Revolutionary Names: Privateer and Prize Ships, 1777-1814, Part 2

On 17 Apr, 2019 0 Comments

The arts, literature, and religion provided a plethora of source material for the naming of ships.  Characters from history, literature, Greek and Roman mythology, saints, and other religious derivations were very common inspirations in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Atlantic World.  The classicist movement was influential during this period, and classically inspired names were extremely prevalent among many types of ships

Revolutionary Names: Privateer and Prize Ships, 1777-1814, Part 1

On 3 Apr, 2019 0 Comments

Ship names may be commemorative or symbolic, hold a social significance, indicate political change, or offer a perceived protection in the dangerous world of the sea.  What thinking can be detected behind these naming choices?  Often we do not have a record of who named the ships, but we might understand the motivations behind the name or the vision that the namer wanted to project.  Ship names were important for the practical purposes of nautical law and busin

William Paine’s Instructions for Inoculation

On 27 Feb, 2019 0 Comments

Throughout the eighteenth century smallpox was sweeping the Americas and Europe, and in an attempt to reduce the number of deaths, physicians were practicing inoculation on those who were not ill in order to keep them from becoming sick with smallpox, much like today, when we receive vaccinations in order to avoid sickness.

To be free or not to be: that is the question

On 23 Jan, 2019 0 Comments

One of the first motions recorded in the Journal of the House of Assembly of the Province of New Brunswick was that of Mr. James Campbell, a representative for the County of Charlotte, who moved to bring in a bill to regulate servants.

Simeon Perkins: A Liverpool Loyalist?

On 9 Jan, 2019 3 Comments

Nova Scotia was one of the thirteen colonies which remained in the British fold during the American Revolution. Within the province, there existed a stark divide in sentiment, in particular between urban and rural inhabitants.

Two Seasonal Poems and a Question

On 19 Dec, 2018 0 Comments

The following handwritten poems were unexpectedly found among the more predictable administrative documents of the Records of Shelburne County Court of General Quarter Sessions (originals held by the Nova Scotia Archives).  They were penned in the town of Shelburne, Nova Scotia in the early 1830s and signed by Olivia Rosamond/ Rosomond Enslow.

Fighting for the Crown?: Irish Catholic Loyalists in the Military, Part 1

On 22 Nov, 2018 0 Comments

An entire regiment of soldiers of Irish Catholic origin fighting for the British Crown was quite an unusual situation in the British Atlantic World at the end of the eighteenth century, but two such a groups were created in the colonies of Pennsylvania and New York during the American Revolution.  Irish Catholic participation in British military campaigns during this period is particularly intriguing for two reasons.  Firstly, instances of Catholics

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