The

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

was established by a proclamation of the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

on May 20, 1758. A writ for the election of the 1st General Assembly of Nova Scotia was issued by May 22, returnable at the convening of the assembly on October 2, 1758. The assembly held two sessions, and was dissolved on August 13, 1759.

Sessions

Dates of specific sessions are under research.

Governor and Council

Charles Lawrence *Lieutenant Governor ''vacant''? The members of the

are currently under research.

House of Assembly

Officers

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

** Robert Sanderson -left the province for England in 1759. ** William Nesbitt elected August 1, 1759 *Clerk of the House David Lloyd

Division of seats

Since counties had not been established by this time, the proclamation called for the election of 4 members from Halifax Township, 2 members from Lunenburg Township, and 16 members from the province at large, for a total of 22 members. The election was held using

Block Voting Block voting or bloc voting refers to electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected at once and a group (voting bloc) of voters can force the system to elect only their preferred candidates. Block voting may be used at large (in a si ...

. Each voter had to cast the maximum number of votes, whether 16, two or four. Knaut and Kedie (or Kedy) represented Lunenburg Township, but the records do not distinguish the Halifax Township members from the at large members.

Members

* Joseph Gerrish * Robert Sanderson -left the province for England in 1759. * Henry Newton *

William Foye William Foye (November 1, 1716 – September 1, 1771) was a political figure in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1758 to 1759. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of William Foye, who served ...

* William Nesbitt *

Joseph Rundel Joseph Rundel (died 1763) was a merchant, brewer and political figure in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the 1st General Assembly of Nova Scotia The General Assembly of Nova Scotia was established by a proclamation of the Governor in Council on M ...

* Jonathan Binney * Henry Ferguson *

George Suckling George Suckling was a lawyer who was appointed to be the first Chief Justice of the British Virgin Islands in 1776. Suckling's appointment was not popular in the islands, which were at the time a notorious haunt for the lawless and for those s ...

John Burbidge John Burbidge (c.1718 – March 11, 1812) was a soldier, land owner, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the 1st General Assembly of Nova Scotia in 1758 and represented Halifax Township from 1759 to 1765 and Cornwal ...

* Robert Campbell * William Pantree * Joseph Fairbanks *

Philip Hammond Philip Hammond, Baron Hammond of Runnymede (born 4 December 1955) is a British politician and life peer who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019, Foreign Secretary from 2014 to 2016, and Defence Secretary from 2011 to 2014. ...

* John Fillis *

Lambert Folkers Lambert Folkers (died 1761) was a baker and politician. He served as a member of the 1st General Assembly of Nova Scotia; Folkers was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by 1750. In 1761, he married Elizabeth Shelfers, his second wife. He was buried on Jul ...

Philip Augustus Knaut Philip Augustus Knaut (1716 – December 28, 1781) was a German-born merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the 1st to 5th Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1758 to 1781, representing Lunenburg. He was born in the ...

(Lunenburg Township) * William Best *

Alexander Kedie Alexander Kedie (ca 1709 – 1784) was a carpenter and political figure in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the 1st General Assembly of Nova Scotia. He was born in Charing Cross, London, England and came to Halifax with Edward Cornwallis in 1 ...

(Lunenburg Township) *

Malachy Salter 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. Business career He operated a successful Boston di ...

-took seat Oct. 30, 1758. *

Benjamin Gerrish Benjamin Gerrish (October 19, 1717 – May 6, 1772) was a merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1759 to 1768. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of John Gerrish and ...

-might not have served, was out of the province by Nov. 21, 1758. *

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

-might not have served, was out of the province by Nov. 21, 1758. **

Archibald Hinshelwood Archibald Hinshelwood (died 1773) was a lawyer, merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He briefly sat on the 1st General Assembly of Nova Scotia in April 1759, but his election was disputed. He was a member of subsequent assemblies from 1 ...

-by-election Jan. 10, 1759, took seat April 6, 1759, election disputed by Richard Bowers, Hinshelwood quit his seat April 9. **no record of the by-election for the second vacancy. Note: Unless otherwise noted, members were elected at the general election, and took their seats at the convening of the assembly.

By-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

are special elections held to fill specific vacancies. When a member is noted as having taking their seat on a certain date, but a by-election isn't noted, the member was elected at the general election but arrived late.

References

Democracy 250 : Celebrating 250 Years of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada
*''A Directory of the Members of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, 1758–1958'', Public Archives of Nova Scotia (1958) * {{DEFAULTSORT:1st General Assembly Of Nova Scotia 01 1758 in Canada 1759 in Canada 1758 establishments in Nova Scotia 1759 disestablishments in Nova Scotia