Impressment in Nova Scotia

[1] The Navy consistently struggled with desertion in Nova Scotia, and senior naval commanders recognised that only impressment could ensure local squadrons had enough men onboard.

[2] Royal Navy warships frequently sent armed press gangs into Halifax and other Nova Scotian towns, where they occasionally fought with local townspeople.

[5] The American conflict severed the Royal Navy from its traditional labour market in North America, which pressured loyalist colonies such as Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to make up for the shortage of manpower.

[1] In 1778, Lieutenant-Governor Richard Hughes lashed out at the Navy for press gang incidents that were frequently marked by quarrels, bloodshed and the loss of life.

The Halifax grand jury criticized the Navy for its disregard of provincial and municipal authority, and also for binding recruits’ hands behind their backs and marching them through the street like criminals.

For the New England Planters who settled in Liverpool in the 1760s, they were largely protected from press gangs based on age, social status, and colonial exemptions, but their sons and descendants had a much tougher time avoiding impressment.

[7] Outside of Halifax, during the American Revolutionary War the Royal Navy concentrated its recruitment efforts on coastal shipping and small ports such as Liverpool.

Wentworth did succeed in exempting many groups of people from impressment: freeholders, militiamen, market boat crews and even the Dartmouth ferry operator.

[15] Vice-Admiral George Berkely declared in 1806, unless he sent these small warships to maritime communities and regional shipping lanes to press sailors, there was no hope of manning the North American squadron.

British warships were short-handed from high desertion rates, and naval captains were handicapped in filling those vacancies by provincial impressment regulations.

[15] The breaking point came in October 1805, when Vice-Admiral Mitchell sent press gangs from HMS Cleopatra to the streets of Halifax armed with bayonets, sparking a major riot in which one man was killed and several others were injured.

Wentworth lashed out at the admiral for sparking urban unrest and breaking provincial impressment laws, and his administration exploited this violent episode to put even tighter restrictions of recruiting in Nova Scotia.