John Albro (May 6, 1764 – October 23, 1839) was a merchant and political figure in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. He represented Halifax Township in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (; ), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia, and together with the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia makes up the Nova Scotia Legislature. The assembly is ...

from 1818 to 1826. He was also a Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th Regiment of Halifax militia. He was born in Newport Township, Nova Scotia, the son of Samuel Albro and Jane Cole, who had come from

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. He was buried in the

Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia) The Old Burying Ground (also known as St. Paul's Church (Halifax), St. Paul's Church Cemetery) is a historic cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road in Downtown Halif ...

Background

Albro operated a

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

in Halifax, later operating as a butcher and then a hardware merchant. In 1793, he married Elizabeth Margaret Vandergrift. He married Elizabeth Margaret Dupuy in 1803. He helped establish the Fire Insurance Association of Halifax in 1809. Albro was a grand master in the

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

s. He also served as a road commissioner and

fire warden Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

for Halifax and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the local militia. He was a member of the

Charitable Irish Society of Halifax The Charitable Irish Society of Halifax is a historic society in Halifax, Nova Scotia which was established in 1786. The Society assists those on low-income and holds other charitable events. Many of the most prominent members of Nova Scotia have ...

. He was defeated in a bid for re-election to the House of Assembly in 1826. Albro died in Halifax at the age of 75.

Ancestry

Albro is a descendant of early Rhode Island settlers John Albro and Samuel Wilbore, as well as Wilbore's son, Samuel Wilbur, Jr. He also descends from the first Innkeeper of Boston, Massachusetts, Samuel Cole, and from Indian captive Susanna (Hutchinson) Cole, her father, Rhode Island magistrate

William Hutchinson William, Willie, Willy, Billy or Bill Hutchinson may refer to: Politics and law * Asa Hutchinson (born 1950), full name William Asa Hutchinson, 46th governor of Arkansas * William Hutchinson (Rhode Island judge) (1586–1641), merchant, judge, ...

, and his famous wife, the religious heretic,

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (; July 1591 – August 1643) was an English-born religious figure who was an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her strong religious formal d ...

Legacy

* He was a grand master in the freemasons and the John Albro Lodge is named after him * Albro Lake and the nearby neighbourhood with the same name in the community of Dartmouth were named after John Albro.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

References

1764 births 1839 deaths Hardware merchants 19th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 18th-century Canadian merchants 19th-century Canadian merchants {{NovaScotia-MLA-stub