John Butler Dight was a merchant and political figure 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 Nova Scotia House of Assembly

Nova Scotia House of Assembly

The Nova Scotia Legislature, consisting of Her Majesty The Queen represented by the Lieutenant Governor and the House of Assembly, is the legislative branch of the provincial government of Nova Scotia, Canada...

 from 1785 to 1793.

He was born in 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...

, the son of Colonel Joshua Dight and Elizabeth Butler. and came to Nova Scotia in 1773. Dight served in the commissariat at 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...

. He later moved to 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...

 where he established himself as a general merchant. He also served as a captain in the Halifax militia. In 1787, he married Ameliora Burgess Morden. In the 1790s, he changed his name to John Butler Butler when he inherited the estate of his uncle John Butler

John Butler (Nova Scotia politician)

John Butler was a businessman and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1762 to 1772....

, a condition of the will. In 1792, he was named justice of the peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Halifax County

Halifax County, Nova Scotia

Halifax County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.The Municipality of the County of Halifax was the municipal government of Halifax County, apart from the separately incorporated towns and cities therein...

 and, in 1804, he was named to the Nova Scotia Council. Butler served as a commissary in Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

's army during the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

. He later settled in England but died at his property in Windsor, Nova Scotia during an extended visit to the province.