Monarchy in Nova Scotia
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| Queen in Right of Nova Scotia | |
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| Monarchy | |
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| Incumbent: Elizabeth II Queen of Canada |
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| Style: | Her Majesty |
| First monarch: | Victoria |
| Formation: | July 1, 1867 |
The Monarchy in Nova Scotia is a legal entity formally known as the Crown in Right of Nova Scotia, which serves as the institution from which the power of the state flows within the province of Nova Scotia, forming the core of the province's Westminster system of constitutional monarchy. The present Canadian monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, since February 6, 1952, who is known within Nova Scotia's legal jurisdiction as Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Nova Scotia. As the monarch does not reside in Nova Scotia, a vice-regal representative, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, is appointed to carry out all the monarch's duties in the province.
The Crown in Right of Nova Scotia was established with the British North America Act, 1949 (now Newfoundland Act), though the governments of the previous incarnations of the province, going back to the unification of the Island of Newfoundland in 1638, have been monarchical in nature, and historical links with the French and British Crowns extend back even further, to the late 1400s.
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[edit] Constitutional monarchy in Nova Scotia
Within the Canadian constitutional monarchy system the headship of state is not a part of either the federal or provincial jurisdictions[citation needed]; the Queen reigns impartially over the country as a whole. However, due to Canada's federal nature, each province in Canada, as with the federal government, derives its authority and sovereignty directly from the one Canadian monarch, meaning there effectively exists within the country eleven legally distinct crowns with one sovereign[citation needed]. Thus, Nova Scotia has a separate government headed by the Queen; however, as a province, Nova Scotia is not itself a monarchy.
A lieutenant governor is appointed by the Governor General, on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada, to serve as the Queen's representative in the province, carrying out all the monarch's constitutional and ceremonial duties of state on her behalf. The viceroy is provided an official residence by the Crown: Government House in Halifax. The building belongs to the Crown, being held in trust for future rulers, and cannot be sold by the monarch. Her Honour The Honourable Mayann E. Francis is the current Lieutenant Governor, having served since September 7, 2006.
The Crown in Right of Nova Scotia performs a vast number of functions and duties central to the provincial government, judicial system, and system of honours, as well as owning provincial Crown corporations and Crown Land.
- Further information: Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
[edit] Symbols
Images of St. Edward's, the Tudor, and King's Crown are visible on provincial symbols such as the Order of Nova Scotia, illustrating the monarch's place as the ceremonial head of the Canadian honours system. Portraits of the monarch are often found in government buildings, schools, and military installations.
Monuments to members of the Royal Family are located across the province.
- Further information: National symbols of Canada and Canadian royal symbols
[edit] Royal presence
Members of the Royal Family have been visiting Nova Scotia since before Confederation, either as a royal tour, a vice-regal tour, or as a "working visit" (meaning in association with a charity or military organization instead of a state affair). Queen Elizabeth II has travelled to Nova Scotia more than any other member of the Royal Family, touring all parts of the province from Annapolis Royal to Digby.[1]
[edit] History
The first establishment of non-indigenous monarchy came with the French settlers under Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, Governor of Acadia, under the authority of King Henry IV. One year after the establishment of the first colony at Saint Croix Island, in modern day New Brunswick, in 1604, another settlement was put down at Port Royal.
Twenty years later, King James VI & I created, with the Charter of New Scotland, the Barontage of Nova Scotia for Earl Alexander of Stirling to settle that province.[2][3] By 1625, the colony was granted its first coat of arms, by James' successor, King Charles I.
By 1627, war had broken out between England and France, and the French re-established their settlement at Port Royal. Later that year the French settlement was destroyed, and by 1629 the first Scottish settlement at Port Royal was inhabited; the charter of which made Nova Scotia as part of mainland Scotland. However, this did not last long: in 1631 King Charles VI & I signed the Treaty of Suza, which returned Nova Scotia to the French King.
However, in 1654 English colonists captured Acadia during King William's War, but William II, III & I returned the territory to France in the Treaty of Ryswick at the war's end. The territory was recaptured by forces loyal to the British monarch during the course of Queen Anne's War, and its conquest was confirmed by the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, placing all French colonists under the sovereignty of the British Crown. Seeking confirmation of their integration, on June 23 that year, the French residents of Acadia were given one year to declare allegiance to King George II, or leave Nova Scotia. The Acadians were forced to swear an oath in 1730 giving their allegiance to the Crown but with a caveat that they would not be required to bear arms against the French or First Nations. In 1754, with hostilities growing in the lead-up to the Seven Years' War, the Acadians were ordered to renew their oath — but this time, without including any reservation against fighting the French or their Mi'kmaq neighbours. The majority of Acadians refused. The response was the forced removal of thousands of the French-speaking inhabitants, to board ships that headed off in various directions. This event came to be known as the Great Upheaval.
