Robert Pagan (November 16, 1750 – November 23, 1821) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born merchant, judge and political figure in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. He represented Charlotte County in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...

from 1786 to 1819. He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, the son of William Pagan and Margaret Maxwell. In 1768 or 1769, he went to Falmouth Neck, Massachusetts (now

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

), where he became involved in the timber trade and ship building. In October 1775, his premises were destroyed by

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forces who were reacting to rebel activity in the area. In early 1776 Pagan and his brother Thomas brothers departed to the Barbadoes, as the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Favourite'' chiefly owned by Pagan set sail in January, and in February the

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

''Falmouth'' in February although it was seized entering

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...

. They returned in 1777, joining their brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

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. Pagan was named in the

Massachusetts Banishment Act The Massachusetts Banishment Act, officially named the "Banishment Act of the State of Massachusetts", was passed in September 1778 "to prevent the return to this state of certain persons therein named and others who have left this state or either o ...

of 1778. Pagan married Miriam Pote, daughter of Captain Jeremiah Pote who was also the father-in-law to prominent local Thomas Dyer who would cooperate extensively with Pagan in the future.

Life in New Brunswick

In 1780, Pagan settled at the mouth of the

Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's W ...

, believing that this would become a loyalist settlement, and established sawmills, stores and engaged in ship building. In 1784, learning that the border would be established further east, he relocated to what would become

Saint Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settlement ...

in the

Passamaquoddy Bay Passamaquoddy Bay () is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its western shore bounded by Was ...

. s:Acadiensis/Volume 2/Number 4/Robert and Miriam Pagan He was named a justice of the peace and a judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for the county. Pagan was involved in the timber trade, operating mills, shipbuilding and the fish trade and was a wholesale and retail merchant. In 1787

Thomas Carleton General Thomas Carleton ( 1735 – 2 February 1817) was an Irish-born British Army officer who was promoted to colonel during the American Revolutionary War after relieving the siege of Quebec in 1776. After the war, he was appointed as Lie ...

, the

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the representative in New Brunswick of the monarch, who operates distinctly within ...

, appointed Pagan the first colonel in command of the Charlotte County Militia. He served as colonel until approximately 1808. He assisted in research and surveys which helped establish the St. Croix River as the international boundary with Maine. By 1815, Pagan was one of the twelve wealthiest men in the province. Pagan helped found the

Bank of New Brunswick The Bank of New Brunswick, established in 1820, was the first Canadian bank to operate under a charter. The bank operated independently in New Brunswick and later in Prince Edward Island until it merged with the Bank of Nova Scotia (now Scotiabank ...

in 1820. He died in Saint Andrews in 1821 at the age of 71. He declared on his deathbed that he wished for no debtor owing monies to his estate to be imprisoned, forgiving any what they could not pay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagan, Robert 1750 births 1821 deaths 18th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation New Brunswick Colony of New Brunswick judges 18th-century Canadian merchants