- John Bazalgette
Colonel John Bazalgette (
15 December 1784 –28 March 1868 ) was an army officer actively involved in the affairs ofNova Scotia for forty-three years. He was born in London, the second son of Jean Louis Bazalgette (1750-1830), a French immigrant born in the Cévennes region, and Catherine, née Metivier (c.1762-1785), also from a French family in London.Bazalgette had previously served with the British army in other colonial posts before arriving in Nova Scotia in 1811. A
Lieutenant in the80th Foot , he was promotedCaptain in the99th Foot (later renumbered98th Foot ) without purchase in 1805. By 1830 he was aMajor in the 98th Foot. In 1837 he was promotedLieutenant-Colonel in the Army. He was made administrator of the provincial government for Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Harvey from30 May to30 September 1851 and from22 March to5 August 1852 . This period included the debate onJoseph Howe 's railway policy. It appears from correspondence with theColonial Office that he had a good sense of balance between colonial needs and his responsibility to England.While stationed in Bermuda, he married Sarah Crawford Magdalen Van Norden (1794-1866) and the marriage produced 15 children, 6 girls and 9 boys, of whom seven in turn went into the Army.
By 1854 he was a
Colonel and DeputyQuartermaster-General of Nova Scotia. In that year he purchased theLieutenant-Colonel cy of the2nd West India Regiment . He returned to England the same year and retired in 1858. His long tenure in Canada shows an unusual loyalty to a colonial posting by a British officer of that time.External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4287 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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