Prince William, the future King William IV, spent three years in the Canadian Maritimes and Quebec, including a lengthy stay in Halifax.[4]
Following the American Revolutionary War against King George III, some 30,000 United Empire Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia; 14,000 going to New Brunswick and 16,000 to Nova Scotia. Approximately 3,000 of this group were former slaves of African ancestry, known as Black Loyalists, who were freed under the decree of Governor of Virginia John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore.
By 1794, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, was sent to take command of Nova Scotia, where he designed many of Halifax's forts, oversaw the construction of many roads, devised a telegraph system, and he left an indelible mark on the city in the form of many public buildings of Georgian architecture. He is still remembered in that city for his good deeds such as the construction of both St. George's Church and the town clock as well as improvements to the Grand Parade. He departed in 1800.[4]
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, toured Canada, including Nova Scotia, in 1860. Following him, his brother Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, was stationed in Halifax from time to time as Commander of the Royal Navy's North Atlantic Squadron.[4]
In 1867 came Confederation, and the Lieutenant Governor of the newly created province of Nova Scotia became an agent of the Federal Government rather than of the government in Whitehall.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth ended their 1939 tour of Canada, the first by a reigning monarch, in Halifax, where a farewell lunch was held, and the King and Queen each delivered a speech of thanks. That evening, the Royal Couple boarded the RMS Empress of Britain II to return home. Prime Minister Mackenzie King wrote in his diary: "The Empress of Britain ran past one end of the harbour where she was towed around, then came back the opposite way to pull out to sea. She was accompanied by British warships and our own destroyers. The Bluenose and other vessels also in the harbour as a sort of escort... The King and Queen were at the very top of the ship and kept waving... No farewell could have been finer..."[5]
Prince Andrew, Duke of York undertook his first tour of Nova Scotia in 1986, during which he visited Halifax, and skippered the Bluenose II.[6]
In December 2003, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, representing Canada's Monarch, declared the Crown's acknowledgement (but without an apology) of the Great Upheaval and designated July 28 as "A Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval." This closed one of the longest open cases in the history of the British courts since the Acadian representatives first presented their grievances of forced dispossession of land, property and livestock in 1760.
[edit] First Nations and the Crown
The Treaty of 1725 established the relationship between the First Nations inhabitants of Nova Scotia and the Crown, along with Acadia and New England, specifically "Maeganumbe delegates of the Tribes of Penubscutt, Norrigewock, St. Johns, Cape Sables, and other tribes Inhabiting His Majesty’s Territories." The First Nations acknowledged King George III's title to the provinces, in exchange for which the aborigionies were guaranteed "not be molested in their persons, Hunting, Fishing and planting grounds nor in any other their lawful Occasions by His Majesty's subjects or their Dependents nor in the exercise of their Religion provided the Missionaries residing amongst them have Leave from Governor or Commander in Chief of His Majesty's said Province of Nova Scotia or Accadie for so doing." The First Nations were also accorded equal protection under the law as provided for the cololials.[7]
Between 1725 and 1779, the Mi'kmaq signed a series of peace and friendship treaties with the British Crown, but none were land cession treaties. The Nation historically consisted of seven districts, but this was later expanded to eight with the ceremonial addition of Great Britain at the time of the 1749 treaty.
[edit] Royal connections
Nova Scotia's monarchical status is illustrated via associations between the Crown and many private organizations within the province, as well as through royal names applied to a plethora of regions, communities, schools, buildings, and monuments, many of which may also have a specific history with a member or members of the Royal Family.
