Commerce, both connected with and independent of the military, proved crucial in moulding Halifax's early identity. Garrison demand for supplies, comple- mented by opportunity for participation in the fisheries and other staples trades, brought to Halifax numerous merchants from Britain and New England. These men quickly established themselves as a major force in community affairs. Members of the commercial gentry not only dominated municipal government and the provincial Assembly but also sat as executive advisers to the lieutenant governor. Indeed, by the 1760s, Halifax merchants and their London based principals had emerged as the dominant interest group in Nova Scotia.
Brook Watson was one of the most notable of the entrepreneurs associated with eighteenth- century Halifax. Born in Plymouth, England and orphaned at the age of ten, Watson began his business career as a ship's boy. The wooden leg, which became his distinguishing feature, resulted from a shark attack in Havana harbour when Watson was still a youngster. Brought by his guardian to Nova Scotia in 1750, Watson rose to prominence as a military contractor. Within a decade he had built up the basis of a fortune and made those connections which would govern his subsequent career. Removing to London, an eventual knighthood and the Lord Mayorship, Watson nevertheless maintained his association with Halifax. For some quarter century, he operated as chief patron and creditor to the Halifax merchatit community. In this way Watson personified the overlap of commercial and military affairs which shaped Halifax's early history. This portrait of Watson is by R. Dighton, Jr. and is dated August, 1803.
