Nova Scotia Archives
Gideon White Family Papers
1795 26 Sep Halifax
586. Memoranda re divisions of the Winckworth estate and the terms on which it will be sold, signed by W. cottnam Tonge, Holograph.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 586
1795 14 Oct Halifax
587. Commission making Gideon White deputy Naval Officer for the port and county of Shelburne, signed by W. Cottnam Tonge, Naval Officer for the province.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 587
1795 14 Oct Shelburne
588. Instructions of the Naval Officer to his deputy as to carrying on the business of the office. 13 articles. Signed.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 588
1795 15 Nov Guysborough
589. Thomas Cutler to Gideon White, in receipt of letter. …"respecting your Town Lot - it has never been occupied by any Person except within these Two Years - and I mentioned to them that they ought to have paid something for the Use of it - they gave me for Answer, that they thought the fencing was full equivalent to the benefit they got by it - and had they not enclosed it - they should have called upon You to make your proportion of the fence - ..which would have cost you considerable....I have proposed selling it & they have offered me Twenty Shillings for it...I have not accepted of that Sum - as I do suppose it to be far short of your expectations - but I assure You that Town Lots have been sold in as good situations and adjoining yours for 10/....As to Your Country Lands on the North Side of Chedabucto Bay - I have not had time as yet to see & find out any purchasers - ...but I have just to observe, that You have only 950 Acres instead of a 1000 - you mention - and lands on that side of the Bay have been generally sold for about six pounds pr. Hundred Acres - and I suppose yours will in that case fetch You about fifty pounds - and I believe it might be sold for that sum - being divided into Two or three Lotts - giving the purchases a reasonably time to pay it in by installments - say Three Years...I have stopped any further expence arising from Your neglect of paying your County rates - & performing your six days Labour on the Highways - by paying it for You which I shall continue to Do - until it is disposed of...as you complain so much of the badness of your Lands - would it not be better for You to remove here? - I assure You - the place is thriving fast - And we should be very happy to have You - to add to our Society - which god knows just now is non of the best - nevertheless - a few good Persons like yourself will make it better.." Holograph.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 589
1795 16 Nov Shelburne
590. Minutes of sessions of the Grand Jury on the 3rd and 16th of November.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 590
1795 16 Dec Halifax
591. Charles Morris Jr. to Gideon White re his business as deputy register of Admiralty. The proceedings of the customs collector against the Rainbow are unwarrantable. "Your conduct is very satisfactory to the Court - & ever must prove so upon the principles which govern your conduct - never mind technical phraseology - or law terms that are as grateing to the bar as they are hurtfull and distorting to the Jaws of every good man of sound understanding - the more simplified and unadorned our professional Language the better - truth and sincerity is all we aim at in the pursuit of Substantial Justice!" Sends bill of costs to the customs collector. Holograph.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 591
1796 1 Apr Halifax
592. Commission issued by William Thomson, prothonotary, making Archibald Cunningham his deputy for the Inferior Court of Common Pleas held in Shelburne Co. Holograph.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 592
1796 8 Apr Halifax
593. Wm. Cottnam Tonge to Gideon White, chiefly relative to Naval Office business. ''I have always considered the Case of your County as hard with regard to the publick debt it labours under & have been always ready to pay the strictest attention to any application that might be made to the Legislative Body on your Behalf, though I must confess that I do not see how redress of the Grievances under which you labour is to be obtained from that Quarter....as you justly observe the Supreme Court taking your County in Circuit might be of essential Consequence to you, - Campbell has brought forward nothing on the Subject either in the House of Assembly or otherwise that I have heard of, both you & he may be assured of my most cordial & strenuous support of any Measures you may recommend, as far as they meet my Ideas of Justice & propriety, & I have not any Doubt but any you propose will do that perfectly.''
