Nova Scotia Council

The Nova Scotia Council (1720–1838) was the British administrative and judicial body in Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Council was also known as the Council of Nova Scotia, the Annapolis Council (prior to 1749) and the Halifax Council (after 1749). After 1749, the Nova Scotia Council was limited to administrative powers and the judicial courts are set separately.

There was no legislative assembly in British-ruled Nova Scotia from the time of the conquest in 1710 until during the Seven Years' War in 1758. The Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations (or simply the Board of Trade) in London through much of the 1750s pressured the various governors in Nova Scotia to establish an elected assembly. The lack of civil government with an elected assembly was a drawback to attracting settlers from the older, established colonies of New England where the population was expanding and seeking new lands. New Englanders wanted guarantees that they would have governmental institutions the same as or similar to what they had become accustomed in New England. In 1758 the Board of Trade, anxious to attract settlers to found new townships, ordered Col. Charles Lawrence to hold an election and convene an assembly.

The Nova Scotia House of Assembly was established in 1758 and the Nova Scotia Council became the Upper House until 1838 when it became the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia, which was dissolved 1929.

Since the Conquest of Acadia (1710) and the ratification of the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, British control of Nova Scotia had been erratic and ineffectual, betraying the home authorities’ lack of real interest and a seeming absence of policy. The selection of Richard Philipps as governor for Nova Scotia to succeed Samuel Vetch was part of the British government's plan to regulate the untidy affairs of the province. The senior officer at Annapolis Royal – with the exception of Canso, the only British-occupied part of the province – was expected to govern the colony, extract a binding oath of allegiance from the resident Acadian population, and maintain authority with four infantry companies who had no regimental affiliation. Governing the scattered Acadians effectively from a crumbling fort at Annapolis was difficult.

...
Wikipedia