Jonathan Belcher was an American

United States

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

 lawyer, chief justice, and Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia

The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia is the viceregal representative in Nova Scotia of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the...

.

Born in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, second son of Jonathan Belcher

Jonathan Belcher

Jonathan Belcher was colonial governor of the British provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.-Early life:Jonathan Belcher was born in Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1682...

 and Mary Partridge, he received an Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in 1728 and an Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 degree in 1731 from Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

. In 1730, he studied law in Middle Temple, London and was called to the English Bar in 1734. Admitted as a fellow-commoner to Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

, he received another Master's degree in mathematics from Cambridge University in 1733. He received a third Master's degree from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

).

In 1754, he was sent to 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...

 to become the first Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court

Nova Scotia Supreme Court

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia.The Court comprises the Chief Justice , the Associate Chief justice, twenty-one judges and six supernumerary Justices, who sit in 18 different locations around the province.-Jurisdiction:As with all superior courts...

. He resigned in 1776. From 1761 to 1763, he was the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.