen but also more sickness. Two of
his ships, the Devonshire and the Pembroke, were ultimately left in
Halifax during the siege of Louisbourg: "I leave [them] here being
sickly."123
Major General Jeffery Amherst sailed124 into Halifax harbour on
28 May on the Dublin and transferred immediately to Boscawen's
flagship Namur, the largest of the twenty-three ships of war. Am-
herst wrote in his journal that "the Dublin went very sickly into Hal-
ifax." His brother, Col William Amherst, wrote 125 from Halifax on
28 May, "We went on board the Namur, Admiral Boscawen, leaving
the Dublin to go into the Harbour to water and put her sick on shore,
having near two hundred [sick], fourteen died on the voyage."
General Jeffery Amherst was appointed the military commander
for the siege of Louisbourg and was to have thirteen regiments, 126 a
company of Rangers, a train of Artillery, and a corps of Engineers,
totalling 13,463 personnel, under his command. Boscawen and Am-
herst sailed from Halifax on 29 May for Louisbourg with an armada
of 157 sail,127 transporting 14,215 soldiers and approximately 8,000

seamen, or a combined force of 22,215 men. Halifax was left to be
defended by two regiments, the thirty-fifth and the forty-third, con-
sisting of 1,589 army personnel. Many of the soldiers remaining in
Halifax were ill, however, and Lieutenant Governor Monckton in-
formed 128 Council, on 2 June 1758, "that the Town was at present,
but in a weak state of defence on account of the small number of
troops left here, and many of them sick."
John Knox wrote in his journal on 28 May that "the barracks
evacuated by the 45th Regiment [is] being prepared as a hospital for
the reception of the sick that are unable to proceed on the expedi-
tion, every Corps is forthwith to send their sick to that Hospital
where the Deputy Director wil receive them."129 This hospital was
probably the realization of the general hospital that Lord Loudon
had intended to establish in 175713° and was, by November 1758,
under the directorship of William Adair, Esquire.131 It was located
on the south side of Blowers Street and opposite the entrance to Ar-
gyle Street.132 This meant that in June 1758, there were at least
three hospitals in Halifax: the naval hospital, probably located on
Granville Street (since the construction of the King's Naval Yard was
not started until the spring of 1759133) and administered by Agent
John Baxter, with Godfrey Webb as surgeon;134 the general mili-
tary hospital, located on Blowers Street and directed by William
Adair, surgeon; and the hospital for civilians built in 1750 and
administered until October 1750 by Matthew Jones, who was then
succeeded by Alexander Abercrombie.
The sickness brought to Halifax by army and navy personnel in
May 1758 seems not to have spread to the civilian population as it
did in 1757. This can be seen by comparing the number of deaths in
Halifax during each month following May 1758 (Figure 10) with the
number of deaths during the months following the arrival of Lord
Loudon in June 1757. There is no evidence in the primary-source
material to suggest that the sickness among the armed forces in Hal-
ifax in 1758 was smallpox. It could have been what was frequently
referred to during the eighteenth century as "intermittent fever,"
scurvy, or a combination of these.135
Shortly after the English force arrived at Louisbourg on 2 June
1758, it was discovered that smallpox had broken out among the
troops. Nathaniel Knap, a carpenter from New England who was a
member of the attacking force, wrote136 on 17 June 1758, "Some of
our people was took sick" and, on 18 June, "Building a house for our
sick to live in." Between 19 and 30 June, Knap himself was ill with
smallpox but recovered and continued building the hospital for
Figure 11
"Part of the Town and harbour of Halifax in Nova Scotia looking down George
Street to the opposite shore called Dartmouth," drawn by Richard Short. One of
six engravings of different views of Halifax done by Short. See note 133,
chapter 2. (Art Gallery of Nova Scotia)
6i Military and Naval Surgeons, 1753-1763
the English troops at Louisbourg. General Amherst wrote137 on

23 June, "Colonel Messervy and most of his carpenters [have] taken
ill of the smallpox." On 28 June, "Col. Messervy and his son both
died this day, and of his Company of carpenters of 108 men, all but
16 in the smallpox."
The smallpox was obviously rampant among the French as well, as
Boscawen pointed out in a letter on 13 September: "I have sent all
the recover'd French soldiers and sailors from the French Hospitals
strictly to France as they have an epidemical disorder amongst them
which I am afraid will break out again in their passage to Europe.
They have buried many since the surrender of the Town."138 This
epidemical fever and other disorders ensured that much sickness
was brought to Halifax by the English soldiers returned there. On
2 November, Governor Lawrence wrote139 to William Adair, direc-
tor of the general military hospital in Halifax, that he had received
a memorial from Colonels Murray, Howe, and Young, of the 15th,
58th, and 6oth regiments, indicating that:
the respective corps under their command are, from the fatigues of the
compaign, now labouring in extraordinary numbers under epidemical
fevers and fluxes and that it is impossible with the Regimental Surgeons and
their allowances, to provide for and assist the ailing men ... They have asked
that I would order you to establish such a General Hospital as may be suf-
ficient for the relief of those thought fit to direct and you are hereby re-
quired and directed to give such assistance to the Regimental Hospitals
before your departure from hence as to you shall appear necessary and ex-
pedient, and you are to take special care that the same be done with the ut-
most frugality and oeconomy, and to leave directions with the Principal
Surgeon that he make report in writing to me or the Commander-in-Chief
when ever the same may, in his opinion, be discontinued with safety to His
Majesty's Service.
The year 1758 ended with two noteworthy incidents in Halifax.

On 9 December, John Day, mentioned earlier in this chapter, en-
tered an advertisement for drugs and medicines in the Halifax Ga-
zette. This is the first advertisement for drugs, and Day's store on
Hollis Street could be considered the first drugstore established in
Halifax. The second incident was the submission of a petition by
Ann Catherwood, the midwife, on 18 December 1758 asking for
leave of absence because of ill health. 14° She was granted leave and
received a certificate for her "excellent services as Provincial Mid-
wife."141 Mrs Catherwood was absent for at least the next two or
three years. Chief Justice Belcher, appointed142 early in 1761 to ad-
minister the province after Charles Lawrence died143 in October

1760, reported144 to the Lords of Trade that "the allowance for mid-
wifery by the absence of Mrs Catherwood beyond the time of her li-
cence being in the disposition of the Government and one person
not being sufficient for the duty, I have appointed two persons at the
same salary to be divided between them and the rather as one of
them Mrs Triggs145 from her long residence here and skill, fidelity,
and charity to the poorer settlers deserved this consideration for her
services."
THE NEXT YEAR opened with an announcement 146 by the Lords of

Trade to Governor Lawrence that they were omitting the item in the
1759 estimate147 which listed the projected expenses of the hospital.
This reduction was "expressly ordered by His Majesty [George II] to
be defrayed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Military and should
not therefore be inserted in your estimate." The hospital in question
was the civilian hospital established in 1750 and administered by Al-
exander Abercrombie. As noted in Figure 12, the grant from White-
hall to administer the province of Nova Scotia had decreased from
£58,559 in 1753 toent.
Their objective, of cour
eventually have the province self-supporting. They were also aware,
probably, that in 1754, the expenses related to health care in Nova
Scotia were only 2.5 percent of the total grant, whereas in 1758,
medical expenses had risen to 8.8 percent. The Lords of Trade most
likely felt that civilians could be cared for at the many government-
supported military and naval hospitals existing in Halifax in 1759.
Governor Lawrence was concerned that, if the administration and
expenses of the hospital in question were put in the hands of the mil-
itary, the hospital would disappear after the military left Halifax.
This may be why he again included the hospital expenses in the es-
timates148 for 1760. Lawrence reminded the Lords of Trade that the
hospital had been established for civilians:
The article of the Expenses of the Hospital was inserted in a List of partic-
ulars ordered in the year 1757, to be thence forward paid out of the military
contingent money, but being at the same time continued amongst the arti-
cles for which the Grant for the Colony for 1758 was made it was accord-
ingly paid out of that fund and the Establishment thereof having from the
commencement of the settlement been wholly for the benefit of the neces-
sitous Inhabitants exclusive of any of the troops (who have all along had
their several Hospitals). It was presumed that it had been designed to be
Figure 12
Annual grant (in British pounds) from Whitehall for the province of Nova Scotia
and for the civilian hospital, the orphan house, and all medical services,
1753-63. Information obtained from sources listed in note 146, chapter 2.
continued in the List of the Colony expenses, and was accordingly inserted
in the estimate of the year 1759 of which their Lordships of the Board of
Trade having disapproved and not inserted in that years Grant it would not
have been again inserted in this Estimate but that if the Expenses of it
should not be thought proper to be allowed out of the Military Fund for the
reasons before mentioned, and no provision for it should be made in the

Colony Grant, the loss of it would be very distressing. It is therefore again
here stated and humbly submitted to their Lordships consideration.
The Lords of Trade responded149 that "we must now however

omit this opportunity of acquainting you that it is not in our power
to admit the expenses of the Hospital being put upon the civil estab-
lishment. His Majesty having given special directions that it should
be considered and defrayed as a military contingent service, and
therefore the expense of it must be demanded of the Commander-
in-Chief." As shown in Figure 12 the civilian hospital did not receive
further yearly grants. In November 1767, Hibbert Newton and
others, overseers of the poor, were empowered to use the hospital as
an alms house.150
The decision by George II to discontinue funding for the civilian
hospital is not at all surprising, given that it had never been the pol-
icy of the British government to support hospitals. As noted in the
Introduction, hospitals that were founded in the eighteenth century
usually owed their existence to wealthy manufacturers and mer-
chants rather than to the landed rich or to government. In Halifax,
the decline and eventual closing of the civilian hospital does not ap-
pear to have been opposed in any way by the few wealthy merchants
in the town.
Although the soldiers and seamen had brought so much sickness
to Halifax from 1755-58, and the Lords of Trade would not change
their policy to allow the civilian hospital to continue as such, Law-
rence was convinced that the presence of the army and navy had a
positive effect on the continued existence of Halifax. In an ad-
dress151 to the House of Assembly in December 1759, he said, "Had
it not been for the annual sums graciously granted and the money
circulating amongst us from Fleets and Armys, this Town and its en-
virons so much improved, must have sunk in misery."
THE MILITARY AND NAVY were still very numerous in the province in
1759. On 17 March, Admiral Phillip Durell, Commander-in-Chief
of the Fleet in America during the winter of 1758—59, reported152
that he had twelve ships in Halifax carrying a total of 5,419 seamen.
Only 271 (or five percent) of these men were sick on that date, with
157 in the hospital on shore and the remaining 114 on their respec-
tive ships in the harbour. He lists three ships under his command as
being berthed at Louisbourg and manned by 1,148 seamen.
Admiral Charles Saunders, who had arrived in Halifax on i May

1759, wrote153 to the Secretary of the Admiralty on 6 June that he
had left Halifax with twelve ships for Louisbourg on 12 May and
then left Louisbourg on 4 June for the St Lawrence River with a total
of twenty-two ships and 119 other sailing vessels. Saunders lamented
the fact that there were so many French prisoners and inhabitants in
the hospitals at Louisbourg that there was little room for those of his
own men who were sick.
One of the hospitals mentioned in Admiral Saunders's letter was
the Grand Battery Hospital.154 A second hospital known to have
been extant at Louisbourg in 1759 was constructed by order of Gen-
eral Jeffery Amherst155 and referred to by Nathaniel Knap, one of
the carpenters who carried out the construction of the hospital dur-
ing the summer and fall of 1758.1-56 The latter hospital was still
being maintained by the English in February 1759, when a great
quantity of medicines was prepared, presumably in England, for use
in the hospitals at Halifax and Louisbourg.157
With the fall of Quebec on 18 September 1759, Admiral Saunders
returned to England and left Admiral Colville with a strong squad-
ron at Halifax for the winter. On 7 November, Colville reported158
that he had eight ships and a total ofd,
320 of whom (13.3 percent) were sick. This force remained in Hal-
ifax until 22 April 1760, when Colville sailed for the St Lawrence.159
In December 1759, the naval hospital at Halifax was reported16" to
have as patients a total of 231 seamen and sixty marines.
On 28 June 1759, Council considered161 the memorial of Mr John
Phillipps, surgeon, to the effect that, since Johann B. Erad's death in
March 1757, Phillipps had filled the office of surgeon at Lunenburg
and had also acted as man-midwife. He asked to be paid for his ser-
vices. Council noted that Dr Phillipps had performed the services of
a surgeon at Lunenburg from March 1757 to August 1759, for
which Dr Leonard Lockman, who was absent from Lunenburg dur-
ing the period, had been paid. Dr Lockman explained to Council
that he had left Lunenburg in March 1757 for health reasons and
had resided in Halifax at the time in question. Council decided to
cease paying Lockman and installed John Phillipps as surgeon at
Lunenburg at a pay of three shillings per day, and also awarded
Phillipps £150 for his past services. The only mention168 of a hospi-
tal at Lunenburg during its first decade of its existence was in May
1759, in a return of births and cradles at the settlements, which con-
tains the information: "14 births in the Hospital which has 5 cra-
dles."
The year 1760 saw the arrival of the first settlers belonging to the
fourth major group163 of immigrants to settler in Nova Scotia since
1749. As early as 1754, Governor Shirley had indicated164 that "a
considerable number of people from New England [would] settle
[there]," assuming that the French and Indians would be forced
from the province. No serious attempt was made to settle New En-
glanders on the lands vacated by the Acadians or elsewhere in the
province until after the capture of Louisbourg, which took place on
26 July 1758.
On 12 October 1758, Lawrence issued a proclamation165 related
to the settling of the vacant lands. The proclamation was revised166
on 11 January 1759 to conform to concerns raised by the Lords of
Trade, to whom Lawrence wrote167 in December 1758 that he had
been informed that hundreds of families in the colonies of Connect-
icut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts were preparing to take up
land in Nova Scotia. Their reasons for leaving New England were
the excellent fertility of the land in Nova Scotia and the burdensome
taxation and growing population in the colonies.
In May 1759, the first land grants were made, in the recently es-
tablished township of Horton,168 to 197 persons from Connecticut.
Lawrence estimated169 that the thirteen townships surveyed in Nova
Scotia would be populated by 650 families (3,250 persons) in 1760;
1300 families (6,000 persons) in 1761; and 600 families (3,000 per-
sons) in 1762. On 11 May 1760, Lawrence wrote170 that fifty families
had arrived in Liverpool, and forty had arrived at Minas and
Piziquid. On 16 June, he wrote171 that there were seventy families at
Liverpool and families arriving in Horton, Cornwallis, and Falmouth.
On 12 December, Jonathan Belcher, who was administering the gov-
ernment after Lawrence's death in October, sent a record172 of the
state of the new settlements in Nova Scotia, which indicated that the
New England settlers who had arrived in eight townships totalled
approximately 520 families, comprising some 1,900 persons.
Whereas thirty-six surgeons, mates, and apothecaries, had accom-
panied the Cornwallis settlers, and thirteen surgeons had arrived
with the foreign Protestants, only four persons referred to as doctor
and physician (rather that surgeon) were with the New England set-
tlers. Two of these, Samuel Willoughby of Cornwallis Township and
Jonathan Woodbury of Yarmouth, later of Granville and Wilmot,
continued for many years to practise in the province.173 Richard
Sears, referred to as a physician, came to Horton probably in 1760
and died there in June 1762.174 The fourth doctor, Samuel Oats,
was listed as such in a return of the inhabitants and stock in in the
township of Yarmouth at Cape Forchu on 21 June 1762.175 He was
still in Yarmouth Township on 18 October 1762,176 but his where-

abouts after that date are uncertain.' 77 Other settlers said to have
given medical aid to the New Englanders were Benoni Sweet178 in
Falmouth, and Mrs Elizabeth Doane179 in Barrington. Mrs Doane
was referred to as an "expert midwife ... incomparably well skild [sic]
in fisick [sic] and surgery."
In December 1759, the Council prepared a bill180 entitled an Act
to Prevent the spreading of Contagious Distempers, which was then
submitted for consideration by the House of Assembly. Surpris-
ingly, as Jonathan Belcher, president of the Council, reported181 to
the Lords of Trade, the House of Assembly rejected the bill. How-
ever, in the same month a vessel arrived in Halifax from Louisbourg
and landed some people with smallpox. Council reacted by adopting
a resolution that all vessels coming into Halifax harbour must be
stopped at George's Island.182 Council sent to the House a new bill
concerning contagious diseases, a revision of the former one com-
posed after examination of similar bills that had been enacted in
other colonies.183 It received first reading on 25 July 1761.l84
There appears to have been, in August 1760, a significant number
of sick patients in the Louisbourg hospital. John Baxter, who had re-
ported185 the state of the Halifax hospital in April 1760, was listed
as surgeon at the Louisbourg hospital in August of that year and re-
ported that he had 398 patients sick with fevers, fluxes, and the
scurvy.186 At the same time, there were about 150 patients at the
naval hospital in Halifax, where Lord Colville had been ordered to
winter with ten ships of war. l87 In April 1761, Lord Colville wrote188
to the secretary of the Admiralty that he had now spent three win-
ters in Halifax and that "scurvy never fails to pull us down in great
numbers, upon our going to sea in the spring." Sickness does not
appear, however, to have been too severe during the winter of
1760—61, for on 6 April 1761, Colville reported189 having 3,563 sea-
men under his command at Halifax (twelve ships of war), of whom
only 161 (4.5 percent) were sick.
The effective demise of the civilian hospital took place in 1761,
while the orphan house was reorganized at the request of the Lords
of Trade. They instructed190 Jonathan Belcher that "the salary for
a surgeon191 at Halifax and the allowance for medicine money
should cease immediately, as well as the pay of the coroner and his
Juries." They continued:
The only article of the estimate [referring to the estimate for 1761] which
we have anything to observe is the Orphan House, not that we object to the
Establishment itself, but merely to what we think is an abuse of it. It is stated
in Govr Lawrence's Account of the conduct of this charity that the children
of the poorer sort of people, tho' not orphans, have frequently been admit-
ted by which means a new object is introduced, the expense of the public
augmented, and the plan of the charity enlarged, which was meant, in its in-
stitution, simply to afford relief to those who by death of their parents
would not probably be provided for by others and who were incapable of
providing for themselves. We think likewise that a considerable reduction
might be made in the salary of the person to whom the inspection of the
children is committed, three pence a day for each child appearing to us as
a very reasonable demand, especially as there is an additional charge for an
allowance to two assistants, by which means the supertending [sic] these chil-
dren is become a heavier article or expense than the providing for them
their labor likewise.
Belcher replied, I92 "Two hundred and seventy-five children, mostly

orphans, have been graciously relieved in the course of nine years by
this Royal Charity, who might otherwise have perished or been use-
less to the public ... The last years expense my Lords for the support
of 32 children amounted as by the presentation to your Lordships to
the sum of £713 exceeding the grant of £580 estimate." Belcher con-
cludes by suggesting that an allowance for twenty-five orphans
would answer the purpose of the charity. Figure 13 indicates the
number of orphans cared for in the orphan house from its opening
in 1752 to the end of 1762,193 and shows that Belcher was successful
in limiting the number of orphans to twenty-five.
More New Englanders emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1761 to the
townships mentioned previously, as well as to those of Onslow,
Truro, Cumberland, Annapolis, Barrington, Newport, and Yar-
mouth. The location and size of each of these townships is shown
very clearly in a map 194 which depicts the various land grants
awarded Colonel Alexander McNutt, 195 who had a grandiose plan
to bring to Nova Scotia ten thousand settlers from Northern Ire-
land. iy6 The first contingent of McNutt settlers, about three hun-
dred, arrived in Halifax in October i76i. 197 These settlers were
to be transferred to the lands "around Cobequid and the River
Chubenacadie [sic]" in the spring of 1762, after spending the winter
in Halifax. In addition to the three hundred McNutt settlers, 445
Acadians,198 1,617 seamen,1" and an undetermined number of
soldiers200 wintered in Halifax with the approximately 2,500 civilian
residents.201
On 9 January 1762, Halifax was described as having seven hun-
dred houses.202 Considering that John Kingslaugh had reported203
to the Lords of Trade in December 1749 (o.s.) that Halifax had
Figure 13
Number of children in the orphan house at Halifax, 1752—62, and the yearly
mortality.
seven hundred houses, one might conclude that in the intervening

twelve years, very few new residential houses were built in the town.
This reflects a stagnant civilian population after the departure of the
Lunenburg settlers and during the period 1755 to 1761, when great
numbers of military and naval personnel, in addition to those sta-
tioned there, were passing through Halifax.
The names of the other settlements in the province, the number
of families and inhabitants in each, and the names of the doctors of
physic, surgeons, and apothecaries providing medical service in each
settlement is given in Table 3.
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DOCTORS of physic, surgeons, and apothe-

caries in Nova Scotia in January 1762 was thirty-one, including the
thirty noted above and Richard Veale, surgeon of Warburton's
Forty-fifth Regiment, by that date stationed at Louisbourg.205
By July 1762, Yarmouth had an additional 153 inhabitants,2°6
bringing its population to 253, and Harrington and the district be-
tween Yarmouth and Barrington had, by the date, a total of 248 in-
habitants. In November 1762, Colonel Alexander McNutt brought
his second group of settlers from Northern Ireland. It numbered
170 persons destined for the township of New Dublin. 207 The total
Table 3
Number of Families and Inhabitants in Nova Scotian Settlements, and Medical
Practitioners Serving Them, 1755—61
Settlement Families Inhabitants Medical Personnel
Halifax 700 2,500 Total of ig a ° 4

Chester 3° 150
Lunenburg 300 1,400 John Phillipps and
Johann Carl Deglen
Liverpool 9° 5°4
Barrington 20 180 Mrs Elizabeth Doane
Yarmouth 20 100 Jonathan Woodbury
and Samuel Oats
Granville 3« 140
Annapolis 60 240 Ebenezer Hartshorn
and John Steele
Cornwallis H5 600 Samuel Willoughby
Horton 150 900 Richard Sears
Falmouth 80 350 Benoni Sweet
Newport 60 240 Edward Ellis
Onslow 50 160
Truro 53 120
Cumberland 35 100
Totals L793 7,684
Source: "Description of the State of Nova Scotia, 9 January 1762," PANS €0217, 18:245.
population of Nova Scotia was, by August, about 12,000, including

1,200 men in the army and navy; 208 about 1,200 Acadians, and
about 1,500 Indians.209
Figure 14 shows the number of civilian and military surgeons in
Nova Scotia during the period 1753—63. The number of civilian sur-
geons remained almost constant at about twenty-three during that
eleven-year period. Military surgeons dominated the decade, how-
ever, with a total of ninety-three surgeons (thirty-nine naval, fifty-
four military) arriving in and departing from Halifax. 210 They
represented approximately seventy percent of the surgeons in Nova
Scotia during the decade. Halifax was, as the Reverend John Breyn-
ton put it, 21 ' a "rendezvous of Fleets and Armies" during the previ-
ous decade.
A recommendation made by Dr Alexander Abercrombie to Coun-
cil in September 1757 that surgeons in the town of Halifax not be al-
lowed to inoculate is, as far as I could find, the first mention of the
procedure in primary-source material related to Nova Scotia. In his
letter, Dr Abercrombie stated, "The several surgeons should be de-
Figure 14
Civilian, naval, and military surgeons in Nova Scotia, 1753—63.
Total number of surgeons in Halifax during period: 132

Number of surgeons who departed from Halifax during period: go
Number of surgeons who died in Halifax during period: 10
sired not to inoculate," presumably because of his fear that the inoc-
ulation had, and would continue to, spread the contagious disease. It
is likely, however, that inoculation was practised in Halifax from the
very beginning of the settlement. In an advertisement placed in the
Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser of 10 April 1787, Christo-
pher Nicolai, surgeon and man-midwife who had come to Halifax in
1751, stated that he had been inoculating for smallpox for over
thirty years. Barbare Tunis, in her article212 on Dr James Latham,
describes him as the "Pioneer Inoculator in Canada," having been
recorded as carrying out the procedure at Quebec and at Montreal
as early as 1768. It is likely that surgeons in Nova Scotia were carry-
ing out the preventative measure of inoculation a decade earlier,
and might thereby have saved some lives during the two major epi-
demics of smallpox that were brought to Halifax by the army and
navy, as described in this chapter.
THE NEXT CHAPTER turns from a military to a civilian focus, concen-

trating on factors affecting the health care of Nova Scotians, partic-
ularly the numerous poor who sought refuge in the colony, and the
often uneasy attempts to accommodate both the needs of the poor
and the need for adequate medical services.
Dr William Paine (1750-1833) Dr Stephen Thomas (n.d.) came to Liver-
arrived in Halifax in October 1782 to pool, Nova Scotia, in 1782 with the
take charge of military hospitals and King's Orange Rangers, and remained
remained in Halifax until 1784. He was there until March 1784, when he re-
a licentiate of the Royal College of turned to England to further his studies.
Physicians. He eventually returned to Upon his return in 1785 he moved to
Worcester, Massachusetts. Grand Manan Island.
Pastel, artist unknown. (American Oil on canvas, artist unknown. (New
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Brunswick Museum)
Massachusetts)
Dr John Calef (1726-1812) served at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1745. He commanded

the Fort at Annapolis Royal during 1778-79 and died at St Andrews, New
Brunswick, in 1812. Silhouette by an unknown artist. Dr Frederick Ludovic Bohme
(ca. 1751-1831) came to the Clements area in 1783 after serving with the Waldeck
Regiment in the American war. He practised in Clements Township until he died
in 1831. Silhouette by an unknown artist. Dr Alexander Gordon (ca. 1753-1803)
arrived in Halifax in 1783 with the 42nd Regiment. He later served in Sydney and
Charlottetown before returning to Halifax in 1800. He died at sea. Silhouette
by unknown artist.
CHAPTER THREE
Poor Relief Takes

Precedence over
Health Care,
7763-7775
The Treaty of Paris, which Great Britain and France signed on

10 February 1763, ended the Seven Years' War and diminished the
importance of Halifax as a military and naval base for the next
twelve years. The departure from Halifax of military and naval
forces began immediately after the capture of Louisbourg in June
1758, and gradually, the number of soldiers and seamen in the town
dwindled from approximately 22,000 in May 17581 to about 2,200
by August 1762.2 Two consequences of the transition from military
and naval base to civilian town were a dramatic lessening in the de-
mand for goods and services in Halifax and the emergence of unem-
ployment. A third consequence was the appearance of destitute and
helpless people, mostly women, whom Chief Justice Jonathan Bel-
cher described3 in 1761 as "the great Concourse of dissolute aban-
doned Women, followers of the Camp, Army, and Navy." It is
probably not well known that the regiments sent to Halifax during
the middle years of the eighteenth century were accompanied by a
surprisingly large number of women and children. For instance, Col
Peregrine Lascelle's 47th Regiment is said4 to have included, in ad-
dition to 290 soldiers, 130 women and fifty children. Almost twenty
years later, in January 1769, Rev. John Breynton pointed out5 that
750 soldiers of the i/jth and 2gth regiments were stationed in the
town along with a total of 475 "women and children of the Army."
A most revealing letter6 on this subject was written by Governor Wil-
liam Campbell to Lt Col James Bruce, officer commanding the
forces in Nova Scotia. He complained to Bruce that a number of
idle, helpless, and indigent women had been left in Halifax by de-
parting regiments and that these women now represented a heavy
burden on the inhabitants of the town, who had to pay for their sup-
port and maintenance. Governor Campbell requested that Bruce
order all regiments to take their women with them at the time of
departure.
Although settlers during the first three years of Halifax's history
were victualled, that is, provided with food and services, for approx-
imately one year after their arrival,7 almost from the beginning
there were persons referred to as idle, helpless, and poor. Given that
420 servants8 arrived in Chebucto with the Cornwallis settlers in late
June 1749, it is clear that the problem of the poor was imminent.
One of the first mentions of assistance to the poor in Halifax appears
in the minutes of Council, 24 February 1749/50, where it is re-
ported9 that Isaac Smith was fined five pounds and that the money
was to be "for the use of the poor." In October 1750 (o.s.), two
months after the arrival of Lascelles's Regiment, Council decreed10
"that every person who shall have a licence given to him to keep a
public house shall ... pay each six pounds per annum to the use of
the poor of the settlement." Two days later, Council decided'l that
"the penalty on all persons convicted before the Governor and
Council of retailing spirituous Liquour without Licence ... [is to] pay
ten pounds [for each offence] ... one-half to the Poor of the settle-
ment."
By December 1752, three regiments of soldiers were stationed in
Halifax while less than half of the civilian population was still vict-
ualled at government expense. The growing numbers of "camp fol-
lowers" and poor prompted the Reverend John Breynton to preach
a charity sermon at St Paul's "for the benefit of the Poor and dis-
tressed in this place. Tis hop'd all charitable dispos'd persons will fa-
vour and contribute towards a design so laudable."12 That the
problem must have been serious is evident from a memorial pre-
sented to Council13 by the justices of the peace of Halifax, in which
the idea of establishing a workhouse was raised for the first time:
As there are many idle and disorderly persons within the Town of Halifax,
who have no visible means of support themselves and are daily, through
idleness and a Vagabond way of Life committing Thefts and Petty Larceny,
whereby to subsist themselves, and as there are also many disorderly ser-
vants who by means of the abovesaid people are enticed to defraud and pil-
fer from their master, and absent themselves without leave from their
service and there is no other Punishment provided without sending them to
Prison, where they remain useless and Idle, and are a charge to the Govern-
ment, and uncapable of paying any charges of Prosecution, or where they
are servants are a charge to their Masters who suffer also by the loss of their
time, The Justices whould [sic] humbly represent to your Excellency and this
Honourable Council, that they apprehend if a Bridewell or Workhouse
75 Poor Relief and Health Care, 1763-1775
were erected, to which such offenders might be committed and there em-
ployed in hard labour, and also be subject to such Punishment as your Ex-
cellency and Honours shall think reasonable ... Such people do ... pay for
their subsistance ... by picking of oakum, and making Netts for the Fishery.
It was resolved that the Justices should be directed to look out for a
proper place for the same [a workhouse] to be erected upon, and to form a
Plan for the Building for that purpose and to make an Estimate of the Ex-
pense of Building and inclosing the same, and they make a Report thereon
as soon as possible, and of such rules and regulations for the Government of
the same as they think necessary.
The Halifax Gazette of 23 December 1752 communicated this plan to

the citizens of Halifax. "We are credibly informed that a House of
Correction is thought of being built forthwith for the suppressing of
Petty Larcenies, and other Evils that daily happen through the Idle-
ness of several persons of both sexes, who refuse to labour at their
proper callings for reasonable Prices."
Nothing appears to have been done immediately in response to
the memorial, since on 26 March 1753, Council decided14 "that until
the House of Correction shall be erected to receive such corporal
punishment as aforesaid [disorderly people] be committed to His
Majesty's Gaol in Halifax." The estimate15 for supporting the "civil
establishment" of Nova Scotia, sent to the Lords of Trade in October
1753, indicated that a workhouse was one of the buildings to be con-
structed in Halifax during 1754. It was to be a log structure, forty
feet by thirty feet, located in an acre of ground surrounded by a
high picket fence. There was also to be a building for the keeper as
well as a kitchen and a brewhouse. In the description of the
masonry, it was stated that the "stone work for the under-pinning
and Black Hole and digging the Foundation [would cost] £22 and
18 shillings." The total cost of the workhouse was estimated at £295,
thirteen shillings, four pence.
The Lords of Trade disallowedlb the costs for the workhouse as
set forth in the estimate, so Council decided to appropriate an exist-
ing building as a temporary house of correction. On 27 June 1754,
Council passed17 an Act for Establishing a House of Correction or
Workhouse in Halifax. It recommended that the stone house lo-
cated on Hospital Street should be used and that Richard Wenman
should be appointed as keeper. One month after the grant for build-
ing the workhouse had been disallowed, Col Charles Lawrence reit-
erated to the Lords of Trade the necessity of having such a facility.l8
He reminded them that Halifax, as a new settlement, seemed to act
as a magnet to a great number of dissolute people.
It appears that Richard Wenman kept the workhouse in the stone

house on Hospital Street during the latter part of the 17508, receiv-
ing twenty pounds in September 1756 for his services.19 The build-
ing was found, however, to be too small for the number of inmates.
In June 1758, Lawrence laid before Council a proposal20 for build-
ing a larger workhouse, a description of which had been submitted
by Josiah Marshall:
Dimensions and manner of Building a Workhouse, vizt, 50 feet long, 20 feet

wide, and 8 feet high in the clear, to be made of hewed timber, laid close,
with a Roof double boarded and shingled, the walls inside to be lined round
with Plank, the Floors each of them to be laid with plank, supposed to have
4 windows on each side containing nine lights of glass to each window and
3 iron grates, two partitions of plank with a stair case in the Entry and a
Whipping Post, to have one outside Door with a good lock and Iron Barr,
to have two Doors within with a good lock to each, to have a stack of chim-
neys at each end, the above building to be set on a good dry wall which shall
be sunk at least 2 '/a feet in the ground to prevent its being hurt by the frost.
Marshall indicated that he could build the proposed workhouse for

two hundred pounds. Council adopted his proposal and ordered
Charles Morris to administer the contract. The expense would be
defrayed out of duties that had been collected on spirituous liq-
uors, 21 which amounted, in October 1758, to £2,204. Three years
earlier, the Lords of Trade had allowed22 an amount of £295 for the
building of a workhouse, but this was not mentioned in Council's de-
liberations in June 1758. It is likely that Josiah Marshall's proposal
was not carried out, since in October 1758, the newly established
Nova Scotia House of Assembly23 was ordered to prepare a bill for
the establishment of a workhouse.24 In the same month, a commit-
tee of the legislature was struck to search for a piece of land to be
used as the site for the workhouse.25 On 13 December, the House
passed an Act for Erecting a House of Correction or Workhouse
within the Town of Halifax. It received Governor Lawrence's as-
sent26 the next day. The workhouse specified by the Assembly dif-
fered from the one agreed to by Council six months earlier in that
it was to be larger and constructed of masonry rather than wood.
Application had been made27 by the House to His Excellency the
governor in October 1758 "for a quantity of four acres of that land
lying between the Governor's farm and Fort Cornwallis." This was
probably the lot of land "were [sic] the Jews burying ground was,"28
which had found favour with the committee in charge of finding a
site for the workhouse, and "which piece of land His Excellency said
might be laid out when they pleased." This lot is shown (Figure 15)
Figure 15
Location of the civilian hospital, military hospital, orphan house, and workhouse,
circa 1762. Drawn from a plan of the town of Halifax, circa 1762, which was
traced in December 1931 from the original in the Crown Lands Office.
as part of a plan of Halifax said to have been drawn in the year

iy62.29 Richard Short's drawing of a portion of the town (Figure 16)
shows the workhouse as the building in the right foreground with
two tall chimneys surrounded by the remnants of a fence.
On 25 November 1758, the Assembly asked the governor to ap-
point a committee of both Houses to manage the building of the
workhouse. His Excellency agreed. An initial appropriation of five
hundred pounds from the fund amassed from duties on spirituous
liquors was granted30 by the governor on 19 December 1759.
Council introduced two additional bills with important implica-

tions for the workhouse, and for the poor. The first, which received
Governor Lawrence's assent31 in August 1759, Bill for Regulating
and Maintaining an House of Correction and for Binding out Poor
Children. It read in part:
That the Overseers of the Poor of the town of Halifax be, and accordingly
they hereby are authorized and impowered, when and so soon as the said
Figure v6
Richard Short's drawing entitled "A Plan representing Part of the Town of
Halifax in Nova Scotia looking down Prince Street to the opposite Shore." (Art
Gallery of Nova Scotia)
House of Correction shall be built and finished, to agree with some discret
and fit persons to be the master and keeper, and needful assistants for the
care of the same. And to provide, as there shall be occasion, suitable mate-
rials, tools, and implements, necessary and convenient for keeping to work
such persons as may be committed to the said House, and generally, to in-
spect and direct the affairs of the said House ...
That it shall and may be lawful for the Justices of the Peace in their Gen-
eral Sessions, or for any one Justice of the Peace out of Court, to send and
commit to the said House of Correction, to be kept, governed, and punished
according to the rules and orders thereof, all disorderly and idle persons
and such who shall be found begging, or practising any unlawful games, or
pretending to fortune telling, common drunkards, persons of lewd behav-
iour, vagabonds, runaways, stubborn servants and children, and persons
who notoriously mispend their time to the neglect and prejudice of their
own or their family's support ...
That no person committed to the said House of Correction shall be
chargeable to the government, for any allowance, either at going in or com-
ing out or during the time of their abode there, but shall be maintained out
of their earnings, and the remainder thereof shall be accounted for by the
master or keeper ...
That if any person or persons committed to the said House of Correction
be idiots, or lunatic, or sick or weak, and unable to work, they shall be taken
care of and relieved by the master or keeper of the said House, who shall
keep an exact account of what charges ...
That the pay of the said master or keeper of the said House of Correction
and the charge for any materials, tools, or implements purchased ... shall be
defrayed out of the surplus of the earnings of the labour done in the said
House.
That the said overseers of the poor shall take order from time to time, by
and with the consent of two or more Justices of the Peace for the County of
Halifax for setting to work the children of all such, whose parents shall not,
by said overseers, or the greater part of them, be thought able to keep or
maintain them, or any poor orphans, or by indenture to bind any such chil-
dren or orphans as aforesaid to be apprentices, where they shall see conve-
nient, till such man child shall come to the age of twenty one years, and such
woman child to the age of eighteen years.
The office of overseer of the poor for Halifax had been created32 on
22 March 1759, pursuant to an Act for Preventing Trespasses, and
in April, four persons had been chosen by a committee of Council to
act as overseers.33 Mention of idiots and lunatics was the second time
the government had shown some compassion towards the mentally
ill. On 28 April 1752 (o.s.), one Ensign John Fleming of Warburton's
8o Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
Forty-fifty Regiment "had been found to be a Lunatic" by a special

inquest of jurors.34 He and his brother were given free passage to
England so that "said John Fleming [could] be secured in a Hospital
of Bedlam 35 or some other Hospital in England approved for the
cure of Lunaticks." In the Lords of Trade Instructions36 to the first
three governors of Nova Scotia, no direction had been given con-
cerning the care of the poor, or persons considered to be idiots and
lunatics.
The second act, also passed on 13 August 1759, was an Act for Re-
lief of the Poor in the Town of Halifax. It gave the overseers one
hundred pounds to be used for poor relief. The overseers, appar-
ently feeling that they had not been given the necessary authority to
carry out the functions outlined in the two bills, sent a memorial37 to
the House in January 1760, stating:
That they had no authority of themselves to send any poor to the Work-
house, either to be relieved or set to work, nor to release them from thence,
that there is no provision made for relieving the Poor, other than being sent
to the Workhouse, or by Voluntary subscription, which being unequal, is at-
tended with very great inconveniences, and is disagreable to the publick,
who say that every one ought to pay their equal proportion towards reliev-
ing the said Poor. That there are many Industrious Families with children
who only want Temporary Relief and are not proper objects for a Work-
house and that the vessels who come from different parts of the continent
frequently bring into this Port, lame, aged, and distressed people, who be-
come a great burthen to the place.
The concern expressed in the last sentence had been for some time
a worry of Council and the House of Assembly. It induced them to
pass an Act to Prevent the Importing [of] Disabled, Infirm, and
other Useless Persons into this Province, to which the governor as-
sented38 on 18 March 1760. Another outcome of the memorial was
an Act in Addition to an Act Intitled an Act for the Relief of the
Poor in the Town of Halifax, passed39 by the House on 17 March
1760 and given the governor's assent on 31 March. This was the first
instance of a poor tax being levied on the citizens of Halifax.
The workhouse was probably in the final stages of completion in
April 1760, for Council minutes40 record a resolution "that the sum
of fifty pounds be paid out of the Public Treasury to the Overseers
of the Poor in order to purchase materials and Implements for set-
ting to work the persons in the Workhouse." The total expense, in-
cluding fencing the workhouse grounds, was £726.41
In the Act for Regulating and Maintaining an House of Correc-
tion or Workhouse and for Binding out Poor Children, reference
8i Poor Relief and Health Care, 1763-1775
was made to "setting to work the children of all such whose parents
shall not, by the said overseers, or the greater part of them, be
thought able to keep or maintain them, or any poor orphans; or by
indenture to bind any such children or orphans as aforesaid to be
apprentices ... that the children maintained and supported in the
Orphan House at the expense of the Crown, shall remain and be un-
der the direction of the Governor as heretofore, and bound out in
such manner as he shall order and direct." This meant that in late
1760, there were in Halifax two institutions for the care of orphans
and abandoned children. As described in chapter 2, the Lords of
Trade wrote42 to Jonathan Belcher in March 1761, complaining that
some of the inmates of the orphan house on Bishop Street (see Fig-
ure 15) were not actually orphans but children of poor people, and
that this increased the expense to the public of supporting the
house. Belcher responded that he would limit the number of chil-
dren in the orphan house to twenty-five.43 Existence of the work-
house meant, therefore, that additional orphans or poor children in
the town had a second institution into which they could be admitted
for care and apprenticeship.44
HALIFAX WAS NOT THE ONLY TOWN IN NOVA SCOTIA that had expe-
rienced difficulty in supporting its poor. On 17 July 1761, Council
sent down a resolution for the relief of the poor in the townships of
Liverpool, Annapolis, Granville, Horton, Falmouth, and Newport. 45
On 20 July 1761, the House ordered that money be borrowed to
support the poor in the new settlements. Problems of supporting the
poor in these settlements and in Halifax were compounded by infor-
mation46 that His Majesty had disallowed the Act to Prevent the Im-
porting [of] Disabled, Infirm, and the other Useless Persons into this
Province. Jonathan Belcher had been informed, 47 but without ex-
planation, of the disallowance of the act. In a letter to George III,
dated 15 April 1761, the Lords of Trade explained, "As the words,
descriptive of the persons, whose coming into the Province it is the
object of this Act to prevent, appears to us too loose and general,
and as the Provisions of the Act make the Master of every vessel li-
able to suffer unreasonable hardships at the discretion of the Over-
seers of the Poor, who are even in cases where the disability or
Infirmity of any persons on board may have happened by common
casulty [sic] in the course of the voyage. We think it our duty humbly
to lay the said Act before your Majesty for your Royal Disallowance."
By the 17 April 1762, some inhabitants of the new townships of
Onslow, Truro, and Yarmouth were said48 to be in "distressing and
indigent circumstances" and in "want of supplies and provisions."
Mr Hinshelwood, by order of the lieutenant governor and in conse-

quence of the state of the new settlements, laid before the House the
state of the old duty fund, by which it appeared that a balance of
£350 remained. The governor agreed that this amount be applied to
help such persons in the new settlements "as stand most in need of
supplies." On 17 August 1762, the House voted that fifty pounds be
borrowed from the public money of the province to supply "the
present distressed condition of the Poor in the Township of Halifax
... till a Law can be passed for making an assessment upon the inhab-
itants of Halifax." Surprisingly, Council did not agree and also
turned down49 the Act for the Relief of the Poor of the Town of
Halifax, passed by the House on 25 August 1762. Lieutenant Gover-
nor Belcher, in his address50 to the House of Assembly in April
1763, dealt with the dilemma of providing for the poor thus: "You
must have been so sensible of the casual nature of Duties upon spir-
ituous Liquors that you cannot be surprised or disappointed at the
insufficiences of that Fund, either for Redemption to this Loan, or
in the least to answer the annual just demands from the Public ... By
the absolute dependence on these Duties we rely upon the consump-
tion of a noxious manufacture, which it is the very object of the Laws
to restrain, nor would it be an unpolitical wish, that we could wholly
prohibit." The House was undeterred. On the same day as Belcher's
address, it resumed consideration of the poor-relief bill rejected by
Council in the previous session. This time, the Council and governor
agreed5' to the bill. Two additional bills52 dealing with the poor
were adopted in 1763. These were an Act to enable the Several
Townships within this Province, to Maintain their Poor, and an Act
to enable the Inhabitants of Townships to assess themselves for the
relief of the Poor, both of which received assent on 26 November
1763. The latter act transferred the burden of supporting the poor
from the provincial government to the township officers.
Jonathan Harris53 was appointed keeper of the workhouse by the
overseers of the poor in October or November 1760. After less than
a year's experience, he wrote to the Assembly in June 1762, "setting
forth the great difficulties he labours under for want of a supply
from the Government to keep at work such as are able and to pur-
chase provisions for the support of the poor and indigent." The
Assembly sent a message to Council desiring that it join in an
application to the lieutenant governor for the payment of £205 due
to Jonathan Harris, which he received in full in August 1762. Ear-
lier, in February and July, Lieutenant Governor Belcher had di-
rected54 Benjamin Green, the provincial treasurer, to provide the
overseers of the poor with funds amounting to a hundred pounds
for artificers and materials employed at the workhouse "necessary
for keeping to work such persons as have been committed to the said
House." Jonathan Harris sent a second memorial55 to the House in
October 1763, expressing his continued dissatisfaction with the lack
of funding. He recalled that for three years he had attempted to
support a number of helpless men, women, and orphan children,
and asked for relief. As a result of this memorial, the original act
regulating and maintaining the workhouse was amended56 in No-
vember, to read:
That from and after the publication hereof, the ordering and governing
[of] the said House of Correction or Workhouse shall be in the Justices of
the Peace in their Quarter Sessions (except three rooms which shall be re-
served for the reception of the poor, under the direction of the Overseers
of the Poor) ...
One of which Justices in rotation shall visit the same at least once every
week, to see that such persons as shall be committed thereto, are kept dili-
gently at work; and to rectify any abuses that may be found in the manage-
ment thereof.
That it shall be in the power of The Overseers of the Poor of the Town of
Halifax only to send such sick and weak persons to the Workhouse, there to
be relieved by their direction, and the expense thereof to be defrayed out of
such taxes or poor's rate, as shall be granted and collected for the Town of
Halifax.
The act was also amended to provide support for the poor residing
elsewhere in the province.
The reservation of three rooms "for the reception of the poor"
was an outcome of deliberations by a joint committee of the Council
and House, which reported57 in November 1763 that "the persons
entitled to receive alms, should be separated from those committed
to the House of Correction for being disorderly." This was the first
instance in which the poor in Nova Scotia were identified by govern-
ment as a distinct group and given specific living accommodation
separate from that of criminals.
Since the civilian hospital had not been funded58 by the Lords of
Trade since 1758, and since the allowance for a surgeon, midwife,
and medicine had also been removed from the estimate of the "civil
establishment" in March i76i,59 the workhouse, after 1760, was the
only institution for the reception of the sick poor. When, in Novem-
ber 1763, the poor were separated from people held in the work-
house for petty crimes, the three rooms set aside for the poor
represented the only civilian hospital facility in Halifax.
There were, however, two other hospitals in Halifax in 1763: the
naval hospital and the military hospital. Charles White was surgeon
at the naval hospital from 1761 until i77i, 6 ° when he was succeeded
by George Greaves.61 On 7 October 1772, Admiral John Montague
wrote62 from Boston "that the person to act as surgeon to the Hos-
pital at Halifax is the Dispenser of Medicine and by no means qual-
ified as a surgeon." Montague mentioned the "necessity of a good
surgeon being at Halifax where the ships are to careen and refit."
George Greaves was still surgeon at the naval hospital in July 1774,
with only two patients.63 The military hospital (Figure 15) came into
being in June 1758, after Warburton's 45th Regiment had vacated
its barracks to join the British forces that carried out the attack on
Louisbourg.64 As John Knox wrote, "The barracks evacuated by the
45th Regiment [are] being prepared as a hospital for the reception
of the sick that are unable to proceed on the expedition, [and] every
corps is forthwith to send their sick to that Hospital where the Dep-
uty Director will receive them." The names of the directors and
surgeons of the military hospital from 1763—74 have not been
identified. It would be expected, however, that the surgeons of the
various regiments65 stationed in Halifax during that period would
have treated their patients in that hospital.
Neither the naval nor the military hospital appears to have been
available to the civilian population; consequently, hospital facilities
for civilians, other than the poor, were non-existent in Nova Scotia
during the 17605. The lack of adequate medical care was high-
lighted in a letter written by the Reverend John B. Moreau66 to the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 1762: "The Phisicians
[sic] here tell me that I can't live another winter, if I stay in this Prov-
ince. I hope the venerable Society will give me leave of absence for
a year to go to Bath." In May 1766, Governor Montague Wilmot
wrote67 to the Lords of Trade asking to return to Europe because of
his ill health. He indicated that he had gout and explained that "the
physicians assure me that I cannot survive another winter in this
country and I am to expect relief only from Bath waters." Governor
Wilmot was buried in Halifax twenty-one days later.68 In September
1766, Lieutenant Governor Michael Francklin recommended69 to
the Lords of Trade that Dr John Phillipps, who had been a surgeon
at Lunenburg since 1757, should be allowed to go to England "be-
cause of his present ill state of health ... to seek advice of the most
able and skilful phisicians [sic]"
In June 1764, the newly appointed Governor Wilmot wrote70
to the Lords of Trade about the desperate state of the provincial
treasury:
The [General Assembly] appropriated the Duties on Spirituous Liquors for

several years, [paid] bounties and premiums on catching and curing fish and
on the clearing and fencing of land, [and] with [the] sum of money in the
Treasury ... they erected a jail, and a workhouse of masonry. This Work-
house in which there is also a Poor House is now maintained at no less than
£500 per year from these funds besides the assessment of £100 per year
from the inhabitants of this Town and is the receptacle for all the old, the
infirm, the decripid [sic], and the indigent who have come in this Province
at different periodes [sic] within these fifteen years, together with the disso-
lute and abandoned which are too frequently imported. From these Funds
are paid the officers of the General Assembly and the Expenses attending
the Sessions ... to which is to be added several considerable sums given from
thence to the support of indigent persons in the New Settlements ... The
Annual Revenue of the Duties having considerably decreased ... The Gen-
eral Assembly had recourse to borrowing on interest by which there is a
Debt of more than Twelve thousand pounds accumulated at this time.
For the first time, the term "poor house" appears in the records of
Nova Scotia.
Sometime during Governor Wilmot's administration 71 (5 October
1763 to 23 May 1766), Dr Thomas Reeve was appointed 72 "to take
under his care, the sick in the Workhouse of the Town of Halifax."
Dr Reeve wrote in a memorial to the House in June 1766 that he was
"praying that some allowance may be made him for his care, trouble,
and great [personal] expense for medicines." On 30 June, he was
paid sixty pounds for his services73 and a similar amount the next
year.74 On i July 1768, Dr Reeve was paid75 for attendance "to [the]
sick in the Poor House." Although the House of Assembly had in-
formed 76 Reeve in 1770 that "there will be no future allowance for
such purposes," his allowance was continued until October 1774,
when he received a final payment of sixty-four pounds for his
services.77
One might have expected that Dr Alexander Abercrombie, who
had been surgeon to the civilian hospital from 1750 to 1760 and was
much respected by government officials,78 would have been ap-
pointed, rather than Thomas Reeve, as surgeon and apothecary to
the poor. Since i May 1755,79 Dr Abercrombie had been providing
attendance and medicines to the children in the orphan house, but
he had received nothing for these services until 8 July 1768, when
he was paid a hundred pounds. He continued to be paid twenty
pounds per year as surgeon to the orphan house, until his death on
31 March i773- 8 ° Dr Abercrombie was held in high regard. His ob-
ituary read:
On Wednesday last died here, in the 5ist year of his age, Alexander Aber-
crombie, MD, in his Profession, as an eminent, skillful, benevolent and sue-
cessful Physician, a blessing to the Province, a Friend ever stedfast [sic] and
amiable, and one who in every quality of mind, and for Prudence in Con-
duct, could be more easily admired thro' his life by all, than sufficiently ex-
tolled, honored, and lamented by any, under the irreparable Public Loss by
his Death. His obsequies were respectfully performed last Saturday, and at-
tended by a numerous Train of sincere mourners of every rank and order
of the Town.
Dr Abercrombie was succeeded by Dr John Philipps, who, in April

1773, was appointed81 "to take care of the sick children in the Or-
phan House." Abercrombie had provided medicines, advice, and at-
tendance to the Indians in the vicinity of Halifax and, in September
1763, had submitted82 a bill covering the period from i October
1760 to 22 September 1763. He was paid fifty pounds. For medical
assistance to Indians83 for the period from 27 September 1763 to
22 May 1766, he received an additional seventy-two pounds. On
26 September 1766, Dr Abercrombie was officially "appointed to the
care of such of the Indians as apply to the Government in case of
sickness of hurts and wounds." On that same date he was ap-
pointed84 surgeon to the orphan house.
On 14 June 1765, a joint committee of Council and House ordered85

"that the Workhouse be shut up by which a saving will be made of at
least £165 per annum." On 2 July, Council endorsed this decision by
declaring86 "that the Keeper of the Workhouse have notice that the
Government will not grant any supplies or maintain it and that he
shall shut up the same, and apply to the Justices for further orders."
This was in reaction to a revelation in the House, on 7 June, that the
provincial debt had risen to £16,000. The severe deficit provoked
Benjamin Green, administrator of the government, to write87 to the
Lords of Trade in August 1766:
I humbly hope your Lordships will pardon the mention of one thing more,
which is done at the desire of the principal inhabitants of this place, who es-
teem themselves greatly interested in obtaining your Lordships favourable
Regards for their Relief which is, That the Repeal of the Act of the Legisla-
ture here for preventing the scum of all the colonies from being admitted
into this Province without Restriction has caused such an Inundation of per-
sons, who are not only useless but very Burthensome to the Community,
being not only those of the most dissolute manners, and void of all senti-
ments of honest Industry, but also infirm, decrepit, and insane, as well as ex-
tremely indigent persons, who are unable to contribute anything towards
their own maintenance, that the Industrious Inhabitants, especially in the

Town of Halifax, esteem themselves subject to a grievous Tax thereby, and
are disabled from affording the Relief they are willing to do to their own
honest poor, the Expence of whose support, especially in the Winter Season,
is very considerable, and, if I have not been misinformed, the passages of
persons from Jails, Hospitals, and the Workhouses, in the neighbouring
Colonies, have been paid for, and other Encouragement given them to em-
bark for this place, since it has been known that we were obliged to receive
them.
Further evidence that members of the House despaired of the in-

creasing debt appeared in October 1766, when they rejected88
claims by the overseers of the poor totalling £445 for provisions for
the workhouse, and by Jonathan Harris on account of the poor
house; however, Council declared in November that it could not
agree with the House on the matter and the claims had to be hon-
oured. The House reconsidered and agreed to pay £248 for the
workhouse and £197 for support of the poor house.
By January 1767, the provincial debt had grown to £23,500. On
the third day of that month, a memorial89 from the overseers of the
poor pointed out that several of the poor maintained in Halifax be-
longed to different parts of the province and that three hundred
pounds would be needed to support them during the winter, an
amount too great to assess the inhabitants of Halifax. The overseers
asked for relief, and Council resolved that "the Overseers of the
Poor should proceed to assess the inhabitants of the Town of Hali-
fax in proportion to their abilities and that whatever sum shall be de-
ficient to make up what is necessary for the support of the Poor after
making the assessment, such sum shall be paid out of the Treasury."
A further memorial90 from the overseers was read in the House in
July, "setting forth that by the great increase of the Poor in the Prov-
ince, the sum granted by the Town of Halifax last January for the
support of the Poor [during] the current year, is greatly insufficient
to answer that purpose and praying relief." This great increase was
probably what prompted the magistrates to ask91 Council that
"the Hospital may be granted for the use of an Alms House and for
some other public uses." As a result, Lieutenant Governor Michael
Francklin proclaimed,92 on 19 November 1767, that "the House
built and formerly used for an Hospital may be occupied for ... the
use of an Alms House [and] hereby empowering Hibbert Newton,
Esq., Mr Francis White, Mr Edward Nichols, and Mr Phillip Brehm,
Overseers of the Poor of the Town of Halifax to occupy and use the
said House for the aforesaid purpose during pleasure." The in-
crease in the numbers of poor in Halifax induced the Council and

House to reintroduce the Act to Prevent the Importation of Impo-
tent, Lame, and Inferior Persons in this Province," which had been
disallowed by King George III in 1761. It received second reading
on 19 June lyGS. 93 Lieutenant Governor Francklin, writing to Lord
Hillsborough, explained94 that the act was necessary since the fre-
quent importations of poor people and camp followers led to heavy
taxes for the people of Halifax and placed a heavy burden on pro-
vincial funds. Governor Campbell forwarded 95 the bill to Lord
Hillsborough in January 1769. At the Court of St James in May
1769, the king disallowed it for the second time.96 This contentious
act is set forth in Appendix 4.
On 10 March 1768, Jonathan Harris, keeper of the workhouse,
was buried from St Paul's. Sometime prior to November 1768, he
was succeeded97 by Thomas Fitzpatrick, who had been keeper of the
gaol98 in 1763. Fitzpatrick continued as keeper for about two years
until, in October 1770, John Woodin was listed99 as keeper. The sit-
uation must have been desperate. In 1769, Richard Tritten, one of
the overseers of the poor in that year, stated in a memorial100 to the
House that thirteen pounds had been advanced for rugs, blankets,
shirts, etc., for the use of the poor house, "at which time there was
no bedding in the Poor House for the people to sleep on."
The second attempt to establish the Act to Prevent the Importing
of Impotent, Lame, and Infirm Persons into the Province failed
and on 2 April 1770, Council was so informed. 101 The reason,102
essentially the same as in 1761, was that it "would subject the Masters
of Vessels to penalties and inconvenience which in reason they
ought not to be exposed to." This was bad news for Governor
Campbell and Lieutenant Governor Francklin, for the provincial
debt had increased103 from £16,000 in June 1765 to £23,500 by
June 1770.
During the two-year period 1770—71, Governor Campbell author-
ized Benjamin Green, the provincial treasurer, to pay out more than
a thousand pounds in support of the poor house.104 To make mat-
ters worse in terms of the provincial debt, a number of Halifax res-
idents refused105 to pay the poor tax in 1771, which led to at least
one resident being brought before the Supreme Court.106 A large
outlay of money from government coffers to maintain the poor con-
tinued through 1772, 1773, 1774, and into 1775. During this period
the provincial debt remained at over twenty thousand pounds, and
John Woodin, keeper of the workhouse, constantly petitioned the
House for an allowance to support the poor. On one occasion, he
submitted a memorial107 listing the poor-house inmates during the
period from April to September 1773. The three women and nine
men described as having "no legal settlement in Halifax" presumably
were in addition to the poor of Halifax, who would be classified as
legal settlers. Unfortunately, Woodin did not indicate the total num-
ber of persons in the poor house in 1773. The memorial which was
signed by the overseers of the poor, did indicate that a nurse named
Hall and a cook (unnamed) were working there in October 1773.
Some relief for the poor came from money collected at a benefit
performance108 of a comedy entitled The Suspicious Husband, pre-
sented "by the Gentlemen of the Army and Navy." The proceeds
were distributed "to the indigent Families and other old and poor
people." Also, in November 1773, the overseers of the poor called109
a meeting of the freeholders to discuss poor relief. The following
advertisement, which appeared in the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly
Chronicle of 8 February 1774, may have resulted from that meeting.
"Employment for the Poor;

Halifax Work-house, 7 Feb., 1774
This is to give Notice that any number of Persons whether men, women,
boys, or girls, that are willing to pick Oakum, or spin, shall have Employ-
ment, good Usage, good Victuals and Drink, and a good warm Stove Room
to Work and Lodge in if required, without Confinement by applying to the
Master of said House.
John Wooden"
In 1774, an Act for Punishing Rogues, Vagabonds, and other Idle

and Disorderly Persons was passed.110 It dealt with people who re-
fused to work, with beggers, and with lunatics. It recommended that
those found to be furiously mad should be kept safely locked up in
a secure place. The act concluded hopefully, "That nothing herein
contained shall ... restrain any friend or relative of such lunatics
from taking them under their own care."
Once the grant for the hospital and money for surgeons and mid-
wife had been discontinued, the only remaining charitable institu-
tion in Nova Scotia was the orphan house. On 20 March 1764, the
Lords of Trade turned their attention to that establishment. To
Governor Wilmot, they wrote: 111
With respect to the allowance for an Orphan House, we have no conception

how it is possible that the cloathing[jzc] and maintaining 25 charity children
should, exclusive of the profits of their labor, amount to £354 per annum.
Such a charge appears to us to bear no proportion under any difference in
circumstances to what would be judged a reasonable allowance in this Coun-
go Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
try, and therefore it will be your duty to make the most careful and diligent
enquiry into the state of this Establishment and to make all possible savings
upon it either by checking any abuse which may attend the conduct of it
upon the present plan, or by putting the charity under more frugal and rea-
sonable regulations.
Response112 to this request for enquiry was given by the Reverend

John Breynton:
The strictist enquiry has been made into the State of the Orphan House and
the Expense attending it. The Charge indeed seems great but if all cir-
cumstances are considered the allowance will not appear unreasonable or
extravagant.
The Articles of Provisions, cloathing and servants wages have been during
the last seven years full as dear again as in England but as the Colony will
soon be able to furnish many of the necessarys of life at a much cheaper
rate, a considerable saving may be expected next year.
In Regard to the Labour of the Orphans, no Profit can arise from thence.
Were they to continue in the Orphan House as they do in the Charity
Schools in England to the age of 12 or 14 years and where manufactures are
carried on to advantage some Emolument might be expected but as Hands
are so much wanted here for agriculture, fishing and servant children (if not
disqualified by Diseases) are commonly bound out at seven or eight years
old, an age incapable of attempting to spin work either wool, flax, or Hemp
without greater waste than the Profit of their Labour will amount to.
By this Apprenticing the Orphan so young there necessarily follows a
quick succession in the Orphan House of Helpless children and often, in-
fants which require Wet nurses at 10 shillings per week besides other
Expenses.
This explanation seemed to satisfy the Lords of Trade. For the next
ten years, they continued to allow in the annual estimates an expense
of £384 for the orphan house. It is clear, however, from the follow-
ing account by Governor Francis Legge, that the money was not
used efficiently. He described113 the orphan house as:
a very necessary and beneficial charity. At my first arrival I paid a visit to the
House and found it in a very ruinous condition, and the children by that
means suffering greatly with the cold, enquiring into the reason, the keeper
informed me that he had expended at different times very considerable
sums which the Government had not refunded him.
I therefore thought this matter an object worthy [of] my attention and
care which induced me to make a diligent enquiry into the expense of main-
gi Poor Relief and Health Care, 1763-1775
taining twenty-five children intended to be supported. I appointed a com-

mittee of Council to examine into the affair who reported that some saving
might be made out of the Parliamentary allowance sufficient to repair the
buildings and keep them in repair and recommended to me the appointing
persons [of] reputation, to make a thorough enquiry which accordingly I
have done, and invested them with powers to agree with any person upon
examination considered what would be necessary and proper for diet and
clothing.
They have in consequence of my orders made a contract with the keeper
for two hundred and fifty pounds for the same number of infants ... What
now remains is a decayed inhospitable building just falling into ruins.
Governor Legge had appointed, 114 in April 1774, a committee con-

sisting of Mr Morris, Mr Bulkeley, Mr Butler, and Mr Burrow, to re-
port on the orphan house. They submitted their report on 12 May.
Four days later, Doctor Philipps, Mr John Fenton, and William
Smith were appointed governors of the orphan house to "consider
the cheapest manner for which the several necessary articles of pro-
visions, cloathing, etc., may be provided and to establish a regular
course of Diet to be provided weekly." On 18 November 1774,
Legge wrote115 to Lord Dartmouth that "the Orphan House is refit-
ted, and rendered comfortable for the children, who are now pro-
tected from the inclemency of the weather."
As noted earlier, the Lords of Trade disallowed the allowance for
a midwife in the estimate of the civil establishment of Halifax for
1761, but it was 1764 before this item was removed from the esti-
mate submitted by the governor.116 Midwives were included in the
estimates for Lunenburg for every year until 1767; in that year two
midwives 117 were paid five pounds each for their services. Curi-
ously, Mrs Ann Catherwood, who had been midwife at Halifax dur-
ing the period 1750-59, received what the estimates referred to as a
pension of twenty-five pounds in the years 1767, 1768, and 1769, at
a time when payment was disallowed for the services of a midwife in
Halifax.
Removal of the position of midwife from the 1764 estimate meant
that the residents of Halifax, including the poor, had to rely upon
their own resources for attendance provided during childbirth. The
chronic circumstances are reflected in a petition118 that Eleanor
Fallen, midwife, presented in November 1769 to the House of As-
sembly. She stated that she was frequently called upon to attend the
poor women in the town at the time of a delivery. She requested
some compensation for her services. The House considered the state
of the province's funds and decided to deny the petition. Eleanor
Fallen died in late 1771 or early 1772, since her estate was adminis-
tered119 in Halifax on 9 March 1772. On i November 1774, Eliza-
beth Fleming advertised in the Nova Scotia Gazette that she had
"perfectly learn'd the art of a midwife and [was] particularly ap-
proved of and strongly recommended by Doctor Hill, 120 and others
to come to this place." It is not known whether residents of Halifax
responded. During the first twenty-five years of settlement by the
English in Nova Scotia, only three surgeons indicated that they prac-
tised midwifery. Henry Meriton advertised 121 in 1753 that he was a
man-midwife, and John Grant stated 122 on 13 January 1755 that "he
has practised midwifery in Halifax which was not common to other
surgeons in Halifax." John Phillipps, surgeon in Lunenburg during
1757-66, indicated in a memorial 123 to Council that he was acting as
man-midwife in that town.
It is not surprising that there were both midwives and men-
midwives in Halifax in the 17505. The monopoly that midwives held
over the birthing process in Great Britain began to be eroded in the
seventeenth century. 124 The emergence of the man-midwife, or ac-
coucheur, can be dated from the publication of the first original En-
glish work on midwifery by Dr William Harvey, which appeared in
1651. Through his book, Harvey, who had earlier become famous
for his treatise on the circulation of the blood, placed midwifery on
a scientific basis for the first time. Shortly after Harvey's book ap-
peared, the Chamberlen family of physicians in England secretly in-
vented the obstetric forceps, and very soon it became well known
that the Chamberlens' mortality rate for deliveries was much lower
than the usual rate among midwives. 125 Women continued to dom-
inate midwifery, however, until about 1733, when the secret of the
forceps became generally known and the instrument began to be
used by accoucheurs. Among midwives, however, custom and the ab-
sence of formal training ensured that they did not adopt forceps to
aid in deliveries, and this eventually diminished their control over
the childbirth process. Dr William Smellie was undoubtedly the most
well known man-midwife in eighteenth-century England. In 1735,
he began to use forceps in deliveries and, during the 17405, is said
to have delivered over a thousand babies.126 He also began to give
lectures on reproductive anatomy and midwifery in the 17408, and
Henry Meriton, mentioned above, who came to Halifax with Corn-
wallis in 1749, was one of his pupils. In 1752, Dr Smellie published
his well-known book, Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Midwifery.
By the middle of the eighteenth century, "the man-midwife had
advanced from merely being an attendant on the emergencies of
childbirth to gaining a hold on the greater part of the best-paid mid-
wifery."
93 Poor Relief and Health Care, 1763—1775
The Act Regulating and Maintaining the House of Correction,

passed in 1759, required that persons regarded as lunatics or idiots
were to be taken care of by the master or keeper of the workhouse.
In 1766, Benjamin Green, writing 127 to the Lords of Trade concern-
ing the disallowed Act to Prevent the Importing of Disabled, Infirm,
and other Useless Persons into the Province, included the insane as
among "the scum of all the Colonies being admitted into this Prov-
ince without Restrictions."
In July 1772, the Lords of Trade communicated 128 to Governor
Campbell that "the King having been pleased with the advice of His
Privy Council to signify to us His Majesty's Pleasure that we should
in all future draughts of Commission for Governors in the Planta-
tions insert a clause giving them, as Chancellors, the necessary
powers to issue commissions for the care and custody of Ideots [sic]
and Lunaticks." The instructions 129 to Governor Francis Legge,
dated 10 June 1773, contained accordingly a clause "to provide for
the Custody of Lunatics and their Estates without taking the profits
thereof to our own use."
D U R I N G THE FIRST N I N E Y E A R S AFTER THE F O U N D I N G OF H A L I F A X ,

Nova Scotia was governed by governor and Council. After 1758, the
elected House of Assembly joined the governor and the appointed
Council in enacting the province's laws. Only one surgeon, Dr Rob-
ert Grant, was appointed to the Council during the period 1749-74.
He had come to Halifax in 1749 as a surgeon's mate on the Charlton
and, in June 1756, was sworn130 in as a member of Council. He con-
tinued to attend Council meetings131 until June 1758, after which he
moved his business of victualling HM Ships of War to Louisbourg
and later to Quebec. On 16 August 1759, Grant was replaced132 on
Council because of inattendance. Robert Grant was one of a group
of councillors who wrote to the Lords of Trade, on 12 March 1757,
complaining of Governor Lawrence's delay in calling an Assem-
bly. 133 This was the only incident of note involving Grant as a mem-
ber of Council.
Four physicians and surgeons were elected to the House of As-
sembly from 1758—74: John Steele and Samuel Willoughby, who
were elected in 1761 and sat in the Third Assembly (1761-65); John
Day, who held a seat in both the Fourth (1765-70) and Fifth
(1770—85) assemblies; and John Philipps, who represented Halifax
County in the Fifth Assembly. Neither John Steele, who died during
his first year in the Legislature, nor John Philipps had remarkable
careers in the Legislature. Samuel Willoughby, who represented
Cornwallis Township in both the Third and Fifth assemblies, seems
to have been an eccentric personality. He refused to take his seat in

the Third Assembly and was expelled'34 on 21 June 1762. In the
Fifth Assembly, he was suspended135 between October and Decem-
ber 1774, pending a trial for usury, and on 28 June 1776, his seat
was declared vacant.
Of the four who were members of the House of Assembly prior to
1775, John Day was the only one to take an active part in its deliber-
ations. He was a leading figure in the House during 1765-68 and
even more so from October 1774 to July 1775. He took his seat as
the member for Newport Township when the Fourth Assembly con-
vened on 28 May 1765 and was appointed,136 three days later, mem-
ber of a committee to examine the provincial treasurer's accounts.
The regard which the members of the Assembly had for John Day
is indicated by his appointment on June 3 (six days after first taking
his seat) to the committee responsible for preparing the address to
the governor. The address recommended that the offices of Impost
and Excise lay before the House an explicit and particular account
of their receipts and payments for the past year, the money in their
hands, and the notes due to the Town of Halifax. Their object was
to determine the actual state of the expenditures, revenues, and
debt of the province, preliminary to devising a plan for reducing the
provincial debt of £16,000.
Dr Day was member also of the joint committee of the House and
Council, established on 11 June 1765, to discuss the public accounts.
One Committee suggestion was that £165 per year could be saved by
closing the workhouse. As noted above, however, this did not hap-
pen. Dr Day was one of four members of the House who argued, in
an address to Benjamin Green, commander in chief of the province
from May to August 1766, "that the poor inhabitants of the new set-
tlements cannot pay Taxes, and that the building and maintaining of
a Light-House, a Work-House, Market-House, and Gaol, and for
opening roads, cannot be defrayed out of public funds and ask that
an application be made to the King for relief."137 The committee
accused Green, who was also provincial treasurer, of making unau-
thorized expenditures and suggested measures for controlling esti-
mates and expenditures. One suggestion was to place the collectors
of duties on commission rather than on salary.
On 24 July 1767, John Day presented to the House a bill entitled
An Act to Explain, Amend, and Reduce into One Act, the Several
Laws Now in Force Relating to the Duties of Excise on Rum and
Other Distilled Spirituous Liquors Sold in this Province. He also
brought before the House a bill to amend an act passed in 1762, en-
titled An Act for Regulating and Maintaining an House of Correc-
don or Workhouse within the Town and for Binding Out Poor
Children. Although this bill was received and read in the House on
2 November 1768, for some unknown reason it was not mentioned
again during the Fourth Assembly. In fact, John Day was not men-
tioned as being in the Assembly after 21 November 1768, and he
probably removed his family to Philadelphia early in i76g.138 He
was a druggist139 in Philadelphia during 1770-71, and on 22 Sep-
tember 1772, the Nova Scotia Gazette records that he and his family
arrived back in Halifax on the schooner Dolphin.
During the Fifth Assembly, John Day was elected as a member for
the Town of Halifax in a by-election held in August 1774. On 6 Au-
gust, he inserted one of the first election advertisements, if not the
first, in a Nova Scotia newspaper.140 It read: "As it is probable that
a Writ may shortly be issued to choose a Representative for the
Town of Halifax in the room of Col Charles Proctor, deceased, per-
mit me to offer myself a Candidate on this Occasion. Should I be the
object of your choice, give me leave to assure you that I will exert the
utmost of my abilities faithfully to serve the public." On 30 August
1774, the same newspaper indicated that John Day had been elected
"by a great majority." The by-election appears to have passed rela-
tively unnoticed by the Halifax community. A person calling himself
"A Friend of Truth" wrote in the Gazette on 6 September, "You say
that Col John Day was elected a Member for this Town by a great
majority. The Public would be glad to know who opposed him."
Dr Day took his seat on 6 October 1774. Two days later he was ap-
pointed to a committee to prepare a Bill to Regulate the Proceedings
of the Courts of Judicature, and to a second committee to consider
the establishment of a loan office and a paper medium of exchange.
Between 8 October 1774 and 15 July 1775, John Day served on ten
committees, brought in four bills, and was the acknowledged leader
of the House. He led the fight against Council over the "farming" of
duties, stating that, "if the Duties at all the Outposts of this Province
were farmed, it would more than double the present Revenue re-
ceived from those places." One of the bills he introduced resulted in
an Act relating to Wills, Legacies, and Executors, and for the Settle-
ment and Distribution of the Estates and Intestates. Also, in June
1775, he reported for the committee to draw up an address to Gov-
ernor Legge condemning a plan to reduce to nine the quorum of the
House and increase to ten the representation for Halifax town and
county.141 He wrote that the plan was "replete with mischief, [and]
subversive of real representation." Governor Legge did not think
very highly of John Day and complained to Lord Dartmouth that
"Day, a member, who had resided for some time in Philadelphia,
and imbibed republican principles, is one of the agent victuallers of

the army and assisted by Tonge, the Naval Officer, framed a petition
to the King for lessening the power of the Governor, Council, and
officers of Government, to throw the whole weight of power into the
hands of The Assembly." Day's strong leadership in efforts to pre-
vent the Halifax oligarchy from gaining complete control of the
House brings to mind Joseph Howe's role, some fifty years later, in
the movement to introduce representative government. John Day
died on 29 November i775, 142 having "lost his life on board a vessel
bound from Nova Scotia to Boston with supplies for the Garrison in
that place during the American War."143 Day's estate papers144
show that he was worth a substantial amount, £1,704, at the time of
his death and that he had a personal library of two hundred and
twenty volumes. Among these were at least six books that would be
classified as medical, including A Discourse upon the Institution of Med-
ical Schools in America, written by John Morgan and published in
1765 by Bradford in Philadelphia.
IT WAS NOTED IN CHAPTER 2 that, in December 1758, John Day had

advertised'45 that he had drugs and medicines for sale at his store
on Hollis Street. Prior to 1768, Day's was one of only two Halifax
newspaper advertisements for drugs and medicines. In 1768,
Ward's Medicines were listed146 for sale and 1769 saw 147 the first
advertisement having to do with the care of teeth: "Monsieur Jar-
bove's most excellent Anodyne Water for Teeth." In 1773, Keyser's
Pills were advertised148 in the Royal Gazette, which also, as of Novem-
ber 1774, regularly carried Dr John Philipps's advertisement149 for
drugs and medicines. The only other advertised item claiming me-
dicinal value was Velmo's Vegetable Syrup.150
Smallpox does not appear to have been prevalent in Nova Scotia
from 1763—74; only one incident of a smallpox scare has been
noted. In June 1763, a brig bound for London from St Christo-
pher's put into Halifax for a refit after it had sprung a leak.151 The
master of the brig had died of smallpox at sea, and the ship had been
ordered to anchor on the Dartmouth side, where it was washed
down with vinegar. There was no appearance of the smallpox after
the brig had been refitted in the Halifax careening yard. That Nova
Scotia had been spared from smallpox epidemics during this period
can be surmised from An Essay on the Present State of the Province of
Nova Scotia with some Structures on the Measures Pursued by the Govern-
ment from its first Settlement by the English in the year 1749. This anony-
mous twenty-four-page pamphlet, 152 signed on the last page by "A
Member of the Assembly," is thought to have been printed in 1774.
Figure 17
Total number of surgeons in Nova Scotia during period: 31

Number of surgeons who departed Nova Scotia during period: 10
Number of surgeons who died in Nova Scotia during period: 6
It has been suggested153 that John Day was the author, for it con-
tains statements very similar to those made in Day's committee re-
ports to the House, and the terminology suggests that it was written
by someone with medical training.
It is clear that the great financial burden of the workhouse and the
increasing number of poor people in Nova Scotia between 1763 and
1774 were important components of the crippling provincial debt.
Money that had previously been used to fund the civilian hospital
and to pay for its surgeon, medicines, and the salary of a provincial
midwife was diverted to provide a refuge for the numerous camp
followers, infirm, decrepit, insane, and the indigent. Consequently,
the number of physicians and surgeons able to make a living at their
profession in Nova Scotia during this period dwindled from twenty-
four to fifteen. Figure 17 shows the decline, compared to the previ-
ous decade, of medical personnel in the province, as well as the small
proportion of military surgeons relative to civilian surgeons. The
largest group of settlers to come into Nova Scotia at the time was im-
migrants from Yorkshire. '54 Only one Yorkshire immigrant by the
name of Stapleton was listed155 as being in the medical profession,
and it does not appear that he remained in the province.
There has been frequent mention in this chapter of idiots, luna-
tics, and mad persons and how they were treated, or mistreated.
Arnold Chaplin has written156 that there was "no department of
medicine during the reign of George III at a lower ebb than in that
of the care and treatment of the insane." As in Nova Scotia, mad
people in European countries were dealt with by being securely
locked up and subjected to various repressive measures such as beat-

ings, starvation, and incarceration in dungeons or blackholes to con-
trol them. Throughout the eighteenth century, there was no serious
effort to provide the mentally ill with medical treatment. Further-
more, it was not the medical profession but a number of concerned
legislators who recognized that something must be done to alleviate
the deplorable living conditions and brutal treatment experienced
by the mentally ill. The first movement in this regard began after
1763, the year in which a report was presented in the British House
of Commons on the condition of the madhouses in London. As Por-
ter has pointed out, lunatics in the eighteenth century were mainly
confined in private madhouses, and the "trade in lunacy" proved to
be quite lucrative.157 The owners of these madhouses frequently
charged high fees, and had absolute control over the discipline and
welfare of the inmates. It was not until 1774 that a bill was intro-
duced and passed by the British Parliament, requiring that mad-
houses be inspected annually by visitors appointed by the College of
Physicians. Unfortunately, conditions in madhouses did not im-
prove, and it was not until the second decade of the nineteenth cen-
tury that the teachings of Dr Philippe Pinel,158 a French physician,
began to effect a positive change in the attitudes of the public and
the medical profession towards the mentally ill. It is possible, also,
that the well-known attacks of insanity experienced by George III,
in the latter years of his reign, invoked a degree of public empathy
towards those afflicted with mental illness.
THE YEARS 1763-75 can be summed up as a period during which the

health-care system declined while the provincial debt increased dra-
matically. The Lords of Trade gradually reduced their annual pro-
vincial grant to the point where monies for a provincial midwife,
medicines, and surgeons was eliminated. Since the civilian hospital
had been closed in 1759, the citizens of Halifax were left without any
medical services whatsoever. The increase in the provincial debt can
in large measure be attributed to the policies of the Lords of Trade,
particularly their refusal to halt the influx of camp followers, indi-
gent, and destitute people into Halifax from various places around
the world. As a result, Halifax became a magnet for numerous poor
people, and its workhouse and poor house became filled with tran-
sient poor. The expenditures required to support these people
caused the provincial debt to rise to £23,500 by 1770 and remain at
that level until the outbreak of the American Revolution.
99 Poor Relief and Health Care, 1763—1775
The air is salutary for men and Beast, no Province in America is equal
to it, intermitent Disorders, and glandular obstructions are here un-
known, and I believe there are as few Premature Deaths in Proportion
to the Numbers who pay the Debt of Nature, as in any Part of the
World. It must however be allowed that sedentiaries with relaxed
Fibres and chronick affections, find this climate much too severe for
them, but well-fed and labourious Husbandmen, preserve Health and
Vigour to an extreme old age.
Figure 18
Description of Nova Scotia as a healthy place to live by an anonymous author.
Dr Joseph Norman Bond (1758-1830) Dr John Halliburton (ca. 1737-1808) came
arrived in Shelburne in 1783 and later to Halifax in 1782 to be surgeon at the
practised in Yarmouth from 1787 until his naval hospital. He was appointed a
death. Portrait by unknown artist. member of Council in 1787, and prac-
(Yarmouth County Historical Society tised in Halifax until his death. Portrait by
Museum) unknown artist.
Dr William James Almon (1755-1817) served with the Royal Artillery during the
American War. He came to Halifax in 1783 and practised there until shortly
before his death, which occurred in Bath, England, in 1817. Oil on canvas by Robert
Field. (Laleah Almon, Toronto). Dr James Boggs (1740-1830) came to Port
Mouton in 1783 and after spending a few years in Guysborough, settled in Halifax
where he practised until his death. Artist unknown. (Dr George Bate, Saint
John, and Olga Grant, Rothesay). Dr Joseph Prescott (1762-1852) was born in Nova
Scotia and served in the American War as an assistant surgeon at the hospital
in New York. After the war he practised in Windsor, Shelburne, Lunenburg, and
Halifax, where he died. Oil on tin-plate attributed to John Weaver. (Nova Scotia
Museum)
CHAPTER FOUR
A New Order
of Medical Men
The Loyalists,
1775-1784
The skirmish at Lexington and the battle, on 19 April 1775, at Con-

cord, Massachusetts between British troops and the minutemen1 of
the Massachusetts Militia heralded the beginning of dramatic change
in all aspects of life in Nova Scotia, including health care. During the
next decade the population of Nova Scotia tripled, and a total of 170
physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries (55 civilian and 115 army
and navy) came into the province. By 1800, only an eighth of these
medical practitioners, twenty-one in number, were still residing in
Nova Scotia. These surgeons formed the nucleus of the province's
medical profession during the last fifteen years of the eighteenth
century. Their progeny, especially the offspring of Dr William J.
Almon and Dr Joseph N. Bond, provided a substantial part of the
leadership that regularized the practice of medicine in Nova Scotia
in the nineteenth century. Thanks to the American Revolution, the
level of health care in Nova Scotia improved significantly, for many
of these Loyalist medical personnel were highly qualified.
The American Revolution dominated every aspect of life in Nova
Scotia from 1775 to 1783. The transfer to Halifax of the headquar-
ters of the British army in April 1776 and the influx of civilians from
Boston marked the beginning of eight years of constant movement
through Halifax of British and Hessian regiments and Royal Navy
squadrons. Ironically, the major smallpox epidemic of 1775—76 was
a major factor in the cancellation by the Americans of an invasion of
Halifax. There were numerous difficulties associated with the estab-
lishment of the various military, naval, and prison hospitals in Hal-
ifax during the war, which had also wrought havoc with the lives of
the thirty-thousand Loyalists, including fifty-five surgeons, who ar-
rived in Nova Scotia in 1783.
iO2 Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
The battles at Lexington and Concord were the outcome of a

series of acts adopted by the British Parliament to control its colonies
in North America during the previous century. The Navigation acts
of 1660—63, the Sugar and Molasses acts of 1733, the Stamp Act of
1765 (repealed in 1766), and the Townshend Act of 1767 applied
economic restrictions that stifled manufacturing in the colonies and
placed taxes on official documents and certain commodities, all with-
out according the colonists direct representation in the British Par-
liament. As a result, the colonies were alienated.
The tax on tea, in particular, created much hostility and led to the
famous Boston Tea Party: on 16 December 1773, 340 chests of tea,
carried by three British ships in Boston Harbour, were thrown over-
board by a mob. This caused the British to close the port of Boston
to trade, and gave rise, in September 1774, to the First Continental
Congress in Philadelphia.
Immediately after Lexington and Concord, the repulsed British
troops retreated to Boston, where they were surrounded by a force
of sixteen thousand minutemen. The British force was sufficient,
however, to defend Boston for the next eleven months. During this
period, on 10 May 1775, the Second Continental Congress declared
war on Great Britain.
During the summer of 1775, Halifax contained about 1,800 civil-
ian inhabitants.2 Four companies of the 65th Regiment had left
Halifax for Boston on 27 April 1775, leaving three companies in
garrison at Halifax, totalling only seventy-seven officers and men.3
On 31 July 1775, Governor Francis Legge wrote,4 "The buildings
of the Navy Yard have been set on fire, but timely discovered and
extinguished ... It is certain without doubt a malicious design to de-
stroy the yard. There remain here only thirty-six effective men ... I
would propose that a Regiment of one thousand men be raised for
the defence of this Province to be composed of Germans, Neutrals,
and Irish, without regard to their religion. The concerns raised by
Governor Legge indicated Halifax's vulnerability to attack by the
rebel forces. In addition to Halifax, both Windsor and Annapolis in-
dicated, during July 1775, that they were under threat of attack.5
Both towns asked for a supply of arms and ammunition, as well as
troops, "to apprehend any pirates from Macchias [sic] who may at-
tack." General Thomas Gage, stationed in Boston, cognizant that
Nova Scotia was unprotected from attack, ordered6 the formation of
two new regiments in early June 1775. These were the Royal High-
land Emigrant (Eighty-fourth) Regiment, and the Royal Fencible
Americans. The former was to consist of two battalions, one of
which, under the command of Lt Col John Small, was to be raised
103 The Loyalists, 1775—1784
in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. 7 The regiment of Royal Fencible

Americans was to be raised in Nova Scotia and commanded by
Lt Col Joseph Gorham.8
The summer of 1775 was filled with apprehension and anxiety for
Governor Legge and Nova Scotians in general, due both to a prevail-
ing expectation of attack by the army of General George Washing-
ton, and to a second fearful scourge: the smallpox. It is unclear
when the smallpox first appeared in Halifax during 1775, or how it
was brought into the town. The first burial from St Paul's Church in
which the cause of death was given as smallpox was recorded on
23 July 1775. Most of those who died of smallpox and were buried
from St Paul's probably were recorded as such by the Reverend
Mr Breynton, for he wrote,9 "The Labours of my function were
likewise greatly augmented by the breaking out of the Small Pox
amongst us last Summer. When that Distemper (so peculiarity [sic]
fatal to Americans) began to spread, I applied every effort to pro-
mote Inoculation, preached a sermon upon the occasion and raised
a subscription towards Inoculating the Poor. I flatter myself I have
been Instrumental in saving many lives in this Province."
Figure 19 shows the number of deaths10 that occurred in Nova
Scotia during each month for the two-year period 1775—76. Whereas
prior to August 1775 the average number of deaths per month was
nine, the average number from August 1775 to March 1776 was
forty. Figure 19 indicates also that during the five-month period
from August to December 1775, there was a total of 237 deaths in
Nova Scotia, 144 of which (sixty percent) were attributed to small-
pox.
On 4 July 1775, a notice appeared in the Nova Scotia Gazette and
Weekly Chronicle proposing a method of inoculation. The anonymous
author suggested that the heads of poor families who could not af-
ford the services of a practitioner should inoculate their own family
members by using the procedure described. The method began with
a lengthy period of abstinence from meats, spices, wine, and all sea-
soned food prior to the inoculation, a "Vomit of Tarr" three days be-
fore, and calomel in a pill on the day of the inoculation. The actual
inoculation consisted of creating small punctures in the skin with a
"lancet dipped in variolus matter." For a number of days after, the
writer advised that the inoculated person be purged with jalap, and
should drink barley water sweetened with brown sugar.
Concern about the spread of smallpox prompted the House of As-
sembly to order preparation of a bill to prevent the spreading of
contagious distempers. The bill' * underwent a number of revisions
before it received Governor Legge's assent on 17 November 1775.
Figure 19
Total number of deaths in Nova Scotia during the period 1775—76.
1 Mention of smallpox in Halifax, 4 July 1775.

