Henry Nicholas Paint (10 April 1830 – 29 September 1921) was a
Canadian politician, shipowner and
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
.
Career
Henry Paint was the son of Nicholas Paint,
JP, by Mary Le Messurier, both of old
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
families which had been trading with Nova Scotia since at least the mid-18th century; a 'Paint Island', off Canso, is recorded in 1750.
[''Expeditions of Honour: the journal of John Salusbury in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1749–53'', p. 87, ed. R. Rompkey, 1982] In 1817 his father, a merchant shipowner and agent at
Arichat, Nova Scotia, petitioned for land grants at Belle Vue on the
Strait of Canso
The Strait of Canso (also Gut of Canso or Canso Strait, also called Straits of Canceau or Canseaux until the early 20th century) is a strait located in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It divides the Nova Scotia peninsula from Cape Breton Is ...
, where he built a stone house and had settled by 1822. Henry was educated in Guernsey and at the
Wolfville Academy (today
Acadia University), and served as a lieutenant-captain in the
Canadian Militia during the
Fenian raids.
He spent his early life as an insurance agent in the
City of Halifax
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. He was elected to the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The House of Common ...
in 1882 as a Member of the
Conservative Party for
Richmond, Nova Scotia. In Parliament, he was a strong supporter of Sir
John A. Macdonald, the first
prime minister of Canada, and he promoted a large number of public and infrastructure works for
Cape Breton, including the first marine railway, the first steamers from
Boston, numerous wharves and warehouses, as well as post offices and lighthouses, and the bridge and railroad to
Arichat, and he was instrumental in negotiating favourable trading terms for the Dominion with
Norway and the
West Indies. He contested the three general elections of 1887, 1891 and 1904, but despite his successes for the community, he was defeated on each occasion.
Henry was a progressive merchant and community leader. He owned extensive property on Cape Breton Island. Apart from the family estate of at Canso, in 1863 he acquired commercial property at
Point Tupper, Nova Scotia
Point Tupper is a rural community in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, on the Strait of Canso, in western Cape Breton Island.
History
Extensive land grants in the area were acquired in 1863 by Henry Nicholas Paint, of Belle Vue, Canso, member of Pa ...
, a few miles from Port Hawkesbury, on a site 'exceedingly well situated for trade' at the main entry point between mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. Here he constructed wharves and laid out a new township, selling plots doggedly to the end of his life; today he is commemorated there by 'Henry Paint Street'. His other holdings included the 'Paint seam' in coal mines at
Victoria County, Nova Scotia and gypsum options at Brierley Brook in
Antigonish County.
Henry Paint has a street, Paint Street, named after him in
Port Hawkesbury
Port Hawkesbury (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Chlamhain'') is a municipality in southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. While within the historical county of Inverness, it is not part of the Municipality of Inverness County.
History ...
, Nova Scotia.
Henry Paint's long life is exceptionally well documented for the period, largely from letters written in his old age to his grandchildren, some of which were published in 2005. He died at his house at 3 Artillery Place, Halifax, aged 91.
His younger daughter, Mary Le Mesurier, married Sir
Charles Tertius Mander, first baronet, of the
Mander family, industrialists and philanthropists dominant in the English Midlands. His elder daughter, Flora St Clair, married Sir Charles's first cousin, Theodore Mander, builder of
Wightwick Manor, one of the most notable
Arts and Crafts movement houses in England, owned since 1937 by the
National Trust.
Electoral record
Sources
*
Nicholas Mander, '' Varnished leaves : a biography of the Mander family of
Wolverhampton, 1750-1950.'' Dursley:
Owlpen Press. 2004. .
*J. L. MacDougall, ''History of Inverness County, Nova Scotia'', April 1923, chap. XI, which gives an account of the Paint family in Nova Scotia
References
External links
*
Brief history of the Mander familyPaint of Nova Scotia family genealogyMander Brothers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paint, Henry Nicholas
1830 births
1921 deaths
Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia
People from Inverness County, Nova Scotia
Guernsey people
Canadian people of Guernsey descent
Acadia University alumni