Charles Morris

Charles Morris (8 June 1711 – buried 4 November 1781) army officer, served on the Nova Scotia Council, Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court (1776–1778), and the surveyor general for over 32 years, he created some of the first British maps of Canada's maritime region and designed the layout of Halifax, Lunenburg, Lawrencetown, and Liverpool. In Halifax, he laid out both the present-day down town core and the Halifax Common.

History He was born in Boston and when he first came to the colony he fought in the Battle of Grand Pré. The maps he produced and information he gathered about the disposition of Acadians villages during his surveying of the colony was later used by the Military authority in Halifax to initiate the Expulsion of the Acadians during the French and Indian War.

He was named to the Council 30 December 1755, and did not directly participate in the expulsion decision that July. However, Morris did advocate for the removal of French "Neutrals" as the Acadians were referred to. In 1754, he presented a comprehensive plan for the removal of all Acadians to Lieutenant Governor Charles Lawrence.

He fought for and won the establishment of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (1758). Morris was instrumental in establishing New England Planters in the colony.

As chief justice, his most famous trial was of those who participated in the Eddy Rebellion (1776) at the outbreak of the American Revolution.

He died in 1781 and was buried in the Old Parish Burying Ground in Windsor, Nova Scotia. His will was made shortly before his death; it is dated May 10, 1781.Hon. Charles Morris: A Lay. Chief Justice

Family

Spouses and children Source:

Married, Boston, Mass., to Mary READ ca 1706–1782 with

Charles Morris (1731–1802) John MORRIS 1736– William MORRIS 1737– Hezekiah MORRIS 1738– Mary MORISE 1742–1793 Alexander MORRIS 1743– Frances MORRIS 1746– Samuel MORRIS 1748– James MORRIS 1750– Sarah MORRIS 1757– Hezekiah MORRIS

Publications

Charles Morris map. A CHART OF THE SEA COASTS OF THE PENINSULA OF NOVA SCOTIA, 1755

(originally printed as a four page pamphlet)

Legacy namesake of Morris Street, Halifax namesake of Fort Morris (Nova Scotia) Morris House (Halifax) which his son purchased and where he lived is the oldest wooden residence in Halifax