2 Bill to prevent spreading of contagious distempers passed 12 July 1775.
3 Arrival of General Howe with 12,060 civilians and military personnel from Boston
on 2 April 1776.
Whereas an earlier act had dealt mainly with diseases brought to

Nova Scotia by ships and applied, therefore, to ports such as Hali-
fax, Lunenburg, and Yarmouth, this act applied only to towns and
villages located outside of the town of Halifax. It directed that those
infected or recently inoculated be quarantined: "Provided that any
person or persons desirous of being Inoculated (for the Small pox)
themselves or of having their families Inoculated, may Proceed
therein, provided that the house or place wherein they dwell or re-
side, during the time of their being infected with Small pox shall be
at least one hundred and sixty rods distance from any other house
or dwelling ... A flag [should be] hung out at their said House, to the
End that all persons may take notice thereof and avoid, if they see
cause, going near such houses or places." Within Halifax, Dr George
Greaves was advertising12 by August 1775 that he operated an inoc-
ulation hospital in a house in the North Suburbs. This was the first
105 The Loyalists, 1775-1784
private hospital operated in the province. Greaves's advertisement

read:
The happy Effects of inoculating for the Small Pox is too well known to
need any arguments to persuade a reasonable Person to prefer Inoculation,
to taking this Disorder in the natural way. The Subscriber G. Greaves has
made himself fully acquainted with every Improvement lately adopted by the
most eminent Practitioners of this Age in said Disorder, therefore all such as
choose to put themselves under the care of said Subscriber are desired to
apply as soon as possible — The Charge to each Patient is Ten Shillings,
being for inoculating, medicines and Attendance, through the whole course
of the Disease.
Geo. Greaves
N.B. G. Greaves has a very commodious House well situated in the North
Suburbs which he has furnished with Cradles and Beds, for taking in pri-
vate Patients for Inoculation and a Nurse to attend at the Rate of Six Dollars
each Patient received into said House, Diet to be provided at the Patients
own Expense, or otherways pay One Shilling per Diem if victualled by the
above Subscriber.
On 8 August, Dr John Philipps and Dr William Faries, surgeons at

the naval hospital, inoculated two hundred persons against small-
pox. The notice13 describing this event indicated that the patients
ranged in age from one fo fifty years, and that not one patient died
as a result of the procedure. It is possible that either Philipps or
Faries was author of an article, published 29 August 1775 in the
Nova Scotia Gazette and the Weekly Chronicle, entitled "Advice and In-
structions concerning inoculation addressed to the industrious poor
of Halifax." The article appeared under the pseudonym G. Tiplady
of the "Halifax Yard," who wrote, "I am satisfied that the smallpox
is the true and genuine smallpox."
The smallpox which broke out in Halifax in late June or early July
1775 spread rapidly to other parts of Nova Scotia, including Lunen-
burg. Rev. Peter de la Roche, rector of St John's Anglican Church,
Lunenburg, described14 the smallpox epidemic:
The Settlement was visited in the fall of last year with a dreadful plague; I
mean the Small pox, which had never been here since the settlement began
... As soon as it was spread enough to be certain that inoculation could not
be charged with the further propagation of it, I gave the example and inoc-
ulated my eldest child ... But this method was not relished by the generality
... I dare say, above a thousand more have had it in the natural way, and
dreadfully too; tho' but few have died (not above eighty), owing to the poor
io6 Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
and frugal diet of the settlers their lives long and to the robust labouring
people, as also to the favourable season of the year, for it happened between
the heats of the summer and the beginning of winter.
The smallpox spread also to Windsor and environs, as indicated in

a memorial15 from Michael Head, surgeon of that town. Head listed
the names of fifty-eight persons whom he had inoculated, and asked
to be paid for his services.
On 29 August 1775, Richard Bulkeley, the provincial secretary,
wrote16 to Isaac Deschamps in Windsor, providing the following di-
rection to prevent the spreading of the smallpox: "It should be ear-
nestly recommended to the Magistrates and Principal Inhabitants to
use their influence in prevailing on the people to enter mutually into
such regulations as may prevent the small pox from being generally
contiguous at this time."
As mentioned earlier, Nova Scotians not only were besieged by a
smallpox epidemic but were under threat of invasion by the rebels.
On 11 August 1775, General George Washington wrote17 to the
Committee of the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay indica-
ting that he was low in ammunition and would not attempt an attack
on Nova Scotia under such conditions. Colonel Thompson had pro-
posed that one thousand men, four armed vessels, and eight trans-
ports were needed to destroy Nova Scotia: "We are lately informed
that there is not to exceed two hundred British Troops in Hali-
fax."17 Thompson's figure of two hundred was very close to the ac-
tual figure indicated in Governor Legge's Letter18 to the Earl of
Dartmouth, written 17 October 1775: "It was given out by the
rebels, that they intended a descent on this Province ... that their de-
sign was to destroy the Navy Yard here and cut off all supply of
wood, hay, and provisions from the troops at Boston." Legge men-
tioned the two recently created regiments and the authorization of a
third, which was to be called the Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteers.1Q He
put his present strength at only 126 men fit for duty. Since His Maj-
esty's Forces at Halifax were reported,20 four days later, to number
390 soldiers, over 200 must have been sick, probably with the small-
pox. The militia, which was not much trusted by Governor Legge,21
was also rendered ineffective by the smallpox.22
Halifax, then, was woefully underdefended during the summer
and fall of 1775. However, it was at least in part the presence of
smallpox that saved the town and, indeed, the province from cap-
ture and occupation by the rebels. As a resident of New Jerusalem,
Maine, described it in December 1775, "Thirteen thousand men had
been embodied by the Congress to subdue Nova Scotia, and par-
ticularily Halifax, and that they were prevented from pursuing their
design while the men of War lay in the Bay of Fundy, and that they
believed Halifax would have been taken long since had it not been
for the smallpox being there which at present deterred the Liberty
Army."23 Governor Legge confirmed this statement in a letter to the
Earl of Dartmouth,24 though according to Legge, the number of
men in the attacking force was much smaller:
By persons from New England I am also informed that Congress had allot-
ted out five thousand men for the attack on this Province, that the smallpox
at Halifax and the Frigates in the Bay of Fundy had hitherto prevented
them, but it was their determined intent to have this Province in their pos-
session, or to destroy it, that it should be of no use either to the Army or
Navy. A State of the King's Forces within this Province by which you will
percieve that the whole number amounts to nine hundred and eighty, but
by reason of sickness, new recruits and others absent, there remains no
more than four hundred and forty six men fit for duty.
Because of the importance of Halifax as a naval and army base

and a source of supplies for the British troops in Boston, and once
Montreal had been taken25 by the rebels on 13 November, martial
law was proclaimed26 in Nova Scotia on 30 November 1775. General
Howe wrote27 to Governor Legge on 18 December that Brigadier
General Eyre Massey and the 27th Regiment had been dispatched
from Ireland to defend Halifax.
The outbreak of hostilities and the subsequent raising of three
provincial regiments led to an increase in the number of medical
personnel in Nova Scotia from sixteen to twenty-one in 1775. Wil-
liam Fletcher, surgeon to the 65th Regiment of Foot from June 1770
until January 1777, was in Halifax with his regiment during that
year.28 William Paries, the assistant surgeon at the naval hospital in
August 1775, had been in Halifax as early as 1772 with the 65th
Regiment.29 It is not known when Dr Faries left the 65th Regiment
and became associated with the naval hospital. William Pringle, who
later married a daughter of Richard Wenman, was appointed30 sur-
geon's mate in the Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteers on 25 December
1775 and continued31 in that regiment until at least January 1781. A
fourth army surgeon in Halifax in 1775 was Patrick Dundon.32 It is
unclear what regiment he was with at that time, but on 23 May 1776,
he was appointed33 surgeon to the 52nd Foot, which was then sta-
tioned in Halifax after having been evacuated from Boston on
2 April 1776.
Among the first group34 of Loyalists to arrive in Halifax in May
1775 was Drjohn Prince. He and his family embarked35 from
Salem, Massachusetts, on 22 April and arrived in Halifax on 8 May
io8 Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
1775. Shortly after, he took the oath of allegiance, as was required of

all civilians entering the province.36 In August, Dr Prince was de-
scribed as a merchant and trader at Halifax. 37 It is unlikely that he
ever practised as a physician in the town, although he had practised
in Salem for the previous fourteen years. Rev. Jacob Bailey re-
corded38 in his journal in 1779 that Dr Prince "had acquired in the
space of five years [in Halifax] a large fortune by merchandise."
Dr John Philipps was probably the most prominent surgeon in
Halifax in 1775. He was surgeon and a trustee of the orphan
house,39 surgeon to the naval hospital,40 and, as of 25 December
1775, surgeon by appointment to the Loyal Nova Scotia Volun-
teers.41 In addition to the two hundred civilians that he and
Dr William Faries inoculated on i July 1775, he inoculated nineteen
children on the same day in the orphan house.42 Dr Philipps
had been in Halifax since 1758. Although not the most senior sur-
geon there in 1775, he was probably the most influential and well
known.43
The year 1776 began in Halifax with a continuation of the same
fears that had plagued residents in the autumn of 1775: invasion
by the rebels, and the smallpox. Commodore Mariot Arbuthnot
wrote44 to Howe in January "that the Garrison [in Halifax] is not
more than 500 ... but is very sickly." Later in the month, General
George Washington advised45 the Congress that "whatever may be
the determination of Congress upon the subject [attack on Nova
Scotia], you will please to communicate it to me immediately, for the
season most favourable for the enterprise is advancing fast, and we
may expect, in the Spring, that there will be more troops there, and
the measure be more difficult to execute." Washington must have
been further encouraged to attack after receiving an unsigned peti-
tion,46 dated 8 February 1776, from Cumberland, Nova Scotia. The
petition conveyed the sympathy of the people in northern Nova Sco-
tia for the proposed attack on the province and the petitioners
promised to fight alongside the attacking force.
During the early months of 1776, Governor Legge encountered
opposition among the inhabitants of Truro, Onslow, Cumberland,
Amherst, and Sackville to two acts passed in late 1775-47 The Militia
Bill48 and the bill to raise a tax to help pay for the militia49 were op-
posed universally by inhabitants in the townships. They were unwill-
ing to leave their families unprotected and felt that they were not
financially able to pay the tax. The petition of the inhabitants of
Cumberland explained: "Those of us who belong to New England,
being invited into the Province by Governor Lawrence's Proclama-
tion it must be the greatest piece of cruelty and imposition for them
iog The Loyalists, 1775-1784
to be subjected to march into different parts in arms against their

friends and relatives."
The residents of Halifax were also fed up with Governor Legge's
policies. Nineteen leading citizens, including John Prince, merchant,
petitioned50 the king, George III, on 2 January 1776, to the effect
that they, as Loyalists, had quit their possessions in the colonies now
in revolt and had sought refuge in Nova Scotia, where they were
being treated by Governor Legge in an abusive and discouraging
way.
General Sir William Howe was aware of the internal strife in the
province. This, combined with the fact that he was surrounded by
the rebel army and unable to obtain an adequate supply of provi-
sions for his men in Boston, caused him to evacuate Boston and to
move his headquarters to Halifax. He outlined his plans to the Earl
of Dartmouth: 51
Halifax, tho' stripped of provisions during the winter, and affording few
conveniences to so numerous a Body, is the only Place where the Army can
remain until supplies arrive from Europe. My first attention will be paid to
the Defences of the Town, and His Majesty's Dockyard, and to enable Gov-
ernor Legge to overcome the spirit of Disaffection which has lately ap-
peared in the northern parts of Nova Scotia, after which I conclude that
three Battalions, with Goreham's and Maclean's Corps will be a sufficient
force for its Protection.
A document52 recording the "State of the Regiments, Officers

included, at Boston" on the day of the evacuation indicated that
General Howe had under his command a total of nineteen Regi-
ments of Foot, the i7th Light Dragoons, the Royal Artillery, and two
battalions of marines, totalling 8,906 army personnel. These troops,
as well as 1,124 civilians in the town of Boston and environs53 and
approximately 2,030 women and children of the army,54 12,060
people in all, were evacuated from Boston in seventy-eight ships and
several smaller vessels on 17 March 1776.55 Two of the ships, the
Richmond and the Two Brothers, carried the hospital.56 This armada
was escorted on its passage from Boston to Halifax by a Royal Navy
squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Molyneux Shuld-
ham, whose squadron consisted of fourteen ships.57
The medical personnel evacuated with the civilians from Boston
were William Brattle, physician; Peter Oliver, physician; William
Coffin, apothecary; Sylvester Gardiner, physician; John Jeffries,
physician; Nathaniel Perkins, physician; William Lee Perkins, physi-
cian; and Bartholomew Sullivan, doctor. Of these eight civilian doc-
no Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
tors, only two, Brattle58 and Jeffries,59 remained in Halifax for

longer than a few months. The other six were in Halifax during the
summer of 1776, but left60 the province in the late summer and fall
for England and New York. Howe wrote61 to Germain, in April
1776, that many of the principal former residents of Boston who
were now under the protection of the army in Halifax had no means
of subsistance and were eager to find passage to Europe, Rev.
Mather Byles, one of the Boston evacuees, described his predica-
ment62 on May 1776:
I had not the least suspicion that the Army would ever have evacuated Bos-
ton. That astonishing event has now taken place and the Retreat has been so
sudden and precipitate, that it has totally ruined multitudes who thought
themselves perfectly secure in the British Protection. Of that number I am
one, not being allowed to bring away furniture, or anything that I possessed,
but a couple of beds, with such articles as might be contained in a few trunks
and boxes. I now see myself an exile for some time from my native country,
pent up in one wretched chamber in a strange place, together with my five
motherless children, deprived of every other earthly enjoyment, and en-
tirely at a loss as to my future Residence and Subsistence.
It is estimated that, in addition to the twenty-one medical person-

nel in Nova Scotia prior to the arrival of General Howe's armada,
and the eight civilian doctors listed above, there were approximately
sixty surgeons and surgeons's mates with the nineteen regiments
which arrived in Halifax on 30 and 31 March 1776.63 There would
also have been fourteen naval surgeons in Admiral Shuldham's
squadron, one per ship. The total number of medical personnel in
Nova Scotia in April 1776 was, therefore, in the order of one
hundred.
Sometime prior to 24 May 1776, Dr John Jeffries was appointed
surgeon to a hospital, located on George's Island, that had been es-
tablished shortly after the arrival of the troops from Boston. This
hospital was in addition to the general military hospital located on
Blowers Street (Figure 15) and was established to quarantine sol-
diers with the smallpox.64 Jeffries was assisted by two surgeon's
mates, a Mr Goldthwaite65 and a Mr Morehead.66 The hospital was
probably discontinued some time after Howe's army left Halifax for
New York on 10 June.
James Dickson had come to Halifax with Rear Admiral Shuld-
ham's squadron on 2 April 1776 and, twelve days later, was referred
to as surgeon and agent on board the Richmond hospital ship.6"7 Later
in the month, he was described as surgeon of the Chatham, Admiral
Shuldham's flagship, and appointed68 to replace Mr Charles White
in The Loyalists, 1775-1784
as surgeon and agent for the care of the sick and hurt belonging to
His Majesty's Ships in Halifax harbour. On 28 May and again on
7 June, James Dickson signed a report indicating he was treating pa-
tients on the Two Brothers hospital ship.69 According to Commodore
Arbuthnot,70 Dickson left with Admiral Shuldham for New York on
10 June 1776. Arbuthnot described the wretched condition of the
hospital facilities for navy personnel in Halifax:
The Hospital my Lord is another Distress that I am deficient in Language

to express my feelings about. Provisions are at this place, and the Circum-
stances of the Place such, that no part of the Orders of the Commissrs of
Sick and Hurt have been able to have been complied with: thay have con-
ceived that the inhabitants of the Place would have received them and that
the Surgeon would have lodged and boarded them for fifteen pence a day:
no person is to be found that will receive those people, neither can a proper
place be procured to make an Hospital of, without hiring an old house, and
put in repair at the Kings Expence perhaps about 150 Pounds, not that at
present do I know of such a one: but if some Care is not taken before the
Winter, very disagreeable will be the Lot of those poor People who may be
put sick on shore: The Commissrs of the Sick presuming that Boston would
be the place where the greatest part of those Men would remain sent the
Surgeon to that place & thought little of this the Contrary is the fact for
when the Fleet sailed from hence last, Mr Dickson of the Hospital Ship, put
all his miserable Objects on shore to us to be taken care of and if a place
could have been found, we should not have had fewer that [sic] One hun-
dred since here I have been; this I have represented to Admiral Shuldham
& now beg your Lordships Excuse for this long detail.
General Sir William Howe and Admiral Molyneux Shuldham left

Halifax for New York, with 140 vessels and 8,000 troops, on 10 June
i776.71 General Washington was advised72 of Howe's departure
from Halifax and that nearly twelve hundred sick personnel had
been left behind in Halifax. Shortly after Howe's departure, Com-
modore William Hotham arrived in Halifax with thirteen transports
carrying a regiment of Hessians and two companies of the Guards.73
The Hessians were part of the first division of Hessian troops, con-
sisting of 7,800 men, under the command of Lieutenant General De
Heister. Sir George Collier and five men-of-war escorted the force to
America, having left Shiphead on 20 May. This armada consisted of
ninety-two sail, eighty-six of which were transports.74 Their destina-
tion was New York, but because of foul weather, ships were dis-
persed and Hotham's thirteen transports put into Halifax. The
Hessian troops and the Guards arrived in New York from Halifax
on 15 August 1776. With the addition of the Hessians, the Guards,
and the 42nd and 7ist Highland regiments, which had arrived in
Halifax on 8 June, General Howe's army consisted of 23,000 effec-
tive men.75
At the Council meeting of 3 June 1776, Lieutenant Governor
Arbuthnot told the councillors76 that "a considerable number of
women and children amounting to 2,030 persons are to be left in
Halifax on the embarkation of the Army." By 27 June, General
Massey informed 77 Germain that "the wives and children of soldiers
are [to be] sent with the invalids to England." He mentioned that this
would greatly relieve the distresses of the vast number of women
and children left behind by the army. This was not carried out, how-
ever, since on 6 October, Massey wrote78 that "all of the women and
children of the Army are still in Halifax and almost naked." Presum-
ably, a number of these women and children would be taken into the
poor house kept by John Woodin79 and given medical attention by
Dr Thomas Reeve.80
In addition to the hospital operated by Dr John Jeffries on George's
Island and the two hospital ships mentioned earlier, there were at
least four other hospitals in Nova Scotia in 1776, two in Halifax, one
in Windsor, and one in Liverpool. Major Gilfred Studholme, major
of brigade, wrote to Major General Massey from Windsor on 6 No-
vember 1776, describing Fort Edward as containing a barracks that
could lodge six officers and 150 men. The fort contained also a hos-
pital that could hold twenty-six patients.81 George Frederick Boyd,
who had been appointed surgeon to the Second Battalion, Royal
Highland Emigrants on 8 May, was probably surgeon at the Fort Ed-
ward Hospital.82
In January 1776, an inoculation hospital had been established in
Liverpool, where smallpox had broken out. A number of Liverpool
residents were inoculated, but it appears that the procedure itself
caused the disease in some of these people. As a result, "the people
meet concerning the smallpox and generally sign an agreement not
to be inoculated."83 The smallpox was also a cause of conflict in Hor-
ton. In June 1776, Andrew Davidson and John Bishop were found
guilty84 of "Introducing the smallpox to this Town contrary to a law
of this Province." Both Bishop and Davidson "acknowledged they
did inoculate their family, but pleaded they did not understand the
law."
The general hospital (Figure 15) must have been very busy during
and after General Howe's two-month stay in Halifax. If, as General
Washington had been informed, Howe did leave twelve hundred
sick soldiers at Halifax upon his departure on lojune 1776, they
would have been under treatment in the general hospital. Dr John
Jeffries was surgeon there85 by 16 December 1776 and remained in
that important position, as well as becoming purveyor to the hospi-

tal, until early 1779.
It was mentioned earlier that on 12 December 1775, Dr John
Philipps had been appointed86 surgeon of the naval hospital. Its
exact location at that date is not known; however, sometime in late
1776 or early 1777, the hospital was moved to George's Island. It is
quite possible that the quarantine hospital on George's Island, oper-
ated, by Dr John Jeffries in May 1776, became the site of the naval
hospital referred to here. The first mention of the naval hospital
being located on George's Island is found in the journal of Sir
George Collier.87
It was in about 2 Months after that He [General Massey] took the strange
Resolution of turning all the sick seamen from off George's Island (abreast
of the Town) where the Naval Hospital was under Pretence of fortifying it;
had I been as mad as himself I could by Force have prevented this inhuman
Measure from being executed, but a Civil War of this kind woud [sic] have
been as blameable as new; the poor sick Seamen were accordingly turnd off
the Island and carried ashore below the Town in a heavy Rain — some of
these unhappy Men were at the point of Death, others with Fevers and var-
ious other Disorders; there are amongst them some whose Wounds were
still open and dangerous; Wounds they had received in the Service of their
Country, fighting like brave men; their Treatment however from this fran-
tic madman was the same with the rest, all were indiscriminately forcd into
the Boats, and landed in heavy Rain in wh[ich] they remained 24 Hours be-
fore any Shelter coud [sic] be found by the Surgeons for them ... I ordered
a Man of War to get ready to sail for New York, in order to lay the affair be-
fore Lord Howe and the General, and request that either this absurd Bed-
lamite or myself might be recalld.
The account of this incident by the surgeon in charge of the naval

hospital, James Dickson, appeared in the Nova Scotia Gazette and
Weekly Chronicle of 6 October 1778. Dickson had apparently re-
turned to Halifax from New York sometime prior to 15 May 1777,
possibly with Sir George Collier in September 1776, and had taken
over from John Philipps as surgeon in charge of the naval hospital,
He wrote:
Naval Hospital on George's Island

May i6th, 1777.
Sir,
Yesterday about 12 o'Clock after I had visited the Hospital and gone on
board the Rainbow with eight recover'd Men, that I had discharged from the
Hospital, Major Lyons, Town Major, Lieut Needham, and Mr Hill, Surgeon
ii4 Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
to the Marines, went to the King's Naval Hospital on George's Island with two
Boats, and in consequence of Orders from General Massey, ordered every
Man, (be their State of Health ever so infirm and weak), that could possibly
walk, into their Boats, and landed them during a heavy Shower of Rain at
the ... gun Battery, and there left them to [fend] for themselves ...
I am very apprehensive from the Condition I know the Healths many of
them are in, that this cruel Treatment must be fatal to them, as it was not in
my Power to provide any Place to receive them, and the constant Rain all
day yesterday and all last Night, must make their remaining ever since in the
streets very dangerous.
I had a Message deliver'd to me by the Steward of the Hospital, that if the
Storehouses were not clear'd in three or four Days, that the Medicines, In-
struments, Bedding, and other Stores shoud be turn'd out into the Streets
by the General's Orders, and that Sir George might gather them up.
I must beg you will please to direct what is to be done with these sick Peo-
ple who are wandering now about the Streets, as I have endeavor'd tho'
without succeeding to find a place, to shelter them from the Inclemency of
the Weather.
I am, Sir,
Your most Humble Servant,
James Dickson.
On his Majesty's Service,
To Sir George Collier.
As a result of the confrontation between Sir George Collier and

Major General Massey, the naval hospital was returned to George's
Island; on 29 May 1777, James Dickson was described as the hospi-
tal's surgeon, at that location.88 Later, in October and December
1777, John Scott was referred to as a surgeon at the naval hospital.89
The incident of the forced removal of patients from the naval hos-
pital on George's Island followed an earlier bizarre but little-known
fracas between Collier and Massey, which occurred in Halifax in
early November 1776. One of Collier's ships had been sent with pro-
visions for some of Massey's soldiers stationed at Fort Cumberland.
Because of inclement weather, the ship did not complete its mission.
General Massey was enraged. As Collier wrote:90
He swore. He cursed and behaved like a frantick Mad Man, blaming the
Capt. of the Man of War for not arriving at the Port He was bound to, tho'
Massey knew no more of sea Matters than a Savage of the Woods. He be-
haved too with personal rudeness to the Capt. when He went to wait upon
Him, which the other came to complain of to me, I mentioned it afterwards
in a gentle manner to Massey reminding Him that Sea officers were only ac-
countable to me for their Conduct.
I took care however his neglect shoud [sic] be remedied and his Garrison
supplyd and we rubbd on a little longer with the appearance of being upon
tolerable terms, however He took occasion to be offended at something or
other (I really have forgot what it was) but He sent his Aide de Camp Capt.
Wade to desire me to meet Him the next Morning with Pistols behind the
Citadel Hill — I must with shame acknowledge his Folly made me so angry
that I consented to meet Him, and went at the app[ointe]d time accompa-
nied by Capt. [Andrew] Barkley — the Genl and Capt. Wade joined us as we
were going to the Ground the 2 Seconds lamented that so slight a misunder-
standing shoud [sic] have brot [sic] us into the Field, and wishd Matters
might proceed no further — I own I saw the Impropriety of it, and the fatal
consequences which must follow from the 2 Chief Officers of Navy and
Army going out to fight at a time, when we were surrounded by Enemies of
our Country — I made this Observation to Genl Massey and told Him I flat-
tered myself from wh[at] He saw That He would not ascribe the motive of
what I was going to say since I was ready to give him satisfaction if He de-
sired it, but that I thought certain Ruin must attend whoever survived, as his
Maj[est]y would certainly never pass over so great an Injury offered to his
Service and must naturally conclude both Parties undeserving to command
who coud [sic] behave so very improperly. I added that I was not in the least
conscious of having given Him offence, or at least not intended, and advised
Him to reflect for a few minutes before He took his Resolution in saying
which I left Him by himself and walked 20 yards backward and forward
with the 2 seconds. When I rejoined Him he appeared irresolute and unde-
termined. I repeated what I had said and He replyd that he woud [sic] not
make any Ansr [sic] till the Lt Governor had given his Opinion upon it —
We all four accordingly walked to the Lt Govrs and I let Massey tell [th]e
Story his own way, the Govr blamd him and was rejoicd to have the Termi-
nation left to his decision, He instantly obligd us to shake Hands, and prom-
ise to remain Friends for the future; this Reconciliation on my part was truly
sincere, on Masseys I fear it never was as the sequel shewd.
The "sequel" was the removal of patients from the naval hospital
on George's Island. Collier's statement about being "surrounded by
Enemies" was indeed true, for General Howe sent him to Halifax to
provide extra protection to "our very important settlement." Lieu-
tenant Governor Mariot Arbuthnot had received word on 13 Au-
gust 1776 that the rebels of New England were proposing to invade
Nova Scotia.91 Lord George Germain, in a letter9* from Whitehall
dated 11 December 1777, referred to the rivalry between Collier
and Massey and indicated concern over its possible effect on the sue-
n6 Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
cess of a rebel invasion. It appears, however, that the duel between

Collier and Massey was not made known to the secretary of state for
the colonial department, since no mention of it appears in the state
papers.
Compared to 1775 and 1776, very little happened in Nova Scotia
in 1777, either from a military or a medical standpoint. No new reg-
iment or naval squadron arrived in Halifax, nor does it appear that
any new doctors arrived in the province.
t)r Thomas Reeve, the last remaining of the thirty-six medical
personnel who arrived with Edward Cornwallis in 1749, died in late
July 1777.93 He had been a surgeon in Halifax during the first
twenty-eight years of its existence and, during the 17508, had also
been an apothecary and surgeon's mate at the civilian hospital.94
Sometime during Governor Wilmot's administration, Dr Reeve was
appointed95 "to take under his care, the sick in the Workhouse of
the Town of Halifax." He continued to act in that capacity until
shortly before his death, submitting a bill on 21 June 1777 for at-
tending sick poor persons.96
A doctor by the name of Parker Clark, who had been resident in
the province since at least i77o,97 had been among the followers of
Jonathan Eddy who, in November 1776, in company with rebels
from Machias, had attacked and almost captured Fort Cumber-
land.98 They were prevented by the timely arrival, on 26 November,
of marines from Halifax and of soldiers belonging to the Royal
Highland Emigrants from Windsor.99 Dr Clark was among those ar-
rested two days later. He was brought to Halifax, along with Richard
John Uniacke, stood trial on 18 April 1777, and was found guilty of
treason. 10° His sentence of execution was "respited," or temporarily
delayed. Dr Clark must have escaped, or been pardoned, since in
1785 he was granted101 land at Eddington, Maine. He died at Ips-
wich, Massachusetts, on 19 September 1798, aged 80.102
One of the prisoners taken by Jonathan Eddy's rebel forces before
they were dispersed by the troops from Halifax and Windsor was
Dr Walter Cullen. He was a surgeon's mate of the Royal Fencible
Americans, having been commissioned in that regiment on 2 May
1776.103 By late December 1776, Dr Cullen was reportedly104 held
prisoner in New England. He remained there until shortly after
12 January 1778, when he was part of a prisoner exchange.105 Re-
placing Dr Cullen at Fort Cumberland was James Silver, a surgeon
of Marines,106 who is recorded as having treated one Mr Samuel
Wethered, who had been hit by a cannon ball from the garrison of
Fort Cumberland during the rebel attack in November 1776. For
services rendered, Silver was paid fifty pounds from Wethered's
estate.107
The decisive battle at Saratoga on 17 October 1777 caused Lieu-

tenant Governor Arbuthnot to write 108 to Lord George Germain
about his concern for the defence of Nova Scotia. He pointed out
that he presently had a force of only a thousand men (six hundred
Marines and four hundred Highlanders) to defend Halifax and
guard the four hundred rebel prisoners held in the town. He re-
quested that arrangements be made to remove the rebel prisoners.
The officer commanding the army in Halifax in November 1777,
Major General Eyre Massey, wrote109 a pessimistic letter to his supe-
rior, General Howe, in which he commented on Burgoyne's misfor-
tune and predicted an imminent invasion of Halifax by the rebel
army.
There was a significant epidemic of smallpox in Nova Scotia dur-
ing 1777, particularly among the army and the rebel prisoners. Cap-
tain Alexander McDonald of the Second Battalion of the Royal
Highland Emigrants wrote110 on 6 May: "You will be very likely sur-
prised at the Expence of the hospital but I can declare to you upon
honor that I have paid every farthing of it & can produce vouchers
for the same we had above an hundred men sick all winter & almost
lost as many." A second mention of sickness in that year appears in
General Massey's letter to Lord Germain, dated 22 July 1777: "I
have now 400 rebel prisoners and more daily brought in by men-of-
war, above 180 of them sick, I may say dying. The care of the pris-
oners with the detachment now in service makes me very weak, but
such troops as I have fear no enemy as I am well supported by good
officers."
E.D. Poole, in Annals of Yarmouth and Barrington, Nova Scotia, in the
Revolutionary War,111 printed orders, dated 25 March 1777, sent by
John Hall Sr of Granville to his son John Hall Jr, who was command-
ing a small schooner bound for Halifax with cider and potatoes. The
postscript of his father's letter read, "You are to give the American
prisoners at Hallefax [sic] 20 or 30 Bushel of potatoes at your arrival
thare as I hear they are Kept Vary, Vary Short." John Hall Jr
had Zachariah Foot carry the potatoes on board the guardships
that housed the prisoners in Halifax harbour, and Foot wrote, on
10 May, that he did so because "Mr Hall's son had not [yet had] the
small pox." This statement suggests that John Hall Jr and Zachariah
Foot had been informed that the smallpox existed among the pris-
oners on the guardships, and Foot went on board because of some
degree of immunity which he had developed due to a previous en-
counter with the disease.
In August and September 1777, Dr John Jeffries recorded in his
diary, 112 "I inoculated 127 Rebel Prisoners of all ages ... all of them
recovered of the small pox." Jeffries had two methods of inocula-
tion: he "used a lancet moistened with the pus, and made two or
three scratches with the infected lancet," or he "used a bit of thread
laid on an incision." The thread was contaminated with pus taken
from a patient diagnosed as having the smallpox.
Between July and September 1777, a Boston newspaper, the New
England Chronicle, reported the deaths of sixty persons from the frig-
ates Hancock and Boston who were prisoners of war at Halifax. In the
paper's view, these people had died of "starvation."
A further mention of sickness in 1777 appears in Simeon Perkins's
diary,113 in which he records on 26 August that a resident of Liver-
pool had recently returned from Halifax and described the prison-
ers there as being sick with smallpox and yellow fever. This is the
first mention of yellow fever in Nova Scotia. Yellow fever is caused
by a virus transmitted by mosquito bite and is characterized by
haemorrhage, jaundice, and vomiting.
In another regard, Captain Alexander McDonald mentioned in a
letter of 11 June 1777 that his wife would soon be in need of a mid-
wife. He asked Donald McLean to send [to Halifax] "one of the best
midwives in New York."114 This suggested that Halifax was then
without a midwife, or that Halifax midwives were unacceptable to
McDonald and his wife. A midwife by the name of Ann, wife of Wil-
liam Scott, had been buried from St Paul's on 17 April 1776. She was
fifty-six years of age and had resided in Halifax since at least Decem-
ber 1763-115 There would have been numerous midwives through-
out Nova Scotia at the time, but only two have come to light. One was
a Mrs Harris of Horton, who is recorded as providing midwifery ser-
vices in the Falmouth area in January and February of 1776.ll6 The
other was Mrs Elizabeth Doane of Barrington, described117 as hav-
ing "filled an important niche in the scattered fishing settlement.
There was no physician, and being skilled in the use of roots and
herbs, and in nursing, she was soon acting as nurse, doctor, and mid-
wife."
As early as February 1778, Lord George Germain had indica-
ted118 to Lieutenant Governor Arbuthnot that "a reinforcement
consisting of 2,500 men is proposed to be sent out in the spring to
Nova Scotia." The first regiment designated was the 7oth Regiment
of Foot, which, on 10 February 1778, consisted of 677 men (includ-
ing officers), sixty women, and twelve servants.119 The other two
regiments were designated on 21 March 1778, when General Sir
Henry Clinton, Howe's successor as commander-in-chief, was sent
secret instructions120 from Whitehall stating that the newly raised
regiments, consisting of 2,700 men commanded by Colonels Mc-
Lean and Campbell, were preparing to sail from Glasgow for Hali-
fax. The three regiments were to be accompanied by a number of

medical personnel, including a new staff for the general military
hospital. On 16 April 1778, fifty tons of hospitals stores, a surgeon,
an apothecary, and four hospital mates were ordered121 for the hos-
pital at Halifax and directed to be transported to Nova Scotia on the
Dunmore.122 Prior to their arrival, Dr John Jeffries and two mates
provided the medical services at the general hospital. 123 Dr Jeffries,
according to General Massey,124 "has taken unusu'l pains in the Ex-
ecution of his Duty here, had all the soldiers' wives and children of
the Army under his care, and by my orders inoculated above 500
children, since which he had all the Rebel prisoners under his care
with yellow fever and horrid Disorders, I think he merits the atten-
tion of your Excellency as he was promis'd to be provided for by
General Howe."
The three regiments — the 7oth Foot, the 74th (known as the Ar-
gyle Highlanders), and the 82nd (the Duke of Hamilton Regiment)
— arrived in Halifax on 12 August,125 along with the new staff of the
general hospital, all in good health. The hospital staff consisted of
John Marshall, surgeon; Peter Bernard, apothecary; James Kay(e),
hospital mate; John Crawford, hospital mate; William Digby Lawlor,
hospital mate; and James Bowman, hospital mate.126 John Jeffries,
initially part of the hospital's new establishment, held the position of
purveyor. The purveyor was, essentially, the hospital's administra-
tor, and Jeffries was paid twenty shillings per diem, as compared to
ten shillings per diem paid to the surgeon, John Marshall. Sir Henry
Clinton disapproved127 of Dr Jeffries's appointment "on account of
a Garrison Establishment being sent out from England which was
thought sufficient for that place," and directed Brig. Gen. Francis
McLean to eliminate the position of purveyor.
On 5 November 1778, Lord Barrington conveyed to Lord Ger-
main 128 the concerns of Dr John Marshall, surgeon at Halifax, over
the conditions of the rebel gaol and hospital.129 Marshall had earlier
written to Dr Robert Adair, inspector of regimental infirmaries for
the British army, that "herrings salted up in casks [would] best con-
vey some idea of the situation of the prisoners. Deaths are extremely
frequent."130 Germain directed Lieutenant Governor Richard Hughes
and Brigadier General McLean131 to alleviate the suffering of the
prisoners and to prevent the fever and disorder from spreading to
British soldiers:
I have received a letter from Lord Barrington inclosing an extract of a letter

from Mr Marshall, surgeon to the Garrison at Halifax, relative to the mode
in which the Rebel Jail and Hospital are conducted there, which seems not
i2o Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor
only to be prejudical to the Health of the prisoners, but also to that of His
Majesty's Troops to whom they are contiguous. I am to acquaint you as is his
Majesty's Pleasure that Lord Barrington should give directions by the first
conveyance to the proper officers upon the Staff to take care that the Rebel
Prisoners may no longer be liable to Diseases which a want of space and air
and cleanliness must necessarily occasion, and I have received His Majesty's
command to instruct you to concur and co-operate as far as lies in your
power to keep the healthy persons separate from the sick, and to give every
degree of attention to remove the grievance complained of.
And with respect to the Regulations which would probably prevent His
Majesty's Troops from suffering the evil which they were exposed to from
the proximity of the Rebels, the General Hospital Orders are given to the
proper Department at Halifax, to substitute Regimental Hospitals in room
of a general one.
The decision to decentralize the hospital facilities in Halifax had

been transmitted 132 on 5 November 1778 by Lord Barrington to
Brigadier General McLean: the "General Hospital at Halifax is con-
trary to His Majesty's Intentions." And Dr Robert Adair had di-
rected133 John Marshall that "no general hospital is to be formed."
A second large contingent of soldiers arrived in Halifax between
15—18 November: Lieutenant Colonel de Seitz's Regiment of Hessi-
ans and the King's Orange Rangers.134 The Hessian Regiment re-
mained in Halifax during the next year, but one detachment of the
King's Orange Rangers was dispatched to protect the town of Liver-
pool.135 There had been in Halifax a small detachment of Bruns-
wick Troops, prior to the arrival of the Hessians, and it was ordered
to spend the winter at Lunenburg under the command of Lieuten-
ant Colonel Von Specht. Included in the Brunswick detachment
were four surgeons, but I have been unable to identify them.136 At
its meeting of 18 November 1778, Council dealt with the problem of
where to house the Hessian regiment and resolved137 that they be
quartered in barns, outhouses, and public houses in the North Sub-
urbs of Halifax.
Very little is known about the activities of the civilian surgeons re-
siding in Halifax and elsewhere in Nova Scotia during 1778. John
Philipps continued to provide medical attention to the children of
the orphan house and to sundry indigent sick and diseased persons
in the gaol.138 Dr Edward Wyer,139 who probably arrived in Halifax
in 1777, succeeded Dr Thomas Reeve in July 1777 as surgeon to the
poor house. Wyer submitted an account of £90 in June 1778 for his
attendance and medicines for the poor, sick, and hurt persons of the
province who had no legal settlement.140
A third doctor who had practised as a physician and surgeon in

Halifax, 141 but who had spent most of his twenty-six years in Nova
Scotia as a member of the Anglican clergy, was the Reverend Thomas
Wood, who died on 14 December 1778. The inscription of his head-
stone in the Old Parish Burying Ground at Annapolis Royal indi-
cates that, between 1752-78, he was a major figure in the religious,
cultural, and literary life of Nova Scotia:
Rev. Thomas Wood,

Born in New Jersey,
Physician and Surgeon
Ordained 1749. From 1752 a Missionary of the S.P.G. in Nova Scotia.
Ministered in English, French, German, and Micmac. First visited this
Town 1753.
Assigned to the Townships of Annapolis and Granville.
Lived there laying the Foundation of the present Parishes from 1764 to
his death Dec 14, 1778 aged [illegible].
Divine blessing crowned his apostolic zeal, posterity reveres his memory.
Although yellow fever, not the smallpox, was stated as the sickness
among rebel prisoners in the general military hospital in September
1778, the smallpox was rampant throughout parts of Nova Scotia
during that year. At least two people in Cornwallis Township, King's
County, requested that they be exempted from jury duty because of
their fear of contracting the disease. Robert Kinsman wrote142 that
he had never had the smallpox, and, since it was so common
throughout Horton and Cornwallis, he asked to be excused from
this duty because he feared he would contract the disease from per-
sons in the courtroom.
In May 1779, the naval hospital on George's Island, which two
years earlier had been temporarily abandoned by Major General
Eyre Massey's orders, was transferred to a building located on the
Halifax waterfront. Brig. Gen. Francis McLean wrote143 that, "as the
position of George's Island constitutes the Principal Defences of this
Harbour, Forces very Desirous of Garrisoning and putting it into
the necessary state of Defence which I could not do while it re-
mained occupied as a Naval Hospital accordingly represented the
necessity of removing the sick to the Officer Commanding the Navy
here, who readily consented to it and gave the necessary directions
immediately."
The building that housed the naval hospital on the Halifax water-
front was described144 by Lieutenant Governor Sir Andrew Snape
Hamond in August 1781: "I was particularly struck with the miser-
able accommodation which this place affords to such sick and wounded
seamen as are so unfortunate to be sent here for cure. There are at
present 107 patients in what is called the Hospital, a great part of
which number inhabit a decayed storehouse built upon piles in the
water which has scarce a roof and a floor to it... It is located between
the dockyard and the Town surounded [sic] by rum shops."
The decision to construct defensive works on George's Island was
prompted by news that Nova Scotia was under threat of attack by the
rebels.145 Brig. Gen. Francis McLean of the 82nd Regiment, officer
commanding the British army at Halifax, was ordered to lead a
force to Penobscot to oppose there an attack by the rebel army. Mc-
Lean left Halifax on 12 June 1779 with 640 soldiers, 440 of whom
were of the 74th, and 200 from the 82nd Regiment.146 With the de-
parture of McLean, Halifax was defended by approximately i ,500
soldiers,147 consisting of the 7oth Regiment, a Hessian regiment,
and a detachment of Brunswick Troops that had returned to Hali-
fax from Lunenburg 148 in April 1779.
THREE DIFFERENT PATENT MEDICINES149 were advertised for sale in

Halifax during 1779: Keyser's Pills, Maredants Drops, and Sal
Salutis. Keyser's Pills had first been advertised in the Nova Scotia
Gazette and Weekly Chronicle in September 1773. In February 1779, an
advertisement from the store of George Townsend and Company,
also in the Gazette, described the well-known efficacy of the pills in
curing venereal disease in a "secret manner." In May 1779, the
printer of the Gazette, Anthony Henry, advertised that he had for
sale a few bottles of Maredants Drops, which, as the paper reported
later, were invented by Mr Norton, surgeon, of London.
The third patent medicine was advertised by Thomas Brown in
the Gazette in August 1779. Brown's advertisement not only outlined
the attributes of Sal Salutis but gave an opinion of existing, but un-
identified, competitive medicines. Brown stated that he had
lately received from England for Sale, the Genuine and much approved SAL
SALUTIS; or SALT OF HEALTH. A Medicine which upon an accurate knowl-
edge of its composition and experience of its salutary effects, can be safely
pronounced to be competent to the cure of most disorders incident to human
life.
It has been objected to many Medicines given to the Public, that though they
have, in some cases, performed surprising Cures, their effects have been, at
other times, violent and dangerous; insomuch that numbers are deterred
from taking them, on account of the risque, and others never take them but
in desperate cases, when their constitutions are so far gone as to induce
them to run the hazard of every thing that has the appearance of success.
This danger does by no means apply to the SAL SALUTIS, or SALT of
HEALTH, as it operates in no sudden, extraordinary manner; but rather as
an alternative, by its attendant and saline powers; and makes the stomach so
much a Physician of what it will bear, that the quantity can be increased or
diminished, without the least risque or danger.
In short, without entering into a Physical Analysis of all the properties of
this Salt, let it suffice to say, that as the preservation and restoration of
health form the greatest blessing of Life, and that both form a chymical
process of this Salt, as well as the most repeated and confirmed experience
of its effects, it is recommended as one of those beneficent dispensations of
Providence, which, in its various bounties, it has been graciously pleased to
bestow upon mankind.
DISORDERS for which this Salt is particularly a Medicine.
For the JAUNDICE, and all BILIOUS CASES,

LEPROSY, S C U R V Y , KING'S EVIL, &C.,
M A L I G N A N T SCURVY,
HECTIC FEVERS, CONSUMPTIVE WEAKNESSES,
and universally decayed HABITS OF CONSTITUTION.
FRESH COLDS, R H E U M A T I S M , &C.,
FEMALE WEAKNESSES, &C.,
DRY GRIPS and CONSTIPATIONS of the BOWELS,
S T R A N G U R Y HEAT, and D I F F I C U L T Y of M A K I N G U R I N E ,
O U T W A R D ULCERS, and U L C E R A T E D LEGS,
SEA SCURVY, YELLOW FEVER, Yaws, and other Disorders, incident to MARI-
NERS, as well as all those who reside in WARM CLIMATES.
If it was necessary, abundance of Cures by this Salt, might here [be] added
to prove the superior virtue and usefulness of this innocent and bountious
[sic] gift of nature.
The first advertisement of drugs and medicines in the province

from outside of Halifax was placed in the Gazette by Michael Head,
surgeon, of Windsor, also in August 1779.
An extensive regimen was carried out by Dr Jesse Rice150 in his
treatment, in April 1779, of Simeon Perkins's daughter: "Doctor
[Jesse] Rice, of Yarmouth comes to my House, & prescribes for my
Daughter Nabby, having an eruption on the skin, occasioned by two
great Quantity of salts in the Blood. He has ordered Flower of Sul-
phur, & Magnesia Alba, equal parts, to be given every night, a tea
spoon full, if that is Ineffectual, then to give her Creamor Tartar, &
Othips Mineral, one third more Creamor Tartar than of the Othips
Mineral, - half a Tea Spoon full."
Another type of advertisement related to health care, which ap-
peared for the first time in a Nova Scotia newspaper in 1779, sought
a "wet nurse." Because of poor diet as well as illness, mothers fre-
quently were unable to nurse their newborn. Beginning in 1779 and
continuing as late as 1821, the Gazette and other Halifax newspa-
pers151 carried advertisements requesting the services of wet nurses
and advertisements from anonymous young women offering their
services as such. The first advertisement for a wet nurse appeared in
the Gazette in June 1779. It sought a woman with "a good breast of
milk" to come and live with a family in Halifax. Numerous advertise-
ments were submitted by young women who probably had great dif-
ficulty finding employment of any type. For example: "A Young
Woman with a good Breast of Milk, would be glad to take a child to
suckle, or go out into a family. Enquire of the Printer."152
Dr Edward Wyer performed the first lithotomy recorded in Hal-
ifax, on 16 July 1780. His successful removal of a stone from the
bladder of the son of Capt. Richard Tritton was described, two days
later, in the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle. This operation
had become very common by 1745, the year that the Company of
Surgeons of London was formed. Zachery Cope, the historian of its
successor, the Royal College of Surgeons of England, writes,153
"Stone in the bladder was common and the operation for its extrac-
tion by perineal incision (lithotomy) was frequently performed.
Since it had to be done on the conscious patient, whose movements
were controlled by strong attendants, speed of performance was de-
sirable. Cheselden often performed the operation in two minutes,
and in favourable circumstances sometimes extracted the stone from
the bladder in less than a minute."
The first indication that the thermometer was being used to diag-
nose patients in Halifax appeared in the Nova Scotia Gazette and
Weekly Chronicle of 4 January i78o.154 Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-
1736) is said to have invented the mercury-in-glass thermometer in
1714. However, use of the thermometer in clinical applications did
not begin until 1758, when Anton de Haen (1704-96) of Vienna
first employed155 it as a diagnostic aid.
Patent medicine were advertised156 in America as early as 1708
and, during the 17508 and 17608, became very popular in the thir-
teen colonies. Newspaper advertisements for such medicines were
very common. An English list of patent medicines published in 1748
numbered two hundred and two proprietary medicines, many of
which found their way to the American colonies. "Americans dosed

themselves with galenicals and chymicals, and swallowed compli-
cated concoctions containing disgusting ingredients in their efforts
to drive away the ills that attacked them. These ills were many. Res-
piratory ailments, dysenteries, and malaria were the chronic diseases
taking the greater toll year in and year out than did the more feared
smallpox and yellow fever, which occasionally struck with epidemic
force."157 After the two Continental Congresses, held in September
1774 and May 1775, all exports from Great Britain to the American
colonies, except Nova Scotia, were halted, including patent medi-
cines. Although medicines such as Keyser's Pills and Sal Salutis had
been advertised in Nova Scotia prior to 1780, it was not until that
year that the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle began regularly
to include in its pages long lists of patent-medicine advertisements.
The issues of 4 January and 2 May 1780 advertised various nos-
trums. 158 : essence of peppermint, Maredants Drops, Dr Bateman's
Pectoral Drops, Jesuit's Drops, Dr Hooper's Female Pills, Dr Ander-
son's Scots Pills, Lockyer's Pills, Stoughton's Elixir, Daffy's Elixir,
Dr Bostock's Elixir, Dr Radcliffe's Strengthening Elixir, Dr Fraun-
cess's Strengthening Elixir, Godfrey's General Cordial, Fryar's
Balsam, Bateman's Golden and Plain Scurvy Grass, and Ladies
Court Plaisters. Of these, Dr Anderson's Scots Pills and Daffy's
Elixir had been in existence since the middle of the seventeenth cen-
tury, while Dr Bateman's Pectoral Drops were patented in 1726 and
Dr Hooper's Female Pills in 1748. The secret composition of these
medicines was guarded by their proprietors, but in some cases, they
did state that their medicines contained "twenty-two ingredients," or
"twenty-six botanicals, some from the Orient and some from the En-
glish countryside." Some patent medicines were marketed under a
number of different names for the same concoction.159 Daffy's
Elixir, for example, was listed in the Pharmacopoeia Londonensis in
1721 under the title "Elixir Salutis" and, later, in the Pharmacopoeia
Edinburghensis as "Compound Senna Tincture."
Other interesting advertisements appeared in the Gazette during
1780. Someone using the pseudonym "Doctor Rare" advertised160 a
cure for the gout:
The following receipt for the gout is exactly transcribed from a very ancient
Dutch Author, which I wish to be published in your paper, for the benefit
of such as are subject to the honourable Malady.
for the GOUT
Take an ould Fat Goose, prepare her as if you would roast her. Then take
a kitten or young cat, flea it, cast away the head and entrails thereof, and
contund [?] the flesh thereof in a Mortar, add as then thereto fat bakone
One ounce, three quarters of an Ounce of Wax, as much Rosine, and whyte
Frankinsence; beat all these together, and replenish therewith the Goose;
broach her, and sow [sic] her fast to the spit least any thing fall thereout;
roast her, and receive the droppings thereof in a dripping pan; when as
now the Goose is dressed and roasted that she droppeth no more, throw her
as then away, least any body eat thereof. And this Salve or Unctione cureth
the Gout. Doctor Rare.
The first advertisement by a person offering veterinary services to

the public of Halifax appeared in October 1780:l61
This is to inform the Public, a person in town will undertake to cure (no Pur-
chase no Pay) any of the following Diseases in Horses, viz: Canker in the
Mouth, Blindness by having the Poll Evil, Fistula upon the Weathers, Slip
Shoulder'd, Stiffle, Mangy Face, Ring Bone, Splinter Bone, Spavin, Blood
Spavin, Canker in the Feet, Strain in the Lines, Strangles, Cropping, Dock-
ing, Nicking, Grease Malanders, Quitets, Founder'd, or any other disease in-
cident to Horses. Those Gentlemen who may be inclin'd to favor him with
their Commands are requested to apply at Mr Dougherty's, Blacksmith and
Farrier, opposite the House of Malachy Salter, Esq., at the Entrance of Irish
Town.
Even though Dr James Lind had, as early as 1753, alerted162 the

Admiralty about the importance of citrus fruits and their juices in
preventing scurvy, the disease was still causing death and suffering
among thousands of naval personnel as late as 1780. The first adver-
tisement indicating the availability of lemon juice for sale in Halifax
appeared in May of that year in the Gazette. The juice sold for four
shillings a bottle.
WITH RESPECT TO THE POOR HOUSE AT HALIFAX, a very detailed set

of records exists for the period 31 May 1779 to 30 September
i78o. l6 3 Nathaniel Russell had succeeded John Woodin as keeper
and master of the poor house in September 1778, and from
9 September 1778 to 31 May 1779, he was paid £315 for maintain-
ing several poor, sick, lame, blind, and lunatic persons who had no
legal settlement in the province.164 During the succeeding fifteen
months from June 1779 to September 1780, a total of seventy peo-
ple (fifty-three men and eighteen women) were cared for in the poor
house, ten of whom died there.
The monthly returns indicate that the number of poor-house in-

mates varied from a high165 of thirty-seven in September 1780 to a
low of thirteen in October 1779. The cost of maintaining them var-
ied from £24 gs. to a high a £36 35. per month. This money was
spent for "fire, candles, poultices, gruels, wines, etc." In addition to
the maintenance cost of £480, Dr Edward Wyer was paid £81 for his
attendance and medicines for poor persons,166 and Robert Collins,
mason, was paid £71 for repairs he had made to various public
buildings, including the poor house, during 1779-167
Although a Hessian regiment had arrived168 in Halifax in Novem-
ber 1778 and would have had a regimental hospital established soon
afterwards, notice of the Hessian hospital did not appear until
30 January 1781. According to the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly
Chronicle of that date, it was located "in the street leading to the new
Great Barrack." The new Great Barrack, probably the South Bar-
racks, was under construction169 as early as 1778 at the south end of
Albemarle Street. It was probably under the supervision of either
DrJ.C. Helmerich170 or DrJ.F.T. Gschwind,171 both of whom are
known to have been in Halifax in 1781.
The only new hospital established in Halifax during 1779 and
1780 was one for the reception of rebels and other prisoners. John
Marshall, surgeon, mentioned 172 in May 1780 that he had not been
paid for attendance and medicines "for the reception of Rebel and
other prisoners" for the last six months. It is likely that, after Lord
George Germain ordered173 Brigadier General McLean in Novem-
ber 1778 to substitute regimental hospitals for the general military
hospital, a separate hospital for rebel prisoners was established in an
attempt to reduce the spread of disease. Where this hospital was lo-
cated is not known, though on 17 January 1782, reference was made
to a prison hospital "opposite to and at a small distance from the
Naval Hospital with a narrow and much frequented street or road
between them."174
Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, who was sworn in as lieutenant gov-
ernor of Nova Scotia on 31 July 1781, inspected the naval hospital in
August and described it as "a decayed storehouse built upon piles in
the water [and] which has scarce a roof or floor to it."17^ He recom-
mended to the commissioners of the Sick and Hurt Board that a new
hospital be built to accommodate 150 to 200 patients and that £2,500
be allocated for its construction and furniture. Seven days later, be-
fore he had received authorization to build a new naval hospital, Sir
Andrew directed176 George Thomas, naval storekeeper at Halifax,
to pay William Gorham and his wife Mary £128 for the land on
which to build it. Hamond reiterated the need for a new hospital in
a letter177 to Rear Admiral Samuel Graves:
I beg leave to acquaint you that the condition the seamen are in here for
want of proper accommodation, when sent on shore sick or wounded for
cure, is so very wretched, that, in my opinion, it is absolutely necessary some-
thing should instantly be done for their relief. An old rotten store built up
on the waters edge and with scarce floor or roof to it is the present Hospital,
nor can any better Quarters be hired, so crowded is the Town at this time
with inhabitants. I have written to the Admiralty representing the necessity
that an Hospital should be built and if you are pleased to give your sanction
to that measure I will set about erecting a building immediately. I purpose
that it be of wood.
On 20 December 1781, Hamond wrote to Rear Admiral Robert

Digby: 178
The present hospital has been patched up for the winter and put in as good
condition as possible. The accommodation for the men however is still mis-
erable, yet for this wretched place Government pays an annual rent of £150
Stirling. The situation I propose for the new Hospital is a Field of about
3 acres leading down to the waters side immediately above the dockyard ...
The plan of this intended Building I have the Honour to enclose, and I am
informed by the Master Shipwright and other intelligent people that the ex-
pence will not exceed £3,000. As it is absolutely necessary for the workman
to have the winter before them, in which season only they can provide the
materials, I have for a month past advertized to have proposals given in for
erecting the work, but as yet no tender has been made me, nor has anything
else been done than merely the purchasing and planning out the ground.
Sir Andrew's advertisement appeared in the Gazette on 11 December

1781: "Whereas a Naval Hospital is intended to be built early in the
Spring in the Field above Mr [John] Butler's Stil-house; notice is
hereby given, that Sir Andrew Hamond will be ready to receive Pro-
posals at his Office in the Dock-Yard, from any Persons willing to
contract for erecting the Building, (a Plan of which may be seen at
the Storekeeper's Office) or he will engage with any Person who will
undertake to furnish a certain Number of House Carpenters to be
employed under the direction of the Builder." Sir Andrew had re-
ceived authorization 1?9 to build the new naval hospital from Rear
Admiral Digby sometime prior to i January 1782. By 7 January, he
had awarded the tender for building the hospital.180
lag The Loyalists, 1775—1784
James Dickson was the principal surgeon at the naval hospital as

well as surgeon to the sick prisoners of war. lSl His assistant, Dr
William Faries, who had been in Halifax since 1772, died in Febru-
ary 1781.182 John Handasyde l8 3 replaced Dr Faries on 4 August
i78i. l8 4 He and James Dickson cared for patients in both the naval
and the prison hospitals, which were adjacent to each other. Prison-
ers who were not considered to be in need of medical attention were
kept on a prison ship, the Stanislaus,185 which had been anchored in
Halifax harbour since 10 August. The Stanislaus was inspected by
John Loader, the master shipwright, for its suitability for use as a
prison ship, l86 and Loader was instructed by Sir Andrew to renovate
it for prisoners.187 On 29 August, prisoners were transferred to the
Stanislaus from various temporary facilities in Halifax.188 Sir An-
drew had also planned to hire a ship to serve as a prison hospital and
wrote189 to the board of the Hospital for Sick and Hurt Seamen that
as a temporary measure, he had fitted up an old storehouse "on the
Banks of the River" to house sick prisoners. This old storehouse was
quite likely the prison hospital mentioned earlier, on the water's
edge near the naval hospital. In October, Sir Andrew reported that
there were seventeen French and twenty-four rebels sick at the
prison hospital, while there were five hundred and ten Americans
and ninety-five French prisoners on the Stanislaus prison ship.19°
THE SMALLPOX WAS REPORTED IN LIVERPOOL in the summer and in

Halifax by the fall of 1781. Simeon Perkins, the diarist of Liverpool,
recorded the presence of the disease in July and later referred to a
child being moved to the "smallpox house" in Liverpool on 5 Sep-
tember 1781.191 This house, back in the woods from Birch Point,
belonged to Thomas Brown. Doctor Morehead had recommended
to the overseers of the poor for Liverpool that John Doggett, who
had the smallpox, be moved to that house on 29 July. Doggett died
there eight days later, on 6 August.
Another Thomas Brown, who resided in Halifax, wrote192 in Sep-
tember in answer to an enquiry from the Reverend Jacob Bailey of
Cornwallis: "You ask how it happens that the Small Pox is so preva-
lent in Halifax - I answer that it chiefly operates on Infants whom
our Gentlemen of the faculty did not choose to try their skill upon
till the summer was nearly past — indeed several adults, new comers,
have been inoculated.
In April 1781 John Marshall, surgeon of the general military hos-
pital of the garrison, had represented193 to Brigadier General Camp-
bell, who had replaced Francis McLean,194 "the danger the troops
incur of becoming infected with the smallpox and other diseases by
having sick naval Prisoners of war sent to the said Hospital for cure:
And whereas in order to obviate the inconveniences which it is ap-
prehended might thereby arise, and because His Majesty's Naval
Hospital is more contiguous to the Prison Ship and much more con-
veniently situated for the reception of such Prisoners than the said
General Hospital, I have thought proper to place their care under
your direction."
There is no evidence to indicate how serious the smallpox out-
break was in either Halifax or Liverpool. It may have been, however,
that Richard Wenman, who by then had managed the orphan house
in Halifax for almost thirty years and was buried from St Paul's on
30 September, died of the dreaded disease. He was succeeded by
Samuel Albro, *95 who was described by Mr Jonathan Binney, one of
the persons appointed to assess applicants for the position of keeper
of the orphan house, as "the first person fit for that trust." Another
person196 who died late in August 1781 in Halifax, possibly of the
smallpox, was Dr George Francheville, who had been a resident of
Halifax since 1751. He had been a surgeon of Ordnance, served at
Fort Cumberland during the siege of Beausejour, and, before offer-
ing his services as a civilian surgeon in Halifax, had been a surgeon
of the Royal Artillery.
A Dr John Harris had arrived in Nova Scotia from Philadelphia in
June 1767 and resided at Pictou until 1777, when he removed to
Truro.197 He became an object of suspicion to the authorities in No-
vember 1781, thanks to his brother Matthew Harris of the township
of Pictou, whom the provincial secretary had been instructed198 to
arrest and bring to Halifax on grounds of treasonable activities. For-
mer lieutenant governor Michael Francklin, who had issued the in-
struction, added that "the Doctor of Cobequid" had also given
indications that he favoured the rebel cause. There is no evidence
that Dr Harris, who had been elected the member of the House of
Assembly for Truro Township in a by-election in June 1781, was
ever charged with treason.
James Dickson, who had been the principal surgeon of the naval
hospital since 1777, died on 13 January1 171782.199oJohn Handasyd
his assistant since August 1781, was appointed200 surgeon to His
Majesty's Naval Yard at Halifax on i January 1782. On 14 January,
Hamond informed201 Rear Admiral Digby that he had appointed
Handasyde principal surgeon and agent of the naval hospital, "until
your pleasure is known." Rear Admiral Digby, however, had in mind
someone else, and on 9 March 1782, appointed Mr John Hallibur-

ton instead.202
Halliburton had joined the Royal Navy 20 3 as a surgeon's mate in
May 1758 and quite likely visited204 Halifax briefly while he was sur-
geon to a navy ship in 1763. He is known to have practised in New-
port, Rhode Island, where he was in charge of a naval hospital from
January i7732°5 until at least November i778.2°6 Dr Halliburton
escaped to New York on 2 February 1782, after having supplied
Sir Henry Clinton with information about the rebel and French
Forces occupying Rhode Island. In recognition of his intelligence-
gathering services, carried out under great danger to himself and
his family, Halliburton was later given the option of being in charge
of the hospital in New York or in Halifax.207 On 12 April 1782, he
accepted the position as principal surgeon and agent of the naval
hospital at Halifax and continued to serve in that capacity for the
next 25 years.208
On i January 1782, John Loader, the master shipwright who had
inspected the Stanislaus for its suitability for use as a prison ship, was
appointed209 to superintend the building of the new naval hospital,
and Mr William Lee, the building contractor, began to gather mate-
rials for construction.210 Later in January, the artificers and labour-
ers belonging to the Naval Yard, some of whom were probably help-
ing to build the hospital, entered into an agreement to have four
pence per month deducted from their pay so that, should they re-
quire it, Mr Handasyde could provide them with medical atten-
dance.211 This is one of the earliest examples of a medical insurance
agreement in Canada.
On 24 April 1782, the Admiralty finally sent Sir Andrew author-
ization to build the naval hospital, and the navy board sent along a
plan for construction.212 By 16 May, Hamond wrote that "the Hos-
pital building is now in such a forward position that the frame will be
erected next month." 213 Alexander Thomson, Esq., the purveyor of
the hospital, was directed in August to buy bathing tubs for the hos-
pital:214 "The surgeon of His Majesty's Naval Hospital at this Port
[is] representing that men are frequently landed from Ships of War
in a very unclean condition and their skins foul and dirty."
On 23 September, bedding and chests of medicines were sent to
the new naval hospital215 and, on 13 November, it was announced216
that the hospital "will be ready to receive patients by Christmas." The
hospital establishment included: one head surgeon (John Hallibur-
ton) ; one purveyor (Alexander Thomson); one dispenser and assis-
tant surgeon (John Handasyde) at a hundred pounds a year; one
Figure 20
"The Hospital and Entrance of Bedford Basin," by James S. Meres. A pen-and-
ink drawing measuring 161 cm by 363 cm, done from the Pegasus in October 1786.
The original is in the Log Book of the Pegasus. (National Archives of Canada,
02555)
additional surgeon's mate (Richard Wood) at five shillings per day

for every additional fifty patients; one matron and head nurse (Jane
Kennedy) at twenty shillings per week; one nurse for every ten to
twenty men, at five shillings per week; one cook; one porter; and
two labourers.217 A pen-and-ink drawing of the new naval hospital
(Figure 20) was done in October 1786 by J.S. Meres, who was on the
Pegasus.218 The drawing shows a fine structure that was later de-
scribed219 as "the glory of architecture in Halifax." The plan of the
Naval Yard (Figure 21), drawn by Charles Blaskowitz in 1784, lo-
cates the new hospital north of the Yard near the narrows leading
into Bedford Basin.
The old naval hospital was advertised for sale in the Nova Scotia
Gazette and Weekly Chronicle on 26 November 1782: "To be sold, a
large house with lot 50 feet in front and 250 feet deep, picketed in.
Situated in the North Suburbs of Halifax leading to the Careening
Yard now let to Dr Haliburton for the use of the Government as a
Hospital at a rent of £50 per annum, being a compleat [sic] Estate
and capable of great improvement. For further particulars apply to
William Slater, merchant in Halifax."
Another hospital, referred to as the Red Hospital, was advertised
for sale a month later in a December issue of the Gazette; it was de-
scribed as a large house leading to the Careening Yard. The Red
Hospital was located very close to the water's edge, as described in a
petition220 from Samuel Sparrow, in which he asked for a water lot
"opposite to the Red Hospital." This hospital could have been used
as the prison hospital, or it could have been used as one of the many
regimental hospitals that had existed in Halifax since the outbreak
of the American Revolution in 1775. In any event, the Red Hospital
dated from at least 1766, for in July of that year, Francis Elliot was
granted a license to occupy the beach between the Red Hospital and
Mr William Fury's lot to the north of Barnard Wharf. 221 Also, the
Gazette of 24 July 1769 advertised "a house for sale situated on the
beach near the red hospital."
THE STANISLAUS PRISON SHIP caused much concern among Hali-

fax's civilian, military, and naval population during January 1782.
On 12 January, Lewis Davis, surgeon of the King's Rangers,
wrote 222 to Doctor John Marshall:
Permit me to acquaint you that lately I have had a great number of sick that
exceeding the number of sixty which I entirely impute to the contagious pu-
tridity which reigns on board the Stanislaus Prison Ship. Every week one or
Figure 21
Plan of the Naval Yard, Halifax, drawn from the original prepared by Captain
Charles Blaskowitz in 1784. The original is held by the Public Archives of Nova
Scotia. The plan presented here appears on the inside front cover of the
Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, vol. 13. The Naval Hospital (letter g)
appears in the upper right corner of the plan.
two of those men (or little party) we have on Board as guards are brought
to my Hospital senseless.
Permit me to request your being so obliging as to represent this matter to
Brigadier General Campbell and to point out to him the necessity there is of
withdrawing the aforesaid Guard from that Ship, as it is my sincere opinion
that the Garrison otherwise might be greatly injured by it.
The next day, Davis was examined before a board of surgeons ap-
pointed by garrison orders to enquire into the matter and report.223
Davis called the disease on the Stanislaus "Jail Fever." He explained
that the guard party consisted of seventeen men and that they stayed
on the prison ship for a week. As many as thirty of his men were sick
at one time. Several died. Davis described the symptoms of the dis-
ease: "A shivering headache, delirium, tremor of the hands and
tongue. Sudden prostration of strength, a white or parched tongue,
blackness of the roots of the Teeth. A Remarkable offensive breath
and livid lips. The skin was a dirty yellow hue before death." The re-
port of the hospital staff and regimental surgeons224 concluded that
jail fever had found its way into some of the regimental hospitals. It
recommended that the guard should be withdrawn from the Stanis-
laus, the prisoners sent away, and the ship laid up or destroyed. The
report described the Stanislaus as being "improperly ventilated and
filled with stums [?] from foul and diseased bodies." The guard was
withdrawn and, when weather permitted, the prison ship was put
under the scrutiny of a guard vessel225 that was anchored nearby,
"agreeable to what I understand is the practice at New York."
Doctor John Philipps was directed by Council in January 1782 to
attend the King's Troops, who were thought to have a malignant pu-
trid fever. He declared it to be an inflammation pleurisy of which, at
that point, only one person had died.226 The Gazette noted on
22 January, and again on 29 January, that the rumour that a malig-
nant putrid fever was gaining ground in the town was without foun-
dation. It is unclear whether the fever was epidemic among the
civilian population.
On 13 May, Hamond wrote to Brigadier General Campbell227
that "directions have been given for moving the Prison Ship and
Guard Vessel to a situation between the Eastern Battery and St George's
Island for the convenience of the two Corps you have appointed al-
ternately to take in charge the security of the Prisoners." In an at-
tempt to convince the officers and surgeons of the army in Halifax
that the Stanislaus was, in fact, free of epidemic diseases, Sir Andrew
directed the surgeon of the naval hospital and the surgeons on three
ships in the harbour to inspect it on 19 July 1782.228 They reported
favourably that the prisoners were being treated well and that no ep-
idemic disease was found.
On 23 September 1782, Sir Andrew Snape Hamond wrote in a
letter229 to Major General Paterson, commander of His Majesty's
Forces in Nova Scotia, that he felt a guard should be mounted imme-
diately on the prison ship to prevent further escape of naval prison-
ers. The letter implied that Dr Marshall felt otherwise, presumably
because of the danger of contracting infectious disease. Hamond
requested that Paterson "order a guard to do duty on board the
Prison Ship." The Stanislaus continued as a prison ship in Halifax
harbour until at least 13 December 1782,23° though in October, 232
of its prisoners were dispatched to Boston on the Albany'^1
It appears that fever did indeed exist among the troops in Halifax.
In the fall of 1782, Dr William Paine was sent from New York to
Halifax by Sir Guy Carleton,232 "in consequence of a malignant
Fever then raging amongst the Troops at Halifax." He commenced
duty as physician to His Majesty's hospitals in North America in Oc-
tober, stationed at the general hospital at Halifax.
Dr Paine was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on 5 June 1750
(o.s.), graduated in arts from Harvard in 1768, was awarded an MD
by Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1774, and qualified233 as a licen-
tiate of the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP) of London in 1781. At
the time of his arrival in Nova Scotia, Dr Paine was the most highly
qualified medical doctor to have practised in the province, for he
was the first to have both the MD and the LRCP qualifications. He re-
mained in Halifax until June 1784, when he removed his family to
Passamaquoddy.234 Although he had been banished from Massa-
chusetts, he was accepted back into his home town in 1789, where he
lived and practised until his death in 1833.
THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE in effect Came tO a close with

235
the defeat of General Earl Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, on
19 October 1781. The combined strength of American and French
troops on land and the French fleet at sea were too much for the
besieged British forces.236 Many months passed before a treaty
of peace could be concluded between the United States and Great
Britain and it was not until a year after the Battle of Yorktown that
the first Loyalist refugees began to leave the United States for the
British colonies to the north.
Although the majority of Loyalists arrived in Nova Scotia in 1783,
two separate groups came in late 1782: three hundred refugees ar-
rived at Annapolis Royal from New York in October,237 and in De-

cember, a further five hundred and one arrived in Halifax from
Charlestown, North Carolina.238 It was recorded in the Council
minutes of 16 December239 that a considerable number of refugees
from the colonies in rebellion had arrived from Rhode Island and
South Carolina, with many more to follow.
As noted earlier, approximately thirty thousand persons arrived
in Nova Scotia from New York and other parts of the American col-
onies, during the period May to December 1783. By October 1783,
a total of 20,880 civilians and 8,400 disbanded soldiers had been
transported, primarily from New York, to five settlements240 in
Nova Scotia: Saint John (14, 162); Port Roseway (8,896); Digby
(2,530); Halifax (928); and Cumberland (493). These figures show
that approximately half the Loyalist refugees and disabled soldiers
settled in Saint John and vicinity. This significant population led, in
July 1784, to the creation of the province of New Brunswick. 241
Listed in Appendix 5 are the names of fifty-two Loyalist surgeons
who came to Nova Scotia in 1783. Seven of them - Joseph Fait,
George Holland, John Hoose, Andrew Seidler, John C. Sieger, Jo-
hannes Skener, and John F.T. Stickells — had been in the German
service and therefore had not resided previously in the American
colonies. The remaining forty-five, possibly excepting Dr Joseph N.
Bond, were practising or serving in the American colonies before
the outbreak of hostilities in April 1775.
On 15 July 1783, Royal Assent had been given to an act of the
British Parliament 242 setting up a Loyalist Claims Commission.
Claims were to be submitted in London by 25 March 1784, but it was
not until 2 March 1784 that the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chron-
icle printed the act and brought it to the notice of Nova Scotian Loy-
alists. Specifically, it was an "Act for appointing Commissioners to
inquire into the Losses and Services of all such persons who have
suffered in their Rights, Properties, and Professions, during the late
unhappy dissentions in America, in consequences of their Loyalty to
His Majesty, and attachment to the British Government." Over two
thousand claims were received under this first act, and 1,700 under
the second act, which was passed in 1785. Among the 3,700 claim-
ants were eighty-one doctors, a surgeon's mate, a dentist, two
medical students, and a midwife. 243 As noted in Appendix 5, only
seventeen of the fifty medical personnel who arrived in Nova Scotia
in 1783 made claims that have survived. It is likely that most of the
others did not own property or have a practise in the thirteen colo-
nies prior to, or during, the war. Of the Loyalist physicians and sur-
geons who came into Nova Scotia between 1775 and 1782, nine
submitted claims. A summary of the claims for loss of property, loss
of income per year, sum allowed by the commissioners, and pen-
sions awarded to these twenty-six physicians and surgeons appears
in Appendix 6. A comparison of the averages for the four categories
with those of all other claimants indicates that Loyalist physicians
and surgeons had not been better off financially than farmers or
tradesmen.
The claims for loss of income and of real and personal property
submitted by some of these surgeons provide a vivid illustration of
the terrible disruptions of war. A.C. Leiby writes244 about Dr James
Van Buren, who settled, after the war, in Granville Township:
Dr James Van Buren of Hackensack had once been an ostensible neutral.

