Minutes : 1749-1841.

The seat of government in Nova Scotia was initially located at Annapolis Royal beginning in 1720 and consisted of a Governor (Richard Philipps) and a Council of twelve members. The Council members were appointed by the Lords of the Board of Trade and Plantations in London and acted as the British administrative and judicial body for the colony. The Board of Trade was supplied with a list of recommended nominees for members by the Governor. The appointed Council was termed the “Council of Twelve” or “Annapolis Council.” The seat of government moved to Halifax upon the founding of the city in 1749 under Governor Edward Cornwallis, and thereafter the Council was commonly called the “Halifax Council”. 

In 1758, the first legislative assembly in Canada was elected in Nova Scotia, partially with the aim of attracting new settlers. The House of Assembly convened in Halifax for the first time on October 2, 1758 under Governor Charles Lawrence. The members of the “Nova Scotia Council,” or as it was contemporaneously called “His Majesty’s Council,” remained advisors to the Governor in both legislative and executive matters, for which they held separate meetings and formed the upper house of the government. Most members of the Council were from the Halifax area, as travel during the period precluded members from further afield. During the years 1758 to 1838, the government of the province was composed of three branches: the Governor, the Nova Scotia Council with both legislative and executive functions, and the elected Assembly. This arrangement continued until 1838 when concerns regarding the legality of the powers of the Council came to a head and the executive and legislative functions of the Council were separated, creating the Executive Council and Legislative Council. With the coming of responsible government in 1848, the Executive Council was made responsible to the Legislative Assembly rather than to the Governor.