[edit] Communities
The Crown's presence at the most local levels is demonstrated in part by royal and vice-regal namesakes chosen to be incorporated by communities across the province. Communities with royally or vice-regally associated named include:
| Towns/cities named for Canadian sovereigns include: | ||||||||
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| Community | Named for | |||||||
| Annapolis Royal | an amalgam of the original French name of Port Royal, and an honour to Queen Anne. Port Royal itself, founded in 1605, paid homage to the French Crown under which it was established. | |||||||
| Louisbourg | King Louis VX | |||||||
| Louisdale | King Louis IX | |||||||
| Kingston | ||||||||
| Queen's municipality | ||||||||
| Kingsburg | ||||||||
| Other: | ||||||||
| Community | Named for | |||||||
| Windsor | Windsor Castle, one of the Sovereign's Palaces | |||||||
| Counties named for Canadian sovereigns include: | ||||||||
| Community | Named for | |||||||
| King's County | King George III | |||||||
| Victoria County | Queen Victoria[8] | |||||||
| Counties named for members of the Canadian Royal Family include: | ||||||||
| Community | Named for | |||||||
| Cumberland County | Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland; dedicated in 1759 by Lieutenant Governor Robert Monckton | |||||||
| Queen's County | Queen Charlotte; formed July 21, 1762, by Lieutenant Governor Jonathan Belcher | |||||||
| Annapolis County | Queen Anne | |||||||
| Cumberland County | Prince William, Duke of Cumberland | |||||||
| Counties named for Canadian viceroys include: | ||||||||
| Community | Named for | |||||||
| Guysborough County | Governor General Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester | |||||||
| Richmond County | Governor General Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond | |||||||
| Kemptville | Governor General Sir James Kempt | |||||||
| Sherbrooke | Governor General John Coape Sherbrooke | |||||||
[edit] Education
Schools across the province are also named for Canadian sovereigns, royal family members, or either federal or provincial viceroys.
| Schools named for Canadian sovereigns include: | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | Location | Named for | ||||||
| King's-Edgehill School | Windsor | George III; originally King's Collegiate School, founded by United Empire Loyalists, and granted Royal Assent for its creation by George III | ||||||
| University of King's College | Halifax | King George III; granted Royal Assent for creation by George III | ||||||
| Queen Elizabeth High School | Halifax | Queen Elizabeth | ||||||
| Schools named for members of the Canadian Royal Family include: | ||||||||
| School | Location | Named for | ||||||
| Prince Andrew High School | Dartmouth | Prince Andrew, Duke of York | ||||||
| Princess Margaret Rose Elementary School | Truro | Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon | ||||||
| Prince Arthur Junior High School | Dartmouth | Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn | ||||||
| Other: | ||||||||
| School | Location | Named for | ||||||
| Jubilee Elementary School | Sydney Mines | Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee | ||||||
| Prince Andrew High School Library | Dartmouth | Prince Andrew, Duke of York | ||||||
[edit] Landmarks
A number of buildings, monuments and geographic locations around the province are named for Canadian monarchs, members of the Royal Family, or federal or provincial viceroys.
One of Halifax's most prominent features is St. George's Round Church, the construction of which was begun under the direction of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, himself an amateur architect who also commissioned the Halifax Town Clock. On June 2, 1994, two boys set fire to the building, resulting in 40% of it being completely destroyed. However, it was decided to restore the church at a cost of $6 million. Continuing its royal connection, Prince Charles, who had attended service there in 1983, donated to the fundraising, and in 1994 Prince Philip visited St. George's, taking a personal interest after the fire at Windsor Castle two years earlier. The province's gift to the Queen and Duke was a $1000 donation to the restoration of St. George's.[9]
Located in Halifax is the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, and, named for the same monarch, Queen Elizabeth Park is found in Glace Bay.
[edit] Royal designation and patronage
Organizations in Nova Scotia may be founded by a Royal Charter, receive a "royal" prefix, and/or be honoured with the patronage of a member of the Royal Family.
Two examples of this are the University of King's College, founded by royal charter issued by King George III in 1802. The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, the oldest yacht club in North America, was granted it's royal status by Queen Victoria in 1837, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh currently serves as the Club's patron.
- Further information: List of Canadian organizations with royal patronage
[edit] See also
- Monarchy
- Federation
- The Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and Métis
- Debate on the monarchy in Canada
- Symbols of Nova Scotia
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Department of Canadian Heritage: The Canadian Monarchy: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
- ^ Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada
- ^ Fraser, Alistair B.; The Flags of Canada; January 30, 1998
- ^ a b c Canadian Heritage: 2005 Royal Visit: The Royal Presence in Canada - A Historical Overview
- ^ Library and Archives Canada; Behind the Diary: The Royal Tour of 1939
- ^ CBC: Royal Visits to Canada
- ^ Treaty of 1725, Promises By Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
- ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia: Victoria
- ^ West, Anne; Monarchy Canada: Restoring Prince Edward's Church
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