David Seabury (christened on September 10, 1749 in Nassau,

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

– September 26, 1840) was a tradesman, judge and political figure in

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 ...

. He briefly represented Annapolis County in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

in 1786.

Biography

He was born in what is now the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the son of the Reverend Samuel Seabury and Elizabeth Powell. His half-brother

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

was the first bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. In 1770, he married Anne Lyne. A

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...

, he served as captain in a loyalist regiment during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

and came to Nova Scotia in 1783, settling in Granville. Seabury was a lieutenant-colonel in the militia. He was elected to the

6th General Assembly of Nova Scotia The 6th General Assembly of Nova Scotia represented Nova Scotia between November 1785 to 1793. The Assembly sat at the pleasure of the Governor of Nova Scotia, Edmund Fanning until 1786, and then under Governor John Parr. Sessions In 1785, the ...

in 1785, but the seat was immediately contested and declared invalid on Dec. 8,1785, three days into the session. He was reelected and took seat June 10, 1786 but the election was again declared invalid June 15, 1786, and the seat awarded to Alexander Howe. Neil MacKinnon, ''This Unfriendly Soil: The Loyalist Experience in Nova Scotia, 1783-1791''. McGill-Queen's University Press, 1989. . p. 120. In 1790, he was named a judge in the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for

Annapolis County Annapolis County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia located in the western part of the province located on the Bay of Fundy. The county seat is Annapolis Royal. History Established August 17, 1759, by Order in Council, Annapoli ...

. He also served as acting agent for

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Affairs. In 1806, after suffering financial losses, Seabury returned to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

References

1749 births 1840 deaths 18th-century Canadian politicians Colony of Nova Scotia judges Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs People from colonial New York United Empire Loyalists {{NovaScotia-MLA-stub