Evidently a lukewarm adherent of the conferentie [?] church, he had once
seemed moderately favourable to the American cause, and when the beaten
American troops retreated from Fort Lee he was asked by Washington him-
self to treat the sick and wounded, which he did with every evidence of zeal.
When the British seized Hackensack, he set up a hospital for the 26th Reg-
iment stationed there, an act which in itself was laudable enough. Where the
British were concerned, however, he did not stop at medical care, he went
along as a guide for British General Grant on some of his expeditions from
Hackensack and, as has been said, was imprisoned by the Americans for
doing so. He was, however, soon released, and returned to Hackensack, ap-
parently confident that he held the friendship of Whig and Tory alike. For
the next two years he studiously avoided quarrels with his patriot neighbors,
insisting that he had helped General Grant only as necessity required. This
pretence ended once and for all in October 1778. When Cornwallis and
Grey returned to New York, James Van Buren went with them.
Isaac Goodman, who eventually settled in Conway Township,

near Digby, wrote245 in his claim, that he "went to America in 1774.
He went to Rhode Island to settle as a surgeon. The Americans
wanted him to go into their Army and because he refused it they put
him into prison. When Sir Henry Clinton came there he was made
a surgeon to an Hessian Regiment. He was wounded in an Engage-
ment on Green's farm but he is not lame." Peter Huggeford, who
later practised in Saint John and Digby for a few years before re-
turning to New York, received similar treatment246 from the rebels.
"He was taken violently from his family in 1776 by the rebels and
kept in prison for seven months before he escaped. The rebels sent
his wife and eight children from their home and his real estate and
personal estate was confiscated."
The arrival of so many disbanded soldiers in Nova Scotia during the

later part of 1783 led to severe difficulties for the overseers of the
poor, particularly in Halifax. They submitted to the governor and to
Brigadier General Campbell a memorial247 "for assistance in looking
after the many disbanded soldiers who nightly are packed up on the
streets in a perishing state and sent to the Poor House afflicted with
various disorders. Governor Parr was informed that in addition to
the disbanded soldiers,248 "a number of orphan children, mostly of
soldiers, having remained in the Poor House in the city [New York],
who would probably be left destitute on the removal of the King's
Troops from hence, I have directed them to be sent to Halifax, and
to be bound as apprentices to the Rev. Mr Breynton ... They amount
to 13 boys and i girl." At a meeting of the House of Assembly in Oc-
tober 1783, a member reported249 further that
there are some infirm and helpless soldiers (or men that have been soldiers)
left in an Hospital lately belonging to the Military and that they are in a per-
ishing condition. It was resolved to wait on the Governor and represent to
him the state of the suffering sick and discharged soldiers who are in the dif-
ferent Regimental Hospitals ... Article II [in the Report of the Committee
appointed by the House of Assembly for the Examination of the State of the
Public Accounts] was read and it was resolved that the money expended for
the support of the Poor for the last 15 months past is an enormous sum, and
that it be recommended to the House to appoint a Committee to draw up a
plan for the better regulation of the Poor House in the future."
The Gazette of 14 October 1783 confirmed the dilemma of the poor,

stating that they "suffered very much [during] the last year."
As mentioned earlier, Dr William Paine was, in 1783, director of
all hospitals for the British army in Halifax. In February 1783, Paine
received directions250 from Dr J.M. Nooth, the superintendent gen-
eral of hospitals for the forces in North America and the West In-
dies. It read:
An order was sometime since sent to Halifax to discontinue the General

Hospital there, as it was supposed that the sick of the Garrison could be
properly accommodated in the Regimental Hospitals. It was at the same
time ordered by the War Office that Mr Marshall, surgeon, and Mr Bernard,
Apothecary, should remain at Halifax to give their advice whenever it might
be wanted in the Garrison, and that the Hospital stores should be kept there,
under the care of the apothecary to be in readiness to furnish a General
Hospital whenever the Exigencies of the service might require it.
For some years therefore no General Hospital has been kept open at Hal-
ifax and till the late arrival of the Recruits [ i ,964 German officers and men
who arrived 251 in Halifax on 13 July 1782], it was by no means thought nec-
essary ... You as senior officer, will have the control and Direction in all Hos-
pital matters ... No General Hospital therefore is to be established at
Halifax, unless the service shall render it indespensibly [sic] necessary.
You are therefore to take care that proper houses be procured for the sick
and wounded and that these Hospitals be furnished by a person appointed
as acting Purveyor for that purpose.
Two days after Dr Nooth sent this letter, Sir Guy Carleton wrote252
to Major General Paterson: "The appointment of a Purveyor of the
Hospital at Halifax has been already disapproved of by Sir Henry
Clinton, and cannot be allowed. As Mr Marshall is not satisfied with
his situation, you will let him return to Europe by the first opportu-
nity. Mr [James] Kay, and Mr [Walter] Cullen, who are Regimental
Surgeons, are also paid as Hospital Mates. If so, you will discontinue
them and reduce them to their Regimental Pay and duty. If the two
mates sent from the Hospital here [New York] are not sufficient, you
shall have more."
On 17 June 1783, the War Office informed Carleton253 that the
medical establishment for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland would be
limited, after 24 June, to one surgeon at ten shillings per day, and
three hospital mates at seven shillings and six pence per day. It was
directed that Mr Marshall be offered the appointment as surgeon.
On 27 August, Carleton wrote254 that Dr John Marshall had gone
home and that Donald Mclntyre,255 one of the assistant surgeons,
had been appointed surgeon of the hospital at the request of Major
General Campbell. Carleton also recommended that the medical es-
tablishment be augmented because of the multitude of refugees who
had arrived in Nova Scotia.
Four months after these reductions at the army hospitals had
taken place, the Admiralty directed256 that the naval hospital at Hal-
ifax be reduced to a peacetime establishment on 31 December 1783.
Dr John Halliburton continued as surgeon and agent of the naval
hospital.
The Careening Yard, or dockyard, had its own surgeon in 1783 in
the person of George Rutherford. He had been surgeon to the
prison hospital in New York and took up his appointment as sur-
geon to the dockyard257 sometime before October 1783. His request
to return to England was granted in November 1783 and his succes-
sor at the dockyard was Dr Duncan Clark, formerly of the 82nd
Regiment, who remained in the post until as late as October 1785-258
THE FIRST RECORDED MEASLES EPIDEMIC in Nova Scotia broke out

in Halifax, Liverpool and probably elsewhere during the summer
and fall of 1783. On 17 June 1783, the Gazette carried a detailed
front-page description of measles, its cause, symptoms, regimen,
and treatment. The anonymous author of this article recommended
that decoctions of liquorice, with marshmallow roots, sarsaparilla,
and infusions of linseed, be taken as a drink, in addition to bleeding
and vomiting, to treat the disease. Further advice included the
administration of syrup of poppies to children who develop a trou-
blesome cough while afflicted with measles, and a daily ride on
horseback for adults who continued to have a cough after the mea-
sles subsided. On 25 July 1783, Simeon Perkins recorded in his
diary 259 that measles had broken out in Liverpool; in October, two
of Hallet Collins's children died of the disease.
Another item of medical interest that appreared, in 1783, for the
first time in the records of Nova Scotia was a "Receipt for the bite of
a Mad Dog." It followed a newspaper account of the distressing
death of a three-year-old boy in New Haven, Connecticut, who had
been bitten by a mad dog.26° The prescription read:
Take of the leaves of rue picked from the stalks and bruised six ounces;
garlick picked clean and bruised six ounces: venice treacle, or mithridate,
and scrapings of pewter, of each four ounces. Boil all over a slow fire, in two
quarts of strong ale, until one pint is consumed. Strain it, and keep it in a
bottle close stopped and give of it nine spoonfuls warm to the person seven
mornings successively - Six spoonfuls will cure a dog, and nine days after
the bite apply some of the ingredients to the wound — Ten or twelve spoon-
fuls may be given to a horse or bullock, and from three to five to a sheep or
hog-
Between 19 April 1775 and 31 December 1783, a total of 170 phy-

sicians and surgeons arrived in Nova Scotia. Fifty-five were civilian
doctors, while 115 were surgeons to regiments, naval or military hos-
pitals, or to ships of the Royal Navy. In addition to the fifty-two phy-
sicians and surgeons who came in 1783 (Appendix 5), five civilian
surgeons arrived during the period 1775—82 (see Table 4) were still
residing in the province at the end of 1783, as were twelve other sur-
geons who accompanied various regiments to Halifax during the
American Revolution (Table 5).
All in all, sixty-six physicians and surgeons had come to Nova Scotia
during the revolution and were still in the province at the end of
Table 4
Civilian Surgeons Who Came to Nova Scotia in 1775—82
Year of Arrival Physician/Surgeon n Previous Home Settled in
1775 John Prince Massachusetts Halifax

1776 Edward Wyer England Halifax
1779 Jesse Rice Massachusetts Yarmouth
1782 William Baxter Connecticut Cornwallis
Sources: For Prince, see Minutes of Council, 4 August 1775 (PANS RGI, 189:303); for Wyer, see
Valuation of Real Estate Within the County of Halifax, 1775—76 (PANS RGI, vol. 411); for
Rice, see Memorial of Sundry Settlers in the Township of Yarmouth, 30 June 1783 (PANS RGI,
vol. 223, Document 5); for Baxter, see King's County Deeds (PANS RG47, 1:400).
Table 5
Regimental Surgeons Who Came to Halifax during the American Revolution
Year of Arrival Physician/Surgeonn Regiment/Ship p Settled in
1776 George F. Boyd Eighty-fourth Windsor

1776 Walter Cullen Fencibles Halifax
1778 Duncan Clark <26' Eighty-second Halifax
1778 John Eraser262 Orange Rangers Windsor
1778 James Kay Seventieth Windsor
»779 John Bolman Hessian Lunenburg
1781 Lewis Davis King's Rangers Halifax
1781 John F.T. Gschwind Hessian Halifax
1782 Frederick L. Bohme Waldeck Clements
1782 John Halliburton Naval Hospital Halifax
1782 William Paine Army Hospital Halifax
1782 Stephen Thomas2*^ Orange Rangers Liverpool
Sources: For Boyd, see Drew, Roll of Commissioned Officers; for Cullen, see Massey to Germain,
20 December 1776 (PANS 00217, vol. 53, Document 13); for Bolman, see Petition of John
Bolman for compensation for medical services given at Lunenburg, 1779—80 (PANS RGI, 531:25);
for Kay, see Establishment for the General Hospital at Halifax, 24 November 1778 (PANS
RG i, vol. 368, Document 58); for Davis, see St Paul's Anglican Church Marriages, Davis to Mar-
garet Hurd, 31 October 1781 (PANS MG4); for Gschwind, see Halifax Supreme Court Rec-
ords (PANS RG39, series c, Box 25); for Bohme, see Muster Roll of Discharged Officers and
Discharged Soldiers and Loyalists at Bear River, 26 June 1784 (PANS RGI, vol. 376); for
Haliburton, see Petition of John Halliburton, 9 June 1807 (PANS Adm. 1/497); for Paine, see
Second Report, 803, Archives of the Province of Ontario.
1783. By 1800, only nineteen (twenty-nine percent) were still in

Nova Scotia, six having died, and the remaining forty-one (sixty-two
percent) having left.
The general and staff officers at Halifax who had been appointed
by His Excellency Sir Guy Carleton were listed on i January, lyS^264
Figure 22
Total number of surgeons in Nova Scotia during period: 191

Number of surgeons who departed Nova Scotia during period: 62
Number of surgeons who died in Nova Scotia during period: 13
They included the surgeon Donald Mclntyre and surgeon's mates

Peter Browne, James Boggs, John Gemmel,265 John Gould, Christo-
pher Carter,266 and Jonathan Ogden from hospitals in Halifax, and
the surgeon Abraham Van Hulst26"7 from a hospital in Annapolis
Royal.
The total population of Nova Scotia on i January 1784 was calcu-
lated268 to be 41,700, including 14,000 "old inhabitants which were
completed at the beginning of 1783," and 27,700 Loyalists. Some of
the Loyalists recently arrived in Halifax from New York were de-
scribed269 as "destitute of almost everything." However, as noted at
the outset of this chapter, Nova Scotia benefited greatly from the in-
flux, at the end of the American Revolution, of a large number of
well-trained Loyalist physicians and surgeons. Figure 22 shows that
the number of physicians and surgeons in Nova Scotia increased
from twenty-five in 1775 to ninety-five in 1783. Only nineteen of the
twenty-five present in 1775 were practising among the civilian pop-
ulation, compared to seventy-six of the ninety-five in 1783. The
population figures for Nova Scotia in 1775 and 1783 indicate that
the ratio of the number of persons in the province to the number

of practising doctors decreased from 737:1 in 1775 to 605:1 in
1783. Whereas only four of the nineteen doctors practising in 1775
(twenty-one percent) are known to have attended a medical school,
or to have sat an examination and qualified as a surgeons,270 twenty-
three of the seventy-six practising in 1783 (30.3 percent) are known
to have had formal university training,2"71 attended a hospital med-
ical school,272 or been examined by a recognized college of physi-
cians or surgeons.273 In addition, since at least twenty-eight of the
remaining fifty-three physicians and surgeons practising in Nova
Scotia in 1783 had been born in the thirteen colonies and had re-
ceived their medical and surgical training through apprenticeship, it
is likely that the majority were well prepared for their profession.
The acceptance of the credentials of Loyalist doctors such as William
J. Almon, James Boggs, and John Boyd is evidence that at least some
of the graduates of the apprenticeship program in the American col-
onies in the eighteenth century were deemed to have training equiv-
alent to men who had studied in Great Britain.274 The training of
doctors will be discussed further in the next chapter.
Thus, it can be said that in 1783, for the first time in the history of
Nova Scotia, there was a sufficient number of well-trained doctors in
the colony. At the same time, however, there was no civilian hospital
by the end of the war, and many of the inhabitants of Nova Scotia,
old and new, could not afford to pay for medical attendance. An ad-
equate level of health care had yet to be achieved.
CHAPTER FIVE
Health Care and

Poor Relief at the End
of the Century,
1784-1799
Thus far this book has shown how the existence and condition of
health-care facilities for the civilian population of Nova Scotia, par-
ticularly in Halifax, were determined during the last half of the
eighteenth century primarily by four entities: government, the mil-
itary and navy, the poor, and the civilian practitioners. The presence
of and interaction between these four factors led to the establish-
ment of twenty-five different hospitals in the Halifax area during
this fifty-year period. As shown in Appendix 8, twelve of them were
military hospitals, five were naval, two were for prisoners of war,
and six were established for civilians. Over half of these hospitals
were temporary and were closed within two years of opening, while
the average lifespan of the twenty-five hospitals was just over eight
years. Only three of the hospitals still existed at the end of the cen-
tury: the hospital for the Maroons at Dartmouth; the hospital in the
poor house; and the naval hospital. The longest-surviving civilian
hospital consisted of two rooms in the poor house and was estab-
lished in 1764, whereas the hospital associated with the orphan
house, a children's hospital, existed from 1752 until 1784.
As indicated in chapter i, the initial plan by the Lords of Trade
was to provide adequate health-care facilities in Halifax including a
general civilian hospital, surgeons, a midwife, and medicines. Within
a year of the opening of the general hospital, however, the Lords
of Trade were questioning the need for its continued existence.
During the latter part of the 17505, Governor Lawrence in particu-
lar pleaded constantly with the British government, to continue the
hospital's funding. As described earlier, with the arrival in Halifax
of numerous regiments during the latter half of the 17505 and the
establishment of the general military hospital in 1758, government
officials in London eliminated the grant for the civilian hospital,
claiming that both civilians and the military could be treated in the
military hospital. Furthermore, by the end of the 17508, the line
items in the annual grant for the pay of surgeons and a midwife and
for the provision of medicines had also been eliminated. This trans-
fer by the British government of the support of health-care facilities
for the civilians in Nova Scotia to the local government bodies took
place at the onset of a fifteen-year period (1760—75) during which
the province, and especially Halifax, was in a state of socio-economic
decline, its population decreasing to a low of 1,800 in the summer of
1
775- 1
The decrease in the annual grant from Whitehall to Nova Scotia,
the departure of the military and navy, and the dramatic increase in
the number of poor and indigent people, many of them left by de-
parting regiments, were the main reasons why Halifax's economy
deteriorated in this period. The local government found that it
could not fund health-care facilities at all and concentrated on estab-
lishing a Bridewell and a poor house to care for the numerous poor
and the ever-increasing criminal element in Nova Scotia. Not only
had the military and navy left many of these poor and indigent peo-
ple in Halifax but, with their departure, they had also deprived Hal-
ifax and Nova Scotia of significant income, primarily from the sale
of food, rum, and supplies. The provincial debt rose steadily during
the period, reaching a figure in excess of twenty thousand pounds in
the early 17705.
This pattern was to repeat itself during the period 1775 to 1796,
in that during the American Revolution, a large number of military
and naval personnel once again arrived and were stationed in Hali-
fax, and once more the economy of Halifax and Nova Scotia flour-
ished and the provincial debt decreased. Immediately after the end
of the war, however, the problem represented by the large number
of transient poor, abandoned camp followers, and disbanded sol-
diers again became very serious, and the Bridewell and poor house
became severely overcrowded and very expensive to maintain. As
before, the provincial debt became almost unmanageable and was
only brought under control by the introduction of a provincial cap-
itation tax in 1791. The revenue from this poll tax, which continued
to be collected annually until 1796, was not sufficient, however, to
allow the Council to establish and maintain an adequate civilian hos-
pital, and it was not until 1859 that such a facility was available to the
citizens of Halifax.
This concluding chapter carries these and other issues, such as the
diseases and epidemics with which the medical community had to
deal, through the years 1784 to 1799, the end of the period under
147 Health Care and Poor Relief, 1784-1799
study. With regard to the medical profession itself, there was an

abortive attempt, in the last decade of the eighteenth century, to
pass a bill to regulate the practice of medicine in Nova Scotia. Similar
legislation was in effect, at the time, both in the United States and in
Lower Canada, yet it wasn't until the nineteenth century that regu-
lation became a fact in Nova Scotia. I shall examine the reasons for
this, not the least because they shed light on the calibre of medical
practitioners in the province. To round out the picture, I shall touch
briefly on some of their extra-medical activities, notably the partici-
pation of various medical men in provincial politics.
Finally, I shall end on a demographic note by presenting a unique
set of statistics on the mortality of all Nova Scotians between 1749
and 1799, including average age at time of death, infant and child
mortality, death rate, and causes of death.
ALTHOUGH SCOTTISH EMIGRATION to the Island of Cape Breton

did not begin until the early years of the nineteenth century, many
settlers from both the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland ar-
rived at the ports of Pictou and Halifax during the last quarter of the
eighteenth century.2 In general, the passengers on these emigrant
ships were extremely poor and in a sick and destitute condition, and
support of the poor became, once again, a major expense on the
public purse. Lieutenant Governor Parr described one large group
of Scots who arrived at Pictou in September 1791: "Lately 650 per-
sons have arrived at Pictou in the North East Part of this Province,
from Glasgow. In general they are in a wretched condition ... I have
been obliged on my own credit to furnish them with provisions to
save their lives, and to prevent their emigration to South Carolina,
whither they have been strongly solicited."3
Seven years earlier, in September 1784, Parr had complained to
Lord Sydney about the wretched condition of the passengers who
had arrived in Halifax on the Sally.4 He wrote: "I beg leave to rep-
resent to your Lordships that the ship Sally Transport arrived in this
Harbour about three weeks ago with a number of persons on board,
many of them in a sick and weak condition, and without cloathing
[sic], thirty-nine of them had died on their passage, and twelve died
in a few days after their arrival. They numbered at the time of em-
barkation to about 300 and had been sent by your Lordships direc-
tions. In what quality am I to receive them?" Later in the same
month, Dr Donald Mclntyre, surgeon to the garrison, informed
Parr that the passengers on the Sally were very sick and destitute. He
asked Parr to have them accommodated in the poor house,5 but Parr
responded that the poor house was full and could not accommodate
any more people. On 9 October 1784, Parr requested that Secretary
of State Evan Nepean use his office to prevent the lord mayor of
London from sending more poor, indigent people to Halifax, sta-
ting that "they are unwelcome guests to infant settlements."6 One of
the passengers on the Sally, C.N.G. Jades, complained to Nepean
that he had contracted yellow fever from the convicts travelling on
the Sally. It does not appear, however, that this fever spread to the
citizens of Halifax. 7
Members of the House of Assembly attempted to support the
poor by initiating various bills, all of which the Council refused to
uphold. For instance, a Bill for the Maintenance and Support of
Transient Poor, Maimed and Disabled Seamen and Soldiers, and
other distressed People, which Mr Uniacke laid before the House on
17 November 1784, was passed and sent to Council on 20 Novem-
ber.8 On 8 December, Council informed the House that the Bill was
not acceptable and ordered that it "lie on the Table."9 In the next
session, on 16 December 1785, the House revised the same Tran-
sient Poor Bill, which, on 21 December, Council rejected for a sec-
ond time.10 The House set up a committee of five members on
22 December 1785 to confer with the Council about the necessity of
such a bill. There is no indication in the minutes of the House for
the session that any subsequent deliberations took place. In the 1786
session, a Bill for the Maintainance of the Transient Poor was pre-
sented by the solicitor general and, on 28 June 1786, read for the
second time.* * The bill was not mentioned further in the minutes of
the 1786 session.
On 16 June 1786 the committee that the House had appointed to
take into consideration the present state of the poor house at Halifax
submitted its report.12 It included three recommendations that, had
they been implemented, would have altered radically the procedure
for dealing with criminals, the poor, and the sick in Halifax. The
committee found "the [poor] House in exceeding good order and
managed with cleanliness, prudence, and economy, except on the
part of the Doctor [Dr W.J. Almon] whose charges are very extrav-
agant." The report continued:
The Expenses of supporting that House for the year 1785 has been up-
wards of £1,200 exclusive of the Doctor's charge which amounts to £260,
during which period 175 persons of both sexes have been relieved of which
number 43 remained in the house at the end of the year on the Province ac-
count [transient poor] and 8 on the Town account together with four or-
phans. The expenses of the House for this year will be equal to the last.
149 Health Care and Poor Relief, 1784—1799
Almost the whole of those relieved in the Poor House are not objects of
charity but persons whose abandoned and profligate way of life has com-
pelled [them] to seek relief in that way.
The first recommendation made by the committee was that the

trustees be empowered to sell the former orphan house at public
auction and use the proceeds to build a small stone building that
would contain cells for capital criminals. This building would serve
as a provincial gaol. The second recommendation dealt with the es-
tablishment of a small public hospital, but it unfortunately contin-
ued the practice of including the hospital, for the general public, as
part of the poor house. The proposed hospital was to be a new build-
ing on the poor-house grounds and consist of four rooms. It was to
be under the direction of the overseers of the poor.
The third recommendation was the most radical: "That there
shall be no established Poor House but that paupers and orphans
shall as usual be under the care of the Overseers of the Poor who
shall put them out to board with such families and in such way as
thay [sic] shall think best for the benefit of the Publick." Unfortu-
nately, none of these recommendations was implemented, with the
result that the transient poor, in particular, became a crippling bur-
den on the Council and House.
For the fourth year in a row, on 12 November 1787, a bill entitled
an Act for the Relief and Settlement of the Poor was presented and
read for the first time; second reading took place on 15 November.
As in the previous session, it was not mentioned again in the minutes
of the session.13 Some of the consequences of the lack of legislation
dealing with the poor and the existence of such a large number of
poor persons in Halifax are described by a correspondent who at-
tended the Supreme Court session of July 1787:
That the lower sort of people in the Town of Halifax and its vicinity, are ad-
dicted in the most shameful manner to the vice of drunkenness [sic]. That it
is not uncommon, to meet, at all times of the day, people staggering in the
streets, oppressed with intoxication, while others, in a still worse condition,
are found lying in a manner disgraceful to the Police in any civilized coun-
try, and, however shocking it may be to Humanity, the Grand Jury declare,
that to their knowledge, many persons have died in the streets, whose
deaths were attributed solely to excessive drinking.
That from the testimony of the Physician and Keeper of Poor House, they
find it is crowded in the Fall of the year, with sick persons, who have been
cured in the preceding winter of disorders contracted by excessive drinking,
and discharged in the Spring, and have, in some instances, continued a
course of intoxication and debauchery during summer, and thereby become

an expense to the public in winter.'4
Dr Christopher Nicolai had been providing medical attendance to

the poor house since i November 178315 and was listed as the dis-
pensing apothecary and surgeon to the poor in July 1786.16 Dr Wil-
liam J. Almon was appointed visiting physician to the sick in the
poor house in April 1785.17 Although a committee of the House was
formed in July 1786 to wait on the governor and request that there
be only one person to attend as dispensing physician and surgeon to
the poor house, both Almon and Nicolai continued to attend the
poor of that institution until the turn of the century.
In Digby, the Reverend Roger Viets petitioned King George III
on 15 August 1789 "for medical and surgical assistance for the poor
and distressed loyal subjects in this infant settlement." Viets recom-
mended that Dr Peter Huggeford, a native of England but late of
the province of New York, be paid for "his unselfish and largely un-
rewarded labour" among the poor of Digby.l8 The overseers of the
poor in Truro, Windsor, and Cornwallis were also experiencing dif-
ficulty in dealing with expenses incurred by them in support of the
transient poor. Petitions for reimbursement were sent to the House
of Assembly from these townships. However, on 8 December 1787,
the House voted that "the accounts for supplies to Transient Poor in
the several Counties presented in the past and present sessions were
dismissed."19
It appears that prior to 1800, Shelburne and possibly Liverpool
were the only towns in Nova Scotia, other than Halifax, that could
afford to build a poor house and workhouse.20 Shelburne had
established both as early as 1785, in September of which year Hugh
Walker was recommended to be in charge of the house of correc-
tion.21 The persons who had affixed their signatures to the rec-
ommendation wrote that Mr Walker was "formerly used to the com-
mand of various turbulent spirits." In his proposal regarding his
own appointment as master of the workhouse, Walker provided a
list of jobs that he would have the inmates perform and a list of the
punishments that he would administer: 22 "That as Master of the
House of Correction I may have authority from your Worships to
set all such persons as shall be duly committed to hard Labour
(provided they be able) and to punish them by putting fetters, or
shackles upon them if necessary, and moderate whipping them not
exceeding ten stripes, except the Warrant of Commitment shall
otherwise direct, which shall be inflicted at their first coming in, and
from time to time afterwards, as the case may require in respect to
their being stubborn and idle."
In addition to the fifty-seven people who arrived from New York

on the Clinton in January 1784, and the poor people and convicts
who arrived in Halifax on the Sally in August, another shipload of
destitute people arrived in April 1785: "A few days ago, 194 ne-
groes, men, women, and children arrived here from St Augustine.
They are naked and destitute of every necessary of life. I shall do the
utmost in my power to provide for these wretched people and if pos-
sible without an expence."23
By 1787, the cost of supporting of the poor had climbed signifi-
cantly in relation to the annual provincial revenue. According to the
minutes of the Assembly for 6 December 1787, the accounts submit-
ted by the overseers of the poor for the ten months from January to
October 1787 totalled £1,051, whereas the provincial revenue for
the fifteen-month period between March 1786 and June 1787 was
£9,967. This indicates that the cost per month of caring for the poor
was £105, sixteen percent of the average monthly revenue of £646.
In April 1789, the House of Assembly continued its attempt to en-
act legislation dealing with the poor, particularly the transient poor.
The total cost of supporting the poor in Halifax from November
1787 to December 1788 was reported in the House, on 21 March
1789, to be £1,378. Major Thomas Barclay moved, on 4 April, that
the treasury amount to support the transient and other poor at Hal-
ifax be limited for the year to seven hundred pounds, but his motion
was defeated seventeen to fourteen. One explanation for the defeat
is that, on the previous day, Mr Benjamin Belcher had moved for
leave to bring in a bill, entitled an Act for the better laying a Duty on
the several articles imported from the United States of America, ex-
cept such as are herein after excepted. This bill was adopted by both
the House and Council and received Lt Gov. Parr's assent on 9 April
1789. It read, in part, that "all monies collected are to be appropri-
ated one-half to the informer and one-half to the poor of the County
wherein the same was collected."
Andrew Rohl, a Loyalist who had found his way to Halifax after
attempting unsuccessfully to settle in Shelburne County, wrote that
after he fell sick in Halifax, he was admitted to the poor house and,
in February 1788, was sent to London with eighteen other poor per-
sons.24 Whitehall objected to Parr's sending such persons to Lon-
don, but he continued to do so. In December 1789, he explained to
Nepean, "About 20 poor wretches have been here for some time
past, mostly old and unable to earn their bread, from England, Scot-
land, and Ireland. The town being unable to maintain so many tran-
sient poor, they are being sent home.25 In June 1790, Parr received
a memorial from the overseers of the poor indicating that the prob-
lem of supporting the poor still existed. They asked for £350 to pre-
vent the necessity of discharging "a large number of distressed

miserable objects" out of the poor house.26 In March 1790, the
House of Assembly had introduced a Bill "to prevent Indigent Per-
sons from coming into the Province." This action followed a commit-
tee report that the House had received concerning the state of the
poor house. The committee reported that the poor house was "or-
derly, neat and does honor to humanity," its account books were
"well kept," and the paupers appeared to be "truely [sic] poor." The
committee recommended, nonetheless:
that a Law to oblige all Masters of Vessels on their arrival from Foreign
Countries or from our sister Colonies to give security not to leave behind
them any persons incapable of maintaining themselves, and obliging all Inn-
keepers and other persons keeping Lodging-Houses to make report of such
persons not belonging to the Province, as shall from time to time remain at
their Houses more than twenty-four hours would be very salutory. The
Committee also recommends a Law ascertaining what persons shall in
future be denominated transient Poor, and appointing one or more Com-
missioners or Overseers of such Poor in each County subject to such Regu-
lations as may be thought necessary.27
The bill received first reading in the House on 13 March and second
reading on 22 March, but it was not mentioned further in the 1790
session. An amended bill "for preventing Introduction of Indigent
persons into this Province" was introduced in the 1791 session and
read for a second time on 13 June of that year; 28 however, it, too,
was mentioned no further in that session.
The House and Council did enact a poor bill in March 1790. It
was entitled an Act for appointing Commissioners to superintend
and direct the Maintainance and Support of certain Poor persons,
known by the general Appellation of Transient Poor.29 It received
Lieutenant Governor Parr's assent on 3 April 1790 and stated that
after the first of May 1790, no transient poor would be received into
the poor house or the workhouse in Halifax. Commissioners were to
be appointed and empowered to examine the condition of the tran-
sient poor and to decide whether they should remain in the poor
house in Halifax or be boarded in various parts of the province.
The commissioners were empowered, also, to apprentice out such
poor persons as they saw fit. It was reported in the House, on
21 June 1791, that no commissioners had been appointed, for "His
Excellency could not prevail on any persons in Halifax to take that
burthen upon them."30 On 4 July 1791, the Council agreed to an-
other bill, entitled an Act to provide for the future Maintainance of
the Poor, now maintained at the Province's Expence.31 In this bill,

which received the lieutenant governor's assent on 5 July, £1,500
was voted and applied to the town of Halifax for the transient poor,
to be spent at a rate of no more than three hundred pounds per
year. It is believed that this £1,500 was to cover the five-year period
1792—97, so that the transient poor could be moved back to the
counties from which they had come and be supported by the local
overseers of the poor. This was deemed to be absolutely necessary,
for the treasurer's accounts presented to the House on 16 June 1791
indicated that, during the previous eleven months, £1,834 nadd been
paid towards support of the transient poor.32
This action did not solve the problem of the transient poor, and
the terrible financial burden of supporting such a large number of
poor continued throughout the 17905. On 11 July 1792, an act was
passed "to Alter and Amend an Act, passed in the thirty-third year
of his late Majesty's reign, entitled an Act for regulating and main-
taining an House of Correction, or Work-House, within the Town of
Halifax, and binding out Poor Children, and to extend certain Pro-
visions therein, to the whole of the Province." The act stated that it
would be lawful for justices of the peace to provide proper build-
ings, or to appropriate part of a county or district gaol, as a work-
house or house of correction. It read, in part:
that the Overseers of the Poor for the Town of Halifax shall no longer sup-
port or maintain any poor person or persons, as out pensioners, in manner
hitherto practiced, but shall maintain and support the poor chargeable on
said town; in that part of the Work house allotted by the Act hereby
amended, for the reception of such poor, and all such poor persons, who
shall refuse to accept of the provision made for their maintainance in said
house, shall be entitled to receive nothing from said town of Halifax, and
the Overseers of the Poor, after the publication thereof, shall not be al-
lowed, in their account, and charge whatsoever, except what has been actu-
ally incurred for the support of the poor maintained in said House.33
Considering the money spent to support the poor, including the

transient poor, between 1785 and 1799, and the provincial debt for
the same period34, it is clear that both amounts peaked in 1792.
After that, because of the shift in responsibility for the transient
poor to the counties, as well as the introduction of a capitation or
poll tax in 1791, both the provincial debt and the amount spent on
the poor declined dramatically.35 By 1799, however, the expense of
the poor house had increased again, to £i,6oo.36 In July of that
year, the inhabitants of Halifax asked to be relieved because many of
the "poor persons are not properly chargeable to any part of the
province."37 Additional expense to the provincial treasury in 1799
was incurred by native Indians who were "an additional description
of paupers who have encamped in very considerable numbers in the
vicinity and [are] depending entirely upon the inhabitants of Halifax
for their maintainance during the great part of the winter."38
The closure of the orphan house in 1784 added to the problems
of the overseers of the poor. In October of that year, Parr was in-
formed by Whitehall that, "because of the improved trade of Nova
Scotia, the Orphan House seems no longer necessary."39 Samuel
Albro, the keeper of the orphan house, was paid £393 for the care
and support of the orphan children in 1784, after which the office
of keeper ceased to exist.40 The surgeon who had been attending
the orphan house since 26 April 1773, Dr John Philipps, sent a me-
morial to the House of Assembly on 15 November 1784 asking com-
pensation for his last six and a half years of service to the sick there.
On 16 November 1784, he was voted a payment of £i3o.41
On 23 November 1784, it was advertised in the Nova Scotia Gazette
and Weekly Chronicle that the orphan house would be leased for a
term of seven years. The lease was not taken up and four years later,
on 6 August 1788, the lot and buildings of the orphan house were
put up for auction.42 Orphans now became the responsibility of the
overseers of the poor, to be supported from provincial revenues,
and were duly moved into the poor house. On 2 December, "a char-
ity sermon was preached at St Paul's to raise money to cloath [sic] the
poor children."43 Three years later, in 1791, a bill was presented in
the Assembly and adopted on 13 June 1791, establishing a charity
school in the town of Halifax.44 Significant expense was associated
with the support of the orphans; moreover, in 1795, £397 was spent
to care for "a number of old infirm persons in the Poor House
besides orphan children."45 In each of 1798 and 1799, about two
hundred pounds were spent to support the fourteen illegitimate
children who also occupied the poor house.46
During the 17908, two large influxes of people into Nova Scotia
added to the numbers of those who had to be provided with food,
lodging, and medical attendance. France had declared war on Brit-
ain on i February 1793, and Lieutenant Governor John Wentworth
was immediately authorized to raise a provincial regiment.47 On
14 May, Brigadier General James Ogilvie and the 4th and 65th reg-
iments took control of St Pierre and Miquelon, where they captured
120 French troops and 450 fishermen.48 All in all, about six hun-
dred of these French prisoners of war were brought to Halifax on
20 June 1793 and housed, for about a year, in the Cornwallis Bar-
racks until they were transferred to the island of Guernsey.49 Naval

prisoners of war also were brought into Halifax and housed in the
captured Spanish ship La Feliz. Sometime after 3 September 1797, it
was converted into a prison ship.50 Rear Admiral George Murray
appointed Dr John Halliburton, the agent and principal surgeon at
the naval hospital, to take care of the sick and wounded naval pris-
oners, and he was assisted by Dr John McEvoy.51 Halliburton wrote
Murray, on 21 August 1794, that "the sick multiply so fast upon us
by the arrival of the different ships of the squadron under your
command that it will become necessary for their comfort and accom-
modation that the whole of the Naval Hospital building and Sur-
geon's House be converted into a Hospital."52 A survey was made of
the naval hospital, the wards, apartments, and surgeon's house, and
it was reported on 23 August that a total of 212 patients could be
accommodated.53
On 30 August, Halliburton reported to Admiral Murray that he
had hired a commodious house on the outskirts of town for the re-
ception of still more French prisoners from St Domingo. Residents
in the area complained to the lieutenant governor that these prison-
ers might be infected with diseases such as the fever that had
broken out in Philadelphia,54 which was said to have come from
St Domingo. Halliburton, concerned that local residents might burn
the house to the ground, hired two smaller houses two miles out of
town for the reception of his sick and wounded prisoners.55 These
two houses were likely on Kavanagh's Island56 in the Northwest
Arm, for Admiral Murray reported that there were seventy patients
in the prison hospital on the island in June 1795. In August, he
wrote that Dr Halliburton had represented to him that the prison
hospital on Kavanagh's Island was in constant use and that he
needed an additional assistant surgeon.5? In April 1796, sixteen
soldiers of the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment were stationed on
Kavanagh's. It is possible that they were guarding French sailors or
soldiers imprisoned there.58
In August of 1796, "a fever of a malignant and infectious kind"
made its appearance on the HM Dover, and the ship's commander
sent afflicted sailors to the naval hospital. Because of the fear that
patients already there would become infected, Dr Halliburton im-
mediately asked for and received authorization to remove the sick
sailors into tents erected on the Dartmouth shore. He directed Dr
John McEvoy, the assistant surgeon and dispenser at the naval hos-
pital, to provide them with medical attendance.59
The second large group to be brought to Nova Scotia during this
period consisted at 530 Maroons, who arrived in Halifax on 22 July
1796. They were under the medical care of Dr John Oxley, formerly
surgeon of the disbanded Ninety-sixth Regiment, who had taken
care of them for two months prior to their departure from Ja-
maica.60 He came with them to Dartmouth, where he set up for their
care a small hospital and made monthly reports concerning their
number and condition. His returns, which cover the period from
June 1797 to April 1798, indicate that there were never at one time
more than four persons sick in hospital.61 In April 1798, Dr Oxley
resigned because his income had been reduced and he immediately
took passage to England.62 His successor as surgeon to the Maroons
was Dr John Fraser. In a report to Lieutenant Governor Wentworth
in May 1799, Fraser wrote, "Since the beginning of April, nine [Ma-
roons] have died."63 On 3 August 1800, after four winters in Nova
Scotia, 551 Maroons embarked in the ship Asia for Sierra Leone.64
This was actually the second exodus of a large number of black peo-
ple from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone: in January 1792, some 1,190
persons, 800 of them from Shelburne, had departed from Halifax
on fifteen transports for the African colony. 65
THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS OF THE E I G H T E E N T H C E N T U R Y in Nova

Scotia were free from major epidemics. There were, however, nu-
merous instances of putrid sore throat, scarlet fever, black scurvy,
yellow fever, and smallpox. Lord Charles Montague, who had been
commanding officer of the Duke of Cumberland's Regiment, died in
Halifax on 3 February 1784 of putrid sore throat. Major General
John Campbell reported66 that Montague's illness was "a disorder
which prevailed here for some time past and has proved fatal to
many."
Simeon Perkins, in his diary entry of 17 November 1790, reported
that "my daughter Nabby was taken Sick last night, a Sore throat, &
Feever. Doc. Kendrick Visits her, & has given her Something of Liq-
uid, to be taken, 2 Spoonfulls every three Hours. She breaks out to-
wards night, in the Same manner that the other Children have done,
So conclude her disorder is the Scarlet Feever." A second instance of
scarlet fever occurred in Halifax in 1796, when the secretary of the
Council, J.M. Freke Bulkeley, took ill on 8 November and died four
days later, at the age of thirty-five. 67
Black scurvy was brought to Sydney on 13 September 1795, when
approximately four hundred soldiers of the Second Battalion of the
Royal Fusiliers in three transports made there an unscheduled stop
after their long Atlantic voyage. To attend the sick soldiers, an un-
identified doctor was brought from Halifax. During the five weeks
that the troops were in Sydney, nine died.68
As mentioned earlier, Jades, a passenger on the ship Sally, which

arrived in Halifax in September 1785, indicated that he had con-
tracted yellow fever from convicts on board; fortunately, the fever
did not spread to the citizens of Halifax. Eight years later, on 9 Oc-
tober 1793, Lieutenant Governor Wentworth announced in Council
that a contagious distemper was raging in Philadelphia and that
proper steps should be taken "to prevent its reaching this Coun-
try."69 The distemper was yellow fever, which caused the death of
over four thousand of the fifty thousand people living in Philadel-
phia in i793.7° Considering the great number of ships arriving daily
at Halifax in that year, it is surprising that the town escaped an out-
break of yellow fever. That it did so was probably due to two pru-
dent measures taken by Lieutenant Governor Wentworth and the
Council. A proclamation, 71 posted on 9 October, appeared in the
Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia Advertiser on 15 October, and a health
boat was appointed to watch vessels entering the harbour and to
issue to the captains instructions about how to proceed.72 Went-
worth declared in the proclamation:
I do hereby strictly forbid and prohibit all vessels coming from Philadelphia
aforesaid, and all other vessels coming from any other place infected with
any contagious distempers, or having on board any person or persons in-
fected therewith, from entering any of the Ports of this Province or to ap-
proach nearer to the Town of Halifax than midway between George's Island
and major's[sic] beach. And I do hereby further direct vessels coming from
Philadelphia aforesaid, or other place infected with such contagious Distem-
per to perform Quarantine below George's Island until such vessel be duly
discharged
Minor epidemics of smallpox were reported in Guysborough,

Lunenburg, Shelburne, Port Medway, and Liverpool in 1790 and
1791. On i April 1791, Drsjohn Hoose, William Burns, and John
Perry of Shelburne were sent a circular letter ordering them to stop
inoculating against smallpox, which points to the erstwhile fear that
persons would contact the disease from inoculation.73 At Liverpool,
Perkins recorded on 20 June 1791 that "there is complaints of peo-
ple going to the Small pox House, by which the Inhabitants may be
exposed and also that Doer Kendrick is not So careful as he aught to
be." On 21 June, he wrote, "Complaints are Still made that there is
not Sufficient care taken to prevent Spreading the Contagion." On
22 June: "The Magistrates & Overseers of the Poor met to Consider
of methods to prevent Spreading the Small Pox, and have published
Advertisements, and made some Regulations to be observed with
the Doctor, and other people."
Smallpox became, once again, a major scare in Halifax in May

1799. On 13 May, Lieutenant Governor Wentworth submitted to
Council an application received from some physicians and other in-
habitants of the town, for leave to inoculate against the disease.
Council advised74 "that there is not sufficient reason to justify the in-
oculating for that Distember [sic] in the Town at this time, but that
if there are housekeepers who are desirous of having their children
or others inoculated [they] will provide either at Dartmouth or
elsewhere out of the Town a suitable house or houses sufficiently re-
mote from other habitations to prevent the spreading of the disor-
der ... they may be permitted to do so."
The House of Assembly appointed a committee in June 1799 to
consider the several acts designed to prevent the spreading of conta-
gious disorders and to bring in a bill to amend existing legislation by
making whatever further provisions and regulations necessary to
prevent yellow fever and other pestilential diseases from entering
the province. The new bill, enacted by the House of Assembly on
27 June 1799 and assented to by Wentworth on 24 July, began:
Whereas the neighbouring States of America, have, for several years past,
been visited by the yellow or putrid fever, or some other infectious distem-
per, which has raged to a most alarming degree, and proved fatal to great
numbers of their inhabitants, whereby it hath become highly necessary,
that the Legislature of this Province should make some provision, for obli-
ging persons coming from infected places to perform quarantine, in such
manner as may be ordered by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or
Commander-in-Chief for the time being, and for punishing offenders in a
more expeditious manner, than can be done by the ordinary course of Law.
The King's Printer, Anthony Henry, produced a one-page procla-

mation outlining the substance of the act. This proclamation was
posted throughout the province on Lieutenant Governor Went-
worth's order.75
A bill to regulate inoculation against smallpox was introduced into
the Assembly on 6 July 1799, received third reading on 9 July, and
assent on 20 July. It specified that any physician, surgeon, or person
residing anywhere in the province was legally permitted to inoculate
any other person, but only between the dates of i October and
30 April.76
On 14 August 1799, health officers were appointed to Halifax;
Shelburne; Queens County; LaHave, Lunenburg, and Chester;
Pictou; Windsor; Horton and Cornwallis; Annapolis; Digby; Yar-
mouth, Barrington and Argyle; and Gut of Canso, Country Har-
hour, and Manchester. These appointments indicate the heightened

concern over smallpox, and it is therefore surprising that only three
of the health officers were doctors: Dr John Bolman was appointed
for LaHave, Lunenburg, and Chester; Dr John F.T. Gschwind for
Halifax; and Dr George Henkell for Annapolis.77
The concern over epidemic diseases continued during the late
summer and early fall of 1799. On 17 September, the Royal Gazette
and Nova Scotia Advertiser reported that "the destructive yellow fever
has again commenced its ravages in the ill-fated cities of Philadel-
phia and New York." On 26 August, it was reported that forty-two
persons in Philadelphia had died of the disease in two days and that,
on 25 August, ten deaths had been recorded in New York. In No-
vember, however, Council advised that, since the fever in the United
States had all but disappeared, the quarantine was to be discontin-
ued on Vessels arriving at various ports in Nova Scotia.
DURING THE PERIOD 1784 TO 1799, s'x doctors sat as members of

the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Both Drjohn Harris and
Dr John Philipps held seats in the Fifth Assembly, which ended in
1785. Dr Philipps advertised in the Halifax Journal, 28 October
1785, for re-election as the member for Halifax County, stating that
he "has been a resident of the Province for upwards of 27 years." He
was unsuccessful in retaining his seat. Dr Gurdon Dennison served
in the Sixth Assembly, representing Horton Township from 1785 to
1793, and Drs William Baxter, John Bolman, and Daniel Eaton78 sat
in the Seventh Assembly, which ran from 1793 to 1799-
In addition to their participation in debates concerning the poor,
the spread of contagious diseases, and similar matters touched upon
thus far, these members were involved in a range of issues affecting
provincial life and the conduct of government. Some, however, were
noteworthy largely because of their own brushes with the law.
Both Dr Philipps and Dr Harris took an active part in the Fifth
Assembly. On 3 November 1784, Dr Philipps introduced a motion, 79
which was subsequently adopted, "that in the future, when the
House shall be divided, that every Member's Name, who is pres-
ent, shall be entered on the Journals, distinguishing the side which
each member shall take on such division." At the same meeting,
Dr Philipps was named to a committee of the House "to take the
State of the Revenues into consideration and to prepare such a Plan
for the future support of Government." Drjohn Harris brought in
three bills in 1784 and, on 30 November 1784, was appointed to a
committee "to confer with a Committee of Council on An Act sent
down from Council entitled An Act to ascertain the Number of Rep-

resentatives to be elected to serve in General Assembly for the sev-
eral Townships therein mentioned." When, on 23 November 1784,
the House refused to grant Governor Parr's request for a daily re-
port of its business, Dr Philipps favoured refusal, while Dr Harris
supported approval. Dr Harris had sent a unique memorial to the
Assembly on 12 November 1784, in which he stated that, soon after
arriving in Pictou in 1767, he had opened a road through the woods
to Cobequid (Truro), a distance of thirty miles. He explained that he
had kept the road open during the past fourteen years at his own ex-
pense and asked the House for relief of the cost and support in
keeping the road open.80
Dr Gurdon Dennison was the only doctor to sit in the Sixth
Assembly. According to the lists of members who voted on motions,
frequently he was absent from the House. The only committee
on which he sat was one asked to enquire into the circumstances
that had led to construction of a bridge between Windsor and
Falmouth. 81 When the Assembly voted, on 12 March 1789, concern-
ing acceptability of results of a judges' trial, Dr Dennison voted in
the affirmative; the motion passed with fifteen members for and
fourteen against. When the motion supporting a charge of impeach-
ment against Hon. Isaac Deschamps and James Brenton, assistant
judges of the Supreme Court, was introduced on 10 March 1790,
Dr Dennison voted against it; but the motion was adopted seventeen
to ten. The two assistant judges were impeached for high crimes
and misdemeanors. Two additional motions, adopted in the House
on 6 April, requested that the lieutenant governor and Council
suspend the two judges "until His Majesty's pleasure be known."
Dr Dennison's name was not recorded in the list of members who
voted on that occasion.82
Dr John Halliburton was the only member of the medical profes-
sion who sat on the Council between 1784 and 1799. He was a
brother-in-law of James Brenton, one of the two judges impeached
by the House. Halliburton and the Council supported the judges,
and Halliburton wrote83 to Nepean that the two were "much injured
and insulted." He attributed the impeachment to the "Union of the
two Parties which have for some time past divided the Government,
each having their respective Person in view if they finally succeed in
Supplanting the Judges." He named the two parties as the "Old Set-
tlers" and the "New Settlers."
Of the three doctors in the Seventh Assembly, Dr John Bolman
was the only one who took an active part in the proceedings. On
24 July 1799, he was appointed to a committee of five "to enquire
for, and report to this House a suitable situation for the Erection of
a Government House." Prior to his election, a number of unfortu-
nate incidents had been associated with Dr Bolman's medical prac-
tice. On 20 April 1784, he was charged, in the Inferior Court of
Common Pleas in Lunenburg, with adultery. A Mr Urban Bender
had accused him of using violence and force against his wife. The in-
cident was alleged to have taken place on 13 February 1782, when
Mrs Bender visited Dr Bolman's house to pay for a tooth extrac-
tion.84 On 24 October 1784, the same court fined Dr Bolman fifty
pounds for striking Jacob Smith; on 31 October 1786, he was ac-
cused of beating another doctor, Joseph Fait, with a cane. The latter
charge was withdrawn. 85
Dr Bolman also appeared on four occasions, between 1784 and
1799, in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. One incident took place
shortly after votes had been counted for the provincial election held
in February 1793. Dr Bolman ran against Lewis Morris Wilkins, At-
torney at Law, for the seat representing Lunenburg Township.
After Dr Bolman's election was announced, Wilkins and four other
residents of Lunenburg were alleged to have caused excessive dam-
age to Bolman's house and apothecary shop. About 150 of the
house's windowpanes, as well as window frames, doors, and furni-
ture, were damaged. In the apothecary shop, over a hundred med-
icine bottles were broken, and ten gallons of medicines and one
hundred pounds of drugs were destroyed. Richard John Uniacke,
who represented Dr Bolman, wrote, "His said dwelling house was
rendered uninhabitable, his family and himself being obliged to fly
from the same and his business and trade as a Druggist and Apoth-
ecary was totally prevented, stop[p]ed and put to an end so that he
the said John Bollman being obliged to shut up his said shop the
windows thereof and the Drugs and Medicines as aforesaid and di-
vers other wrongs injuries and outrages then and there committed
against the peace of our Lord." Court records note Wilkins's belief
that Dr Bolman had "opposed him out of spite." According to
Dr Bolman, Wilkins called him "that Hessian Bug[g]er."86
Dr William Baxter, elected in 1793 to represent Cornwallis Town-
ship, had many visits to court. On 27 August 1792, he was charged
with having assaulted John Chipman on the highway,8"7 and on
three occasions during the 17908, he appeared in the Supreme
Court of Nova Scotia.88 Five of the six doctors who served as mem-
bers of the House of Assembly in this period were, in fact, either
plaintiffs or defendants before the Supreme Court. In all, thirty
doctors, thirty-six percent of those practising during the period,
were involved in a total of 161 cases brought to the high court. In six
162 Surgeons, Smallpox" and the Poor
of these cases, both the plaintiff and defendant were doctors. Most
of the cases involved non-payment of loans either by a doctor, or by
people who had borrowed from a doctor. In twenty-one cases, doc-
tors brought patients to court for non-payment for medicines and
attendance, and in seven cases, the charge was assault.89
ONE OF THE MOST NOTABLE MEDICAL FIGURES in Nova Scotia at the

time was Dr William Smith. He arrived in Cape Breton from Lon-
don on the Blenheim in November 1784, after having been appointed
surgeon to the garrison90 in the newly established town of Sydney.
Dr Smith is undoubtedly one of the most interesting physicians and
surgeons to have resided in Nova Scotia in the eighteenth century.
While information about his medical education and early career has
proved elusive, it is known that Dr Smith wrote eleven books, the
earliest of which, A Dissertation upon the Nerves, was published in Lon-
don in lyGS. 91 The title page of this book refers to the author as
"William Smith MD." This book could have been the thesis that
Dr Smith prepared for his medical degree, but I have been unable to
identify the granting institution. It is clear, from the breadth of top-
ics covered in his numerous books and from the quotations that
follow, that Dr William Smith was well educated and highly re-
garded. It is difficult to imagine why he decided to accept an offer
to become surgeon to the garrison in the as yet unestablished town
of Sydney, Nova Scotia. It is known, however, that from 25 March
1776 to 10 November 1779, he provided daily medical attendance to
the gaols of London, Westminister, and Southwark, at the request of
Sir Charles Whitworth. Since Dr Smith received no payment whatso-
ever for this service, he petitioned the House of Commons for com-
pensation and, in December 1779, was voted £1,200 by the House.92
For some unknown reason, payment was not allowed by the House
of Lords and, in July 1784, Sir Herbert Mackworth wrote93 on
Dr Smith's behalf to the Lords of Trade, but to no avail. Mack-
worth's letter contains comments concerning Smith which are very
laudatory and, at the same time, somewhat mysterious:
He [Smith] has been in exile from home waiting with very little hopes of
something being done for him. It appears to me that he would be a very use-
ful man to my friend Major DesBarres as a Physician and Surgeon, and a
man of letters, with much activity of mind, zealous in his pursuits, and of
very liberal sentiments. He would be a person most completely qualified for
such a station if there is to be an appointment of that sort in the Island of
Cape Breton. If your Lordships recollect Dr Smith's case, you will feel it to
be unparalleled in point of hardship and that there are few objects more de-
serving of compassion of humanity.
It can be surmised that Dr Smith's "exile" (which, according to

note 90, was to America) resulted from an inability to discharge his
debts, thanks to lack of payment for the medical attendance that
he had provided to the gaols. In December 1791, having been then
for six years a resident of Sydney, Dr Smith returned to London to
plead once again for adequate compensation for his attendance at
the gaols.94 Remaining in London until 1798, and requesting con-
stantly some form of compensation, finally he received what he
thought would be satisfactory: the position of chief justice of Cape
Breton. He returned 95 to Sydney in June 1798, but realized soon
that his new appointment was one of many items that had polarized
factions within the Council of the colony of Cape Breton. He left the
colony, never to return, in September 1800.
The town of Sydney did not grow fast, and when Lieutenant Wil-
liam Booth arrived there on 4 August 1785, he reported96 that he
found only a dozen families and six companies of the 33rd Regi-
ment. His watercolour of Sydney, painted in the same year, is the
first such sketch of the town. The hospital, whose construction was
begun sometime prior to i September 1785 by David Tait,97 is quite
likely one of the buildings in the sketch. As early as 3 March 1785,
there was a workhouse at Point Edward, near Sydney, as well as a
workhouse sawmill, but it appears from the records that the persons
at the house and sawmill were labourers rather than criminals.98
On 5 March 1785, Dr William Smith was appointed a member of
the Council of Cape Breton,99 a position he held during most of the
time that he resided in Sydney. In December 1785, he was joined in
Sydney by a surgeon named Alexander Gordon,100 who had been
appointed surgeon's mate to the 33rd Regiment.101 (One of Dr Gor-
don's daughters was to become a close friend of the poet Thomas
Carlyle and the subject of Raymond Archibald's book, Carlyle's First
Love.} Dr Gordon remained at the hospital in Sydney until June 1786
when the 33rd Regiment was transferred to the island of St John
and replaced by the 42nd Regiment.102 He and Dr Smith were
among eleven persons in Sydney who signed a petition, undated,
asking for the removal of Lieutenant Governor DesBarres.103 Part
of Dr Smith's reason for not supporting DesBarres could have been
that the lieutenant governor had informed Smith that he could not
hold two offices — military physician and surgeon, and member of
Council - at the same time.104 DesBarres's insistence, which applied
also to three other councillors who held military appointments, was
probably precipitated by his intense conflict, during the winter of

1785—86, with Colonel John Yorke, commanding officer of the
Thirty-third Regiment. The conflict centred around DesBarres's po-
sition that food supplies sent to Sydney for the military, and under
the control of Colonel Yorke, should be made available to the civil-
ian settlers.lt>5 Shortly after DesBarres's departure and the arrival of
his successor, Lieutenant Governor William Macarmick, on 10 Octo-
ber 1787, Dr Smith was reappointed member of Council and made
a justice of the peace for the County of Sydney.106
The surgeon to the 4snd Regiment was Dr William Robertson,
who arrived in Halifax from England on 5 September 1786 on the
Friendship, and in Sydney probably soon afterwards.107 He became
highly regarded in the Sydney area because of his humanitarian ap-
proach in providing medical treatment following the shipwreck of
the Providence, which, on 10 December 1788,108 left seventy-six
convicts thrown on the shore near the town. On 18 March 1789, a
letter109 from Lieutenant Governor Macarmick to Lord Sydney re-
corded that Doctor Robertson had taken the convicts under his care
and had attended and dispensed medicines to all of the inhabitants
of Sydney for two years without charging a fee. Dr William Smith
was also highly regarded for his professional work, as indicated by a
testimonial110 presented to him by the citizens of Sydney prior to his
departure in 1791 for London. It included this statement: "In your
office of Surgeon General of this Island, the sick have found in you
an able and experienced Physician and a tender hearted friend."
By 1790, there were 598 inhabitants on the island of Cape Breton
who were liable for service in the militia. One hundred and twenty-
five of these resided in Sydney. 111 The only permanent doctor in
Sydney at the time was Dr William Smith, who had been appointed
a puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Cape Breton in March
1788112 and, in May 1791, was approved unanimously as judge of
the Court of Exchequer.113 Although Dr Smith's time was divided
among his several appointments, he apparently was still esteemed
for his medical attendance, as indicated by the testimonial. He was
also well respected by the Reverend Ranna Cossitt, the rector of
St George's Anglican Church, Sydney. Upon Smith's departure in
December 1791, Cossitt wrote114 that Dr Smith was "a true church-
man and has endeavoured to propagate and establish the Church of
England here but to no effect."
After Dr Smith's departure, and until the arrival of Dr William
Stafford early in 1797, Sydney and the entire colony of Cape Breton
were without a physician or surgeon.115 Dr Smith was dismissed of-
ficially as surgeon to the garrison on 18 February 1796, partly be-
cause of his four-year absence from Sydney and because Prince

Edward's Regiment had put into the town and found no medical
attendance there. 116 Dr Stafford was appointed surgeon to the gar-
rison at Sydney, on 20 October 1796, but did not arrive there until
early 1797. 117 Dr Stafford was put in charge of the hospital, which
is referred to as an "infirmary" on James Miller's 1795 plan of Syd-
ney (Figure 23) and located near the Military Wharf in the lower left
of the plan. Dr Stafford's memorial to Portland, dated 10 March
1798, indicates that he had been surgeon to the Maryland Volun-
teers during the revolution and upon its cessation had boarded the
ill-fated Martha, which was bringing Loyalists to Nova Scotia. The
Martha foundered subsequently on the rocks near Cape Sable Is-
land, and all except a few passengers were drowned.
As mentioned earlier, Dr William Smith had been appointed chief
justice of Cape Breton on 6 March 1798. His appointment was un-
usual in that it was a joint appointment with Ingram Ball. 118 During
the next two years, Smith and Ball constantly opposed each other,
each trying to have the other removed from office. 119 Smith op-
posed the Honourable William McKinnon's suspension as a member
of Council by the Honourable David Mathews, president of HM
Council, describing the suspension as "unjust, tyrannical, and op-
pressive," whereas Ball concluded that Mathews was perfectly cor-
rect in suspending McKinnon. 120 On 11 October 1799, Ball was
dismissed and Dr Smith was appointed chief justice of Cape Breton.121
However, Major General Despard, who arrived in June 1800, con-
cluded that the government had been conducted by Brig. Gen. John
Murray, Chief Justice William Smith, and Rev. Ranna Cossitt, and
wrote, "I have witnessed an evident intention in them to mislead and
misrepresent everything which respects the government and state of
the Country." 122 Dr Smith left Sydney on 16 September 1800 with-
out Despard's knowledge and permission, and returned to Lon-
don.123 During the next three years he attempted unsuccessfully to
draw his salary as chief justice of Cape Breton and also asked to be
appointed chief justice of Newfoundland. 124 Subsequent to the pub-
lication in 1803 of his last book. A Caveat Against Emigration to America
with the State of the Island of Cape Breton, Dr Smith's name disappears
from the state papers. It is not known where or when he died.125
TURNING NOW TO MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS AS A GROUP, there

were a number of well-qualified medical personnel in Nova Scotia
from 1784—99, but it was not until the next century that they or their
successors made any concerted effort to shape themselves into a pro-
Figure 23
Plan of Sydney drawn by James Miller in 1795. The hospital, referred to as an
infirmary, is located near the Military Wharf in the lower left of the plan. (National
Archives of Canada, NMC 648)
fessional body. Professionalization implies that a body of people with

special skill or expertise has been granted a degree of authority over
themselves. Their authority manifests itself in the setting of educa-
tional and training standards to be met by everyone seeking ad-
mittance to the profession, and in having government-sanctioned
responsibility for licensing and policing those admitted. Profession-
alization presupposes that the body has not only special expertise
but, also, that it is based clearly in the public interest. It would be un-
derstood that the body had established, already, a professional soci-
ety, journal, code of ethics, fee schedule, and a public perception of
its expertise as both creditable and desirable. The final step is enact-
ment of legislation granting explicit professional status.
In the last fifteen years of the eighteenth century, however, there
is no indication that medical practitioners contemplated making
plans to establish a medical society. There is no record of any pro-
posal to introduce a provincial medical and surgical journal, nor any
suggestion by the medical community to establish a public civilian
hospital. Neither was there any representation, by the medical prac-
titioners sitting in the House of Assembly, to enact legislation to
regulate the practice of medicine and surgery. John Sargent, the
member for Barrington, introduced in 1797 a bill "to regulate the
Practice of Physick and Surgery." He may have been responding to
lobbying by members of the medical community, but I have found
no evidence of this. The bill faded away, ia6 and it was not until well
into the next century, in 1819, that medical doctors in Halifax peti-
tioned127 the Assembly for a medical act. Not until 1828 did the act
become a reality.128
Legislation governing the practice of medicine had already been
enacted in North America, as described shortly. In England, the first
parliamentary enactment concerning medical matters was effected
in 1512, ia9 in the third year of the reign of King Henry VIII. Par-
liament adopted a bill that read:
Forasmuch as the Science and Cunning of Physick and Surgery (to the
perfect knowledge whereof be requisite both great Learning and ripe Expe-
rience) is daily within this realm exercised by a great multitude of ignorant
persons, of whom the greater part have no manner of Insight in the same,
nor in any other kind of Learning; some also can no Letters on the Book
[read] so far forth, that common Artificers, as Smiths, Weavers, and Women,
boldly and accustomably take upon them great Cures, and things of great
Difficulty, in the which they partly use Sorcary and Witchcraft, partly apply
such Medicines unto the Disease as be very no[x]ious, and nothing meet
therefore, to the Displeasure of God, great infamy to the Faculty, and the
grievous Hurt, Damage, and Destruction of many of the King's liege People,
most especially of whom that cannot discern the cunning from the uncun-
ning.
It was enacted, therefore, that no person in the City of London or

within seven miles of it should take upon himself to "exercise and oc-
cupy" as a physician or surgeon without first being examined, ap-
pointed, and admitted by the Bishop of London or the Dean of
St Paul's "calling to him or them four doctors of physic and for sur-
gery other expert persons in that faculty." Anyone who practised
without being examined and admitted was to forfeit five pounds for
every month, half of which was to go to the King and the other half
to the informer. In 1540, some thirty years later, during the reign of
Henry VIII, the act of Parliament uniting barbers and surgeons into
the Company of Barber-Surgeons came into being. This arrange-
ment continued until 1745, when, as noted earlier, the Company of
Surgeons of London was instituted by act of Parliament and granted
power to examine and license surgeons.
In the American colonies, the first law to provide for the examin-
ing of prospective medical practitioners was enacted in 1760 and en-
titled an Act to Regulate the Practice of Physick and Surgery in the
City of New York.'3° In 1772, New Jersey became the first of the
American colonies to adopt a law requiring prospective physicians
to pass an examination for licensure; this examination was to be
conducted by two judges of the Supreme Court, and a fine of five
pounds was to be assessed against anyone found practising without
a licence.131 In 1781, the Massachusetts Legislature granted the
newly incorporated Massachusetts Medical Society the right to regu-
late medical practice132 in Massachusetts, and the State of Connect-
icut gave the Connecticut Medical Society the same right in 1792.
In Canada, under the French regime, Intendant Francois Bigot
established a medical act in 1750. It forbade any surgeon coming
from France or any other country to doctor without first having
passed an examination before the King's Doctor at either Quebec,
Montreal, or Three Rivers. The act provided for a fine of two hun-
dred livres and confiscation of the unlicensed doctor's drugs and
instruments.133 In 1784, twenty-five years after the British had ac-
quired Canada from the French, a Dr James Fisher addressed to the
Legislative Council of Quebec a memorandum concerning the un-
controlled state of medical practice and made suggestions for
reform. The number of qualified physicians practising in Lower
Canada was very small, he pointed out, while that of the charlatan
practitioners was immense. The harm caused to the health of the
people by charlatans was incalculable, he observed. There was no

law to regulate the practice of medicine; anyone who chose to prac-
tise had only to announce himself. Neither knowledge, study, nor
examination was necessary. Dr Fisher suggested, to correct this un-
tenable state of affairs, the formation of a bureau of medical exam-
iners at the towns of Montreal and Quebec, to whom candidates for
the practice of medicine would present themselves. Candidates who
either passed bureau examinations or possessed other qualifications
approved by it should receive a certificate permitting them to prac-
tise.
In 1786, the Legislative Council reported to Lord Dorchester, the
governor:
On the subject of the population, the most efficacious method to preserve

the life of His Majesty's subjects and of increasing the population is the sys-
tematic control of the practice of medicine, surgery, and obstetrics in the
whole province. The representations of Mr James Fisher, Surgeon to the
Garrison at Quebec, and those of Mr Charles Blake, surgeon at Montreal,
appear to deserve the attention of the Legislature, seeing that they at least
expound the methods which will contribute to realize this result of such cap-
ital importance to the State and of an extreme interest to humanity.
On 3 March 1787, a bill was brought before the Quebec Legislative

Council "to prevent persons from practising Medicine, Surgery, or
Midwifery without license." A year later, on 3 April 1788, the Coun-
cil adopted a medical act134 entitled an Ordinance to prevent per-
sons practising Physic and Surgery within the Province of Quebec
and Midwifery in the towns of Quebec and Montreal. The act stated
that, from the first day of November next, no person should sell or
distribute medicines for gain, or practise in any field of medicine
without a licence, granted to him by the governor-in-chief, showing
that the applicant had been examined for his knowledge of physic or
his skill in surgery, midwifery, or pharmacy, by persons whom the
governor had appointed for that purpose. Failure to comply would
result in a fine of twenty pounds for the first offence, fifty pounds
for the second, and, for every subsequent offence, one hundred
pounds and three months' imprisonment. Since the territory that
became Ontario was part of Lower Canada until 1791, this medical
act applied there as well.135
Despite these developments, medical practitioners in Nova Scotia
still made no attempt to form a society, establish a journal, or
regulate their profession prior to 1800. There are several reasons
for this. To begin with, there is no evidence in Nova Scotia of any
Table 6
Academic Qualifications of Civilian Doctors in Nova Scotia, 1784—99
Examining Body Location Diploma Number

University Aberdeen MD 3
NY (King's) MD i
St Andrew's MD i
Edinburgh* 4
Royal College of Physicians London LRCP** i
Company of Surgeons London 18
St George's Hospital London 3
Guy's Hospital London 2
College of Surgeons Hesse-Cassell 1
Sources: For information on the doctors who qualified at Aberbeen (Richard Fletcher, William
Paine, Alexander A. Peters), see Anderson, ed., Officers and Graduates; for King's College,
New York (Robert Tucker), see Columbia University, Alumni Register 1754—1931; for Royal Col-
lege of Physicians, London (William Paine), see Munk, The Roll of the Royal College; for the
Company of Surgeons, London, see Company of Surgeons' Examination Book, 1745—1800, Royal
College of Surgeons Library, London; for St George's Hospital (John Chichester, Alex-
ander A. Peters, John Philipps Jr.), see Register of Pupils and and House Officers, 1756-1837,
St George's Hospital Medical School, London; for Guy's Hospital, London (George
Philipps, Edward Wyer), see Index to St Thomas's Pupils and Dressers, Pupils and Dressers
1723—1819, St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, London; for the College of Surgeons,
Hesse-Cassell (J.F.T. Gschwind), see PRO WO25, 3904:143. Information on W.J. Almon's MD
from St Andrew's was received from Robert N. Smart, University Library, St Andrew's
(pers. com. 1985).
* According to student records, four men (George F. Boyd, Duncan Clark, George
Gillespie, and Fleming Pinckston) attended lectures given by the medical faculty of Edinburgh
University. As was common for the period, these students did not complete the require-
ments for the medical degree.
** Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians.
concerns, such as those raised in Lower Canada, about the quality

of medicine, surgery, and midwifery practised in the province.
Eighteenth-century Nova Scotia newspapers136 contain no editorials
or letters describing medical and surgical attendance as inadequate
or of poor quality. The minutes of both the Council and the
Assembly are entirely devoid of any comments suggesting that the
medical and surgical qualifications of practitioners in Nova Scotia
were considered inferior or inadequate. Apparently, then, the pub-
lic attitude towards the medical profession was positive, and there
was no perceived need for regulation. This positive perception is at-
tributable in part to the relatively high level of qualification among
the province's medical practitioners. Table 6 shows the known aca-
demic qualifications of thirty-four of the eighty-four civilian doctors
who practised in Nova Scotia during the period 1784 to 1799.
The table indicates that, during the last fifteen years of the eigh-
teenth century, at least forty percent of practitioners in Nova Scotia
held an official qualification in medicine or surgery. In contrast,
Packard137 estimates that, at the outset of the American Revolution,
there were upwards of 3,500 medical practitioners in the American
colonies, of whom only about 400 (eleven percent) had medical de-
grees. Furthermore, Marks and Beatty138 estimate that, "of the
nearly 1,200 physicians involved in the [American] War, there were
not more than a hundred with medical degrees." I am unaware of
any studies that attempt to provide a similar quantitative assessment
for Lower Canada, although Dr James Fisher's comment on the
number of charlatans practising medicine suggests that, in Lower
Canada, the problem was acute. But again, public perception in
Nova Scotia seems to have been that the qualifications of those who
were administering medicines and performing surgery were higher
than in neighbouring provinces and states, so that very few com-
plaints, if any, were submitted to the authorities or to the newspa-
pers in Nova Scotia. The large number of available civilian medical
practitioners per capita during this period in Nova Scotia may also
have had a favourable influence on public attitudes. The ratio of ci-
vilian population to civilian practitioners in Nova Scotia was 625: i in
1784. This figure is only slightly higher than the 522:1 ratio re-
ported for the year 1790 for Massachusetts and only slightly higher
than the 1984 figure of 507:1 for Nova Scotia, as reported by Statis-
tics Canada.
Some of the leading families in Nova Scotia during this period en-
couraged their sons to enter the medical profession. These young
men were sent to England and Scotland for medical and surgical
training, rather than to the new country to the south, The United
States of America. This preference reflected, no doubt, a less than
fully accepting attitude towards American institutions, but also rec-
ognition that the universities, colleges, and hospitals in Great Brit-
ain, were highly regarded for their long-established medical and
surgical training programs and examination procedures. In the
United States, four universities were offering medical degrees by the
end of the eighteenth century. These were the medical faculties of
King's College, New York (established 1767); the University of
Pennsylvania (1771); Harvard Medical School (1783); and Dart-
mouth College (1798). Although the first person to receive a medical
degree from an American medical school (Robert Tucker, MD,
King's, 1770) came to Nova Scotia with the Loyalists and practised at
Annapolis Royal until circa 1792, Nova Scotian families did not send
their sons south to medical school until twenty years after the end of
Table 7
Members of Nova Scotian Families Who Studied Medicine/Surgery Abroad
Nova Scotian Home Town Training Diploma

Benjamin De St Croix Granville London MRCS*
Henry G. Parish Shelburne London
James Geddes Halifax Guy's MRCS
William Greaves Halifax Guy's MRCS
John Halliburton Jr Halifax St George's
Samuel Head Halifax St George's MRCS
John B. Houseal Halifax London
John H. McMonagle Windsor London
Thomas Newell Halifax Aberdeen MD
Alexander A. Peters Halifax Aberdeen MD
George Philipps Halifax Guy's
John Philipps Jr Halifax St George's
William Philipps Halifax Guy's MRCS
David Rowlands Shelburne Aberdeen MD
James Simpson Falmouth London
Sources: Information on De St Croix, Geddes, Greaves, Head, and W. Philipps comes from
the Company of Surgeons' Examination Book, 1745-1800, and the Membership Lists of the
Royal College of Surgeons, Royal College of Surgeons Library, London; for Halliburton,
Head, and J. Philipps, see Register of Pupils and House Officers, 1756—1837 St George's Hospital
Medical School, London; for Newell, Peters, and Rowlands, see Anderson, ed., Officers and
Graduates; for Greaves, G. Philipps, and W. Philipps, see Index to St Thomas's Pupils and Dress-
ers, 1723—1819, St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, which includes students who at-
tended Guy's Hospital Medical School. Parish is mentioned in Yarmouth County Scrapbook,
Scrapbook no. 91 (PANS MGg). McMonagle is mentioned in Wentworth to Prince Edward,
6 October 1798 (PANS R G I , 52:224). Simpson is mentioned in the Will of John Simpson of Halifax
(PANS RG48, Reel 358).
* Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
the American Revolution.140 The medical faculties to the south did

not attempt to lure students from Nova Scotia into enrolling until
1794, when Columbia College, the new name of King's College, New
York, placed an advertisement on 23 September in the Nova Scotia
Gazette and Weekly Chronicle.141
Table 7 lists the names of fifteen young men, members of well-
known families residing in various parts of Nova Scotia, who are
known to have gone abroad to obtain their medical and surgical
training during the period 1784 to 1799. The table lists the towns
they came from, the institutions or cities they were trained in, and
the diplomas they received.14a Only three of the fifteen - Henry G.
Parish, Samuel Head, and John Philipps Jr - returned to Nova Sco-
tia to pursue a career in medicine, while five others — William
Greaves, John Halliburton, George Philipps, William Philipps, and
David Rowlands — spent short periods in the province with the army
Figure 24
Civilian, naval, and military surgeons, physicians, apothecaries, chymists, and
druggists in Nova Scotia, 1750-1800.
and navy. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, Nova Scotia
was not an attractive place for a newly trained physician or surgeon
to establish a practice. Not only were there no civilian hospital, med-
ical society, medical journal, or medical legislation limiting practice
to those who were properly qualified but the population of the prov-
ince did not increase much between the end of the American Revo-
ution and the end of the century. As Figure 24 shows, the number
of civilian doctors in Nova Scotia declined from sixty-four in 1784 to
thirty-nine in 1799, a decrease of forty percent.143 Of the thirty-nine
civilian doctors in Nova Scotia in 1799, eight had practised in the
province prior to the revolution, twenty had arrived during or im-
mediately after cessation of the war, either as Loyalists or with reg-
iments, and eleven had arrived and begun practice during the
fifteen-year period 1784-99.
The heterogeneous nature of the medical education of these
thirty-nine practitioners, and indeed of those in the province through-
out the period covered in this book, was another key factor in the
failure to establish a cohesive, regulated profession before the nine-
teenth century. The eclectic education of medical practitioners in
the province was, to some extent, a result of the vast difference in
the way that medical education developed in England and Scotland

during the eighteenth century. Both medical educational systems
were based on the teaching of anatomy which, during the seven-
teenth century, was centred at the University of Leyden in Holland.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, Paris became the focus
for students seeking an opportunity to learn anatomy through the
dissection of cadavers. In England, during the first half of the cen-
tury, the barber-surgeons' company controlled the teaching of sur-
geons, and the teaching of anatomy consisted of demonstrations
held four times per year at Barbers' Hall in London. At these dem-
onstration, students sat on benches and observed and were taught
anatomy from prepared dissections. In spite of the restrictive con-
trol of the barber-surgeons' company and its outright suppression of
private schools of anatomy in London prior to 1745, at least four
London surgeons began to conduct lectures on anatomy and surgery
in their own homes.144 The first to carry out this practice was Wil-
liam Cheselden, surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital, who commenced
private lectures and demonstrations in his home in 1710. Three
other who conducted lectures in their homes were Samuel Sharp,
surgeon at Guy's; William Bromfield, surgeon at St George's; and
Edward Nourse, surgeon at St Bartholomew's, who gave his lectures
at his home on Aldersgate Street. Nourse was the first to announce
that his course of lectures would be offered at a hospital, St Bar-
tholomew's, and this took place in 1734. In Scotland, Alexander
Monro, primus, who had studied at Leyden and with Cheselden in
London, commenced lecturing on anatomy at Edinburgh in 1720.145
The main development in the teaching of anatomy in England,
however, took place in 1746, three years before the founding of Hal-
ifax, and one year after the surgeons separated from the barbers
and formed the Company of Surgeons of London. In that year Wil-
liam Hunter (1718-83), began to offer the first course in anatomy in
London in which the student actually carried out dissection "in the
same manner as at Paris."146 Hunter continued his lectures for over
thirty years, and in 1768, established the Great Windmill Street
School in Anatomy and Surgery. One of his very highly regarded
contemporaries was Percival Pott (1714—88), surgeon at St Bar-
tholomew's, who gave a course in anatomy, first in his home on
Watling Street, and later at his hospital. The most highly esteemed
teacher in London during the last half of the eighteenth century,
however, was William Hunter's younger brother, John (1728—93).
He had studied under Cheselden, Pott, and his older brother, and in
1775 offered his own course of lectures at St George's Hospital.
John Hunter's course was unique because it included physiology and
pathology, as well as anatomy and surgery and attracted many stu-

dents, two of whom, John Abernethy (1764-1831) and Sir Astley
Cooper (1768—1841), became renowned for contributions to surgery
both in the classroom and in their writings. John Abernethy began
to teach anatomy and surgery at St Bartholomew's in 1788 and con-
tinued teaching there for over forty years. It is interesting to note
that none of the these surgeons who lectured on anatomy in London
possessed degrees in medicine, except for William Hunter.
The foregoing indicates that in England, during the last half of
the eighteenth century, hospitals became the purveyors of medical
education. The annual lectures in anatomy that were supposed to be
provided by the College of Physicians were frequently omitted.
Susan Lawrence has written that "medical education between 1780
and 1820 in London was an unregulated decentralized system of
private enterprise. London offered what many Universities did,
without the expense and formality of degree regulations."147 In con-
trast to this, the university medical schools in Scotland, particularly
those of Edinburgh and Glasgow, provided the lead in medical edu-
cation. The two individuals mainly responsible for the approach of
providing medical education within a university environment were
Alexander Monro, primus, and his student William Cullen. Accord-
ing to Fielding H. Garrison Alexander Monro and his son Alexan-
der, secondus, taught anatomy to 12,800 students at Edinburgh
University between 1720 and 1790. William Cullen, who was granted
an MD degree by the University of Glasgow in 1740, began in 1744
to offer a course of lectures on medicine in Glasgow and in 1746 at
the university. In 1747 he, along with Joseph Black, laid the founda-
tions for the faculty of medicine at Glasgow. Cullen continued to
teach chemistry, materica medica, and botany at Glasgow until 1755,
when he moved to the University of Edinburgh to teach chemistry.
He began giving clinical lectures there in 1757 and served as profes-
sor of medicine at Edinburgh from 1773 to 1790.
Although all five Scottish universities had conferred medical de-
grees during the period 1654 to 1726, these degrees were honorary
or in absentia and did not necessarily require the recipient to attend
classes at the university or to write examinations. In 1726, the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh formally established a faculty of medicine and
began to confer medical degrees only after three years of study and
successful completion of examinations. The Edinburgh medical de-
gree soon became recognized by many as the superior medical qual-
ification in Great Britain, and from 1726 to 1800, a total of 1,193
degrees were conferred. The medical faculty at the University of
Glasgow was not officially established until early in the nineteenth
century; however, it continued, as did Aberdeen, Marischal, and

St Andrews, to confer degrees during the eighteenth century with-
out requiring a rigorous course of study and examinations such as
those at Edinburgh. Of the total of 366 surgeons, physicians, and
apothecaries who were known to be in Nova Scotia during the pe-
riod 1749 and 1799, not one possessed a medical degree from Edin-
burgh or from Glasgow. Fourteen of the 366 medical practioners
had been awarded medical degrees, but thirteen of these obtained
their degrees in absentia, six from Marischal, five from Aberdeen,
and two from St Andrews. Robert Tucker was the only doctor prac-
tising in Nova Scotia during the period 1749-99 who possessed a
medical degree that he had earned by attending classes and writing
examinations.
It is not surprising, therefore, that before 1800, very little had
been done to regularize the practice of medicine and surgery in
Nova Scotia. The great majority of physicians and surgeons who
practised in the province had been trained in Great Britain, and
prior to the second decade of the nineteenth century, as already
noted, it did not have a medical act to regulate the profession. This
lack of leadership shown by Great Britain in the area of licensing
medical and surgical practitioners was an outgrowth of the long-
standing rivalry between three very strong organizations: the Col-
lege of Physicians, the Company of Surgeons, and the Society of
Apothecaries.
John Ransom has written that the status of hospitals at any given
time reflects the status of medical science and practice.148 As pointed
out in chapter 2 of this book, hospitals in eighteenth-century En-
gland and Scotland were voluntary institutions with no government
regulation, and consequently patients, who were mainly the sick
poor and the helpless, received treatment that was provided by med-
ical men of varying levels of training and competence. Susan Law-
rence has pointed out that there was no license required to practise
medicine in England and Wales until the year 1815. She also con-
cluded that licensing of medical men in England and Scotland in the
eighteenth century was, in fact, largely irrelevant. The College of
Physicians, which had been granted the power in 1518 to regulate
the practice of medicine within a seven-mile radius of central Lon-
don, did not police the profession during the eighteenth century.
Lester King has written that, "during the entire eighteenth century,
the Royal College of Physicians represented moral and ethical fail-
ure; through selfish exploitation of monopoly it revealed the defec-
tive morality of the period and of the medical profession." The
College was so restrictive in its membership that by 1688 there were
only 114 members (i.e., physicians) to provide medical treatment

for the estimated five and one-half million people in England.149
Thanks to this dearth of physicians, London had an estimated one
thousand surgeons and apothecaries at the beginning of the eigh-
teenth century.150 The ratio of ten surgeons and apothecaries to
every one physician continued throughout the century. Only the
elite could afford the services of physicians, who in turn congre-
gated in the cities and were tied to the purse strings of rich patients.
Jewson has concluded that "for authority, status, reward, and ad-
vancement, doctors [physicians] looked not to collective professional
paths to glory, but to the personal favour of grandees."151 The med-
ical marketplace was therefore eclectic and open and was deter-
mined chiefly by the ability to pay. As Porter has written, a medical
self-help culture flourished, since the great mass of the population
was too poor to employ medical men no matter whether they were
physicians of quacks.152
The reason for the lack of leadership by the Royal College of
Physicians was twofold. The College lost a court case with the apoth-
ecaries in 1704, which resulted in a judgement allowing the latter
not only to prepare medicines but also to prescribe them. In addi-
tion, during most of the century, the College was involved in an in-
ternal squabble over the qualifications required for elevation to its
highest grade of membership, the Fellowship. The College held
that, whereas graduates of Cambridge and Oxford could become
fellows of the College, graduates in medicine from Scottish universi-
ties could only qualify as licentiates. One reason for the stand taken
by the College was the practice among Scottish universities, noted
above, of selling their diplomas without requiring that the applicant
attend classes at the university or sit examinations. It appears that
the universities of Aberdeen, Marischal, and St Andrews continued
this practice all throughout the eighteenth century.
Thus, it is clear that, prior to 1800, the physicians licensed by the
Royal College of Physicians failed to meet the public need and the
surgeon and apothecary treated the vast majority of the population
of England.153 It is not surprising, therefore, that the same situation
existed in the infant British colony of Nova Scotia during the last
half of the eighteenth century.
As for the hospitals in Nova Scotia, specifically in Halifax, the
situation did not alter significantly between 1784 and 1799 from
what it had been during the American Revolution (Appendix 8).
The only hospital for civilians in Halifax continued to be the two
rooms at the poor house. The naval hospital, under the direction of
Dr John Halliburton and located near the Narrows (Figure 20), was
overcrowded during the 17905. In 1794, Dr Halliburton recom-

mended that he should make available for patients the hospital wing
in which he lived and rent a house nearby.154 As noted earlier, a
prison hospital had been established on Kavanagh's Island in 1794
and continued to function for at least the next two years.*55 During
this period a major change occurred with respect to military hospi-
tals. The military hospital on the corner of Grafton and Blowers
Streets, in use since 1758 and under the direction of Dr Donald
Mclntyre since 1784, closed its doors sometime in 1797. The Royal
Gazette and Nova Scotia Advertiser of 25 July 1797 carried a notice that
the "military hospital lots" were for sale. The public was informed in
the same issue that Doctor Mclntyre and his son had arrived safely
in Guadaloupe in June 1797, having departed recently from Hali-
fax. In the following September, the military hospital lots were
granted to James Creighton.ls6
Dr James Boggs, who had been an assistant surgeon to Dr Mcln-
tyre since 1784, was appointed garrison surgeon on 22 November
1797. As such, he was in charge of the various regimental hospitals
that had been established to provide medical and surgical services to
army personnel.157 On 9 November 1797, Dr Thomas Irwin, garri-
son surgeon at Annapolis Royal for many years, was appointed as-
sistant inspector of hospitals in Nova Scotia.ls8 During the 17908, it
is likely that each of the twelve regiments stationed in the province
had its own hospital.159 For instance, Fort Massey, built during the
American revolutionary war, was being used as a hospital in 1795
and had a resident surgeon and hospital mate. l6° Frequent mention
is made of the regimental hospital of the Royal Nova Scotia Regi-
ment in Halifax, although I have been unable to ascertain exactly
where it was located.161 Drsjohn Fraser and Jonathan W. Clarke
were surgeon and assistant surgeon of the Royal Nova Scotia Regi-
ment from its establishment in 1793 until the end of the century.162
BEFORE TURNING TO THE STATISTICS heralded at the outset of the

chapter, mention should be made of the many interesting advertise-
ments related to the practice of medicine that appeared in Nova
Scotia newspapers between 1784 and 1799. At least six doctors
advertised drugs and medicines, while others had for sale such items
as a therapeutic electrical apparatus and cures for cancer, venereal
disease, l63 coughs,l64 and hydrophobia.l6s One doctor advertised a
series of lectures in chemistry as applied to medicine, another
offered his services to perform inoculations, and others simply an-
nounced the fact they were setting up practice in Halifax.l66
Two advertisements for drugs and medicines appeared in the

Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle of 11 May 1784. One of these
ran from February until May 1784:
To be sold by Donald M'Lean, lately arrived from New York, at the House
formerly occupied by Major Alex. M'Donald, 84th Regiment, and next Door
to Henry Loy's Esq. Wholesale and Retail on very low terms.
A Large and general assortment of Fresh imported Drugs and Medicines,
Surgeon's Instruments, Lint and Tow, a great Variety of Genuine Patent
Medicines and Perfumeries, Spices, Isinglass, Grain and Bowen's patent
Sago, Preserved Tamorinds and fresh Castor Oil, spirits of Turpentine,
with a Number of Articles suitable for Grocers and Distillers.
N.B. Physicians and Family Prescriptions made up with Care and Accuracy,
all orders from Town and Country Practitioners put up with Care and Ex-
pedition.
The second advertisement had completely different wording and

was placed in the paper by a Donald MacLean. It ran from May until
November 1784. As I explain below,16"7 there could very easily have
been two surgeons with the names Donald M'Lean (McLean) and
Donald MacLean in Halifax at the same time. However, it does rep-
resent something of a coincidence and a mystery.
The Shelburne newspapers for 1785 contained advertisements by
two surgeons. On 24 January 1785, Joseph Bond, who later prac-
tised in Yarmouth from 1787 until 1830, inserted the following an-
nouncement in the Royal American Gazette:
JOSEPH BOND,
Surgeon,
Begs leave to inform the public, that he has entered into Partnership with
Mr Francis Brinley, under the Firm of
BOND and BRINLEY
who have for sale,
a general assortment of
MEDICINES,
of the first quality, lately arrived from England; together with a quantity of
the most approved PATENT MEDICINES and PERFUMERY, viz.
Turlington's Balsam Oil of Lavender
James's Powder Oil of Rosemary
Anderson's Pills Lavender Water
Norton's drops Milk of Roses
British Oil Rose Water
Court-Plaister
Daffy's Elixir Tamarinds

Godfrey's Cordial Tooth Powder
Stoughton's Bitters Sallad Oil
Ointment for the itch Honey
Essence of Lavender Hartshorn Shavings
Essence of Burgamotte Isinglass
Essence of Lemons Spanish Liquorice
Essence of Citron Allum, and
Essence of Peppermint Spices of every kind.
LIKEWISE,
A few Family MEDICINE CHESTS, with printed directions for using them,
from two to five guineas each, very suitable for fishing vessels, or small set-
tlements, that have no surgeon.
All orders for medicines, family prescriptions, &c. will be attended to with
the greatest care and dispatch.168
A second surgeon in Shelburne, John Boyd,l6s who later practised

in Windsor from 1788 until 1816, advertised in the 12 May 1785
issue of the Port Roseway Gazetteer:
J O H N BOYD
Has for Sale
At his medicinal Store, in Water Street between John and Ann Streets,
A Choice assortment of DRUGS and MEDICINES; together with a quantity of
the most approved PATENT MEDICINES, viz. James's Powders, Anderson's
Pills, Hooper's Female Pills, Bateman's Pectoral Drops, Maredants Anti-
scorbutic Drops, British Oil, Turlington's Balsam, Essence of Peppermint,
Daffy's Elixir, Corn Salve, &c. - Also, Breast Pipes, compleat Tobacco
Machines, Elastic Trusses, Lancets, Smelling Bottles, Sago Powder, Alum,
Honey, Tamarinds, Cinnamon, Mace, Cloves, Nutmegs, Spanish Liquorice,
Essence of Lemons, Essence of Bergamot, Court Plaisters, &c.
Family Prescriptions will be accurately prepared and Orders executed
with fidelity and Dispatch.
Back in Halifax, Dr John Philipps, who had been there since 1758
and had first advertised drugs and medicines in the Halifax newspa-
per in 1774, listed for sale the following assortment of medicines in
the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser, 28 April 1789:17°
PHILIPPS, Drugist
Has received by the Ark, Capt. Squires,
A general fresh Assortment of
MEDICINES, &c.
Viz.
Jesuits Bark of the first quality, Large and small bottles Turlington's
Balsom,
Turkey Rheubarb Betton's true british Oil,
Camphire and Saffron Steer's Opodeldoc
Dr James's Antiseptic Pills Dalby's Carminative
Dr James's fever Powders Squire's Elixir
Glass's Magnif— Surgeon's lint and tow
Balsom of Honey Oil of Vitriol,
Sago Powder in Canisters Salt Petre and Verdigrease
Pearl Sago Best Russian pearl ash
Salt of Lemon
Genuine Anderson's and
Hooper's Pills Hartshorn shavings
Storey's worm destroying Fine cut Isinglass
Cakes Castor Oil and Tamarinds
Carolina Pink root for Fresh camom—, Sage, b
destroying worms and Pennyroyal from
Stoughton's bitter Covent Garden.
Essence of Peppermint.
Physicians, Surgeons, and others supplyed with the above Articles fresh
every Six Months.
The most comprehensive list of medicines and drugs advertised in

Nova Scotia newspapers during this period was that prepared by
Dr Michael Head, who operated a drug-and-medicine store first on
Hollis Street and later on Granville Street, Halifax, from 1790 until
his death in 1805. Dr Head had operated a similar store at Windsor
from 1779 until 1790. On 27 October 1795, this advertisement ap-
peared in the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle:
HEAD'S DRUG & MEDICINE STORE

in Granville Street
is now replenished by an extensive and general assortment of
DRUGS & MEDICINES
Received in the Ship HERO from London, and sold wholesale
and Retail by
MICHAEL HEAD
By whom the greatest attention will be paid to all orders and prescriptions
from gentlemen of the professions, of the navy and army, town and
country . Also all family prescriptions, and Medicine chests, made up on
the shortest notice.
He has also received the following articles:

Salt Petre Keyser's pills
Isinglass James's pills
Sago and Salep Wash-balls, violet, and Windsor
British violet, pearl, and soap
opiate dentrifice Best scented French hard and
Essence of Coltsfoot soft pomatum
Essence of Peppermint Vermillion & carmine
Essence of Pennyroyal Red and black lead
Essence of Bergamot Lancets
Essence of Lavender Syringes
Essence of Lemon Crucibles
Darby's Carminiative Liquorice and pearl barley
Balsam honey Verdigris, & arnetta
Patent blue Allum, copperas & logwood
Jesuit drops Aniseed
Greenough's tincture Caraway seeds
Best red pale bark Lint
Steer's opodeldoc Tow
Lavender & hungary waters Best Testified spirit of wine or
Cephalic snuff alcohol, rose & orange flower
Analeptic pills water
Anderson's pills Horse medicines of all kinds
Hooper's pills
Two years later, in the Gazette of 3 October 1797, Michael Head had
expanded his advertisement to read, "Drugs, Medicines, Patent
Medicines, Groceries, etc." This advertisement required an entire
newspaper column. Interesting additions to his earlier list included
tooth powders and brushes, pectoral lozenges, nipple glasses, and
surgeons' instruments. Dr Lewis Davis (mentioned in the previous
chapter as surgeon to the King's Rangers) undoubtedly was the per-
son who inserted the following advertisement in the Gazette, 22 Feb-
ruary 1785. It is presumed that the electric apparatus was for
therapeutic purposes.171
"To be sold, An Elegent Portative electric Aparatus, compleat, the whole of

which is neatly fixed in a mohogony case.
Lewis Davis, opposite Mr Boyers, Jun."
A unique and surprising advertisement appeared in the Weekly

Chronicle, 13 July 1799. It was unique because it was the first and
only notice published in an eighteenth-century Nova Scotian news-

paper claiming a cure for cancer. Moreover, it was placed by a
woman living in an area of the province that was newly settled and
essentially isolated from established towns.172 The advertisement
read:
Cures for the Cancer,

Great Cures have been made for the Cancer by the Subscriber, who under-
takes to Cure this dreadful Disease in all its various Stages, with the most tri-
fling pain to the Person afflicted — She having made a great number of
effected Cures for the years past, to which the most respectable persons in
the Country she resides in, can testify. Applications to be made to her at
Clare in the County of Annapolis.
Margaret Doucett
Accompanying the advertisement was a statement by one of her subscribers.
I The Subscriber do testify that the above mentioned Margaret Doucett, has
to my knowledge cured a great number of Persons afflicted with the dread-
ful disorder, the Cancer.
John Taylor
Another item reported in the Gazette of 13 July 1790, concerned

the curing of wens on the head of a soldier:
I the subscriber having been afflicted with 6 Wens on my head for 30 years
past in so much it was with great difficulty I could wear my Regimental hat,
and being informed that Benjamin Green Esq., of this Town, had formerly
cured one for a soldier in the 37th Regt, I made application to Mr Green
who engaged to cure them all gratis — and which he hath accordingly per-
formed in the most easy and effectual manner, by means of poultices, leav-
ing no scars. They were all of the stealoma kind encysted tumors, stuffed
with a sulty matter, two of the size of pidgeons eggs.
Robert Seaton, 4th or King's Own Regt.173
Another unique event in Halifax during the last decade of the

eighteenth century was an announcement in December 1790 by
Mr John Chichester, surgeon of the Fourth or King's American
Regiment, concerning a course of lectures on the theory and prac-
tice of chemistry. The use of chemical substances in medicine was to
be included, and Mr Chichester's lectures were to be given from two
to three o'clock, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after-
noon.174
Two early advertisements by dentists are worth noting here, par-

ticularly since Gullett's History of Dentistry in Canada1"75 states that the
first such advertisement did not appear until 1814. In fact the first
appeared in the Gazette of 27 June 1786:
DR TEMPLEMAN,
Informs the Public, that it is probable he shall be in Halifax about twenty
days; part of which time he shall be able to devote to those Ladies and Gen-
tlemen who wish to have any of the following operations performed on their
Teeth viz.
Taking the tartar from them;
Curing the scurvey in the Gums;
Plumbing caries Teeth;
Substituting Ivory Teeth;
Substituting natural Teeth artificially,
with gold sockets;
Transplanting Teeth;
Separating defective Teeth;
Cleansing and Polishing the Teeth in
the most beautiful manner, &c
Advice may be had on all the various diseases
to which Human Teeth are subject, and an excellent Dentifrice, with proper
Brusher and Chewsticks, by applying at Mrs Philip's.
In 1791, John Beath, the second dentist to advertise in the Gazette,

offered cash for natural teeth and indicated that he would fix natu-
ral and artificial teeth on gold plates.176
Only one midwife advertised during the period 1784—99: a
Mrs Smith placed an advertisement in the Gazette in 1787 stating that
she was a "sworn midwife from London."177 In the same year,
Dr Christopher Nicolai, who, as noted earlier, had been in Halifax
since 1751, advertised as a man-midwife in the Nova Scotia Gazette
and Weekly Advertiser for 10 April 1787.
CHRISTOPHER NICHOLAI
Surgeon and Man Mid-Wife
Takes this method of acquainting the Public that he has been conversant
with the Treatment of the SMALL-POCKS, both Natural and by Innoculation,
for above thirty years — Intends to innoculate and attend the Patients in the
Town and Suburbs of Halifax, through the whole course, with proper Med-
icines, at
Half a Guinea Each
Strangers, who intend to be innoculated, can be accomodated with proper
Diet, Nurse and Lodgings at his House on the Parade, at 175 6d, each, bring-
ing their own Bedding.178
Mrs James MacNeil, midwife at Shelburne (see note 177), pos-

sessed an injection device described as a "bladder and pipe," which
she brought from New England to Shelburne in 1783. Lieutenant
William Booth mentioned this device when he described Dr George
Drummond's treatment of his wife, Hannah, and her death, on
22 February 1789, from "nervous fever" at Shelburne.179 It is un-
clear whether the device was actually used in treating Mrs Booth.
Lieutenant Booth's diary does include, however, a number of entries
describing the types of medication that Dr Drummond adminis-
tered to Lieutenant and Mrs Booth. For instance, in January 1789,
Drummond ordered for Hannah some drops of spirit of lavender
on sugar and some hartshorn and water, while in March, for the
lieutenant's cough, he recommended liquorice root boiled in water.
An item on the use of bloodstone is found in the letters of the Rev-
erend Mather Byles,l8° who had arrived in Halifax from Boston
with General Howe in April 1776, Byles's daughter Rebecca was
married to Dr William J. Almon. On 16 December 1787, the Rever-
end Mr Byles wrote: "Dr Allmon, the Systems-Monger came in great
distress to borrow my Blood-Stone for a man who not withstanding
all his scientific efforts was absolutely bleeding to death. The man
put on the Blood-Stone and the bleeding stopped: but the Doctor is
of opinion that this was owing to the violents stiptics [sic] which he
had been taking for several days before, and which exactly at that in-
stant began to operate."
During the last half of the eighteenth century, at least 11,503

deaths are known to have occurred in Nova Scotia.181 Figure 25
shows the number of deaths each year for the period 1749 to 1799
and confirms that major epidemics occurred in 1750—51, 1755—56,
1757—58, and 1775—76. However, the large increases in the number
of deaths during these years cannot be attributed solely to the epi-
demics, since many regiments and squadrons arrived in 1755, 1757,
1758, and 1776, as well as throughout Seven Years' and the Amer-
ican revolutionary wars. In addition to soldiers and sailors, who were
young and probably in reasonable health, there came a large num-
ber of camp followers who, with the departure of a regiment for a
war zone, were left in Halifax, destitute and probably sickly, to be
supported by the local government. As already pointed out, the Brit-
ish government had eliminated all support for health-care facilities
Figure 25
Deaths in Nova Scotia, 1749—99.
and medical personnel by 1760, and the burden of the poor on the
local government was so great that it could not provide any medical
services whatsoever, not even a civilian hospital, at any time during
the eighteenth century. It is likely, therefore, that many of the
deaths shown in Figure 25, particularly during and immediately
after the war years, represent those of a transitory population
shaped by the arrival and departure of soldiers and sailors and, to
a greater extent, by camp followers and prisoners of war who
remained, for the most part, in Halifax to be cared for. The minor
epidemic of smallpox reported in 1790-91 in towns such as Lunen-
burg and Guysborough took at least seventeen lives.182 Figure 25
shows a substantial increase in the number of deaths during these
two years, and probably many more than seventeen succumbed to
smallpox. The large number of deaths in 1783 and 1784 was due to
the province's increased population after the arrival of the approx-
imately thirty thousand Loyalists.
Of the 11,503 people whose deaths were recorded, the ages of
only 2,824 were given in the death and burial records. The mean age
of the deceased was twenty-eight years, while the median age was
twenty-two. A total of 724 of the 2,824 (twenty-five percent) were in-
fants, i.e., less than one year of age, and 1,188 (forty-two percent)
were ten years old or younger. Only five percent of the 2,824 lived
to the age of seventy-five or beyond. The average age at time of
death of adult civilian Nova Scotians during the years 1780—99,
compared with 1981, is presented in Figure 26. Age was stated in the
death records of over seventy percent of adult Nova Scotians who
Figure 26
Mean age of civilian Nova Scotians at time of death during the period 1780—99,
as compared to life expectancy at birth of Canadians in 1981.
died during this period. Very few of the recorded deaths prior
to 1780 give the age of the deceased, and therefore the period
1749-79 is not included in Figure 26. This figure indicates that,
whereas age at time of death during the last twenty years of the
eighteenth century was approximately forty-nine years, twentieth-
century Nova Scotians, particularity those living in 1981, could hope
to live to the age of seventy-five. The only other studies of this type
for the eighteenth century that I am aware of are those reported by
T.H. Hollingsworth, A.E. Imhof, and S.J. Kunitz. Hollingsworth de-
termined the life expectancy of aristocratic women in England dur-
ing the period 1725—1800.l8s He found that, for such a select group,
life expectancy ranged from thirty-six years in 1725 to forty-nine
years in 1800. Arthur Imhof, in a recent paper184 on urban mortal-
ity, shows very clearly how one can gain a great deal of information
about social history from demographic data, and some of his conclu-
sions will be presented below. S.J. Kunitz, using figures from a book
by E.A. Wrigley and R.S. Schofield, entitled The Population History of
England, 1541-1871, concluded that life expectancy at birth from
1741 to 1801 in England ranged from thirty-two to thirty-eight
years.185
The death rate of Nova Scotians during the period 1749—84 is
shown in figure 27. For many of these years, population figures for
Nova Scotia are readily available. For the last fifteen years of the
eighteenth century, however, such figures are not known, and that
Figure 27
Death rate of civilians in Nova Scotia during the period 1749—84, as compared
to 1984.
is why the period 1785-99 is not included in the figure. It should be

noted that the death rates presented in Figure 27 are lower than
actual rates, since, as explained in note 181, not every death that
occurred between 1749 and 1784 was recorded. This explains the
extremely low death rates for the years 1764—74, a decade during
which a higher death rate might be expected given that Halifax was
without any health-care facilities whatsoever. It is clear, however,
that the rate was very high for the first ten years of settlement in
Nova Scotia and also higher than normal for those years in which
the four epidemics are known to have occurred, and during which
large numbers of military and naval personnel and their camp fol-
lowers were stationed in Halifax. In contrast to the numbers given in
Figure 27, Imhof presents the mortality rates for Berlin for the pe-
riod 1721 to 1980 and shows that, from 1750 to 1800, the death rate
varied from a low of thirty per thousand to a high of sixty-eight.
I have been able to determine, from death and burial records, the
cause of death for 1,935 Nova Scotians who died between 1749 and
Figure 28
The shingle of Dr Isaac Webster, physician and surgeon at Cornwallis from 1791
to 1851. The original is in the possession of descendants and measures twenty-one
by forty-eight inches. (Courtesy, C.R. Webster, Mississauga).
1799. The stated causes differ dramatically from those experienced

by present-day citizens. The most marked difference concerns in-
fant mortality, which represented thirty-seven percent of the deaths
whose cause was given; in contrast, infant mortality in Canada in
1984, according to Statistics Canada, was less than one percent. This
figure of thirty-seven percent is not much higher than that found by
Imhof (32.7 percent) in his study of infant mortality in Philipsburg
in the German empire for the slightly later period 1780 to 1809.
In 1984, the five leading causes of death in Nova Scotia were heart
disease, cancer, accidents, stroke, and respiratory disease. The lead-
ing causes during the last fifty years of the eighteenth century were
accidents, smallpox, fever, consumption, and gout. A tabulation of
causes of death in eighteenth-century Nova Scotia is given in Appen-
dix 9. Heart disease is not mentioned at all, while cancer, respiratory
disease, and stroke are given as the causes of death in fewer than
fifty of the 1,935 deaths.186
Appendices
Appendix One
PASSENGERS IN THE CORNWALLIS

MESS LISTS WITH
HEALTH-CARE OCCUPATIONS
Transport Total in
Passenger Occupation Ship Family
Alexander Abercrombie Apothecary's mate Roehampton 2

Daniel Brown Surgeon's mate Everley 1
Georgius Bruscourt* Surgeon Charlton 2
Archibald Campbell Surgeon's mate Baltimore 1
David Carnegie Surgeon London 2
Cochran Dickson Surgeon London 3
John Farrington Chymist and Druggist Roehampton 2
John Grant Surgeon's mate Everley 3
Robert Grant Surgeon's mate Charlton 3
William Grant Surgeon Alexander i
Fenton Griffith Surgeon's mate Wilmington 2
James Handasyde Surgeon Fair Lady 1
Augustus Harbin Assistant Surgeon Roehampton 1
Alexander Hay Surgeon's mate Charlton 4
Patrick Hay Surgeon Beaufort 2
John Inman Surgeon Canning 1
Matthew Jones Surgeon Everley 4
Matthew Jones Surgeon Beaufort 5
Robert Kerr Apothecary's mate Wilmington 2
William Lascelles Surgeon's mate Alexander 2
Leonard Lockman Major [surgeon] Roehampton 6
Thomas Louthian Surgeon's mate Wilmington 1
Ann Medlicott** Midwife Everley 3
Henry Meriton Surgeon's mate Winchelsea 7
William Merry Apothecary Roehampton 6
Charles Paine Surgeon Merry Jacks i
Harry Pitt Surgeon Baltimore 7
Thomas Reeve Apothecary Winchelsea 3
Thomas Rust*** Doctor and Surgeon Charlton i
Joshua Sacheverell Surgeon Baltimore 6
194 Appendix i
Passengers in the Cornwallis Mess Lists with Health-Care Occupations (Cont'd)
Transport Total in
Passenger Occupation Ship Family
John Steele Lieutenant and Surgeon Beaufort 4

Robert Throckmorton Pupil Surgeon Beaufort 2
John Wallace Surgeon's mate Everley 2
Robert White Surgeon Beaufort 1
John Wildman Surgeon Canning 4
Elizabeth Williams Midwife Wilmington i
John Willis Chymist and Surgeon Winchelsea 5
Thomas Wilson Surgeon Wilmington i
Source: PANS RGI, vol. 523.

* Given as G.P.W. Bruscowitz in a land sale on 13 September 1751 (o.s.) (Halifax County Deeds,
vol. 2, PANS RG47) and, on i February 1753 (n.s.), as George Phillipps Bruscovit, MD (Ibid.,
184).
** Ann Medlicot practised midwifery in Halifax according to 00217, 10: 70—1. This source
indicates that she was the midwife in Halifax at least during the period August 1749 to September
1750. She was paid twelve pounds per year for her services. An Ann Medecott [sic] was
buried from St Paul's Church in Halifax on 28 April 1776.
*** In the "books" referred to earlier (00221, vol. 36), a surgeon by the name of Rust is
listed but only by surname. In the mess lists (PANS RGI, vol. 523) a doctor and surgeon by the
name of Rush is listed on the transport Charlton. I suggest that the person in question is
Thomas Rust, who, on 8 August 1749 (o.s.), was allotted land in Ewer's Division, 05 (PANS RGI,
vol. 410) and is listed, as late as 2 September 1752 (o.s.), as a "practioner [sic] of phisick
[sic] and surgery" in Halifax (Halifax County Inferior Court of Common Pleas, vol. A: 196, PANS
R«37)-
Appendix Two
AN E X P L A N A T I O N OF
MEDICATIONS AND TREATMENTS
ADMINISTERED BY SURGEONS
IN HALIFAX DURING THE PERIOD
!75°-53
As indicated in chapter 2, the court records for Halifax, in the early

17508, contain numerous cases of surgeons charging citizens for
non-payment of medical bills. These medical bills list the types and
quantities of medications administered and their prices. The medi-
cations and treatments, along with an explanation of each, appears
below. I have also attempted to identify the illness for which each of
the medications was known to be a treatment. I have also corrected
the spellings given in the court records.
In the eighteenth century, inflammation and fever were the pri-
mary indications that some disease process was present. It was the
belief and teaching of the highly respected Dr Hermann Boerhaave,
professor of medicine, chemistry, and botany at the University of
Leyden from 1709—26, that inflammation existed whenever two con-
ditions were present. There must be an obstruction of the small ar-
teries and, at the same time, an increased velocity or momentum of
the blood stream acting on the obstructing matter: "Boerhaave had
no difficulty correlating the clinical signs of inflammation and patho-
genic factors. Obstruction produced distention and redness. Disten-
tion caused pain. The solids and fluids were compacted — hence the
hardness and resistance. Local heat arose from the attrition of the
fluid particles and the solids against each other. Blood under in-
creased force caused pulsations. Irritation of the various nerve fibers
could induce a fever; in Boerhaave's day it was generally accepted
that fever could result from pain alone."1 The treatment of inflam-
mation would depend upon dislodging the obstruction and there
were various methods of doing this, such as administering diluents
or following a mild softening diet. Bleeding was used to reduce the
velocity of the blood acting on the obstruction. Both bleeding and
purging were considered valuable therapeutic aids because they re-
196 Appendix 2
duced the volume of fluids and the impetus or violence of the arte-
rial blood. In addition to bleeding, the redistribution of blood away
from the site of inflammation was considered to be important. This
was done by using counter-irritants such as warm baths, cupping,
and blistering and mustard plasters, in order to draw the blood away
from the inflamed area.
Other approaches to treating illness and disease in the eighteenth
century, in addition to blood-letting and purging, were emetics, di-
uretics, and sweating. The idea was to cleanse the bowels, kidneys,
and stomach in order to drive out the disorder, and then to rebuild
the body with tonics. Whereas blood-letting was used in pleurisy and
rheumatism, purges and vomits were used to treat fevers.2 One of
the most common purgatives or cathartics was calomel, or chloride
of mercury. It exerted its effect as a laxative because the mercuric
ion is extremely irritating to the intestinal tract.3 Dr Benjamin Rush
(1746—1813), a graduate of Edinburgh and a student of Dr William
Cullen, is remembered for his use of a mixture of calomel and jalap4
as a purgative during the devastating yellow-fever epidemic in Phil-
adelphia in 1793. Commonly used emetics were ipecac,5 antimony,
and salts of copper, while turpentine, potassium iodine, and balsam
were used as diuretics.
The "fever" theory of disease suggested that disease was a result of
irritation or excitement. Before being treated with rehabilitating
tonics and stimulents, the patient was first depressed or calmed by
blood-letting, followed by diuretics, purgatives, and emetics. Among
the tonics used to rebuild the body were mercury,6 iron, arsenic, qui-
nine, and wine. Stimulents included camphor, opium, musk, and
alcohol.
MEDICATIONS AND
TREATMENTS ADMINISTERED
IN H A L I F A X IN
THE 17508
Anodyne draft. A medicine used to relieve pain by diminishing sensi-

bility. Hoffmann's anodyne contained alcohol (65 percent), ether
(32 percent), and ethereal oil (3 percent). Other anodynes contained
opium, and morphine.
Anti-icteric pills. Icterus is another word for jaundice, and therefore

the anti-icteric pills would be administered in order to treat liver dis-
ease. The common barberry bush was traditionally used in the treat-
ment of liver disease since it was thought that preparations made
from the plant would stimulate the production of bile by the liver.
197 Appendix 2
Astringent bolus. A substance such as alum or tannin that was admin-

istered to contract or bind together organic tissues, thus aiding in di-
minishing secretion or discharge. An astringent bolus had the
opposite effect to a laxative.
Attenuating mixture. A mixture such as wine or quinine which thins,

weakens, or reduces the density of body fluids. Used as a tonic or
stimulent.
Balsamic Bolus. A Balsam was any fragrant ointment derived from

the resin of trees and used as a diuretic.
Blooding. Another way of describing bleeding or blood-letting.
Bolus. A rounded mass of a pharmaceutical preparation which, dur-

ing the eighteenth century, would be swallowed rather than given
intravenously.
Camphorated spirits. Camphor is a white, volatile, translucent crystal-

line compound distilled from the wood and bark of the camphor
tree. Used as a stimulent.
Cephalic mixture. The word cephalic pertains to the head or skull.

This could have been a mixture taken to alleviate a headache.
Clysters. Another name for an enema.
Colic tincture. This refers to a solution that was administered to re-

lieve acute abdominal pain resulting from muscular spasm. It would
be very interesting to know exactly what made up the "Colic Tinc-
ture" that was administered by Dr William Merry to William
Kneeland on 4 July 1751, and that cost two pounds six shillings.
Compound emetic. A mixture that caused vomiting, such as ipecac or

antimony.
Cordial bolus. A medical stimulent such as anisette or benedictine that

was intended to invigorate the heart. Foxglove was not discovered to
be a cardiac stimulent until 1775.
Corroborating plaster. The adjective corroborating indicates that the

plaster has been strengthened. A plaster consists of a viscid, hot sub-
stance spread on linen or silk and then applied to some part of the
body.
198 Appendix 2
Decoction. This is a solution prepared by boiling an animal or vegeta-

ble substance to create an extract.
Detergent. Having cleansing or purging qualities.
Digestive. A medicine to aid digestion.
Electuary. A medicine mixed with honey or syrup to form a paste.
Elixir. This was a sweetened, alcoholic, medicinal preparation sup-

posed to invigorate the person. Elixir of vitriol consisted of aromatic
sulfuric acid.
Emetic. A mixture that, if swallowed, caused vomiting, such as tartar

emetic (antimony potassium tartrate), or ipecac.
Enema. A liquid injected into the rectum for cleansing, diagnostic, or

nutritive purposes.
Fermentation. The decomposition of organic compounds induced by

the action of various ferments.
Gargarism. This refers to a liquid used to gargle or rinse the throat.
Glauber salts. This salt is reported to have been used as a purgative by

Dr John Redman, MD (Leiden, 1748). It consisted of sodium sul-
phate.
Hartshorn shavings. Also referred to as Spirit of Hartshorn. It was

made by the distillation of deer horns, since the result was an ammo-
niacal liquor, which contained ammonium carbonate. The latter was
used as smelling salts, a stimulent. A dose of one dram in a cup of
wine was given for pleurisy by the American colonists in the seven-
teenth century.
Hysteric mixture. This consisted of opium, castor oil, saffron, and

maple seed, one dram of each, in four ounces of Lisbon wine.
Isinglass. A preparation of nearly pure gelatin made from the swim

bladders of certain fishes. This was used in the clearing or fining of
wine or liquor.
Pectoral bolus. Pectoral drops were formulated to relieve or cure dis-

eases of the lungs or chest.
199 Appendix 2
Plaster. Mustard plasters were the most common. These were also re-
ferred to as blisters and were applied to, or near, the inflamed area
using a cloth or tape. A thick, hot, drawing poultice containing mus-
tard, turpentine, spirits of hartshorn, pepper, and/or brandy was
spread on the cloth and the plaster was then placed and secured on
the inflamed area. Once the blistered area had been raised or en-
larged, it was snipped and allowed to discharge. After a sufficient
discharge, the blistered site was reduced using poultices made from
bread, milk, flax seed, or hog's lard.
Purging pills. A pill to induce the evacuation of the bowels, such as

calomel.
Rhubarb bolus. A mild laxative.
Salts. Emetics to cause vomiting. Salts of copper and zinc sulphate

were frequently used, since they acted directly upon the nerves of
the stomach.
Salutes. Another name for salts.
Spanish liquorice. A perennial leguminous herb of southern and cen-

tral Europe, the dried root of which is used as a medicine to treat
headache.
Tincture. A solution, usually in alcohol, of some distinctly coloured

substance used in medicine.
Appendix Three
AN ACT TO P R E V E N T THE
SPREADING OF CONTAGIOUS
DISTEMPERS*
Be it enacted by the Honorable the Commander in Chief, the Coun-

cil and Assembly, That every vessel coming into the port of Halifax,
having any person on board infected with any plague, small-pox,
malignant fever, or other contagious distemper, shall anchor at least
two miles below the Town of Halifax, towards the sea, and on her
anchoring shall hoist an ensign with the union downwards at the
main-top mast head; and the master thereof shall not permit any of
the mariners or passengers belonging to or coming in such Vessel to
land. And the said master shall be obliged, within twenty four hours
after his arrival, to give notice thereof to the Governor, Lieutenant-
Governor, or Commander in Chief, both for the performing quar-
antine, for the airing and cleansing the passengers, vessels, and
goods on board, and for removing the infected and sick persons out
of the said vessel.
II. And be it further Enacted, That before any such sick or in-
fected persons be put onshore, the master of such ship or vessel shall
give security for the payment of the charge of removing them on
shore, and also for the necessary refreshments, medicines, and at-
tendance, which shall be ordered and directed by the Governor,
Lieutenant-Governor, or Commander in Chief.
III. And be it further enacted, That any master or masters of any
vessel or vessels, who shall not conform themselves to the rule and
directions prescribed by this Act, shall be liable to pay a fine not ex-
ceeding one hundred pounds, on due conviction thereof, to be re-
covered by bill, plaint, or information, in any of his Majesty's courts
of record.
2 Geo. gd, c.6, 1761

2Oi Appendix 3
IV. And be it further enacted, That for the preventing any infec-
tious distempers from being brought into, and spreading in any of
the other towns within this province, any one or more Justices of the
Peace, residing within or nearest to such town within this province,
where any vessel infected with the small pox or infectious distem-
pers, shall arrive, shall forthwith take care to prevent and restrain all
persons belonging to or transported in such ship or vessel, from
coming on shore: or if any be before on shore, to send them on
board again; as also to restrain persons from going on board such
ship or vessel, and to that end may make out a warrant directed
to the constable of any such town, who are accordingly impowered
and required to execute the same; and such Justices are forthwith
to transmit the intelligence thereof, to the Governor, Lieutenant-
Governor, or Commander in Chief, for their direction and order
thereon.
Appendix Four
AN ACT TO P R E V E N T
IMPORTING IMPOTENT, LAME,
AND INFIRM PERSONS INTO THIS
PROVINCE*
Be it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor, Council, and Assembly,

that every Master of any ship or other vessel, arriving in any Port
within this Province, at the time of entering his Ship or Vessel, shall
deliver to the Secretary of the Province if at Halifax, and if at any
other Port then to his deputy to be thereunto by him appointed for
that purpose, a perfect List or Certificate under his hand of the
Christian and Sir Names of all Passengers, as well servants as others,
brought in said Ship or Vessel, and their circumstances so far as he
knows; on pain of forfeiting the sum of Five Pounds to the use of the
Poor of the Town or place where such Passenger shall be landed or
sent on Shore, for every Passenger that he shall omit to enter his or
her Name in such List or certificate upon Conviction thereof before
any two of His Majesty's Justices of The Peace, in such Towns where
two Justices shall be Resident, otherwise before one Justice of the
Peace for the County or place where such Passenger shall be so
landed or sent on Shore. And upon Neglect or Refusal of such Of-
fender to pay such Fine such Justice or Justices may issue his or their
Warrant for levying the same by distress and sale of such Offend-
ers Goods and chattels, and in default of such Goods or Chattels
whereon to levy such Distress, may Commit such Offenders to Gaol
for the space of one month.
And be it further enacted that if any Passenger so brought, shall
be impotent, lame, or otherwise infirm, or likely to be a Charge to
the place, it shall and may be lawful for any one or more of His Maj-
esty's Justices of the Peace in such Town or place where such Vessel
shall arrive upon Notice being given by the Secretary or his Deputy
PANS CO 217, 25:77—9

203 Appendix 4
to require a Security from such Passengers with Sufficient Surety or

Sureties to become bound in the sum of Twenty Pounds to the Sec-
retary or his Deputy for his idemnifying the Town from such charity
and upon such Passenger refusing or neglecting to give such secu-
rity, the Master of the Ship or Vessel inwhich such Passenger came,
shall be and thereby is obliged and required to give sufficient secu-
rity before such Justice or Justices and for such sum as aforesaid to
indemnify and keep the Town free from all charge for the Relief or
support of such impotent, lame, or infirm persons unless such per-
son was before an Inhabitant of this Province or that such impo-
tence, lameness, or other infirmity befell or happened to him or her
during the passage: And in such case, if they be Servants their Mas-
ters shall provide for him, and others shall be relieved at the charge
of the Town or place where such impotent, lame, or infirm persons
shall be brought or imposed, and if any Master of any Ship or Vessel
shall neglect or refuse to give such Security as aforesaid, he shall for-
feit and pay the sum of Twenty Pounds to be recovered by Bill plaint
or Information in any of His Majesty's Courts of Record in this Prov-
ince where the said Offence shall be committed and to be applied to
the use of the poor in such Town or place.
Appendix Five
LOYALIST PHYSICIANS AND

SURGEONS WHO SETTLED IN NOVA
S C O T I A D U R I N G 1 1783
Birthplace Regiment Years Month

Physician or and Former or Place of in Nova of Loyalist
Surgeon Birthdate Practice Hospital Settlement Scotia Arrival Claim '
Charles Adams2 NY Digby i June

William J. AlmonS RI, 1755 NY Royal Artillery Halifax 34
Peter Berton4 NY Chester 3 May
Azor Bettss c
-!739 NY Queen's Rangers Saint John 10 May Yes
Charles Bode6 Shelburne 3 May
James Boggs7 DE, 11740 NJ NY General Hosp. Halifax 47 November Yes
Joseph N Bond8 England, 1758 Eng. Regimental Hosp. Yarmouth 47 May
John Boyds c- 1754 PA NY General Hosp. Windsor 32 May Yes
Francis Brinley 10 c. 1756 MA NY Volunteers Shelburne 2 May
John Brown 11 c- 1745 Captain Reed's Coy Shelburne 6 May
Peter Browne 12 NJ NY General Hosp. Windsor 4 September Yes
Nathaniel Bullein 1 ^ sc SC sc Refugee Hosp. Halifax 10 July Yes
William Burns 14 C- 11757 Shelburne 8 May
Matthew Cahill'5 aoth Regt Shelburne 6 May
John Calef16 MA, 11726 MA Saint John Yes
Daniel Cornwall 17 sc Royals Country Hbr i7
George Drummond 18 Scotland, c. 1715 PA NY General Hosp. Shelburne 10 May Yes
Joseph Fait'9 Germany, 1757 German Aux. Forces Petite Riviere 56
Abraham Florentine20 NY Digby 3 October Yes
Isaac Goodman21 Germany RI Hessian Regt Conway i November Yes
John Gould 22 MA, 1760 MA Regimental Hosp. Shelburne 6 May Yes
Joseph Hatton 23 sc Royals Country Hbr
George W. Holland24 Hessen c. 1753 Prince Carl Regt Lunenburg *3 July
John Hoose25 Hessen c. 1752 Hessian Regt Shelburne 16 May
John Huggeford 26 c. 1760 NY Shelburne 6 May Yes
Peter Huggeford27 England c. 1725 NY Loyal Amer. Regt Digby 7 May Yes
Ludovic Joppe28 6oth Regt Manchester 37 September
Daniel Kendrick 2 ^ c- 1735 Prince of Wales Regt Liverpool 17 May
David Landeg30 Wales NY NY General Hosp. Shelburne i May
John Lawrence31 Annapolis 10
Benjamin Loring32 NY General Hosp. Shelburne i May
Joseph Marvin33 Delancey's Brigade Digby 3 June
Donald Mclntyre34 43rd Regt Halifax H August
Donald McLean 35 77 th Regt Shelburne November
Murdock McLeod36 Scotland, c. 1742 NC NC Volunteers Country Hbr i Yes
John McPherson3? Duke of Cumb. Regt Manchester 48 November
Jonathan Ogden38 NY General Hosp. Halifax i
John Perry39 VA Shelburne 9 May
Alexander J. Phillips40 Digby June
Fleming Pinckston 4 ' Weymouth i June
Joseph Russell42 NY 33rd Regt Halifax
Andrew Seidler43 Germany German Service Clements
John C. Sieger44 Saxony, c. 1753 Jager Corps Halifax October
Johannes Skener45 Hessian Service Digby June
Edward Smith46 Ireland Tarleton's Legion Liverpool 5 October
John F.T. Stickells4? Germany Hessian Regt Guysborough 20 May
Bartholomew Sullivan48 Ireland, c. 1743 NY Shelburne 25 September
Christian Tobias49 NY Digby 17 November Yes
Birthplace Regiment Years Month
Physician or and Former or Place of in Nova of Loyalist
Surgeon Birthdate Practice Hospital Settlement Scotia Arrival Claim '
Robert Tucker-1*0 NY, 1741 NC King's American Regt Annapolis 9 Yes

James Van BurenS 1 NJ, 1729 NJ Granville 7 Yes
Abraham Van Buskirk 5 * c- 1735 NJ NJ Volunteers Shelburne 16 October Yes
William Youngss NY General Hosp. Digby 6
1 As noted by W.B. Antliff in "Loyalist Claims, A Wealth of Information" (PANS VF, vol. 312, no. 29), "Many bundles of Memorials have been lost."
2 Annapolis County Estates, Reel 4, PANS RG48. The administration of his estate is dated 29 October 1784.
3 The Army List for 1781 includes Almon as surgeon's mate. Fourth Battalion, Royal Artillery.
4 Robertson, The King's Bounty, A History of Early Shelburne, 287. Dr Berton is listed as one of the grantees of Shelburne. He was a resident of Chester Township
as late as September 1787 (Lunenburg County Deeds, 3:354, Reel 1361, PANS RG47) and was witness to a land sale.
5 Dr Betts appears to have moved from Saint John to Digby circa 1799. He died in Digby on 14 September 1809 (Columbian Centennial, 25 October 1809).
The inscription on his gravestone records incorrectly that his death took place on 15 September 1811.
6 Robertson, The King's Bounty, A History of Early Shelburne, 287. Dr Bode is last recorded as being in Shelburne in 1786 (Shelburne Christ Church Baptism,
11 June 1786, PANS MG4, vol 141).
7 A letter from Dr Boggs to his wife Mary, written from Port Matoun (sic) and dated 3 March 1784, is printed in Boggs, The Genealogical Record of the Boggs
Family, 83. Dr Boggs indicated that he had arrived at Port Mouton in November 1783.
8 Dr Bond resided at Shelburne from 1783 to 1787, and then removed to Yarmouth.
9 Dr Boyd moved from Shelburne to Windsor circa 1787. He had been assigned, in July 1783, Lot 5, Letter B, in the South Division, Town of Shelburne
(PANS RGI, 372:3).
10 Shelburne Christ Church Burials, i July 1785, PANS MG4, vol. 141. Dr Brinley was twenty-nine years old.
11 Muster Book of Free Blacks, Port Roseway, 30 April 1784, PANS MGIOO, vol. 220, no. 4, includes John Brown, doctor.
12 Dr Browne was a surgeon's mate at Annapolis Royal from 1783 to 1786, and was then posted to Windsor (Muster Roll of Annapolis County, June
1784, PANS RGI 376:48).
13 Dr Bullein also resided in Horton, Shelburne, and Dartmouth, prior to leaving Nova Scotia circa 1793. He indicated that he had come to Nova
Scotia and lived at Horton as early as August 1783 (PANS Misc. "L;" AO 12, 49:224).
14 Dr Burns resided in Shelburne from 1783 to 1791 (Ledger of Stephen Skinners, PANS MG3, vol. 305).
15 Matthew Cahill does not appear to have practised medicine in Shelburne. He left the town circa 1789 (PANS RGI, 169: 182).
16 It is not clear whether Dr Calef came to Halifax or to Saint John in 1783; however, he did treat patients in Digby prior to 1798 (Halifax Estates,
Reel 401, Estate of Henry Coggin, PANS RG48).
17 Land Grants, Book 13 (old), 91, PANS RGZO "A". Grant at Country Harbour, 13 May 1784.
18 There is a good account of George Drummond's practice in Shelburne in the Lieutenant William Booth Diary, Acadia University Archives, Fio3g.5, 554686.
19 Lunenburg County Deeds, 3:104, PANS RG47. Joseph Fait was a witness to a land sale on 29 March 1784.
20 PANS Misc "L," AO13, Bundle 26:112 indicates that Dr Florentine arrived in Nova Scotia on 17 October 1783.
21 Ibid., A O i 2 , 101:130 indicates that Dr Goodman left the township of Conway for England in May 1784.
22 Dr Gould resided in Halifax, Windsor, and Shelburne before leaving Nova Scotia circa 1786. He was in Halifax as early as 16 June 1783 (PANS RG37, vol. 6,
file 12.7).
23 Land Grants, Book 13 (old):9i, PANS RG2O A. Grant at Country Harbour, 13 May 1784, two hundred acres.
24 Robertson, The King's Bounty, A History of Early Shelburne, 293. He was assigned a water lot in the town of Shelburne in July 1783 (PANS R G I , 372:80).
25 Hessische Truppen 2. Johannes Hooses was discharged in America in September 1783.
26 Dr John Huggeford resided in Shelburne until 1789.
27 Dr Peter Huggeford returned to New York in 1790.
28 Two battalions of the Sixtieth Regiment were disbanded in Halifax on 30 October 1783 (Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle, 14 October 1783).
29 Robertson, The King's Bounty, A History of Early Shelburne, 294. Dr Kendrick was listed as a physician in Shelburne on 30 October 1783 (Shelburne County
Deeds, Book 1:77, PANS RG47).
30 Shelburne Estate Papers, Reel 1166. PANS RG48. David Landeg made his will on 7 May 1784, and it was proved on 27 May 1784.
31 A John Lawrence is listed in the Muster Roll for Annapolis County, June 1784, as settled in Granville (PANS RG i, 376:56). Dr Lawrence was residing
in Granville as late as 1793.
32 Dr Loring's name appears in the records of Shelburne for 1784, but not thereafter (Shelburne Court of Common Pleas, March 1785, PANS RG37).
33 Dr Marvin was a resident of Digby until at least 1786 (Digby County Deeds, Book iB:686, PANS RG47).
34 Dr Mclntyre was a surgeon to the forces in Nova Scotia as late as 1797 (An Almanack ... Calculated for the Meridian of Halifax in Nova Scotia ... by
Theophrastus, Halifax, printed and sold by John Howe, 1797).
35 I am uncertain whether the Donald (Daniel) McLean, surgeon, who arrived at Shelburne in November 1783 was the surgeon of that name with
the Seventy-seventh Regiment. It is also unclear whether the Donald McLean, surgeon, who sold land there on 10 November 1783 (Shelburne County Deeds,
Book 1:105, PANS RG47) is the same person.
36 A letter from Henry Duncan to W. Bridekirk, master of the William and Ann, dated 19 February 1784, mentions that Dr MacCloud (sic) and family are
to board a certain ship for passage to England (Halifax Dockyard Records, Reel 4, H A L / F / i : 6 2 , PANS MG13).
37 Guysborough Christ Church Records, PANS MG4 indicate that a John McPherson died there on 19 November 1831. I am not sure whether this was Dr
John McPherson.
38 00217, 41143. Jonathan Ogden was listed as a hospital mate at Halifax on i January 1784.
39 Shelburne Court of General Sessions Records, PANS Ro6o list John Perry as a practitioner of physic in 1784. He returned to Virginia circa 1791.
40 PANS RGI, 376:42. The Muster Roll for Annapolis County, June 1784, lists Dr Phillips at Granville. On 13 February 1786, Alexander Josiah Phillips of
Granville, practitioner of physic, sold land in the Township of Digby.
41 Digby County Deeds, Book iB:io, PANS RG47- Fleming Pinkston (sic) was listed as a doctor of physic at Weymouth in 1784.
42 PANS RGI, 370:23. Dr Joseph Russell had his town lot at Preston surveyed on g February 1784.
43 PANS R G I , 376:65. The Muster Roll at Bear River, 1784 includes Scidleir, surgeon, German Service. He appears to have resided and practised
see
in Clements Township until at least 1.807 (see Halifax Estate Papers, Estate of Joseph Anderson, A73, Annapolis, RG48, Reel 396). The estate ad-
ministration, dated 10 August 1807, includes a debt owed to Doctor Seidler of five shillings.
44 Hessische Truppen 4 records that Christian Seege, assistant medical officer, commissioned in the Jager Corps in May 1778, was mustered out in Halifax
in October 1783. J.C. Sieger was listed as a physician in Halifax as late as 1793 (Poll Tax for Halifax, PANS R G I , vol. 444).
45 PANS RGI, 376:6. The Muster Roll at Digby in 1784 includes John Skinner, formerly surgeon of the Hessian Service. He is probably Johannes Skener,
surgeon, who was mustered at Digby, according to Hessische Truppen 2:361.
46 Doctor Edward Smith is mentioned by Simeon Perkins as being in Liverpool as early as 29 October 1783 (Innis et al., eds., Diary of Simeon Perkins
2:205).
47 Hessische Truppen 3. Dr Stickells was separated from service in America in June 1783. He resided in New Brunswick until 1806, when he moved
to Liverpool. He moved to Guysborough in 1811.
48 Shelburne Deeds vol. i, PANS RG47, Reel 1707. Bartholomew Sullivan witnessed the sale of land at Shelburne on 27 September 1783.
49 PANS RGI, 376:14. In the Muster Roll for Digby.
50 Ibid., 49. In the Muster Roll for Annapolis County, June 1784.
51 Ibid., 39.
52 Minutes of Council, 16 January 1784, PANS R G I , 190:4. Lieutenant Colonel (Van) Buskirk was named a justice of the peace for the district of Shelburne.
53 PANS RGI, 376:14. In the Digby Muster Roll as "Late Assistant Surgeon, General Hospital."
Appendix Six
SUMMARY OF CLAIMS FOR

PROPERTY AND LOSS OF INCOME
MADE BY LOYALIST DOCTORS
WHO CAME TO NOVA SCOTIA,
COMPARED WITH THE SUMS
ALLOWED AND THE PENSIONS
AWARDED BY THE LOYALIST
CLAIMS COMMISSIONERS
Claim for Loss of

Physician Place and Place and Loss of Sum Annual Annual
or Date of Date of Former Property Allowed Income Pension
Surgeon Birth Death Practice (£) (£) (£) (£)
Azor Belts ' c
- !?39 Digby, 1809 NY 196 5° 160 60
James Boggsa DE, 1 1740 Halifax, 1830 NJ 562 530 112
John Boyd* c. 1754 NB, l 8 l 8 PA 336
William Brattle4 MA, 1 1706 Halifax, 1776 MA
Peter Browne5 Windsor, 1787 NJ 2,676 290 225 75
Nathaniel Bullein6 SC SC 1,088 70 2OO 100
John CaleP MA, 11726 NB, l 8 l 2 MA 9,000 1,010 2OO nil
George Drummond 8 Scotland, c. 1715 Shelburne, 1793 PA nil nil nil nil
Abraham Florentine9 NY 896
Sylvester Gardiner10 RI, 1707 RI, 1786 MA 47'967
Claim for Loss of
Physician Place and Place and Loss of Sum Annual Annual
or Date of Date of Former Property Allowed Income Pension
Surgeon Birth Death Practice (£) (£) (£) (£)
Isaac Goodman ' ' Germany RI 5° 10 nil nil
John Gould 12 MA, 1760 Montreal, 1800 MA 2,800*
John Halliburton '3 Scotland Halifax, 1808 RI 2,000 500
John Huggeford' 4 c. 1760 NY nil nil 210 nil
Peter Huggeford '5 England, c. 1725 NY. 1799 NY 3.144 goo 400 160
John Jeffries' 6 MA, 1745 MA, 1819 MA 6,015 500 500 160
Murdock McLeod'7 Scotland, c. 1742 NC 54« 300 nil half pay
Peter Oliver' 8 MA, 1741 England, 1822 MA 4»528 2,200 100 50
William Paine '» MA, 1750 MA, 1833 MA 4,440 300 half pay
Nathaniel Perkins20 1799 MA 8,000 670 240
William Lee Perkins 2 ' MA, 1737 England, 1797 MA 4,782 250 540 200
John Prince 22 MA, 1734 MA, 1816 MA 2,272
Christian Tobias23 Digby, 1800 NY 653 478 45 20
Robert Tucker 24 NY, 1741 NY, 1792 NC 1,260 390 300 75
James Van Buren 25 NJ, 1729 NJ, 1797 NJ 5«3 280 1 12 45
Abraham Van Buskirk 26 c- 1735 Shelburne, 1799 NJ 1,827 1,111 1 12 half pay
Averages : 2,130 585 274 108
Source: Loyalist Claims, PANS Misc. "L", Aoia, AOIS.

* Claimed jointly with his brother and sister.
1 Aoiz 25:334; 109:92. AO13, Bundle 11:275; Bundle 83:31. Dr Betts appears to have resided in New Brunswick until circa 1799.
2 AO12, 15:1; 63:1; 109:92. AOi3, Bundle 17:93, Bundle 83:38. Dr Boggs was not awarded a pension, for he held an appointment as surgeon's mate
at the military hospital in Halifax from 1783 to 1797, in which year he was appointed garrison surgeon.
3 AOi3, Bundle 90:183. Dr Boyd moved from Shelburne to Windsor in 1787, to become garrison surgeon. He replaced Dr Peter Browne, who died
there on 8 April 1787. Dr Boyd removed from Windsor to Saint John circa 1816.
4 AOia, 83:11, Dr Brattle died in Halifax in October 1776 and his financial status is not known.
5 Aoiz, 15:421; 63:55; 109:92. AO13- Bundle 17:223. Dr Browne was a surgeon's mate at Annapolis Royal during 1783 to 1786 and at Windsor from 1786
to 1787.
6 A O i 2 , 49:224; 68:47; 109:94. AO13, Bundle 138:69. Dr Bullein resided at Horton, Shelburne, and Dartmouth, in addition to Halifax. He is mentioned
in the records of Nova Scotia as late as 1793.
7 A O i 2 , 101:45; 109:100. AOi3, Bundle 73:80. Dr Calef was appointed to the surgical staff of the garrison at Saint John. He retired on half pay in 1802.
8 Aoi2, 101:151. AO13, Bundle 71:57. George Drummond practised medicine and surgery in Shelburne.
9 AOi3, Bundle 26:112. Dr Florentine appears to have left Digby in the summer of 1786.
10 AO12, 81:85; 82:54. A013, Bundle 45:286, Bundle 73:578. Dr Gardiner was in Halifax during April to June 1776, and then went to New York
with General Howe. He remained there for two years, then removed to England, where he resided until 1783, before returning to the United States.
11 A O i 2 , 101:130. AOi3, Bundle 68:289. Dr Goodman left the township of Conway in May 1784 and went to England.
12 A012, 105:115. Aoi3, Bundle 50:487, Bundle 73:647. Dr Gould resided in Halifax, Windsor, and Shelburne, before leaving Nova Scotia circa 1786.
13 AOi3, Bundle 24:241. Dr Halliburton was not awarded a pension, for he held to appointment of surgeon to the naval hospital at Halifax from
1782 to 1808.
14 AOi2, 21:244; 109:166. AOi3, Bundle 64:344. Dr Huggeford resided in Shelburne until 1789.
15 AOia, 21:232; 89:30; 101:261; 109:162. AOi3, Bundle 64:350. Dr Huggeford left Digby for New York in 1790.
16 A O i 2 , 81:104; 99:303; 109:176. Dr Jeffries left Halifax for England in 1779.
17 AO12, 34:422; 100:364; 109:206. Dr McLeod probably left Nova Scotia in 1784, for England, where his wife and children were living.
18 AOi2, 105:142; 109:238. Dr Oliver left Halifax for England in the summer of 1776.
19 A O i 2 , 10:413; 61:52; 82:84; 109:246. AOi3, Bundle 51:292. Dr Paine resided in Halifax until 1786, when he removed to Passamaquoddy, New Brunswick.
He returned to Massachusetts in 1793.
20 AOi2, 105:77; 109:244. AO13, Bundle 83:300, Bundle 49:71, Bundle 75:225. Dr Perkins was in Halifax until the late summer or early fall of 1776 when
he removed to England.
21 AO12, 105:78; 109:242. AOi3, Bundle 83:302, Bundle 49:96. Dr Perkins was in Halifax from April to July 1776, after which he removed to England.
22 AO13, Bundle 26:362. Dr Prince resided in Halifax until 1786, when he removed to New Brunswick.
23 A O i 2 , 109:292. AO13, Bundle 16:55; Bundle 83:698.
24 AO12, 35:86; 65:17; 109:294. AO13, Bundle 83:704; Bundle 138:198. Dr Tucker left Annapolis Royal for New York circa 1788.
25 A O i a , 15:112; 63:11; 109:300. Aoi3, Bundle 19:310; Bundle 83:709. Dr Van Buren left, circa 1790, from Annapolis County for New Jersey.
26 AO12, 15:181; 63:23; 109:300. Aoi3, Bundle 19:328; Bundle 83:710.
Appendix Seven
THE I N D E N T U R E OF
APPRENTICESHIP OF WILLIAM
JAMES ALLMON
This Indenture Witnesseth That William James Allmon hath put

himself, and by these presents, with the Consent of his Father-in-
Law, John Nash, of this City of New York, Shopkeeper, doth volun-
tarily, and of his own free Will and Accord, put himself Apprentice
to Andrew Anderson, of the City of New York, Physician and Sur-
geon, to learn the Profession of a Physician and Surgeon, and after
the manner of an Apprentice to serve from the Day of the Date
hereof, for and during, and until the full End and Term of five
years, 7'/2 months next ensuing; during all which Time, the said ap-
prentice his said Master faithfully shall serve, his secrets keep, his
lawful Commands every where readily obey: He shall do no Damage
to his said Master nor see it done by others, without letting or giving
Notice thereof to his said Master: He shall not waste his and his mas-
ter's goods, nor lend them unlawfully to any. He shall not commit
Fornication, nor contract Matrimony within the said Term: At
Cards, Dice, or any other unlawful game, he shall not play, whereby
his said Master may have damage With his own Goods, nor the
Goods of others, without Licence from his said Master, he shall nei-
ther buy nor sell: He shall not absent himself Day or Night from his
said Master's service without his leave; nor haunt Ale-houses, Tav-
erns, or Playhouses, but in all Things behave himself as a faithful
Apprentice ought to do, during the said Term. And the said Master
shall use the utmost of his endeavours to teach, or cause to be taught
or instructed, the said Apprentice in the Profession of Physician and
Surgeon. And for the true Performance of all and singular the Cov-
enants and Agreements aforesaid, the said Parties bind themselves,
each unto the other, firmly by these Presents.
In witness whereof, the said Parties have interchangeably set their
Hands and Seals hereunto. Dated the first day of January, in the
213 Appendix 7
eleventh year of the Reign of our Soverign Lord George the Third,
King of Great Britain, etc., Annoque Domini One Thousand Seven
Hundred and Seventy One.
(Signed) Andrew Anderson
Sealed and Delivered in the presence of:
Jona. Holmes
John Wiley
These are to certify that William James Allmon hath behaved him-
self during his apprenticeship with diligence, sobriety, honesty, and
faithfulness. As witness my hand this 14 August 1776.
Andrew Anderson
The indenture was published in the Halifax Evening Mail of 2 2 De-

cember 1896. John Nash, mentioned in the indenture as Allmon's
father-in-law, was actually this stepfather. Most primary sources in
which William James Allmon is mentioned (i.e., baptism, marriage
bond, poll tax) record his name as Allmon. His descendants were
known by the surname Almon.
Appendix Eight
PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS IN

C H A R G E OF HOSPITALS IN
HALIFAX AND ENVIRONS,
1 1
749~ 799
CIVILIAN HOSPITALS
General Hospital, Bishop St

Dr Matthew Jones, principal surgeon July-October 1750
Dr Alexander Abercrombie, surgeon October 1750—December 1758
Hospital for the Maroons, Dartmouth
Dr John Oxley, surgeon July 1796—April 1798
Dr John Fraser, surgeon April i7g8-post-i799
Orphan House, Bishop St
Dr Alexander Abercrombie, surgeon June 1752—March 1773
Dr John Philipps, surgeon April 1773—October 1784
Poor House Hospital, Spring Garden Rd
Dr Thomas Reeve, surgeon 1764-July 1777
Dr Edward Wyer, surgeon July 1777—December 1780
Dr Malachy Salter, surgeon December 1780—December 1782
Dr Christopher Nicolai, surgeon January 1783^051-1799
Dr William J. Almon, physician April 1785—post-1799
Roehampton Hospital Ship
Dr Leonard Lockman, surgeon June 1749-July 1750
MILITARY HOSPITALS
General Military Hospital, Blowers St

Dr William Adair, surgeon November 1758—
Dr John Jeffries, surgeon December 1776—November 1778
Dr John Marshall, surgeon November i778-August 1783
Dr William Paine, physician October 1782-June 1784
Dr Donald Mclntyre, surgeon August 1783-July 1797
Hessian Regiment's Hospital
Dr J.C. Helmerich, surgeon January 1781—November 1782
Quarantine Hospital, George's Island
Dr John Jeffries, surgeon April—June 1776
Richmond Hospital Ship
Dr James Dickson, surgeon April—June 1776
215 Appendix 8
Royal Nova Scotia Regiment's Hospital

Dr John Fraser, surgeon February 1793—post-1799
Two Brothers Hospital Ship
Dr James Dickson, surgeon April—June 1776
NAVAL HOSPITALS
Hospital for Sick and Hurt Seamen

Dr Robert Grant, surgeon October 175o-February 1757
Naval Hospital, Granville St
Dr Robert Grant, surgeon February—September 1757
Dr Godfrey Webb, surgeon September 1757-November 1761
Dr Charles White, surgeon November i76i-July 1771
Dr George Greaves, surgeon July 1771-December 1775
Dr John Philipps, surgeon December 1775-September 1776
Naval Hospital, George's Island
Dr James Dickson, surgeon September 1776—May 1779
Naval Hospital, Dockyard Area
Dr James Dickson, surgeon May 1779—January 1782
Dr John Handasyde, surgeon January-March 1782
Dr John Halliburton, surgeon March-December 1782
Naval Hospital, Narrows
Dr John Halliburton, surgeon December 1782—post-1799
PRISON HOSPITALS
Kavanagh's Island, Northwest Arm

Dr John Halliburton, surgeon August 1794-April 1796
Prison Hospital, Dockyard Area
Dr John Marshall, surgeon December 1779-1783
Appendix 8
HOSPITALS IN HALIFAX AND
E N V I R O N S , 1749-99
Civilian Hospitals
General Hospital, Bishop St
Dr Greaves's Inoculation Hospital
Hospital for Maroons, Dartmouth
Orphan House, Bishop St
Poor House Hosp., Spring Garden Rd
Roehampton Hospital Ship
Military Hospitals
Seventeenth Regiment's Hosp.
Eighty-second Regiment's Hosp.
Fort Massey Hosp. (Seventh Regt)
General Military Hosp., Blowers St
Green Hospital, Cornwallis St
Hessian Regiment's Hospital
New England Hospital, Granville St
Quarantine Hosp., George's Island
Red Hospital, Cornwallis St
Richmond Hospital Ship
Royal Nova Scotia Regiment's Hosp.
Two Brothers Hospital Ship
Naval Hospitals
Hospital for Sick and Hurt Seamen
Naval Hospital on Granville St
Naval Hospital on George's Island
Naval Hospital near the Dockyard
Naval Hospital near the Narrows
Prison Hospitals
Kavanagh's Island, Northwest Arm
Prison Hospital near the Dockyard
Appendix Nine
CAUSES OF DEATH OF N O V A
S C O T I A N S B E T W E E N 1749 A N D
!?99
Infant
Accidental Disease Deaths Violent War Miscellaneous
Drowned 471 Smallpox 122 724 Starvation 62 107 Decay 12

Accidents 31 Fever 58 Hanged 48 Old age 5
Perished i? Consumption 49 Murdered 29 Mortification 3
Fire i? Gout 3° Scalped 24 Colic 2
Childbirth 16 Bad throat 24 Suicide 21 Decline 2
Frozen 10 Dropsy 19 Shot 6 Grief 1
Falling 4 Pleurisy 10 Executed 6 Weakness 1
Scalded 4 Apoplexy 9
Suffocated 3 Cough 9 196 26
Rupture 2 Chest 8
Killed by a bull 1 Measles 8
Killed by a bear 1 Stroke 7
Lightning 1 Hectic 6
Haemorrhage 4
578 Quinsy 4
Cancer 3
Causes of Death of Nova Scotians between 1749 and 1799 (cont'd)
Infant
Accidental Disease Deaths Violent War Miscellaneous
Paralytic 3
Steckfluss 3
Fits 3
Asthma 2
Convulsions 2
Abscess 2
Dysentry 2
Inflammation 2
Palsy 2
Bad ear 1
Bad thigh 1
Cholera 1
Fistula 1
Lung disease 1
Obstruction 1
Putrid fever 1
Spotted fever 1
Stones 1
Stomach gout 1
Throat cancer 1
Worms 1
Worm fever 1
Yellow fever 1
3°4
Total: 1,935
Sources: See chapter 4, note 10.

Notes
ABBREVIATIONS
Adm. Admiralty
AN Archives Nationales, Paris
AO Audit Office
co Colonial Office
GMHC Gentleman's Magazine and Historical
Chronicle
MG Manuscript Group
NAC National Archives of Canada
NSGWC Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle
PANS Public Archives of Nova Scotia
PRO Public Records Office, Kew
RG Record Group
SPGFP Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts
wo War Office
PREFACE
1 Williams, "Poor Relief and Medicine in Nova Scotia, 1749—1783,"

33-56-
2 Campbell, "Pioneers of Medicine in Nova Scotia," 16:195-210,
243-53' 5!9-27; i?' 8 - 1 ?-
3 Marble, "The History of Medicine in Nova Scotia, 1783—1854,"
73-101.
4 Marble, "He Usefully Exercised the Medical Profession," 40-56.
5 Bynum, "Health, Disease, and Medical Care," 211-53.
6 McKeown, "A Sociological Approach to the History of Medicine,"
342-51-
220 Notes to pages 3-4
INTRODUCTION
1 Each regiment had on strength a surgeon and an assistant surgeon, and

the law required each ship to have surgeon on board. Thirty-one
of the thirty-eight medical personnel who came to Halifax with Gov-
ernor Cornwallis in June 1749 were surgeons. All eleven of the
medical personnel who arrived with the foreign Protestants in 1750,
1751, and 1752 were surgeons.
2 King, The Medical World of the Eighteenth Century, 4. The word surgeon,
or chirurgeon, was derived from the two Greek words cheir, meaning
hand, and ergon meaning work.
3 The Royal College of Physicians of London was established in 1518,
and the Charter for the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh was
granted in 1681. The Company of Barber-Surgeons of London
came into being in 1540, while the corresponding body in Edinburgh
was established in 1641. The Society of Apothecaries of London
came into existence in 1617.
4 Cope, The History of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 134. This
apprenticeship began usually at the age of fourteen or fifteen. An in-
denture of apprenticeship, or contract, was drawn up between the
apprentice and his mentor, a practising surgeon. The apprentice was
exposed, in addition to anatomy and surgery, to materia medica,
i.e., substances used as medications. It is likely that the indenture of
apprenticeship of pupil-surgeons, during the latter part of the eigh-
teenth century in England, contained the same conditions of appren-
ticeship at those signed in 1771 by William J. Al(l)mon, in New
York. His indenture appears in Appendix 7.
5 Many hospitals in London, such as Guy's, St Bartholomew's,
St George's, and St Thomas's, had their own medical schools. Edinburgh
University began, in 1726, to offer a complete degree course in
medicine, and Glasgow University established its Faculty of medicine
in 1747. Probably the most celebrated teacher in Great Britain in
the early eighteenth century was Dr Alexander Monro (1697—1767),
mentioned at greater length in chapter 5. Monro taught from 1720
to 1756 at Edinburgh University. At least seven of his students went
to Nova Scotia and practised there as surgeons.
6 The Examination Book of The Company of Surgeons, London,
1745—1800, indicates that many students wrote several examina-
tions to upgrade their qualifications. For instance, John Halliburton,
who was surgeon of the naval hospital at Halifax from 1782 to 1808,
had written examinations at Surgeons' Hall on 18 May 1758 (second
mate, third rate); 20 March 1760 (first mate, first rate); and 16 April
1761 (surgeon, fourth rate). The word mate meant hospital mate and
was equivalent to assistant surgeon.
7 Dr Joseph Lister introduced antiseptic surgery in Glasgow in 1865 when

he began to use carbolic acid to prevent sepsis during surgical pro-
cedures. It was not until 1876, however, that Lister was able to convince
the international surgical community that the use of antiseptics dur-
ing surgery was effective in reducing and, in most cases, preventing
post-operative infection. A detailed account of Lister's introduction
of antiseptic surgery is given in Traux, Joseph Lister, Father of Modern
Surgery, 90 et seq.
8 Prior to 1846, the anaesthetics used during surgery, if any were used
at all, were alcohol, opium, and, as of 1798, nitrous oxide. In 1846,
Dr William Morton demonstrated in Boston that ether was an effective
general anaesthetic. A year later, Dr James Simpson introduced and
demonstrated, in Edinburgh, the effectiveness of chloroform as an
anesthetic.
9 Blood-letting was considered necessary to eliminate symptoms of ex-
cessive rigidity or tension in the walls of blood vessels. It was be-
lieved that tension would exert excessive force on the contained liquid,
thus rendering it dense and compact and predisposing the blood
to clot. Clotting would lead to inflammation and thence to fever.
10 Copies of various editions of Cullen's book have been found in spe-
cial collections at the Kellogg Library, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie
University. On the title pages of these copies can be seen the au-
tographs of three surgeons who practised in Halifax during the last
two decades of the eighteenth century: Duncan Clark, Robert
Hume, and John Marshall.
11 Porter, "The Gift Relation: Philanthropy and Provincial Hospitals."
12 LeFanu, "The Lost Half-Century of English Medicine, 1700—1750."
13 Risse, Typhus Fever in i8th Century Hospitals, 178—95.
14 Burnby, "A Study of the English Apothecary from 1660 to 1760."
15 Porter, "The Gift Relation: Philanthropy and Provincial Hospitals."
16 According to Howie, "Finance and Supply," 124-46, the total annual
expenditure to operate a sixty-bed hospital in Shrewsbury in 1750
was in the order of one thousand pounds.
17 Cartwright, Disease and History, 117.
18 Miller, The Adoption of Inoculation for Smallpox, 1957.
19 Razzell, The Conquest of Smallpox, 128.
20 Cartwright, Disease and History, 121.
21 Queen Mary, wife of King William III of England, died from small-
pox in 1694.
22 Hopkins, Princes and Peasants, 1983.
23 Levine, Conqueror of Smallpox, Dr Edward Jenner.
24 Razzell, The Conquest of Smallpox, 128.
25 King, The Medical World of the Eighteenth Century, 324.
26 Heagerty, Four Centuries of Medical History in Canada, 1928.
27 Hofstadter, America at 1750, A Social Portrait.

28 Potter, Population in History. Potter estimates that the population
of the American colonies increased from 250,000 in 1700 to 5,000,000
in 1800, a twentyfold increase.
29 Hofstadter, America at 1750, 16, 32.
30 PANS RGI, 186:211.
CHAPTER ONE
1 Clark, Acadia, the Geography of Early Nova Scotia to 1760, 211, 276,
280. Clark suggests that the total number of Acadians on mainland Nova
Scotia by the middle of the eighteenth century was about 8,300,
most of whom were residing in Annapolis Royal District (1,750); Minas,
north and west of Pisiquid and including Canard and Grand Pre
(2,500); Cobequid and the Gulf Shore (1,000); and Chignecto (1,600).
Clark estimates that the outpost population in Cape Breton (exclud-
ing Louisbourg, which, in early 1749, was still occupied by English
troops) was about 2,500 persons, residing mainly in the Arichat,
St Peters, and Ingonish areas.
2 Upton, Micmacs and Colonists, 32—3. Upton writes: "Ten years later
[1749] the estimates were down slightly at 1,000 Micmacs for peninsular
Nova Scotia alone." He points out that some of these figures were
not very reliable because "they were based on the numbers in either
the annual festivities at Catholic missions or at the distribution of
French presents." Upton does suggest, however, that the total Indian
population of Nova Scotia, lie St Jean, and New Brunswick was,
by mid-century, just over two thousand.
3 During the first six months of 1749, about 2,300 persons of English
origin resided in Nova Scotia: 300 at Annapolis Royal and 2,000 (mostly
military) at Louisbourg. Although Louisbourg was returned to
France by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in October 1748, the fortress
was not turned over until 24 July 1749 (o.s.). The English garrison
at Louisbourg was transferred to Halifax, arriving there during the
three-day period 24—26 July 1749 (o.s.), according to John
Salusbury's diary (PANS Micro Biography). MacLennan, Louisbourg From
its Foundation to its Fall 1713—1758, 187, states that the English ships
did not sail from Louisbourg until 30 July (o.s.). Inasmuch as John
Salusbury was in Halifax at the time the ships arrived, it can be pre-
sumed that his dates are correct.
4 Most of the New England Provincial Troops who had been at
Louisbourg since June 1745 returned home in May 1746. They were
replaced by Fuller's Twenty-ninth and Warburton's Forty-fifth reg-
iments, which were transferred to Louisbourg from Gibraltar, and by
the newly raised regiments of Sir William Pepperell (the Fifty-first)

and Governor William Shirley (the Fiftieth). These four regiments ap-
pear to have defended Louisbourg until July 1749, when they were
transported to Halifax; shortly afterwards, Pepperell's and Shirley's reg-
iments were disbanded. Command of the Twenty-ninth Regiment
had been handed over to Peregrine Thomas Hopson, lieutenant gov-
ernor of Louisbourg, on 6 June 1748 (o.s.). Hopson was in charge
of the garrison when it moved from Louisbourg to Halifax in late July
1749 (Dictionary of Canadian Biography 3:294—5).
5 Clark, Acadia, the Geography of Early Nova Scotia to ij6o, 201.
6 Printed in Akins, Selections from the Public Documents, 495-7- This
proposal was the plan of George Montagu-Dunk, Earl of Halifax, who,
in the autumn of 1748, had been appointed president of the Board
of Trade and Plantations.
7 The "books" referred to in the advertisement are in all likelihood
"The List of Emigrants, 1748/1749" found in PANS 00221, vol. 36, in
which 1,658 families (3,415 men, women, and children) are listed
as having had their names entered to go to Nova Scotia between 9 March
1748/49 and 11 April 1749 (o.s.). Only the heads of families are
named with their occupation. A total of forty-eight persons listed their
occupation as being a member of the medical profession (i.e., sur-
geon, surgeon's mate, apothecary, druggist and chymist, assistant sur-
geon, apothecary's mate, midwife, and chymist and surgeon).
Discrepancy exists in the secondary literature concerning the number
of families and persons who volunteered initially to emigrate to
Nova Scotia at this time. Akins, in his "History of Halifax City," 5, states
that "in a short time 1176 settlers, with their families, were found
to volunteer." Haliburton, in his two-volume Historical and Statistical Ac-
count of Nova Scotia 1:137, writes: "In a short time 3,760 adventur-
ers, with their families, were entered for embarkation." Quite likely
Haliburton meant that a total of 3,760 persons had volunteered to
embark for Nova Scotia. However, he may have been led to believe that
there were 3,760 individual families by an entry found in the May
1749 issue of GMHC, published by Edward Cave in London, which reads:
"The number of families entered for Nova Scotia is about 3,750"
(235)-
8 Dictionary of Canadian Biography 4:168—71. Born in London on
20 February 1712/13, Cornwallis was about thirty-seven years of age
in May 1749. He had been with the Twentieth Regiment since 1742
and, in 1745, was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Cornwallis served
at Culloden in 1746. After leaving Halifax in October 1752, he re-
turned to England where, in March 1753, he married Maria Town-
shend, niece to the late Lord Townshend (Halifax Gazette, 23 June
224 Notes to pages 14—15
1753). Cornwallis was elected to Parliament from Westminister and held

that seat until 1762. He died at Gibraltar in 1776.
g Lords of Trade to Cornwallis, 15 May 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00218, 3:129.
10 As stated in note 7, "The List of Emigrants, 1748/1749" (PANS
00221, vol. 36) indicates that 3,415 settlers, including 1,658 families,
entered their names into the books to go to Nova Scotia during the
period from 9 March 1748/49 to 11 April 1749 (o.s.). Examination of
these books shows that at least 1,135 of the 1,658 heads of house-
holds have an x marked beside their name. Most of the heads of house-
holds listed on two pages under the letter A are missing from PANS
CO221, vol. 36; consequently the total number of families marked with
an x cannot be established exactly. It is clear, however, that approx-
imately 320 families, consisting of about 860 persons, who had entered
their names in the books in London, Portsmouth, and Plymouth
during the thirty-three days from 9 March 1748/49 to 11 April 1749
(o.s.) did not actually board any of the transports bound for Nova
Scotia. It is possible that the 320 families decided against emigrating
because the embarkation date was postponed from 20 April to
15 May. The mess lists for each of the thirteen transports, which appear
in PANS RGI, vol. 523, show clearly that only 1,174 families and a
total of 2,547 passengers were on the ships. Comparison of the names
on the mess lists with those entered in the books and marked with
an x suggests that the x was placed beside each name in the books as
each person boarded one of the transports. I suggest that the mess
lists were prepared after the passengers had boarded the transports.
Article 24 of Cornwallis's instructions from the Lords of Trade,
dated 29 April 1749 (o.s.) suggests that some of the 420 servants in the
mess lists could have been black slaves (PANS 00218, 3:105). An ex-
tensive explanation of white and black servitude in eighteenth-century
America is given by Hofstadter, America at 1750, A Social Portrait.
11 Whereas PANS 00221, vol. 36 lists a total of forty-eight persons who
were in some branch of the medical profession, the mess lists (PANS
RGI, vol. 523) indicate that only thirty-eight of these people actually
boarded the transports and came to Chebucto. Leonard Lockman,
who was the surgeon on the hospital ship Roehampton, is listed in RGI,
vol. 523 as a major rather than surgeon.
12 LeFanu, "The Lost Half-Century," 319—48. He points out that there
was more continuity in the advances in medicine and surgery dur-
ing this period in France, Germany, Holland, and Scotland.
13 Porter, "Before the Fringe: 'Quackery' and the Eighteenth-Medical
Market."
14 Ransom, "The Beginnings of Hospitals in the United States,"
514-39-
15 King, The Medical World of the Eighteenth Century, xvi.

