Born in Castletown, Ballintotis, Castlemartyr, County Cork, Ireland, located just four kilometres from the family estate of Mountuniacke, created by his grandfather, Captain James Uniacke.

At the age of sixteen he came under the influence of a Catholic priest and as this was abhorrent to his Protestant family, his father had him sent to Dublin where he was articled with the law firm of Thomas Garde.

Refusing to return home, Richard being penniless, prematurely abandoned his studies in 1773 and decided to seek his fortune in North America.

Uniacke first sought work in the West Indies, traveling to St. Kitts in December 1773 where an elder brother was serving in the Army.

Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, Uniacke met Moses Delesdernier, a merchant organizing settlers for land in the Chignecto area of Nova Scotia at the head of the Upper Bay of Fundy.

Under the leadership of Jonathan Eddy, American Rebels laid siege to Fort Cumberland and pillaged the local population who remained loyal to the British.

[6] Uniacke, since the time of the Eddy Rebellion, had developed an animosity for Americans, once stating they were " a race of the most lawless profligate and wicked monsters that exist on the face of the earth".

In subsequent years Uniacke put forward additional amendments to laws which allowed Catholics to establish schools and to vote in elections.

In 1772, prior to the American Revolution, Britain outlawed the slave trade in the British Isles followed by the Knight v. Wedderburn decision in Scotland in 1778.

[10][11][4] Uniacke defeated the efforts of James De Lancey to have slavery legally recognized in Nova Scotia.

In his role as Attorney General, to continue Nova Scotia's economic growth, Uniacke worked to increase the number of immigrants coming to the colony.

Uniacke was perceived as a voice for the Pre-Loyalist settlers of Nova Scotia which brought him into conflict with the arrival of powerful United Empire Loyalists officials including John Wentworth, appointed Lt.

The duel was called off when both men were bound to keep the peace by the Halifax magistrates, but Uniacke and Blowers remained lifelong enemies.

[16] Soon after Uniacke arrived in Nova Scotia to work for Moses Delesdernier, Uniake married Delesderneir's daughter Martha Maria, then aged 12, on May 3, 1775.

Norman, as well as his father, were sympathetic to the French Canadians, and from his position on the Bench shielded the captive rebels of the Lower Canada Rebellion from the full brunt of the "bloodhounds of prosecution".

The family of Richard John Uniacke dominates the plaques and monuments in St. Paul's Church (Halifax).