Richard John Uniacke was a lawyer, politician, member of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly and Attorney General of 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...

.

Born in Castletownroche

Castletownroche

Castletownroche is a village on the N72 National secondary road in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. In ancient times, it was known in Irish as Dún Chruadha, meaning Cruadha's Fort...

 in County Cork, Ireland, he studied law in Dublin, articling to an attorney there but prematurely abandoning his studies to travel. In 1774 he arrived in Philadelphia after having first gone to the West Indies. In Philadelphia, he formed a partnership with Moses Delesdernier, a Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 trader from the Cumberland district of Nova Scotia. After their return to Hopewell Township (now Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick), on May 3, 1775 he married Delesdernier’s daughter Martha Maria, then aged 12. They would have six sons before her death in 1803.

In 1776, Uniacke was captured at the Battle of Fort Cumberland

Battle of Fort Cumberland

The Battle of Fort Cumberland was an attempt by a small number of militia commanded by Jonathan Eddy to bring the American Revolutionary War to Nova Scotia in late 1776...

 and imprisoned for taking part in the Eddy Rebellion. He was tried for treason but he was later released. In 1777, he returned to Ireland to complete his legal training.

After returning to Nova Scotia he was admitted to the Bar in 1781 and appointed solicitor later the same year. In 1783, he was elected to the House of Assembly representing Sackville Township

Sackville, New Brunswick

Sackville is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Mount Allison University is located in the town...

. He was also elected clerk of the house. The influence of the ruling United Empire Loyalists

United Empire Loyalists

The name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the Treaty of Paris...

 caused the partitioning of New Brunswick from Nova Scotia in 1784, and with it the abolition of the township system and the loss of Uniacke’s constituency). By now residing most of the time in Halifax, he ran for and won a seat in Halifax County in 1786. He became Speaker in 1789.

He became Attorney General in 1797. He later earned a fortune by collecting fees as advocate general of the Vice-Admiralty Court during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. He was married for a second time in 1808.

His substantial estate (c. 1813) is preserved as the Uniacke Estate Museum Park at Mount Uniacke

Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia

Mount Uniacke is an unincorporated community in Hants County, Nova Scotia Canada. It lies about 40 km to the north of Halifax. , there were about 3,500 residents in the community ....

. His son James Boyle Uniacke

James Boyle Uniacke

James Boyle Uniacke led the first responsible government in Canada or any colony of the British Empire...

 was the first Premier of Nova Scotia. Another son, Richard John Uniacke, Jr.

Richard John Uniacke, Jr.

Richard John Uniacke was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Cape Breton County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1820 to 1830....

 was a lawyer, judge and political figure who represented Cape Breton County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1820 to 1830. His son Norman Fitzgerald Uniacke

Norman Fitzgerald Uniacke

Norman Fitzgerald Uniacke was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Lower Canada and Nova Scotia. He represented William-Henry in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1824 to 1825....

 served in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada and Nova Scotia's Legislative Council.

Uniacke family connections

• Judkin-Fitzgerald Baronets
  Judkin-Fitzgerald Baronets
  The Baronetcy of Lisheen, in the County of Tipperary, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 5 August 1801 for Col. Thomas Judkin-Fitzgerald , who had adopted the surname of Judkin in compliance with the will of his maternal uncle John Lapp Judkin, of Cashel...
  
   of Lisheen
  Lisheen Castle
  Lisheen Castle is an 18th century building in Thurles, North Tipperary, Ireland. It was originally a three storey Irish Palladian country house. It burnt down in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence and disused for eighty years before being restored in 1996.-External links:*...
  
  , County Tipperary
  County Tipperary
  County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
  
   and Sir Robert Uniacke-Penrose-Fitzgerald Baronet
  Baronet
  A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
  
   of Corkbeg and Lisquinlan, County Cork
  County Cork
  County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
  
   are cousins of the Old English Norman
  Normans
  The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
  
   Anglo-Irish
  Anglo-Irish
  Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
  
   Desmond Geraldine
  Geraldine
  The feminine form of the first name Gerald. Famous women named Geraldine include:*Geraldine Ferraro, United States congresswoman and 1984 Vice Presidential candidate*Geraldine Chaplin, actress*Geraldine Fitzgerald, actress*Geraldine Page, actress...
  
  Uniacke family.