Hart, Samuel

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: D. A. Sutherland, “HART, SAMUEL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hart_samuel_5E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Merchant and politician; b. c. 1747, probably in England; m. c. 1780 Rebecca Byrne of Philadelphia, Pa, and they had four children; d. 3 Oct. 1810 in Preston, N.S.
    • Apparently born in England of Jewish stock, he moved to Philadelphia some time prior to the outbreak of the American revolution. During the war he evidently became identified with the tory cause since he arrived at Halifax from New York City about 1785 as part of the general loyalist exodus to Nova Scotia.
    • Hart conducted a general import-export business. His newspaper advertisements emphasized the sale of dry goods brought in from London.
    • Not content with material success, Samuel Hart aspired to social recognition, even if that required suppression of his Jewish identity. In March 1793 he had himself baptized an Anglican and by 1801 he owned a pew in St George’s Anglican Church in Halifax. He also invested £655 in the purchase of a large country estate, complete with mansion, at Preston, to the northeast of Halifax. There he “spent his summers . . . and entertained elaborately.” By playing host to officers of the British army and navy, Hart and his wife acquired a reputation for being “gay and fashionable people.” 
  • Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=3620
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