The Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Titles Given to Financial Backers of New World Settlements
Feb 12, 2009
There were more titles than willing financiers of the Nova Scotia colonization. Later, the invitation was extended to residents of Ireland and England. When Scotland and England united in 1707, the Scottish and English titles came under the Baronetcies of Great Britain.
Many of the early Scottish titles still exist, having been passed down in the same families for 10 or more generations.
Scheme of King James VI
The Baronetage of Nova Scotia was conceived as a way to settle Nova Scotia (New Scotland). King James announced he would create 100 baronets. Each person receiving a title was expected to support six colonists for two years, or else pay 2000 marks. In addition, a new baron was also to pay Sir William Alexander 1000 marks.
Alexander, the first Earl of Stirling, came into favor at court by serving as usher to Prince Charles and helping King James prepare the metrical version known as "The Psalms of King David, translated by King James.” That gave him knighthood in 1614.
In 1621, King James I granted Alexander a royal charter which named him governor of a North American territory described as the lordship and barony of Nova Scotia, but in reality it also included what became New Brunswick, plus a northern section of the present United States.
Charles I Carries Settlement Plan Forward
King James died before his plan was up and running, but Charles I, his son, carried it forward, creating the first Scottish baronet in 1625. The title’s creation charter stipulated that this group of Scottish baronets should not exceed 150 barons. It was a title that could be inherited, the successor being knighted on reaching age 21. The cost was the same: 3000 marks.
There continued to be unawarded titles so further inducements were made for applicants. About 1629 the king granted to all Nova Scotia baronets the right to wear a badge depicting Scotland’s arms and motto suspended from an orange ribbon around their neck.
When, in 1633, the desired number of titled financial backers for Nova Scotia were not forthcoming, King Charles extended this “honour” to the Irish and English landed gentry, no doubt thinking that some untitled younger sons of the lower ranking nobility might be urged to take this route in order to assure titles to their posterity.
Names of Some Nova Scotia Barons
Eventually about 125 of these baronetcies were created. Some of the surnames associated with the Nova Scotia baronetcies are: Agnew, Barclay, Bingham, Bruce, Brown, Burnett, Campbell, Douglas, Dunbar, Elliot, Fergusson, Forbes, Gibson, Gordon, Graham, Grant, Hall, Hamilton, Johnston, Kirkpatrick, Leslie, Macdonald, Maxwell, Murray, Napier, Pringle, Richardson, Sinclair, Stewart and Stuart.
The Canadian Coast Guard has named a ship after Nova Scotia’s colonial governor. The Sir William Alexander participated in disaster relief in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina.
SOURCES:
Carlyle, Thomas, Historical Sketches of Notable Persons and Events in the Reigns of James I and Charles I (1898 edition)Weber, Terry, “Canadian Fleet Prepares for Katrina Relief Effort,” Globe and Mail, September 8, 2005;
Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors), Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition, New York), St Martin's Press, 1990;
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