Paul Mascarene

Jean-Paul Mascarene (c. 1684 – 22 January 1760) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as commander of the40th Regiment of Foot andgovernor of Nova Scotia from 1740 to 1749. During this period, he led the colony throughKing George's War with theFrench, and rose to the rank ofMajor-general. He is best known for repulsing two French attempts to captureAnnapolis Royal in1744 and1745.

Paul Mascarene
Portrait byJohn Smibert (c. 1729)

Governor of Nova Scotia
In office 1741–1749
Monarch	George II
Lieutenant	Great Britain
Preceded by	Alexander Cosby
Succeeded by	Edward Cornwallis

Personal details
Born	Jean-Paul Mascarene c. 1684 Languedoc,France
Died	22 January 1760 Boston,Massachusetts,British America
Spouse	Elizabeth Perry
Profession	Military officer Colonial administrator Chief Engineer to the Board of Ordnance
Military service
Allegiance	British Army
Years of service	1706–1760
Rank	Major-general
Battles/wars	Queen Anne's War Siege of Port Royal King George's War First Siege of Annapolis Royal Second Siege of Annapolis Royal

Biography

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Coat of Arms of Paul Mascarene

Mascarene was from aHuguenot family, driven from France at the revocation of theedict of Nantes in 1685. Subsequently, Mascarene was cared for by relatives inGeneva where he was raised and received his education.

Moving to England,Samuel Vetch took an interest in Mascarene to use him in relations with French-speaking inhabitants of his territory. In 1711, Mascarene was posted atBoston,Massachusetts, where he met and married Elizabeth Perry, by whom he had four children. In August 1714, Vetch sent Mascarene and Captain Joseph Bennett, with a detachment of troops to Minas, located in theGrand-Pré region ofNova Scotia, Canada. Mascarene's orders were to be courteous but to collect a tribute worth 6,000livres from theAcadian inhabitants. Vetch appointed him with a committee, to hear and settle disputes between the Acadians. During the next five years, Mascarene divided his time between Boston andPlacentia, Newfoundland, where he was in charge of an infantry company.^[1]

Mascarene's grandchild William Handfield Snelling, d. 1838,Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)^[2]^[3]

By August 1717, he was commissioned a captain in the newly formed40th Regiment of Foot and put in charge of agrenadier company. WhenPort Royal, Nova Scotia was surrendered in October, he "had the honour to take possession of it in mounting the first guard". Whether by formal education or breadth of interests, he was considered an engineer, as well as a regular officer andartilleryman, and a visit to England during this period, resulted in his appointment as an engineer to theBoard of Ordnance. By 1719, he was back in Boston preparing to embark forAnnapolis with orders to report on the state of the fortifications there.

He was commissioned Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia in 1740 until he was replaced byEdward Cornwallis in 1749. In 1751, the new governor, Edward Cornwallis, sent Mascarene to New England to renew the1726 treaty with the eastern Indians (Norridgewocks,Penobscots,Malecites), and although he corresponded with his Annapolis friends for several years, he did not return to Nova Scotia.^[1]

In the course of service, he rose to the rank ofMajor-General.^[1] He died poor having only half the pay of his lieutenant-colonelcy to sustain his remaining days in Boston. Nonetheless, he was content with his family of whom he expressed "thanks to Almighty God [to be] in my own house amongst my Children and . . . grandchildren".^[4] (Two of his grandchildren, HonFoster Hutchinson and William Handfield Snelling, both buried in theOld Burying Ground.)^[5] Paul Mascarene, born Jean-Paul, military officer, colonial administrator (b in Languedoc, France 1684/85; d at Boston, Mass 22 Jan 1760). A Huguenot émigré, Mascarene served throughout New England and Atlantic Canada 1710-40 as a military engineer and fluent negotiator with the Acadians and indigenous people of Canada..