The Founding of Halifax and the Halifax Gazette, 1749-1753

To found a newspaper anywhere in North America in the 18th century was a remarkable event. To found one in Halifax in 1752 was exceptional, to say the least. When the New England Courant was founded in 1721, only three or four newspapers existed, and Benjamin Franklin tells us in his autobiography that in 1771 there were less than 25. Halifax was a particular challenge, for when John Bushell ran off the first sheets of the Gazette in 1752, the town had been in existence for less than three years: it was still a small garrison confronted with difficulties of finance and defence. Moreover, at least half of the population did not speak English. What kind of readership existed, and what kind of society would such a newspaper serve? The answers to these questions can be found by looking at the broader picture of colonization in Acadia.

In 1748, when the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle compelled Britain to give the island of Cape Breton back to France, the British found themselves strategically exposed. Suddenly, the fortress at Louisburg was available to the French as a base for cultivating the loyalty of the Acadians and the Aboriginal bands situated in the region. At this point, the British government, through the Board of Trade and Plantations and its president, the Earl of Halifax, undertook an urgent and expensive colonizing initiative in Chebucto Harbour (the future location of the city of Halifax) to establish trade and encourage settlement elsewhere in Acadia. By the spring of 1749, Parliament had voted to supply what it considered to be sufficient funds and a pool of sailors, soldiers and artificers made redundant by the peace of 1748 was available as a population base. The Board began a program to entice British settlers with announcements in the popular magazines of the day and advertised throughout Europe for the type of German-speaking colonists who had successfully colonized other parts of America.

It offered 50 acres of land to every private soldier or seaman ready to settle, and an extra 10 acres for each family member, without rents and taxes for 10 years. In addition, each settler would receive subsistence for 12 months, as well as arms, ammunition and tools for housing construction, farming and fishing. Many signed on, and in the weeks following their July 1749 arrival with Governor Edward Cornwallis and his 13 transports, they maintained their optimism; but very soon two groups emerged. The British did not seem prepared for the rigours of the New World, for as Cornwallis wrote to the board soon after, "Of Soldiers there is only 100, of Tradesmen, Sailors & others able & willing to work not above 200 more. The rest are poor, idle, worthless vagabonds that embraced the opportunity to get provisions for one Year without labour, or Sailors that only wanted a passage to New England." The New Englanders, however, were more accustomed to frontier conditions and had by this time formed an extensive commercial network. These were the ones on whom Cornwallis depended to serve as members of his legislative council and as his principal salaried officials.

There was one other significant group: a mix of over 2 000 Europeans known as the "foreign Protestants" who arrived in 1750 and who by 1752 formed approximately half the population of Halifax. These were drawn from various continental states, principally the German regions of Palatinate, Württemburg and Hesse. It appears that the British government had intended to bring over more later on, but this plan was abandoned in 1752. Those who remained --  approximately 1 500 of the original immigrants -- were transported the following year to Merligash (later Lunenburg) in New England vessels chartered for the purpose.

How could a newspaper serve the needs of the remaining community, the British settlers, government officials and New England artificers and businessmen attempting to develop Halifax in the early days? Mostly by carrying local and foreign news as well as public announcements. If this had been a modern newspaper, however, two stories would have received repeated attention. The first was the threat of attack by Aboriginal peoples, chiefly Miq'ma who supported the French interest in the region despite Cornwallis's efforts to sign a treaty with them. In the first three years, the Natives repeatedly attacked the sawmill erected across the harbour in Dartmouth, an operation critical to the advancement of the town, killing soldiers and civilians alike and throwing the settlers into a panic. With a relatively small detachment, Cornwallis and his successor, Peregrine Hopson, found themselves unprepared for these incursions.

A more fundamental threat came from within. Unlike other North American settlements, Halifax was not part of a mercantile venture but a colonizing scheme. There was no balance of trade, so that by October 1749 Cornwallis had exhausted his supply of cash and was forced to turn to Boston for help. Boston merchants had already financed the Annapolis garrison with funds sent from London, using bills of exchange the governor drew on various departments. These bills were exchanged in Boston for New England currency and then remitted from Boston to London for British goods. Using this method, Cornwallis was able to obtain money and supplies until 1752, but henceforth money was sent directly from London, for the colony could now negotiate its own bills of exchange. Throughout 1752 and 1753, trade and commerce expanded dramatically in Halifax, and a merchant class emerged. This coterie formed the first political lobby in the town, and by 1753 it was beginning to assert its influence on public policy, which was still determined by a non-elected legislative council.

In these circumstances, the Halifax Gazette was born. The newspaper required a commercial and political society to fill its pages, and by the end of 1753 such a society had begun to form.