Papers : 1787 - 1847.

            Simon B. Robie was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, the son of Thomas Robie and Mary Bradstreet who came to Halifax, Nova Scotia, as Loyalists in 1776, during the early years of the American Revolution. He studied law, was admitted to the Nova Scotia bar, and became a successful lawyer.   In 1799, he was elected to the House of Assembly and returned several times for Halifax County until appointed to the Council in 1824. The City of Halifax recognized his services by naming Robie Street in his honour.
In 1815, Simon Robie became solicitor-general, and in 1817 he was elected Speaker of the House of Assembly.   He relinquished the position of solicitor-general to become Nova Scotia's first Master-of-the-Rolls in 1826, and held that office until 1834. In this capacity he became a judge, and also presided over the Chancery Court. When the old Council was divided in 1838, he became a member of the Executive Council and president of the Legislative Council, until he resigned from both offices in 1848. In the early years of his political career, Simon Robie was regarded as a liberal, but with changing times and circumstances, he was looked upon as a conservative by the time his active political life drew to a close.             

            The Simon B. Robie Papers consist of three parts:

Part 1, the largest part, is arranged in strict chronological order, 1787 - 1847.   The material consists, almost entirely, of letters to S. B. Robie, and concerns political, legal and personal affairs.

Part 2, is not in chronological order, and contains letters to S.B Robie;  memos; copies of outgoing correspondence;  addresses;  reports;  legal documents;  drafts of letters, memos and addresses;  a list of grantees of common lots granted under lease of 999 years at Halifax, Nova Scotia; and a copy of, Prologue of the Revenge, 1814 - 1845.

Part 3, is arranged in chronological order, and the contents resemble Part 2, with a mixture of correspondence to S. B. Robie, as well as memos;  documents;  and drafts of addresses and letters, 1817 - 1846.            

            A content report, which gives a brief description of each item in the Papers, has been microfilmed at the beginning of the reel.
  In the content report, each item has been assigned a number and the relevant document has been assigned a number and the relevant document has been given the same number.  The content report is available in print and as a PDF in the electronic finding aid section.