Gamaliel Smethurst was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

-born author and politician in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

. He represented Cumberland County in the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia from 1765 to 1770.

He was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts

Marblehead, Massachusetts

Marblehead is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,808 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and Devereux Beach...

, the son of Captain Joseph Smethurst and Tabitha Skinner. In 1761, Smethurst travelled to Chaleur Bay

Chaleur Bay

frame| Satellite image of Chaleur Bay . Chaleur Bay is the large bay opening to the east;the [[Gaspé Peninsula]] appears to the north and the [[Gulf of St...

 to trade with the French and natives under a license from the military governor of Quebec, James Murray. Smethurst was abandoned by the captain, who was apparently afraid of the natives of the region, and so was forced to make his way to Fort Cumberland

Fort Beauséjour

Fort Beauséjour, was built during Father Le Loutre's War from 1751-1755; it is located at the Isthmus of Chignecto in present-day Aulac, New Brunswick, Canada...

. Smethurst returned to Marblehead by way of Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 but, in 1763, received a land grant in Cumberland County

Cumberland County, Nova Scotia

Cumberland County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:The name Cumberland was applied by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Monckton to the captured Fort Beauséjour on June 18, 1755 in honour of the third son of King George II, William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, victor at...

. He served as customs comptroller and deputy surveyor of woods. Not long after his term in the Nova Scotia assembly, he moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

In 1774, he published A narrative of an extraordinary escape: out of the hands of the Indians, in the Gulph of St. Lawrence describing his earlier voyage to Chaleur Bay.