16 Journal of the Commissioners for Trade 8(i93i):3g7.
17 Clark-Kennedy, Stephen Hales: an Eighteenth Century Biography. Hales
(1677—1761) is known for having made the first quantitive measurement
of blood pressure. His book, A Description of Ventilators, appeared
in 1743. The ventilators were bellows that could be used to draw fresh
air into a structure, such as a ship, and expel the foul air.
18 The Sutton air pipes and ventilators proved to be very effective, as in-
dicated by one of the settlers in a letter from Chebucto which ap-
peared in GMHC for September 1749, 408: "Arrived on 28 June. Not
heard that any one person died on the passage or since our arrival.
Our health and preservation has been in a great measure owing to the
prudent measures taken by those who had the direction of this good
work, in having ventilators and air pipes in all the ships and furnishing
rice and fresh provisions." In fact, the same magazine indicates (Au-
gust 1749, 378) that only one child died during the voyage. The ex-
pected mortality on a trans-Atlantic crossing (in which ventilators
were not used) was seven to nine percent (Bell, The Foreign Protestants,
250-
19 The Lords of Trade who conducted the preparations for the settlement
of Chebucto were George Montagu-Dunk, second earl of Halifax
(1716-71); William Pitt, first earl of Chatham (1708-78); Granville
Leveson-Gower, first marquis of Stafford (1721—1803); George
Grenville, Lord of the Treasury, (1712—70); John Fane, seventh earl
of Westmoreland (c. 1682-1762); Sir Thomas Robinson, late gov-
ernor of Barbados (c. 1700—77); and Thomas Hay, Lord Dupplin
(1710—87), member for Ireland.
20 Journal of the Commissioners for Trade 8 (1931) 404.
21 PANS RGI, 350A14. Included in the Lords of Trade instructions to
Cornwallis, 29 April 1749 (o.s.), was mention of setting up four settle-
ments in addition to Chebucto. These were to be Menis (Minas),
LaHave, Whitehead, and Bay Verte. In RGI 35OA:io, the Lords of
Trade outlined how the settlers should be distributed among the
five settlements. A description of Whitehead, dated 14 November 1764,
is given in PANS 00217, 21:103. It appears that Whitehead was lo-
cated on Whitehaven Harbour in present-day Guysborough County.
22 Journal of the Commissioners for Trade 8 (1931) 405. The dates given
beside the first seven names are the previous dates on which each sur-
geon had been examined.
23 Ibid., 408. The Roehampton was built in Boston in 1735 and registered
in London on 29 April 1749 (o.s.). PANS CO221, vol. 28, which re-
cords ships and vessels that cleared the port of Halifax after 19 July
1749 (o.s.), describes the Roehampton as a vessel of 150 tons. The
Cornwallis passenger or mess lists (PANS RGI, vol. 523) gives the tonnage
of each of the thirteen transports and lists the Roehampton at 230
tons. In any event, the hospital ship was the smallest of the transports
and carried seventy-two passengers in addition to its medical per-
sonnel (see Appendix i).
24 As noted earlier, Appendix i lists the thirty-eight medical persons
who appear on the Cornwallis passenger lists. Six of the names appear-
ing on the two lists just presented are not to be found in
Appendix i. These six (Josiah Irwin, Mark Story, Edward Turner, John
Sherman, John Farquhar, and Mr Belchiss) are listed in the books
referred to earlier (PANS CO221, vol. 36). None of the six has an x beside
his name, which indicates (as suggested in note 10) that, after having
entered their names in the books, all had changed their mind about
going to Nova Scotia. PANS 00218, 3:137 records that "Mr Belchiss,
one of the surgeon's mates nominated by us having declined to go to
Nova Scotia ... is replaced by Mr Robert White."
25 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 24 July 1749 (o.s.), PANS €0217, 9:70.
26 Cornwallis, in his letter of 11 September to the Lords of Trade
(PANS 00217, 9:89) refers to the new settlement as Chebucto. In his
letter of 17 October 1749 (o.s.), the governor uses the name Halifax
for the first time to describe his settlement. As mentioned in note 22,
the original plan was to set up five settlements in Nova Scotia. Since
Cornwallis could not carry out this plan immediately, the Lords of
Trade wrote on 16 February 1750 (o.s.): "As the number of sur-
geons and apothecaries was calculated upon the supposition that five
different settlements would be made and those who were appointed
had notice from us that they were to be retained but for one year, we
desire you will discharge from the Establishment all of them except
such as you shall judge absolutely necessary for Halifax Town" (PANS
RGI, vol. 129).
27 These transports were the London, Winchelsea, Wilmington, Merry Jacks,
and Brotherhood (PANS €0217, 9:70).
28 PANS 00218, 3:33. On 29 April 1749 (o.s.), mention is made of the re-
duction of the regiments of William Shirley and William Pepperell
and that the released men were to be treated like the settlers.
29 A company of soldiers consisted of approximately one hundred
men and, in the eighteenth century, was commanded by a captain. A
battalion consisted of three companies, and a regiment was made
up of three battalions. The regiment, recognized as a distinct unit, con-
sisted of approximately nine hundred officers and men. It was com-
manded by a colonel and took its name from the commanding officer.
Thus, Warburton's Regiment was commanded by Col Hugh War-
burton. On i July 1751 (o.s.), however, each regiment was given a num-
her designation. Warburton's Regiment was assigned number

forty-five and called thereafter the 45th Regiment.
30 Piers, "The Fortieth Regiment," 131.
31 Minutes of Council, 14 July 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 9:77.
32 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 24 July 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 9:71-
33 "Project for Fortifying the Town of Halifax in Nova Scotia, 1749," PANS
00217, 9:120.
34 Moses Harris and his wife arrived in Chebucto on the Winchelsea. He
listed his occupation as sawyer. Harris's plan of the town of Halifax
was published in GMHC, 23 October 1749 (o.s.), 440. "A View of Halifax
Drawn from ye Topmasthead" can be seen in the lower right of
Figure 2. This view, drawn also by Moses Harris, was completed some-
time prior to December 1749, for an advertisement announcing
publication of the views presented in Figure 2 appeared in the Decem-
ber issue of Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle, 576. The
advertisement read:
In a few Days will be published,

A correct Plan of HALIFAX, with the Harbour of Chebucto, and
Torrington's Bay; also a perspective view of Halifax from Topmast-
head. Drawn on the Spot, by Moses Harris. To which is added,
A MAP of NOVA SCOTIA, with its boundaries and Fishingbanks; by
Mons. D'Anville, Geographer to the King. N.B. Both are engrav-
ings, and will be published by Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to the
Prince of Wales, at his Shop, the corner of St Martin's Lane, near
Charing Cross.
The Harris plan of Halifax was published again in GMHC for February
1750. The original plan was embellished in this publication with
drawings of a porcupine, two butterflies, and a beetle.
35 These blocks were 320 feet long by 120 feet deep. Each contained
sixteen lots, forty feet long and sixty feet deep. The whole town was
divided into five wards or divisions named, sometime before 6 De-
cember 1749 (o.s.), after the captains of the Militia: Alexander Callen-
dar, John Galland, Robert Ewer, John Collier, and James Foreman.
Each division contained enough men to supply two of the ten militia
companies (PANS RGI, 186:30).
36 Minutes of Council, 14 July 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 9:77.
37 Proclamation by Cornwallis, 17 July 1749 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 163/1:4.
38 It is suggested that the record of vessels clearing the port of Halifax
after 21 July 1749 (o.s.) appearing in PANS 00221, vol. 28 is incom-
plete. Between 21 July 1749 (o.s.) and 9 July 1750 (o.s.), only three of
Cornwallis's thirteen transports are listed as having left Halifax (the
London on 12 September 1749; Roehampton on 9 July 1750; and Charlton

on 7 December 1749). J onn Salusbury records in his diary entry
of 25 July 1749 (o.s.) that the Everley sailed that day for England. On
21 August 1749 (o.s.), he records that Hopson sailed for England
in the Brotherhood, with the Alexander and the Merry Jacks, while the Wil-
mington and Winchelsea sailed for Ireland. On 12 September 1749
(o.s.), he records the departure of the London. As noted previously, the
London is the only one of these ships included in the shipping rec-
ords (PANS co22i, vol. 28).
39 "Diary of John Salusbury," 13 July 1749 (o.s.), PANS Micro Biog-
raphy.
40 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 20 August 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00217,
9:82.
41 Proclamation issued by Cornwallis on 7 August 1749 (o.s.), PANS
RGI, 163:7: "All heads of familys, that are settlers, are hereby required
to assemble by seven in the morning, with their overseers; and sin-
gle men are desired to form themselves into familys — four to a family;
and every family to chuse [sic] one to draw for them." John
Salusbury noted in his diary on 5 August 1749 (o.s.) that he has been
"ordered to prepare for drawing lots." On 8 August 1749 (o.s.) he
wrote, "Attended in drawing the lots and registering them"; on 9 August
1749 (o.s.), "Finished drawing the lots - the people seem satisfy'd,
every one their share fairly. Ten lots remain."
42 PANS RGI, vol. 410. The 606 heads of family (or single men) could
be allotted only 464 individual lots because, in numerous instances, a
lot was divided between two, three, or four families (for the most
part, single-member families).
43 This figure of 1,400 has been interpreted as an error by Beamish
Murdoch in his History of Nova Scotia 2:141. He states that the number
should be 2,400. However, I do not believe that the figure 1,400
is an error since, on 11 September 1749 (o.s.), Cornwallis reported
(PANS CO217, 9:91) that the total population of Halifax was 1,574,
and, on 7 December 1749 (o.s.), he reported (ibid., 132) a population
of 1,876.
44 The records include St Paul's Anglican Church (PANS MG4); the vict-
ualling list for May and June 1750 (PANS MGI, vol. 258); probate
records (PANS RG48, various volumes); and the census for July 1752
(PANS RGI, vol. 417). It is known that lots of land north of the town
of Halifax had been granted prior to 14 November 1749 (o.s.). In the
Council minutes of that date (PANS RGI, 186:27), one Beamsley Gla-
zier, a settler, represented that "while he was at Minas, Sam Shipton
had taken possession of his lot #25 on the north side of the Town
and build a house upon it and that Mr Shipton pretended that the lot
22g Notes to page 23
was granted to him. The Register of the Lots being sent for, Mr Gla-
zier's name was found registered for the lot in question." The house
was being lived in, on the date indicated, by Mr Shipton and his
family. The register of lots mentioned here is not the same as the Al-
lotment Book (PANS RGI, vol. 410) mentioned previously.
45 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 20 August 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 9:82.
46 "Diary of John Salusbury," 9 August 1749 (o.s.), PANS Micro Biog-
raphy.
47 See letter from Chebucto Harbour, dated 14 August 1749 (o.s.) and
published in GMHC 19:472, October 1749.
48 The Penal Laws preventing Roman Catholics from owning land, en-
acted in 1704 by the British Parliament, were in force in Nova Scotia
until 1783 {Statute 23, George 3d, cap. 9, sections i and 2, 1783. An
Act for the Relieving His Majesty's subjects, possessing the Popish
Religion from certain Penalties and Disabilities imposed upon them by
Two Acts of the General Assembly of This Province, made in the
Thirty Second year of his late Majesty's Reign entitled an Act, confirm-
ing Titles to Lands and Quieting Possession (32d George 2d, cap. 2,
1758); and an Act for the Establishment of Religious Public Worship
in the Province, and for Suppressing of Popery (32d George 2d,
cap. 5, 1758)}. The Penal laws also applied in England's colonies prior
to 1758, as indicated in Governor Shirley's letter to the Duke of
Bedford (PANS RGI, vol. 29, Item i), dated Boston, 18 February
1747/48. Shirley wrote: "That the liberty of conscience on religious
worship should be extended to the Papists among the present French
Inhabitants [the Acadians] for such indefinite time as His Majesty
shall be pleased to determine, after which incapacities as they have in
England." Of those heads of family who were in Halifax on 8 Au-
gust 1749 (o.s.), but who were not granted land on that date or there-
after, a significant number were Irish in origin and probably Roman
Catholic.
The directions given by the Lords of Trade to Cornwallis relating
to the new settlement state, "The other mischief to be guarded against
... is the purchase of these grants [left by settlers who may desert
the settlement] by Roman Catholics" (Lords of Trade to Cornwallis,
15 May 1749 o.s., PANS €0218, 3:132). At the first Council meeting
held in July 1749 (o.s.) on board the Beaufort, the newly sworn coun-
cillors "took and subscribed [to] the Declaration mentioned in [the]
Act of Parliament passed in the 25th year of the reign of King Charles
the 2nd, entitled an Act for preventing dangers which may happen
from Popish Recusants" (Minutes of Council, 14 July 1749 o.s., PANS
RGI, 186:1). In an attempt to increase the number of Protestants,
Cornwallis wrote to the Lords of Trade later that month: "Make it
230 Notes to page 23
known through Germany, that all Husbandmen, Tradesmen, or

Sailors, being Protestants, should have the same rights and privileges
in this Province as were promised in His Majesty's Proclamation to
his natural born subjects" (Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 24 July 1749
o.s., PANS 00217, 9:71)- In March 1750, the Lords of Trade advised
Cornwallis that, "Mr Tutty having acquainted the Society for the Prop-
agation of the Gospel that of the Germans which were sent last year,
40 turn out to be Roman Catholics. We desire that you would enquire
particularly into this matter. We look upon Roman Catholics as not
entitled to the privilege granted to the settlers, and if any such be found
among them, we don't doubt but you will think it necessary to the
Peace and Security of the Province to send them away again" (Lords
of Trade to Cornwallis, 22 March 1750/51, PANS RGI, vol. 29,
Item 6). In July 1751 (o.s.), Cornwallis communicated to Council that:
some Irish Roman Catholic servants in this place have entered into a
combination to go over to the Indians or French. The Council here-
upon, taking into consideration the great inconvenience and prejudice
to this settlement that may arise from an increase in the Roman
Catholics therein. It was resolved that, for the future, the masters of
all vessels coming into any of the Ports of this Province, shall im-
mediately upon their arrival make a Report in writing to the
Commander-in-Chief where they arrive, of the number, names, and
qualities of the passengers on board their respective vessels (Minutes
of Council, 2 July 1751 o.s., PANS RGI, 186:128). The Boston Gazette
and Weekly Journal of 30 July 1751 (o.s.) states that there were "upwards
of 40 Irishmen deserted and went over to the Indian enemy. One
of the Principal of them, whose name is Ryan, is taken now in Irons."
On 2 July 1751, Council adopted an act with respect to the "clandestine

introduction of Roman Catholics" (An Act to Prevent Masters of
vessels landing any Passengers, or Servants without Permission from
the Governor or Commander in Chief of the Province, made and
passed in Council at Halifax on 2 July 1751 o.s., PANS 00219, 3:51)-
The first indication that there was a considerable number of
Roman Catholics in Halifax appears in Rev. William Tutty's fourth letter
to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in October 1750
(o.s.). "He states, "I believe the members of the Church of England and
the whole body of dissenters including Papists are pretty equal"
("Letters and Other Papers," 119). In his fifth letter, the Reverend
Mr Tutty writes that there are "about 2,000 [dissenters] of all sorts,
and many-too many-Irish Papists" (Ibid., 123). Governor Hopson, who
succeeded Cornwallis in August 1752, was obligated to enforce the

Parliamentary legislation discriminating against Roman Catholics. He
wrote to the Lords of Trade that "no alienation [having title to] of
land is allowed but by Governor's License which License is not granted
before the Purchaser takes the proper oaths, and only granted to
those who have improved these lands, and upon no account to Roman
Catholics" (Hopson to Lords of Trade, 16 October 1752 n.s., PANS
00217, 13:309). Finally, at the Council meeting of 5 April 1753 (n.s.)
it was recorded that James Monk, Esq., during a dispute with
Thomas Power over a lot of land in Halifax Town, was supposed to
have said that "he [Power] was not entitled to the lot as he was a
Roman Catholick" (Minutes of Council, 5 April 1753, PANS RGI,
186:355). Surprisingly, Council ruled that Power should retain the
land which he had been granted officially, presumably without the
knowledge that he was a Roman Catholic (Allotment Book, PANS
RGI, 410:50).
The foregoing indicates that Roman Catholics were in Halifax
at the time the town lots were drawn, but that they did not receive any.
This could explain why only 419 families on the Cornwallis passen-
ger lists were allotted land on 8 August, when at least 606 families who
came with Cornwallis appear to have been in the settlement on that
day. It is likely that a large number of the approximately one thousand
who left the settlement prior to 8 August were Roman Catholic,
aware that the Penal Laws would be applied during the allocation of
lands in the new town.
49 PANS €0217, 9:103. One of the surgeons, David Carnegie, a single man,
appears to have returned to England two or three months after his
arrival in Chebucto. On 10 November 1749 (o.s.) the Lords of Trade
received from him in London a memorial complaining that he had
not been paid for his services as a surgeon to the settlers during the
crossing. I was unable to determine where the other eleven sur-
geons went after leaving Chebucto. They were: Archibald Campbell,
surgeon's mate, single; Cochran Dickson, surgeon, married (no chil-
dren); Fenton Griffith, surgeon's mate, married (no children); John
Farrington, chymist and druggist, single; John Handasyde, sur-
geon, single; Augustus Harbin, assistant surgeon, single; Patrick Hay,
surgeon, single; Matthew Jones, surgeon, single; Thomas Louthian,
surgeon's mate, single; Robert Throckmorton, pupil surgeon, single;
and John Wallace, surgeon's mate, married (no children).
50 Three surgeons, Henry Meriton, William Lascelles, and Robert White,
and the two midwives, Ann Medlicot, and Elizabeth Williams, were
not granted lots in 1749 or 1750, although they are known to have been
in Halifax during these years. The Robert White who was buried
from St Paul's Church on 11 October 1749 (o.s.) probably was the sur-
geon mentioned above.
51 Boston Gazette or Weekly Journal (hereafter, Boston Gazette), 15 August
!749-
52 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 24 July 1749 (o.s.). PANS 00217, 9:72.
Cornwallis writes, "This will cost money but is great oeconomy [sic]
compared to the charge of keeping the [transport] ships."
53 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 20 August 1749 (o.s.), 00217, 9:81.
54 Ibid., 89. Hopson's Regiment (the 29th), which had been in Chebucto
from 25 July 1749 (o.s.), left for England on 21 August 1749 (o.s.)
(see Diary of John Salusbury, 21 August 1749 o.s., PANS Micro Biog-
raphy). Warburton's Regiment (the 45th), which consisted probably
of about 1,250 soldiers, was encamped to the south of the town as shown
on "A Plan of the Harbour of Chebucto and the Town of Halifax,"
published in GMHC for February 1750, and shown in Figure 2. The size
of regiments varied considerably from time to time. In PANS 00217,
10:18, there is an account of the distribution of 1,250 pairs of shoes
sent to Warburton's Regiment in Nova Scotia on 18 July 1750 (o.s.),
whereas, on 9 March 1750 (o.s.), it is recorded (PANS 00217, 33:24)
that Warburton's Regiment consisted of seven hundred men.
55 This was removed during the summer of 1750 and replaced by the pal-
isades and five forts shown on the Moses Harris plan, which appears
in Figure 2 (Cornwallis to the Lords of Trade, 10 July 1750 o.s., PANS
00217, 10:8).
56 The first incident of attack that I have found in relation to the new set-
tlement took place on 30 September 1749 o.s. (PANS RGI, 186:22).
Workmen at Major Oilman's sawmill across the harbour in Dartmouth
were attacked and, according to Salusbury, "five of the six people
working there were butcher'd." This incident is described vividly in the
London Magazine or Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer (hereafter, Lon-
don Magazine), 1749, 574. A letter from a gentleman in Halifax, dated
2 October, states "that last Saturday, as several of Oilman's workmen
were hewing sticks of timber on the east side of the harbour, they were
surprised by about 40 Indians, which killed 4, two of which they
scalp'd and cut off the heads of the others." This was the first of nu-
merous Indian attacks which were to keep the settlers ill at ease and
within the palisades. This omnipresent fear of attack prompted Corn-
wallis to ask the Lords of Trade, in a letter of 7 December 1749
(o.s.), for another regiment, in addition to Warburton's, to accelerate
the construction of the fortifications and defence (see PANS 00217,
9:128). Previously, at a Council meeting held on i October 1749 (o.s.),
Cornwallis gave orders to the commanding officers at Annapolis,
Minas, and elsewhere in the province "to annoy, distress, and destroy
the Indians everywhere." He further ordered that a bounty of ten
guineas be promised for every Indian killed or taken prisoner (PANS
RGI, 186:22). A proclamation against the Micmac Indians, dated
Halifax 20 October 1749 (o.s.) and issued by Cornwallis, reads, in part:
"His Majesty's Council do promise a reward of ten guineas for every
Indian Micmak [sic] taken or killed to be paid upon producing such
savage or his scalp (as is the custom in America) if killed" (PANS
00217, 9:118). On 21 June 1750 (o.s.), Cornwallis increased the bounty
to an astounding fifty pounds per Indian scalp (PANS RGI, 163:41).
57 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 11 September 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00217,
9:9!-
58 Letter from Mr Hardman to Mr Pownall dated Liverpool, 20 May 1749
(o.s.), Journal of the Commissioners of Trade 8(i93i):4i7-
59 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 17 October 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00217,
9:110.
60 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 7 December 1749 (o.s.), PANS 00217,
9 :1 32-
61 I have been unable to ascertain whether the John Day allotted Lot 813
in Callendar's Division on 8 August 1749 (o.s.) was the same person
as the surgeon and druggist of that name, known to have resided in
Halifax and Newport from 1755—75, except for two years
(1770—72) spent in Philadelphia. Brebner, in Neutral Yankees of Nova
Scotia. 199—200, has concluded that there were two surgeons Day,
father and son, who resided at Newport and Halifax prior to 1765. Rec-
ords suggest, however, that there was only one John Day in Nova
Scotia during the period, who was a surgeon, druggist, and merchant
(PANS RGI, 189:93). I was unable to identify any primary source
that mentions the father of John Day.
62 Surgeon to Warburton's 45th Regiment of Foot, 1745—50 (see
Drew, Roll of Commissioned Officers, vol. i).
63 PANS RGI, 164/1:32. Commissioned to be surgeon's mate to War-
burton's Forty-fifth Regiment of Foot on 11 October 1749 (o.s.).
64 William Skene is recorded (Halifax Deeds, PANS RG47, 5:291) as
being a witness to a land sale which took place in Halifax on 12 October
1749 (o.s.).
65 St Paul's Anglican Church Burials, PANS MG4- The Robert White buried
on 11 October 1749 (o.s.) is thought to be the surgeon who arrived
on the Beaufort. Joshua Sacheverell, surgeon on the Baltimore, was buried
on 28 November 1749 (o.s.).
66 The number of burials during the period probably was greater than
237. As noted by Bates, in "The Cornwallis Settlers who Didn't,"
27—62, only one of the two Anglican clergymen performing burials in
Halifax at the time, Rev. William Tutty, kept records. The Rever-
end William Anwyl's register of burials was said by Rev. Mr Tutty, to
have been lost ("Letters and Other Papers," 113), assuming that it
ever existed.
67 This contrasts with the year 1766, the first year for which detailed
statistics were kept, during which only 137 in a total population of
13,374 m in Nova Scotia died (approximately one percent). The 1766
statistics, given in PANS CO217, 22:121, are signed by Michael Francklin,
the lieutenant governor, who described the statistical report as a
"true return." Article 125 of Cornwallis's instructions from the Lords
of Trade, dated 29 April 1749 (o.s.), stated: "You shall cause an
exact account to be kept of all Persons, Born, Christened and Buried,
and send yearly fair abstracts thereof to Us" (PANS cO2i8, 3:106).
The same instruction was given to Hopson and Lawrence when each
was appointed governor. Unfortunately, no evidence of the where-
abouts of the "fair abstracts" can be found either at PANS or at the PRO
at Kew in Surrey, England. It is likely that the abstracts were com-
piled each year, since in 1761, an Act for the Registering of Marriages,
Births, and Deaths was passed by the Council and House of Assem-
bly of Nova Scotia (George 3d, cap. 4, sections i and 2, no. 5).
68 Akins, "History of the Settlement of Halifax," 19. Bell, in The For-
eign Protestants 339, questions Akins's statement: "It would seem as
strange if there should have raged a plague with quite such heavy
mortality as Akins quotes (apparently from tradition only) without any
contemporary documentary evidence of it surviving." Heagerty.
Four Centuries of Medical History i :74, also mentions that a thousand per-
sons died at Halifax in the fall of 1749 but gives no source for the
information and does not identify the type of disease endemic to Halifax
at the time.
69 Victualling list for May-June 1750, PANS MGI, vol. 258.
70 The Boston Gazette. Every issue from May 1749 to the end of 1750
inclusive were read thoroughly by the present author.
71 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 19 March 1749/50, PANS 00217,
30:45.
72 "A List of settlers Victuald [sic] at this place between the eighteenth
of May and fourth of June 1750, both days inclusive with additions for
June to ye last day," PANS RGI, 163:45. The document was signed
by Cornwallis on 28 November 1750 (o.s.) and referred to as "a true
copy." Cornwallis issued a proclamation on 11 September 1750
(o.s.) stating that the victualling of the original settlers in Halifax would
cease on 15 September 1750 (o.s.).
73 The following names, which appeared on the victualling list for May-
June 1750, probably are those of the surgeons listed in Appendix i:
Mr Abercrombie, Daniel Brown, Dr Bruscoutz, Mr Robert Grant, John

Grant, William Grant, Dr Alexander Hay, Matthew Jones, Dr Rob-
ert Kerr, Dr William Merry, Thomas Reeves, John Steel, John Wildman,
John Willis, and Thomas Wilson.
As mentioned in note 64, Robert White and Joshua Sacheverell had
died during the fall of 1749. William Lascelles, Leonard Lockman,
Henry Meriton, and Thomas Rust were quite likely in Halifax during
May-June 1750; for some reason, they were not included in the list.
As pointed out in Appendix i, Rust was in Halifax as late as September
1752, whereas, both Lockman and Meriton remained for many
years in the settlement. William Lascelles is recorded as having been
in Halifax as late as May 1751 (Halifax Deeds, PANS RG47, 2:47).
It appears that three of the original surgeons left Halifax between 8 Au-
gust 1749 (o.s.) and 18 May 1750 (o.s.): John Inman and Harry Pitt,
who forfeited their lots early in 1750; and Charles Paine, who sold his
lot sometime in 1749, according to the Allotment Book (PANS RGI,
vol. 410). The remaining two surgeons making up the total of twenty-
one mentioned previously were George Slocombe and William
Catherwood, both of the Forty-fifth Regiment, which was stationed in
Halifax throughout 1750.
74 "Ships and Vessels which have cleared the Port of Halifax after 19 July
1749 (o.s.)," PANS 00221, vol. 28.
75 Knowles, Hospitals, Doctors, and the Public Interest, 5.
76 Hoad, Surgeons and Surgery in lie Royale, 223—30.
77 Lords of Trade to Cornwallis, 16 February 1749/50, PANS RGI, vol. 129,
Item 8.
78 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 30 April 1750 (o.s.), PANS CO2 17, 30:45.
79 Ibid., 33:24. Davidson's letter to William Merry, dated
30 April 1750 (o.s.), stated that, "the Governor being directed by
the Lords of Trade to discharge surgeons and apothecaries
from the establishment at the expiration of the year," Merry was
discharged as of this date. The surgeons Leonard Lockman
and Matthew Jones (PANS RGI, 164/1:29, 35), had been appointed
as such on i July 1749 (o.s.). The two apothecaries were William
Merry and Thomas Reeves. The surgeon's mates were probably Alex-
ander Abercrombie and John Grant. PANS CO217, 15:279 indicates
that Abercrombie was an assistant to Dr Jones prior to Jones's death
on 7 October 1750 (o.s.). John Grant stated in his memorial to the
Lords of Trade, dated 13 January 1755 (PANS CO217, 15:153), that he
was an assistant surgeon to the settlement during its first two years.
It appears also that Robert Kerr was paid as a surgeon's mate or apoth-
ecary's mate during the period i May 1749 (o.s.) to 26 August 1750
(o.s.). He was paid at a rate of five shillings per day (Halifax County
Wills, Book i: 24-5, PANS RG48, Will proved on 29 August 1750

o.s.). The midwife was Ann Catherwood (see her petition in PANS
00217, 16:299).
80 Kilby to Davidson, 5 March 1759/50, PANS 00217, 9:228.
81 Journal of the Commissioners for Trade 9 (1932):! 15, entry for 8 No-
vember 1750 (o.s.).
82 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 16 July 1750 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 10:1.
About £1,642, or two percent of the expenditures during 1749, was
for health care. This amount was spent for medicines, drugs, in-
struments, necessaries for the hospital, and ventilators, as well as to pay
the surgeons, apothecaries, and a midwife.
83 Minutes of Council, 23 August 1750 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 186:74. No pas-
senger list is known to exist for the Alderney.
84 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 2 September 1750 (o.s.), PANS 00217,
10:95. The passenger list for the Ann appears in ibid., 9:276.
85 Shipping Returns, 1730—1753, PANS 00221, 28:67.
86 Journal of the Commissioners for Trade 9(1932): 115, entry for 8 No-
vember 1750 (o.s.). Warburton's Forty-fifth, Lascelles's Forty-seventh,
and Cornwallis's Fortieth regiments were stationed in Halifax, and
the total population, including military, would have exceeded 5,200.
Cornwallis had been appointed colonel of the 4oth Regiment (for-
merly Philipps's) on 13 March 1749/50, and eight companies of his reg-
iment (PANS 00217, vol. 10, 18 August 1759 o.s.), had been
transferred to Halifax from Newfoundland on i August 1750 (o.s.),
according to John Salusbury. Salusbury records also that Lascelles's
Regiment arrived in Halifax from Ireland in six transports on 12 August
1750 (o.s.). It has been stated (Northcliffe Collection, 76) that "the
Regiment consisted of ten Companies of 29 men each, 130 women, and
50 children." These regiments were deemed necessary because of
the very great fear of being attacked by the French and the Indians.
In fact, the Boston Gazette of 11 December 1750 (o.s.) includes a com-
ment from Halifax that "we are almost at open war with the French
and Indians." In late June, Mr Brown, gardener to Governor Corn-
wallis, was scalped, his son was killed, and four men with them went
missing (Boston Gazette, 3 July 1750 o.s.). On 20 June 1750 (o.s.),
the same newspaper records that the Indians attacked and scalped seven
men at work on the other side of the harbour. On 26 August 1750,
Salusbury records Francis Bartelo, a Cornwallis passenger, had been
killed in a skirmish and Edward How, a member of Council, had
been murdered under a French flag of truce.
87 Cornwallis to Lockman, 25 October 1750 (o.s.), PANS RGI,
163/1:47.
88 St Paul's Anglican Church Burials, PANS MG4- Alexander Aber-
crombie was appointed to take the place of Matthew Jones as one of

the chief surgeons to the hospital on 18 October 1750 o.s. (see PANS
RGI, 164:32).
89 Cornwallis to Lewis Hays, 5 November 1750 (o.s.), PANS RGI,
163/1:53.
90 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 27 November 1750 (o.s.), PANS
00217, 11:13.
91 Minutes of Council, 23 August 1750 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 186:74. The
Council took into consideration the most proper way of disposing of
353 settlers who had arrived in the Alderney. Captain Morris, the
surveyor, was asked to survey the Dartmouth side as soon as possible
for a town site.
92 Dick to Hill, Secretary to the Lords of Trade, 23 February 1750 (o.s.),
PANS 00217, 11:39-
93 In contrast to my own conclusions, Williams states that "there was no
real epidemic until 1775" ("Poor Relief and Medicine in Nova Sco-
tia," 33—56). It should be noted that this article was reprinted in Medicine
in Canadian Society, edited by S.E.D. Shortt. Miss Williams married
sometime between 1938 and 1981, and thus her name in Medicine in
Canadian Society is given as Relief MacKay.
94 This could be the destructive epidemic to which Akins refers (see note
68) as having taken place during the fall and winter of 1749—50.
Further evidence that the epidemic took place during 1750-51, rather
than during the previous year, is found in the Boston Gazette of
18 July 1751 (o.s.): "We have advice from Caco [Casco Bay, on which
Portland, Maine, is situated], that the epidemical fever is prevailing
among them that they had at Halifax last summer and which proved
too fatal to [the] multitude."
95 Risse, "Typhus Fever in the i8th Century Hospitals," 176-95.
96 A Recent paper on Sauvages is Martin, "Sauvages's Nosology: Med-
ical Enlightenment at Montpellier."
97 William Draper, surgeon, was involved in a land sale which took
place in Halifax on 5 February 1750 (o.s.) (see Halifax County Deeds,
PANS RG47, 2:147).
98 Cornwallis to Lords of Trade, 30 April 1750 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 9:235.
While appearing before the Lords of Trade on 9 January
1749/1750 (Journal of the Commissioners for Trade, vol. 58, 9 January
1749/50), Mr Kingslagh, who had been an officer at Louisbourg
and went from there to Halifax, stated that "the number of settlers in
Halifax increased by 7 or 800 families from New England." It is pos-
sible that he meant seven or eight hundred persons for it is doubtful
that eight hundred New England families could have come to Hal-
ifax prior to 14 December 1749 (o.s.), the date on which Kingslagh
(sometimes appearing as Kinselagh, or Kingslaugh) left Halifax,

when, as stated earlier by Cornwallis, the population of Halifax on 7 De-
cember 1749 (o.s.) was 1,876.
99 John Kinselagh to Lords of Trade, 6 July 1750 (o.s.), PANS 00217,
9:280.
100 Passenger list of the Ann, dated 29 June 1750(0.5.), PANS 00217, 9:276.
101 Ibid., 13:230. Duckworth appears to have remained in Halifax
until 24 January 1752 (o.s.). On that date, he appeared before John
Hoffman, justice of the peace for Halifax County. Duckworth's
petition appears in ibid., 14:17 and describes hardships he experienced
as a consequence of having been a passenger on the Nancy.
102 Drew, Roll of Commissioned Officers 1:18. Arthur Price was surgeon of
Lascelles's Forty-seventh Regiment of Foot from 30 September
1746 (o.s.) until July 1757.
103 PANS RGI, i64:54A. Richard Veale to be surgeon to Warburton's
Regiment on 30 September 1750 (o.s.).
104 Halifax County Deeds, PANS RG47, 2:164. Nothing further is
known about Edward Crafts, surgeon. He does not appear in the vict-
ualling list of May-June 1750 (PANS MGI, vol. 258), or in the 1752
census for Halifax (PANS RGI, vol. 417).
105 Wilson, A Genuine Narrative, 15. Wilson writes, "On 27 May, the
Indians surprised Dartmouth and killed fifteen persons, wounded
seven, three of whom died in the Hospital. Six men were carried
away and haven't been heard of since. The soldiers who marched in
after the Indians had one sergent [sic] shot dead." Wilson gives a
vivid description of how the Indians scalped a little boy and of the
treatment given by a doctor, possibly Baxter, when the boy re-
turned to the settlement. This incident occurred quite likely on
26 March 1751 (o.s.), as recorded in Salusbury's diary for that day.
Wilson's date is probably a typographical error.
106 London Magazine 20:341, 1751.
107 Return of the families on the Speedwell bound for Halifax, dated
11 May 1751 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 11:110.
108 Minutes of Council, 11 July 1751 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 186:129. "The
Council were of the opinion that it would be most convenient to
land them for the present at Dartmouth, and employ them in [build-
ing] pickets in the back of said Town."
109 List of Swiss on the Gale departing for Nova Scotia on 20 May 1751
(o.s.), PANS 00217, 12:22. Council decided, at its meeting of
31 July 1751 (o.s.), that "it will be most convenient in many respects
to place them, for the present, between the Head of the Northwest
Arm of the Harbour and the mouth of Bedford Bay, and to employ
them ... in picketting across same" (PANS RGI, 186:133).
no Passenger list of Pearl, dated 2 July 1751 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 12:70.
111 Passenger list of Murdoch bound for Halifax from Rotterdam,
dated 23 June 1751 (o.s.), PANS 00217, 12:57.
112 Bell, Foreign Protestants, 251, 169, 178, 180—1. Bell records that
these ships had been fitted with ventilators prior to embarkation. Also
see Dick to Hill, 3 February 1750/51, PANS 00217, 11:40.
113 The eight surgeons on the four transport shps were: (Speedwell) Louis
LeRoy, aged thirty-three, from Wurtemberg; (Gale) Hector Jacot,
aged eighteen; Johannes Matth. Liitgens, aged twenty-six, from Lu-
beck; Alexandra de Rodohan, aged thirty, from Mons; (Murdoch)
Christopher Nicolai, aged nineteen, from Darmstad; Windilinus Com-
meus, aged forty-one, from Northhorn; (Pearl) David Prins, aged
twenty-six, from Amsterdam; and John Bughard Ehrhard, aged fifty-
six, from Durlach.
114 Among the Cornwallis passengers of this name, the one who was most
likely the surgeon was John Phillipps, purser of the Beaufort. The
other two on the Cornwallis mess lists were John Philips, mariner, on
the Winchelsea, and John Phillips, fisherman, on the Canning.
115 Cornwallis to Phillipps, 4 June 1751 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 164/1:&3—4. PRO
WO34, vol. 12 includes a return from Major Gorham of the two
companies of Rangers serving in Nova Scotia on 29 March 1761. In
this return, "Lieu1 John Philipps" is described as advanced in years
(about fifty). It is also stated that "he came in [to Nova Scotia a] full
Lieut, and Surgeon in 1750."
116 Minutes of Council, 28 February 1754 (n.s.), PANS RGI, 187:36.
117 William Urquhart Jr to Sir James Kempt, n.d., PANS RGI, vol. 411,
Item 94.
118 Halifax County Deeds 2:313, PANS RG47-
119 Ibid., 189.
120 NSGWC, 2 October 1781.
121 Halifax County Deeds, PANS RG47, 2:51. George Winslo [sic] was re-
ferred to as a physician on 30 December 1751 (Halifax County
Inferior Court of Common Pleas, vol. i, PANS RG37). A document
dated 3 November 1778 and entitled "30 acre lots drawn by people
who left the settlement [of Lunenburg] the first year [1753—54]" in-
dicates that George Winslow was one of a list of persons who were
"married men, said dead, some left children at Halifax" (PANS RGI,
vol. 221, Document 44).
122 Minutes of Council, 13 December 1751 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 186:137.
123 Lords of Trade to Cornwallis, 6 March 1751/52, PANS RGI, 29:8.
124 PANS 00217, 15:110. Mrs Wenman came to Halifax with her husband,
Richard, on the Charlton. She was buried from St Paul's Anglican
Church on 14 May 1792, aged seventy-six. Previous to the opening
of the orphan house, orphans were kept in private homes. As early

as 19 March 1749/50, Cornwallis had written to the Lords of Trade
(PANS RGI, vol. 35, Document 11) that "another house is erecting
for a public school where I propose to put all orphans that they may
be taken care till they are fit for going prentices to Fisherman."
It is interesting to note that spruce beer was judged so conducive to
health at that time that it was part of the diet of the orphans (PANS
00217, 15:110).
125 Ibid., 14:94, 103. From 30 October to 24 December 1752 (n.s.),
there were fifty-eight in the orphan house and thirty-eight patients
in the hospital.
126 Minutes of Council, 24 August 1752 (o.s.), This PANS RGI, 186:208—9.
This arrangement was not feasible, however, and at the Council
meeting of 25 September 1752, it was stated: "It having been repre-
sented to the Governor and Council that there will be considerable
inconvenience attending the removal of sick prisoners from the gaol
to the Hospital as had been by Govr and Council lately ordered,
resolved that the affair be referred to further consideration and that
in the meantime the justices be directed to stay further proceed-
ings therein" (PANS RGI, 186:222).
127 The Pearl arrived in Halifax on 10 August 1752 (o.s.) with a total
of 212 passengers, including Johann Conrad Heinrich Edmund, a sur-
geon, aged twenty-three, from Hamburg (PANS 00217, 13:229).
The Betty and the Speedwell came into the harbour on 22 August (PANS
00221, 28:168) with 154 and 203 passengers. On 25 August, the
Sally arrived (PANS 00217, 13:208) with 218 passengers, including
Johann C. Ohme, a twenty-year-old surgeon from Saxony. The
last ship, the Gale, with 220 foreign protestants, arrived on 6 Septem-
ber 1752 (00217, 13:218), with a surgeon on board named Johann
C. Degelin, aged twenty, from Wurtemberg. All of these three sur-
geons remained in Nova Scotia. In the minutes of Council for
24 August 1752 (o.s.), it was recorded that "they [the Germans] be
placed for the coming winter, in and about the Town of Halifax
and adjacent settlements and that those of them who have their pas-
sages to pay for be employed in such services, as may be of most
utility to the Colony" (PANS RGI, 186:204).
128 Lords of Trade Instructions to Hopson, 23 April 1752 (o.s.), PANS
00218, 4:216.
129 Bell, Foreign Protestants, 251.
130 List of officers and soldiers victualled in Hopson's Regiment in Nova
Scotia between 3 August and 30 August 1752 (o.s.), PANS 00217,
13:329. There were also seventy members of the Royal Regiment of
Artillery in Halifax by 18 August 1752 o.s. (ibid., 13:325).
131 "A List of Families and Soldiers Victualled in Hopson's Regiment in

Nova Scotia since 1749, and who, in 1752, were settlers in Halifax,
its suburbs, and nearby areas," PANS RGI, vol. 417:
Census Results for Halifax and Surrounding Areas,

July 1752
Location Families Persons
Within the Pickets of Halifax 468 2,032

Within the North Suburbs 169 765
Within the South Suburbs !5! 818
Within the Town of Dartmouth 53 !95
On Islands and Harbours
employed in the Fishery - 202
On the Isthmus and the
Peninsula of Halifax 65 216
Totals 906 4.248
The phrase "victualled in Nova Scotia since 1749" is not meant

to imply that all families were in Nova Scotia since 1749, but that some
had been in Nova Scotia since that date. Not all of the families are
included in the list, for the number of families above is greater, by
about forty percent, than the heads of family actually named and
listed.
132 Letter dated 9 November 1751 (o.s.), SPGFP, Reel 156, 18:94.
133 Inferior Court of Common Pleas, case dated 24 September 1762.
Thomas Wood, physician of Halifax, vs. Eben. Messenger, PANS £037,
vol. 13.
134 Minutes of Council, 16 September 1752 (n.s.), PANS RGI, 186:216.
The treaty or articles of peace, found on page 240 of the minutes, are
dated 22 November 1752 (n.s.). It was a treaty with the tribe of
Micmac Indians inhabiting the eastern part of the province.
135 Letter dated 22 November 1752 (n.s.), Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, Reel 156, 20:14.
136 Minutes of Council, 12 April 1753 (n.s.), PANS RGI, 186:362-3.
137 Minutes of Council, 26 March 1753 (n.s.), PANS RGI, 186:353.
138 Minutes of Council, 16 April 1753 (n.s.), PANS RGI, 186:365.
139 Hopson to Lords of Trade, 15 April 1753 (n.s.), PANS 00217, 14:151.
140 Hopson to Lords of Trade, 26 May 1753 (n.s.), PANS 00217,
14:159. "A Return of the Settlers at Lunenburg from 28 May 1753
to 22 January 1758" (PANS RGI, vol. 381) indicates that the original
number of settlers at Lunenburg was 1,453.
141 Bell, The Foreign Protestants, 419.
CHAPTER TWO
1 Council minutes of 28 June 1759, PANS RGI, 188:79. Erad's ap-

pointment was mentioned in a memorial by John Phillipps read to
Council on the above date. Erad had been "appointed one of the
surgeons for the settlement of Lunenburg" prior to the departure of
the settlers from Halifax in June 1753. I have found no official let-
ter or communication either to Erad or Lockman, appointing them sur-
geons to the settlement of Lunenburg, but it does appear that both
were paid to execute that office as described in the memorial. Erad con-
tinued to act as surgeon at Lunenburg until his death on 24 March
1757, while Lockman appears to have remained there until early in 1757
when, for health reasons, he returned to Halifax (List of people vict-
ualled at Lunenburg, January-May 1757, PANS RGI, vol. 222). Phillipps's
memorial indicates that Lockman left Lunenburg in March 1757,
for Phillipps wrote that he had filled the office of surgeon at Lunenburg
since that date and asks to be paid for his services.
2 "A Return of the Settlers at Lunenburg from 28 May 1753 to 22 January
1758," PANS RGI, vol. 382. This document indicates that the original
number of settlers at Lunenburg was 1,453. The four surgeons men-
tioned (Klett, Deglen, Nicolai, and Edmund) are listed in the
Lunenburg Allottment Book (PANS RG47) as having been among the
first settlers granted lots in the town of Lunenburg. J. Carl Deglen
is given as Deglin and Degelin in some primary sources.
3 Cornwallis to Phillipps, 4 June 1751 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 164/1:64. The
Independent Companies of Rangers included Gorham's Rangers (see
Bates, "John Gorham, an Outline of his Activities in Nova Scotia,"
27—77), and Clapham's Rangers, raised on 20 October 1749 (o.s.) by
William Clapham (PANS RGI, 164:25). Each company consisted of
fifty to sixty men. John Phillipps was paid two shillings and six pence
per day for his services as surgeon to the Companies of Rangers
(PANSCO217, 14:249).
4 St John's Anglican Marriages, Lunenburg, PANS MG4, vol. 91. John
Phillipps continued to reside in Lunenburg and to offer his services
as a surgeon there until 1766, when he left for England" to seek
proficient medical advice" (PANS RGI, 166:11).
5 "Journal, and letters, being a day-by-day account of the founding
of Lunenburg, by the Officer in Command [Charles Lawrence] of the
project," Bulletin of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, no. 10, Halifax,
!953-
6 According to PANS RGI, 163/2:88, detachments of Hopson's,
Lascelles's, and Warburton's regiments were located at Annapolis, Fort
Lawrence, and Lunenburg on 11 September 1753. It is likely that
William Skene, surgeon of Hopson's 4oth Regiment, was at the Annap-

olis garrison, while William Catherwood (surgeon's mate of the
45th), Arthur Price (surgeon of the 47th), Richard Veale (surgeon of
the 45th), and George Francheville (surgeon of Ordnance) were at
Fort Lawrence. In addition to these five army surgeons, a surgeon
named Ebenezer Hartshorn appears to have been at Annapolis in
December 1753, where he witnessed the will of Katherine Sprainger
(Halifax Wills, vol. i, PANS RG48), and one of the surgeons who
came with the foreign Protestants, Alexandre de Rodohan, was residing
with the Acadians at Grand Pre in May 1754 (PANS RGI, 134:131).
7 This figure was arrived at by subtracting the 1,453 Lunenburg settlers
who left Halifax in June 1753, from the number of civilians re-
ported in the July 1752 census.
8 Hopson to Lords of Trade, 29 May 1753, PANS 00217, 33:188.
Hopson wrote, "The only vessel of force here is the Albany, Sloop of
War, Capt. Rous, Commander."
9 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 29 December 1753, PANS 00217, 15:4.
Governor Hopson had sailed for England on i November 1753,
and Charles Lawrence was placed in command (PANS RGI, 134:1).
10 Hopson to Lords of Trade, i October 1753, PANS 00217, 14:302.
11 Council minutes of 27 December 1753, PANS RGI, 187:25.
12 Halifax County Supreme Court, John Kent vs. John Grant; John But-
tler vs. John Grant; Catherine Winston vs. John Grant, PANS RGgg, series
"c," Box i.
13 Halifax County Inferior Court of Common Pleas, William Kneeland vs.
William Merry, PANS RG37, Box 2, file 22.
14 The year 1752 began on 25 March, and therefore the designation
x her 22 1752 means the tenth month following March (i.e., De-
cember). See Introduction for a detailed explanation.
15 Council minutes of 12 October 1753, PANS RGI, 186:423, and
Council minutes of 28 February 1754, 186:36. Akins, "History of Hal-
ifax City," 41, indicates that a William Murray (sic) operated a still
on Grafton Street. Prescott's was near the South Gate.
16 "Estimate of the Expense of Civil Officers, Surgeons, etc." for 1754
(PANS 00217, 14:249) includes "continuation of an allowance to Henry
Meriton for his encouragement in keeping a school at Halifax."
17 PANS 00217, 15:338. John Grant states that he "is in business here [in
Halifax] as a surgeon as well as in trade."
18 Lawrence to Charles Hay, i January 1754, PANS RGI, 163/3:27.
19 Lawrence to the Lords of Trade, 14 October 1754, PANS RGI,
vol. 36, Lawrence was not officially appointed lieutenant governor of
Nova Scotia until the fall of 1754. He acknowledges receipt of his
commission.
20 Hopson to Lords of Trade, 23 July 1753, PANS 00217, 14:188-9.

21 John Grant's memorial to the Lords of Trade, 21 October 1754, PANS
00217, 15:162.
22 "A True and Exact State of the Expense of the Hospital at Halifax for
one year, viz: from i July 1754 to i July 1755," PANS 00217,
15:289.
23 "Estimates of the Expense of Civil Officers, Surgeons, etc.," 1754, PANS
00217, 14:249.
24 Remarks on Mr Grant's representation that there is no person to inquire
into the state of the hospital or the conduct of the surgeon, etc.
Council minutes of 4 June 1755, PANS 00217, 15:293.
25 John Grant's memorial to Lawrence, n.d., but probably 20 Septem-
ber 1754, PANS 00217, 15:157.
26 John Grant's reference to Alexander Abercrombie's lack of qual-
ifications was, in fact, completely unfounded. Abercrombie was very
well educated for the time, both in the liberal arts and in physic and
surgery. He had graduated in 1745 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Marischal College, Aberdeen, Scotland and had attended, in 1746
and 1747, the lectures in anatomy given by the esteemed Dr Alexander
Monro of Edinburgh University. He had worked, also, at His Maj-
esty's Hospital in Edinburgh and served as surgeon in two military cam-
paigns in Flanders. Marischal College, the northern university
alluded to in the Halifax Gazette did award Abercrombie an MD in ab-
sentia, in July 1753, but this was (or had been) a common practice
in all five of the Scottish medical colleges. See Anderson, ed., Selections
2:117. See also Monro's "Record Book of Scholars" at the Edin-
burgh University Archives. For Abercrombie's service in Flanders, see
PANS 00217, 15:279. A short biography of Dr Abercrombie is in-
cluded in Council minutes of 3 June 1755. The five Scottish medical
colleges were Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Marischal, and
St Andrews. Comrie (History of Scottish Medicine to 1880, 142—3) writes:
"It was not until after the foundation of a Medical Faculty at Ed-
inburgh in 1726, that the idea came into being in Scotland of conferring
the MD on young men as the consummation of three years' medical
study and to which they were entitled after successful examination."
Edinburgh had granted twenty-one medical degrees prior to the
establishment of its medical faculty in 1726.
27 John Grant to Lords of Trade, 13 January 1755, PANS 00217,
15:153-
28 Council minutes of 3 June 1755, PANS 00217, 15:275.
29 Ibid., 276-89.
30 "Account of the Number of Venereals treated in Hospital." Doc-

ument included in Council minutes of 3 June 1755, PANS 00217,
15:281.
31 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 28 June 1755, PANS 00217, 15:254.
32 Lords of Trade to Lawrence, 9 October 1755, PANS 00218, 5:134.
33 Halifax Gazette. 3 August 1754. Mrs Triggs, midwife, is mentioned as
living opposite the Hospital for Sick and Hurt Seamen on Granville
Street. As pointed out by Baugh, British Naval Administration in the Age
ofWalpole. 35, "The Commissioners for Sick and Wounded Seamen,
commonly known as the Sick and Hurt Board, maintained the Naval
Hospitals and Medical Organization," and had done so since it was
first appointed in 1653. Rodger explains the naval-hospital system that
existed in the early and mid-eighteenth century (The Wooden World,
109): "The traditional way of caring for sick men landed from ships
was to put them in sick quarters, which meant rooms rented from
local landladies who undertook to feed and care for their patients. A
great many of those sent to sick quarters either never recovered or
never returned. Consequently naval opinion by the early 17505 was
unanimous in preferring a hospital. Naval hospitals were usually
run by contract whereby the contractor furnished premises and non-
medical staff, being paid by the number of patients he ac-
comodated. The Sick and Hurt Board provided furniture and
equipment and appointed the medical staff. This was the system
on which all naval hospitals were run in 1755."
34 Letters to the Commissioners of the Sick and Hurt Board, PRO
Adm. 97, vol. 85.
35 Ibid -
36 Ibid.
37 "State of the Sick left from the different Ships of Admiral
Boscawen's Squadron as they now stand on the sick Books this 18 No-
vember 1755, signed by Robert Grant, surgeon," PANS
Adm. 1/480:655. The Halifax Gazette of 6 April 1754 mentions that Rob-
ert Grant resided on Granville Street at that time.
38 Medical Department to Secretary of the Admiralty, 10 February 1757,
PRO Adm. 98/6, folio 171. The letter read:
The service of His Majesty's Sick and Wounded Seamen in Nova

Scotia, being before the commencement of the present War [Seven
Years' War] very inconsiderable ... we appointed Mr Robert Grant,
a Navy Surgeon who resided there [Halifax], to be our Surgeon and
Agent at that place, and made him the usual allowances of six shil-
lings and eight pence per man per cure ... it [the allowance] remained
till the arrival of Vice Admiral Boscawan in those parts [9 July
1755], when very great numbers of sick men being sent on shore, and
the prices of medicines thereby considerably increased, he
[Boscawen] thought proper when an application [was] made to him by
the said Mr Grant, upon having referred the matter to proper
judges, to allow him eight shillings and eight pence per man per cure.
39 Minutes of Council, 27 June 1754, PANS RGI, 187:177.
40 Horseman's Fort was named for Lt Col John Horseman of Warburton's
Regiment, who had arrived in Halifax from Louisbourg on 24 July
1749 (o.s.). The fort is shown in the lower left of the Moses Harris plan
of Halifax, which appears in Figure 2. This fort was large enough
to house two companies of soldiers.
41 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, i June 1754, PANS 00217, 15:34.
42 Halifax Gazette, 2 February 1754, Merry's death notice.
43 "Total Number of Houses and Huts in the Town of Lunenburg,
16 July 1754, PANS RGI, vol. 382.
44 Minutes of Council, 10 April 1755, PANS RGI, 187:257.
45 Pownall to Lawrence, 30 November 1754, PANS 00218, 5:100.
46 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, i August 1754, PANS 00217, 15:85.
48 Whitehall to Governor of Nova Scotia, 26 October 1754, PANS RGI,
vol. 29, Letter no. 29.
49 "Leave of Absence to the Hon. Lieutenant Col° Robert Monkton
[sic] to be on the continent for six months," dated 15 November 1754,
PANS R G I , 163/3:46.
50 Winslow, "Journal of John Winslow," 138.
51 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 28 June 1755, PANS 00217, 15:251.
52 Thomas, "Diary," 131. Doctor March had served as an under-surgeon
of the train of Artillery sent from Massachusetts to Louisbourg in
1744 ("Louisbourg Soldiers," 377-8).
53 Winslow, "Journal of John Winslow," 232.
54 Council minutes, 18 August 1756, PANS RGI, 187:455.
55 Winslow, "Journal of Colonel John Winslow," 94. It is interesting
to note that Winslow selected Doctor Alexandre de Rodohan to deliver
the citation to the inhabitants of Grand Pre and environs, on 4 Sep-
tember, ordering them to congregate on the following day so that Wins-
low could inform them of their fate.
56 Ibid., 185. Information given in Winslow's journal indicates that 698
buildings at Gaspereau, Cannard (sic), Habitant, Pero (sic), etc.,
were burned during the period 2 November to 7 November 1755.
Prior to 2 November, 2,242 persons had been shipped from these

districts.
57 Ibid., 186. The total number of Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia
during the fall of 1755, as indicated by Winslow's journal (175, 177,
178, 182, 186, 188, 192), was about six thousand. The districts from
which these Acadians came and the approximate dates of departure
are given below:
Acadians Expelled from Nova Scotia
Deported Date Deported Number Deported

from
Chignecto 13 October 1755 1,045

Piziquid 27 October 1755 1,100
Minas 27 October 1755 i.5°5
Annapolis 8 December 1755 1,664
Minas 18 December 1755 35°
Grand Pre 20 December 1755 332
Total 5.596
Colonel Winslow's journal (122) notes that a total of 2,743 Acadians

were at Grand Pre, Minas, River Canard, Habitant, and environs
on 15 September 1755, while the above list indicates that the number
of Acadians deported from Minas and Grand Pre and environs was
2,187. The discrepency is due to the significant number of Acadians
who escaped to the woods. Chief Justice Belcher wrote on 28 July
1755 to Pownall (PANS 00217, 16:26) that there were eight thousand
French and three thousand English in Nova Scotia. Since the num-
ber deported was approximately six thousand, as indicated in the list,
it is probable that some two thousand Acadians remained in the
province after 1755. The dates of deportation given for Chignecto,
Piziquid, and Minas were found in PANS Adm. 1/480:663, in a letter
(22 November 1755) from Richard Spry to John Cleveland, secretary
of the Admiralty. The Acadians at Cobequid deserted that settle-
ment prior to the arrival of the English soldiers, who burned the build-
ings there during the period 23—29 September (Winslow, "Journal
of Colonel John Winslow," 155).
58 In addition to Dr March, who was killed on 2 August 1755, and
Dr Whitworth, who attended the Acadians at Minas during August,
September, and October, Doctors Nye, Cast, Thomas, and Tyler
remained in the Chignecto area during the fall of 1755. Nye is recorded
as being there as late as 23 August, while Dr Cast (also spelled Kast)

was at Chignecto as late as 24 October 1755. Dr John Thomas (the di-
arist) was at Chignecto until 2 December when he went to Minas,
and on 9 December, to Halifax. Dr John Tyler transferred from Shir-
ley's Regiment to Lascelles's Regiment, which he accompanied to
Halifax, where he died on 5 January 1758 (PANS Micro Misc A, Armies
— Colonial).
59 Dictionary of Canadian Biography 3:70—1. Edward Boscawen
(1711-61) was later chosen to command the naval forces at the siege
of Louisbourg in 1758. Boscawen's Fleet in 1755 consisted of
twenty-two ships of war, the names of which are listed in PANS Adm.
1/480:640. Boscawen's decision to put into Halifax because of sick-
ness is recorded in his letter to John Cleveland, Secretary of the Ad-
miralty, dated 4 July 1755 (PANS Adm. 1/481:41).
60 Drucour and Prevost to the Minister, Louisbourg, 2 June 1755, AN, Col-
onies, C"B, vol. 35, folios 19—22.
61 "State and Condition of HM Ships under Vice Admiral Boscawen at Hal-
ifax, 12 July 1755," PANS Adm. 1/481:46.
62 Boscawen to Cleveland, 16 July 1755, PANS Adm. 1/481:47.
63 Willard, "Journal," entry for 23 September, 3—75.
64 Winslow, "Journal of Colonel John Winslow," 147—8.
65 "State of the Sick left from the different Ships of Admiral
Boscawen's Squadron as they now stand on the sick Books, 18 November
1755," PANS Adm. 1/480:655. Robert Grant's book indicate that
forty-nine seamen had died during the last twelve days of October, and
twenty-seven had died during the first eighteen days of November.
66 Williams, "Poor Relief and Medicine in Nova Scotia, 1749—1783,"
33-56-
67 The number of burials for the period January 1755 to August 1756
was taken, for the most part, from St Paul's Anglican Church Rec-
ords (PANS MG4). A small number of deaths that occurred in Halifax
during that period, which are not recorded in St Paul's burials, was
taken from four additional sources: The Halifax Gazette: St Paul's Cem-
etery Inscriptions (PANS MG5); St George's Cemetery Inscriptions
(PANS MG5); and "An Account of the Number of Children in the Or-
phan House at Halifax" PANS 00217, 18:218).
68 Halifax Wills, Book 1:88, PANS RG48. William Urquhart, surgeon of
Halifax, made his will on 18 July 1755, and it was proved on 4 Au-
gust 1755. The burial recorded in St Paul's Anglican Church indicates
that he was buried in August 1755.
69 Halifax Supreme Court Records, PANS RG39, series c, Box 2.
70 PANS Adm. 1/481:86.
71 Memorial of John Day, 22 March 1768, PANS RGI, 189:93.

72 William Best's Account Book, PANS MG3, 141:103, 141.
73 "State and Condition of HM Ships under the Command of Capt. Richard
Spry at Halifax, 26 January 1756," PANS Adm. 1/480:684.
74 "Report of the State of the Orphan House, 1752—1761," PANS 00217,
18:218—25. In a letter to Governor Francis Legge (i January 1776),
Lt Col Henry Denny Denson indicates that Michael Head had served
at Halifax as a surgeon's mate to the Fortieth Regiment (PANS Micro
Biography, Earl of Dartmouth Papers, Reel i, 479-81). Since the For-
tieth Regiment left Halifax in June 1759, it would be expected that
Dr Michael Head was in Halifax prior to that date. He could also have
been the Dr Head mentioned in the Best Account Book in 1754
and 1755.
75 Marble, "He Usefully Exercised the Medical Profession," 40-71.
76 Boscawen to Cleveland, 15 November 1755, on board the Torbay, PANS
Adm. 1/481:67- "By certain accounts the French intended to have
attacked Halifax last Spring from Louisbourg, they having a Garrison
of 2,500, the English Garrison at Halifax, not exceeding 400." He
continues that he has captured "a Plan of Halifax with a scheme of at-
tacking it from Canada taken out of a wash ball that was in a French
Officer's Chest going to Louisbourg. This Plan, I apprehend to be the
Invention of Monsr Vaudreuil, Governor of the Three Rivers, he
was taken in the Alcide, is brother to the Vice Admiral of that name,
the Governor of Canada, and the Governor of St Domingo, but is
almost a Fool." The Alcide, a French man-of-war, was captured off
Louisbourg on 8 June 1755 (Journal of Admiral Edward Boscawen
NAC Adm. 50, no. 3:20) and brought into Halifax (Ibid., 27). The plan
(figure 7) shows three batteries on the beach in front of Halifax.
Lawrence, writing to the Lords of Trade on 28 June 1755 (PANS 00217,
15:256), states that he "sends plan of the three batteries upon the
beach before the town of Halifax, of which a description follows." Law-
rence indicated that the batteries were not yet completed. Since I
was unable to view the plan to which Lawrence referred, it has not been
possible to determine whether the plan which appears in Figure 7
is the same as that sent by the governor. It is possible that the plan was
stolen by the French officer mentioned above, and that he added
the numbers as well as the French writing in the upper left of the plan.
Lawrence describes the batteries as "12' high above the high water,
240' long, and 65' in breadth." He mentions "that fifteen guns are al-
ready mounted, in a few days the work will be ready for five guns
more, and in a very short time the whole will be completed."
77 Winslow, "Journal of Colonel John Winslow," 190.
78 Thomas, "Diary," 139.

79 PANS MG3, 141:84, entry of 27 February 1756 reads: "to trucking
v4 cordwood to New Engd Hosp 1 - i shilling."
80 Forman's Division, Lot 35, according to the Allotment Book (PANS
RGI, vol. 410). In William Best's Account Book (PANS MG3, 141:88),
there is a list of dealings that Best had with one John Solomon,
wheelwright. The first was on 19 January 1756: "to 50 large bricks,
!/2 bushel of lime, to repare [sic] his hous [sic] Hospital, 45, 6p." The
next day, an entry for John Solomon reads, "repairing 2 chamber fire-
places at the Hospital House." This hospital appears to have oper-
ated as such until at least 18 March 1757; it is mentioned in Best's
Account Book on that date.
81 Council minutes of 8 March 1756, PANS RGI, 187:409.
82 Spry to Cleveland, 18 April 1756, PANS Adm. 1/480:702.
83 Distribution of the Several corps in Nova Scotia, 21 June 1756, PANS
Micro Misc. A, Armies — Colonial, Army Returns, 1757—1817.
84 Spry to Cleveland, 18 April 1756, PANS Adm. 1/480:702.
85 Whitehall to Lawrence, 17 May 1756, PANS RGI, vol. 30, Letter
no. 4.
86 Returns of the regiments for 29 November 1756, PANS Micro Misc.
A, Armies — Colonial, Army Returns, 1757—1817.
87 Whitehall to Lawrence, 4 February 1757, PANS RGI, vol. 30, Letter
no. 11.
88 Doughty, ed., An Historical Journal 1:22. The regiments that arrived
in Halifax with Admiral Holburne on 9 July 1757, were the ist, i7th,
27th, 28th, 43rd, 46th, and 55th.
89 Hardy to Secretary of Admiralty, i July 1757, PANS Adm. 1/481:516.
go London Magazine 26:457, 1757. Letters received by the Magazine
on 30 August 1757 from Lord Loudoun [sic] and Admiral Holbourne
[sic]. The regiments that accompanied Lord Loudon to Halifax were
the Twenty-second, Forty-second, Forty-eighth, and Sixtieth, according
to Doughty, ed., An Historical Journal 1:32. Lord Loudon, the fourth
earl of Loudon, was known as John Campbell before he inherited the
title from the third earl and took his seat in the House of Lords.
91 This included 1,239 men in Hopson's, Warburton's, and Lascelles's reg-
iments stationed at Halifax; 5,990 soldiers and 7,135 seamen
brought by Admiral Holburne; 951 men with Sir Charles Hardy; and
about 5,000 soldiers and an unspecified number of seamen brought
to Halifax from New York by Lord Loudon.
PRO Adm. 98/6, folio 173.
93 Fowke, Colville, and others, to Secretary of the Admiralty, 2 September

1757, PRO Adm. 98/6, folio 457. Godfrey Webb had been examined
by the Company of Surgeons in London on i July 1756 (Company of
Surgeons' Examination Book, 1745—1800, London.).
PRO Adm. 98/7, folio 113. In this letter, mention is made that "an
under assistant surgeon at Nova Scotia upon the reduced Establishment
[ordered on 14 September 1757, ibid., folio 107], being lately dead,
Mr John Flacke is going out to succeed him." John Grant's will having
been proved on 5 September 1757 Halifax County Wills, Book
1:141, PANS RG48, it is possible that he was the deceased under assistant
surgeon.
95 Medical Department to Secretary of the Admiralty, 13 October 1758,
PRO Adm. 98/7, folio 272. "Mr McCormick, who was sometime sur-
geon at His Majesty's Hospital at Nova Scotia," petitioned the board
for pay for his services. He was probably the Mr John McCormick
listed as a surgeon in the Navy Lists for 1758.
96 Minutes of Council, 16 July 1757, PANS RGI, 187:526. The Lords
of Trade had recommended that Lawrence be appointed governor on
18 December 1755 (Lords of Trade to the King, 18 December 1755,
PANS cO2i8, 5:139.)
97 "Register of the Receipts of Provisions, with the Number of men
and nurses included victualled in the Naval Hospital in the years
1757—1761," PANS MGi3, no. 73. This is the earliest record referring
to the Hospital for Sick and Hurt Seamen as the naval hospital. The
information in Figure 9 is taken from the same source.
98 Medical Department to Secretary of the Admiralty, 6 June 1760, PRO
Adm. 98/8, folio 206. Robert Grant had been sworn in as a member
of Council on 15 June 1756 (PANS R G I , 187:430). He was replaced on
16 August 1759 (PANS R G I , 188:93) against his will, for the reason
that he was no longer a resident of Nova Scotia.
99 Medical Department to Secretary of the Admiralty, 21 April 1759,
PRO Adm. 98/7, folio 419. "The Rt Hon. Edward Boscawen, Esq., then
Commander-in-Chief of His Majesties Ships and Vessels in North
America did by Warrant, 27 July 1758, appoint David Thomas Karr,
Surgeon for the Sick and Wounded Prisoners of War at that place
[Louisbourg], that on 4 September 1758, the day Mr Karr quitted the
Hospital there were then remaining 730 of those people who were
delivered to the care of Mr John Baxter, our Agent for the Sick and
Wounded in Halifax."
100 Monckton to Baxter, 28 April 1758, PANS RGI, 163:118.
101 Holburne to Cleveland, 4 August 1757, from Halifax Harbour,

PANS Adm. 1/481:338.
102 Doughty, ed., An Historical Journal 1:65.
103 London Magazine 26:514, 1757. A letter, dated 16 October 1757, writ-
ten aboard the sloop Hunter lately arrived from North America
and published in this magazine stated that "we have only 15 Sail of
the Line ... whereas the enemy have 17 Ships of the Line." It ap-
pears that ships with more than fifty guns on board were referred to
as ships of the line and represented the real strength of a naval
fleet or squadron. Admiral Holburne had fifteen ships of the line,
while Sir Charles Hardy was reported to have six. Three of
Hardy's ships carried between five hundred and six hundred men,
while the other three ships have over four hundred men. Why
Hardy's ships are not included in the total reported in the letter is
unknown.
104 NAC woi/102. Troops under Lord London's immediate command on
24 July 1757 included sixteen regiments with 13,513 rank and file
fit for duty and 716 sick. Only ten of these regiments were with Loudon
in Halifax. There is quite a difference, in the secondary-source
material, concerning the number of ships that the English had stationed
in Halifax in July 1757. In An Historical and Statistical Account of
Nova Scotia 1:201, Haliburton indicates that there were thirty-three
ships and 10,200 seamen in Admiral Holburne's Squadron; how-
ever, only fifteen of these ships carried fifty or more guns. Akins, in
his "History of Halifax City," 54, gives the naval force as ten thou-
sand men on thirteen ships of the line. Akins states also that the land
forces totalled twelve thousand men and that the total English mil-
itary and naval force was twenty-two thousand. Neither Akins nor
Haliburton mention Hardy's six ships of war as being in Halifax
as part of the English naval force.
105 GMHC 27:432, 1757. A letter written by an anonymous French of-
ficer after the siege of Louisbourg provides another comment on the
cancellation: "The eyes of all Europe are fixed on this formidable
armament; they have assembled an army of 22,000 men ... with a large
train of artillery and munitions of war, 22 line of battle-ships and
200 transports. Yet Admiral Holburn [sic], who appeared off
Louisburg [sic] with 22 sail of men-of-war, took it into his head that
our numbers were equal to his own, and has made his way back to
Halifax. They will ask him there, why did you run away? Oh! says
he, a superior force venit, vedit, fugit." This letter is printed in Akins's
"History of Halifax City," 245.
106 London Magazine 26:514—5, 1757. Extract of a Letter from on board

the Hunter sloop, lately arrived from North America. Plymouth,
16 October.
107 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 9 November 1757, PANS 00217,
16:181.
108 Council minutes, 26 September 1757, PANS RGI, 188:5.
109 Family Bible of Johann Michael Schmitt of LaHave, 16, PANS MGIOO,
vol. 218, no. 3. There appears an entry that "the smallpox raged
in Halifax in 1757 so that whole families died out."
110 The Halifax Gazette of 30 March 1752 reported that a "Gentleman
of the Faculty" in Boston had introduced a new method of performing
inoculation. The article also mentions that there was an outbreak
of smallpox in Boston. Inoculation was also common in Halifax from
its establishment.
111 Doughty, ed., An Historical Journal 1:41. Knox also notes (ibid., 65)
that the Alderney returned to England with Admiral Holburne's
Fleet in November of 1757 (PANS Adm. 1/481:455).
112 John Grant, surgeon, of Halifax, made his will on 25 August 1757,
and the will was proved on 5 September 1757 (Halifax County Wills,
Book 1:141, PANS RG48).
113 PANS RGI, vol. 284, Document 8, 6. Document dated 14 March 1757.
114 Ibid., Document 13, n.d., 22.
115 Monckton to Lords of Trade, 13 October 1757, PANS 00217, 16:160.
116 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 9 November 1757, PANS 00217,
16:181.
117 Holburne to Secretary of Admiralty, 4 November 1757, PANS
Adm. 1/481:456.
118 Hardy to Secretary of Admiralty, 22 March 1758, PANS Adm.
1/481:533-
119 Ibid.
120 "State and Condition of HM Ships in Halifax Harbour, 22 March 1758,"
PANS Adm. 1/481:535.
121 Boscawen to Cleveland, 10 May 1758, PANS Adm. 1/481:108.
122 "State and Condition of HM Ships under the Command of Admiral
Boscawen, 10 May 1758," PANS Adm. 1/481:111. A list of these ships,
with the number of guns on each, can be found in the journal kept
by William Augustus Gordon, one of the officers engaged in the siege
of Louisbourg under Boscawen and Amherst (Gordon, "Journal,"
99)-
123 PANS Adm. 1/481:112.
125 Webster, ed., Journal of William Amherst, n.

126 The thirteen regiments in Halifax under Amherst's command are
listed in Gordon, "Journal," 99. Four of these regiments (the ist,
4Oth, 45th, and 47th) had wintered in Halifax, while the 28th Regiment
had wintered at Chignecto. The lyth, 35th, 48th, 58th, and 6oth
Regiments, which had returned to New York with Lord Loudon in
August 1757, came back to Halifax in mid-May 1758. It appears
that the 15th, 22nd, and 78th regiments came with General Amherst
and Admiral Boscawen from England (Ross to Haldimand, 21 May
1758, PANS RGI, vol. 366, Letter no. 7).
128 Council minutes of 2 June 1758, PANS RGI, 188:25.
130 Ibid., 35.
131 Lawrence to Adair, 2 November 1758, PANS R G I , 163/3:139.
132 PANS Map ¥6/240 of Halifax in 1784 shows a general hospital located
on Blowers Street. Piers, Evolution of the Halifax Fortress,
1749—1928, 31, writes, "The New Hospital on Citadel Hill replaced
the old one on the south side of Blowers Street between Argyle
and Barrington."
133 Stubbing, "Dockyard Memoranda, 1894," 103, states that on
7 February 1759, Governor Lawrence signed a deed which read, "We
have given granted and confirmed to Admiral Phillip Durell, Jo-
seph Gerrish, and William Nesbitt Esqrs. in trust for uses hereinafter
mentioned two lots or parcels of ground situate lying and being
in the north suburbs of Halifax at or near the place commonly known
by the name of Gorham's Point." Richard Short's engraving
(Figure 11), one of six that he did showing different views of Halifax,
depicts the King's Naval Yard jutting into the harbour in the far left.
134 Two assistant surgeons sent out for the naval hospital in Nova Scotia
in early 1758 were John Philips (sic) and Robert Kennedy, "who
have passed examinations at Surgeons' Hall and have been found qual-
ified for their employment" (PRO Adm. 98/7, folio 113, 3 February
1758)-
135 Doughty, ed., An Historical Journal 1:35. "Experience having dis-
covered that ginger and sugar mixed with the water of America, pre-
vent the ill effects of it [scurvy], and preserve the men from fevers
and fluxes that anything else yet found out. Brig. Gen. Lawrence does,
therefore, in the strongest manner, recommend the use of the dis-
covery to the troops."
136 Knap, Diary. This was probably a second English hospital built spe-
cifically for smallpox victims. General Amherst gave orders on 3 June,
2
a day after the English force arrived at Louisbourg, that "there

will be a Hospital, and in time its hoped there will be fresh meat for
the sick and wounded men" Gordon, "Journal," 107.
138 Boscawen to Cleveland, 13 September 1758, PANS Adm.
1/481:141.
139 Lawrence to William Adair, 2 November 1758, PANS RGI,
163/3:137.
140 PANS RGI, 165:18. In her petition (PANS 00217, 16:299) dated
18 December 1758, Ann Catherwood stated that she had been midwife
in Halifax since 1749. She indicated also that her training as a mid-
wive had been approved by Doctor Smelley. Mrs Catherwood added,
"I have instructed a woman in my business who has performed
with good success for this three years and will offishait [sic] for me till
I return." William Smellie (1697—1763) was a pioneer of modern
obstetrics and the most eminent man-midwife of his period (Medvei
and Thornton, eds., The Royal Hospital, 327).
141 PANS RGI, 165:18. The certificate read:
"These are to certify that Mrs Ann Catherwood appointed by
their Lordships of the Board of Trade Midwife of the Colony of
Nova Scotia hath at all times discharged her duty as such faith-
fully and diligently and so as to give general satisfaction to the set-
tlement from the time of her arrival to the date hereof and her
health being now so much impaired as to render her incapable of
further service, she is hereby humbly recommended to the fa-
vour and protection of their Lordships."
Given under my Hand and Seal at
Halifax in the Province aforesaid
this fourth day of October 1759.
Sd Chas Lawrence
142 Belcher to Lords of Trade, 11 January 1762, Letter Book of Chief
Justice Jonathan Belcher, 82, PANS Micro Biography. Belcher indicates
in this letter that he received his commission as lieutenant gover-
nor on 21 November 1761.
143 Belcher to Lords of Trade, 26 October 1760, PANS 00217, 18:48.
144 Belcher to Lords of Trade, 10 April 1761, PANS 00217, 18:134.
145 The name Trigg first appears in Halifax in 1749, when a Mr Trigg
purchased Lot 85 in Forman's Division (Halifax Allotment Book, PANS
RGI, vol. 410.). A Darius Trigg bought Lot c, no. 11 in the town
of Halifax on 12 February 1753 (Halifax County Deeds, PANS RG47),
and Dorcas Trigg of Halifax, widow, bought land in the South
Suburbs (Lot D, no. 14) from William Foye on 6 September 1753 (Hal-
ifax County Deeds, PANS RG47). This same Dorcas Trigg(s) was
buried from St Paul's on 20 June 1761. The midwife referred to as
Mrs Triggs by Governor Belcher, in his letter of 10 April 1761,
probably was Dorcas Triggs, widow of Darius Trigg(s). If so,
Mrs Triggs died two months after having been appointed one of
the two midwives referred to by Governor Belcher.
146 Lords of Trade to Lawrence, 14 February 1759, PANS RGI, vol. 30,
Letter no. 28. The figures for the annual grant from Whitehall for
the province of Nova Scotia are taken from Papers Relating to
Nova Scotia, 1745-1817, in the George Chalmers Collection, Chal-
mers, George, 29, PANS Micro Biography. The figures used to con-
struct the remaining three graphs were taken from the annual
estimates that the governor sent to the Lords of Trade: for 1753,
PANS RGI, vol. 344, Document 3; for 1754, PANS 00217, 14:249—56;
1755, ibid., 5:87—106; 1756, ibid., 15:370—6; 1757, ibid.,
16:105-21; 1758, ibid., 183-200; 1759, ibid., 278—88; 170, ibid.,
346—55; ibid., 18:61—6; 1762, ibid., 188—93; J?63> ibid.,
1 1
9: 43-53-
147 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 26 September 1758, PANS €0217,
16:278.
148 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 20 September 1759, PANS 00217,
16:346.
149 Lords of Trade to Lawrence, 14 December 1759, PANS 00217,
5:377-
150 Proclamation by Hon. Michael Francklin, 19 November 1767,
PANS RGI, 166:42; and Council minutes of 13 November 1767, 189:81.
151 Lawrence's address to the House of Assembly, 24 December 1759;
PANS 00217, 17:21.
152 "State and Condition of HM Ships and Vessels in North America.
Signed by Phillip Durell on 5 January 1759 at Halifax," PANS Adm.
1/481 ^97. Akins ("History of Halifax City," 59) writes that Ad-
miral Durell arrived in Halifax in April with four ships of the line,
whereas Admiralty records indicate that he was commander-in-
chief in Halifax during the winter of 1758-59.
153 Saunders to Secretary of Admiralty, 6 June 1759, PANS Adm.
1/482:43. Letter written on the Neptune off Scatari Island. The convoy
included thirty-four English transports, sixty-eight American
transports, and thirteen Ordnance ships. Admiral Saunders had ar-
rived in Halifax with his squadron from England on i May 1759
(Saunders to Cleveland, on board Neptune, in Halifax Harbour, 2 May
1759, PANS Adm. 1/482:39).
154 "Present State of Louisbourg Grand Battery Hospital, 29 October
1759," PANS Adm. 1/482:108. According to John Baxter, the sur-
geon in attendance, fifteen seamen and six marines were suffering

from fevers and fluxes. This hospital, it seems, continued to exist
after the Grand Battery was demolished on 26 October 1760: on that
date, Colonel John Bastide wrote to General Amherst that "the
works of the Grand Battery are almost down and the Naval Hospital
is Preserved" (PRO WO34, 14:16).
155 Gordon, "Journal," 107. Orders given by General Amherst on 3 June
read: "There will be a Hospital, and in time its hoped there will
be fresh meat for the sick and wounded men."
156 Knap, Diary, entries for 24 July, 27 August, and 3 September
1758.
157 Saunders to Cleveland, 8 February 1759, PANS Adm. 1/482:21.
158 "State and Condition of HM Ships in Halifax Harbour under my com-
mand, 7 November 1759. Signed Colville," PANS Adm. 1/482:94.
159 Ibid., 115.
160 Ibid., 100. "Weekly Account of Sick and Wounded Seamen, dated
5 December 1759. Signed by John Baxter."
161 Council minutes, 28 June 1759, PANS RGI, 188:79.
162 "A Return of Births and Cradles in the different Barracks at Lunen-
burg, 23 May 1759," PANS RGI, vol. 382. Bell (The Foreign Protes-
tants) does not mention a hospital at Lunenburg in his section on health
and medical Services, 1756—60 (531-3).
163 The three previous emigrant groups were: the Cornwallis passengers
of June 1749, totalling 2,547 persons; the New Englanders from
Louisbourg and directly from New England, during the first year of
the settlement of Halifax, estimated at 1,000 persons; and a total
of 2,247 foreign Protestants, who arrived in Halifax in 1750, 1751,
and 1752. In contrast, the New England Planter emigration during
1760, 1761, and 1762 numbered approximately 4,500 persons.
Another ethnic group which came into Halifax during the
17505, but which has remained somewhat opaque to historians, was
the Irish. As Punch has pointed out in "The Irish Catholics,"
23-40, about one-third of the population of Halifax in 1760 came from
the southern counties of Ireland. Since the Irish emigrants did not
come in one distinct group, or at one time, their arrival in the province
has almost remained unnoted.
165 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 26 December 1758, PANS 00217,
16:311.
166 Ibid., 315. The second version of the Proclamation for Lands in
Western Nova Scotia was dated 11 January 1759.
167 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 26 December 1758, PANS 00217,
16:305.
168 Ibid., 334. Grant of the Township was dated 22 May 1759. The
Horton grantees are named in PANS RGI, vol. 222, Document 3, dated
22 May, 1759. It should be understood, however, that many of the
people listed in the grant never came to Nova Scotia.
169 "An Abstract of the Grants of the Several Townships lately erected
showing the Tracts of Land, Number of Grantees to each Tract, and
Time of Settlement" (Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 20 September
1759, PANS 00217, 16:345). The first settlers were scheduled to arrive
in Horton, Cornwallis, Falmouth, Granville, and Annapolis town-
ships in May 1760, whereas grantees for the remaining eight townships
(Onslow, Cumberland, Amherst, Sackville, Tinmouth, Liverpool,
Barrington, and Yarmouth) were scheduled to arrive in September
1760.
170 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 11 May 1760, PANS 00217, 17:58.
171 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 16 June 1760, PANS 00217, 18:2—3.
172 Ibid., 89. "State of the New England Settlements in Nova Scotia, 12 De-
cember 1760." This record indicates that approximately 250
houses had been built by the New Englanders. The number of families
settling in Horton Township is not given, but it is recorded that
the number of persons settled there on 12 December 1760 was 622.
Assuming that there were four persons per family, the number
of individual families in Horton on that date would have been approx-
imately 155. Rev. John Breynton, in a letter to Rev. Thomas Wood
on 13 December 1760 (SPGFP, Reel 15, 625, Letter 12), states that he
proposes to solicit the Society for more missionaries for the out
settlements, whose population number five thousand. He writes: "Al-
though most of the settlers are dissenters, they would soon be rec-
onciled to the Church of England." His figure of five thousand was
some two and a half times the population recorded by Belcher in
his report of 12 December 1760.
173 Samuel Willoughby was married in Cornwallis Township on
28 August 1760 (Cornwallis Township Book, PANS MG4, vol. 18). He
was the member of the House of Assembly representing Cornwal-
lis Township from 1761—62 and 1770—76. Dr Willoughby died at
Cornwallis early in 1785 (King's County Wills, vol. i, PANS RG48.
Will proved on 12 April 1785). Jonathan Woodbury came to Yarmouth
circa 1760, moved to Granville about 1770 (Census for Granville
Township for 1770, PANS RG22) and to Wilmot in 1790. He died at
Wilmot on 3 March 1830, aged ninety-three years (Acadian Re-
corder, 20 March 1830).
174 Richard Sears was not included in the list of Horton grantees pub-
lished on 22 May 1759 (PANS RGI, vol. 222, Document 3). He was in
Horton prior to 28 August 1761, since on that date he witnessed
a land sale in the township (King's County Deeds, PANS RG47, 1:36).
Dr Sears made his will on 20 December 1761, and it was proved
on 2 June 1762 (Hants County Wills, PANS RG48, no. 4).
175 PANS 00217, 19:134. Doctor Samuel Oats was listed as having
seven persons in his family in the return for Cape Forchu dated
21 June 1762.
176 Council minutes, 18 October 1762, PANS RGI, 204:71. It was recom-
mended that "Mr Samuel Oats should be added to the Committee
for admitting settlers into the Township of Yarmouth."
177 A Samuel Oats arrived at Horton prior to i August 1761, on which
date he applied for land in Cumberland Township (PANS RGI,
165:168). Simeon Perkins records in Innis et al., eds., Diary of Sim-
eon Perkins i :<±.) that a Samuel Gates was commissioned as a justice
at Liverpool in 1764. No additional evidence has been found to
suggest that these were, in fact, the same person.
178 Duncanson, Falmouth, A New England Township in Nova Scotia. 411.
Benoni Sweet was referred to as a yeoman in a land transaction in 1765
(Hants County Deeds, 3:44, PANS RG47).
179 Dictionary of Canadian Biography 4:593—4.
180 Nova Scotia, Journal, 10, 12, and 13 March 1760.
181 Belcher to the Lords of Trade, 24 December 1760, PANS 00217,
18:108.
182 Council minutes of 11 December 1760, PANS RGI, 188:170.
183 Lords of Trade to Belcher, 12 March 1761, PANS co2i8, 6:69.
184 Nova Scotia, Journal 25 July 1761. The bill received assent on 13 Au-
gust 1761. The complete wording of the act (Nova Scotia, Laws,
1758—1804, 68—9, Geo. 3d, cap. 6), appears in Appendix 3.
185 "State and Condition of Halifax Hospital, 14 April 1760. Signed
by John Baxter," PANS Adm. 1/482:112.
186 "State and condition of Louisbourg Hospital, 11 August 1760.
Signed by John Baxter," PANS Adm. 1/482:136.
187 "Disposition of HM Ships under the Command of Lord Colville,
6 October 1760," PANS Adm. 1/482:143.
188 Colville to Secretary of Admiralty, 10 April 1761, PANS Adm.
1/482:146.
189 Ibid., 151.
190 Instructions to Judge Belcher on his appointment to the presidency
of the Council of Nova Scotia, 3 March 1761, PANS RGI, vol. 284,
Document 15.
191 This meant that Dr Alexander Abercrombie was out of a job. Ex-
actly when Abercrombie ceased being paid for his services as surgeon
in unknown. On 28 March 1761, Council asked Doctors Aber-
crombie and Reeve to recommend what should be done with the cargo
on a vessel that had arrived carrying a person with smallpox. The

doctors recommended that the cargo be landed at Mauger's Beach
and left there to air for a few days (Council minutes, 28 March
1761, PANS RGI, 188:208).
192 Belcher to Lords of Trade, 3 November 1761, PANS 00217,
18:201. Belcher stated that 275 children were cared for in the orphan
house during the first nine years of its establishment (Ibid.,
218-25). Close examination of the list of orphans indicates that it rep-
resented only 243 individuals, for a number of the children en-
tered the orphan house on two, three, or more occasions. It should
be noted that the mortality rate in the orphan house during this
period was just above thirty percent.
193 Information in Figure 13 was obtained from PANS 00217,
18:218-25.
194 Memorial of Colonel Alexander McNutt to the Lords of Trade,
17 April 1766, PANS 00217, 21:158-65.
195 Dictionary of Canadian Biography 5:555—7. For an earlier and more
detailed biographical sketch of Colonel Alexander McNutt, see
Raymond's paper, "Colonel Alexander McNutt and the Pre-
Loyalist Settlements," 27-34, 60—102.
196 Council minutes of 10 October 1761, PANS RGI, 188:282.
197 Belcher to Lords of Trade, 3 November 1761, PANS 00217, 18:202.
Colonel Alexander McNutt attended the Council meeting of
10 October 1761 (PANS RGI, 188:281), where he stated that he had
arrived on the previous day, with upwards of three hundred set-
tlers from Ireland.
198 PANS 00217, 34:182. The total number of Acadians reported as
being resident in Nova Scotia during the winter of 1761—62 was 685,
representing 150 families.
199 "State and Condition of HM Ships in Halifax Harbour, 26 November
1761," PANS Adm. 1/482:174. This included four ships and 1,617
men, of whom fourteen were sick on board, and thirty-eight sick on
shore. The report was signed by Colville. The naval hospital was
being attended by Charles White, surgeon, who reported that he had
104 patients: eighty-one seamen, sixteen marines, and seven
French prisoners.
200 The number of soldiers in Halifax during the spring of 1762 was
probably about one thousand. The 4oth Regiment left Nova Scotia
in 1760 as part of the force which captured Montreal. The 47th
Regiment left Canada after the fall of Montreal. Warburton's 45th
Regiment returned to Nova Scotia after the siege of Montreal and
remained until 1766 (Chichester and Burges-Short, Records and
Badges).
201 "Description of the State of Nova Scotia, 9 January 1762," PANS 00217,
18:245. Rev. Robert Vincent of Lunenburg records, in a letter
(12 January 1763) to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts, that there were about three hundred families at
Lunenburg. The figures given for Horton, Cornwallis, and Falmouth
are probably somewhat higher than the actual population: the
Reverend Mr Bennett, the first person sent by the Church of England
to minister to these four townships, wrote to the SPGFP on 4 June
1763 that the number of persons in the respective townships were:
Horton, 670 persons; Cornwallis, 518 persons; Falmouth, 278 per-
sons; and Newport, 251 persons (Records of the SPGFP, Reel 15, 825,
Letter no. 21).
202 PANS 00217, 18:245.
203 Journal of the Commissioners for Trade 9(1932) '.4. Mr Kingslaugh ap-
peared before the Board of Trade on 9 January 1749/1750.
204 The doctors of physic, surgeons, and apothecaries in Halifax during
the year 1762 and the year in which each of them arrived are as
follows: Alexander Abercrombie, 1749; William Adelheit, ca.i757;
Thomas Ainslie, ca. 1758; William Catherwood, 1749; John
Cochran, 1758; John Day, 1755; John Dolhonde, 1758; George
Francheville, 1751; George Greaves, 1761; Leonard Lockman,
1749; Johann M. Lutgens, 1751; John McColme, 1758; Christopher
A. Nicolai, 1751; Johannes C. Ohme, 1752; John Philipps, 1758;
Jonathan Prescott, 1751; Thomas Reeve, 1749; Charles White, 1761;
and Thomas Wood, 1752. See 61, chapter i, for an explanation
of the uncertainty concerning the date of John Day's arrival in Nova
Scotia.
205 Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Halifax County, volumes 17 and
18, PANS RG37-
206 "A General Return of the Inhabitants and Stock in the Several Town-
ships settled at Cape Sable, July 1762," PANS 00217, 19:140.
207 Council minutes, 5 November 1762, PANS R G I , 188:362.
208 "State and Condition of HM Ships in Halifax Harbour, 18 May
1762" (PANS Adm. 1/482:201) lists two ships carrying 675 men. Lord
Colville, writing to the Secretary of the Admiralty from Halifax
on 6 August 1762 (ibid., 212), mentions that "there are in this Province
and at Louisbourg about i ,500 regulars and Provincials," the latter
referring to Troops from New England.
209 Ibid., 212. Lord Colville writes: "The Indians are said to be 1,500
men, women, and children, dispersed in the different parts of Nova
Scotia and Cape Breton ... There are 915 Acadians in all now at
Halifax, and about 300 more in the country." On 18 August, seven
transports with over six hundred Acadians on board (PANS 00217,
19:194) were sent from Halifax to Boston. The House of Represen-

tatives of Massachusetts Bay voted not to allow the Acadians to be
landed in Boston, so they were returned to Halifax (ibid., 183).
210 The number of naval surgeons was estimated by presuming that
each ship of war carried at least one surgeon. Admiralty records (PANS
Adm. 1/480-2) indicate that a total of thirty-five different ships
of war arrived in Halifax during the years 1755, 1757, and 1758. Four
additional naval surgeons were stationed at the naval hospital dur-
ing these years, giving a total of thirty-nine naval surgeons.
The number of military surgeons in Nova Scotia during the pe-
riod was estimated by noting that the three regiments stationed in Hal-
ifax since 1750 (the 4oth, 45th, and 47th) had a total of five
surgeons on establishment, and that six surgeons came to Nova Scotia
from New England with the two battalions of Shirley's Regiment.
Each of the regiments that arrived in Halifax in 1757 and 1758 (four-
teen in all) were allocated one surgeon and two surgeon's mates
on their establishment. In addition to the total of fifty-three military
surgeons mentioned above, William Adair, the director of the mil-
itary hospital in Halifax in 1758, brings to fifty-four the total for the
ten-year period.
211 Memorial of Rev d jn° Breynton, 27 September 1765, PANS 00217,
vol. 37, Document 44 'A.
212 Tunis, "Dr John Latham (c. 1734—1799): Pioneer Inoculator in Can-
ada," 1 — 12.
CHAPTER THREE
1 Gordon, "Journal," 99.

