Jonathan Belcher (July 23, 1710 – March 30, 1776) was a British-American lawyer, chief justice, and acting Governor of Nova Scotia during the period of 1760-63 when Henry Ellis was in office as Governor but did not fulfil his duties.

Biography

Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...

, the second son of Jonathan Belcher and Mary Partridge, Belcher entered

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, where in 1728 he received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. In 1731 he proceeded to

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

, also at Harvard. In 1730, he entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, to read law, and in 1734 was called to the English bar. In the meantime he had been admitted as a fellow-commoner to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where in 1733 he received another master's degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. He later received a third master's degree from the College of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

). In 1754, Belcher was sent to

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 ...

to become the first Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Prior to Belcher's arrival Nova Scotia had no formally trained law officers. He also served on the Nova Scotia Council. On July 28, 1755, he published a document which concluded that deportation of the Acadians was both authorized and required under the law. From 1761 to 1763, he was also Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. He negotiated the peace that led to the Burying the Hatchet ceremony in Nova Scotia. Belcher was a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, elected in 1768. He died in office in 1776. He is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Halifax.

Legacy

Belcher gave his name to Fort Belcher (1761–67), after which Fort Belcher Road, Lower Onslow, Nova Scotia is named. The fort was built at the same time as Fort Ellis. Belcher married in King's Chapel,

, on 8 April 1756 to Abigail Allen. A salver (silver platter) given to them on their wedding day is now in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

.Early American Silver in The Metropolitan Museum of Art By Wees, Beth Carver, Harvey, Medill Higgins, p. 112
/ref> They had five sons and two daughters.

Gallery

Sources

Nova Scotia Historical Society. 1914, p. 25
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belcher, Jonathan 1710 births 1776 deaths British emigrants to pre-Confederation Nova Scotia Governors of the Colony of Nova Scotia Converts to Anglicanism from Congregationalism Harvard College alumni Princeton University alumni People from colonial Boston Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Colony of Nova Scotia judges