Joseph Aplin (c. 1740 – April 26, 1804) was a lawyer and political figure in colonial

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 ...

and

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

. He represented Barrington 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 1785 to 1787. He was born in

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 ...

, the son of John Aplin, and became a lawyer like his father, setting up practice in Newport. As a loyalist, he was forced to move 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 ...

and went to Nova Scotia in 1783. In 1787, he went to St. John's Island (later

) as solicitor general for

Edmund Fanning Edmund Fanning (July 16, 1769 – April 23, 1841) was an American explorer and sea captain, known as the "Pathfinder of the Pacific." Life Born in Stonington in the British Crown Colony of Connecticut to Gilbert and Huldah Fanning, from ne ...

. In 1790, he was named attorney general. Aplin was charged with wrongdoing by supporters of former governor Walter Patterson in 1791; he was exonerated and successfully sued for damages in 1793. In 1798, after becoming associated with a group advocating that the island rejoin Nova Scotia, he resigned from the island's Council and was dismissed as attorney general. After unsuccessfully attempting to clear his name 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 ...

, he returned to

Annapolis Royal Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the n ...

where he resumed his law practice. Aplin is believed to have died in Rhode Island.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aplin, Joseph 1740 births 1804 deaths Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs Loyalists who settled Nova Scotia British emigrants to pre-Confederation Prince Edward Island Attorneys General of the Colony of Prince Edward Island Members of the Executive Council of Prince Edward Island