2 "The State and Condition of HM Ships in Halifax Harbour on 18 May
1762" (PANS Adm. 1/481:201) indicates that 675 seamen were sta-
tioned at Halifax. The number of soldiers in the province on 6 August
1762 was reported to be 1,500, according to Admiral Alexander
Colville who wrote to the Secretary of the Admiralty on that date (ibid.,
482: 212).
Belcher was appointed lieutenant governor on 21 November 1761.
4 Northcliffe Collection, 76.
5 Breynton to Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts, 16 January 1769, SPGFP, Letter no. 135. The Reverend Mr Breyn-
ton describes the state of Halifax in 1768.
6 Campbell to Bruce, April 1771, PANS RGI, 136:153.
7 PANS RGI, 163:45. Cornwallis issued a proclamation on 11 Septem-
ber 1750 (o.s.) stating that the victualling of the original settlers (in Hal-
ifax) would cease on 15 September 1750.
8 PANS RGI, vol. 523. None of the 420 servants was identified by name
in the mess lists.
9 Minutes of Council, 24 February 1749/50, PANS RGI, 186:48. Murdoch,
History of Nova Scotia 2:623, indicates that between 3 July and i De-
cember 1749 (o.s.), eighteen persons were granted licenses to sell liquor
in Halifax, subject to a payment of a poor tax of one guinea a
month. It is not clear whether this tax was actually collected.
10 Minutes of Council, 9 October 1750 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 186:87.
11 Minutes of Council, 11 October 1750 (o.s.), Ibid., 89.
12 Halifax Gazette, 2 December 1752. The Gazette of 16 December 1752
indicated that "a handsome collection was made for the Poor."
13 Minutes of Council, 22 December 1752, PANS RGI, vol. 186. The
five justices of the peace who signed the memorial were Charles Morris,
John Duport, William Bourn, James Monk, and Joseph Scott.
Bridewell takes its name after St Bride's Well, which was located near
a prison in London. Oakum - hemp fibre obtained by untwisting
and picking out the fibres of old rope - was used for caulking seams
in various seagoing vessels.
14 Minutes of Council, 26 March 1753, PANS RGI, 186:351. The cor-
poral punishment referred to consisted of being "publickly whipt
at the common whipping post in the said Town [Halifax], any number
of stripes not exceeding forty." The gaol, in a stone building pur-
chased from Lt Col John Horsman in February 1752 (ibid., 155), was
located on the north side of the first block of Spring Garden Road
when travelling west from Barrington Street.
15 Estimates for 1754, PANS 00217, 14:259—66. The reference to the
"Black Hole" indicated that a cell for solitary confinement was to be con-
structed in the foundation of the workhouse.
16 "Observations on the Estimate for the year 1754 with the sums allowed
and disallowed, 27 July 1754," PANS R G I , vol. 29, Document 24.
17 Minutes of Council, 27 June 1754, PANS RGI, 187:76. Richard Wenman
had been using this building to store rope, fishing lines, and oakum,
some of which was manufactured by the orphans in the orphan house
located nearby. Wenman's advertisement for these items appeared
in the Halifax Gazette of 29 June 1754.
18 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, i August 1754, PANS RGI, vol. 36,
Document 7.
19 "Abstract of the account of Duties and Bounties at Nova Scotia from
the Commencement thereof to 25 September 1756," PANS 00217,
16:101.
20 Minutes of Council, 21 June 1758, PANS RGI, 188:27. Josiah Marshall
had been in Halifax since as early as i July 1752 (o.s.), on which
date his lot in the South Suburbs was registered (PANS 00217,
13:340).
21 Minutes of Council, 31 July 1751 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 186:130. It was

decided that a duty of three pence per gallon was to be paid on all rum
and other distilled spirituous liquors imported into the province
after 14 August 1751. This applied to all such products except those
manufactured in Great Britain and in His Majesty's West India
Plantations. The amount collected during the period 23 June 1751 to
12 October 1758 was £7,045, of which £2,204 was remaining in the
hands of the provincial treasurer on the latter date, according to Nova
Scotia, Journal, minutes of 13 October 1758.
22 Estimate Disallowances, dated 26 July 1755, PANS RGI, vol. 29, Doc-
ument 40.
23 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, 26 December 1758, PANS RGI, vol. 36,
Document 39. Lawrence had asked the members of the House,
when he addressed them at their first Assembly meeting on 2 October
1758, for "Unanimity and dispatch in the Confirmation of such Acts
and Resolutions of a Legislative nature as the Governor and Council
under His Majesty's Royal Instructions have found expedient."
24 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 13 October 1758.
26 Ibid., 13 and 14 December 1758. The actual act appears in Nova Scotia
Statutes, 1758-1759, cap. 9, PANS R&5, series s, vol. i.
28 Ibid., 2 November 1758.
29 PANS Vertical Map Case, Town of Halifax, v6/24o. Traced from the
original located in the Crown Land Office in December 1931. The
original spelling (i.e., Lott, and Franklin) has been retained. I have
added several modern street names to the 1762 plan (Blowers,
Queen, Spring Garden, Bishop, and Hollis), and shown the location
of the civilian and military hospitals, the orphan house, and the
workhouse. The spelling of the name of Lieutenant Colonel Horsman
is found to differ in primary sources as compared to secondary.
PANS RGI, 186:155 gives the name as Horsman, while both Akins, "His-
tory of Halifax City," 32, and Piers, The Evolution of the Halifax For-
tress, 1749-1928, 2, spell the name as Horseman.
30 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 19 December 1759.
31 Ibid., 13 August 1759. As indicated earlier in this chapter, Council had
been providing for the poor in a very minimal way through money
raised from duties and fines. They had also paid Dr John Baxter for
medicines which he had expended upon the poor at Halifax in 1753
and 1754 (PANS CO217, 14:255). The governor and Council had pre-
viously paid out £130, during the period August 1749 to September
1750, "to sundry persons in distress" (ibid., 10:70).
32 PANS RG5, series s, vol. i, 14. The Act for Preventing Trepasses
was passed in the House of Assembly on 2 March 1759 and, on 22 March

1759, passed in Council and given the governor's assent.
33 Nova Scotia, Journal, 11 April, 1759. The persons appointed on that
date were William Nesbitt, Henry Newton, Henry Ferguson, and
John Burbidge. A document listing the overseers of the poor, dated
1759 (PANS RGI, vol. 411, Document i), refers probably to those
gentlemen who were appointed to assume office in April 1760. The
four persons listed in this document were William Schwartz, Rich-
ard Gibbons, John Fillis, and Richard Wenman. Overseers of the poor
would be, presumably, leading citizens of Halifax known to have
a benevolent attitude towards the poor. I have not found a published
list of overseers of the poor for the town of Halifax for the period
!759-75-
34 A letter signed by Hopson on 22 September 1752 (o.s.), PANS RGI,
163/2:17.
35 A variation of Bethlehem, and derived from the Hospital of
St Mary of Bethlehem, London, for care of the insane.
36 Instructions to Cornwallis, dated 29 April 1749 (o.s.), PANS €0218,
3:119; Instructions to Hopson, 23 April 1752 (o.s.), ibid., 4:177-326;
Instructions to Lawrence, 2 March 1756, ibid., 5:150-271.
37 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 19 January 1760.
38 Ibid., 18 March 1760.
39 Ibid., 17 March 1760.
41 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 24 September 1760. One of the sup-
pliers of materials for construction of the workhouse was William
Best, who was paid £300 "on account of the Workhouse."
42 PANS RGI, vol. 284, Document 15. According to information con-
tained in the "State of the Orphan House at Halifax, 1752—1760" (PANS
00217, 18:218—25), a total of 184 (seventy percent) of the children
who entered the orphan house during the period were listed as orphans.
Thirty-three of the remaining children were obviously not orphans,
since they were later discharged to their parents.
44 "State of the Orphan House at Halifax," PANS 00217, 15:110. In this
description, the Reverend John Breynton wrote: "The Boys are
bound out if possible to Fishermen or some laborious trades and em-
ployments, and are free at the age of twenty-one. The girls are
placed in sober creditable familys as servants till they are full 17 years
old."
45 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 17 July 1761.
46 Ibid., 10 September 1761.
47 PANS 00218, 6:84. Lords of Trade to Belcher, 21 April 1761.
48 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 17 April 1762.

49 Ibid., 28 August 1762.
50 Ibid., 25 April 1763.
51 Ibid., 7 May 1763.
53 Jonathan Harris had been a passenger on the Winchelsea, which arrived
in Chebucto during the last week of June 1749. He was granted Lot
EIO in Collier's Division on 8 August 1749 (o.s.) and was listed in the
1752 census for Halifax. He died in March 1768 (Nova Scotia Gazette,
24 March 1768) and his will was proved on 5 August 1768 (Halifax
County Wills, Book i :336, PANS RG48).
54 Belcher to Green, 10 February and 31 July 1762, PANS RGI, i66A:42,
60.
56 Nova Scotia, Laws, 96. George 3d, cap.9. An Act in Addition to an
Act, entitled, an Act for regulating and maintaining an House of Cor-
rection or Workhouse, within the Town of Halifax, and for binding
out poor Children.
57 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 24 November 1763.
58 PANS RGI, vol. 30, Letter no. 28. On 14 February 1759, the Lords of
Trade informed Governor Lawrence that they were omitting the
item in the estimate for 1759 of the projected expense of the hospital.
This instruction "was expressly ordered by His Majesty [George II]
to be defrayed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Military and should
not therefore be inserted in your estimate." Is is likely that by 1760,
the hospital building was no longer in use; in the estimate for 1761,
although an item was included for wood to heat the governor's
house, public offices, and the orphan house, the hospital was not in-
cluded as it had been in previous years (PANS 00217, 18:62; Law-
rence to Lords of Trade, 26 September 1758, PANS RGI, vol. 36,
Document 38). The location of the civilian hospital referred to here,
opposite the orphan house on Bishop Street, is shown in Figure 15.
59 Instructions to Judge Jonathan Belcher on his appointment to the
Presidency of the Council of Nova Scotia, 3 March 1761, PANS RGI,
vol. 284, Document 15.
60 PANS Adm. 1/482:174, 201, 314, 366, 441, 510; ibid. 1/483: 264, 392.
61 Ibid. 1/484:146.
62 Ibid., 155.
63 Ibid 1/485:15.
65 The 4oth Regiment, which had arrived in Halifax in 1749, was sta-
tioned in the town almost continuously until 1765 (Secretary of State
to Wilmot, 23 March 1765, PANS 00217, vol. 43, Document 263),
when it was replaced by the 14th and 2gth regiments. These two reg-
iments remained in Halifax until July 1769 (Nova Scotia Chronicle

and Weekly Advertizer [hereafter, Nova Scotia Chronicle], i1 July 1769).
The 59th Regiment began a six-year posting in Halifax in 1768
(Nova Scotia Gazette, 4 August 1768) and, in 1769, was joined by the
64th and 65th Regiments (Nova Scotia Chronicle, 25 July and 26 Sep-
tember 1769). These last two regiments remained in Halifax until 1771
and 1773, respectively. Throughout the eleven-year period
1763—74, at least one company of Royal Artillery was stationed in Hal-
ifax. The Fifty-ninth Regiment, prior to its arrival in Halifax in
1768, had been stationed at Louisbourg where, in 1765, it relieved part
of the 45th Regiment. A memorial of subaltern officers of the Gar-
rison of Halifax to Lt Col Otto Hamilton, commanding HM Troops in
Nova Scotia (PANS RGI, vol. 366, Haldimand Collection, Letter
no. 39, undated, but probably 1772) was signed by five surgeons of the
above-mentioned regiments: George Francheville, surgeon, Artil-
lery; William Fletcher, surgeon, 65th Regiment; Trotter Hill, surgeon,
59th Regiment; Ambr[ose] Sharman, surgeon's mate, 5gth Regi-
ment; and William Faries, surgeon's mate, 65th Regiment.
66 Moreau to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts, 29 March 1762, SPGFP, Reel 73, 44.
67 Wilmot to Lords of Trade, 6 May 1766, PANS RGI, vol. 37,
document 48.
68 St Paul's Anglican Church, Halifax, PANS MG4, burial on 27 May
1766.
69 Francklin's Letter of Recommendation, 20 September 1766, PANS
RGI, vol. 166.
70 Wilmot to Lords of Trade, 24 June 1764, PANS 00217, 21:192.
71 Wilmot's Instructions upon being appointed Governor of Nova Scotia,
dated 6 March 1764, PANS 00218, 6:279.
72 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 24 June 1766. In a memorial to the
House, Dr Reeve states, without specifying the date, that he had
been appointed as surgeon to the workhouse by Governor Wilmot.
73 Ibid., 30 June 1766.
74 Ibid., 30 July 1767.
75 Ibid., i July 1768.
76 Ibid., 28 June 1770.
77 Ibid., 17 October 1774.
78 NSGWC, 10 October 1775. This issue published a eulogy by Chief Justice
Jonathan Belcher.
79 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 4 July 1768.
80 NSGWC, 6 April 1773.
81 PANS RGI, 170:100. The Dr John Philipps mentioned in this appoint-
ment was not the Dr John Phillipps who had been a surgeon at
Lunenburg from 1757 to 1766 and for health reasons returned to En-
gland. The Dr Philipps appointed surgeon to the orphan house in

1773 arrived in Halifax in 1758 (PRO Adm. 98/6, folio 113, February
1758) as an assistant surgeon to the naval hospital, after having suc-
cessfully completed an examination at Surgeon's Hall in London.
82 "Province of Nova Scotia Accounts of Supplies to Indians," 31 De-
cember 1767, PANS 00217, 25:42.
83 Ibid., 43.
84 Francklin to Abercrombie, 26 September 1766, PANS R G I , 167:18—9.
85 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 14 June 1765.
86 Minutes of Council, 2 July 1765, PANS R G I , 188:551.
87 Green to Lords of Trade, 26 August 1766, PANS 00217, 44:18.
88 Nova Scotia., Journal, minutes of 31 October 1766.
89 Minutes of Council, 3 January 1767, PANS RGI, 189:37.
go Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 31 July 1767.
91 Minutes of Council, 13 November 1767, PANS R G I , 189:81.
92 Francklin to Bulkeley, 19 November 1767, PANS RGI, 166:42.
93 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 19 June 1768. The number of poor
in Halifax had increased significantly in April, due to what was de-
scribed as the worst storm ever experienced there. Admiral Hood
wrote, "We had the most heavy gale of wind that ever was felt in this
place ... The damage done in the Town is still great, above fifty
schooners, sloops, and shallops, are either sunk at the wharfs or beat
to pieces, and not a single wharf, but is in a great measure de-
stroyed. This is truly deplorable in so poor a place as Halifax. Many
families are totally ruined" (Hood to Stephens, Halifax, 4 April
1768, PRO Adm. 1/483:73).
g4 Francklin to Hillsborough, 5 August 1768, PANS 00217, 22:186.
95 Campbell to Hillsborough, 3 January 1769, PANS 00217, 25:75.
96 Copy of an Order of the King in Council, dated 3 May 1767, dis-
approving a bill passed in Nova Scotia, PANS 00217, 26:130.
98 Minutes of Council, 20 July 1763, PANS R G I , 188:389.
gg Campbell to Bulkeley, 6 October 1770, PANS R G I , 181 :g5-
102 Lords of Trade to the King, 11 April i76g, PANS 00218, 7:24g.
104 Campbell to Green, several dates, PANS RGI, 181:62—111.
105 PANS RGI, i8g:i53. An advertisement notifying the inhabitants
of Halifax who had neglected or refused to pay the Poor Tax that they
would be prosecuted appeared in the Nova Scotia Gazette of
24 March 1768 and was repeated in the Nova Scotia Chronicle of 19 June
1770. Among those who refused to pay (2 shillings per year) were
William Howard Smith and Richard Gibbons Jr, who were former
overseers of the poor, as well as Thomas Fitzpatrick, a former

keeper of the workhouse.
106 PANS RG34, series A, vol. i. The case involved Richard Gibbons Jr,
who objected to ten different features of the assessment, including
the circumstance that "the whole of the Rateable Inhabitants in
the said Town are not mentioned or assessed." Gibbons lost his case.
107 The Memorial of John Woodin, Master of the Workhouse at Hal-
ifax, 15 October 1773, PANS R G I , vol. 411, Document 2.
108 NSGWC, 20 and 27 April 1773.
no Nova Scotia, Laws, 14 Geo. 3d, cap.5.
in Lords of Trade to Wilmot, 20 March 1764, PANS R G I , vol. 31,
Document 29.
112 Breynton to Wilmot, 22 June 1764, PANS 00217, 21:2O5-
113 Legge to Dartmouth, 12 July 1774, PANS R G I , vol. 44,
Document 39.
114 Minutes of Council, 19 april 1774, PANS R G I , 189:215.
115 Legge to Dartmouth, 18 November 1774, PANS RGI, vol. 44,
Document 52:10.
116 Wilmot to Lords of Trade, 24 June 1764, PANS R G I , 39:24.
117 These two midwives were, in 1764, Maria Moser and Maria Tattray
(PANS R G I , vol. 382 Item 38). On 9 February 1766, in a letter from
Francklin to Zouberchuler (sic), the former indicates that he has al-
lowed ten pounds for midwives, which the Board of Trade had
ordered struck off the estimate. Later in the same letter, Francklin
indicated that Green had informed him that the midwives were
dead (PANS RGI, 136:85). The only other midwive outside of Halifax
that I am aware of in the 17605 was Barbary Cuffey (also spelled
Cuffy), a black woman who described herself as a midwife in a Queen's
County deed on 4 March 1769 (PANS RG47, Reel 606, Book 1:258).
She was listed as one of the Proprietors of the Township of Liverpool
on 20 November 1764.
118 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 2 November 1769, Notice of this pe-
tition appeared also in the NSGWC, 14 November 1769.
119 Halifax County Estates, PANS RG48. Estate administered on 9 March
1772.
120 The Doctor Hill referred to here was probably Dr Trotter Hill, who
is known to have been in Halifax in 1774 (Scott, ed., The Journal
of the Reverend Jonathan Scott, 51).
121 Halifax Gazette, 21 July 1753.
122 The Memorial of John Grant of Halifax, surgeon, CO217, 15:153.
123 Minutes of Council, 28 June 1759, PANS R G I , 188:80.
124 Donnison, Midwives and Medical Men.
125 Laufe, Obstetric Forceps.
126 Spencer, The History of British Midwifery from 1650 to 1800.

127 Green to Lords of Trade, 24 August 1766, PANS 00217, 44:18.
128 Lords of Trade to Campbell, 29 July 1772, PANS RGI, vol. 32,
Document 11.
129 Instructions to Governor Francis Legge, 10 June 1773, PANS 00218,
7:339-
132 Minutes of Council, 16 August 1759, PANS RGI, 188:93.
133 Members of Council to Lords of Trade, 12 March 1757, PANS
00217, 16:150.
135 PANS MGI, vol. 182. 133—220.
136 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 31 May 1765.
137 Ibid., 9 June 1766.
138 Ibid., 16 October 1769. Henry Denny Denson was returned as the
member for Newport Township and took his seat on 16 October 1769.
As Brebner has observed in his excellent book The Neutral Yankees
of Nova Scotia, 182, the minutes of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
are extremely brief and it is therefore very difficult to determine
when members attended meetings and who took part in debates. Just
exactly when John Day ceased to attend the meetings of the House
of Assembly is not known.
139 Halifax County Deeds, Book 10:138; Book 11:81, PANS RG47-
140 NSGWC, 6 August 1774.
141 Earl of Dartmouth 1:200—3, PANS Micro Biography.
142 "The Jupiter, full of hay, was set on hire by lightning in Boston Bay
on the 29th inst and entirely consumed. His Majesty's Ship Mercury
happened to be near and saved all the people except Col Day, a gen-
tleman of Nova Scotia, a firm friend to Government, who was
drowned." Admiral Graves to Stephens, Boston, 30 November 1775,
Clark, Morgan, eds., Naval Documents 2:1202. Day's company in
Halifax had contracted to supply the British army in Boston on 28 July
1775 and had written that "they have three vessels to sail with hay
and refreshments for the Army at Boston but need a convoy for pro-
tection." Day and Scott to Shirreff, Deputy Quarter Master of the
British Army, ibid., i :g93-
143 Petition of Mrs Henrietta Day, dated 1810, PANS RG2O, series A.
Also PANS AO13, bundle 92 of "Loyalist Claims."
144 Halifax County Estates, PANS RG48.
145 Halifax Gazette, 9 December 1758.
146 Nova Scotia Gazette, 27 March 1768. Fletcher also advised a number
of medical books for sale in the NSGWC of 22 September 1772. The
medical books included: Barry, Edward, A Treatise on a Consump-

tion of the Lungs (Dublin, 1726); Brookes, Richard, The General Practice
of Physic (London, 1771); Culpeper, Nicholas, The English Physician
enlarged: with three hundred, sixty, and nine medicines, made of English herbs
... (London, 1656); Huxham, John, An Essay on Fevers. To which
is now added, a Dissertation on the Malignant Ulcerous Sore Throat (London,
1769); LeClerc, Daniel, A Natural and Medicinal History of Worms,
Bred in the Bodies of Men and other Animals ... (London, 1721); Lind,
James, A Treatise of the Scurvy ... (Edinburgh, 1753); and Shaw,
Peter, A New Practice of Physic ... (London, 1738).
With respect to Lind's book on scurvy, R.L. Walford, in The
120-Year Diet, 163—4, writes: "As early as 1740, James Lind, conducting
nutrition experiments on sailors in the British Royal Navy, showed
that scurvy could be prevented by a daily ration of fresh lime, lemon,
or orange juice. Although his results were published in 1753, it
was not until 1795 — after 42 years of Royal Navy red tape and the
loss of about 100,000 sailormen's lives due to scurvy - that Lind's
simple preventive measure became an official regulation for "men-of-
war" sailors. Being then the first nation to have warships on long
voyages with crews free of scurvy, Britannia began to 'rule the waves.'"
The first advertisement for citrus juice for sale in a Halifax news-
paper appeared in the NSGWC, 23 May 1780: "Lemon Juice for sale
— Imported, 4 shillings per bottle."
147 Nova Scotia Chronicle, 28 March 1769.
148 Ibid., 14 September 1773.
149 Ibid., i November 1774.
150 NSGWC, i November 1774.
152 PANS Vertical File, vol. 160, no. 29. The original is at Brown Uni-
versity in Providence, Rhode Island.
153 Brebner, The Neutral Yankees of Nova Scotia, 233.
154 Yorkshire passenger lists, PANS MGIOO, vol. 214, no. 20. Six ships' pas-
sengers lists are given here, four of which indicate occupations.
PANS RGI, vol. 44, Document 37 provides the number of Yorkshire
passengers on nine different ships that arrived in Halifax between
6 May and 21 June 1774. This latter document includes five of the
ships named in the former. An eleventh ship, the Jenny, brought
Yorkshire settlers to Nova Scotia on 21 May 1775 (NSGWC, 23 May
1775), and a list of its passengers, complete with occupations, was
presented by Milner, "Records of Chignecto," 43-4.
155 Ibid., Passenger list of the Prince George includes the name of
Stapleton, physician, aged thirty years.
156 Chaplin, Medicine in England during the Reign of George HI.
157 Porter, A Social History of Madness. 167 167

158 Dr Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) became director of Bicetre, the
Paris asylum for men, in 1793 and astonished everyone by removing
the chains from mentally ill patients. Some of the patients were
said to have been restrained with chains for upwards of forty years.
He began a movement which was based on the concept of treating
the mentally ill with kindness and humane methods.
CHAPTER FOUR
1 The colonial militiamen, or armed citizens, who pledged themselves

to be ready for combat on a minute's notice.
2 "Abstract of the Number of Families settled in Nova Scotia, August
1775," Earl of Dartmouth 1:349—52, PANS Micro Biography.
3 "State of the Troops now Actually in Garrison of 65th Regiment, Hal-
ifax, 14 June 1775. Signed by Francis Marsh, Capt. &5th Regt.,
Commanding Officer," Earl of Dartmouth 1:293, PANS Micro Biogra-
phy. The three companies contained five officers, fifteen non-
commissioned officers, and fifty-seven privates. Captain Marsh
indicated that only thirty-six of the privates were available for
mounting a guard. Only two of the seventy-seven personnel were listed
as being sick.
4 Legge to Dartmouth, 31 July 1775, PANS RGI, vol. 44, Document 71.
The fire in the Navy Yard took place on the night of 8 July, and
the following notice appeared in the NSGWC on 15 August 1775:
"Whereas it is suggested that His Majesty's Careening Yard was wil-
fully set on fire by some malicious person or persons on the night of
the eighth day of July last; whoever will give information so that
he, or they, may be brought to Justice and convicted shall be entitled
to the sum of £100." The notice was placed by Richard Williams,
storekeeper of the Halifax Careening Yard.
5 Minutes of Council, 14 ans 24 July 1775, PANS RGI, 189:324, 330.
6 Gage to Lt Col Allan Maclean, 12 June 1775, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton
Papers, Document 15, PANS Micro Biography. Order for Maclean
to enlist two battalions of ten companies, two surgeons, and two sur-
geon's mates.
7 McDonald, "Letter Book." Captain Alexander McDonald was sent to
Halifax to recruit for the Royal Highland Emigrants. Since his first
entry (page 208) in the letter book is dated i September 1775, it is pre-
sumed that he arrived in Halifax from New York shortly before
that date.
8 It is clear from the figures given in the "State of His Majesty's Forces
at Halifax on 21 October 1775," signed by Joseph Gorham, Command-
ing Officer (Earl of Dartmouth 1:417, PANS Micro Biography), that

recruiting for both regiments progressed very slowly. By that date,
Gorham's Royal Fencible Americans numbered 135 men, including
one surgeon and a surgeon's mate, while the Royal Highland Emigrants
had only sixty-five soldiers in its ranks. A fencible was a soldier who
enlisted for home service only.
9 Rev. John Breynton to the Society for the Propagation of the Gos-
pel in Foreign Parts, 2 January 1776, SPGFP, Reel 73, 597, Letter
no. 202.
10 I would alert readers to the fact that Figure 19 represents all the known
deaths and burials that occurred in Nova Scotia during 1775 and
1776. It might be expected that there were additional deaths in Nova
Scotia during these two years, but I have concluded that Figure 19
represents the majority of the deaths. Rev. John Breynton reported
to the SPGFP (Letter no. 202, 2 January 1776) that he had buried
157 people in Halifax during the year 1775. I have a record of 170 Hal-
ifax deaths in 1775 which was used to construct Figure 19. The
number of smallpox deaths shown in the figure is probably low, since
records of death and burial frequently do not state the cause of
death. The sources of death and burial records include the following:
O'Brien Family Papers, Windsor, 1738-1818, PANS MGI, vol. 731 A;
Chester Township Book, PANS MG4, vol. 13; Cornwallis Township Book,
PANS MG4, vol. 18; Falmouth Township Book, PANS MG4, vol. 31;
Horton Township Book, PANS MG4, vol. 74; Lunenburg Dutch Re-
formed Church Burials, PANS MG4, vol. 86; Lunenburg Zion Lu-
theran Church Burials (in German), PANS MG4, vol. 88; St John's
Anglican Church Burials, Lunenburg, PANS MG4, vol. 91; Onslow
Township Book, PANS MG4, vol. 122; Truro Township Book, PANS MG4,
vol. 150; Liverpool Township Book, PANS MG4, vol. 180; Granville
Township Book (new), PANS MG4, vol. 185; Fort Lawrence Township
Book, PANS MG4; Granville Township Book (old), PANS MG4;
St Paul's Anglican Church Burials, PANS MG4; St Paul's Cemetery In-
scriptions, Halifax, PANS MG5; St George's Cemetery Inscriptions,
Halifax, PANS MG5, vol. 14; Chipman Corner Cemetery, Kings County,
PANS MG5, vol. 8; Chebogue Cemetery Inscriptions, Yarmouth,
PANS MG5; Falmouth Centre Cemetery Inscriptions, Hants County,
PANS MG5; Akin Family Burial Ground, Falmouth, Hants County,
PANS MG5; Old Parish Burying Ground, Windsor, PANS MG5, vol. 7;
Arbuthnot to Germain, 20 November 1776, PANS RGI, vol. 45, Doc-
ument 30; Wills, Estates, and Administrations, PANS RG48; and Nova
Scotia Chronicle, various issues. Rev. Peter de la Roche to the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 22 August 1776
(SPGFP, series B, vol. 25, Letter no. 207), notes that "there was a ter-
rible outbreak of smallpox last autumn and about 80 died [in Lunen-
burg]." In preparing Figure 19, I have assumed that twenty persons
died in Lunenburg in each of the months of September, October, No-
vember, and December 1775.
11 An Act [16 Geo. 3d, cap.2, 1775] in addition to an Act made in the first
year of His Majesty's Reign Intitled an Act to Prevent the Spreading
of Contagious Distempers, passed in the House of Assembly, 11 No-
vember 1775; passed in Council, 13 November 1775; and assented
to by Gov. Legge on 17 November 1775, PANS RG5» series s, vol. 5.
12 NSGWC, i August 1775.
13 Ibid., 8 August 1775, Dr John Philipps had been in Halifax since 1758,
the year that he was appointed an assistant surgeon at the naval hos-
pital (PRO Adm. 98, vol. 3, folio 113, 3 February 1758). William Faries
had taken classes in anatomy at the University of Edinburgh during
1762—63 (Matriculation Records for Students in the Faculty of Med-
icine, Edinburgh University Archives). He first appeared in Nova
Scotia in March 1772, when he was brought for debt before the Su-
preme Court in Halifax. He was described in the court records as
a surgeon's mate of the Sixty-fifth Regiment of Foot (Halifax Supreme
Court Records, 1772, PANS RG3g, series c, Box 11). Faries was an
assistant surgeon to the naval hospital at Halifax in February 1781, at
the time of his death (Nova Scotia Royal Gazette and Weekly Chronicle,
13 February 1781).
14 Rev. Peter de la Roche to the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts, 26 August 1776, SPGFP, no. 207.
15 Memorial of Michael Head, Surg", Windsor, 5 June 1777, PANS
RGI, vol. 301, Document 94. Rev. Joseph Bennett of Windsor, wrote
to the SPGFP on 15 November 1775 that smallpox had broken out
in his family (SPGFP, series B, vol. 25, letter no. 201).
16 Bulkeley to Deschamps, 29 August 1775, PANS RGI, 136:220.
17 American Archives, 4th series, vol. 3, 1775, 90, Washington, 1840. Colonel
Thompson's proposal was not dated.
18 Legge to Dartmouth, 17 October 1775, PANS RGI, vol. 44, Document
78.
19 Suffolk to Legge, 16 October 1775, PANS RGI, vol. 32, Document 32.
20 "State of His Majesty's Forces at Halifax, 21 October 1775. Joseph
Gorham, Commanding Officer," Earl of Dartmouth 1:417, PANS Micro
Biography. The Fourteenth Regiment numbered 77 men; the
Sixty-fifth, 113 men including one surgeon's mate; Gorham's Regiment,
135 men including one surgeon and one surgeon's mate; and
Maclean's Regiment, 65 men.
21 Legge to Dartmouth, 19 August 1775, PANS RGI, vol. 44
Document 76. Legge writes, "I cannot depend on the militia here."
22 Minutes of Council, 2 August 1775, PANS RGI, 189:333. Lt Col John

Butler, commanding officer of the Halifax Militia, stated that the sick-
ness in the town together with the daily labour of the inhabitants
made it very difficult to muster enough men for the town guard. At
the Council meeting of 30 September 1775, it was announced that
four hundred militia from the country would soon arrive in Halifax
to reinforce the town (PANS RGI, 189:364).
23 Statement made by Joshua Snow on 13 December 1775, Earl of Dart-
mouth i :433~5, PANS Micro Biography.
24 Legge to Dartmouth, 20 December 1775, PANS RGI, vol. 44,
Document 85.
25 Howe to Dartmouth, 13 December 1775, NAC 005, 93:11.
26 Minutes of Council, 30 November 1775, PANS RGI, 189:376.
27 Howe to Legge, 18 December 1775, Earl of Dartmouth i ^39—40, PANS
Micro Biography. According to Captain Alexander McDonald
("Letter Book," entry of 3 December 1775, Brigadier General Massey
and the 27th Regiment arrived in Halifax on that date. The 27th
was one of five regiments that embarked in the early fall of 1775 from
Cork for North America. The others were the 17th, 28th, 46th, and
55th (Rochford to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 21 September 1775,
Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Papers, Letter no. 47, PANS Micro Bi-
ography). The other four regiments continued on to Quebec and later,
in April of 1776, the i7th, and 55th arrived in Halifax with General
Sir William Howe ("State of the Regiments, Officers included, Boston,
17 March 1776," NAC €05, 93:94).
In the letter of 3 December 1775, Captain McDonald also informed
Lieutenant Colonel John Small, "Since I began to write this letter
who should appear but Mr Quin, your surgeon's mate that deserted.
I have ordered him to the blackhole and to be hand cufft."
28 Drew, Roll of Commissioned Officers i :43- The will of Christian Wagner
of Halifax, proved on 18 April 1775 (PANS RG48, Reel 424), in-
cluded a payment to Dr Fletcher of £135. 4d. on 18 May 1775, for med-
icines and attendance he had rendered Mr Wagner.
29 Halifax Supreme Court Records, PANS RG39, series c, Box 11. William
Paries of Halifax, surgeon's mate of the 65th Regiment of Foot, was
in court at Halifax on 24 March 1772.
30 "A Return of the Officers of the Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteers,"
Halifax, 23 May 1778, PANS 00217, 54:48.
31 NSGWC, 23 January 1781.
32 Estate of Christian Wagner, PANS RG48, Reel 424. Doctor Dundon (or
Dondon) was paid £6 155. on 16 November 1775 for attending Wag-
ner's family.
33 Drew, Roll of Commissioned Officers i :48. The 52nd Regiment was
one of the nineteen regiments that arrived in Halifax with General

Howe on 2 April 1776 after the evacuation of Boston "State of the
Regiments, Officers included, Boston, 17 March 1776," NAC 005,
93:94)-
34 Legge to Dartmouth, 12 May 1775, PANS RGI, vol. 44, Document 66.
Legge wrote, "Several vessels are already arrived with some of the
families that could escape and many other families [are] to follow them."
The earl of Dartmouth, responding to Legge in a letter dated i July
1775, referred to Nova Scotia as "a happy asylum to many unfortunate
Families" (PANS RGI, vol. 32, Document 31).
35 Claim signed at Halifax on 14 December 1785, PANS AO13, Loyalist
Claims, Reel 21:362.
36 Minutes of Council, 20 May 1775, PANS RGI, 189:303.
37 Minutes of Council, 4 August 1775, ibid. 334.
38 Bartlet, The Frontier Missionary, 168.
39 Legge to Green, 8 April 1775, PANS R G I , 181:217. He was paid,
on 8 April 1775, thirty pounds for one and a half years service and
medicines.
40 NSGWC, 8 August 1775. He was officially appointed surgeon to the naval
hospital on 12 December 1775 (Graves to Arbuthnot, 12 December
1775, Clark, Morgan, eds., Naval Documents of the American Revolution
3:63)-
41 "Return of Officers of HM Provincial Regiment of Loyal Nova Scotia
Volunteers, 23 February 1776, Earl of Dartmouth 1:546-7, PANS
Micro Biography.
42 "Annual Account of the Orphans House for the year ending 1775,
signed by John Fenton," ibid., 3:2,863—4.
43 The medical personnel who were in Halifax in 1775, and who had
arrived in Halifax prior to 1758, included George Francheville (1751),
Christopher Nicolai (1751), Thomas Reeve (1749), Thomas Wood
(1752), and John Day (1755). As mentioned earlier, this could have been
the same John Day who was allotted Lot 613 in Callendar's Division
on 8 August 1749 (o.s.). Day, the surgeon, drowned in Boston Harbour
on 29 November 1775 (Clark, Morgan, eds., Naval Documents of the
American Revolution 2:1202).
44 Arbuthnot to Howe, 15 January 1776, PANS Adm. 1/484:376. On
the preceding date, Mariot Arbuthnot was commander of the Naval
Yard at Halifax; however, on 20 April 1776, he received his man-
damus as lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia (Dictionary of Canadian Bi-
ography 4:29—30). The "State of HM Troops in Nova Scotia,
18 December 1775" (PANS CO217, 51:39) shows that there were in total
986 men in the province, with 156 sick in quarters. The recently
arrived 27th Regiment (referred to as Enniskillens) contained 384 men,
of whom eighty-three were sick. That regiment had one surgeon

and one surgeon's mate on its establishment.
45 General Washington to President of Congress, Cambridge, 30 Jan-
uary 1776, American Archives 4th series, 4:893, Washington, 1843.
Capt. Alexander McDonald wrote to Captain MacLeod on 26 Feb-
ruary 1776 that there were three hundred men in his regiment (the
Second Battalion, Royal Highland Emigrants). He stated further
that the 27th Regiment was in Halifax, along with part of the 65th and
part of the i4th regiments, a company of Artillery and Colonel
Gorham's Regiment. The 14th and 65th regiments were sent back to
England in April 1776 (Barrington to Howe, 20 April 1776, Sir Guy
Carleton, Carleton Papers, Letter no. 161, PANS Micro Biography).
46 Letter and Petition from Nova Scotia to General Washington, Cum-
berland, Nova Scotia, 8 February 1776, American Archives, 4th series,
5:936—8. It is likely that this petition was prepared by the same in-
habitants who signed the letter that followed it (ibid., 938-9). These
were Abijah Ayer, Nathaniel Reynolds, Amasa Killam, Jesse Bent,
William Maxwell, George Forster, John Allan, William Lawrence, Simon
Newcomb, Robert Foster, and Simeon Chester.
47 Legge to Dartmouth, 11 January 1776, PANS RGI, vol. 45, Document 4.
Included with Legge's letter were three petitions from the inhab-
itants of northern Nova Scotia. The first was from 246 inhabitants of
the townships of Amherst, Cumberland, and Sackville, dated 23 De-
cember 1775; the second was from fifty-six inhabitants in the township
of Onslow, dated 3 January 1776; and the third was from sixty-four
inhabitants in the township of Truro, dated 3 January 1776.
48 An Act in addition to the several Acts of this province made for
Regulating the Militia, and more particularly an Act made in the 2d
year of His present Majesty's Reign Intitled an act for the better
Regulating the militia on actual service in time of war, PANS RG5, series s,
vol. 5. Passed in the Assembly, 4 November; in Council, 13 Novem-
ber; and assented to by Governor Legge, 17 November 1775.
49 An Act for raising a Tax on the Inhabitants of this Province for
defraying the Expence of maintaining and supporting the militia of
the said province and for the defence of the same, PANS RG5,
series s, vol. 5. Passed in Assembly, 9 November; in Council, 13 No-
vember; and assented to by Governor Legge on 17 November,
1775-
50 To the King's most Excellent Majesty the Petition of the Principal
Gentlemen and Inhabitants of your Majesty's faithful and Loyal [sub-
jects] of Nova Scotia, Halifax, 2 January 1776, PANS 00217,
27:218-23.
51 Howe to Dartmouth, 21 March 1776, NAC 005, 93:86-8.
52 Ibid., 94. The nineteen regiments included the following: 4th, 5th, loth,
iyth, 22nd, 23rd, 35th, 38th, 4oth, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 47th, 49th,
52nd, 55th, 63rd, 64th, and 65th.
53 Ibid., 152—73. List of Persons who removed from Boston to Halifax
with His Majesty's troops in the month of March 1776 with the number
of their respective families: governor and Council, 85 persons; com-
missioners and clerks, 74; Custom House officers, 47; Episcopal clergy,
18; refugees from the country, 105; farmers, traders, etc., 382;
merchants of Boston, 213; others, 200 — a total of 1,124 people.
"Others" referred to "those who have not returned their names."
Of the eight physicians included in the list, six (Oliver, Coffin, Gardiner,
Jeffries, and the two Perkinses) were among the 306 men banished
under the Banishment Act of the State of Massachusetts, enacted in
September 1778 (Stark, The Loyalists of Massachusetts. 137—40). One
additional physician, Dr William Paine, who came to Nova Scotia in
1782, also was banished by the act, which was entitled An Act to
prevent the return to this state of certain persons therein named, and
others who have left this state or either of the United States, and
joined the enemies thereof.
54 Minutes of Council, 3 June 1776, PANS RGI, 189:407. "A consid-
erable number of women and children amounting to 2,030 persons are
to be left in Halifax on the embarkation of the Army."
55 Distribution of Transports and Embarkation of the Troops at Boston,
17 March 1776, NAG 005, 93:95.
56 Shuldham to Stephens, 17 March 1776, PANS Adm. 1/484:480. On page
542, James Dickson was referred to as surgeon and agent on board
the Richmond hospital ship on 14 April 1776. On page 621, James
Dickson signed a letter at Halifax on 28 May 1776 as surgeon and
agent for sick and hurt seamen on the hospital ship Two Brothers.
57 Shuldham to Stephens, 16 April 1776, PANS Adm. 1/484:506. Admiral
Shuldham reported that he had ten ships at Halifax, one at Liver-
pool, one at Cape Sable, and two at Annapolis.
58 Harris, An Account of Some of the Descendants of Capt. Thomas Brattle,
32. William Brattle was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 18 April
1706, and graduated in Arts from Harvard in 1722. He became a
physician and, in 1736, was elected to the House of Assembly of Mas-
sachusetts Bay. William Brattle served as the attorney general of
that province. In 1776, at the age of 70, he left Cambridge with General
Howe and moved to Halifax. He was buried from St Paul's Church
in Halifax on 26 October 1776.
59 Jeffries, Jeffries of Massachusetts, 1658—1914, 11-13. Dr Jeffries was
born in Boston on 5 February 1745, obtained an AM from Harvard in
1766, and was the first native-born American to be awarded (1769)
an MD from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He served as surgeon

and, from April 1776 until February 1779, as purveyor to the gen-
eral military hospital in Halifax.
Go "List of His Majesty's Council and other late Inhabitants of the
Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England who embarked at Hal-
ifax on 12 May 1776 bound for Great Britain," NAC 005, 93:164.
Howe to Germain, 7 May 1776, ibid, 154, notes that "Lt Governor Oliver
and five of the Council of Massachusetts Bay and some of the In-
habitants of Boston go to Britain at this time." Massey to Germain,
27 June 1776 (PANS 00217, vol. 52, Document 233) gives a return
of twenty-two refugees' names who are said to be from Boston and now
sent to England.
61 Howe to Germain, Halifax, 25 April 1776, in Clark, Morgan, eds., Naval
Documents of the American Revolution 4:1247.
62 The Reverend Byles to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts, 4 May 1776, SPGFP, B series, 22:92.
63 Legge to Germain, 10 April 1776, PANS RGI, vol. 45, Document 10.
"On the 3oth March arrived fifty sail of transports in the Harbour
on board those inhabitants of Boston who have remained steady in their
duty and allegiance to the crown." In a letter to the Secretary of
the Admiralty, dated 16 April 1776 (PANS Adm. 1/484:506), Admiral
Shuldham wrote: "The whole fleet arrived in Halifax on 2 April 1776.'
64 General Orders, Thomas Gage [as well as William Howe], entry for
18 May 1776, PANS MGi2, HQ, vol. Oa.
65 Ibid., entry for 24 May 1776. Since the first name of Mr Gold-
thwaite is not known, he is difficult to identify precisely. A Dr Gold-
wright was buried from St Paul's on 10 October 1776; also a
Michael B. Goldthwaite, hospital mate at the general hospital in New
York during the revolution, could have been in Halifax during
April and May of 1776.
66 Mr Morehead's identity is uncertain. Simeon Perkins mentions a
Dr Morehead letting blood in Liverpool on 11 January 1781 (Innis et
al., eds., The Diary of Simeon Perkins, vol. 2, 63). This doctor appears
to have remained in Liverpool until at least 16 February 1782 and was
mentioned often by Perkins (ibid., 86, 88, 100, 116).
67 Dickson et al. to Shuldham, Halifax Harbour, 14 April 1776, PANS Adm.
1/484:542.
68 Ibid., 540. Charles White had been surgeon of the naval hospital at Bos-
ton (ibid., 546) and, by 12 May 1776, had returned to England
(ibid., 563).
69 James Dickson, George Rutherford, John Philipps, and Robert
Whyte, to Shuldham, 29 May 1776, PANS Adm. 1/484:621; Dickson
et al. to Shuldham, 7 June 1776, ibid., 641.
70 Arbuthnot to Howe, 30 June 1776, Clark, Morgan, eds., Naval Documents

of the American Revolution 5:834.
71 The New England Chronicle, 4 July 1776, stated that General Howe had
left Halifax on 13 June 1776 with 140 sail of men-of-war, trans-
ports, etc. It is recorded, however, in Order Book, Thomas Gage [and
William Howe] (PANS MG12, HQ, vol. Oa) that seventeen of the reg-
iments that had evacuated from Boston on 17 March 1776 accompanied
Howe to New York on 10 June 1776. These were the 4th, 5th, loth,
i7th, 22nd, 23rd, 35th, 38th, 4oth, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 49th, 52nd, 55th,
63rd, and 64th. The 47th Regiment had left Halifax for Quebec
on 20 April 1776 (Howe to Germain, 25 April 1776, NAC 005, 93:138),
while the 65th Regiment had been sent back to England (Barrington
to Howe, 20 April 1776, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Papers, Letter
no. 161, PANS Micro Biography). In addition to the seventeen reg-
iments listed, the 42nd and the 7ist, both Highland regiments, arrived
in Halifax harbour on 8 June 1776 (Howe to Germain, 8 June 1776,
NAC 005, 93:212). These, along with part of Massey's 27th Regiment,
were part of Howe's army as it embarked for New York on 10 June
1776, a total of twenty regiments.
72 Tillenghast to Washington, Providence, 29 June 1776, American Ar-
chives, 4th series, 6:1137. Howe arrived in New York on 29 June 1776
(Howe to Germain, Staten Island, 7 July 1776, NAC CO5, 93:214).
73 Clark, Morgan, eds., Naval Documents of the American Revolution 6:1513.
74 Howe to Germain, Staten Island, 15 August 1776, NAC CO5, 93:247.
75 Original Manuscript Journal by Admiral Sir George Collier, in Clark,
Morgan, eds., Naval Documents of the American Revolution 6:1516,
Appendix C.
77 Massey to Germain, 27 June 1776, PANS 00217, vol. 52, Document 233.
78 Massey to Germain, 6 October 1776, ibid., Document 308.
79 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 26 June 1776. A memorial was pre-
sented from John Woodin, master and keeper of the poor house,
with his account for maintaining several poor, sick, lame, blind, and
"lunatick" persons who had no settlement in the province. He was
paid £123 out of the monies arising from the duties of Impost and Ex-
cise. The overseers of the poor for Halifax in June 1776 were Wil-
liam Mott, James Wakefield, Robert Killo, and Richard Tritten Jr
(Minutes of 27 June 1776, Journal of the House of Assembly).
80 Ibid. Dr Thomas Reeve was paid sixty-four pounds out of the duties
for "attendance and medicines to the poor, sick, and hurt persons
of the Province from 18 June 1775 to 17 June 1776."
81 Studholme to Massey, Windsor, 6 November 1776, Sir Guy
Carleton, Carleton Papers, Letter no. 310, PANS Micro Biography.
82 Drew, Roll of Commissioned Officers 1:25. It should be noted here that

Robert Drew has combined in one biographical sketch the careers of
two separate people named George Frederick Boyd. The Dr Boyd
who was appointed surgeon to the Second Battalion, Royal Highland
Emigrants, on 8 May 1776, died on 2 March 1789 at the age of forty
years (NSGWC, 3 March 1789), indicating that he was born circa 1749.
Drew's biographical sketch indicates that George Frederick Boyd
was surgeon of the 2oth Foot in 1756, and died at Basingstoke, England,
in 1801.
83 Innis et al., eds., The Diary of Simeon Perkins, 1766—1780 1:116. This
fear of inoculation was also prevalent in other centres and, for in-
stance, resulted in a resolution being passed at a meeting of the New
York Provincial Congress on 13 December 1775 (American Archives,
4th series, 4:406): "Ordered that no person whatsoever do inoculate
for the smallpox in this colony, until the further order of this Con-
gress."
84 PANS M G I , vol. 183, no. i, Chipman Collection.
85 John Jeffries to Richard Bulkeley, 16 December 1776, PANS RGI,
vol. 342, Document 77. It appears that Michael Head had been ap-
pointed chief surgeon of the general (military) hospital at Halifax by
General Massey, but General Howe had countermanded the ap-
pointment (Head to Pernette, 20 June 1777, PANS MGIOO, vol. 205,
no. i5d).
86 Graves to Arbuthnot, 12 December 1775, in Clark, Morgan, eds., Naval
Documents of the American Revolution 3:63.
87 Ibid., 6:1525. Collier suggests in his journal that the naval hospital in-
cident, decribed in the text which follows, happened about four
months after his arrival in Halifax in late September 1776. Since Collier
did not actually write his journal until 1779, his recollection of the
incident's having taken place in January or February 1777 could have
been in error by a number of months. According to a statement
made by John Scott, assistant surgeon of the naval hospital, the sick
patients were turned out of the hospital on George's Island on
15 May 1777 (NSGWC, 6 October 1778).
88 Dickson to Admiralty Medical Department, 25 July 1777, PRO
Adm. 98, vol. 11, Letter no. 122. Also, James Dickson, surgeon and
agent for the Sick and Hurt Seamen and Marines in Nova Scotia,
advertised in the NSGWC on 6 October 1778 that two hundred cords
of wood were to be landed on George's Island for the use of His
Majesty's Naval Hospital.
89 Halifax County Wills, PANS RG48, Book 2:228—9. John Scott signed
as a witness on 9 December 1777, the day Andrew Ackman made his
will. Scott was referred to as surgeon, Halifax Naval Hospital.
90 Clark, Morgan, eds., Naval Documents of the American Revolution 6:1525.

91 Arbuthnot to Barclay, 13 August 1776, PANS RGI, 136:239.
92 Germain to Arbuthnot, 11 December 1777, PANS 00217, vol. 53,
Document 247.
93 Halifax County Wills, PANS RG48, Book 2:222. Dr Reeve made his will
on 20 June 1777, and it was proved on 26 July of that year.
94 Davidson to Reeve, 30 April 1750 (o.s.), PANS RGI, 163/1:38. Also Min-
utes of Council, 4 June 1755, PANS 00217, 15:285.
95 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 24 June 1766. In a memorial to the
House, Dr Reeve stated, without specifying the date, that Governor
Wilmot had appointed him as surgeon to the workhouse.
96 Memorial of Thomas Reeve, 21 June 1777, PANS RGI, vol. 301,
Document 21.
97 Cumberland County Deeds, PANS RG47, series B, 137. Parker Clark of
Cumberland, physician, sold land to Jonathan Eddy on 15 May 1770.
98 Journal of Lt Col Joseph Gorham describing the attempted capture
of Fort Cumberland and covering the period 4 November to 2 Decem-
ber 1776, PANS RGI, vol. 365, Documents 4 and 5.
99 Arbuthnot to Germain, 11 October 1777, PANS RGI, vol. 45,
document 46. On the latter date, there were 170 grenadiers at Fort
Cumberland. According to Arbuthnot, the additional forces in Nova
Scotia were five companies of Marines at Halifax and Major Small's
Highland Emigrants, two companies of which were stationed at Wind-
sor. On 31 December 1776, Arbuthnot wrote to Germain, "The Vul-
ture arrived alone near Fort Cumberland and landed Major [Thomas]
Batt at the head of the Marines on the 26th of November past. On
the 28th the major marched out of the fort before daylight in hopes
of surprising those Banditti [sic], but they were too nimble and fled
into the woods."
100 "Trials for Treason, 1776—1777." 112—13, 116.
101 Milner, "Records of Chignecto," 50.
102 Columbian Centennial, 20 October 1798. The Ipswich Vital Records
indicates that he died of "numb palsy."
103 Raymond, "Roll of Officers of the British American or Loyalist
Corps," 231.
104 Massey to Germain, 20 December 1776, PANS 00217, vol. 53, Doc-
ument 113.
105 Massey to Howe, 12 January 1778, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Pa-
pers, Letter no. 857, PANS Micro Biography. Dr Cullen is reported
as being in Windsor, Nova Scotia, on 11 February 1778 (George
Deschamps diary for 1778 written on blank pages in the Nova Scotia
Calendar or, an Almanack, printed by A. Henry, Halifax, 1778, entry
dated 11 February 1778, PANS MGI, no. 258A).
106 James Silver was probably one of the surgeons in the two battalions
of Marines that accompanied General William Howe to Halifax on
2 April 1776 (Howe to Dartmouth, 21 March 1776, NAC 005,
93:94). The Marines remained in Halifax after Howe moved his head-
quarters to New York on 10 June 1776 (McDonald, "Letter Book,"
15)-
107 Halifax County Estates, Reel 425, PANS RG48. Estate of Samuel
Wethered, 1777.
108 Arbuthnot to Germain, 23 December 1777, PANS RGI 45:48. John
Bolman (1751—1833), one of the surgeons who was with General
Burgoyne at Saratoga, was wounded in the battle and taken pris-
oner. After the war, he practised in Lunenburg for over fifty years
(Letter to the Queen [Victoria] from Anne and Mary Bolman,
Lunenburg, 27 May 1842, Canon Harris Genealogies, vol. 94, no. 16,
PANS MG4).
109 Massey to Howe, 26 November 1777, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Pa-
pers, Letter no. 765, PANS Micro Biography.
110 McDonald, "Letter Book," letter to Mr McKenzie dated 6 May 1777.
111 Poole, Annals, 93—4.
112 Jeffries Family Papers, vols. 30 and 31, Massachusetts Historical So-
ciety, Boston.
113 Innis et al., eds., The Diary of Simeon Perkins, 1766—1780 i: 163.
114 McDonald, "Letter Book," Letter to Donald McLean, 11 June
1777.
115 St Paul's Church, Halifax, PANS MG4, marriage of 15 December
1763.
116 George Deschamps diary for 1776, entries for 24 January and
12 February 1776, PANS MGI, no. 258A. Since there were a number
of Harris families in Horton in 1776, it is difficult to identify the
Christian name of Mrs Harris, midwife.
118 Germain to Arbuthnot, 26 February 1778, PANS RGI, vol. 32, Doc-
ument 42.
119 Barrington to Germain, 18 February 1778, NAC 005, 170:17-18.
120 Whitehall to Clinton, 21 March 1778, NAC CO5, 95:97.
121 Barrington to Germain, 16 April 1778, NAC CO5, 170:49—50.
122 Knox to Stephens, 17 April 1778, NAC CO5, 128:123—4.
123 Massey to Clinton, 20 August 1778, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Papers,
Letter no. 1303, PANS Micro Biography.
124 Massey to Clinton, 13 June 1778, ibid., Letter no. 1234.
125 McLean to Whitehall, 18 August 1778, PANS CO217, 54:87.
126 Establishment of the General Hospital at Halifax, 24 November 1778,
Dorchester Papers, PANS RGI, vol. 368, Document 58.
127 Clinton to McLean, 19 January 1779, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Pa-
pers, Letter no. 1688, PANS Micro Biography. McLean had in-
formed Clinton that John Jeffries, the purveyor, had been appointed
to that position by Major General Eyre Massey (McLean to Clinton,
24 October 1778, ibid., Letter no. 9807). Brig. Gen. Francis McLean
had replaced Major General Massey as officer commanding the
army in Halifax in September 1778 (Clinton to McLean, 24 September
1778, ibid., Letter no. 1393). Massey left Halifax for England on
5 October 1778 (McLean to Clinton, 24 October 1778, ibid., Letter
no. 9807).
128 Barrington to Germain, 5 November 1778, NAC 005, 170:133-6.
129 "Return of Prisoners remaining sick and wounded in His Majesty's
Hospital at Halifax, 9 January 1778, J. Jeffries, surgeon," PANS RGI,
vol. 368, Document 12. The names of the fifty-one prisoners ap-
pear in the return. It would appear that, like the regular British sol-
diers, they were in the general military hospital, but held under
guard and treated in a separate room, or rooms.
130 See also Byron to Stephens, 27 August 1778, PANS Adm.
1/486:118. Admiral Byron stated, "I found no ship here [in Halifax]
of force except the Culloden and she is in a very sickly condition."
The Culloden had arrived in Halifax on 16 August, and could have
been the source of the illness that eventually broke out among the
rebel prisoners.
131 Germain to Hughes and McLean, 11 November 1778, PANS
00217, 54:127.
132 Barrington to McLean, 5 November 1778, in Davies, ed., Docu-
ments of the American Revolution, 1770—1783, vol. 13.
133 Lewis to deGrey, 10 November 1778, NAC 005, 170:142—7.
134 McLean to Clinton, 28 December 1778, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton
Papers, Letter no. 1634, PANS Micro Biography. Baron de Seitz
(Fritz Carl Erdman) was colonel and chief of the Hessian Regiment
of Foot.
135 Innis et al., eds., The Diary of Simeon Perkins, 1766—1780 1:225, en try
of 13 December 1778. The detachment, which consisted of fifty-
eight officers and men, arrived at Liverpool on 13 December.
136 "Return of the British and Brunswick Troops ordered to Lunen-
burg under the command of Lt Col Von Specht, Halifax, October
1778," PANS RGI, vol. 367 !/*, Document 17. One of these surgeons
could have been Dr John Bolman, for he is known to have been a sur-
geon in General Von Riedesal's Brunswick Regiment as early as
1777 (Land Grant Petition of John Bolman, 1809 PANS RG2O, A) and
to have been in Lunenburg as early as 25 November 1779 (Petition
of Dr John Bolman, Nova Scotia, Journal, 1802, 25).

138 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 19 June 1778. Dr Philipps was paid
fifty pounds, presumably for providing medical services during
the preceding year.
139 Dr Edward Wyer was born in England circa 1752, attended lec-
tures given by William Cullen and William Hunter in Edinburgh in
1771 and 1772, and entered Guy's Hospital Medical School in Lon-
don in February 1776 (Burrage, A History of the Massachusetts Medical
Society, 53, 351, 393). Dr Wyer remained in Halifax until June 1785
(NSGWC, 28 June 1785) and then removed to Boston, where he died
on 16 September 1788 (Massachusetts Centinel, 20 September 1788).
140 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 16 June 1778. There were thirty-four
persons in the poor house in June 1778, including seventeen
women (Memorial of John Woodin, late Master of the Poor House
at Halifax, June 1778, PANS RGI, vol. 411, Document 8).
141 Halifax Inferior Court of Common Pleas, 24 September 1762, PANS
RG37, vol. 13. Thomas Wood was referred to as a physician of Hal-
ifax. Thomas Wood had advertised at Brunswick, New Jersey, a
month-long course on osteology and myology, to be succeeded by
a course in angiology and neurology, if interest warranted. The ad-
vertisement appeared in the New York Weekly Post-Boy on 27 Jan-
uary 1752, and the text of the advertisement is printed in Gordon,
Aesculapius Comes to the Colonies, 356—7. The Reverend Thomas
Wood's Estate Papers (Halifax Estates, Reel 426, PANS RG48) show that,
at the time of his death, he had in his library twenty-seven books
on physic and surgery; unfortunately, none are identified by title.
142 Letters to the Honourable Judges of the Inferior Court and Gen-
eral Sessions of the Peace at Horton from Robert Kinsman (26 May
1778), and Jonathan Rockwell Jr (i June 1778), PANS MGI,
vol. 183, nos. 134, 135.
143 McLean to Campbell, 7 May 1779, Dorchester Papers, PANS RGI,
vol. 368, Document 154. It is likely that the commendation dated
27 May 1783 to Dr John Philipps, surgeon of the Royal Regiment
of Nova Scotia Volunteers, for having "discharged great attention and
regularity in the disposal of the Hospital on George's Island in
Halifax Harbour," referred to the removal of the hospital in May 1779
(PANS MG12, HQi:4). By July 1781, there were forty-seven guns
in the battery on George's Island, and it was stated that 221 men and
six officers would be necessary to manage the battery in case of
attack (Return of the Number of Officers and Men exclusive of the
Royal Artillery that would be necessary for the management of
the cannon in the several batteries in the Garrison of Halifax, 14 July
1781, Dorchester Papers, PANS RGI, vol. 368, Document 29).
144 Hamond to Commissioners for Sick and Hurt Seamen, 6 August 1781,
Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2, Section 7, PANS Micro Biography.
145 McLean to Clinton, 28 May 1779, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Papers,
Letter no. 2024, PANS Micro Biography. McLean was first alerted
on 11 February 1779 to the concern about a possible attack on Nova
Scotia (ibid., Letter no. 1740).
146 Ibid., The grenadiers and light infantry companies of the 7oth, 74th,
and Sand regiments had embarked from Halifax for New York
in early March 1779 (NSGWC, 9 March 1779). However, the remaining
companies in each regiment had remained in Halifax. Sir George
Collier commanded the several transports which carried the troops
to New York (ibid., 16 March 1779).
147 Hughes to Germain, 21 November 1779, PANS RGI, vol. 45,
Document 83. The naval force in Halifax on that date consisted
of a frigate (twenty-eight guns), a sloop (eighteen guns), and two schoo-
ners (one of fourteen guns, and another of ten guns).
148 NSGWC, 18 May 1779.
149 As early as 1712, patents were granted in England for compound
medicines. They soon found their way to America and, through the
medium of the newspaper, became well known. They were used
by many citizens who preferred a home remedy either because it was
less expensive or because of unfortunate experiences with quacks
(Young, The Toadstool Millionaires).
150 Innis et al., eds., The Diary of Simeon Perkins, ij66—ij8o i .'236;
Ellis, A Genealogical Register of Edmund Rice Descendants, 129. Dr Jesse
Rice was born in Marlboro, Massachusetts, on 25 May 1761, re-
ceived his Bachelor of Arts at Harvard in 1772, and came to Yarmouth
circa 1778 (Memorial of Sundry Settlers in the Township of Yar-
mouth, 30 June 1783, PANS RGI, vol. 223, Document 5). After prac-
tising in Yarmouth and vicinity for about seventeen years, he
removed to Bakersfield, Maine, where he died in 1816.
151 Acadian Recorder, 6 October 1821. Drake, in his article entitled
"The Wet Nurse in France in the i8th Century," points out that about
eighty percent of infants in Paris were cared for by wet nurses (Bul-
letin of the History of Medicine 8:934—48, 1940). Fildes (Wet Nursing: A
History from Antiquity to the Present) indicates that the eighteenth
century was the most significant period in the history of wet nursing.
152 NSGWC 14 October 1800.
153 Cope, The History of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 6. William
Cheselden was a member of the Company of Barber-Surgeons of
London, which existed from 1540 to 1745. He was a well-known sur-
geon and teacher of anatomy in London and, along with John
Ranby, was responsible for the separation between the barbers and
the surgeons, which took place on 2 May 1745.
154 It is likely that the thermometer, advertised in the Gazette, was used
for clinical purposes, for the other two items included in the ad-
vertisement were newly invented elastic trusses for ruptures in adults
and children and Maredant Drops. It is also possible, however, that
the device in the advertisement was an instrument for making mete-
orological measurements.
155 Garrison, An Introduction to the History of Medicine, 296, 691.
156 Boston News-Letter, 4 October 1708.
157 Young, The Toadstool Millionaires, 5, 13. Galenicals were remedies
thought to restore the harmonious relationship of the humours
— blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy — the four liquids of the body
according to Galen (c. i3O-c. 200). The chymicals mentioned by
Young refer to the remedies proposed first by Paracelsus
(c. 1490—1541), who felt that abnormal separation of the three ele-
ments in man ("salt," "sulphur," and "mercury") were the cause of sick-
ness. Paracelsus introduced mineral baths; added opium, mercury,
lead, sulphur, iron, arsenic, and copper sulphate to the pharmaco-
poeia; and popularized tinctures and alcoholic extracts.
158 Some of these patent medicines were advertised by George Greaves,
surgeon of Halifax, while the remainder were sold by the printer
of the Gazette, A. Henry. A number of the descriptive terms that are
now uncommon require an explanation. Pectoral drops were for-
mulated to relieve or to cure diseases of the lungs or chest. An elixir
was a sweetened, alcoholic, medicinal preparation supposedly able
to prolong life indefinitely. A cordial was a medical stimulant supposed
to invigorate the heart. A balsam was any fragrant ointment, some-
times derived from the resin of trees, used for medicinal purposes.
A tincture was a solution, usually in alcohol, of some distinctly col-
oured substance used in medicine. A nostrum was a medicine of one's
own invention or preparation.
159 Young, The Toadstool Millionaires, 5, 13.
160 NSGWC, 11 January 1780.
161 Ibid., 3 October 1780. The first school of veterinary medicine had been
founded in Lyon in 1762, and was moved to Alfort near Paris, in
1766. By 1775, over one thousand students had graduated (Hannaway,
"Veterinary Medicine and Rural Health," 431-77).
162 Lind, A Treatise of the Scurvy.
163 Memorial of Nathaniel Russell, Keeper of the Poor House in Hal-
ifax and his Accounts, 10 October 1780, PANS RGI, vol. 411, Document
1O 1/2.
164 PANS RGI, vol. 286, Document 130. In Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes
for 8 June 1779, Nathaniel Russell was called the keeper of the
workhouse and poor house.
165 Minutes of Council, 21 December 1779, PANS RGI, 189:464. The
monthly return for September 1780 indicates that, during that month,
twenty-one men and one woman became inmates of the poor
house. The minutes of Council record that the overseers of the poor
for the town had represented to Council "that on the arrival of
the last cartel from Boston, many persons who had been put on shore
were sickly and naked, and they were obliged to send twenty-two
of them to the Poor House for cure, and to purchase necessary
cloathing for them."
166 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 9 June 1779. Dr Wyer was surgeon
to the poor house until 31 December 1780, when he was succeeded
by Dr Malachy Salter (PANSRGI, vol. 298, Document 87, General Court
of Quarter Sessions, 14 December). Dr Salter, the first native-born
Nova Scotian to become a surgeon, was baptized at St Paul's on 18 De-
cember 1757. He was the son of Malachy Salter Sr, who had come
to Halifax from New England in the early 17505. Malachy Jr entered
Guy's Hospital medical school in London on i May 1778 and, after
completing his medical training, returned to Halifax in November
1780 (NSGWC, 14 November 1780). He continued as surgeon to
the poor house and operated a drug and medicine store opposite the
Market House on Granville Street, until his death on 4 December
1782 (Gazette, 28 August 1781, and 10 December 1782). His gravestone
bears the inscription, "He died in the bloomus vigor of Life."
168 McLean to Clinton, 23 November 1778, Sir Guy Carleton, Letter
no. 1634, PANS Micro Biography.
169 Piers, The Evolution of the Halifax Fortress, 1749—1928. Publication
no. 7 of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, 20, 5-6. Albemarle Street
is known now as Market Street.
170 Johan Christian Helmerich was an assistant medical officer in the Reg-
iment von Stein during 1778 and 1779 (von Eelking, The German
Allied Troops, 318) and in the Regiment von Seitz during 1780-83 (Hos-
pital Staff Surgeons and Regimental Surgeons to A. Finucane,
17 January 1782, PANS RGI, vol. 368, Document 36). He is known to
have been in Halifax during 1781, 1782, and 1783. Helmerich
could have been the surgeon referred to by Baroness von Riedesel
in her journal (Baronness von Riedesel and the American Revolution,
114-15):
On this voyage [July 1781] we touched Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and

even went ashore ... Since I suffered so the whole time there from
my toothache, I decided to have one of my teeth drawn. In order to
spare my husband and children all care and unrest, I arose at five
in the morning, sent for our surgeon, who was considered a skilful
man at this kind of operation, went into a room somewhat apart
from the rest, where he had me sit on the floor, and with a nasty, blunt
instrument he gave me such a jerk, that I thought the deed was
done and asked for my tooth. "Just be patient another moment," he
said, going at in again and giving me another jerk. Now, I thought,
I was at last freed of it. But not at all. He had, on the contrary, taken
hold of and pulled at a good tooth, without completely extracting
it, I was extremely angry at this, and although he advised pulling this
one now as well as the bad tooth, I neither could nor would put
myself in his hands again. I have had reason to regret this attempt
for a long time, for this tooth which was now out of place pre-
vented me for more than two years from closing my teeth together.
Moreover, this experience was so dreadful, that I was never able
again to bring myself to undergo such an operation.
171 John Frederick Traugott Gschwind was appointed an assistant surgeon

to a Hessian regiment on 2 March 1776 and, in the same year,
came to America to serve with General Howe (PRO WO25, 3904:143).
He was in Halifax as early as 2 February 1781 (Halifax Supreme
Court Records for 1782, PANS RG39, series c).
172 Marshall to McLean, 8 May 1780, Dorchester Papers, PANS RGI,
vol. 368, document 119.
173 Germain to Hughes and McLean, 11 November 1778, PANS
00217, 54:127.
174 Report of the Hospital Staff and Regimental Surgeons to A.
Finucane, 17 January 1782, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Papers, Letter
no. 4057, PANS Micro Biography. A temporary prison hospital was
mentioned as early as 27 October 1778 by Dr John Jeffries in his diary.
However, on 7 January 1779 he wrote that all the sick were re-
moved from the prisoners' hospital and that orders were given to dis-
charge all the nurses and cooks.
175 Hamond to Commissioners for Sick and Hurt Seamen, 6 August 1781,
Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2, Sections 7, 6, PANS Micro Biography.
176 Hamond to Thomas, 13 August 1781, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
Section 9:38, PANS Micro Biography. An additional lot of land was
purchased for forty pounds in May 1782 from Robert Grant, Esq.,
formerly a member of Council and a surgeon in Halifax from 1749
to 1758, "for the use of HM Navy Hospital now being built at this Port."
(Hamond to Thomas, 16 May 1782, ibid., 120).
177 Hamond to Graves, 20 August 1781, ibid., Section 7:15.

