James "Judge" Fulton (c. 1739 – 25 September 1826) was a justice of the peace,

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, and founder of the village of

Bass River, Nova Scotia Bass River is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Colchester County. The community shares its name with the river that flows through it into the Cobequid Bay. History Bass River was founded by memb ...

. Born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Fulton migrated from

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

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 ...

around 1760, where he worked as a surveyor. Arriving in Nova Scotia in 1765, he settled by 1767 in the Londonderry Township, an area settled primarily by Ulster families since 1761. He was appointed JP for the district of Colchester, which was then still part of Halifax County. He was one of the first land grantees of the township. In 1791, he was appointed a judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Colchester and in 1793 was commissioned as captain of the local militia regiment. He also made the first complete survey of the township and its villages. Fulton was elected to the

8th General Assembly of Nova Scotia A writ for the election of the 8th General Assembly of Nova Scotia was issued on October 21, 1799, returnable by December 23, 1799. The assembly convened on February 20, 1800, held six sessions, and was dissolved on May 28, 1806. Sessions Dates of ...

, representing rural Halifax County from 1799-1806. He joined

Edward Mortimer Edward Mortimer (22 December 1943 – 18 June 2021) was a UN civil servant, journalist, author and academic. He was Distinguished Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, from 2013. From 2001 to 2006, he was the Director of Communications in the ...

Pictou Pictou ( ; Canadian Gaelic: ''Baile Phiogto'' Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk: ''Piktuk'') is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km (6 miles) nor ...

and

William Cottnam Tonge William Cottnam Tonge (April 29, 1764 – August 6, 1832) was a judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Hants County from 1793 to 1799 and from 1806 to 1811 and Newport Township from 1799 to 1806 in the Nova Scotia House of Ass ...

Hants County Hants County is a historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the West Hants Regional Municipality, and the Municipality of the District of East Hants. History Formation The county of Hants ...

to form a "country party" that opposed powerful Halifax merchants allied with then Lieutenant Governor, Sir John Wentworth and the Privy Council. The country party took three of four Halifax County seats contested, including Fulton who finished third. (At the time all candidates campaigned county-wide with the top four finishers receiving the four available seats.) As a Member of the Assembly, Fulton however voted independently on matters and would at times side with court party members. He served on Assembly committees, particularly ones dealing with road or bridge construction. Fulton spent the remainder of his days a farmer on his Bass River homestead until his death. He and his wife Margaret (née Campbell) had seven sons and seven or eight daughters. His great-grandson George Fulton founded Dominion Chair Company in 1875.

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Early 20th century poem written in dedication to Judge Fulton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, Judge 1730s births 1826 deaths British surveyors Canadian surveyors Irish surveyors 18th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly Politicians from Belfast People from Colchester County Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Colony of Nova Scotia judges Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Nova Scotia Lawyers from Belfast 19th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly