Эдвард Корнуоллис: Британ әскербасы және Жаңа Шотландияның негізін қалаушы

18th century British Army general

Edward Cornwallis (5 March 1713 [O. S. 22 February 1713] – 14 January 1776) It instituted the first British law courts in Canada; established a public school for orphans; and respected religious diversity through separation of church and state. It recruited European immigrants to Halifax, establishing the first Jewish community, the first ethnic German community, made up of Protestants from Germany and Switzerland, and the first Protestant dissenting congregation in a Canadian colony. Cornwallis is commemorated in Nova Scotia in the naming of its rivers, parks, streets, towns, and buildings. Such historic commemoration of Cornwallis has become controversial because of the extirpation proclamation. The Cornwallis family possessed estates at Culford in Suffolk and the Channel Islands. At age 18, in 1731, Edward was commissioned into the 47th Regiment of Foot. Cornwallis played an important role in suppressing the Jacobite rising of 1745. Cumberland's campaign was later described by one historian as one of unrestrained violence. Cornwallis ordered his men to chase off livestock, and destroy crops and food stores. Against Cornwallis' orders, some soldiers raped and murdered non combatants in an incident to intimidate Jacobites from further rebellion. In 1747 Cornwallis was made a Groom of the Bedchamber, serving in the households of both kings George II and George III until 1764. He also became MP for Eye from 1743 to 1749 and then for Westminster for 1753 to 1762, in Parliament he was seen as an Old Whig.

The British Government appointed Cornwallis as Governor of Nova Scotia with the task of establishing a new British settlement to counter France's Fortress Louisbourg. In this period, governors were frequently selected from senior officers. He sailed from England aboard HMS Sphinx on 14 May 1749, followed by a settlement expedition of 15 vessels (including HMS Baltimore and HMS Winchelsea) carrying about 2500 settlers. Cornwallis arrived at Chebucto Harbour on 21 June 1749, followed by the rest of the fleet five days later. The expedition suffered only one death during the passage, due to careful preparations, good ventilation on the ships, and good luck. This was remarkable at a time when the lengthy transatlantic expeditions regularly lost large numbers of persons to infectious disease. Cornwallis immediately had to decide where to site the town. Settlement organizers in England had recommended Point Pleasant, due to its close access to the ocean and ease of defence. His naval advisers opposed this site because it lacked shelter and had shallows preventing the docking of ocean going ships. They wanted the town to be located at the head of Bedford Basin, a sheltered location with deep water. Others favoured Dartmouth. Cornwallis decided to land the settlers and build the town at the site of present day Downtown Halifax; it was halfway up the harbour with deep water, and protected by a natural, defensible hill (later known as Citadel Hill). By 24 July, the plans of the town had been drawn up. In August lots were drawn to award settlers their town plots in a settlement that was to be named "Halifax" after Lord Halifax, the President of the Board of Trade and Plantations. Lord Halifax (likely his staff) had drawn up the expedition plans for the British Government.

When Cornwallis arrived in Halifax, there had already been a decades long history of the Mi'kmaq participating in raids on British settlements in present day Maine, often allied with French colonists in continuing national tensions. Both sides took captives, sometimes for ransom or adoption by First Nations. (See the Northeast Coast Campaigns 1688, 1703, 1723, 1724, 1745, 1746, 1747). During this time period, various British governors had issued proclamations against the Mi'kmaq for their participation in the raids. One of Cornwallis's first priorities was to renew early treaties with the Mi'kmaq and other indigenous tribes in the region. He met with chiefs of the Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Mi'kmaq (Mi'kmaw) from Chignecto in the Summer of 1749. They agreed with the British to end fighting and renewed an earlier 1725 treaty drafted in Boston, redrafted as the Treaty of 1749. Cornwallis's efforts to have other Mi'kmaq tribes sign treaties were rejected. Most Mi'kmaq leaders in Nova Scotia remained loyal to the French King. Mi'kmaq leaders met at St. Peters with French missionary Malliard in September 1749 to respond to these British actions. They composed a letter to Cornwallis making it clear that, while they tolerated the small garrison at Annapolis Royal, they completely opposed settlement at Halifax:
<blockquote>"The place where you are, where you are building dwellings, where you are now building a fort, where you want, as it were, to enthrone yourself, this land of which you want to make yourself absolute master, this land belongs to me". Cornwallis sought to project British military power throughout Nova Scotia by establishing forts in the largest Acadian communities, at Pisiguit (Windsor) (Fort Edward), Grand Pré (Fort Vieux Logis), and Chignecto (Fort Lawrence). The French erected forts at present day Saint John, Chignecto (Fort Beauséjour), and Port Elgin, New Brunswick. The fighting started when Acadians and Mi'kmaq responded by attacking the British at Chignecto, Canso and Dartmouth. To stop the raids on the British settlements and pressure the natives into submission, Cornwallis announced an extirpation proclamation to remove the Mi'kmaq from peninsular Nova Scotia. As part of the proclamation, he offered a bounty for the capture or scalps of Mi'kmaw men. Later instructions offered a bounty for the capture of women and children: the bounty promised a reward for "every Indian you shall destroy (upon producing his Scalp as the Custom is) or every Indian taken [prisoner], Man, Woman or Child." Despite the bounty, the British forces and settlers had virtually no encounters with the Mi'kmaq and their raids against the British continued. Cornwallis increased the bounty dramatically for Mi'kmaw warriors. Settlers brought in only one scalp in the next nine months. In May 1751, the Mi'kmaq mounted their largest attack on British settlers with the Raid on Dartmouth. With this raid, the Mi'kmaq stopped British expansion and they stopped attacking. Cornwallis interpreted the cessation of attacks as the Mi'kmaq wanting peace. Cornwallis laid the foundation for and was at the signing of the Treaty of 1752 with Major Cope, attending at Cope's request. Having committed to being Governor only for two years, Cornwallis eventually resigned his commission and left the colony in October 1752. The treaty was ultimately rejected by most of the other Mi'kmaq leaders. Cope burned the treaty six months after he signed it. As Governor, Cornwallis reported to the Board of Trade of Britain. The Board repeatedly expressed concern to Cornwallis for overspending: over the amount of bread delivered, the cost of arming Chignecto. In March 1751, Cornwallis was told that he would lose the confidence of parliament unless he refrained from overspending in the future. Cornwallis replied that the Board had underestimated the task of establishing Halifax under such hostile conditions and that to "flatter Your Lordships with hopes of savings" would be "dissimulation of the worst kind." The officers faced court martial on "suspicion of disobedience of orders and neglect of duty." Byng was found guilty and executed. Cornwallis testified that he had not disobeyed orders, but that it was "impracticable" to land at Menorca due to stiff French defences. Further, he said he was following Byng's command. "I looked upon myself as under the command of the admiral and should have thought it my duty to have obeyed him", he testified. Mordaunt was arrested and faced court martial. Cornwallis testified that an attempted landing at Rochefort would have been "dangerous, almost impracticable and madness."

