John Butler Dight (Butler) (c. 1760 – July 2, 1854) 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 Cumberland County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1785 to 1793. He was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the son of Colonel Joshua Dight and Elizabeth Butler. and came to Nova Scotia in 1773. Dight served in the commissariat at

Fort Cumberland A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. He later moved to Halifax where he established himself as a general merchant. He also served as a captain in the Halifax militia. In 1787, he married Ameliora Burgess Morden. In the 1790s, he changed his name to John Butler Butler when he inherited the estate of his uncle John Butler, a condition of the will. In 1792, he was named

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 ...

for Halifax County and, in 1804, he was named to the

Nova Scotia Council Formally known as "His Majesty's Council of Nova Scotia", the Nova Scotia Council (1720–1838) was the original British administrative, legislative and judicial body in Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Council was also known as the Annapolis Counci ...

. Butler served as a commissary in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

's army during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. He later settled in England but died at his property in Windsor, Nova Scotia during an extended visit to the province.

References

* * ''A Directory of the Members of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, 1758-1958'', Public Archives of Nova Scotia (1958) 1760s births 1854 deaths Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs Year of birth uncertain {{NovaScotia-MLA-stub