178 Hamond to Digby, 26 December 1781, ibid., 57.
179 Hamond to Thomas, i January 1782, ibid., Section 9:106.
180 Hamond to Andrews, 7 January 1782, ibid., Section 7:61.
Hamond informed Israel Andrews of Windsor, who had tendered for
building the naval hospital, that the contract had been awarded.
181 Hamond to Dickson, 5 November 1781, ibid., Section 9:106.
182 NSGWC, 13 February 1781.
183 Edinburgh University matriculation records indicate that John Han-
dasyde attended lectures in the faculty of medicine during the
1777—78 term. The Examination Book of the Company of Surgeons
of London indicates that he passed an examination in surgery on
17 August 1780. He is said to have come to Halifax from London dur-
ing the summer of 1781 (Joseph Peters to Samuel Peters, 13 May
1782, in Cameron, The Papers of Loyalist Samuel Peters, 16).
184 Hamond to Handasyde, 4 August 1781, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
Section 9:4, PANS Micro Biography.
185 Hamond to Thomas, 29 December 1781, ibid., 54. The Stanislaus had
been rented from its owner, Mr Winkworth Norwood, on 14 Au-
gust 1781.
186 Hamond to Master Shipwright, 10 August 1781, ibid., 24.
187 Hamond to John Loader, Master Shipwright, 15 August 1781, ibid.,
32-
188 Hamond to Phips, 29 August 1781, ibid., 20.
189 Hamond to Sick and Hurt Board, 25 November 1781, ibid.,
Section 8:13.
190 Hamond to Graves, 28 October 1781, ibid., Section 7:39.
191 Innis et al., eds., Diary of Simeon Perkins, 1780—1789 vol. 2, entry for
5 September 1781.
192 Thomas Brown to Rev. Mr Jacob Bailey, 13 September 1781, PANS
MGI, vol. 93, no. 47.
193 Hamond to Dickson, 5 November 1781, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
194 Halifax County Wills, PANS RG48, Book 2:273, will of Francis McLean,
Colonel of the Eighty-second Regiment and Brig. Gen. of the army
in North America. He made his will on 13 April 1781, and it was
proved on 4 May 1781.
195 Minutes of Council, 22 October 1781, PANS RGI, 189:483.
196 Halifax County Wills, book 2:287, PANS RG48, will proved i Sep-
tember 1781, Dr Francheville was buried from St Paul's on 25 August
1781.
29i Notes to pages 130—1
198 Francklin to Vandergift, PANS RGI, vol. 220, Document 61, and
Francklin to Bulkeley, ibid., Document 62, both dated 5 November
1781.
199 Hamond to Digby, 15 February 1782, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
200 Hamond to Handasyde, i January 1782, ibid., Section 9:193—4.
201 Hamond to Handasyde, 14 January 1782, ibid., 57—8.
202 Digby to Stephens, New York, 9 March 1782, PANS Adm. 1/490:73.
Halliburton had passed examinations at the Company of Surgeons
in London on 18 May 1758, 20 March 1760, and 16 April 1761.
203 PRO Adm. 11/40:16. The ships he served on were the Thames,
30 May 1758 to 30 April 1761; the Prospering, i May 1761 to 9 April
1762; the Deal Castle, 2 February 1762 to i February 1763; and
the Maidstone, 19 April 1763 to 28 August 1766.
He was principal surgeon of the naval hospital at Halifax from
14 April 1782 to 31 December 1807.
204 Halliburton to Nepean, 27 November 1786, PANS 00217, 58:331.
Halliburton mentions that he was well acquainted with a merchant in
Halifax in 1763.
205 Halliburton to Montagu, 19 January 1773, PANS Adm. 1/484:202. The
agreement signed on that date meant that Halliburton was to be
paid six shillings for the cure of each man in his hospital, one shilling
per day for victualling each man, and ten shillings for each funeral.
206 John Halliburton's Weekly Account of Sick and Wounded Seamen
in Rhode Island Naval Hospital, 25 November 1778, PANS Adm.
1/486:143. On that date, 142 seamen were in the hospital.
207 Memorial of John Halliburton, Halifax, March 1786, Loyalist Claims,
Bundle 24:241—9, PANS Misc. L, AO13-
208 Petition of John Halliburton to Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty,
9 June 1807, PANS Adm. 1/497:176.
209 Hamond to Thomas, i January 1782, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
Section 9:77—8, PANS Micro Biography.)
210 Hamond to Thomas, 2 March 1782, ibid., 112. Mr Lee was paid five
hundred pounds for work carried out during the months of Jan-
uary and February 1782.
211 Hamond to Thomas, i January 1782, ibid., 80. Probably the ear-
liest such agreement was a contract between thirty-six families in Ville
Marie (on the Island of Montreal) and Estienne Bouchard, Master
Surgeon, signed on 4 April 1655 (Kelly, "Health Insurance in New
France," 535-41).
212 Hamond to Digby, 24 april 1782, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2, Section
7:80, PANS Micro Biography. Hamond wrote: "As I had proceeded
before by your permission, their Plan will not be exactly followed, but
attended to as far as is now practicable."
213 Hamond to Navy Board, 16 May 1782, ibid., 88.
214 Hamond to Thomson, 13 August 1782, ibid., 111.
215 Hamond to Thomas, 23 September 1782, ibid., Section 9:167.
216 Hamond to Stephens, 13 November 1782, ibid., Section 7:152.
217 Hamond to Halliburton, 15 December 1782, ibid., Section 9:200. Also
Hamond to Handasyde, i January 1782 (ibid., 202); Hamond to
Wood, 14 January 1782 (ibid., 58); Hamond to Mrs Jane Kennedy,
i January 1782 (ibid., 203); and Digby to Stephens, 9 March 1782
(PANS Adm. 1/490:73).
218 Pegasus: Log Book, 135, PANS Micro Misc. s, Ships. The Pegasus was
commanded by Prince William Henry (later William IV) and was in
Halifax harbour from 5 October to 25 October 1786.
219 Novascotian, 29 December 1842, 410. In "Notes by an old settler," it
is mentioned that the architect who planned the naval hospital was
a man named Brooks. This would have been Chamberlain Brooks,
a carpenter, whose will, made on 7 August 1784, was proved on
9 December 1784 (Halifax County Wills, Book 2:377, PANS RG48).
Brooks's name does not appear in the Andrew S. Hamond papers.
220 Petition of Samuel Sparrow, 1782, Land Grant Petitions, PANS RG2O,
series A. Akins ("History of Halifax City," 213) wrote: "In the year
1765 there were two hospitals in the north suburbs, near the beach
at the foot of Cornwallis Street called the Red and Green Hospi-
tals. They were there in 1785. One stood on the site of the present
North Country or Keating's market, the other stood on property
now owned by the heirs of the late H.H. Cogswell." It is recorded that
a property owner in Halifax by the name of McNeal was a patient
in the Green Hospital circa 1779 (Valuation of Real Estate in the
County of Halifax, PANS RGI, vol. 411). The Green Hospital ap-
pears no longer to have been used as such sometime prior to 1800,
since on 22 September of that year, Richard John Uniacke, Esq.,
was "granted a Town lot in Halifax formerly called the Green Hospital,
lately escheated" (PANS RGI, 191:53).
221 Land Grant Petitions, PANS RG2O, series A.
222 Lewis Davis to Doctor Marshall, 12 January 1782, Sir Guy
Carleton, Letter no. 4050, PANS Micro Biography. Lewis Davis had
been a surgeon's mate in Emmerick's Chasseurs in 1779
(Raymond, "Roll of Officers of the British American," 233) and, by
June 1781, was in Halifax as surgeon of the King's Rangers (King's
County Deeds, 4:103, PANS RG47).
223 Examination of Mr Lewis Davis, Surgeon to the King's Rangers,
17 January 1782, Sir Guy Carleton, Letter no. 4053, PANS Micro Bi-
ography. The board consisted of John Marshall, surgeon to the

hospital; George Frederick Boyd, surgeon, eighty-fourth Regiment;
James Kay, Surgeon, Seventieth Regiment; George Inness, Sur-
geon, Eighty-second Regiment; William Lawlor, surgeon's mate to the
general hospital; Peter Jaumard, surgeon's mate to the general
hospital; and J.C. Helmerich, surgeon major to Regiment De Seitz.
224 Hospital Staff and Regimental Surgeons to A. Finucane, 17 Jan-
uary 1782, ibid., Letter no. 4057. It is interesting to note that, whereas
the Stanislaus had been described as being able to contain four
hundred persons without overcrowding (Hamond to Sick and Hurt
Board, 25 November 1781, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
Section 8:12, PANS Micro Biography), there were a total of 605 pris-
oners in Halifax, presumably on the prison ship, on 26 October
1781 (Hamond to Graves, 26 October 1781, ibid., Section 7:39).
225 Hamond to Campbell, 23 April 1782, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
226 Minutes of Council, 21 January 1782, PANS RGI, 189:484.
227 Hamond to Campbell, 13 May 1782, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
Section 8:20—1.
228 Hamond to Digby, 2 August 1782, ibid., 29.
229 Hamond to Paterson, 23 September 1782, ibid., 31.
230 Hamond to Thomas, 14 December 1782, ibid., Section 9:186. Wink-
worth Norwood, owner of the Stanislaus, was paid £1,384 for the
rent of his ship from 14 May to 13 December. He had previously been
paid £989 for rental for the period 14 December 1781 to 13 May
1782 (Hamond to Thomas, 14 May 1782, ibid., 119). Escape from the
prison ship was very common, and the escapees were frequently
given assistance by Nova Scotia residents to return to New England
(Poole, Annals of Yarmouth and Barrington, 130—1).
231 Hamond to Digby, 15 November 1782, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2,
Section 7:154—5, PANS Micro Biography.
232 Ontario, Second Report of the Bureau of Archives, 803—4.
233 Munk, The Roll of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 2:235.
War Office to Carleton, 7 November 1781, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton
Papers, Letter no. 3860, PANS Micro Biography: "Dr Paine is to
be granted the first vacancy among physicians under your command."
234 Paine, Genealogical Notes, 23.
235 Earl Cornwallis was a relative of Governor Edward Cornwallis, the
founder of Halifax.
236 France had entered into a treaty of alliance with the Americans in Feb-
ruary 1778, and a French fleet under Admiral d'Estaing sailed for
America from Toulon in April 1778. French troops under the Marquis
de Lafayette and the French fleet under Admiral Francois de
Grasse assisted the Americans in winning the decisive battle at

Yorktown on 19 October 1781.
237 Parr to Townshend, 26 October 1782, PANS RGI, vol. 45,
Document 116.
238 Parr to Townshend, i December 1782, ibid., Document 119. Most of
these refugees arrived sometime prior to 22 November and were
accompanied by part of the 82nd Regiment (Hamond to Digby, 22 No-
vember 1782, Andrew S. Hamond, Reel 2, Section 7:158, PANS
Micro Biography).
239 Minutes of Council, 16 December 1782, PANS RGI, 189:493.
240 Return of Loyalists gone from New York to Nova Scotia, dated at New
York, 12 October 1783, PANS RGI, vol. 369, Document 198. Nova
Scotia in 1783 included the territory that later became the province
of New Brunswick. Digby does not appear in the return; however,
it would be expected that a portion of the 2,530 people listed for An-
napolis Royal were actually settled at Digby.
241 Sydney to Parr, 7 July 1784, PANS RGI, vol. 33, Document 8.
242 Antliff, "Loyalist Claims," PANS Vertical File, vol. 312, no. 29.
243 Brown, The King's Friends, 290—344.
244 Leiby, The Revolutionary War in the Hackensack Valley, 177—8.
245 Memorial dated 19 October 1784, PANS Misc. L, AO12, 101:130.
246 Memorial of Peter Huggeford, late of New York, n.d., PANS Misc.
L, Aoi3, bundle 64:350.
247 Memorial of the Overseers of the Poor: John Newton, Thomas
Cochran, John George Pyke, and Richard John Uniacke, n.d., but circa
November 1783, PANS RGI, vol. 301, Document 57.
248 to Parr, 23 July 1783, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Papers, Letter
no. 8507, PANS Micro Biography.
250 Nooth to Paine, i February 1783, Sir Guy Carleton, Letter no. 8026,
PANS Micro Biography.
251 Campbell to Shelburne, 17 July 1782, PANS €0217, 41:9.
252 Carleton to Paterson, 3 February 1783, Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton
Papers, Letter no. 6858, PANS Micro Biography.
253 War Office to Carleton, 17 June 1783, ibid., Letter no. 8059.
254 Carleton to Fitzpatrick, 27 August 1783, ibid., Letter no. 8894.
255 Donald Mclntyre had been appointed surgeon to the 43rd Reg-
iment to 13 March 1772 (Army List, 1777). He came to Halifax with
the regiment in April 1776 when Boston was evacuated, but em-
barked with his regiment for New York on 19 June of the same year.
On i March 1781, Dr Mclntyre was appointed as a surgeon to a
general hospital (Drew, Roll of Commissioned Officers, 44) and came to
Halifax sometime before August 1783.
256 Office for Sick and Hurt Seamen to Commander in Chief of HM Ships
and Vessels, Nova Scotia, 5 November 1783, Halifax Dockyard
Records, HAL/F/2:i85, Reel 4, PANS MG13.
257 Duncan to Collins, 18 Novembe 1783, ibid., HAL/F/i:23, Reel 4.
It is likely that he was the same George Rutherford who signed a letter
in Halifax on 29 May 1776 as surgeon on a Royal Navy ship (Ruth-
erford to , 29 May 1776, PANS Adm. 1/484:622).
258 Duncan to The Principal Officers and Commissioners of HM Navy,
14 October 1785, PANS MG13, 2:362. An account of the career of
Dr Duncan Clark(e) after 1783, appears in Dictionary of Canadian
Biography 5:187—8. I have been unable to verify the Dictionary's state-
ment that "he apparently retained [the position of surgeon to the
dockyard] for life." See also 259—60 for information on Dr Duncan
Clarke prior to 1783.
259 Innis et al., eds., Diary of Simeon Perkins, 1780—1789, vol. 2, entries of
25 July, 12 October, and 16 October 1783. Hallet Collins was the
father of Hon. Enos Collins, one of the wealthiest and most influential
citizens of Nova Scotia in the middle years of the nineteenth
century.
260 NSGWC, 16 September 1783. Rue is a small bushy herb with bitter,
acrid leaves. In the eighteenth century, it was commonly used in the
preparation of medicines.
261 The first mention of Dr Duncan Clark in Nova Scotia is found in Major
General Eyre Massey's letter to Clinton, 20 August 1778 (Carleton
Papers, Letter no. 1303). In this letter, Massey mentioned that Sur-
geon's Mate Clarke from the 82nd Regiment had been sent to
Spanish River (later Sydney) to "take care of the working men at the
colliery." Dr Clark was back in Halifax by 23 June 1783, on which
date he was initiated into the St John's Lodge of Free Masonry (PANS
MG2o, vol. 2610, no. i). I discovered in Special Collections at the
Kellogg Library, Dalhousie University, a medical textbook printed in
1781 and bearing on its title page the signature "D. Clark, 82nd
Regt." It is probable, therefore, that Clark arrived in Halifax from
Great Britain with the regiment on 12 August 1778.
Two years earlier, it had been mentioned that nine men of the Nova
Scotia Loyal Volunteers had died, probably from methane gas, in
the "cursed coal mines" at Spanish River. Lt Col Henry Denny Denson
wrote about the incident on 7 December 1776: "A surgeon of a
Ship of War who saw the poor men at the Cole [sic] Mines [indicated]
that most of them will die this Winter owing to a yellow or nervous
fever occasioned by being kepted [sic] enveloped as they have been
in sulphurous vapours" (Denson to Legge, 7 December 1776, Earl
of Dartmouth 1:774-5, PANS Micro Biography).
262 Dr John Fraser, in a letter to Lieutenant Governor Wentworth

dated 31 March 1799 (PANS 00217, 70:70), stated that he had been
in Nova Scotia for twenty-one years. In land grant petitions (PANS
RG2O, series A, vol. 4, 1784, no. 103), John Fraser, surgeon in the
Orange Rangers, was granted five hundred acres near the Minas
Basin on 29 March 1784. The King's Orange Rangers arrived in Hal-
ifax on 15 November 1778 (McLean to Clinton, 28 Decembe 1778,
Sir Guy Carleton, Carleton Papers, Letter no. 1634, PANS micro
Biography).
263 Innis et al., eds., Diary of Simeon Perkins 2:165. Perkins states that
Dr Stephen Thomas was from Lancaster, England, and was a sur-
geon to the King's Orange Rangers. He came to Liverpool in 1782
and resided there until 23 June 1785, when he moved his family
to Grand Manan Island to make a settlement there. From 9 March
1784 to i May 1785, Thomas was in England "completing his
studies in Physick, Surgery, etc." (ibid., entry of i May 1785).
264 General and Staff Officers by His Excellency Sir Guy Carleton's
appointment, Halifax, i January 1784. Signed by John Campbell,
Major General, PANS 00217, 41:43. The three mates, Gould, Gem-
mel, and Carter, were struck off strength on i March 1785 by Major
General Campbell (NAC woi, 3:210).
265 This is undoubtedly Dr John Gamble (1755—1811). He had studied
at Edinburgh and came to New York in 1779, serving as an assis-
tant surgeon at the general military hospital. He accompanied the re-
treating British army to Halifax, and by 1785 was practising in
Saint John. A lengthy account of his career is given by Canniff, The
Medical Profession in Upper Canada, 377—80.
266 Christopher Carter had been a druggist and chymist in Philadelphia
and, because of his allegiance to George III, was imprisoned in
the gaol in Philadelphia from 8 October 1775 to 8 March 1776 (Loyalist
Claims, PANS Misc. L, AO13, bundle 22. Reel 18:44). According to
his claim, he went to England after his release from prison, but re-
turned sometime prior to 1783 to work at the general military hos-
pital in New York. By July 1786 he was residing in Queens County,
New Brunswick, practising as a druggist and chymist (Halifax Su-
preme Court Records, Box 46, 1786, PANS RG3g, series c).
267 Amherst to Foster, 27 February 1763, PRO WO34, 13:289 "Mr Van
Hulst, who was surgeon's mate to the ist Battalion, Royal Americans,
having been strongly recommended to me, I have appointed him
to the Garrison of Annapolis Royal in the room of the late Mr Steele,
and he will take the first opportunity of proceeding to Nova Scotia
to attend on his duty at Annapolis."
268 Number of Inhabitants in the Province of Nova Scotia on the ist

of January 1784 as nearly as could possibly be collected from Returns
of the different places where they have set down, PANS RGI,
vol. 56, Document 465.
269 Parr to North, 15 January 1784, PANS RGI, 47:37.
270 These four doctors were William Paries, who studied medicine at Ed-
inburgh during 1762—63; William Fletcher, examined by the Com-
pany of Surgeons, London, 5 July 1770; Christopher Nicolai,
examined by the Company of Surgeons, 7 December 1752; and
John Philipps, examined by the Company of Surgeons, London, 2 Feb-
ruary 1758. A fifth doctor residing in Halifax, who was not prac-
tising medicine in 1775, was Rev. Thomas Wood. He studied anatomy
at Edinburgh in 1743 and, on 7 May 1747, was examined by the
Company of Surgeons in London.
271 Doctors who had either attended or graduated from medical
schools and were practising in Nova Scotia in 1783: George Frederick
Boyd, (Edinburgh, 1774—75); Duncan Clark (Edinburgh,
1777-78); James Kaye (Edinburgh, 1771-76); Donald Mclntyre (Ed-
inburgh, 1767—1770); Donald MacLean (Edinburgh, 1775-79);
William Paine MD (Marischal College, Aberdeen, 1774); Fleming Pinks-
ton (Edinburgh, 1764—67); and Robert Tucker, MD (King's Col-
lege, New York, 1770).
272 Doctors who had studied at hospital medical schools and who were
practising in Nova Scotia in 1783: David Landeg, St George's Hospital
Medical School, London, 1772, and Edward Wyer, Guy's Hospital
Medical School, London, 1776.
273 Doctors who been examined by colleges of physicians and sur-
geons and were practising in Nova Scotia in 1783: Peter Barnard,
Company of Surgeons, London, examined 7 May 1761; Joseph N.
Bond, company of Surgeons, London, examined 7 September 1775;
John Gould, Company of Surgeons, London, examined 3 May
1781; J.F.T. Gschwind, College of Surgeons, Hesse Cassel, examined
1776; John Halliburton, Company of Surgeons, London, exam-
ined 18 May 1758; John Handasyde, Company of Surgeons, London,
examined 17 August 1780; Joseph Hatton, Company of Surgeons,
London, examined 4 April 1776; John Huggeford, Company of Sur-
geons, London, 2 April 1778; Daniel Kendrick, Company of Sur-
geons, examined i January 1761; David Landeg, Company of
Surgeons, London, examined 2 July 1778; John Marshall, Com-
pany of Surgeons, London, examined 16 april 1778; Christopher
Nicolai, Company of Surgeons, examined 7 December 1752; Wil-
liam Paine, Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, London,
1782; John Perry, Company of Surgeons, London, examined

4 February 1779; John Philipps, Company of Surgeons, London,
2 February 1758; and Fleming Pinckston, Company of Surgeons,
London, 3 November 1768.
274 During the last fifteen years of the eighteenth century and the first
part of the nineteenth, three of the most important and highly paid
positions for medical personnel in Nova Scotia were held by
Almon, Boggs, and Boyd. Dr Almon was surgeon to the Ordnance
and Artillery during the period 1784 to 1816 and also surgeon
general to the Nova Scotia Militia, Dr James Boggs served as garrison
surgeon at Halifax from 1790 to 1810 and was principal medical
officer in Nova Scotia from 1809 to 1810. John Boyd held the position
of garrison surgeon at Windsor from 1787 to 1815. The appren-
ticeship indenture of William J. Almon, covering the period i January
1771 to 14 August 1776 (see Appendix 7), indicates that he was
trained to be both a physician and a surgeon. The training that Almon
received during his apprenticeship was judged to be acceptable
by the medical faculty of St Andrew's University, Scotland. On 4 Feb-
ruary 1792, they awarded him an MD in absentia.
CHAPTER FIVE
1 Abstract of the Number of Families Settled in Nova Scotia, August

1775, Earl of Dartmouth 1:349—52, PANS Micro Biography.
2 The suggestion that there would soon be a considerable emigration
from Scotland to Cape Breton was made by Lieutenant Governor
Macarmick as early as December 1792 (Macarmick to Dundas,
15 December 1792, PANS 00217, 109:1). In May 1796, the Honourable
David Mathews, President of the Council, wrote, "I have also been
informed ... that a very considerable Emigration will take place to this
Island from the Isle of Sky[e] in North Britain the moment that
Peace shall take place" (Mathews to Portland, 6 May 1796, PANS 00217,
112:55).
3 Parr to Dundas, 27 September 1791, PANS RGI, 48:58.
4 Parr to Sydney, i September 1784, PANS RGI, 47:55.
5 Campbell to Parr, 22 September 1784, PANS €0217, 41:151.
6 Parr to Nepean, 9 October 1784, PANS 00217, 59:208. Canaille is
the French word for rascals, roughs, or mobs.
7 Jades to Nepean, 11 May 1785, PANS 00217, 35:10. The passagers
on the Sally were kept in tents, fashioned from the ship's sails, on the
"other side of the Harbour" (Provincial Secretary to the Master of
the Sally Transport, 16 August 1784, PANS RGI, 221:128). By 23 Sep-
tember 1784 it was reported (ibid., 136) that they were still in tents
on the eastern shore and had "no infectious disorders amongst them."
8 Minutes of the House of Assembly, 17 and 20 November 1784,
PANS 00217, 58:99.
9 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of the meeting, 8 December 1784.
This bill was quite likely introduced in order to deal with the "widows
and children of Loyalists and soldiers and other objects of charity"
as described in the Return of the Disbanded Troops and Loyalists set-
tling in Nova Scotia mustered in the summer of 1784, (PANS RGI,
284:34—7, Document 23) which included ninety men, thirty-nine
women, fifty-six children, and four servants. I have been unable
to find information on the diet of the paupers in the poor house. On
one occasion, however, in September 1784, John Blake delivered
eleven cod, six haddock, three dozen mackeral, thirty-seven pounds
of halibut, and twenty-six hake to the poor house (PANS RG5, series
A, vol. 2, Document 135).
10 Nova Scotia., Journal, minutes of 21 December 1785.
11 Ibid., 28 June 1786.
12 Report from the Committee appointed to take into their consid-
eration the Present State of the Poor House at Halifax, 16 June 1786,
PANS RG5, series A, vol. 2, Document 33.
14 NSGWC, 31 July 1787. High Kelly was appointed keeper of the poor
house in February 1785 (Stewart to Duncan, 12 February 1785, Dock-
yard Records, HAL F/2:3O5, PANS). In April 1788 he was also ap-
pointed to the office of town clerk and, according to the NSGWC of
i April 1788, "commenced the business of said office at the Poor
House." He was still keeper of the poor house in February 1791 (Royal
Gazette and Nova Scotia Advertizer, i February 1791). Hugh Kelly was
also keeper of the workhouse during this period (Account of Persons
Committed to the Work House of Halifax, from i January to 31 De-
cember 1790. Signed by Hugh Kelly, (Halifax County Court of General
Sessions of the Peace, series j, vol. 4, PANS RG34—312).
15 Minutes of the House of Assembly, 23 November 1784, PANS 00217,
58:101. The master of the poor house in 1783 was Jeremiah Marsh-
man, who had succeeded Nathaniel Russell on i January 1781 (Nova
Scotia., Journal, minutes of 26 June 1781). Nicolai succeeded
Mr Malachy Salter (Parr to Nicolai, i January 1783, PANS RGI, 169:37).
Dr Nicolai was paid seventy-nine pounds for medicines and atten-
dance at the poor house from i January — 30 October 1783 (Nova Scotia,
Journal, 22 November 1783).
16 Minutes of Council, 7 July 1786, PANS 00217, 58:101.
17 Parr to Almon, 19 April 1785, PANS RGI, 170:379. Dr Almon per-

formed the "Operation of the Trepan" on a man at the poor house in
the presence of Dr Nicolai and "the Gentlemen of the Faculty," on
28 February 1788 (Death of John Magner, PANS RG39, Series c, Box 53).
The latter records that Magner had been in a fight and had ob-
tained a five-inch fracture in his temple bone. Trepanning is a surgical
procedure in which, to relieve pressure, a piece of bone is removed
from the skull.
18 Cameron, The Papers of Loyalist Samuel Peters, 70. The Loyalists re-
ceived medicines and attendance gratis until 26 March 1785, when
Major General John Campbell received instructions to discontinue
the practice (Campbell to Yonge, 18 July 1785, NAC woi, 3:224).
19 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 20 December 1785; 16 June 1786;
and 4 December 1787.
20 Innis et al., The Diary of Simeon Perkins 1797-1803, 66. The Grand
Jury presented £125 to build a poor house on 14 November 1797.
21 General Sessions of the Peace, Shelburne County, PANS RG34—321,
series o, File 2.
22 General Sessions of the Peace, Shelburne County, PANS RG34~32i,
series c, c. 307. By 1787, James McGrath was listed as the keeper of
the poor house and house of corrections and was paid ten pounds
per year (ibid., c. 7). Samuel Harrison was reported to be master of
the house of correction in Shelburne in 1791 (ibid., c. 309). The
house of correction and the poor house were rented from Alexander
Fraser for four pounds per year (ibid., c 20). During the three-
month period 20 January to 31 March 1786, fifteen people were sent
to the house of correction (ibid., c , 308). A fetter was a chain by
which the feet were fastened to some fixed or heavy object.
23 Parr to Sydney, 20 September 1785, PANS RGI, 47:49.
24 Rohl to Parr, 8 March 1788, PANS 00217, 61:11.
25 Parr to Nepean, 4 December 1789, PANS 00217, 62:6.
26 Memorial of the Overseers of the Poor to Parr, 18 June 1790, PANS
RGI, vol. 411, Document 13.
27 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of 6 March 1790.
28 Ibid., 11 June 1791.
29 Ibid., 27 March 1790. The only account I found of the number of per-
sons committed to the work house during a twelve-month period
appears in Halifax County Court of General Sessions, series j, vol. 4,
PANS RG34—312, where during the period i January 1790 to 31 De-
cember 1790, seventeen men and twenty-five women had been com-
mitted. The average duration of a stint in the workhouse was ten
days.
30 Minutes of the House of Assembly, 21 June 1791, PANS 00217,

63:134.
31 Nova Scotia, Journal, minutes of meeting of 4 July 1791.
32 Ibid., 16 June 1791. The Report of the Committee to examine into the
State of the Poor House indicated that on 6 March 1790 there were
forty-four transient poor, including eighteen orphans in the house, and
that between 6 March and i May 1790, eleven additional paupers
were admitted. From i May 1790 to 17 June 1791, thirteen paupers
were discharged, one ran away insane, one was sent off to Boston,
six died, and three were apprenticed. This meant that, on 17 June 1791,
there were thirty-one remaining in the poor house and the total in-
cluded the keeper, his wife, an assistant, a cook, a nurse, a washer-
woman, and fourteen orphans (PANS RG5, series A, vol. 4,
Document 24).
33 Nova Scotia, Laws, 32 Geo. 3d, cap. 5, 1792.
34 The figures for the provincial debt and the amount spent to support
the poor are found in Nova Scotia., Journal.
35 PANS RG5, series s, vol. 7, 31 Geo. 3d, cap. 12. An Act to raise a Revenue
for the Purpose of paying off all such debts as are now due by the
Province or which shall become due before the first day of July next,
the Funded Debt only excepted. The act was to be in force until
the whole of the principal and interest of the debt was fully paid off
and discharged. Assented to by Lieutenant Governor Parr on
30 June 1791. Whereas farmers were to pay two shillings, six pence,
attorneys at law, physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, merchants, and
shopkeepers who were execising their profession and occupation were
to pay ten shillings. According to PANS vols. 443 and 444, sixteen
medical personnel paid poll tax in 1791, while twenty-two paid in 1792
and twelve in 1793. These numbers are low in comparison to the
total number of medical personnel known to have practised in Nova
Scotia during 1791, 1792, and 1793, according to Figure 21, the
differences being due to the incompleteness in the poll tax returns for
those years.
36 Nova Scotia., Journal, minutes of 17 June 1799.
37 Ibid., 11 July 1799.
38 Petition of the Grand Jury and the Inhabitants of Halifax, 17 June 1799,
PANS RGI, vol. 287, Document 88.
39 Whitehall to Parr, 6 October 1784, PANS RGI, vol. 33, Document 11.
John Parr was sworn in as governor of Nova Scotia on 9 October
1782, but upon the appointment of Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester,
as governor of all the British North American colonies in April
1786, Parr's position was changed to lieutenant governor. He continued
to hold that office until he died, at Halifax, on 25 November 1791.

Needless to say, Parr was not happy with his demotion (letter dated
6 June 1786, PANS 00217, 58:161).
40 Minutes of the House of Assembly, 30 November 1784, PANS 00217,
58:106. On 12 January 1784, the minutes of Council record re-
ceived information that the orphans had been ill treated by the keeper
of the orphan house. It appears, however, that this information was
incorrect, for the committee established "to make all necessary enquiries
and to give such proper orders for addressing all grievances" did
not recommend that Albro be disciplined for any wrongdoing.
41 Memorial of Philipps to House, 15 November 1784, PANS RGI,
vol. 301, Document 52; Minutes of the House of Assembly, 10 Novem-
ber 1784, PANS 00217, 58:98.
42 NSGWC, 29 July 1788.
43 Ibid., 2 December 1788.
44 Minutes of the House of Assembly, 7 June 1791, PANS 00217, 63:125.
45 Memorial of the Overseers of the Poor to Wentworth, 19 December
1795, PANS RGI, vol. 411, Document 31.
46 Ibid., Document 32. The Poor House at Halifax in account for cash
received and paid for illegitimate children during the years 1798, 1799,
1800, 1801.
47 Dundas to Wentworth, 9 February 1793, PANS RGI, vol. 33,
Document 65. This was the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment. The sur-
geon of this new regiment was Dr John Fraser, the assistant surgeon
was Dr Jonathan Clarke (Return of Lodging Money due the Offi-
cers and Staff of the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment between 13 April and
12 November 1793, PANS 00217, 67:125). The surgeons appointed
to the various militia regiments raised in Nova Scotia in 1793 included
Dr Daniel Eaton, Colchester Corps of Militia; Dr Michael Head, ist
Regiment, Halifax Militia; Dr John F.T. Gschwind, 2nd Regiment, Hal-
ifax Militia; Dr William Fletcher, 2nd Regiment, Halifax Militia;
Dr Joseph Prescott, Hants Regiment of Militia; and Dr Isaac Webster,
ist Regiment, Kings County Militia.
Dr Joseph Prescott was born in Nova Scotia in 1762, the son of Dr Jon-
athan Prescott. He wrote a letter dated 12 April 1852, which was
printed in the Eastern Chronicle, 20 July 1852, page 3, column 4, in which
he indicated that in the autumn of 1776, he had left Nova Scotia
and entered a hospital in Albany, New York. During the course of the
American war he was a hospital mate at West Point in 1778; a junior
surgeon with the British army in the South in 1779; and an acting sur-
geon in the Maryland Regiment of Cavalry in 1782. After the war
he returned to Nova Scotia, where he practised at Cornwallis,
Shelburne, Lunenburg, and Halifax, where he died on 23 June
1852. Dr Isaac Webster first appears in the records of Nova Scotia in

1788, when he purchased land at Cornwallis (King's County Deeds,
PANS RG47, 3:279). He was referred to as a schoolmaster in the land
transaction. Dr Webster was born in Mansfield, Connecticut, in
1766, and practised in Cornwallis for over fifty years, dying there in
1851. Two of his sons, William and Frederick, practised medicine
in Kentville and Yarmouth.
48 Ogilvie to Dundas, 19 May 1793, PANS 00217, 64:189.
49 Wentworth to Ogilvie, 4 August 1793, PANS RGI, vol. 50; Went-
worth to Dobree, 26 May 1794, ibid., 51:119; and 22 June 1794, 51 :i49-
According to the Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia Advertiser, 25 June
1793, the French prisoners were transferred from the transport ships
to the Cornwallis Barracks on 23 June. They were still there on
19 November 1793, according to an advertisement that described how
to deal with escaped French prisoners (ibid., 19 November 1793).
The Cornwallis Barracks was shown on Captain Charles Blaskowitz's
1784 plan of the peninsula "upon which the Town of Halifax is sit-
uated" and was located near the intersection of Sackville and Brunswick
streets. The Barracks was described in 1795 as consisting of sixteen
rooms of twenty men each for a total capacity of 320. It had also a mess
house and a kitchen (Stratton to Prince Edward, 7 March 1795, NAC
RG8, series c, 1428:22).
50 Duncan to Livie, 3 September 1794, Navy Yard Papers, PANS MG13,
6:18. The La Feliz was in Halifax as early as December 1792, since on
18 December it was advertised for sale by order of the Admiralty
(Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia Advertiser, 18 December 1792). A prison
ship was berthed in the harbour as late as g December 1796 (Navy
Yard Papers, 209).
51 PANS Adm. 1/492:428. Dr McEvoy was described by Halliburton
(430) as being able to speak French fluently. McEvoy continued as as-
sistant surgeon at the naval hospital until some time in 1799. In July
of that year his household furniture, horse, and "sley" were advertised
for sale, indicating that he was leaving the province (Weekly Chron-
icle, 6 July 1799). He was replaced in September 1799 by Dr Robert
Hume, who was paid a hundred pounds per year as both dispenser
and assistant surgeon (Adm. 102:256).
52 PANS Adm. 1/492:440. The naval hospital was placed on "war es-
tablishment" by Admiral Murray on 27 September 1794 (Murray to
Stephens, 27 September 1794, PANS Adm. 1/492:491).
53 Ibid., 439. This is the only document that I have found describing the
number and sizes of the rooms in the naval hospital. The hospital
contained four wards, two with twenty patients, one with thirteen, and
one with twelve; one large hall for eighteen patients; one room for
twenty-one men; four rooms for five officers each; a chamber for
twenty-one men, and four garrets that held twenty-one, ten, twenty-
five, and nine patients. An additional two patients were located in what
was referred to as a passage.
54 Middleton, "The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia,"
434-5°-
55 Halliburton to Murray, 30 August 1794, PANS Adm. 1/492:434.
56 As early as November 1752 there had been a commodious stone
house, seventy by twenty feet, and a blockhouse on "an island in the
North West Arm" (Halifax Gazette, 18 November 1752). It is unlikely
that these same buildings were on the island when James Kavanagh pur-
chased it from John Butler Kelly for sixty-five pounds on 27 April
1784 (Halifax County Deeds, 36:168, PANS RG47). Kavanagh owned
the island until 1804, when he advertised in the Royal Gazette of
31 May that it was for sale. He sold the island to the Commissioners
for Conducting His Majestys Transport Service for a thousand
pounds on 27 July 1804 (RG47, 36:214). The building on the island
were described as follows: two large storage houses or prisons
"which have contained 200 persons"; two cook houses; a dwelling
house; a barracks for twenty-five to thirty persons; a servants'
house; and a guard house. Sometime after the sale, the island was re-
named Melville Island after Viscount Robert Melville, who was First
Lord of the Admiralty from 1812 to 1830.
57 PANS Adm. 1/493:190.
58 State of the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment, 15 April 1796, PANS 00217,
67:81.
59 Halliburton to Duncan, 15 August 1796, Navy Yard Papers, 1794-1800,
PANS MGi3, 6:176.
60 Wentworth to Portland, 2 June 1797, PANS 00217, 68:124; Oxley to
Wentworth, 31 May 1797, ibid., 130.
61 PANS 00217, 37:141, 144, 146; 68:209; 69:290.
62 Wentworth to Portland, 17 November 1798, PANS €0217, 69:220.
63 Fraser to Wentworth, 31 May 1799, PANS 00217, 70:70. Dr Fraser was
my great, great, great, great grandfather.
64 Wentworth to Gray, 5 August 1800, PANS RGI, 53:125.
65 Bulkeley to Dundas, 3 February 1792, PANS RGI, 48:67.
66 Campbell to North, 4 February 1784, PANS 00217, 41:59.
68 Mathews to Portland, 8 December 1795, PANS 00217, 112:2.
69 Minutes of Council, 9 October 1793, PANS RGI, 213:273.
70 Middleton, "The Yellow Fever Epidemic," 434—50.
71 Proclamation concerning Contagious Distempers and Quarantine,
9 October 1793, PANS RGI, 171:63.
72 Minutes of Council, 9 October 1793, PANS RGI, 190:272. According

to the minutes of the Legislative Council, 8 July 1794, Peter McNab
was paid twenty-five pounds for the health boat (PANS RGI,
218.1:55).
73 Circular Letter, Shelburne, i April 1791, PANS RG34—321, c. 321.
74 Minutes of Council, 13 May 1799, PANS R G I , 214:3.
75 PANS RGI, vol. 364, Document 125. The proclamation was undated.
One year earlier, on 7 June 1798, John Hill of Digby had advertised
in the Halifax Journal that he was manufacturing and selling essence
of spruce as a cure for yellow fever. Spruce beer had been used for
many years as a preventive medication against epidemic fevers in
Halifax, and it appears to have been the standard drink provided to
inmates of the poor house (Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia Advertiser,
26 March 1789).
76 Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1794-1799, PANS RG5, series s, vol. 8.
77 PANS RGI, 191:12. George Henkell (ca.1751-1818), arrived in Nova
Scotia in late 1797 as surgeon to the 7th Regiment of Foot, the
Royal Fusiliers. By 1799, he was surgeon to the garrison at Annapolis
Royal. He remained at Annapolis until his death on 8 October 1818
(Acadian Recorder, 31 October 1818). His obituary states that Dr Henkell
spent forty years in the British army and twenty years at Annapolis
Royal.
78 Dr Daniel Eaton (1769—1809), came to Onslow from Massachusetts
circa 1790 (Onslow Township Book, marriage of 9 December 1790, PANS
MG4, vol. 122), and he practised there as a physician until 1803,
when he returned to the United States (Supreme Court Records, PANS
RG39, series c, Box 86, 1803). He died at Salisbury, Pennsylvania,
in September 1809 (Columbian Centennial, 9 September 1809).
79 Nova Scotia., Journal, minutes of 3 November 1784.
80 Memorial of John Harris to the House of Assembly, 12 November 1784,
PANS RG5, series A, vol. ib, Document 121.
82 An extensive account of the Assembly debate which took place over
the judges' affair appeared in the Weekly Chronicle, 21 March 1789. An
informative article by Ells discussing factors leading to the affair
appeared in the Dalhousie Review 16:475—92. The Privy Council in Lon-
don subsequently advised the king that the charges brought by the
House of Assembly of Nova Scotia against the two assistant judges of
the Supreme Court were unfounded, and Deschamps and Brenton
were acquitted (Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia Advertizer, 11 September
!?92)-
83 Halliburton to Nepean, 24 april 1790, PANS 00217, 62:266.
84 Urban Bender vs. John Bolman, Inferior Court of Common Pleas,
Lunenburg County, PANS RGgy, vol. i, 1784 No judgement has been

found with regard to this case.
85 Ibid., vol. 2, 1786.
86 Bolman vs. Wilkins, 1794, Halifax Supreme Court, PANS RGgg,
series c. Box 70.
87 Chipman Collection, PANS MGI, vol. 184, no. 2643. Dr William Bax-
ter (1760—1832), born in Connecticut, is recorded as being resident in
Cornwallis Township as early as 1782 (King's County Deeds, PANS
RG47, Reel 1279, 2:400). He practised as a physician in Cornwallis
Township until he died there, on 22 November 1832 (Nova Scotia
Royal Gazette, 12 December 1832, 3).
88 Baxter vs. Benvie, 1790, Halifax Supreme Court, PANS RG39, series c,
Box 58; Vanwinkle vs. Baxter, 1791, Box 64; Kidston vs. Baxter, 1796,
Box 75.
89 John George Pyke vs. John Philipps Jr, 1796, ibid., Box 75. Dr Philipps
was found guilty of accosting Pyke. In the same year, Dr Lewis Davis
took Alexander Woodin to court (Box 74) on a charge of "having carnal
knowledge" of Davis's wife, Margaret. As a consequence of this in-
cident, Dr Davis obtained one of the earliest divorces granted in Nova
Scotia (Davis vs. Davis, 1796, PANS RG39, series D, vol. la). A second
case in which a doctor brought a patient to court for non-payment in-
volved Dr Joseph Russell and a Mr William McNiel. Dr Russell had
charged McNiel twelve pounds for medicines and attendance, during
the period 15 July to 27 August 1788, to cure a wound in McNiel's
throat (Russell vs. McNiel, PANS RG39, series c, Box 53). The court asked
Drs Donald Mclntyre, John Halliburton, and George Gillespie to
give their opinion. They responded, "We have examined a disputed
bill exhibited by Mr Russell, surgeon, against Mr McNiel. From the
facts stated, and which are further corroborated by Dr [Duncan] Clark,
who also occasionally visited the said Mr McNiel, in company with
Mr Russell, we think the charge just and reasonable."
90 Letters of William Smith, MD, British Library, Add. MSS. 19, 243,
fol. 98—124. In a letter dated 3 May 1785, Dr Smith wrote: "Soon after
my arrival from America I received an appointment to go to this
Island, where we arrived last November." In another letter, in fol. 98,
there is a statement by Squire Eleazer Davy about Dr Smith that
reads, "All I know of him is from his Letters. He was at one time in
great embarassment, & was obliged to hide himself from his cred-
itors. My uncle knew him well, & had a very high opinion of his abilities,
& skill in his profession." The biographical sketch of Dr Smith that
appears in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography 5:766—7, does not refer
to his activities prior to 1784, or to his published works listed in
note 91 below, except for his last book which was published in 1803.
91 Affidavit of William Smith, dated 15 September 1800, PANS 00217,

118:419 indicating that his published works included Dissertation on the
Nerves W. Owen, London, 1768, 302 pages; A New and General System
of Physic, in Theory and Practice, London, 1769, 561 pages; The Student's
Vade Mecum, W. Owen, London, 1770, 264 pages; The Nature and
Institution of Government, W. Owen, London, 1771, 2 vols; Nature Studied
with a View to Preserve and Restore Health, W. Owen, London, 1774,
210 pages; Synopsis Medica; A Sure Guide to Sickness and Health, Bew and
Walter, London, 1776, 356 pages; and a History of England, in two
volumes. It is known that he also wrote three other books: State of the
Gaols in London, Westminister, and Borough of Southward, J. Bew, Lon-
don, 1776, 90 pages; Mild Punishments Sound Policy, London, 1778,
121 pages; and A Caveat against Emigration to America with the State
of the Island of Cape Breton, Betham and Warde, London, 1803. The Brit-
ish Museum has six of Dr William Smith's books. On the title of
each, he refers to himself as "William Smith, MD." His Dissertation upon
the Nerves was reviewed in London Magazine 37:298—301, where an
anonymous reviewer referred to Smith as "the learned author [who]
has discussed his subject with much ingenuity."
92 Journal of the British House of Commons 37:493, 503—4; 38:507. Dr Smith's
address is given as Lower Brook Street in the County of Middlesex,
and he is referred to as a doctor of physic. In State of the Gaols in London,
5, Smith wrote: "Westminister Charity, March 25 1776. The Com-
mittee resolved that Dr Smith of Red Lion Square be desired to visit
the sick in the respective gaols and prisons in London, West-
minister, and the Borough of Southwark, in order to administer proper
relief for which a sum of money is appropriated by the above char-
ity." Volume 37: 505 gives a Report of the Sick, with the Expense of
Medicines sent to the ten Prisons in the London area. This report
indicates that, between the two dates mentioned above, Dr Smith had
expended £566 while treating i ,051 prisoners. The illnesses and
numbers treated are as follows: putrid, nervous and inflammatory
fevers (241); diarrhoeas and dysentry (94); rheumatism (78); in-
flammation of the bowels (18); bilious complaints (43); asthma (57);
pleurisy (68); piles (14); smallpox (28); eruptive fevers (29); con-
sumption (21); scurvy (30); diseases of the bladder and urinary passages
(12); palsy and epilepsy (8); worms (65); and cases of venereal dis-
ease and itch (159). Dr Smith had also performed surgery on fifty-four
of the prisoners.
93 Mackworth to Lords of Trade, 10 July 1784, PANS 00217, 103:46.
94 Macarmick to Smith, 27 December 1791, PANS 00217, 107:343.
Lieutenant Governor William Macarmick wrote: "Agreeable to your
desire I now send my dispatches by the bearer and at the time I
express my sincere wish for you and Mrs Smith having a safe and speedy
voyage to England. I cannot avoid transmitting testimony of the
high approbation I entertain of your conduct since my arrival and par-
ticularily the just and honorable manner in which you have filled
the office of Senior Puisne Judge for nearly three years and the peace-
able deportment I have experienced in all description of persons
in the Government during that period."
95 Nova Scotia Royal Gazette and Weekly Chronicle, 19 June 1798, page 3,
col. 3. "The brig Smyrna arrived in 61 days from England. In her came
passenger Mr Smith, Chief Justice of the Island of Cape Breton."
96 Fergusson, ed., Uniacke's Sketches of Cape Breton, 143. The 33rd Regiment
had arrived at Sydney from Halifax on 22 July 1785 (DesBarres
to Yonge, 27 July 1785, woi, 3:310).
97 PANS 00217, 103:93. This hospital must have been a fair-sized
building since it is recorded (ibid., 104:75) that it required 3,425 boards,
99 planks, and 5,000 shingles. It is shown in DesBarres's map of
Sydney, drawn in 1786.
98 DesBarres Collection, n.d., NAC MG23 Fi, series 5, 6:1063—70.
99 Perry to DesBarres, 5 March 1785, PANS 00217, 104:43.
100 Uncle to Mathews, 10 February 1786, PANS 00217, 103:132; 42:67.
101 Minutes of Some Parts of the Transactions at the Mess and among
the Officers of the 33rd Regiment after their arrival at Sydney in Cape
Breton extracted from the Journal of Lieutenant William Norford,
PANS 00217, 104:384, entry of 30 January 1786. Major General John
Campbell wrote to Sir George Yonge, secretary of state for War,
on 24 November 1784 (NAC woi, 3:147), that among the staff officers
lately appointed at the garrisons in Nova Scotia were surgeons
Donald Mclntire (Annapolis Royal), John Irvine (Halifax), and Dr Wil-
liam Smith (Cape Breton); and hospital mates Joseph Pearce (An-
napolis Royal), William Lawlor (Halifax), and Alexander Gordon
(Cape Breton).
102 Campbell to Sydney, 22 June 1786, PANS 00217, 42:110. The Forty-
second Regiment had been in Halifax as early as 29 March 1785,
according to the NSGWC of that date. The regiment embarked for Eu-
rope in August 1789, according to the Minutes of the Council of
Cape Breton of 10 August 1789 (PANS RGI, 319:146).
103 DesBarres Papers, n.d., NAC MG23, series 5, 4:1010—2. In this pe-
tition Dr Smith was referred to as the "Medicinal Surgeon General,"
and Gordon was called an "Assistant Surgeon." The petition con-
tained thirteen reasons why Lieutenant Governor DesBarres should
"be remov'd from the Govc of the Island."
104 Smith to DesBarres, 5 March 1786, PANS 00217, 104:312. In this letter
Smith resigned his seat on Council.
105 Ibid., 123-201. Several of the letters that passed between DesBarres
and Yorke during the period 2 November 1785 to 4 March 1786
illustrate the classic power struggle between a civilian lieutenant gov-
ernor and a military commanding officer on a small isolated
station.
106 Minutes of the Council of Cape Breton, 27 October 1787, PANS
00217, 105:55.
107 NSGWC, 5 September 1786.
108 General Account of Provisions for the Support of 76 Convicts, dated
18 May 1789, PANS 00217, 106:34.
109 Nova Scotia, Report of the Public Archives, 24-7, Macarmick to Sydney,
18 March 1789.
110 Testimony from Citizens of Sydney for Dr Smith, 29 September 1791,
PANS 00217, 108:347.
111 Return of the Number of Inhabitants of Cape Breton who are enrolled
and liable to serve in the militia, i August 1790, PANS 00217,
107:273. It was estimated that, in addition, there were five hundred
Jersey men who came every summer to the island. This was a sub-
stantial increase (sixty-six percent) over the 361 heads of household
recorded by the Reverend Ranna Cossitt in his diary on 29 August
1788 (Rev. Ranna Cossitt, 17, PANS Micro Biography). The Reverend
Mr Cossitt lists the number of families at Arichat as 170 and tab-
ulates the number of men, women, children, and servants residing
at fifteen other settlements in Cape Breton. By 1793, the number
of resident inhabitants of Cape Breton Island "liable to serve in the
Militia" was reduced to 423, according to PANS 00217, 109:54.
112 Minutes of the Council of Cape Breton, 8 March 1786, PANS 00217,
105:229.
113 Minutes of the Council of Cape Breton, 18 May 1791, PANS 00217,
108:165.
114 Cossitt to Secretary to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,
18 December 1791, PANS 00217, 108:351. The last four words in
the quotation, "but to no effect," refer probably to Cossitt's difficulty
in obtaining sufficient money to erect a proper church building.
115 Macarmick to Dundas, 16 September 1794, PANS 00217, 110:230. Syd-
ney had declined in population dramatically by the year 1795,
when it was reported that only 121 people resided in the town. Twenty-
seven of the seventy-one houses were inhabited, with the remain-
ing houses either uninhabited or in ruins (ibid., 111:245).
116 Anonymous letter, 18 February 1796, PANS 00217, 114:124. This
was the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment.
117 Memorial of William Stafford, surgeon of HM Garrison at Cape
Breton, 10 March 1798, PANS 00217, 116:80. James Miller's plan of
Sydney (Figure 23), showing the hospital of which Dr Stafford was

put in charge, is taken from ibid., 1111245.
118 Ogilvie to King, 5 August 1798, PANS 00217, 115:87.
119 Smith to Ogilvie, 25 March 1799, PANS 00217, 117:62; Murray to Port-
land, July 1799, ibid., 123.
120 Minutes of the Council of Cape Breton, 18 May 1797, PANS 00217,
113:152. The announcement of McKinnon's suspension was made
by Mathews at this meeting. Dr Smith and Mr Ball each submitted a
report giving their opinion of the suspension (PANS 00217,
115:318—20, and 323-4). Mathews was replaced as president of the
Council by Lieutenant General James Ogilvie six months later
(Portland to Ogilvie, 12 December 1797, PANS 00217, 113:271).
121 Whitehall to Murray, 11 October 1799, PANS 00217, 117:149.
122 Despard to Portland, 23 September 1800, PANS 00217, 118:230.
123 Despard to Portland, 27 September 1800, PANS 00217, 118:232.
124 Smith to Pelham, 3 August 1801, PANS 00217, 119:178; Smith to Ho-
bart, 4 April 1802, ibid., 120:190.
125 Because the name William Smith is so common, it has been impossible
to determine when and where Dr William Smith died. It does ap-
pear that he was alive as late as 1820, since a notice placed in the Weekly
Chronicle of 18 February 1820 stated that the property in Sydney,
owned by William Smith, Esquire, Chief Justice of Cape Breton, was
for sale.
126 Minutes of 12 June 1797 (first reading); 13 June 1797 (second read-
ing); and page 250, 27 June 1797 (deferred), Nova Scotia, Journal,
1797, 239, 250. John Sargent (1749—1824) was a member of the Leg-
islative Assembly for Barrington Township for the period 1793
to 1818. The minutes of the Legislative Council for the year 1797—99
(PANS RGI, vol. 218 M to o) do not mention this medical bill.
127 Nova Scotia., Journal 1815—20, 31.
128 Ibid., 1828, 24.
129 Clark, A History of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 54—5.
130 Shafer, The American Medical Profession, 1783 to 1850, 204.
131 Bordley and Harvey, Two Centuries of American Medicine, 69.
132 Shafer, The American Medical Profession, 206.
133 Abbott, History of Medicine in the Province of Quebec, 31. Persons referred
to as charlatans had been practising medicine from the earliest
times. These unqualified practitioners were described usually as
quacks. The derivation and meaning of quackery is obscure, and
there are a number of opinions concerning its origin (see Steiner, "The
Conflict of Medicine with Quackery," 60). One explanation is that
quackery came from the German quack-silver (mercury), for irregular
practitioners used quack-silver in the treatment of syphilis. An-
other explanation is that quack is an abbreviation for quacksalver,

quack being to utter loud and pretentious statements and salver
being one who undertakes to perform cures by the application of oint-
ments or cerates.
134 Quebec, Statutes, 28 Geo. 3, cap. 8, 1788.
135 Godfrey, Medicine for Ontario, 16.
136 Twelve newspapers were published in Nova Scotia during the period
1752-99, of which I have read 2,104 individual issues. This rep-
resents about half the issues published. Unfortunately, the remaining
issues for the period have not been found.
137 Packard, History of Medicine in the United States i :273.
138 Marks and Beatty, The Story of Medicine in America, 118.
139 Christiansen, "The Emergence of Medical Communities in Massachu-
setts," 64.
140 The Register of Students attending medical lectures, 1768-1815 (Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania Archives, MSS 1575) records that Robert
Clark of Halifax was attending medical lectures there during the win-
ter of 1805—06, while William Duncan Clark attended lectures
from 1810—12. These two young men were the sons of Dr Duncan
Clark, who came to Halifax with the 82nd Regiment in 1778 and
took up residence and practice in Halifax after the cessation of the
American war. The MD that Robert Tucker was awarded in 1770
was the first earned MD granted by a medical school in the American
colonies. Daniel Turner had been awarded the first honorary de-
gree of Doctor of Medicine by Yale in 1723, according to Lane, "Daniel
Turner and the First Degree of Doctor of Medicine Conferred,"
367-80.
141 Medical School, in the College of New York

The Lectures to be delivered by the several Professors on Anat-
omy, Chemistry, Surgery, Midwifery, the Institutes of Medicine, the
Practice of Physic, and on the clinical Cases of Patients in the New
York Hospital, will commence in the Hall of Columbia College, in the
City of New York, on the second Monday of November next.
The Lectures on Materia Medica, and on Botany, are Summer
Courses, and will begin, and will continue annually, on the first
Monday of July.
New York, August 28th, 1794.
142 It would be expected that a number of these men served an ap-

prenticeship in Halifax before going to London. It is known that three
of them, James Geddes, John B. Houseal, and Benjamin De
St Croix, studied with Dr John Halliburton at the naval hospital, and
that George Houseal served his apprenticeship with Dr William

J. Almon. In addition to these sixteen, at least three native-born Nova
Scotians, and four others who were raised in Nova Scotia, trained
to become medical practitioners during the last twenty years of the
eighteenth century; however, the place where each received his
training is not known. They were: Jonathan W. Clark, Windsor; Gur-
don Dennison, Horton; Dennis Heffernan, Halifax; John Jones,
Halifax; Joseph Prescott, Chester; Benjamin Prince, Annapolis; and
Jacob Tobias, Digby.
143 This reduction in the number of doctors in Nova Scotia was felt mainly
in the Loyalist towns of Shelburne and Digby. Of the twelve doc-
tors who had arrived in Shelburne in 1783, four had died, and the
other eight had left the town and the province by 1799, leaving
Shelburne without a doctor for its estimated 750 residents (Rev. James
Munro visited Shelburne in 1795 and estimated that there were
only 150 families and about 750 people in the town. See Nova Scotia,
Report of the Board of Trustees, 43). Seven doctors had taken up res-
idence in Digby after the revolution; by 1799, only one, Christian To-
bias, remained. According to the Letter Book of Rev. Edward
Brudenell (PANS Micro Biography), four of the doctors, Abraham Flor-
entine, Isaac Goodman, Fleming Pinckston, and Joseph Mervin
(or Marvin), had "gone to the States," while two others, Alexander Phil-
lips and William Young, were said to have "left the Province."
Brudenell points out that between December 1785 and December
1787, eighty heads of households, out of 312 on the poll list of
1785, had left Digby.
144 Beekman, "The Rise of British Surgery," 549—66. Peachey, A
Memoir of William and John Hunter, identified forty-nine men in London
who offered private lectures in anatomy, physic, materica medica,
botany, chemistry, and midwifery, during the period 1700—49.
145 Lawrence, "Alexander Monro, primus, and the Edinburgh Man-
ner," 193-214.
146 Gelfand, "The Paris 'Manner' of Dissection," 99-130.
147 Lawrence, "Entrepreneurs and Private Enterprise," 171-92.
148 Ransom, "The Beginnings of Hospitals in the United States,"
5! 4-39-
149 Burnby, "A Study of the English Apothecary," 114.
150 King, The Medical World of the Eighteenth-Century, 233.
151 Jewson, "Medical Knowledge and the Patronage System," 369-85.
152 Porter, and Porter, Patient's Progress: Doctors and Doctoring in i8th Cen-
tury England.
153 Ackerknecht, "From Barber-Surgeon to Modern Surgeon," 545—53.
154 Letter written by Halliburton, 21 August 1794, PANS Adm. 1/492,
folio 440.
155 State of the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment, 15 April 1796, PANS
00217, 67:81.
156 Land Grant Petitions, PANS RGSO, series A, vol. 24, no. 10.
157 Drew, Roll of Commissioned Officers i: 114. Dr Boggs was my great, great,
great, great grandfather.
158 Ibid., 37.
159 These regiments were the 4th, 6th, 7th, i6th, 2oth, 2ist, 24th,
47th, 57th, 65th, 66th, and the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment.
160 Stratton to Prince Edward, 27 March 1795, NAC woi, 17:61. It
is likely that the regiment using Fort Massey as its hospital was the
Royal Fusiliers, or 7th Regiment, which had arrived in Halifax in
!795-
161 State of the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment, 15 April 1796, PANS
00217, 67:81. This return indicates that the regiment had a surgeon,
a hospital mate, an orderly, and twenty-six patients in the regimen-
tal hospital.
162 Ibid., 125; 70:183.
163 NSGWC, 30 September 1794.
164 Ibid., 19 November 1799. The cure was described as "an excellent
Remedy for a Cough, and Consumptive Complaints" by an anonymous
person. It read: "Take as much pervine as will make a quart of
strong tea, an equal quantity of Coltsfoot, and of Whorebound, three
ounces of the root of Eleacampane, and a small quantity of Rue,
put them into five points of pure water, boil them until the Liquor
is reduced to one Quart, then put into it two pounds of clean heavy
sugar, then boil it until it becomes so thick that when cold, it will be
hard as loaf sugar, take a small piece into the Mouth and gradually
melt and swallow it, often in the day or night, as the Patient shall find
it convenient."
165 Ibid., 25 April 1796.
166 On 6 November 1787, Alexander Abercrombie Peters, who had
been awarded an MD by the University of Aberdeen on 2 August 1787,
inserted an advertisement in the NSGWC. It was unusual in that
it did not mention his newly acquired medical degree; it stated simply
that he "means to settle in this Town as a Medical Character. Those
who see fit to honor him with their Patronage, may depend on the
strictist Attention and Integrity." The Halifax Journal of 19 January
1788 contains an advertisement by J. Brown, surgeon and dentist. He
was undoubtedly Dr Lewis Joseph Brown, who became involved
in several Supreme Court cases in Halifax in 1788 (PANS RG39, series c,
Box 51). One of these dealt with his being slandered by Jeremiah
Marshman, who claimed that Dr Brown had absconded from town
to avoid his creditors. Dr Brown's advertisement informed the
public that he had removed to a house, occupied formerly by Hon. Ar-
thur Gould, on the upper side of the lower parade, where he

would practise his profession.
167 Donald M'Lean could have been the surgeon by that name who
married (in New York, August 1780, a daughter of Capt. Allan Mac-
Donald of the 84th Regiment (NSGWC, 22 August 1780). He was
stated to have been surgeon to the late 77th Regiment. The first men-
tion of a Donald McLean, surgeon, being in Nova Scotia was on
10 November 1783 when he sold land at Shelburne (Shelburne Deeds,
PANS RG47, Book 1:105). It mav
may have been that this same Dr Don-
ald McLean moved into Halifax and placed the advertisements shown
above. A Doctor M'Lean resided in Halifax until May 1786, in
which month (NSGWC, 16 May 1786) he advertised for sale a variety
of elegent pieces of furniture along with a barometer and ther-
mometer. In June 1787, a Donald McLean, surgeon, sold land at Pictou
Harbour (Pictou Deeds, PANS RG47, Book 1:15) and, on 20 August
1789, Donald McLean, gentleman, sold additional land on the south
side of the entrance to Pictou Harbour (Halifax Deeds, PANS RG47,
vol. 28:147). On 5 May 1807, land belonging to Donald MacLean, sur-
geon, Eighty-second Regiment, deceased, was sold in Pictou
County (Pictou Deeds, PANS RG47, Book 5:178). I have been unable
to determine whether these Donald McLeans were one and the
same person.
168 Dr Francis Brinley died at Shelburne in late June 1785, aged
twenty-nine years, according to Shelburne records (PANS MG4,
vol. 141). The advertisement in the Royal American Gazette of
24 January 1785 was the first mention of Dr Joseph Bond in Nova
Scotia.
169 Prior to the revolution, Dr John Boyd practised in Northumberland
County, Pennsylvania (Loyalist Claims, PANS Misc. L, Aoi3, bundle
90). By July 1783 he was a resident of Shelburne and was given Lot 5
in the South Division, Letter B, in the town (PANS RGI, vol. 372).
170 I am not absolutely sure which Dr John Philipps inserted this adver-
tisement. Dr Philipps Sr had been in Halifax since 1758, and his
son, Dr John Philipps Jr, who had trained at St George's Hospital, Lon-
don, during 1778 and 1779, was established as a druggist in Hal-
ifax as early as 1789 (Nova Scotia Supreme Court Records, 1789, PANS
RG39, series c, Box 56).
171 The use of electrotherapy in medicine had its beginning with the
Roman physician Scribonius Largus, who lived in the first century.
He described the use of the electric fish, frequently referred to as the
torpedo, as follows: "For any type of gout a live black torpedo
should when the pain begins, be placed under the feet. The patient
must stand on a moist shore washed by the sea and he should stay
like this until his whole foot and leg up to the knee is numb. This takes
away present pain and prevents pain from coming on if it has not
already arisen" (see Kellaway, "The Part Played by the Electric Fish,"
112-37). Instances of Europeans using electric fish in medical
therapy can be found in the literature as late as the early nineteenth
century. Artificially generated static electricity produced by hold-
ing an object against a rotating sphere of sulphur was accomplished
first by Otto von Guericke in Magdeburg, about 1663. It is likely
that physicians soon made use of static electricity in therapy. The in-
vention of the Leyden Jar in 1745 permitted much larger electric
shocks to be administered to muscles and nerves and, between 1750
and 1780, no less than twenty-six papers dealing with electrother-
apy appeared in a leading French medical journal. An electric-shock
machine was installed in Middlesex Hospital, London, in 1767.
Within the next decade, many other hospitals followed suit. It would
be expected that Dr Lewis Davis's "electric aparatus" was a vari-
ation of a static electric generator.
172 Margaret Doucet was not the first Nova Scotian woman to indicate that
she was engaged in the business of offering medical therapy. Ann
McGee, in a 1788 petition for a land grant (PANS RG2O, series A) stated
that "she had been settled in the district of Colchester upwards of
18 years and has used her knowledge of surgeonry [sic] to [help] many
unfortunate travellers exposed to frost bite, who might have lost
their lives." She signed the petition at Marajamish [sic] on 18 April
1788. In a second Petition (PANS RG2O, series A, vol. 31), dated at
Dorchester 26 October 1809, Ann McGee, who was possibly related
to Barnabus McGee listed in the Return of the Township of Don-
egal or Pictou, dated i January 1770, stated that she had been granted
land "in consideration of her humane exertions and relief to the
crew of HM schooner Malignant at the time of her shipwreck." Accord-
ing to Wyman, "The Surgeoness: The Female Practitioner,"
22—41, many women practised as surgeons in England from the six-
teenth to the eighteenth century. By the early nineteenth century,
however, very few women were practising as surgeons in England.
173 Benjamin Green, Esquire, was the provincial treasurer of Nova
Scotia from 1768 to 1793, the year of his death. According to his
brother, Francis, Benjamin was the second child of Benjamin and
Margaret (Pierce) Green, who came to Halifax from Louisbourg in
1749, when the British garrison was transferred (Genealogical and
Biographical Anecdotes of the Green Family ... by Francis Green, 1806,
6, PANS MGI, vol. 3320).
174 Halifax Journal, 9 December 1790. Dr John Chichester (m. 1765—1839)
had received his medical training at St George's Hospital Medical
School, London, having attended lectures and surgery there during

1787.
175 Gullett, A History of Dentistry in Canada, 12.
176 Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle, 15 November 1791.
177 Ibid., i May 1787. There were undoubtedly many midwives in the
province besides Mrs Smith. In Shelburne, for instance, James Mc-
Neil was referred to in the Assessment Rolls of 1786 (PANS MG4,
vol. 140) as "the midwife's husband."
178 It is noted that Dr Nicolai's name is misspelled in the advertisement.
Men had been involved in midwifery since earliest times, according
to Mengeit, "The Origin of the Male Midwife," 443-65. Dr Daniel Ken-
drick of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, professed that he was a man-
midwife, according to Perkins's diary entry of 13 July 1790. In April
1796, Dr Kendrick was paid ten shillings for "delivering a woman"
(Annapolis Township Book, 6 April 1796, PANS MG4). Surprisingly,
this same Doctor Kendrick had been contracted by Simeon Perkins
on 7 October 1790 to provide medical attention to his family for one
year, for "medicines in all cases except mid-wifery and smallpox."
179 Lieutenant William Booth Diary, entry for 22 February 1789, Acadia
University Archives, F1O39-5, 854636.
180 Byles Collection, PANS MGI, vol. 163. A bloodstone is a dark green
subtransparent jasper with red spots and cut as a gem. It was be-
lieved by noted scientists such as Francis Bacon (1561-1626) that the
bloodstone would stop nosebleed by "astriction and cooling of the
spirits" (Thorndike, Science, Medicine, and History 1:451—4).
181 I have compiled an alphabetical list of Nova Scotians recorded as
having died during the period 1749 to 1799. I estimate that these
11,503 recorded deaths represent sixty to seventy percent of the
actual number of deaths that took place in Nova Scotia. Only a small
fraction of deaths were recorded in newspapers, and church burial
records for Halifax and rural Nova Scotia are not complete for the
period.
182 The death and burial records indicate that smallpox was the cause
of death for six people in Guysborough and for six in Lunenburg.
People also died of smallpox in LaHave, Liverpool, and Shelburne.
None of the death or burial records for Halifax for the years 1790
and 1791 indicate that anyone there died from the disease.
183 Hollingsworth, "The Demography of the British Peerage," 57. I
recognize that the average age at time of death is not the same as life
expectancy. The prediction of life expectancy is a statistical calcu-
lation and requires that the ages of all persons in the group being as-
sessed are known. Also, life expectancy is calculated with respect
to a reference age; for example, it is very common to give life expec-

tancy at birth statistics.
184 Imhof, "Methodological Problems in Modern Urban History Writing,"
101—32.
185 Kunitz, "Making a Long Story Short," 269—80.
186 It is not surprising that heart disease is omitted from the causes
of death in the late eighteenth century. The term did not come into
general use until the late nineteenth century.
APPENDIX 2
1 King, The Medical World of the Eighteenth Century, 83—5.

2 Shafer, The American Medical Profession, 1783—1850, 25.
3 Krehl, "Mercury, the Slippery Metal." Calomel was widely used in
the sixteenth century as a laxative and in the treatment of syphilis. In
the nineteenth century it was recommended as a remedy for fevers,
diarrhea, heart disease, worms, rheumatism, and eye disease.
4 The dried root of any of several Mexican plants of the morning-
glory family, especially exogonium purga.
5 The dried root of the shrubby plant called cephaelis ipecacuanha,
found in Brazil and Bolivia.
6 This was taken either orally, or as a clyster or enema. In some in-
stances mercury was rendered into a powder and rubbed into the skin
about the thighs.
APPENDIX 9
1 Accidents that were not specified.

2 Hectic fever.
3 Under one year of age.
4 These sixty-two people were American prisoners of war who, according
to the Boston Newsletter, starved to death on a prison ship in Halifax
harbour.
5 These six people were shot for desertion.
6 The type of execution was not specified, although it was probably by
hanging.
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Index
Abercrombie, Dr Alexan- 108; to prevent the Albemarle Street: now

der, physician, sur- spread of contagious known as Market
geon, and apothecary's distempers, 67, 200. Street, 77, 127
mate, 17, 29, 42—4, 52, See also Bill, Medical Allotment Book for
55> 56> 59. 62, 7°. 85> Act, Stamp Act, Sugar Halifax, 22
86, 193, 214, 244^26, and Molasses Act, Almon, Dr William John,
26on.i9i; chief surgeon Townshend Act physician and surgeon
to the hospital, 46 Adair, Robert, inspector at Halifax, 101, 144,
Abernethy, John, surgeon of regimental infirma- 148, 170, 185, 204,
at St Bartholomew's, ries in the British army, 206, 212—14, 22on_4,
175 119, 120 3000.17; visiting phy-
Acadians, 13, 46, 47, 66, Adair, William, director of sician to the sick at the
68, 70; expulsion, the military hospital in poor house, 150, 214;
evacuation, and depor- Halifax, 59, 61, 214 surgeon's mate with the
tation of, 37, 49, Adams, Charles, surgeon Royal Artillery, 206;
247^57, 26in.2og; and at Annapolis Royal, surgeon to the Ord-
smallpox epidemic at 204 nance and Artillery,
Quebec in 1757, 9 Adelheit, William, sur- 2980.274
Accoucheur, 92. See also geon and practitioner Alms house, 64, 87
Man-midwife of physic, 26in.2O4 Amherst, Major General
Act, legislative, 136; in Advertisements, 61, 78, Jeffery, 58, 61, 65
England, the first 92, 96, 104, 105, 122, Amherst, Colonel William,
concerning medical 123, 124, 125, 126, 133, 58
matters, 167; in Nova 141, 161, 172, 179, Amputation. See Surgical
Scotia, concerning the 180, 182, 183, 184; first, procedures
disabled and infirm, by a medical practi- Anaesthetics: including
79, 80, 88, 93, 152, 202; tioner in Canada, 38, alcohol, opium, and
concerning the poor, 39; related to medicine nitrous oxide, 22in.8
80, 82, 93, 152; and dentistry, 38; for Anatomy: teaching of, in
concerning the work- veterinary services, 126 the eighteenth cen-
house, 75, 76, 93; for Ainslie, Thomas, surgeon tury, 174
punishing rogues, 89; at Halifax, 26in.204 Anderson, Andrew, physi-
for registering mar- Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty cian and surgeon of
riages, births, and of, 222n_3 New York, 212, 213
deaths, 234^67; for Akins, Thomas Beamish, Andrews, Israel, of Wind-
regulating the militia, historian, 25, 234^68 sor, 2900.180
332 Index
Anne, 27, 30, 33, 23611.84 Ball, Ingram, chief justice Bedlam. See Hospital: of
Annapolis, Township of Cape Breton, 165 St Mary of Bethlehem
of, 68, 70, 102, 205; Balsams: Fryar's, 125; Belcher, Benjamin, 151
population in 1762, 70; Turlington's, 179-81 Belcher, Chief Justice
relief of the poor in, 81 Baltimore, 193, 224n.io Jonathan, 61, 66-8,
Annapolis Royal, 18, 19, Barbers, 4, 15, 168 73, 77, 81, 82; ap-
23- 37- 3 8 -47. 5L 5S, Barclay, Major Thomas, pointed lieutenant
81, 121, 137, 143, 158, I l
5 governor, 255^142
159, 206, 210; English Barkley, Capt. Andrew, Belchiss, Mr, surgeon's
garrison at, 16 H5 mate, 17, 226n.24
Anwyl, Rev. William, Barnard, Peter. See Bell, Winthrop, historian,
234n.66 Bernard, Peter 234n.68
Apothecaries, in Nova Barracks, 84 Bender, Urban, 161
Scotia: number of, Barrington, Lord, 119, Bennett, Rev. Joseph,
from 1749-53, 35; from 120 26in.2oi; and small-
1750-1800, 173 Barrington Street, 46, 77 pox in his family,
Apothecary, drug, and Barrington, Township of, 274n.i 5
medicine stores: at 66, 68-70, 118, 158, Bent, Jesse, 277^46
Halifax, 38, 61, 96, 179, 167; population in Bernard, Peter, apothe-
181, 288n.i66, 1762, 70 cary, physician, and
314^170; at Lunen- Barry, Dr Edward: his surgeon at Halifax, 119,
burg, 161; at book A Treatise on a !39' 2971-273
Shelburne, 179, 180; at Consumption of the Lungs, Berton, Peter, surgeon,
Windsor, 123 271^146 204, 206
Apprenticeship, 4, 79, 81, Bartelo, Francis, 236^86 Best, William, merchant,
90, 144, 152; of Bastide, Colonel John, 49, 51, 265^41
orphans, 240^124 military engineer, Belts, Azor, surgeon at
Arbuthnot, Lieutenant 257 n -i54 Digby and Saint John,
Governor Mariot, 108, Batt, Major Thomas, 204, 206, 209, 210; of
111, 112, 115, 117, 118, 282n_99 the Queen's Rangers,
276n-44; commander Baugh, D.A., naval histo- 204
of the Naval Yard at rian, 245n-33 Bevan, Mr, apothecary
Halifax, 276^44 Baxter, John, surgeon at and chymist, 16, 17
Argyle Highlanders (the Halifax, 30, 38, 59, Bicetre, Paris asylum for
74 th Regiment), 119, 122 264^31; agent to the men, 272^158
Argyle Street, 59, 77 Hospital for Sick and Bigot, Francois, intendant
Argyle, Township of, 158 Wounded Seamen, 55; of New France: and
Army hospital. See Mili- assistant surgeon at the Medical Act, 168
tary hospital naval hospital, 54; sur- Bill: for the Maintenance
Arichat, 222n.i geon in attendance at and Support of Tran-
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Grand Battery Hospital sient Poor, Maimed and
60, 78 at Louisbourg, 67 Disabled Seamen and
Artillery, train of, 58, Baxter, William, physician Soldiers, and other
24&n.52 and surgeon at Corn- Distressed People,
Asia, 156 wallis, 14, 142, 159, 161 148; poor, 152; to
Autopsy. See Surgical Beath, John, travelling Regulate the Practice
procedures dentist, advertising of Physick and Surgery,
Ayer, Abijah, 277^46 repair of natural and 167. See also Act
artificial teeth, 184 Binney, Jonathan, 77, 130
Baie Verte, 47 Beaufort, 19, 193, 224n.io Birch Point: location of
Bailey, Rev. Jacob, 108, Beausejour, Fort: capture smallpox house, 129
129 of, 37, 46 Bishop, John, 112
333 Index
Bishop Street, 32, 77, 81, of, 40, 41, 197, 198, Brebner, J.B., historian,
214, 216 !99 233n.6i
Black hole, 98, 75, Bond, Joseph N., surgeon Brehm, Phillip, overseer
2750.27 at Shelburne and of the poor, 87
Black, Joseph, professor at Yarmouth, 101, 137, Brenton, James, judge of
Glasgow, 175 179, 204, 206, the Supreme Court,
Black people, 156; their 297n.273; portrait of, 160
servitude in America 100 Brewhouse: at the work-
in the eighteenth Booth, Lt William, 163, house, 75
century, 2 2 4 n . i o 185; his watercolour of Brewse, John, engineer.
Black scurvy. See Diseases Sydney, 163 See Bruce, John.
and illnesses Borias, 58 Breynton, Rev. John, 70,
Blake, Charles, surgeon at Boscawen, Vice Admiral 74, 90, 103, 139;
Montreal, 169 Edward, 45, 48, 58, administrator of the
Blaskowitz, Charles: his 61; naval commander orphan house, 46;
plan of the Naval at the Siege of promotes inoculation,
Yard, 133, 134 Louisbourg, 49, 58 103
Blistering, 196 Boston, 51, 84, 102, 104, Bridekirk, W., 207
Blooding (also bleeding, 107; artificers and Bridewell, 74, 146. See also
and blood-letting), 4, labourers from, 24; House of Correction,
41, 141, 195-7 cartel from, 228^165; Workhouse
Bloodstone, 185, 3i6n.i8o civilians from, moved to Brinley, Francis, surgeon
Blowers Street, 59, 77, Halifax, 109; evacua- at Shelburne, 179, 204,
110, 178, 214 tion of, no; newspa- 206; of the New York
Bode, Charles, surgeon at pers, 25, 27, 31,118; Volunteers, 204
Shelburne, 204, 206 Tea Party, 102 Bromfield, William, sur-
Boerhaave, Dr Hermann, Bourn, William, 263^13 geon at St George's
professor of medicine Bowman, James, hospital Hospital, 174
at Leiden, 4, 7, 15, 28, mate at Halifax, 119 Brookes, Richard: his
195; on fever, 4, 195 Boyd, George Frederick, book The General Prac-
Boggs, James, physician surgeon at Windsor, tice of Physic, 17 in. 146
and surgeon at Hali- 112, 142, 170, 28in.82; Brooks, Chamberlain,
fax, 143, 144, 178, 204, surgeon to the 2nd architect of the Naval
206, 209, 210; portrait Battalion, Royal High- Hospital, 2g2n.2ig
of, 100; principal medi- land Emigrants, Brown, Daniel, surgeon's
cal officer in Nova Sco- 1 12 mate at Halifax, 193
tia, 298^274; surgeon Boyd, John, surgeon at Brown, J., surgeon and
to garrison at Halifax, Windsor, 144, 180, dentist at Halifax,
178 204, 206, 209, 210 3i3n.i66
Bohme, Frederick Boyleston, Zabdiel, physi- Brown, John, surgeon at
Ludovic, surgeon at cian in Boston: first to Shelburne, 204, 206
Clements, 142; silhou- carry out an inoculation Brown, Lewis Joseph,
ette of, 72 in North America, 8 surgeon and dentist at
Bolman, John, surgeon, Bragg's Regiment (the Halifax, 313^166
apothecary, and den- 28 th ), 57 Brown, Thomas, owner
tist at Lunenburg, 142, Brattle, William, physician of smallpox house in
159—61; accusations at Boston, 109, 110, Liverpool, 129
and charges against, 209, 210; attorney gen- Brown, Thomas: adver-
161; health officer for eral of Massachusetts tised Sal Salutis in
LaHave, Chester, and Bay Colony, 36; portrait Halifax, 122
Lunenburg, 159 of, 36 Browne, Peter, hospital
Bolus: defined, 197; kinds Breast pipe, 180 mate at New York
Ir
334 »dex
General Hospital and of the 2oth Regiment, Carter, Christopher, hos-

