William Blowers Bliss (August 24, 1795 – March 16, 1874) was a lawyer, judge 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 Hants County 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 1830 to 1834. He was born in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...

, the son of

Jonathan Bliss Jonathan Bliss (October 1, 1742 – October 1, 1822) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in New Brunswick. He represented St. John County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1786 to 1792 and from 1796 to 1802. He was born in ...

and Mary Worthington, Massachusetts loyalists, and he was educated at King's Collegiate School and King's College. Bliss was called to the Nova Scotia bar in 1818. He continued his law education at

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

and at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

with Sir William Wightman. In 1823, he married Sarah Ann Anderson, the adopted daughter of Sampson Salter Blowers. Bliss supported a group of Halifax businessman by advocating a charter for the

Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

in 1832 and he later served as a director for the bank. In 1834, he was named a puisne judge for the

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia. The Supreme Court consists of 25 judicial seats including the position of Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice. At any given time there may be one or more addit ...

. Bliss resigned from the bench in January 1869. He served on the board of governors for King's College from 1848 to 1853. Bliss died in Halifax at the age of 78. His portrait hangs in the Halifax County Court House. His daughter Elizabeth Ann married William Hunter Odell, his daughter Mary married Bishop

Hibbert Binney Hibbert Binney (12 August 1819 – 30 April 1887) was a Canadian Church of England bishop. He was the fourth Bishop of Nova Scotia from 1851 to 1887. Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the grandson of Hibbert Newton Binney and the son of the Rev ...

and his daughter Louisa married Bishop James B. Kelly. His brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

was a lawyer and author who served as provincial agent in London for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Sir

Charles James Townshend Sir Charles James Townshend, (22 March 1844 – 16 June 1924) was a Canadian judge and politician. Life and work He was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, son of the Rev. Canon Townshend, rector of Amherst, and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter ...

published an article ''Memoir of the life of the Honorable William Blowers Bliss'' in the Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society in 1913.

Legacy

* namesake of Bliss Street, Halifax Nova Scotia

References

* 1795 births 1874 deaths Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs Colony of Nova Scotia judges {{NovaScotia-MLA-stub