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Some writers have stated that the
Winniett family has been in longer continuous occupation of property in the
present Maritime Provinces than any other family. Regardless of this claim, the
progenitor of the Winniett surname in Nova Scotia was William Winniett, who
arrived in Annapolis Royal in 1710.
William was born in France to
Huguenot parents in 1685, but to escape religious persecution bought about by
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in that year, the family moved to London.
William received his early education in England, but by the age of 25 he was in
the colony of Massachusetts where he volunteered as an officer in Francis
Nicholson's army in the attack on Port Royal in 1710. After the capture of the
fort, he remained as an officer in the garrison there, but resigned his post in
1711 to marry Marie Maissonat (1695-1799), a Catholic Acadian from a positioned
family, who was reputed to have been the undisputed Belle of French Port
Royal.
William set about building a
trading and shipping empire along the New England and Nova Scotia coasts, and
at times both he and Marie were intensely involved in the political and
commercial life of Annapolis Royal - their home and base of operation. By 1729
the Governor-in-Chief of the province, Col. Richard Phillipps, said of William
that he was the most considerable Merchant and one of ye first British
Merchants of this place... as one eminent in his Zeal for His Majesty's
Service. At one time Winniett served on His Majesty's Council, but his main
drive in the 1720s and 1730s was to continue to build his commercial contacts.
While on a trip to obtain trading goods in Massachusetts in 1741, William fell
overboard in Boston Harbour and was drowned. He left his widow in a deplorable
financial situation, but with 13 sons and daughters to carry on the Winniett
legacy throughout Nova Scotia and elsewhere.
Throughout their careers, William
Winniett and Marie Maissonat were recognized for their bold and adventurous
spirits and for the energy and outspokenness with which they pursued their
lives and interests. It was also not uncommon, however, for their biographers
to use such words as insolent, avaricious, contemptuous, undiplomatic,
disrespectful, and prejudiced in describing their dealings with
others.
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