Fox, Robert

From: An Island Refuge- Loyalists and Disbanded Troops on The Island of Saint John, The Abegweit Branch of UELAC, 1983

  • Robert Fox was a man who seemed to have worn many hats. His name appears sporadically for forty-four years, from 1782 until 1826, and countless hours of research have failed to unfold his date of birth or death, nor even the location of the grave of this one-time soldier. He is listed in Lorenzo Sabine’s Loyalists of the American Revolution as a “Loyalist associate” at New York in 1782, who settled in Shelbourne, Nova Scotia, the following year with a family of six persons, including two servants. During his three years residence in Shelbourne, a daughter Sarah was born to Robert and his wife Jane and was baptized September 19, 1785 at Christ Church. On September 30th of that year, Robert Fox was granted 400 acres of land at Elliott River, Lot 65 (Rocky Point). A 1787 memorial petition for a Town and Pasture Lot states: “he arrived upon this Island in 1785 as a Loyalist, and his situation at present requires his living in Charlotte Town and is obliged (on that account) to pay high rent”. There is no record to show that this request was granted; in fact, it appears unlikely, as he was still in possession of the land in Lot 65 until 1817. Land records do reveal that in 1817 Robert sold his property to Benjamin Pollard for 210 pounds. Pollard, in turn, sold to William White and the property was purchased later by Peter McMahon. This land was still in the possession of the McMahon family in 1880.
  • Fox was Deputy Surveyor General of the Colony and his work in this area spanned the years from 1789 to 1821. He is credited with having surveyed Lot 67 for Governor Fanning in 1809, and was also responsible for conducting the 1798 Census. He served as Clerk of the House of Assembly for almost ten years to May 1805, and we find him again in the Warrant Books of September, 1826 as a Schoolmaster.