Samuel Vetch (9 December 1668 – 30 April 1732) was a Scottish military officer and colonial administrator who thrice served as the

governor of Nova Scotia The following is a list of the governors and lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia. Though the present day office of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia came into being only upon the province's entry into Can ...

between 1710 and 1717. He was a leading figure in the

Darien scheme The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing New Caledonia, a colony in the Darién Gap on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The pl ...

, a failed Scottish attempt to colonise the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...

in the late 1690s. During the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

Vetch was an early proponent of the idea that

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

should conquer

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

, proposing in 1708 that it be captured and that French colonists in

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

be deported. Vetch was the grandfather of Samuel Bayard.

Early life

Samuel Vetch was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 9 December 1668, and was baptised in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

the next day. His father, William Veitch, was a politically active Presbyterian minister. He and his wife Marion Fairley had a number of children, of whom Samuel was the second. Veitch was arrested in the hysteria surrounding the

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinat ...

in the late 1670s, but was released. The family harboured the Duke of Argyll, who was sought for his refusal to take oaths prescribed by the Test Act, and Veitch became involved in the Scottish conspiracy contributing to the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion in June 1685 was an attempt to depose James II of England, James II, who in February had succeeded his brother Charles II of England, Charles II as king of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and ...

. When that failed, Veitch went into hiding, and eventually fled to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

, where he was joined in 1683 by his two oldest sons, William Jr. and Samuel. The boys studied for the ministry at

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, but neither was interested in pursuing that career. Both became supporters of William of Orange, and Samuel was probably in a regiment of Scottish supporters in the 1688

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

that brought William III and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Sh ...

to power in England.

Career

He was then commissioned a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

in the Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons, "though very young", at the age of 20. The regiment was sent back to the Netherlands, where it fought in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

. Vetch was wounded at Steinkirk and was also in battle at

Landen Landen () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Landen proper and the villages of Attenhoven, Eliksem, Eze ...

. By the end of the war he had been promoted to captain.

Colonial ventures and business

In 1698 Vetch and his brother William joined a Scottish attempt spearheaded by William Paterson to establish a colony on the

. The "

" failed due to political infighting in the colony, diseases, lack of support, and Spanish hostility. Vetch was elected to the colonial council, and was one of the survivors (many of the 1,200 colonists sent to Central America, including William Vetch, succumbed to disease) to make his way to New York City in August 1699. Vetch formed connections with the politically powerful

Livingston family The Livingston family of New York (state), New York is a prominent family that migrated from Scotland to the Dutch Republic, and then to the Province of New York in the 17th century. Descended from the 4th Lord Livingston, its members included s ...

, marrying Margaret, the daughter of Robert Livingston.Hess, p. 84 With the Livingstons Vetch then established a highly profitable but illegal trade with

, and eventually settled 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 ...

, capital of the

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 ...

.Plank, p. 44 Although he curtailed his trading activities when

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) or the Third Indian War was one in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Gr ...

began in 1702, he was given a renewed opportunity for trade after Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley sent him on a diplomatic mission to

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in 1705 as part of an embassy to recover prisoners taken in a 1704 raid on

Deerfield, Massachusetts Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachus ...

. The embassy was a success, and Dudley permitted Vetch to make a trading voyage to New France in 1705. He was spotted upon his return, and the outcry compelled Dudley to have him put on trial and convicted in 1706 for trading with the enemy. He then sailed to England to appeal his conviction, and to lobby for military action against New France. Using his knowledge of New France, Vetch proposed to Queen Anne the conquest of all of New France. His proposals included the deportation of the

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

people to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

so that

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 ...

could be peopled by Protestant settlers. With the support of political allies and sympathetic colonial governors, the queen gave Vetch a military commission and promised him a governorship and military support for the 1709 campaign season. Along with Francis Nicholson, Vetch travelled to

in 1709 to raise colonial militia and supplies. However, the promised military force never arrived (having been diverted to the European theatre of the

), and the effort collapsed. Nicholson immediately returned to London, and secured a new promise of support for 1710.

Governor of Nova Scotia

The 1710 expedition succeeded in capturing the Acadian capital of Port Royal, although little of the surrounding countryside was pacified. Vetch was named the first governor of

, and the town was renamed Annapolis Royal in honour of the queen. The garrison that was left there was woefully undersupplied, and Vetch apparently funded at least some of its expenses, although he did get some official assistance from Massachusetts. However, some of his underlings also complained that he was grossly mismanaging the affairs of the colony. Nicholson capitalised on these complaints to have himself appointed governor in Vetch's place in 1713.

Later years

Vetch then returned to England to recover his reputation and his lost funds. With the accession of George I to the throne, he succeeded, and was reappointed governor in 1715. However, he never returned to North America, as he was called on to advise on matters of North American trade and politics. He was formally replaced as governor in 1717 by Richard Philipps, and spent his remaining years in unsuccessful attempts to recoup his expenses and acquire other colonial postings.

Personal life

In 1700, Vetch married Margaret Livingston (1681–1758), the daughter of Robert Livingston and Alida Schuyler Van Rensselaer. Together, they had: * Alida Vetch (b. 1705), who married Stephen Bayard (1700–1757), scion of another prominent New York family. He died in

King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from the Middle Ages until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were he ...

, where he had been sent because of his debts, in 1732. He was buried at St. George's in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

Descendants

His descendants included William Bayard (1729–1804), Samuel Bayard and Harriet Elizabeth Bayard Van Rensselaer (1799–1875).

Honors

There is a memorial plaque to Vetch at the Fort Anne National Historic Site in Annapolis Royal.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vetch, Samuel 1668 births 1732 deaths Governors of the Colony of Nova Scotia Military personnel from Edinburgh Politicians from Edinburgh Royal Scots Greys officers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Scottish colonial officials Scottish Presbyterians People imprisoned for debt Inmates of King's Bench Prison Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention Scottish people who died in prison custody