John Albro (May 6, 1764 – October 23, 1839) was a merchant 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 represented Halifax Township 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 ...

from 1818 to 1826. He was also a Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th Regiment of Halifax militia. He was born in Newport Township, Nova Scotia, the son of Samuel Albro and Jane Cole, who had come from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. He was buried in the

Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia) The Old Burying Ground (also known as St. Paul's Church Cemetery) is a historic cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road in Downtown Halifax. History The Old Buryi ...

Background

Albro operated a

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

in Halifax, later operating as a butcher and then a hardware merchant. In 1793, he married Elizabeth Margaret Vandergrift. He married Elizabeth Margaret Dupuy in 1803. He helped establish the Fire Insurance Association of Halifax in 1809. Albro was a grand master in the

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

s. He also served as a road commissioner and

fire warden Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

for Halifax and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the local militia. He was a member of the

Charitable Irish Society of Halifax The Charitable Irish Society of Halifax is a historic society in Halifax, Nova Scotia which was established in 1786. The Society assists those on low-income and holds other charitable events. Many of the most prominent members of Nova Scotia have ...

. He was defeated in a bid for re-election to the House of Assembly in 1826. Albro died in Halifax at the age of 75.

Ancestry

Albro is a descendant of early Rhode Island settlers

John Albro John Albro (May 6, 1764 – October 23, 1839) was a merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax Township in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1818 to 1826. He was also a Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th Regiment ...

and

Samuel Wilbore Samuel Wilbore (c. 1595–1656) was one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He emigrated from Essex, England to Boston with his wife and three sons in 1633. He and his wife both j ...

, as well as Wilbore's son,

Samuel Wilbur, Jr. Samuel Wilbur Jr. (1622 – after 1678) was an early settler of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and one of seven original purchasers of the Pettaquamscutt lands which would later become South Kingstown, Rhode ...

He also descends from the first Innkeeper of Boston, Massachusetts, Samuel Cole, and from Indian captive Susanna (Hutchinson) Cole, her father, Rhode Island magistrate William Hutchinson, and his famous wife, the religious heretic,

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...

Legacy

* He was a grand master in the freemasons and the John Albro Lodge is named after him * Albro Lake and the nearby neighbourhood with the same name in the community of Dartmouth were named after John Albro.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

References

1764 births 1839 deaths Hardware merchants Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs 18th-century Canadian businesspeople 19th-century Canadian businesspeople {{NovaScotia-MLA-stub