With regard to the Naval Office, he wishes White to send account of fees taken, with his next report. Commends White for his work as deputy. ''What follows immediately is in the Confidence of Friendship. A little more acquaintance with its duties will convince you that the weakness of the naval office is owing to its having been established by Law at a remote Period, & on account of its not being an establishment known in Great Britain, to its not having been constantly recognized by the Laws enacted since; hence it arises that it would be dangerous to entrust some of the rightfull claims of the office to a legal decision, for Instance the controul over vessels employed in the Coasting Trade must appear as necessary & proper in the eye of Reason as that of every other description of vessel whatsoever, & yet since the highly improper exertion of the Power of the executive wrested in my late Father's time this controul from the naval officer, it would be exceedingly imprudent in me to pursue a course of Law for reviving my Right to this Controul, there is even a Doubt whether the Claim of compelling Vessels to clear out at the office can be enforced by law, & it is not for me under present Circumstances to enter into Contests for clearing up these Doubts, when I have in prospect so much more certain a Mode of removing all manner of Doubt - my Father made application some time before his death for an act of Parliament to settle all these Difficulties, the Peculiar Circumstances of the Government at Home ever since forbid all Hope of their attending to an object so comparatively trivial to the important concerns which occupy their attention, I must therefore wait for a more favorable Juncture in which my Claims may be prefered with better Hopes of Success - patiently submitting to the Ingringement of some of my just rights & the loss of some of my Emoluments at the same time prudently holding every advantage within my Reach. Relative to fees for services not provided for in the table: being obliged to examine & countersign all Papers necessary for clearing a vessel...(no takes) the same fee for every Cocket & every certificate of Bond which the Table allows for one particular kind of Cocket & certificate, & the same fee for a list of Men which I am bound to inspect & sign, as for a Bill of Stores which is in the Table of Fees as being a Service of the value -. In my answer to your letter of December last I mentioned that I had again applied for the Seizing Power for you, it was promised me but I did not get it yet, however I hope I shall before your members leave Town that you may be ready to take advantage of circumstances which may arize - it is of no material Consequence whether Brinley gives you up the Collection of the light Duties or not, for I am to have a general Commission for Collecting from all Foreign Vessels, with a Power of appointing Deputies & as a much larger proportion of the Fees will be allowed than for our own Collections it will be much more advantageous to act under that Establishment so that if you get the other you had better not do anything with it'till you hear from me, that is in attempting to collect any thing from the Americans. Campbell will give you...our Assembly news & tell you how we have been battling the watch there. Holograph.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 593
1796 8 Apr St. John
594. John Prince to Gideon White, covering a power of attorney. Enclosure: power of attorney, below. Holograph.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 594
1796 8 Apr St. John
595. Power making Gideon White attorney for John Prince of St. John, N.B., "particularly relating to a tract of land" in Shelburne Co. [Enclosed in Prince to White, above]. Signed etc.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 595
1796 30 Apr Halifax
596. Governor's warrant giving Gideon White power to search and examine ships and vessels, in Shelburne and Queens Counties. [Enclosed in Tonge to White, 4 May].Signed, etc.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 596
1796 4 May Halifax
597. W. Cottnam Tonge to Gideon White, in receipt of letter. With regard to a fee for certifying non-enumerated bonds, he refers to previous letter - "it appears to me that there is very good Ground for taking it, & I wish you do do it if not at the risk of a very violent Contest…a fee should however be taken for either List of Men, or Bill of Stores from every vessel that clears outwards, & here I invariably take it without Dispute, this a point we must not recede from." He encloses seizing commission, for which there is a fee of 31/8, some bonds under the new law "for which I suppose you have occasion for when your Coasters carry grain or Flour from one place to another," deputation for collecting the light duties "from the Americans, which I expect will turn out a valuable Business - I enclose you a Blank Deputation & Instructions which you will give to any Person within your District whom you can confide in if you see fit...you may have more assistants by giving them the Blank Certificates signed by you, if there are Persons you can well trust & you will make your own Bargain with them for doing the Duty as you will be allowed 25 per Cent on the Collections made by yourself or under your authority, I beg that you will be very particular & early in making report of any that refuse to pay...I suppose you will be soon making a trip to Barrington & should you catch any of those Jockies (?) at their usual Practices there it would give me great Satisfaction whether they were Americans or our own Lads - There is a Mr. Nehemiah Kinney who has often cheated the naval office, & I believe Seldom comes from the States without a few little odd notions." Friendly messages. Holograph.
Overleaf: note in White's hand that letter was answered in person. 11 June, 1796.
Enclosure: seizing commission, 30 Apr. 1796, above.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 597
1796 15 Jun St. John
598. John Prince to Gideon White, in receipt of letter inclosing the lease or deed of Porterfield's land. Further instructions about the lease etc. "I am sorry you have suffered so much in your Navigation at Shelburne. This war has almost ruined this place, I have lost upwards of £4000 the last three years, but it has been occationd chiefly by Rogues and Fools & large premiums. [Filed with 8 Aug. 1796] Holograph.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 598
1796 21 Jun Halifax
599. Lt-Gov. Wentworth to Gideon White, enclosing and recommending the petition of S. S. Poole, upon the subject of which Mr. Blowers has written White. Holograph.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 599
1796 1 Jul Shelburne
600. Joshua Snow's receipt for £20, from Gideon White for a boat. Signed.
White Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 Vol. 950 No. 600