Halifax, 143, 204, 206, 204, 206 pital mate at Halifax,
209, 210 Calef, John, surgeon at 143; druggist and chem-
Bruce, Lt Col James, Saint John, 204, 206, ist in Philadelphia and
officer commanding 209, 210; silhouette of, Queen's County, New
the forces in Nova 72 Brunswick, 296^266
Scotia, 73 Calendar: Gregorian Cast, Phillip Geoffrey,
Bruce, John, engineer, 19, supercedes Julian, 1i surgeon, Shirley's
20 Callendar, Alexander, Regiment, 47, 49
Brudenell, Rev. Edward: 227n.35 Cathartics. See Drugs,
his Letter Book, Callendar's Division, 31 medications, and treat-
3i2n.i43 Calomel, 103, 196 ments
Brunswick Troops, 120, Cambridge, University of, Catherwood, Ann,
122, 284^136 15. i?7 midwife at Halifax, 42,
Bruscourt, Georginus, Camp fever. See Fever 61, 62, 91, 255n.i4o
doctor of physic and Camp followers, 3, 35, 73, Catherwood, William,
surgeon at Halifax, 193 74, 88, 97, 98, 109, surgeon's mate of the
Buchan, William: his book 112, 146, 185, 186, 188 45th Regiment, 24
Domestic Medicine, 8 Campbell, Archibald, Catholics: Irish, 102
Bulkeley, J.M. Freke, surgeon's mate at Hal- Census. See Halifax
Secretary of Council, ifax, 193 Chaplin, Arnold, 97
156 Campbell, Colonel, 118 Charity school: established
Bulkeley, Richard, provin- Campbell, Dr D.A., xv in Halifax, 154
cial secretary, 77, 91, Campbell, John. See Charlatans: practising in
106; member of a com- Loudon, Lord Lower Canada, 168,
mittee to report on the Campbell, Maj. Gen. John, 169, 171
orphan house, 91; and 129- 135' !39> !4°, 156 Charlestown, North
smallpox, 106 Campbell, Governor Carolina, 137
Bullein, Nathaniel, William, 73, 88, 93 Charlton, 93, 193, 224n.io
surgeon 204, 209, 210 Canard, 222n.i Chatham, no
Burbidge, John, overseer Cancer. See Cures, Chebucto, 14, 18, 19,
of the poor 265^33 Diseases and illnesses 22, 23, 74; renamed
Burgoyne, General, Cape Breton, 55, 147, 162, Halifax, 226n.26
117 164 Chebucto Harbour, 14,
Burns, William, surgeon at Cape Forchu, 66 18, 19, 23
Shelburne, 157, 204, Cape Sable, 26m.2o6 Cheselden, William,
206; inoculating at Cape Sable Island, 165 surgeon in London, 5,
Shelburne, 157 Capitation tax. See Poll tax 124, 174; and Barber-
Butler, Lt Col John, Captail Reed's Company, Surgeons, 4
commanding officer of 204 Chester, 70, 158, 159, 204,
the Halifax Militia, Carbolic acid: used as an 206; population of in
275H.22 antiseptic, 22in.7 1762, 70
Buttler, John, distiller, 91, Careening Yard, in Chester, Simeon, 277^46
128; lawsuit brought Halifax, 96, 133, 140; Chichester, John, surgeon
against by John Grant, surgeon at, 140 at Halifax, 170; adver-
surgeon, 40, 41; and Carleton, Sir Guy, 136, tises a course of lectures
orphan house, 91 140, 142 in chemistry in
Byles, Rev. Mather, no, Carlyle, Thomas, 163 Halifax, 183
185 Carnegie, David, surgeon Chignecto, 46, 47, 49, 51,
Bynum, William, xvi at Halifax, 193 56, 222n.i
Carr, Robert, apothecary's Childbirth, 91, 92, 217
mate at Halifax, 17. See Child mortality, 147
Cahill, Matthew, surgeon also Kerr, Robert Children 30, 67, 73,
335 Index
79-81, 83, 95, 108, British forces, 118, 119, Continental Congress,
109, 112, 119, 120, 138, 131, 138, 140 102, 125
139. » 4 » . 15*> *54, Clysters, 197 Convicts, 151, 157, 164
156, 158; illegitimate, in Cobequid, 68, 130, 160, Conway Township, 138,
poor house, 154; of 222n.l 204, 206, 211
poor, in orphan house, Cochran, John, surgeon at Cooper, Sir Astley,
68; with Cornwallis in Halifax, 26in.204; surgeon at Guy's Hos-
1749, 14; Children's portrait of, 12 pital, 175
hospital. See Hospital Coffin, William, apothe- Cope, Sir Zachery,
Chipman, John, 161 cary in Boston, 109 historian of the Royal
Chloroform: introduced College of Physicians, College of Surgeons of
as an anaesthetic, London, 176 England, 124
22in.8 College of Surgeons, Cork, Ireland, 51
Chymists, in Nova Scotia: Hesse-Cassell, 170 Cornwall, Daniel, surgeon
number of, 35, 173 Collier, Admiral Sir at Country Harbour,
Citadel Hill, 115 George, 111, 113—16; 204
Citrus juices, 27 in. 146 his Journal, 113 Cornwallis Barracks, 154;
Claims: for loss of prop- Collier, John, 227^35 description and
erty and income by Collier's Division, 31 location of, 303^49
Loyalist doctors, 209 Collins, Hallet: two of his Cornwallis, General Earl:
Clapham, William, 242^3 children die of defeat of, at Yorktown,
Clapham's Rangers, measles, 141 136
24211.3 Collins, Robert, mason Cornwallis, Governor
Clark, A.H., historian, 222 127 Edward, 14, 18, 19,
Clark, Duncan, surgeon at Columbia College, New 22-7, 3L33. 44'46,
Halifax, 140, 142, 170, York: first medical 116, 22on.i
22in.io; appointed sur- school to advertise in a Cornwallis, Township of,
geon to the Careening Nova Scotia newspa- 70, 93, 121, 129, 142,
Yard, 140; picture of, per, 172 150, 158, 189; arrival of
36; sent to Spanish Colville, Admiral Alexan- New England families,
River, 295^261 der, 58, 65, 67 66; population in 1762,
Clarke, Jonathan W., Commeus, Windilinus, 70
surgeon in Windsor, surgeon on the Cornwallis Island, 52, 53.
assistant surgeon of the Murdoch, 239^113 See also McNab's Island
Royal Nova Scotia Company of Barber- Corporal punishment, 75
Regiment, 178 Surgeons, 168, 174, Cossitt, Rev. Ranna, rector
Clark, Parker, physician at 22on_3 of St George's Angli-
Fort Cumbeland, 116, Company of Surgeons, 4, can Church at Sydney,
282n.lO2 15, 124, 168, 170, 174, 164, 165; his Diary,
Clark, Robert, son of 176, 287n.i53 Sogn.iii
Duncan Clark, sur- Concord, Massachusetts, Country Harbour, 34,
geon, 31 in. 140 101, 102 158, 204, 205
Clark, William Duncan, Connecticut, Colony of, Court of St James, 88
son of Duncan Clark, 66, 141, 168; and Cowpox, 6
surgeon, 31 in. 140 regulating the practice Crafts, Edward, surgeon
Clements Township, 142, of medicine, 168 at Halifax, 30
205, 207 Connor, John, 34 Crawford, John, hospital
Cleveland, Hon. John, Consumption. See Cures, mate at Halifax, 119
Secretary of the Admi- Diseases and illnesses Creighton, James: granted
ralty, 55 Contagious distempers. military hospital lots,
Clinton, Sir Henry, See Diseases and 178
commander in chief of illnesses Criminals, 149
336 Index
Cuffey, Barbara, midwife Dartmouth, Earl of, 106, Deaths, in Halifax, 49, 56;
at Liverpool, 26911.117 107, 109 in Nova Scotia,
Cullen, Walter, surgeon's Dartmouth, Lord, 91, 95 number of, 103, 186
mate at Halifax and Davidson, Andrew: and Deglen, Johann C.,
Fort Cumberland, 116, smallpox in Horton surgeon on the Gale,
140, 142 Township, 112 38, 70
Cullen, Dr William, pro- Davidson, Hugh, de Grasse, Admiral
fessor at Edinburgh treasurer of the col- Francois, 2930.236
and Glasgow, 5, 15, 29, ony, 26, 27 de Haen, Dr Anton: and
175, 196 Davies, Lt Thomas, of the introduction of the
Culloden, battle of, 223n.8 Royal Artillery, 52, 53; thermometer as a diag-
Culpeper, Nicholas: his his watercolour of nostic aid in 1758, 124
book The English Physi- Halifax, 53 De Heister, Lieutenant
cian enlarged with three Davis, Lewis, surgeon of General, commander
hundred, sixty, and nine the King's Rangers, of Hessian Regiment,
medicines, made of English !33> 135. »42. l 8 2 > 111
herbs, 17 in. 146 3o6n.8g; his electric de Labertouche, Anna, 38
Cumberland, Township apparatus advertised for DeLancey's Brigade, 205
of, 68, 70, 108, 137; sale, 182, 3140.171; de Layfayette, Marquis,
and Militia Bill, 108; surgeon's mate in commander of French
population in 1762, 70 Emmerick's Chasseurs, troops during American
Cupping, 196 2g2n.222 Revolution, 293^236
Cures, 122; for cancer, Day, Henrietta, 27011.143 de la Roche, Rev. Peter:
183; for consumptive Day, John, surgeon at the and outbreak of small-
weaknesses, 123; for naval hospital, 48, pox in Lunenburg in
cough, advertised, 93-7. 233n.6i; his 1775, 105, 106
141, 178; for gout, 125, advertisement for Dennison, Gurdon, physi-
3140.171; for hydro- drugs and medicine, 61; cian in Horton, 159,
phobia, advertised, 178; agent victualler of the 160; representative for
for mad-dog bite, 141; army, 2700.142; ap- Horton in House of
for scurvy, 254^135; pointed as a surgeon's Assembly, 159
for venereal disease, assistant in Nova Scotia, Denson, Lt Col Henry
advertised, 122, 178; for 48; his drugstore on Denny, 249^74;
wens, 183; for yellow Hollis Street, 61; elected elected to House of
fever, 123, 305^75 to House of Assembly, Assembly, 270^138
93; inserts first election Dentistry, 137, 184; adver-
D'Anville, Mons: his map advertisement in a tisements by dentists,
of Nova Scotia, Halifax newspaper, 95; 184, 3i3n.i66; anodyne
227n.34 picture of, 12 water for teeth, 96; ar-
Dartmouth, 38, 42, 51, 60, Day and Scott, merchants tificial teeth, 184; chew-
96, 145, 155, 156, 158, in Halifax, 2700.142 sticks, 184; extraction
206, 210, 214, 2l6, Debt, provincial, 85—8, 94, of teeth, 161; tooth-
237n.gi; building on, 97, 98, 146, 153 brushes, 182; tooth
27; Indian attack on, Death: causes of, among powders, 180, 182;
30; arrival of Maroons, Nova Scotians from transplanting teeth,
156; Maroon hospital, J
749-99> M7. l88 > l8 9> 184. See also von
156; tent hospital, 217, 218; mean and Riedesel, Baroness
155; population in July median ages of Nova de Rodohan, Alexandre,
1752, 38 Scotians at time of, surgeon of the Gale,
Dartmouth College: estab- 186; rate, among Nova 31, 243n.6; and Acadi-
lishes a Faculty of Scotians from ans, 246n_55, 47
Medicine, 171 1749-84, 147, 187 DesBarres, Lieutenant
337 Index
Governor J.F.W., 162, 217; flux, 67; gangrene, Druggists, in Nova Scotia:
163, 164 29; gout, 84, 125, 126, number of, from
Deschamps, Isaac, judge 190, 217; jaundice, 28, 1749-53. 35; from
of the Supreme Court, 29, 118, 123, 196; 1750-1800, 173
106, 160 King's Evil, 123; lep- Drugstores. See
de Seitz, Lt Col Fritz Carl rosy, 123; lung dis- Apothecary, drug, and
Erdman, commander ease, 217; malaria, 125; medicine stores
of the Hessian measles, 141, 217; of Drugs, medications, and
Regiment, 120. See also horses, 126; palsy, 217; treatments: alcohol,
Hessians paralysis, 217; pleu- 182; alum, 180, 182,
Deserters, 22 risy, 217; putrid sore 197; anisette, 197; an-
Despard, Major General throat, 156; quinsy, odyne draught, 41, 196;
John,165 217; rheumatism, 123, antimony, 197, 198;
d'Estaing, Admiral, 196; scurvy, 56, 67, arsenic, 196; astringent
293n-236 123, 126, 254n.i35; electuary, 41, 197; bal-
De St Croix, Benjamin, stealoma encysted tu- sam, 125; barberry
surgeon, 172 mor, 183; steckfluss, bush, 196; bark, 182,
Devices, medical and 217; stone in the blad- 197; barley water, 103;
surgical. See Supplies der, 217; strangury Bateman's Golden and
Dick, 27 heat, 123; stroke, 217; Plain Scurvy Grass, 125;
Dickson, Cochran, syphilis, 6, 310^133, benedictine, 197;
surgeon at Halifax, 3i7n_3; ulcers, 123; bleeding, 196, 197; blis-
!93 ulcerated legs, 123; ve- tering, 196; blood-
Dickson, James, surgeon nereal disease, 44, 45, stone, 185; calomel,
and agent for sick and 178; wens, 183; worms, 103, 196; cathartic,
hurt seamen at Halifax, 217; yaws, 123. See also 196; camphor, 181,
110, 111, 113, 114, Cures, Fever; yellow 197; camphorated
130, 214, 215; principal fever, 123, 156, 217. spirits of wine, 41, 197;
surgeon at the naval See also Cures, Fever, Carolina Pinkroot,
hospital, 129, 130; sur- Smallpox 181; castor oil, 179, 181,
geon to the sick prison- Dispenser, 52, 84, 131, 198; cephalic mixture,
ers of war, 129 »55 197; chloride of mer-
Digby, 137, 138, 150, 158, Distemper, 67, 103 cury, 196; coltsfoot,
204-6, 208-1i; Diuretics, kinds of, 196, 182, 313^164; cooling
number of Loyalists who 197 clysters, 41; corn salve,
settled there, 137 Doane, Mrs Elizabeth, 180; cream of tartar,
Digby, Rear Admiral midwife at Harrington, 124; Darby's carmina-
Robert, 128, 130 67, 70, 118 tive, 181, 182; detergent
Dimsdale, Thomas, Doctor of Cobequid. See decoction, 41, 198; di-
physician, 8 Harris, John gestive, 41; elecampane,
Diseases and illnesses: Doctor Rare, 125, 126 313^164; electuary,
apoplexy, 217; Doggett, John, 129 198; enema, 40, 197;
asthma, 217; black Dolhonde, John, surgeon fermentation, 41, 198;
scurvy, 156; cancer, at Halifax, 26in.204 flower of sulphur, 123;
217; cholera, 217; con- Dundon, Dr Patrick, of the foxglove, 197; frank-
stipation of the bowels, 52nd Regiment, 107 incense, 126; Galenicals,
123; consumption, 123, Dorchester, Lord, 169 125; gargarsm, 41,
190, 217; contagious Dragoons, 17th Light, 109 198; garlic, 141; God-
distempers, 200; con- Draper, William, surgeon frey's General Cordial,
vulsions, 217; dropsy, at Halifax, 29 125, 180; hartshorn
217; dry grips, 123; Drops, 40; kinds of, 122, shavings, 41, 180, 181,
dysentry, 56, 218; fits, 125, 179, 180, 182, 198 185, 198; herbs and
338 Index
roots, 118; Hoff- also Balsams, Bolus, Eddy, Captain Jonathan,

mann's Anodyne, 196; Diuretics, Drops, Elix- 116
ipecac, 196, 197, 198; irs, Emetics, Essences, Edinburgh Infirmary, 5, 6
iron, 196; isinglass, 41, Mixtures, Nostrums, Edinburgh University, 5,
179—82, 198; jalap, Oils, Patent medi- 175, 196; medical
103, 196; Jesuit's Bark, cines, Pills, Plasters, faculty established, 175
181; lavender, 180, Poultice, Powders Edmund, Johann
182, 185; laxatives, 196, Drummond, George, sur- Edmund Heinrich,
197; linseed, infusions geon at Shelburne, surgeon on the Pearl,
of, 141; liquorice, 40, 185, 204, 206, 209, 210; 38
141, 182, 185; loz- of the New York Gen- Electrotherapy, 3140.171.
enges, 182; magnesia eral Hospital, 204 See also Torpedo
alba, 123; marshmal- Duckworth, John, surgeon Elixirs: defined, 198;
low, 141; mercury, 196; at Halifax, 30 kinds of, 40, 125, 133,
mithridate, 141; mor- Duke of Gumberland's 180, 181, 198
phine, 196; musk, 196; Regiment, 156, 205 Ellis, Edward, surgeon at
mustard, 199; nos- Duke of Hamilton's Newport,
trums, 125; ointment Regiment (the 82'"'), Emetics: defined, 197,
for the itch, 180; 119, 122, 140, 142 198; kinds of, 40, 196,
opium, 196, 198; pecto- Duncan, Henry, 207 197, 198
ral lozenges, 182; pep- Dundon, Dr Patrick, Emigrants: lists of, 224
permint, 182; pewter, surgeon at Halifax, Emigration, Scottish, 147
scrapings of, 141; pop- 107 Emmerick's Chasseurs,
pies, syrup of, 141; pur- Dunmore, 119 2g2n.222
gative mixture of Durell, Admiral Phillip, Enactment concerning
calomel and jalap, 196; Commander in Chief medical matters, 167;
purging, 195, 199; of the Fleet in America, first by the English
quinine, 197; rhubarb, 64 Parliament, 167
181, 199; rue, leaves Duties: collected on Engineers, Corps of, 58
of, 141; Russian Pearl spirituous liquors, 76, Enniskillens (the 27th
Ash, 181; saffron, 181, 77, 82, 84, 85, 94, Regiment), 276^44
198; Sal Salutis, 123, 264n.2i Epidemic: of 1749—50
125, 199; Salt Petre, Duty Fund, 82 misdated, 25; in Nova
181, 182; sarsaparilla, Duty: on articles from the Scotia, 28, 55, 56, 61,
141; Spanish liquorice, United States, 151 105, 112, 141
40, 180, 199; spirits of Dysentery. See Diseases Erad, Johann Berghard,
hartshorn, 199; spruce and illnesses surgeon on the Pearl
beer, 305^75; and at Lunenburg, 31,
static electricity, Earl of Halifax, George 38,65
3140.171; Steer's Opo- Montagu-Dunk: Essences: kinds of, 125,
deldoc, 181, 182; Sto- appointed president of 180, 182
rey's Worm Destroying the Board of Trade Executions, 217
Cakes, 181; and Plantations.
Stoughton's Bitters, 180, Eastern Battery, 135 Fair Lady, 18, 193, 224n.io
181; tamarinds, 180, Eaton, Daniel, physician Fallon, Eleanor, midwife
181; tannin, 197; tarr, and surgeon at of Halifax, 91
vomit of, 103; Onslow, 159; member Falmouth, Township of,
turpentine, 179, 196, of the House of As- 67, 70, 81, 118, 160;
199; verdigris, 181, sembly, 159;surgeon of arrival of New England
182; Ward's Medicines, the Colchester Militia, families, 66; popula-
96; whorehound, 3°2n-47 tion in 1762, 70; relief
313^164; wine, 197. See Eddington, Maine, 116 of the poor in, 81
In
339 dex
Fait, Joseph, surgeon at Fisher, James, surgeon to used at the Edinburgh

Petite Riviere, 137, the garrison at Infirmary, 5
161, 204, 206 Quebec, 168, 169, 171 Fury, William, 133
Families: with Cornwallis Fitzpatrick, Thomas,
in 1749, 224n.io keeper of the gaol and Gale, 30, 33, 42, 2380.109
Fane, John, seventh earl of workhouse, 88, Galen, 287^157
Westmoreland, 225 2690.105 Galenicals, 125
Paries, William, surgeon's Flanders, 28, 29; hospitals Galland, John, 227^35
mate at Halifax, 107, in, 16, 28; military Gamble, John, hospital
108, 129, 2740.13; of campaigns in, 224^26 mate in Halifax, 143,
65th Regiment, 107; Fleming, Elizabeth, 2g6n.264, 296^265
assistant surgeon at the midwife at Halifax, 92 Gangrene. See Diseases
naval hospital, 105, Fletcher, Dr Richard, 170 and illnesses
107 Fletcher, William, surgeon Gaol, 94, 119, 120, 149,
Parish, Henry Greggs, at Halifax, 107, 162, 163, 202,
surgeon at Yarmouth, 2970.270, 3O2n-47 24on.i26; building for,
172 Florentine, Abraham, 263^14; location of io
Farquhar, John, surgeon's surgeon at Digby, 204, Halifax, 75, 88; provio-
mate at Halifax, 17 206, 209, 211 cial, 149
Farrington, John, chymist Foot, Zachariah, 117 Gardiner, Sylvester, physi-
and surgeon at Hali- Forceps: secretely used by cian at Boston, 109,
fax, 193 Chamberlen family of 209, 2 1 1 ; portrait of, 36
Fencible, definition of, physicians, 92 Gamier, Mr, apothecary
273n.8 Forts: Beausejour, 37, 46, general to the army,
Fenton, John, appointed 47> 57' 13°' Cornwal- 16, 17
to be a governor of the lis, 76, 77; Cumberland, Gates, Horatio, 19
orphan house, 91 57, 114, 116, 130; Ed- Geddes, James, surgeon,
Fever, 28, 32, 54, 55, 56, ward, 112; Horseman's 172
119, 136, 155-7, 190, 46, 77; Lawrence, 38, Gemmel, John. See
195, 196, 217; bilious, 47; Lee, 138; Massey, Gamble, John
28, 123; camp, 28; 172, 178, 216; William General military hospital.
contagious, 54; epidem- Henry, 57 See Military hospital
ical, 61; hectic, 123, Foster, Robert, 2770.46 Gentleman's Magazine and
217; hospital, 28; infec- Foye, William, 2550.145 Historical Chronicle, 24,
tious, 155, 201; inflam- Fraoce, 26; declares war 55
matory, 28, 29, 48; on Great Britain in George III, 81, 88,97,98,
intermittent, 59; jail, !793> !54 109, 150
28, 135; low nervous, Francheville, George, George Street, 60
29; malignant, 29, 135, surgeoo at Halifax, 31, George's Island, 18, 41,
136, 155, 200; nervous, 130 51, 67, 110, 112—15,
185, 295n.26i; putrid, Fraocklio, Lieuteoaot 122, 135, 137, 157,
28, 135, 158, 217; Governor Michael, 77, 214-16, 2850.143;
scarlet, 156; spotted, 84, 87, 88, 130 naval hospital on, 113,
56, 217; typhus, 28, 29; Fraser, John, surgeon at 121; quaraotioe hospi-
yellow, 118, 119, 121, Windsor, 142, 156, tal oo, 11 o, 112, 113
!25> !57-9> !96- See 214, 215, 3O2n_47 Germaio, Lord George,
also Boerhaave, Freeholders: committee 110, 112, 115, 117—19,
Dr Hermann, Cures, of, 57; of Halifax, 89 127
Fevers Friendship, 164 Germao Auxiliary Forces,
Fillis, John, overseer of the Fuller's Regiment (the 204
poor, 26sn.33 291)1), 222n_4 Germaos, 27, 34, 102
Fish, electric, 314^171 Fumigation: procedures Germany, 30, 2390.113
340 Index
Gerrish, Joseph, 25411.133 31, 38, 39,41,44,45, Griffith, Fenton, surgeon's

Gibbons, Richard, over- 57, 193; and orphan mate at Halifax, 77,
seer of the poor, house, 42; assistant 193
26511.33, 2680.105 surgeon of the naval Gschwind, John Frederick
Gillespie, George, surgeon hospital, 54; lawsuits Traugott, surgeon at
at Halifax, 170, against patients, 39, 40, Halifax, 127, 142, 159,
3060.89 41; man-midwife at 170, 28gn.i7i,
Gisiquash, Claude, 34 Halifax, 44, 92 3020.47; appointed
Glasgow, 118, 147, 175 Grant, Robert, surgeon at health officer for
Glazier, Beamsley, Halifax, 17, 39, 45, 48, Halifax, 159;
228n_44 5 2 > 54-93* !93> 215; ad- Guards: two companies
Goldthwaite, assistant vertising medicines for arrive in Halifax, 111
surgeon at Halifax, no sale, 38; his grocery, dry Gut of Canso, 158
Goldthwaite, Michael B., goods, and medicine Guysborough, 157, 186,
hospital mate at hospi- store in Granville Street, 205, 208
tal in New York, 40, 41; principal sur- Guy's Hospital, London, 6,
279n-65 geon at naval hospital, 170, 172
Goodman, Isaac, surgeon 52; surgeon and agent
at Digby, 138, 204, to the sick and wounded Hales, Stephen, clergy-
206, 209, 211 at Halifax, 45, 55; man, 16
Gordon, Alexander, sworn in as member of Haliburton, Thomas
surgeon at Sydney, Council, 93 Chandler, historian,
163; surgeon's mate to Grant, William, surgeon at 223n_7
the 33rd Regiment, Halifax, 193 Halifax, 22, 23, 48, 51, 57,
163; silhouette of, 72 Granville, Township of, 59, 73, 102, 103, 109,
Gordon, William Augus- 66, 70, 81, 117, 121, 117, 226n_33, 268n.93;
tus: his Journal, 138, 172, 205, 207; assessment on inhabi-
253n.i22 population in 1762, tants for the poor, 85,
Goreham's Corps, 109 70; relief of the poor in, 87, 88; Britain's major
Gorham,John, 2420.3 81 naval base in North
Gorham, Lt Col Joseph, Granville Street, 45, 59, America, 3; census of
commander of the 177 !?52, 33; cost of
Royal Fencible Ameri- Graves, Rear Admiral establishing the settle-
cans, 103 Samuel, 128 ment, 31; intended
Gorham, Major, 23911.115 Greaves, George, surgeon attack on, by the
Gorham, William, 127 to the naval hospital, French, 2490.76; North
Gorham's Point, 2540.133 84, 104, 215; advertises Suburbs, 31, 104, 105,
Gorham's Rangers, 2420.3 patent medicines, 105; 120, 133, 24in. 131;
Gould, John, hospital inoculation hospital in number of houses, 24,
mate at Halifax, 143, his house, 104 68; number of Loyalists
204, 206, 209, 211, Greaves, William, surgeon who settled there, 137;
296^264, 2970.273 at Halifax, 172 number of persons in,
Grace, James, 34 Green, the Honourable 24, 25, 52, 102,
Grafton Street, 77, 178 Benjamin, 82, 86, 93, 234n_72, 2410.131; oli-
Grand Battery Hospital, at 94, 183; administrator garchy io, 96; plao for
Louisbourg, 65 of the government, 86; fortifyiog, 20; plao
Grand Pre, 38, 47, 49, provincial treasurer, 82, showiog forts, batter-
2220.1 88 ies, etc., 50; proposed
Grant: to Nova Scotia, 62, Gregory, Dr James, attack by New England
63; hospital expenses physician, 5 rebels on, 107; rendez-
omitted from, 64 Grenville, George, Lord of vous of fleets and
Grant, John, surgeon, 17, the Treasury, 225 armies at, 37, 70; small-
341 Index
pox in, 55, 107; South Pictou and Truro, 130, Head, Samuel, surgeon at
Suburbs, 23, 2410.131; 159, 160; member of Halifax, 172
unemployment in, 73; the House of Assembly Heagerty, Dr J.J.: his
view of, by Moses Har- for Truro, 130, 160; re- description of attempt
ris, 21; worst storm ferred to as the Doctor to introduce smallpox
ever experienced in, of Cobequid, 130 ioto Halifax, 57
2680.93 Harris, Jonathan, 82, 83, Health boat, io Halifax
Hall, John Sr, of Granville, 87, 88 Harbour, 157
117 Harris, Matthew, 130 Health officers: first
Hall, John Jr, 117 Harris, Moses: his plan of appoioted io Nova
Halliburton, John, Halifax, 19, 21, 24, 25, Scotia, 158, 159
surgeon at Halifax, 32 Heffernan, Dennis,
131, 133, 140, 142, 155, Harris, Mrs, midwife in surgeon at Halifax and
160, 177, 178, 209, Falmouth, 118 Liverpool, 31211.142
211, 215, 22on.6, Harrison, Samuel, master Helmerich, Johan
29in.205; surgeon of of the House of Cor- Christian, surgeon at
the naval hospital, 131, rection at Shelburne, Halifax, 127, 214
215; appointed to care 3000.22 Henkell, George, surgeon
for the sick and Hartshorn, Ebenezer, aod health officer at
wounded naval prison- surgeon at Annapolis, Aooapolis, 159
ers, 155; appointed to 70 Heory, Aothooy, King's
HM Council, 160; pic- Harvard University, 136; Printer, 122, 158;
ture of, 100 establishes a Faculty of advertises patent medi-
Halliburton, John Jr, Medicine, 171 cines, 122
surgeon at Halifax, Harvey, Dr William: on Hessian Hospital, 127,
172 midwifery, 92 214, 216
Hamilton, Lt Col Otto, Hatton, Joseph, surgeon Hessians, 101, 111, 120,
commander of HM at Country Harbour, 122, 127, 138, 142; de
Troops in Nova Scotia, 205, 297n.273 Heister Regiment of,
2670.65 Hawkins, Mr, master of 111; de Seitz Regiment
Hamond, Lieutenant Surgeons' Hall, 17 of, 120
Governor Sir Andrew Hay, Alexander, surgeon's Highlanders, 117
Snape, 121, 122, mate in Halifax, 31, 193 Hill, John, of Digby,
127-31, 135, 136 Hay, Charles, captain of manufacturer of Es-
Hancock, 118 the Port of Halifax, 41 sence of Spruce,
Handasyde, James, Hay, Patrick, surgeon at 3°5n-75
surgeon at Halifax, 17, Halifax, 193 Hill, Trotter, surgeoo at
J93 Hay, Thomas, Lord Halifax, of the 59th
Handasyde, John, surgeon Dupplin, 225n.ig Regiment, 92
at Halifax, 129, 131, Hays, Lewis, 27 Hillsborough, Lord, 88
215, 2gon.i83; Head, Dr —, surgeon at Hinshelwood, Mr, 82
appointed assistant Halifax, 48 Hippocrates, i
surgeon and surgeon at Head, Michael, surgeon Hoar, Frike Dilks, 77
naval hospital, 129, and druggist at Wind- Hoffman, John, justice of
130, 215 sor, Lunenburg, and the peace for Halifax
Hangings: in Halifax, 217 Halifax, xvi, 48, 49, County, 2380.101
Harbin, Augustus, assis- 123, 181, 24gn_74, Hofstadter, R., historian, 9
tant surgeon at Hali- 28in.85, 3020.47; Holburoe, Admiral, 37,
fax, 193 drugstores on Granville 51- S 2 , 55' 5 8 ^ and
Hardy, Sir Charles, 52, 56, and Hollis Streets, siege of Louisbourg, 55
58 181; and inoculations, Hollaod, George, surgeoo
Harris, John, physician at 106 at Halifax, 137, 205
342 Index
Hollingsworth, T.H.: his Hospital Street, 45, 46, 75, Howe, Colonel, of the
study of life expec- 77 58th Regiment, 61
tancy, 187 Hospitals: children's, 145; Howe, Joseph, 96
Hoilis Street, 61 first private, 104-6; Howe, General Sir Wil-
Hoose, John, surgeon at for the Maroons, 156, liam, 104, 107—10,
Shelburne, 137, 157, 214, 216; French, at 112, 113, 115, 117—19,
205, 207 Louisbourg, 61; Green, 185, 211
Hopson, Governor Pere- on Cornwallis Street, Huggeford, John, surgeon
grine Thomas, 18, 216; in Fort Edward, at Shelburne, 205, 207,
32-4, 38, 42, 46, 112; in poor house, 82, 209, 211, 297n.273
228n-38; commander 214, 216; in Sydney, Huggeford, Peter,
of the 2gth Regiment, 163, 165, 3o8n.97; surgeon at Digby, 138,
223n-4; lieutenant prison, in Halifax, 101, 150, 205, 207, 209, 211
governor of 127, 133, 215, 216; Hughes, Lieutenant
Louisbourg, 223^4; prison, on Kavanagh's Governor Richard, 119
governor of Nova Sco- Island, 155, 178, 216; Hume, Robert, assistant
tia, 33 quarantine, 113, 214, surgeon and dispenser
Hopson's Regiment (the 215; rebel, 119, 127; at Halifax, 22111.10
40th), 18, 24, 51, 57, Red, 133, 216; regimen- Humors (blood, phlegm,
236n.86, 278n_52 tal, 178, 215, 216; tent, choler, and melan-
Horseman, Lt Col John, at Dartmouth, 155. See choly), 287^157
246n.4o also the following hos- Hunter, John, English
Horses: medicines for, pitals by name: for Hurt surgeon and teacher,
126, 182 and Sick Seamen, 4- 15. !74
Horton, Township of, 66, Grand Battery, Hessian, Hunter, Dr William,
70, 81, 112, 118, 121, Hotel Dieu, Middle- teacher of anatomy,
158, 159, 206, 210; sex, Military, Naval, !74.175
population in 1762, New England, Ships: Hunter, 253n. 106
70; relief of the poor in, hospital Huxham, Dr John: his
81 Hospitals: in Halifax and book An Essay on
Hospital, civilian, in Hali- environs, 1749—99, Fevers, To which is now
fax, 25, 32, 44, 46, 52, 214—16 added a Dissertation on
57, 64,67, 85, 116, 149, Hotel Dieu Hospital, the Malignant Ulcerous
214, 216; administra- Paris: death rate Sore Throat, 271^146
tion and operation of, among patients, 26
42, 57; condition of, Hotham, Commodore Idiots, 79, 80, 93, 97. See
57; grant for the opera- William, 111 also Lunacy; Lunatics
tion of, 1753-63, 63; Households: heads of, in He St Jean, 163
location of, 25, 77; Nova Scotia, 223^7 Imhof, A.E.: his study of
expenses of, 32, 42, House of Assembly: estab- urban mortality, 187,
62; number of patients, lished, 76 188, 190
32, 42; medicines re- House of Commons, 31, Indians, 18, 24,30,33,34,
quested for, 26; sur- 98, 162 38, 46, 47, 66, 86, 154,
geons, assistant House of Correction, 46, 236n.86; attack on
surgeons, apothecaries, 75- 79' 83> 93. 94- 153- Dartmouth by,
and midwife on staff See also Workhouse, 232^56; bounty placed
of, 42, 235n_79; to be Bridewell on, 233^56; at
used as an alms house, House of Lords, 162 Louisbourg, 55; popula-
87 House of Representatives, tion of, 13, 70; of
Hospital fever. See Fever 57 Shubenacadie, 33; and
Hospital for Hurt and Sick Houseal, John B., smallpox epidemic at
Seamen, 48, 52, 215, surgeon, 172 Quebec, 9; surgeon to
216; location, 45, 215 How, Edward, 236n.86 care for, 86
In
343 dex
Ingonish, 22211.i Jail fever. See Fever Island, 304^56

Inman, John, surgeon at Jamaica, 156 Kay(e), James, surgeon at
Halifax, 17, 193 Jaumard, Peter, surgeon's Halifax, 119, 140, 142,
Inness, Dr George, mate to the hospital in 297n.27i
surgeon, 82nd Regi- Halifax, 293^223 Kelly, Hugh, 299^14
ment, 293n.223 Jaundice. See Diseases and Kelly, John Butler: sells
Inoculation, 7, 8, 56, 70, illnesses Island in North West
71, 103-5, "7. !57. Jeffries, Dr John, physi- Arm to James
158, 184; advertisement cian and surgeon at Kavanagh, 304^56
concerning, 105; first Halifax, 109, no, 112, Kendrick, Daniel, surgeon
administered in Canada, 117, 119, 209, 211, and man-midwife at
71; first administered 214; and inoculation, Liverpool, 156, 157,
in Great Britain, 7; first 118, 119; surgeon to 205, 207, 297n.273
administered in North quarantine hospital on Kennedy, Jane, matron
America, 8; first admin- George's Island, no; and head nurse at the
istered in Nova Scotia, first native-born Ameri- naval hospital, 133
71; hospital for, in can to be awarded an Kennedy, Robert, assistant
Liverpool, 112; two MD by the University of surgeon at naval hospi-
methods of inoculating Aberdeen, 279^59; tal, 254n.i34
described, 118. See also portrait of, 36; pur- Kennedy's Regiment (the
Breynton, Rev. John, de veyor of the general 43rd). 57-9- 205,
la Roche, Rev. Peter, military hospital in Hal- 278n_52
Dimsdale, Thomas, ifax, 113, 119;surgeon Kent, John, 40, 41
Greaves, George to the military hospital Kerr, Robert, apothecary's
Insane, the, 5, 86, 93, 97 in Halifax, 112, 214 mate at Halifax, 29,
Insanity, 98 Jenner, Dr Edward, 8 193. See also Carr,
Insurance: medical, Jenny, 27in. 154 Robert
established during Jews: burying ground of, Kilby, Christopher, agent
construction of naval 76 for the settlement of
hospital, 131; in New Jones, John, surgeon at Halifax, 16, 26
France, 29in.2i i Halifax, 312^142 Killam, Amasa, 227^46
Ipswich, Massachusetts, Jones, Matthew, surgeon, Killo, Robert, overseer of
116 17. 27-9, 44, 59, 193, the poor, 28on.7g
Ireland, 27, 107, 151 214 King's American
Irish Town, 126 Joppe, Ludovic, of the Regiment, 204
Irvine, John, surgeon at Goth Regiment, sur- King's College, New York:
Halifax, 3o8n.ioi geon at Guysborough, establishes the first
Irwin, Josiah, 17 205 Faculty of Medicine in
Irwin, Thomas, surgeon at Judges: impeachment of, the American colonies,
Annapolis Royal and 160 170-2
Halifax, 178; assistant Justices of the peace, 74, King's Evil, 123
inspector of hospitals 79' 8 3> !53. 201, 202 Kingslaugh, John, 68
in Nova Scotia, 178 King's Naval Hospital. See
Island of St John. See He Karr, David Thomas: Naval hospital
St Jean surgeon for the sick King's Naval Yard, 59
and wounded prisoners King's Orange Rangers,
Jacot, Hector, surgeon on of war at Louisbourg, 120, 133, 142, 182
the Gale, 239^113 25in.gg King's Own Regiment (the
Jades, C.N.G.: contracted Kast, Phillip Geoffrey. See 4 th ). 154. 183
yellow fever from con- Cast, Phillip Geoffrey Kinsman, Robert, 121
victs on Sally, 148, 157 Kavanagh's Island: prison Klett, Johann Ulrich,
Jager Corps, 205, 208 hospital on, 155, 178, surgeon at Halifax and
Jail, 85. See also Gaol 216; renamed Melville Lunenburg, 30, 38
344 Index
Knap, Nathaniel, carpen- Lawrence, John: physician in 1762, 70; relief of

ter, 59, 65; and hospi- and surgeon at the poor in, 81; and
tal for the sick at Granville, 205, 207 smallpox, 112, 129
Louisbourg, 59 Lawrencetown, 51 Loader, John, master
Kneeland, William, 39, 40, Lawsuits: for non- shipwright, 129, 131
!97 payment of medical Lockman, Leonard, sur-
Knowles, J.H., 26 fees, 39, 40, 162, 195, geon at Halifax and
Knox, Captain John, 56, 3o6n.8g Lunenburg, 16, 17, 27,
59. 84 Lazaretto, 32 38,45, 65, 193, 214;
Kunitz, S.J.: his study on LeClerc, Dr Daniel: his surgeon and agent for
life expectancy, 187 book A Natural and the Hospital for Sick
Medicinal History of and Hurt Seamen, 45;
LaHave, 158, 159 Worms, Bred in the surgeon on the hospi-
Lake Champlain, 57 Bodies of Men and other tal ship Roehampton,
Lancet, 182; used to Animals, 27in. 146 224n.i i
convey infection of the Lee, William: and building London: Hospital, 6;
smallpox, 118 of new naval hospital, smallpox hospital, 8
Landeg, David, surgeon at !3i London, City of, 39, 55,
Shelburne, 205, 207, LeFanu, Dr William, 5, 15 58, 96, 98, 122, 148;
2g7n.272, 297n.273 Legge, Governor Francis, and examining persons
Largus, Scribonius, 9°, 91. 93. 95. 102, in medicine, 168
Roman physician, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109 London Gazette, 13, 22
3i4n.i7i Legislation: medical, first London Magazine or Gentle-
Lascelles, William, mentioned in Nova man's Monthly Intelli-
surgeon at Halifax, Scotia House of Assem- gencer, 30
!93 bly, 167 Lords of Trade, 16, 19, 22,
Lascelles, Colonel Leprosy. See Diseases and 24-6, 32-5, 42, 57, 62,
Peregrine, 73 illnesses 64, 67, 68, 76, 84, 89,
Lascelles's Regiment (the LeRoy, Louis, surgeon on 91, 93, 145, 162
47th), 27, 30, 33, 42, the Speedwell, 239^113 Loring, Benjamin, sur-
47. 5!.57. 73. 74. Levison-Gower, Granville, geon at Shelburne,
236n.86 first marquis of 205, 207
Latham, Dr James: Stafford, 225 Loudon, Lord, fourth earl
Canada's pioneer inoc- Lexington: skirmish at, of Loudon, 37, 52, 54,
ulator, 71 101, 102 55. 56. 57. 59
Lavoisier, Antoine Leyden, University of, 15, Louisbourg, 3, 13, 22, 24,
Laurent, 14 174. 195 31. 33. 37. 49. 52>
Lawlor, Dr William Digby, Life expectancy, 187 53-5- 58, 59. 61, 64-7,
hospital mate at Lind, Dr James: his book 69, 73, 84, 93, 2 2 2 n . i ;
Halifax, 119, 293^223 A Treatise of the Scurvy, English garrison at, 13,
Lawrence, Lieutenant 27in.i46 18, 22; hospitals at, 59,
Governor Charles, 35, Liquor, Spirituous, 74, 76, 65, 67; and smallpox
38, 41, 45-47, 51, 54, 77, 82, 84, 94 outbreak, 49
57, 61, 62, 64, 68, 75, Lister, Dr Joseph, 22 in.7 Louthian, Thomas, sur-
76, 93, 108, 145, Lithotomy. See Surgical geon's mate at Halifax,
243n.ig; and civilian procedures 193
hospital, 62; his procla- Liverpool, England, 24 Lower Canada, 168—71
mation concerning Liverpool, Township of, Loyal American Regi-
lands vacated by the 66, 70, 81, 118, 120, ment, 205
Acadians, 66; and 129, 130, 141, 142, 150, Loyal Nova Scotia Volun-
transfer of settlers to 157, 205, 208; hospi- teers: formation of,
Lunenburg, 38 tals in, 112; population 106, 108
345 ^dex
Loyalist: claim commission keeper of the poor tion for, 178; recipe
and claims, 137, 209; house and House of for, 141
physicians and surgeons Correction at Malaria, 125
who came to Nova Shelburne, 3Oon.22 Manchester, 159, 205
Scotia in 1783, 137, 209 Machias: pirates from, 102 Man-midwife: Daniel
Loyalists, in Nova Scotia, Mclntyre, Donald, Kendrick, 316^178;
107, 109, 136, 137, surgeon at Halifax, John Grant, 44, 92;
143. !44> 151- l65- i? 1 - 140, 143, 147, 178, 205, Henry Meriton, 39,
186, 209, 3oon.i8 207, 214, 297n.27i 92; Christopher Nicolai,
Lunacy: trade in, 98 MacKay, Relief. See 71; John Phillipps, 65,
Lunatics, 79, 80, 89, 93, Williams, Relief, 48 92
97, 98, 126. See also McKeown, Thomas, xvi March, Jacob, surgeon's
Idiots, Lunacy McKinnon, Hon. William: mate, Shirley's Regi-
Lunenburg 34, 37, 38, 42, suspended from the ment, 47; at
46, 51, 65, 69, 70, 84, Council of Cape Breton, Louisbourg, 246^52
91, 92, 104, 122, 142, 165 Marines, 65, 109, 114,
157—60, l86, 205; Mackintosh, Catherine: 116, 117
hospital at, 65; number autopsy on, 48 Marischal College, 136,
of families in 1762, 70; Mackworth, Sir Herbert, 176, 177
referred to as 162 Maroons, 145, 155, 156;
Merlegash, McLean, Donald, of New hospital for, 145
Merleguash, and York, 118 Marsh, Francis, captain of
Merlequash, 34, 42; McLean, Donald, surgeon, the 65th Regiment,
return of settlers there 179, 205, 207, 272n_3
from 1753-58, 297n.27i, 314^167; Marshall, John, surgeon at
24in. 140; smallpox ep- advertisement to sell Halifax, 119, 120, 127,
idemic in, 105 drugs and medicine, 129* 133. 136, 139. »4».
Lutgens, Johannes i?9 214, 215, 22in.io,
Matthew, surgeon on McLean, Brig. Gen. 297n.273; surgeon to
the Gale, 31 Francis, 119-22, 127, general military
Lyons, Major , town 130; officer command- hospital, 120, 129, 214
major, 113 ing the British army at Marshall, Josiah, 76
Halifax, 122 Marshman, Jeremiah,
Macarmick, Lieutenant McLean, Colonel, 118 399"-! 5
Governor William, 164 Maclean's Corps, 109 Martha, 165
McColme, Dr John, physi- MacLennan, J.S., Martial law: proclaimed in
cian and surgeon at historian, 222 Nova Scotia, 107
Halifax, 26in.204 McLeod, Murdock, Marvin, Joseph, surgeon's
McCormick, John, assis- surgeon at Country mate at Digby, 205,
tant surgeon to the Harbour, 205, 207, 209, 207
naval hospital, 25in.95 211 Maryland Volunteers, 165
McDonald, Captain McMonagle, John H., Mascarene, Paul, lieuten-
Alexander, 117, 118, surgeon,172 ant governor at
179, 272n_7; his Letter McNab's Island, 52 Annapolis Royal, 18
Book, 275n.27 MacNeil, Mrs, midwife at Massachusetts Bay, Colony
McEvoy, John, assistant Shelburne, 185 of, 66; grants right to
surgeon and dispenser McNutt, Colonel Alexan- regulate medical prac-
at Halifax, 155 der, 68, 69 tice, 168; vote against
McGee, Ann, surgeoness McPherson, John, surgeon Acadians landing at
at Merigomish, at Manchester, 205, Boston, 26an.2og
3i5n.i72 207 Massey, Major General
McGrath, James, listed as Mad-dog bite: prescrip- Eyre, 107, 112-17,
346 Index
119, 121; duel with vices, 38, 39; his school location of, 77; plans
Admiral Sir George on Sackville Street, 40; for, 59; referred to as
Collier, 115 man-midwife at Halifax, the general military
Mather, Rev. Cotton: and 39- 92 hospital, 61
inoculation, 8 Merlegash. See Lunenburg Militia, 108, 164, 227^35;
Mathews, Hon. David, Merry, William, surgeon and smallpox, 106
president of HM Coun- and apothecary at Hal- Miller, James: his plan of
cil, Cape Breton, 165 ifax, 17, 38—40, 46, 193, Sydney drawn in 1795,
Mauger's Beach, 157 197; lawsuit against 165, 166
Maxwell, William, sent William Kneeland, 39, Minutemen, 101
277n_46 40 Mixtures, 57; attenuating,
Measles, 6, 141 Merry Jacks, 224n.io 41, 197; cephalic, 40,
Medical Act, of Lower Messervy, Colonel, 61 197; hysteric, 40, 198
Canada, 169 Methane gas: causing Monckton, Lt Col Robert,
Supplies: medical and sur- deaths in coal mines at 47» 59
gical. See Breast pipe, Spanish River, 295^261 Monk, James, 231^48,
Truss, Electrotherapy, Micmacs, (also Micmaks 263n.i3
Lancet, Nipple glasses, and Mick Mack): lan- Monro, Dr Alexander,
Syringes, Thermometer guage of, 121; popula- primus, 15, 174, 175,
Medications: and treat- tion of, 222n.2; treaty 22on_5
ments administered by with those in eastern Mons, 23gn.i 13
surgeons in Halifax, part of the province, Montague, Lord Charles,
195. See also Drugs, 33 commanding officer of
medications, and treat- Microscope, 15 the Duke of Cumber-
ments Middlesex Hospital, land's Regiment, 156
Medicine: and drugs, London, 6 Montague, Admiral John,
advertised for sale, 96, Middleton, Mr, surgeon 84
122, 123, 179, 180; general to the army Montague, Lady Mary
chests, 24, 131, 180, abroad, 16, 17 Wortley: her son inoc-
181; English, 14; regu- Midwife, 34, 91, 92, 118, ulated in Constanti-
lation of price of, 39; 145, 146, 184; and nople, 7
for the hospitals at Hal- midwives, 17, 32, 46, 83, Montcalm, 57
ifax and Louisbourg, 91, 118, 137; at Montreal, 71, 107, 168,
65; for the settlers to go Barrington, 66, 118; at 169, 209
to Nova Scotia, 17; Halifax, 62, 91, 92, Moreau, Rev. J.B., of Hal-
patent, advertised, 122, 118, 184, 193, 194; at ifax and Lunenburg,
123, 179, 180; stores, Horton, 118; at Liver- 33.84
advertisment of, 38, 61, pool, 269^117; at Morehead, Mr :
96, 123, 161, 179, 180 Lunenburg, 91, recommends to over-
Medlicot, Ann, midwife at 26gn. 117; at Shelburne, seers of poor in Liver-
Halifax, 193 185; provincial, 42, 61, pool concerning
Melville Island. See 62 smallpox, 129
Kavanagh's Island Midwifery, 62, 92, 169, Morehead, Mr ,
Melville, Viscount Robert, 170 assistant surgeon at
First Lord of the Military hospital, 83, 84, Halifax, no
Admiralty, 304^56 no, 112, 119, 120, Morgagni, Giovanni-
Mercury, H.M., 270^142 121, 139, 145, 146, 178, Battista, founder of
Meres, James S., 132, 133 210, 214, 216; closed modern pathology, 5
Meriton, Henry, apothe- in 1797, 178; directions Morgan, Dr John: his
cary and surgeon at to substitute regimen- book A Discourse upon
Halifax, 38, 92, 193; ad- tal hospitals for general the Institution of Medical
vertisement of ser- hospital, 120, 140; Schools in America, 96
347 Index
Morris, Charles, 76, 77; 257n.i54; descriptions Newport, Rhode Island,

member of a commit- of, 122, 127, 128, J
3i
tee to report on the 303^53; drawing of, by Newport, Township of,
orphan house, 91 J.S. Meres, 132; estab- 68, 70, 81, 94; number
Mortality, 51, 92, 147, 188, lishment of, 57, 131, of families and people
234n.68; infant, in 133; location of, 113, there in 1762, 70;
Nova Scotia, 147, 189; 121, 122, 216; number relief of the poor in, 81
in Halifax, 25, 28; in of seamen in hospital "New Settlers," 160
orphan house, 69; on from 1757-61, 54 Newton, Henry, 77
four foreign-Protestant Navigation Acts, 102 Newton, Hibbert, overseer
ships arriving in Halifax Navy Yard, 134; set on of the poor, 64, 87
in 1751, 30; on the five fire, 102 Newton, Sir Isaac, 14
foreign-Protestant ships Needham, Lieutenant, New York, 25, 52, 110,
arriving in Halifax in "3 111, 113, 118, 131,
1752, 33; on trans- Negroes: arrived in Hali- !35> 1 37> J 3 8 > J4°, 15°'
Atlantic crossings in fax from St Augustine, 151, 159, 168, 179,
the eighteenth century, I l
5 207, 209—11; and Act to
225n.i8. See also Nepean, Evan, Secretary Regulate the Practice
Death of State, 148, 151, 160 of Physick and Surgery,
Morton, Dr William: Neptune, 256^153 168; hospitals at, 131,
demonstrated use of Nesbitt, William, overseer 140, 142, 204; poor
ether in 1846, 22in.8 of the poor, 254^133 house there,
Moser, Maria, midwife at New Brunswick, province New York Volunteers 139
Lunenburg, 26gn.ii7 of, established, 137 Nicolai, Christopher
Moses Harris: his plan of New Brunswick, New Adam, surgeon on
Halifax, 21 Jersey, 33 Murdoch, 31, 38, 71,150,
Murder, 217 Newcomb, Simon, 184, 214, 297n.27o;
Murdoch, 30, 23gn.i 11 277n_46 advertises that he will
Muriatic acid, 5 New Dublin, Township of, perform inoculation,
Murray, Rear Admiral 69 71; appointed physician
George, 155 Newell, Dr Thomas, at the poor house, 150,
Murray, Brig. Gen. John: physician and surgeon 214; advertises his
replaced as president in England, 172 services as a man-
of Council for Cape New England, 18, 55, 59, midwife, 71, 184; dis-
Breton, 165 66, 107, 115; emigra- pensing apothecary
Murray, Colonel, of the tion to Nova Scotia and surgeon to the poor
i5th Regiment, 61 from, 22, 66, 237^98; Nipple glasses, 182
first hospital established Nooth, Dr J.M., superin-
Namur, 58 in, 26; planters, and tendent general of
Nancy, 27, 30 land vacated by Acadi- hospitals for the forces
National Gallery of ans, 66 in North America,
Canada, 53 New England Provincial 139, 140
Naval hospital, 48, 52, 54, Troops, 47, 49, 51, 111 North Carolina Volun-
55' 58- 59. 64, 65, 67, New England Hospital. See teers, 205
83, 84, 108, 111, Hospital Northern Ireland, 68, 69
1 13—15, 122, 127, 128, Newfoundland, 103, 104 Northern University:
130, 1 3 1 , 133, 140, 142, New Jersey, 121, 168, 210; infamous for physical
MS- !55. »77» 211 ' first colony to adopt a diplomas, 43
215, 216; assistant sur- law requiring physicians Norwood, Lieutenant
geons sent out from to be examined, 168 William, of the 33rd
London for, 254^134; New Jerusalem, Maine, Regiment: his Journal,
at Louisbourg, 106 3o8n.ioi
348 Index
Nostrums, 14 Onslow, Township of, 68, Passamaquoddy, 136,

Nourse, Edward, surgeon 70, 81, 108; reaction to 139, 142, 170, 209,
at St Bartholomew's the Militia Bill and tax to 211, 214; director of all
Hospital, 174 support the militia, hospitals for the Brit-
Nova Scotia: estimated 108; population in ish army in Halifax,
population of, in 1762, 1762, 70 139; portrait of, 72
70 Orphan house, 32, 33, 42, Papists, 23on_48
Nova Scotia Historical 43, 46, 49, 68, 81, 85, Paracelsus, 287^157
Society, Collections of, 86, 89, 90, 91, 108, 120, Paris, Treaty of, 37, 73
xv, xvi 130, 145, 149, 154, Parr, Governor John, 139,
Nurses, 118, 185; at 214, 216; and children 147, 148, 151, 152,
George Greaves's inoc- of poor, 68; building 154, 160; demoted to
ulation hospital, 105; at and lot placed for lieutenant governor,
general or public hos- auction, 149; closed in 30in. 39
pital, 42, 45, 57; at naval 1784, 154; condition of, Passamaquoddy, New
hospital, 54, 133; at 69, 90, 91; costs and Brunswick, 136, 211
the poor house, 89; at expenses of, 68, 90; doc- Patent medicines 122, 124,
the prison hospital, tors appointed to at- 179-80. See also
28gn.i74 tend, 85, 86; grant for, Balsams, Drops, Drugs,
Nye, Cornelius, surgeon's 63; keepers of, 68, mediations, and treat-
mate, Shirley's Regi- 130, 154; location of, 77 ments, Elixirs, Oils, Pills,
ment, 47, 49 Orphans, 68, 148, 149; Powders, Salts, Syrups,
apprenticeship of, 79, and Tinctures
Oakum: description of, 24on.i24; binding out Paterson, Major General,
263^13; picking of, of, 79, 81, 90; from commander of HM
75.89 New York 139; mortal- Forces in Nova Scotia,
Oats, Samuel, referred to ity among, in orphan 136, 140
as doctor at Cape house, 69; number in Paupers, 149, 152, 154
Forchu, 66, 70 orphan house, Peace treaty: of 1752, 33;
Oath of Allegiance, 46,108 24on.i25; number sent with Claude Gisiquash,
Ogden, Jonathan, hospital to orphan house from 34
mate at Halifax, 143, the Gale, 33; placement Pearce, Joseph, hospital
205, 207; of the New of, as servants, mate in Annapolis
York General Hospi- 2651.44 Royal, 3080.101
tal, 205 Oswald, Mr, commissioner Pearl, 30, 33
Ogilvie, Lt Gen. James, of Trade and Planta- Pegasus, 132, 133
154; replaces Hon. tions, 26 Pembroke, 58
David Mathews as Overseers of the poor, 64, Penal Laws: prohibiting
president of Cape 77. 79~83. 87-9. 124. Roman Catholics from
Breton Council *39. »49> I5l~4, 157. owning land, 22,
3 ion. 120 254n.i33, 265n-33, 229^48
Ohme, Johann C., 2680.105, a8on.79 Penobscot, Maine, 122
surgeon of the Sally, Oxford University, 15, Pepperell, Sir William,
240 177 223; ordered to raise a
Oils (also Oyls), kinds of, Oxley, John, surgeon of regiment to assist in tak-
40, 179-81 the 96th Regiment, ing Fort Beausejour,
"Old Settlers," 160 156, 214 47
Oliver, Lieutenant Pepperell's Regiment (the
Governor, 27gn.6o Paine, Charles, surgeon at 5ist), 222n_4
Oliver, Dr Peter, physician Halifax, 193 Pereau (also Pero),
in Boston and in Paine, Dr William, physi- 246^56
England, 109, 209, 211 cian at Halifax and Perkins, Nathaniel, physi-
Ir
349 »dex
cian in Boston, 109, orphan house, 86, 91, Plasters: kinds of, 40, 125,
210, 211 214; and smallpox, 179*, 180, 196, 197, 199
Perkins, Simeon, 118, 123, 105; surgeon at the Pleurisy, 135, 196
129, 141, 156, 157, naval hospital, 215 Plymouth, England,
208; his Diary, 118, 141, Philipps, John Jr, surgeon 224n.io
156 at Halifax, 170, 172, Plymouth, New England,
Perkins, Dr William Lee, 3 i4n.i7o 26
physician in Boston Philipps, William, surgeon Point Edward: workhouse
and England, 109, 210, at Halifax, 172 and sawmill there,
211 Philipps's Regiment (the 163
Perry, John, surgeon and 4oth), 24 Point Pleasant, 22
practitioner of physic Phillipps, Lieutenant Police, 149
at Shelburne, 157, 205, John, surgeon at Poll tax, 146, 153
207, 298^273 Lunenburg, 38, 65, 70, Poor, 103, 151, 268n-93;
Peters, Dr Alexander A., 84; man-midwife at employment for, 89;
physician and surgeon Lunenburg, 92; relief and support of,
at Halifax, 170, 172; ad- appointed surgeon for 73, 80-3, 85, 87, 88,
vertises his practice in all Independent Com- 89, 145; tax, on citizens
a Halifax newspaper, panies of Rangers, of Halifax, 80, 87, 88;
3i3n.i66 31 transient, 3, 98, 146,
Petitcodiac, 47 Phillips, Alexander Josiah, 148-53. See also Act,
Petite Riviere, 204 practitioner of physic Bill, Overseers of the
Petition: of Cumberland at Digby, 205, 207 poor
County residents to Philosophical Society of Poor bill. See Act, Bill,
General George Wash- Edinburgh, 15 Poor, transient
ington, 108, 277n_46; Phlebotomy, 4 Poor house, 3, 26, 77, 85,
of residents to George Physicians: Chamberlen 87, 89, 98, 112, 126,
III concerning Gover- family of. See Forceps !39> !45-5°> !52, 177.
nor Legge's policies, 109 Pictou, 130, 147, 158, 160 299^9; as part of
Petty larceny, 74, 75 Pills, kinds of, 40, 41, 96, workhouse, 83, 85;
Pharmacopoeia, used in 122, 125, 179-82, 196, hospital in, 83, 142,
Flanders, 16 !99 214, 216; illegitimate
Philadelphia, 26, 95, 102, Pinckston, Fleming, children in, 154; keep-
!30> !55> *57> 159. !96 doctor of physic at ers of, 126, 29gn.ii4,
Philipps, George, surgeon Digby, 170, 205, 207, 2ggn. 115; list of per-
at Halifax, 170, 172 298^273 sons there in 1773, 88,
Philipps, John, surgeon at Pinel, Dr Philippe, pioneer 89; records pertaining
Halifax, 86, 91, 96, in the treatment of the to, 1779—80, 126,
108, 120, 135, 154, 159, mentally ill, 98 127
160, 170, 172, 180, Pisiquid (also Piziquid), 51, Poor relief. See Poor
214, 215, 254n.i34, 58, 66, 222n.i Popery: suppression of,
advertisement to sell Pitt, Harry, surgeon at 22gn.48
an assortment of medi- Halifax, 193 Porter, Roy, medical
cines, 96, 180; ap- Pitt, William, first earl of historian, 5, 6, 98, 177
pointed surgeon of the Chatham, 225 Portland, Lord, 165
Loyal Nova Scotia Vol- Plan: for the Town of Port Medway, 157
unteers, 108; assistant Halifax by John Bruce, Port Mouton, 206
surgeon and surgeon 20; for the Town of Port Roseway: number of
at the naval hospital, Halifax by Moses Har- Loyalists who settled
113, 215; elected to ris, 21; of the Naval there, 137
the House of Assembly, Yard by Charles Portsmouth, England,
93; involvement with Blaskowitz, 134 224n.io
350 Index
Pott, Percival, surgeon at St Domingo 155; from Rangers, Independent

St Bartholomew's, 174 St Pierre and Companies of, 31, 58
Poultice, 183, 199 Miquelon, 154, 155; Ransom, John, author,
Powders: kinds of, 40, health of, 32, 118; 176
124, 179-81, 196 naval, housed in La Ratio: of persons in Nova
Power, Thomas, 231 Feliz, 155; rebel, 117, Scotia to the number
Prebble, Major Jedidiah, 119, 121 of practising doctors,
49 Proclamation: concerning 171
Prescott, Jonathan, quarantine for yellow Rebels, 106—9, J 1 5» !16,
surgeon at Halifax and fever, 157; ending 120, 122, 129—31, 138;
Chester, 31, 40 victualling of original sympathy with, from
Prescott, Joseph, physician settlers, 234^72; to the Cumberland County,
and surgeon at Settlers to Assemble in 108
Cornwallis, Lunenburg, order to Draw Lots, Red hospital. See Hospital
and Halifax, 3020.47; 228n.4i; to Prevent Redman, Dr John, 198
portrait of, 100 Desertion from the Set- Reeves (or Reeve),
Preston, 207 tlement of Halifax, 19 Thomas, surgeon and
Price, Arthur, surgeon of Proctor, Colonel Charles, apothecary at Halifax,
the 47th Regiment, 30, 95 17, 85, 112, 116, 120,
5i Protestants, foreign, in 19, 214; appointed to
Prince, Benjamin, physi- Nova Scotia, 30—4, 37, care for the sick in the
cian at Annapolis and 38, 66, 22on.i workhouse, 85;
Truro, 3120.142 Public hospital. See Hospi- surgeon's mate at the
Prince Carl Regiment, 205 tal, civilian hospital, 42
Prince Edward's Purging, 195, 199 Regiments: number desig-
Regiment, 165 Pye, Captain, chief nation of, 226n.2g; in
Prince George, 27in. 154 commander of the Nova Scotia, movements
Prince, John, physician at squadron at Halifax, 45 of, 18, 19, 24, 27, 30,
Salem, Massachusetts, 33-47- S^S 6 - 8 - 59. 6».
107, 109, 142, 210, 211; Quackery: definitions of, 6
9. 73. 74, 79- 80, 84,
merchant and trader 3ion. 133; golden age 1O2, 107, 112, Il6, 1 17,
in Halifax, 108 of, 15 1 l8, 1 19, 122, 138,
Prince of Wales Regiment, Quacks, 177 140, 142, 154, 156, 163,
205 Quarantine: hospital, 113, 164, 179, 183, 204,
Prince Street, 78 214, 215; of foreign 205, 207, 216, 223n.8,
Pringle, Sir John, physi- Protestants in Halifax 224n_4, 236n.86,
cian to military hospi- Harbour in 1752, 33; 25on.88, 2500.90,
tals: his observations proclaimed by Council 254n.i26, 266n.65,
concerning fever, 28; in January 1754, 41, 267^65, 275n.27,
and sanitation in mili- 42. See also Proclamation 276n.44, 277n.45,
tary camps, 29 Quebec: 3, 71, 93, 168, 278n_52, 3o8n.ioi. See
Pringle, William, 169; bill to prevent also the following regi-
surgeon's mate, 107 persons from practising ments by name: Argyle
Prins, David, surgeon on medicine, surgery, and Highlanders, Bragg's,
the Pearl, 23gn.i 13 midwifery, 168, 169; fall Duke of Cumberland's,
Prison hospital. See of, 65; smallpox Duke of Hamilton's,
Hospital epidemics in, 9 Enniskillens, Fuller's,
Prison ships. See Ships Queen Street, 77 Hopson's, Kennedy's,
Prisoners, 30, 32, 48, 49, Queen's Rangers, 204 King's Own, Lascelles's,
65, 119, 120, 129, 130, Quin, Mr , Pepperell's, Royal Fu-
136, 154, 155, 186; and surgeon's mate of the siliers, Royal Highland
smallpox, 117; from 84th Regiment, 275^27 Emigrant, Royal,
351 Index
Royal Regiment of Artil- Royal Nova Scotia Regi- Salve, 126

lery, Shirley's, ment, 154, 155, 178 Sarah, 24
Waldeck, Warburton's Regimental Hospital. See Saratoga, battle of, 117
Representative govern- Hospital Sargent, John, member of
ment, 96 Royal Regiment (the i st ), the House of Assem-
Rheumatism, 123, 196 56-8 bly: introduces first bill
Rhode Island, Colony of, Royal Regiment of Artil- to regulate the practice
66, 131, 137, 138 lery, 51, 52, 109, 204, of medicine in Nova
Rice, Jesse, physician at 206 Scotia, 167
Yarmouth, 123, 142 Rum: sold by unlicensed Saunders, Admiral
Robertson, William, retailers, 94, 146 Charles, 65
surgeon of the 42nd Rush, Dr Benjamin, of Sauvage, F.B. de C.: on
Regiment, 164 Philadelphia, 196 typhus, 29
Robinson, Sir Thomas, Russell, Joseph, doctor Saxony, 240^127
late governor of and surgeon at Hali- Scalpings, 30, 34, 217,
Barbados, 225 fax, 205, 207; lawsuit 233^56, 236n.86,
Roehampton, 17, 23, 193 against patient for 238n.io5
Rohl, Andrew, Loyalist non-payment for medi- Scarlet fever. See Fever
admitted to the poor cines, 3o6n.8g Scatari Island, 256^153
house, 151 Russell, Nathaniel, 126 Schmitt, Johann Michael:
Roman Catholics, 23; Rust (also Rush), Thomas, his family Bible, and
discrimination against, doctor and surgeon at entries describing
22, 22gn-48 Halifax, 193 deaths from smallpox,
Roots, 22; Carolina Pink- Rutherford, Dr George, 253n.iog
root, 181; elecampane, surgeon at Halifax, Schools, 40, 24on.i24
313^164; marshmal- 140 School of Anatomy and
low, 141 Surgery, Great Wind-
Rosine, 126 Sacheverell, Joshua, mill Street, 174
Rotterdam, 28, 30 surgeon at Halifax, 24, Schwartz, William,
Rous, Captain John, 45, 193 overseer of the poor,
48,49 Sackville, 51, 108; Street, 2650.33
Rowlands, Dr David, 40; Township of, 108 Scott, Ann, midwife, 118
surgeon at Halifax, 172 Saint John, 137, 138, 204, Scott, Captain George, 47
Royal College of Physi- 206, 210; number of Scott, John, assistant
cians of London, 136, Loyalists who settled surgeon at the naval
170, 176, 177, 22on.3 there, 137 hospital, 114
Royal College of Surgeons Salem, Massachusetts, 107, Scott, Joseph, 263^13
of London, 124 108 Scurvy. See Cures, Diseases
Royal Fencible Americans, Sally, 33, 147, 148, 151, and illnesses
102, 103, 142 !57 Sears, Richard, physician
Royal Fusiliers (7 th Regi- Salter, Malachy Sr, 126, at Horton, 66, 70
ment), 156,216 228n.i66 Seaton, Robert, 4th Regi-
Royal Highland Emi- Salter, Malachy, surgeon ment: his wens cured
grant Regiment (the at Halifax, 214; his by Benjamin Green, 183
84th), 102, 112, 116, drug and medicine store Seidler (also Scidler and
117, 142, 179 on Granville Street, Scidleir), Andrew,
Royal Navy, 49, 101, 131; 288n.i66 surgeon at Clements,
disposition of HM ships Salts: Glauber's, 40, 198; 137, 205
under command of of copper, 199; Servants, 74, 79, 118, 203,
Lord Colville in 1760, Scarborough's, 40 23on_48; with the
67; first fleet to arrive in Salusbury, John: his Diary, Cornwallis passengers,
Halifax, 48 19, 23, 27, 30 22
352 Index
Settlers: living on trans- 27on.i42, 27in.i54, 217; among infants in

ports in Halifax Har- 3o8n.95, 315^172 Halifax, 129; and inoc-
bour, 18; quitting the Shipton, Sam, 228 ulation against, 105,
settlement of Halifax, Shipwrecks, 164, 165 118, 157; deaths from,
18, 19,23; unable to pay Shirley, Governor John, August-December 1775,
for medical services, 46, 47, 51, 66 104; description of, at
32; transferred from Shirley's Regiment (the Lunenburg, 105, 106;
transports to George's 5oth), 33, 47, 222n.4 epidemics of, 48, 55,
Island, 18 Short, Richard: his 56; house, at Liverpool,
Seven Years' War, 73, 185 engravings, 60, 77, 78 129, 157; outbreaks of,
Sharman, Ambrose, of Shubenacadie, 68 104, 105, 117; precau-
5gth Regiment, sur- Shubenacadie Indians. See tions against infection
geon's mate at Halifax, Indians with, 104
267^65 Shuldham, Rear Admiral Smellie, Dr William, man-
Sharp, Samuel, surgeon at Molyneux, 109, no, 111 midwife in London,
Guy's Hospital, 174 Sick and Hurt Board: 39. 92
Shaw, Dr Peter: his book A commissioners of, 127 Smith, Edward, surgeon at
New Practice of Physic, Sieger (also Seege), John Liverpool, 205, 208
271^146 Christian, physician Smith, Isaac, 74
Shelburne, 150, 151, and surgeon at Halifax, Smith, William, a gover-
156-7, 172, 185, 137, 205, 208 nor of the orphan
204—11; establishment Sierra Leone, 156 house, 91
of a poor house and Silver, James, surgeon of Smith, William, physician
workhouse in, 150 Marines and at Fort and surgeon in
Sherman, John, surgeon's Cumberland, 116 London and Sydney,
mate at Halifax, 17 Simpson, James, surgeon 162-5, 3°7n-92
Ship fever. See Fever, 28 in London, 172 Smith, William Howard,
Ships: emigrant, 27-30, Simpson, Dr James, overseer of the poor,
33, 42; hospital, 17, 22in.8 268n.io5
23. 25, 51, 56, 109, Skene, William, surgeon Society for the Propaga-
110-12, 193, 214, 216, of the 4oth Regiment, tion of the Gospel, 84,
225n.23; of war, 14, 49, 24, 51 121
58, 136, 24gn-76; pas- Skener, Johannes (also Society of Apothecaries,
senger lists of, 22, 23, Skinner, John), 176, 22on_3
224n.io, 236^84, surgeon at Digby, 137, Solomon, John, wheel-
238n.io7, 238n.iog, 205 wright, 51
23gn.i 10, 23gn.i 11; Skye, Isle of, 2g8n.2 Sorcery and witchcraft,
prison, 129, 130, 131, Slater, William, merchant, 167
!33> !35> !36' !55> !33 South Barracks, 127
2gon.i85, 293^224, Slocombe, George, South Carolina, 137, 147;
293n.23o; transport, surgeon at Halifax, 24, regiment, 204, 205
18, 19, 156,193, 194; 3° South Suburbs. See
with illness on board, Small, Lt Col John, Halifax
28, 32, 33, 42, 58, 135, commander of the Sec- Southwark, borough of
148, 155, 236n.86, ond Battalion of the London, 162
284^130 84th Regiment, 102 Sparrow, Samuel, 133
Ships, miscellaneous, 22, Smallpox, 3, 6, 35, 37, 57, Speedwell, 30, 2380.107
23, 24, 30, 42, 51, 95, 58, 59,61, 67, 71, 96, Sphinx, 14
110, 113, 118, 119, 132, 1O1, 103—8, 1 1O, 1 12, Spithead, England, 14, 55,
133. M7. i 5 » » »57. 117, Il8, 121, 125, 111
162, 164, 207, 249^76, 129, 130, 157-9, 184, Sprainger, Katherine,
253n.io6, 256n.i53, l86, igo, 2OO, 201, 246n.6
In
353 <3ex
Spring Garden Road, 214, St John's Anglican Switzerland: passengers

216 Church, Lunenburg, from, 30
Spruce beer: part of 105 Sydenham, Dr Thomas, 7,
orphans' diet in the or- Story, Mark, 17 M. 15
phan house, 24on.i24; St Paul's Anglican Church, Sydney, Cape Breton, 156,
preventive medication Halifax, 30, 33, 49, 103; 162—5; arrival of first
against burial records, 24, 28 settlers, 162; described,
epidemic fevers, St Peters, Cape Breton 163; hospital in, 163,
305^75; standard drink Island, 222n.i 165; plan of, by James
provided to inmates at St Pierre and Miquelon, Miller, 165, 166; regi-
poor house, 305^75 154 ments there, 156, 163;
Spry, Captain Richard, 51 St Thomas's Hospital, watercolour of, by Lt
Stafford, William, surgeon London, 6, 39, 174 William Booth, 163
at Sydney, 164, 165 Sugar and Molasses Act, Syphilis. See Diseases and
Stamp Act, 102 102 illnesses
Stapleton, , physi- Sullivan, Bartholomew, Syringes, 182
cian with the York- doctor at Shelburne Syrup: of poppies, 141;
shire settlers, 97, and merchant at Hali- Velmo's vegetable, 96
27in.i54 fax, 109, 205, 208
Starvation, 118, 217 Supplies: medical and Tail, David, 163
Static electricity: used in surgical. See Breast Tarleton's Legion, 205
medical therapy, pipe, Truss, Electro- Tattray, Maria, midwife at
3i5n.i7i therapy, Lancet, Nip- Lunenburg, 26gn.ii7
St Augustine: negroes ple glasses, Syringes, Templeman, Dr ,
from, 151 Thermometer travelling dentist, 184
St Bartholomew's Hospi- Surgeoness, 315^172 Textbooks, medical:
tal, London, 5, 175 Surgeons, in Nova Scotia: advertised, 27in. 146
St Christopher's, Island of, dispute between, 57; Thermometer: advertised
96 number of, from in a Halifax newspaper
St Domingo: French pris- 1
749-53' 35> from in 1780, 124
oners from, 155 1
753~63> 71. from Thomas, George, naval
Steele, John, lieutenant 1763—74, 97; civilian, storekeeper at Halifax,
and surgeon at Halifax naval, and military, 127
and Annapolis, 17, 70, number of, from Thomas, John, surgeon's
194; elected to House 1750-1800, 173; pay re- mate, Shirley's Regi-
of Assembly, 93; ceived by, in Halifax, ment, 47, 49; portrait
surgeon's mate at the 42; quitting settlement of, 12
hospital, 42 of Halifax, 23 Thomas, Stephen,
Steer's Opodeldoc, 181, Surgeon's instruments, surgeon at Liverpool,
182 52; for sale, 179, 182 142, 296^263; picture
St George's Anglican Surgeons' Hall, London: of, 72
Church, Sydney, 164 examinations at, 16 Thomson, Alexander,
St George's Hospital, Surgery, antiseptic, 22 in.7 purveyor of the naval
London, 6, 170, 172, Surgical procedures: am- hospital, 131
174 putation, 4; autopsy, Throckmorton, Robert,
Stickells, John F.T., 48; lithotomy, 4, 124; pupil surgeon at
surgeon at Liverpool trepanning, 3oon.i7 Halifax, 194
and Guysborough, 137, Sutton, Mr: and air pipes Tinctures: colic, 40, 197;
205, 208 for transports, 16, compound Senna,
Stills, 31, 40, 128 225n.i8 125; description of,
Stimulents: kinds of, used Sweet, Benoni, bonesetter 199; Greenough's,
to rebuild the body, 196 at Falmouth, 67, 70 182
354 index
Tobias, Christian, physi- Tutty, Rev. William, Viets, Rev. Roger: and ef-
cian at Digby, 205, 23on_48 forts to obtain medical
210; only doctor re- Two Brothers, \ 09, 11 o assistance for the people
maining in Digby in Tyler, John, surgeon's of Digby, 150
1799' 3!2n.i43 mate, 47, 49, 51 Vincent, Rev. Robert,
Tobias, Jacob, physician at Typhus. See Fever 26in.2oi
Digby, 3i2n.i42 Vinegar: ship washed
Tonge, William, 96 Uniacke, Richard John, down with, 96
Tonics: kinds of, used to 116, 148, 161; charged Virginia, 47, 207
rebuild the body, 196 with treason Von Haller, Dr Albrecht,
Torpedo (or electric fish), University: of Aberdeen, 14
3i4n.i7i 170, 172, 176, 177; of Von Riedesel, Baroness:
Torrington's Bay, 227^34 Edinburgh, 170, 176; of her tooth pulled by a
Townsend, George: sells Glasgow, 5, 175, 176; surgeon in Halifax,
patent medicines, 122 of Pennsylvania, estab- 288n.i7o
Townshend Act, 102 lishes a Faculty of Von Specht, Lieutenant
Townshend, Maria, 223 Medicine, 171; of St Colonel, 120
Townshend, Lord, 223 Andrews, 170, 176, 177
Transient poor. See Poor Upton, L.F.S., historian, Wade, Captain, ,
Transport ships. See Ships 222 aide-de-camp to Major
Treatments. See Drugs, Urquhart, William, General Massey, 115
medications, and treat- surgeon at Halifax, 31, Waldeck Regiment, 142
ments 48 Walker, Hugh: in charge
Trepanning. See Surgical Utrecht, Treaty of, 13 of the House of Cor-
procedures rection at Shelburne,
Triggs, Darius, 225^145 Van Buren, James, physi- 150
Triggs, Mrs Dorcas, mid- cian at Granville, 138, Wallace, John, surgeon's
wife at Halifax, 62 205, 210, 211 mate at Halifax, 194
Tritten, Richard, overseer Van Buskirk, Abraham, War Office, 140
of the poor, 88, 124 surgeon at Shelburne, Warburton's Regiment
Truro, Township of, 68, 205, 208, 210 (the 45th), 19, 24, 30,
70, 81, 108, 130, 150, Van Hulst, Abraham, sur- 33> 47. 5». 57. 59' 69>
160; and reaction to the geon at Annapolis 79, 80, 84, 222n_4,
Militia Bill and the tax Royal, 143, 296^267 232n-54
to pay for the militia, Vaudreuil, Monsieur, gov- Washington, George, 102,
108; population in ernor of Three Rivers, 106, 108, 111, 112,
1762, 70 24gn.76 138; comments on pro-
Truss, elastic: advertised Veale, Dr Richard, physi- posed invasion of
in Halifax, 180 cian and surgeon at Nova Scotia, 103, 106,
Tucker, Dr Robert, Halifax and 108
physician and surgeon Louisbourg, 30, 45, 51, Webb, Godfrey, surgeon
at Annapolis Royal, 170, 69 at Halifax, 59, 215; as-
176, 205, 210, 211; Venereal disease. See sistant surgeon and sur-
awarded first MD Cures, Diseases and geon at the naval
granted by King's Col- illnesses hospital, 54, 55, 215
lege, New York, 170, Ventilators, on ships, 16, Webster, Isaac, physician
171, 176 27; description of, and surgeon at Corn-
Tumor, stealoma 225^17 wallis, 189, 3O3n.47
encysted, 183 Victualling list: for May Wenman, Mrs Ann, ma-
Tunis, Barbara, 71 and June 1750, 25, 31 tron of the orphan
Turner, Edward, 17 Vienna, 124 house, 32, 46
Index
355
Wenman, Richard, 45, 46, William IV: in Halifax in physician and surgeon,
75-77- 107. W> over- 1786, 2g2n.2i8 33, 121, 2850.141,
seer of the poor, William and Ann, 207 297n.27o; silhouette of,
26 n
5 -33 Williams, Elizabeth, 12
Wens. See Cures, Diseases midwife at Halifax, Woodbury, Jonathan,
and illnesses !94 physician at Granville
Wentworth, Lieutenant Williams, Relief, author, and Wilmot, 66, 70
Governor John, 154, 48; her article on poor Woodin, John, 88, 112,
156-8 relief and medicine in 126; keeper of the
Westminister, 162 Nova Scotia, xv workhouse, 88
Westminister Hospital, Williams, Richard, store- Workhouse, at Halifax, 3,
London,6 keeper of the Halifax 74. 75. 77. 8°. 82, 83,
Wet nurses: advertise- Careening Yard, 272^4 85, 86, 87-9, 93-5, 97,
ments of, 124; cost of, Willis, John, chymist and 98, 116, 150, 152;
90; at orphan house, surgeon at Halifax, funding of, 75, 76;
9° !Q4 keepers of, 45, 46,
Wethered, Samuel, 116 Willoughby, Samuel, phy- 75-7, 82, 83, 87, 88,
Weymouth, 205, 207 sician at Cornwallis, 107, 126, 130,
Whipping: of inmates, 150 66,70, 93; and member 2ggn.i4; location of, 45,
Whipping post, common, of House of Assembly, 75. 76, 775 surgeon ap-
263ni4; in workhouse, 93» 94 pointed to, 85. See also
76, 150; public, 75 Wilmington, 193, 224n.io Bridewell, House of
White, Charles, surgeon at Wilmot, Dr, physician Correction, Shelburne
Halifax, 83, 110, 215, general of the army, Workhouse, at Point
27gn.68; in charge of 16, 17 Edward, 163
naval hospital at Hali- Wilmot, Governor Wurtemberg (also
fax, 83,215 Montague, 84, 89, 116 Wertemberg),
White, Francis, overseer ofWilmot Township, 66 239n.ii3
the poor, 87 Wilson, John, 23811.105 Wyer, Edward, surgeon at
White (also Whyte), Wilson, Thomas, surgeon Halifax, 120, 124, 127,
Robert, surgeon at at Halifax, 17, 194 142, 170, 214,
Halifax, 24, 194 Winchelsea, 193, 224n.io 285^139; performed
White servitude: in Windsor, Town of, 48, first recorded lithotomy
eighteenth-century 102, 106, 116, 142, in Halifax, 124;
America, 9, 224n.io 150, 158, 160, 172, 180, surgeon to the poor
Whitehall, 31, 51, 62, 63, 181, 204, 205, 209—11; house, 120, 214
115, 118, 146, 151, 154 hospital there, 112
Whitehaven Harbour, Winslow, George, surgeon Yarmouth, Township of,
Guysborough County, at Halifax, 31 66—70, 81, 104, 123,
225n.21 Winslow, Col John, 47-9 142, 150, 179, 204, 206;
Whitehead, on Witchcraft. See Sorcery population in 1762, 70
Whitehaven Harbour, and witchcraft Yellow fever. See Cures,
225n.21 Women, 30, 73, 74, 79, 83, Fever
Whitworth, Sir Charles, 89, 109, 112, 118, 126, Yonge, Sir George, secre-
162 151, 167; and children, tary of state for War,
Whitworth, Miles, of the army, 73, 74 3o8n.ioi
surgeon, Shirley's Wood, Richard, surgeon's Yorke, Colonel John, 164
Regiment, 47, 49 mate at the naval Yorkshire: immigrants to
Wildman, John, surgeon hospital, 133 Nova Scotia from, 97;
at Halifax, 29, 194 Wood, Rev. Thomas, vicar passenger lists of boats
Wilkins, Lewis Morris, 161 of St Paul's Church, from, 27in. 154
356 Index
Yorktown, Virginia: de-

feat of the British
forces at, 136
Young, Colonel, of the
Goth Regiment, 61
Young, William, Loyalist
surgeon at Digby, 205
Zouberchuler, Mr
Sebastian, of Lunen-
burg, sGgn.i 17

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Surgeons, Smallpox, and the Poor

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McGill-Queen's University Press

Legal deposit third quarter 1993

Printed in Canada on acid-free paper

This book has been published with the help of

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Marble, Allan Everett

This book was typeset by Typo Litho composition inc.

Portraits 12, 36, 72, 100

3 An Act to Prevent the Spreading of

During the last fourteen years, I have accumulated a debt of grati-

University Archives, the Colchester Historical Society Museum, the

1 A plan for fortifying the town of Halifax by

9 Patients in the naval hospital at Halifax,

22 Civilian, naval, and military surgeons in

1 Treatment for William Kneeland by

7 Members of Nova Scotian Families Who

The history of eighteenth-century medicine and surgery in Nova

In the last half of the eighteenth century, a large number of sur-

clearly since the sixteenth century; the physician diagnosed illness

level of a definite branch of science with his research into compara-

THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, SMALLPOX has been confused with

came included as one of the principal causes of death. Peter Razzell

ble of transmitting it. This observation was made later, in 1797, by

town's nine thousand residents died.26 In 1732—33, over 1,700 Que-

The great Immigrations of the eighteenth century were a motley compound

THIS BOOK DESCRIBES HOW MEDICINE AND SURGERY were practised

midwife and, within the first year, a general-hospital building. In

A W O R D IS R E Q U I R E D ABOUT THE METHOD of dating USed in this

Dr John Thomas (1724-1776) came to Dr John Day ( -1775) arrived in Nova

Arrival, Settlement, and

The same terms proposed to private soldiers and seamen would

was "pluralist through and through. An enormous range of healers

passengers had a high level of medical and surgical attendance, both

to the board "that the medicines, utensils, etc., be dispensed to the

thirty-six were surgeons, apothecaries, chymists, or druggists. It

lieutenant governor of the town and fort at Annapolis Royal, travel

Cornwallis's penalty proved to be no deterrent whatsoever to the

afterwards a revolutionary general] is ordered to the Harbours

sengers, were Roman Catholic and quit the settlement to escape

numerous buildings shown in the sketch by Moses Harris that ap-

It appears, from correspondence, that Cornwallis had much diffi-

granted82 by Parliament on 23 March 1749 (o.s.) "towards the

THREE EMIGRANT SHIPS, with a total of 795 passengers, arrived dur-

1 Arrival of an Irish regiment, 12 August, 1750

attention to heat, cold, moisture, and dampness, as well as the putre-

Each of the three emigrant ships mentioned previously had at least

September 1751, eight listed their occupations as surgeon.113 Only

Upon considering the establishment of civil officers in the Province, which

At this time, Cornwallis had great difficulty in explaining to the

alluded, of course, to plans to establish the town of Lunenburg. But

tary. During the same four-year period, the civilian population of

THE NEXT CHAPTER concentrates on the transformation of Halifax

A Decade of Military and