Jonathan Belcher (jurist)
Jonathan Belcher was a British-American lawyer, chief justice, and acting Governor of Nova Scotia during the period of 1760-63 when Henry Ellis was in office as Governor but did not fulfil his duties.
Portrait by John Singleton Copley
Lieutenant Governor Belcher's residence (built 1749). Located on the site of Province House, which still is furnished with his Nova Scotia Council table.
Site of First Court House Plaque, Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, Scotia Square, Halifax
Jonathan Belcher was a merchant, politician, and slave trader from colonial Massachusetts who served as both governor of Massachusetts Bay and governor of New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741 and governor of New Jersey from 1747 to 1757.
Belcher's summer home in Milton, Massachusetts, was destroyed by fire in 1776, but portions of it may have survived in its replacement, built by his widow.
Belcher commissioned this engraved portrait when he was appointed governor of the Massachusetts and New Hampshire colonies.
Despite being treated with indifference by Belcher, William Shirley obtained political prominence and power, later maneuvering to obtain Belcher's removal from office in 1741.
Richard Waldron was Belcher's kinsman and right-hand man in the administration of the New Hampshire province.
