Jonathan Binney (January 7, 1723/24 – October 8, 1807) was a merchant, judge 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 was a member of the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

to 3rd Nova Scotia House of Assemblies from 1758 to 1765. He arrived in Nova Scotia in 1753. His father-in-law was Henry Newton. Binney was buried, along with his two sons Stephen and Hibbert, in the Old Burying Ground in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. He was born in

Hull, Massachusetts Hull is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, located on a peninsula at the southern edge of Boston Harbor. Its population was 10,072 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in P ...

, the son of Thomas Binney and Margaret Miller, and went into business 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 ...

. Binney married Martha Hall in 1746 and they had a son, Stephen. Martha died and Jonathan moved to Halifax, leaving his only child in Boston. There, he married Hannah Adams Newton; they had another son, Stephen Hall Binney. Two days later, Jonathan's first son died in Boston at age 11 and was buried at

King's Chapel King's Chapel is an American independent Christian unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in ...

. Jonathan Binney and

Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres (22 November 1721 – 27 October 1824) was a Canadian cartographer who served in the Seven Years' War, as the aide-de-camp to General James Wolfe. DesBarres is perhaps best known as the creator the monumental ...

met the

Mi'kmaw The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

chiefs at

Arichat, Nova Scotia Arichat is an unincorporated village in the Municipality of the County of Richmond, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the primary settlement on Isle Madame, off the southeastern tip of Cape Breton Island. Toponym The name derives from a Mi'kmaq wo ...

, in 1761, and concluded a lasting peace. Binney 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 ...

in 1764. In the same year, he was appointed collector of provincial duties and magistrate at Canso. In 1768, he became customs collector and judge for St. John's Island (later

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

). He was named judge in the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Halifax County in 1772. When

Francis Legge Francis Legge ( 1719–15 May 1783) was a British military officer and colonial official in Nova Scotia during the 18th century. He served as governor of Nova Scotia from 1772 to 1776. During the American Revolution, Legge raised the Royal Nova ...

became lieutenant governor, he had Binney and his family arrested because Binney often paid himself first with the funds collected on behalf of the government. Binney successfully brought his case against Legge before the Board of Trade in

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 ...

and his debts were forgiven by the Nova Scotia assembly. In 1784, Binney was accused of certifying

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

fishermen as Nova Scotians so he could sell them fishing licenses. He died in Halifax, leaving his belongings to his two surviving sons, Hibbert and Stephen. File:Hibbert Newton Binney.png, Jonathan's son Hibbert Newton Binney, buried in the Old Burying Ground, Halifax File:Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society (1880) (14594017919).jpg, Jonathan Binney's son Stephen Hall Binney (1760–1836) is buried in the Old Burying Ground, Halifax

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Binney, Jonathan 1720s births 1807 deaths 18th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly Colony of Prince Edward Island judges Colony of Nova Scotia judges People from Hull, Massachusetts Merchants from colonial Massachusetts 18th-century American merchants