Peters, James Horsefield

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Ian Ross Robertson, “PETERS, JAMES HORSFIELD,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/peters_james_horsfield_12E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Lawyer, office holder, politician, land agent, judge, agricultural improver, author, and inventor; baptized 29 March 1811 in Gagetown, N.B., son of Thomas Horsfield Peters, a lawyer and legislative councillor, and Mary Ann Sharmen; d. 20 June 1891 in Charlottetown.
    • The grandson of a loyalist from Long Island, N.Y., and the elder son in a family prominent around Chatham, N.B., James Horsfield Peters was educated at King’s College, Fredericton. He studied law with John Ambrose Sharman Street of Newcastle and on 13 July 1833 became a member of the New Brunswick bar. 
    • In 1838 Peters was admitted to the bars of Nova Scotia (1 May) and Prince Edward Island (30 June); in the same year his father-in-law and some business associates purchased a large amount of land on Prince Edward Island and made him their solicitor. On 8 September the young lawyer was appointed to the solicitor generalship of the Island, a non-salaried position, and on 23 June 1840 to the Legislative Council.
    • It was as land agent for the Cunard estate that Peters rapidly became known on the Island and even entered its folklore. In 1846 he estimated that he controlled, on behalf of his father-in-law and his brother-in-law Edward Cunard, “about one sixth of the Island.” When sold to the government 20 years later, the Cunard holdings totalled 212,885 acres in 20 townships spread virtually from one end of the colony to the other. Among the qualities Peters brought to his position were exceptional training and competence as a lawyer, a keen eye for economic opportunity, meticulous attention to detail, familiarity with the wilderness and the timber trade as a result of his youth in the Miramichi region, and a serious interest in agronomy. 
  • Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=6550
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196947914/james_horsfield-peters