James Humphreys (January 15, 1748 – February 2, 1810) was a printer, publisher, merchant and politician in Nova Scotia and Pennsylvania. He represented Shelburne County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1793 to 1796.

Biography

James Humphreys was born in Philadelphia, the son of James Humphreys and Susanna Assheton. He studied medicine at the College of Philadelphia but left without completing his degree. Humphreys then apprenticed as a printer with William Bradford and established his own business in 1772, printing books and a number of pamphlets. In 1775, he began publishing the ''Pennsylvania Ledger: or the Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, & New Jersey Weekly Advertiser'', a newspaper loyal to the British cause. In 1776, he fled the city but returned in 1777 when the British regained control of Philadelphia. He went to New York City in 1778 when the British left the city and by 1785 had moved to Shelburne, Nova Scotia where he established the ''Nova-Scotia Packet: and General Advertiser''. He also operated as a merchant and was a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. Humphreys married Mary Yorke. By 1797, he had returned to Philadelphia and, after failing to establish another newspaper there, resumed book printing in partnership with some of his sons and daughters. Humphreys published an 1802 edition of '' Lyrical Ballads'' by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.Pace, Joel. ''Woodsworth and America: Reception and Reform'', ''The Cambridge Companion to Wordsworth'', p. 232
/ref> He died in Philadelphia and was buried in the cemetery of Christ Church.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, James 1748 births 1810 deaths Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs University of Pennsylvania alumni Businesspeople from Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania Burials at Christ Church, Philadelphia American publishers (people) American printers Colonial American printers