Richard John Uniacke: Difference between revisions
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== Public Service == |
== Public Service == |
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Over a span of sixteen years, Uniacke made four attempts to become the [[Attorney General]] of Nova Scotia (1787, 1784, 1789, 1797). He met opposition because he championed the rights of the pre-loyalists and [[New England Planters]] against the opposition of the powerful loyalists. In 1797, when he was again passed over for another loyalist appointed as Attorney General, he appealed to the [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland| 3rd Duke of Portland]] to overturn the decision and was successful. He later had a duel with the Attorney General he had overthrown.<ref>[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3180 Canadian Biography Online]</ref> |
Over a span of sixteen years, Uniacke made four attempts to become the [[Attorney General]] of Nova Scotia (1787, 1784, 1789, 1797). He met opposition because he championed the rights of the pre-loyalists and [[New England Planters]] against the opposition of the powerful loyalists. In 1797, when he was again passed over for another loyalist appointed as Attorney General, he appealed to the [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland| 3rd Duke of Portland]] to overturn the decision and was successful. He later had a duel with the Attorney General he had overthrown. <ref>[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3180 Canadian Biography Online]</ref> |
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== Confederation == |
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Uniake was the first public advocate for the Confederation of Canada, 51 years before it became a reality. He was afraid that the revolutionary “heresies” of atheism and democracy spreading to the “hoards of semi-barbarians” in the United States would engulf New England and then British North America. He wanted to save the colonies from republicanism, atheism, and democracy. As a result, Uniacke advocated unions of the Maritime colonies and of the Canadas, beginning in 1806 when he presented a memoir on British North America at the Colonial Office.<ref>[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3180 Canadian Biography Online]</ref> |
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In 1826 Uniacke brought his “Observations on the British colonies in North America with a proposal for the confederation of the whole under one government” to the Colonial Office. The “Observations” read in parts like the British North America Act of 40 years later.<ref>[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3180 Canadian Biography Online]</ref> |
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== Family == |
== Family == |
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Revision as of 12:27, 19 July 2012
Richard John Uniacke | |
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| Born | November 22, 1753 Castletownroche, Republic of Ireland |
| Died | October 11, 1830 (aged 76) Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia |
Richard John Uniacke (November 22, 1753 – October 11, 1830) was a lawyer, politician, member of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly and Attorney General of Nova Scotia. He devoted 49 years to public service in Nova Scotia. He supported the Americans in the American Revolution, he was Irish, Roman Catholic and also a pre-loyalists. All these positions put him in opposition to the establishment at various times in his life.
Early Years
Born in Castletownroche in County Cork, Ireland, he studied law in Dublin, articling to an attorney there but prematurely abandoning his studies to travel. (In 1777, after living in Nova Scotia he returned to Ireland to complete his legal training. Uniacke was admitted to the Bar in Nova Scotia and appointed solicitor in 1781.)
American Revolution
In 1776, Uniacke was among those Nova Scotians who wanted to join American patriots against the British in the American Revolution, wanting Nova Scotia to become part of the United States. Uniacke joined Jonathan Eddy and others against British soldiers in the Battle of Fort Cumberland. Eddy lost and Uniacke was imprisoned and tried for treason but he was later released.
Public Service
Over a span of sixteen years, Uniacke made four attempts to become the Attorney General of Nova Scotia (1787, 1784, 1789, 1797). He met opposition because he championed the rights of the pre-loyalists and New England Planters against the opposition of the powerful loyalists. In 1797, when he was again passed over for another loyalist appointed as Attorney General, he appealed to the 3rd Duke of Portland to overturn the decision and was successful. He later had a duel with the Attorney General he had overthrown. [1]
Confederation
Uniake was the first public advocate for the Confederation of Canada, 51 years before it became a reality. He was afraid that the revolutionary “heresies” of atheism and democracy spreading to the “hoards of semi-barbarians” in the United States would engulf New England and then British North America. He wanted to save the colonies from republicanism, atheism, and democracy. As a result, Uniacke advocated unions of the Maritime colonies and of the Canadas, beginning in 1806 when he presented a memoir on British North America at the Colonial Office.[2]
In 1826 Uniacke brought his “Observations on the British colonies in North America with a proposal for the confederation of the whole under one government” to the Colonial Office. The “Observations” read in parts like the British North America Act of 40 years later.[3]
Family
In 1774 he travelled to the West Indies and then arrived in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, he was recruited by Moses Delesdernier to settled the Hopewell Township in Nova Scotia (present-day Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick). The following spring both moved to Hopewell. On May 3, 1775 Uniake married Delesderneir's daughter Martha Maria, then aged 12. They would have six sons before her death in 1803. He was married for a second time in 1808.
His son James Boyle Uniacke was the first Premier of Nova Scotia. Another son, Richard John Uniacke, Jr. was a lawyer, judge and political figure who represented Cape Breton County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1820 to 1830. His son Norman Fitzgerald Uniacke served in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada and Nova Scotia's Legislative Council.
Uniacke Estate Museum
.
His substantial estate (c. 1813) is preserved as the Uniacke Estate Museum Park at Mount Uniacke.[4]
Visitors can see family portraits including two rare portraits painted in 1748 by American artist Robert Feke, as well as paintings by Robert Field, and by one of the most famous American colonial portrait painters - John Singleton Copley.
References and further reading
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Moses Delesdernier
- Brian Cuthbertson, The Old Attorney General: A Biography of Richard John Uniacke, Halifax: Nimbus, 1980.