34 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
generations of the family. Many of William McNutt’s progeny inter- 
married with other pioneer families of Colchester county and their 
offspring proved to be a not unimportant factor in the development of 
that section of the province of Nova Scotia. 
Members of the McNutt family still reside upon the lands originally 
eranted to their ancestor at Onslow.! 
Before we proceed to consider the cireumstances under which 
Alexander McNutt became actively concerned in the development of 
Nova Scotia we must turn our attention to the initial steps taken by 
Governor Lawrence in 1758-9 for the resettlement of the lands from 
which the Acadians had been expelled. 
Il.—Plans for the Settlement of Nova Scotia. 
Governor Lawrence, naturally enough, was very anxious that the 
lands lately tilled by the Acadians should not remain unoccupied. Had 
he been disposed to view the matter with indifference, he would speedily 
have been roused to action by the representations of the Lords of 
Trade and Plantations under the vigorous leadership of the Earl of 
Halifax. In a letter to Lawrence of the 8th July, 1756, they express 
their sentiments with no uncertain sound as will appear in the quotation 
from their letter which follows:— 
“As the recall of the 2,000 New England troops puts an end to any 
view which might have been entertained of converting them into 
Settlers upon the Lands left vacant by the Transportation of the French 
Inhabitants, we shall remain extremely anxious till we hear what 
occurs to you with respect to the Settlement of those Lands, the which 
appears to us to be an object of utmost importance and on the right 
determination of which the future strength and prosperity of the 
country greatly depends. As these lands were in a great measure 
cleared, and are, as we have been informed, under a very considerable 
degree of cultivation, we cannot apprehend that any great difficulty 
should occur in procuring a proper number of Settlers from the neighbor- 
ing colonies, where cleared Lands are already taken up and consequently 
the people overstocked, on making them Grants of these Lands in such 
moderate quantitys as are allowed by your Instructions. We are 
therefore of opinion that no time should be lost in consulting with the 
neighbouring Governments upon this measure, and the means of carry- 
ing it into execution. Every delay by rendering these Lands of less value 
* There are many descendants of Colonel Alexander McNutt’s sister, Mrs. Wier, 
in Nova Scotia. Colonel McNutt presented his son, John McNutt Wier, with a 
valuable property in Londonderry, N.S., on which he lived and died. He was a 
man of reputation and intelligence. In 1827, and for many years after, he repre- 
sented his township in the General Assembly of the Province. His son Arthur 
McNutt Cochrane Wier, of Maitland, N.S., was also a member for many years, of 
the Assembly and later a member of the Legislative Council. 
