Malachy Salter
Malachy Salter | |
---|---|
MLA for Yarmouth township | |
In office 1766–1772 | |
MLA for Halifax township | |
In office 1759–1765 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Boston, Massachusetts | February 28, 1715
Died | January 13, 1781 Halifax, Nova Scotia | (aged 65)
Spouse | Susanna Mulberry |
Occupation | Businessman, politician |
Malachy Salter (February 28, 1715 – January 13, 1781), a Nova Scotian merchant and office-holder, who was convicted of sedition for betraying the Loyalists during the American Revolution.[1] [2]
Business career
He operated a successful
In 1754 Salter expanded his operations into the field of government contracts. He was subsequently called upon to provide certain mercantile evaluations for the government.
Salter was an early member of the grand jury in
For 15 years Salter sat in the
During the
American Revolution
Salter was tried and convicted for uttering seditions words in February 1777. In November 1777, he was also charged with the serious misdemeanour of treasonable correspondence. Because of poor health, his trial was postponed and hung over him for the last three years of his life.[3]
Later the same year his brig Rising Sun was captured by
Salter has been ranked by historians among the most important entrepreneurs of early Halifax, yet he failed to establish himself securely within its profitable network.
The large house he constructed at the corner of Hollis and Salter streets, about 1760 was eventually purchased by William Lawson and, later demolished to become part of the site of Maritime Place, in downtown Halifax.
Family
He was born at Boston, second son of Malachy Salter and Sarah Holmes. He married Susanna Mulberry, on 26 July 1744 in Boston, and they had at least 11 children. He died at
Legacy
- namesake of Salter Street, Halifax
- namesake Salter Street Films, a media production house
See also
Nova Scotia in the American Revolution
References
- ^ Barry Cahill, "The Treason of the Merchants: Dissent and Repression in Halifax in the Era of the American Revolution", Acadiensis, Vol. 26, 1 (Autumn 1996), p. 53
- ^ Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- ^ Barry Cahill, "The Treason of the Merchants: Dissent and Repression in Halifax in the Era of the American Revolution", Acadiensis, Vol. 26, 1 (Autumn 1996), p. 53