Robert Denison (1697–1766) was a soldier and political figure in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and

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 elected to the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. The ...

in 1737, 1742, 1751 and 1756. He was a leader of the

New England Planters The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor (and subsequently governor) of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign ...

who settled Nova Scotia and represented King's 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 1761 to 1764.

Early life

He was born in Mohegan (later

Montville, Connecticut Montville is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 18,387 at the 2020 census. The villages of Chesterfield, Mohegan, Oakdale, and Uncasvi ...

), the son of Robert Denison and Joanna Stanton. He served in the

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 ...

militia in campaigns against the French and native peoples. In 1721, he married Deborah Griswold. He married Prudence Sherman in 1733 after the death of his first wife.

Military career

In 1745, Denison was captain of a company that took part in the

Siege of Louisbourg (1745) The siege of Louisbourg took place in 1745 when a New England colonial force aided by a British fleet captured Louisbourg, the capital of the French province of Île-Royale (present-day Cape Breton Island) during the War of the Austrian Succ ...

. During 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 ...

, he participated in the

Battle of Lake George The Battle of Lake George was fought on 8 September 1755, in the north of the Province of New York. It was part of a campaign by the British to expel the French from North America, in the French and Indian War. General Jean-Armand, and Jean Erdma ...

. In 1759, he received a grant of land in

Horton Township, Nova Scotia Wolfville is a Canadian town in the Annapolis Valley, Kings County, Nova Scotia, located about northwest of the provincial capital, Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax. The town is home to Acadia University and Landmark East School. The to ...

; the land had been vacated following the

Expulsion of the Acadians The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal of inhabitants of the North American region historically known as Acadia between 1755 and 1764 by Great Britain. It included the modern Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Br ...

. He was named lieutenant colonel for the local militia and became a justice of the peace for the county the following year. In 1761, he was named a justice for the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. Denison resigned his seat in the assembly on April 3, 1764 and died in late June or early July the following year at Horton (now Hortonville). His son Gurdon also served in the provincial assembly. His great-great grandson was the

Canadian prime minister The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a ...

Sir Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, Robert 1697 births 1766 deaths 18th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly People from colonial Connecticut Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives People from Montville, Connecticut New England Planters who settled in Nova Scotia Colony of Nova Scotia judges 18th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly

Early life

Military career

See also

References