This arrangement began with the 1867 British North America Act and continued an unbroken line of monarchical government extending back to the late 16th century.[1] However, though it has a separate government headed by the King, as a province, Nova Scotia is not itself a kingdom.[11]
Aside from meetings with the first minister and other ministers of the Crown for affairs of state, the lieutenant governor annually hosts a meeting of the full cabinet at Government House, "thereby bringing the main actors in our system of responsible government to the place where our system of democracy was first practiced." The viceroy also holds regular audiences with the clerk of the Executive Council to review state papers.[12]
The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign himself, his image (in portrait or effigy) thus being used to signify government authority.[14] A royal cypher or crown may also illustrate the monarchy as the locus of authority, without referring to any specific monarch. Further, though the monarch does not form a part of the constitutions of Nova Scotia's honours, they do stem from the Crown as the fount of honour and, so, bear on the insignia symbols of the sovereign.
The Coming of the Loyalists by Henry Sandham, showing a romanticised view of the Loyalists' arrival in Nova Scotia
Over the course of the 17th century, the French Crown lost, via war and treaties, its Maritimes territories to the British sovereign, Acadia being gradually taken until it fully became British territory through the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and the name Nova Scotia was applied to the whole region. But, this placement of French people under a British sovereign did not transpire without problems; French colonialists in Acadia were asked by British officials, uneasy about where the Acadians' loyalties lay, to reaffirm their allegiance to King George III. The Acadians refused, not as any slight to the King, but, more to remain Catholic, and were subsequently deported from the area in what became known as the Great Upheaval.
Not all who settled in the colony were immediately made to feel comfortable, however, as many of the already resident families were aligned with the United States and its republican cause; Colonel Thomas Dundas wrote from Saint John in 1786, "[the Loyalists] have experienced every possible injury from the old inhabitants of Nova Scotia, who are even more disaffected towards the British government than any of the new states ever were. This makes me much doubt their remaining long dependent."[18]
Prince William Henry (later King William IV), between 1790 and 1795
Prince William Henry (later King William IV) arrived at the Royal Naval Dockyards in Halifax in late 1786,[19] on board his frigate, HMS Pegasus. Although he received a royal reception, it was later made clear the Prince would be granted no further special treatment other than already accorded to an officer of his rank in the Royal Navy. Of Halifax, the Prince said, "a very gay and lively place full of women and those of the most obliging kind." It was in this period of William's life that he began his own long history of inappropriate liaisons.[19] Further, although he was strict about rules and protocol, himself, he was also known to occasionally break them and, as punishment for taking his ship from the Caribbean back to Halifax without orders to do so, he was commanded to spend the winter of 1787 to 1788 at Quebec City. Instead, William disobeyed again and sailed to Britain, infuriating the admiralty and the King. The Prince was forced to remain in the harbour at Portsmouth to await return to Halifax the next year. That return became all the more urgent when it was discovered William had begun an affair in Portsmouth, prompting the King to say, "what? William playing the fool again? Send him off to America and forbid the return of the ship to Plymouth."[20]
Prince William Henry returned to Nova Scotia in July 1788, this time aboard HMS Andromeda, and remained there for another year.[20] Back in the United Kingdom, he met Dorothea Jordan, a woman he could not legally marry, but, nonetheless, with whom William carried on a decades-long relationship, fathering, with her, 10 children, all of which bore the name FitzClarence, meaning "son of Clarence", stemming from William's title, Duke of Clarence. Two of the Prince's illegitimate daughters lived in Halifax, one, Mary, in 1830 and the other, Amelia, from 1840 to 1846, while her husband, the Viscount Falkland, served as Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.[21] Upon his accession as King William IV in 1830, he sent a portrait of himself to the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, recalling his earlier life in the colonial capital.[20]
After falling from his horse in late 1798, the Prince returned to the United Kingdom, where his father created him Duke of Kent and Strathearn and appointed Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America.[29] He voyaged back to Nova Scotia in mid-1799 and remained there for another year, before sailing back, once more, to Britain.
Whereas it has been represented to me that many persons now resident in the United States have expressed a desire to withdraw therefrom with a view to entering into His Majesty's service, or of being received as free settlers into some of His Majesty's colonies. This is therefore to give notice that all persons who may be disposed to migrate from the United States, will, with their families, be received on board of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war, or at the military posts that may be established upon or near the coast of the United States, when they will have their choice of either entering into His Majesty's sea or land forces, or of being sent as free settlers to the British possessions in North America or the West Indies, where they will meet with due encouragement.[37]
In total, about 4,000 escaped slaves and their families,[38] known as the Black Refugees, were transported out of the United States by the Royal Navy during and after the war.[39][38] About half settled in Nova Scotia and approximately 400 in New Brunswick.[40]
Queen Victoria's eldest son and heir, Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII) for four months toured the Maritimes and Province of Canada in 1860.[43] Arriving at Halifax from St. John's, Newfoundland, on 2 August, he visited the various buildings his grandfather designed and/or had erected, including Prince Edward's country home, Prince's Lodge.[44] The Prince undertook a fishing trip and camped overnight at Boutilier farm, near Bowser Station.[45] From the colonial capital, the royal party travelled by train to Windsor and Hantsport, where they boarded HMS Styx to cross the Bay of Fundy to Saint John, New Brunswick.[46] After touring New Brunswick, the Prince returned to Nova Scotia, arriving at Pictou to board HMS Hero and return to several communities, including Saint John and Windsor.[46]
Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII) in 1860
Albert Edward was followed by his younger brother, Prince Alfred, who embarked on a five week tour of the same areas in 1861.[47] The Prince visited the Tangier gold mines in Nova Scotia,[48][49] Prince Alfred Arch, marking where Alfred stepped ashore on 19 October, still standing in the town today.[50]
To merk the 175th anniversary of responsible government in the province, King Charles III sent a message on 2 February 2023, noting that, during his tour of Nova Scotia in 2014, he was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in the same room at Government House in Halifax where Lieutenant Governor John Harvey swore in the first democratically accountable cabinet in Canada's history. The King stated, "at that time, I was struck by the historic setting and its profound significance in the history of Canada and the Commonwealth."[53]
^In a retrospective article published on the death of Fleiger's daughter in 1890, she is reported to have recalled events that occurred during the life of the Duke of Kent who, she noted, "had a great love of architecture peculiar in form and Mr Fleiger, at his request, designed the plan, or rough sketch, for the Round Church."[24] The Round Church was a reference to St George's Anglican Church in Halifax.[25]
^Fraser, Alistair B. (30 January 1998), "XVII: Nova Scotia", The Flags of Canada, University Park, retrieved 10 July 2009{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Hickey, Donald R. (2012). The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 68. ISBN978-0-252-07837-8.
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