Enos Collins (5 September 1774 – 18 November 1871) was a merchant, shipowner, banker and privateer from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the founder of the

Halifax Banking Company The Halifax Banking Company was the first bank in Nova Scotia. Established in 1825, it was unable to obtain a charter from the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly and operated as a private company. It became incorporated as a chartered bank in 1872 and ...

, which eventually was merged with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1903. Upon his death, he was acclaimed as the richest man in Canada.

Privateers

He was born to a merchant family in

Liverpool, Nova Scotia Liverpool is a Canadian community and former town located along the Atlantic Ocean of the Province of Nova Scotia's South Shore. It is situated within the Region of Queens Municipality which is the local governmental unit that comprises all ...

. Trading and a few privateering voyages to the West Indies on the privateer ship ''Charles Mary Wentworth in his youth gave him experience to own and manage his own fleet of vessels. While best known for his ownership of the privateer schooner ''

Liverpool Packet ''Liverpool Packet'' was a privateer schooner from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, that captured 50 American vessels in the War of 1812. American privateers captured ''Liverpool Packet'' in 1813, but she failed to take any prizes during the four months bef ...

'', Collins's main fortune was made in shrewd wartime trading and careful peacetime investments. He moved to Halifax during the War of 1812 and married into the Halifax elite. When the merchant Charles Prescott retired in 1811, Collins purchased Prescott's wharf and warehouse on Upper Water Street in Halifax, later expanding it by purchase and foreclosure to become the headquarters of his commercial empire.

Halifax Banking Company

Enos Collins Bank, Historic Properties, Halifax, Nova Scotia

With several other merchants including

Martin Gay Black Martin Gay Black (19 November 1786 – 26 October 1861) was the son of William Black, who was the founder of the Methodist congregation in Nova Scotia. Martin Black was raised in a home dedicated to the evangelical religious practices of Methodism. ...

and Henry Hezekiah Cogswell, he founded the

in present-day

Historic Properties (Halifax) The Historic Properties (also known as Privateers' Wharf) are warehouses on the Halifax Boardwalk in Halifax, Nova Scotia that began to be constructed during the Napoleonic Wars by Nova Scotian businessmen such as Enos Collins, a privateer, smuggl ...

(1825). It was one of the first Canadian banks, today known as the

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; french: Banque canadienne impériale de commerce) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontari ...

. Collins built a solid granite building for the bank as part of his warehouse complex, a structure which still survives today, bearing the carved title "BANK" above the doorway. He also built a large stone estate house called Gorsebrook in the South End of Halifax.

Retirement

Collins retired from active business and politics in 1840, but continued to manage his large investments and back the Conservative party in Nova Scotia. In 1864, at the age of 90, he came roaring out of retirement to oppose

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

as a supporter of

Joseph Howe Joseph Howe (December 13, 1804 – June 1, 1873) was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, public servant, and poet. Howe is often ranked as one of Nova Scotia's most admired politicians and his considerable skills as a journalist and writer h ...

Anti-Confederation Party ''Anti-Confederation'' was the name used in what is now the Maritimes by several parties opposed to Canadian Confederation. The Anti-Confederation parties were accordingly opposed by the Confederation Party, that is, the Conservative and Liberal ...

. Collins died in 1871 with an estate valued at $6 million, reputed to be the largest personal fortune in Canada at the time. He was buried in Camp Hill Cemetery. His "Gorsebrook Estate" is today the site of Saint Mary's University, Halifax, although the university demolished his historic mansion in the 1960s.

Legacy

However, Collins' bank and warehouse buildings on the Halifax waterfront were rescued from demolition by Nova Scotia's Heritage Trust in the 1970s and form the most distinct part of a waterfront revitalization known as Historic Properties. His importance is commemorated on a national historic site plaque mounted on his bank building at Historic Properties. Collins's reputation as a successful, crafty and sometimes harsh businessman inspired legends which fueled a number of fictional depictions. These include the sinister character "Jonathon Bauer" depicted in Alice Jones' 1903 novel ''Bubbles We Buy'', later retitled ''A Privateer's Fortune'', and the unforgiving "Amos Pride" in Thomas Raddall's 1948 novel ''Pride's Fancy''.Thomas Raddall, ''Prides Fancy'' (Garden City, New York: Doubleday) 1948

References

* ''Diary of Simeon Perkins''. * ''Excessive Expectations'' (1998) Julian Gwyn.

Privateers

Halifax Banking Company

Retirement

Legacy

References

See also