Cornwallis served as the governor of Gibraltar from 14 June 1761 to January 1776 when he died at the age of 63.

In 1763, Cornwallis married Mary Townshend, daughter of Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend and Dorothy Townshend (Walpole), the sister of Robert Walpole. His marriage to Mary did not produce any children. His brother, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis married Mary's half sister, Elizabeth, daughter of Charles and his first wife, Elizabeth Pelham. Through his brother's marriage, he became uncle of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis.

Several buildings, (Canadian Forces Base Cornwallis, a former Canadian Forces Base located in Deep Brook, Nova Scotia) places (Cornwallis Street in Halifax, Cornwallis Street in Shelburne, Cornwallis Street in Lunenburg, the Cornwallis River, and the village of Cornwallis Park), and landmarks have been named after Cornwallis. A number of ships were named after Cornwallis, including the 1944 harbour ferry Governor Cornwallis and the Canadian Coast Guard Ship CCGS Edward Cornwallis. These commemorations of Cornwallis have become controversial in Nova Scotia. Cornwallis Junior High School was renamed Halifax Central Junior High in January 2012, In 2018, the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church changed its name to New Horizons Baptist Church to disassociate itself from Cornwallis. In 2023, Cornwallis Street in Halifax was renamed Nora Bernard Street. The statue became the site of several Mi'kmaw protests in 2017 and the city established a committee to determine how to deal with the issue. Disturbed by lack of progress, in January 2018 the Assembly of Mi'kmaq Chiefs called for immediate removal of the statue. The Cornwallis statue was covered with a tarpaulin, then removed by order of Halifax Regional Council on 30 January 2018 and placed into storage. Council worked with Mi'kmaw Chiefs to establish a task force to examine the commemoration of Cornwallis and the final disposition of the statue, as well as how best to commemorate Indigenous history in the Halifax Regional Municipality. The Canadian Coast Guard vessel CCGS Edward Cornwallis was renamed CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 in honor of Mi'kmaq Chief Jean Baptiste Cope and governor of Nova Scotia Peregrine Hopson. In September 2018, a petition was started by a Halifax resident requesting Cornwallis Street in North End, Halifax be renamed to honour the prominent human rights advocate Rocky Jones. The petition was signed by over 1,700 people, and presented to Halifax City Council by the area's City Councillor. The petition to name the street after Jones was again presented to Halifax Regional Council in October 2021, with 9,330 signatures. Council decided to rename the street and invited submission by the general public. A task force struck by Council has recommended naming the street New Horizons Street after the New Horizons Baptist Church. A short list of suggestions from submissions by the general public was gathered and a further poll was held to select a final name. "Nora Bernard Street", named after the late Mi'kmaq activist Nora Bernard, topped the public poll. In December 2022, Halifax council voted in favour of the new name, which took effect in October 2023. In 2021, Cornwallis Park in Halifax was renamed "Peace and Friendship Park" by the Regional Municipality of Halifax. Bridgewater renamed Cornwallis Street to Crescent Street in 2022. The town of Kentville renamed its Cornwallis Street to Bridge Street in September 2023. Lunenburg is another municipality that is committed to renaming its Cornwallis Street. The town approved a change to Queen Street in December 2023, but is reconsidering that choice to provide for public input over a possible Mi'kmaw name.