40 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



The name of Uniacko recalls gentlemen distinguished in law, politics, 

 banking and divinitj-, in the annals of Nova Scotia for a centurj-, and 

 even to the jtresent time. The faraii}' are of Irish origin, and the first of 

 the name to win fame in the province was Richard John ' who became 

 speaker of the assembly, attoi-ncy-general and member of the council. He 

 held the position of attorney-general, with a seat in the council, for over 

 thirty yeai-s. and had strung claims to the chief justiceship of the province, 

 but he never reached the legitimate goal of an able lawyer's ambition. In 

 his short legislative career as a member of the assembly, he showed that 

 he compreht-nded the principles of ])opu]ar government, and was found 

 on more than one occasion asserting the i)rivileges and rights of the 

 people's house, though in later ycare as chief law officer of the Crown he 

 showed Tory learnings at times. He had an Irishman's sense of humour, 

 and was a fluent speaker, though he never reached the height of 

 eloquence possessed by his fourth son, James Boyle. His eldest son, 

 Norman Fitzgerald, became an attorney-general and judge in Lower 

 Canada.-' His third son, Richard John the younger, became a judge of 

 the supreme court. In 1S27 he moved a resolution which had the result 

 of abolishing the test oaths, which practically shut out Roman Catholics 

 from the legislature. Another member of the same family, James Boyle 

 Uniacke, was even more distinguished at a later time, when responsible 

 government was being vigorously fought for by Howe, Young, Hunting- 



Ï R. J. Uiiiacke came first to Nova Scotia at an early age and was arrested in 

 Cumberland county, in 1777, when a number of persons sympathized with their 

 countrymen in New England and were engaged in treasonable practices against 

 England. He was released and went to Ireland, where he studied law. He went 

 then to Nova Scotia where he was given the high legal positions mentioned above. 

 He died in lH;30in Halifax. For the only full account of the life of R. J. Uniacke, 

 <thc elder), see vol. ix. of collections of N. S. Hist. Soc. (1895), in which Senator 

 Power has compiled a great many interesting details never before given to the 

 public. Few families in Nova Scotia can claim a more distinguished lineage than 

 the Uniackes. A writer in the Yoiujlial Pa^-ochial Magazine gives the following 

 account of the origin of the name : " Soon after the great Géraldine race had settled 

 in Irelan<l, their chieftain in the west and south, who owned the whole territory 

 called Desmond, was at war with one of tlie native princes. A desperate attempt 

 was to be made on some castle or town wall, or a narrow breach entered where one 

 should lead the way. When the proposal was made to the whole army as to who 

 would undertake this exploit, or 'lead the forlorn hope,' as it would be called in 

 modern times, a young man, named Fitzgerald, immediately came forward and 

 undertook the venture. He siicreeded beyond the expectations of all ; and as no one 

 else had seemed inclined to at tempt the feat, he was ever afterwards called ' Unicus^ 

 Uhc only one) ; and this epithet, which asstimed the form of ' Unick' or ' Unak ' for 

 years among the posterity of the brave knight, gradually glided into the present 

 family name of 'Uniacke.'" The mottoes of the family are " Unicus Est" and 

 "Faithful and Brave." 



'^Morgan's "Celebrated Canadians" falls into the error of confounding this son 

 with the father who was never attorney-general of Lower Canada. See " The New 

 Brunswick Historical Magazine" for December, 1SS)8 (p. .'isô), where Norman F. 

 Uniacke's death at Halifa.x in 1846 and details of liis career are given. 



