Following the American Revolution thousands of Loyalist refugees fled into Nova Scotia. Their arrival meant a considerable increase in the available supply of labour, capital and entrepreneurial talent. Provincial economic development surged ahead and by the 1790s Nova Scotia was exporting significant quantities of fish, timber and agricultural produce. Simultaneously, these years brought an erosion of Halifax's isolation from the settled interior. A network of trading relationships emerged linking the capital with the farmers and fishermen scattered across the Maritimes.
Few were more closely associated with Halifax's emergence as a regional commercial metropolis than John Wentworth. Having served as governor in his native New Hampshire prior to the Revolution, he joined the Loyalist exodus north. In 1792, allegedly because of his wife's love affair with Prince Edward's elder brother Wlliam, Wentworth became governor of Nova Scotia. Although ruthless and opportunistic in his use of power, Wentworth was committed to permanent residence in Nova Scotia and actively sought to promote provincial economic development. His popularity in the outports collapsed, however, once it became apparent that Wentworth's initiatives were ultimately designed to extend and consolidate Halifax's control over provincial trade. By 1800 tension between urban and rural interest groups erupted into major political turmoil. This painting of Wentworth is by Robert Field (ca. 1769-1819), an artist who was born in England but worked in Halifax from 1808 to 1816 or 1817.
