John Creighton (1721 – November 8, 1807) was one of the founding fathers of

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia Lunenburg () is a port town on the South Shore (Nova Scotia), South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. Historically, Lunenburg's economy relied o ...

. He led the settlement through the turbulent times of

Father Le Loutre's War Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755), also known as the Indian War, the Mi'kmaq War and the Anglo-Mi'kmaq War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the Kingdo ...

, the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

and the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. He represented Lunenburg County 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 1770 to 1775. After establishing the town, he lived the rest of his life in the village until he died fifty-four years later. The stone monument to John Creighton in St. John's Anglican Church (Lunenburg) was created by

John Bacon (1777–1859) John Bacon (1777–1859), also known as John Bacon the Younger, or Junior, to distinguish him from his equally famous father, was an English sculptor. Biography Bacon was the second son of the sculptor John Bacon and his wife Elizabeth Wade. H ...

, a nineteenth century sculptor. (Bacon created six monuments in

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

and many in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

Career

He was born in

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

and served as a lieutenant in the British dragoons. In 1749, he went with

Edward Cornwallis Edward Cornwallis ( – 14 January 1776) was a British career military officer and member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacobite r ...

to Halifax. He served in Cornwallis' militia. In 1753, he relocated to Lunenburg. Creighton was a justice of the peace and captain in the militia; he later became lieutenant-colonel. In 1753, he was named a judge in the Inferior Court of Common Pleas and, in 1776, he was named a judge for the probate court. He was unsuccessful when he ran for a seat in the first election held in Nova Scotia, but did get elected to the

5th General Assembly of Nova Scotia The 5th General Assembly of Nova Scotia represented Nova Scotia between May 1770 to 1784, its membership being set in the 1770 Nova Scotia general election. The 5th General Assembly is known as Nova Scotia's "Long Parliamentas it sat for fourteen ...

in 1770. In 1775, he was named to the province's

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

, but he was only able to attend infrequently, and his seat was vacated in 1788 after not having appeared since 1785. He led the armed resistance to American privateers in the

Raid on Lunenburg (1782) The Raid on Lunenburg (also known as the Sack of Lunenburg) occurred during the American Revolution when the US privateer, Captain Noah Stoddard of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and four other privateer vessels attacked the British settlement at Lun ...

. He and five others defended the town by firing at the privateers from the Blockhouse, wounding three of them. The privateers captured Creighton and the five men, two of whom escaped. The privateers burned the blockhouse and Creighton's home. Creighton and the three others were taken captive to Boston. The lead privateer

Noah Stoddard Captain Noah Stoddard (1755–1850) of Fairhaven, Massachusetts was an American privateer who distinguished himself during the American Revolution by leading the Raid on Lunenburg (1782). In the raid, Stoddard led four other privateer vessels and a ...

would later report of his prisoner Creighton that "I have a great regard for the old gentleman."Desbrisay, p. 51 He eventually returned and died in Lunenburg in 1807 and is buried in the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

in St. John's Anglican Church (Lunenburg).

Personal life

Creighton married Lucy Clapp in 1760 after the death of his first wife, Maria. His daughter Lucy married

Hibbert Newton Binney Hibbert Newton Binney (1766–1842) was a soldier in the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment in the American Revolution. He became a member of the Nova Scotia Council. He was also a painter who created some of the earliest images of the Mi'kma ...

(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 ...

) and his daughter Sarah married

Lewis Morris Wilkins Lewis Morris Wilkins (May 24, 1801 – March 15, 1885) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Windsor Township from 1833 to 1838 and from 1852 to 1856 and Hants County from 1843 to 1847 in the Nova Scotia House o ...

. His grandson, also named John Creighton, also served in the province's assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creighton, John 1721 births 1807 deaths 18th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly People from Glastonbury Colony of Nova Scotia judges American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by the United States

Career

Personal life

See also

References