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Loyalists and Layabouts: The Rapid Rise and Faster Fall of Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1783-1792
Marking the 225th anniversary of loyalist landings in Canada, this important and comprehensive history is essential reading on the shaping of our country.
The few hundred loyalists who gathered at Roubalet’s Tavern in New York on the night of Saturday, November 16, 1782, shared a vision of the future intended to sustain them through the nightmare of the present. Abandoned by the king to whom they had promised their loyalty, unwelcome in the land that had so recently been theirs, they had no choice but to flee. But to where? And for what?
Their dream was to build a new and improved New York City. They would do this on the rocky shores of Roseway Bay, on the south coast of Nova Scotia, beside one of the best harbours in the world. The city would be cosmopolitan, but more refined, more royal, more loyal, and certainly more exclusive than the one they were now preparing to leave behind forever. At first, it seemed as if their dream would come true. Within the decade, however, Shelburne was a wasteland of abandoned homes and shops.
What happened? Plagued by drought, fires, and poor land quality, Shelburne’s fortunes quickly fell. Vividly told through the intertwined narratives of an eclectic collection of its early settlers, Loyalists and Layabouts is the fascinating story of Shelburne’s “rapid rise and faster fall.”
The few hundred loyalists who gathered at Roubalet’s Tavern in New York on the night of Saturday, November 16, 1782, shared a vision of the future intended to sustain them through the nightmare of the present. Abandoned by the king to whom they had promised their loyalty, unwelcome in the land that had so recently been theirs, they had no choice but to flee. But to where? And for what?
Their dream was to build a new and improved New York City. They would do this on the rocky shores of Roseway Bay, on the south coast of Nova Scotia, beside one of the best harbours in the world. The city would be cosmopolitan, but more refined, more royal, more loyal, and certainly more exclusive than the one they were now preparing to leave behind forever. At first, it seemed as if their dream would come true. Within the decade, however, Shelburne was a wasteland of abandoned homes and shops.
What happened? Plagued by drought, fires, and poor land quality, Shelburne’s fortunes quickly fell. Vividly told through the intertwined narratives of an eclectic collection of its early settlers, Loyalists and Layabouts is the fascinating story of Shelburne’s “rapid rise and faster fall.”
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published May 13, 2008
About the author
Stephen Kimber
21 books47 followersSTEPHEN KIMBER, a Professor of Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Canada and co-founder of King's MFA in Creative Nonfiction program, is an award-winning writer, editor and broadcaster.
His two most recent books include a novel — The Sweetness in the Lime (Nimbus, 2020) — and a work of nonfiction, Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadia Politics (Goose Lane, 2021).
Alexa is the biography of iconic Canadian feminist political leader Alexa McDonough.
Sweetness is a love story set in Havana, Halifax and Miami. It tells the story of Eli, a resolutely single, fiftysomething newspaper copy editor who spends his nights obsessing over reporters’ unnecessary “thats” and his days caring for a demented father he knows should be in twenty-four-hour care. Then, on a single day, he loses his job and his father dies. He ends up adrift in Cuba where he falls in love with Mariela, an off-the-books Havana tour guide. But does Eli really fall for Mariela or just for the idea of her? And does she actually love him, or is he just her ticket to a better life. They both have secrets they’re not willing to share until they have no choice. The Sweetness in the Lime is "a charming, clever novel that peels back the rind to discover there really is sweetness in the lime of life."
Kimber is also the author of ten other books, including another novel, Reparations (HarperCollins, 2006), and eight non-fiction titles — What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five (Fernwood 2013); IWK: A Century of Caring (Nimbus 2009); Loyalists and Layabouts: The Rapid Rise and Faster Fall of Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1783-1792 (Doubleday 2008); Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War (Doubleday 2002); NOT GUILTY: The Trial of Gerald Regan (Stoddart 1999); Flight 111: The Tragedy of the Swissair Crash (Doubleday 1999); More Than Just Folks (Pottersfield 1996); and Net Profits (Nimbus 1990). He is also co-author of the book The Spirit of Africville (Formac 1992) and the most recent updated edition of Thomas Raddall’s classic Halifax: Warden of the North (Nimbus 2010).
Since 1983, he has taught journalism at the University of King’s College, where he specializes in creative nonfiction. From 1996 to 2003 and in 2007-08 and 2013-14, he was Director of the School of Journalism.
In 2001, he completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction degree at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD.
He and his wife, Jeanie Steinbock Kimber, live in Halifax. They have three grown children.
His two most recent books include a novel — The Sweetness in the Lime (Nimbus, 2020) — and a work of nonfiction, Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadia Politics (Goose Lane, 2021).
Alexa is the biography of iconic Canadian feminist political leader Alexa McDonough.
Sweetness is a love story set in Havana, Halifax and Miami. It tells the story of Eli, a resolutely single, fiftysomething newspaper copy editor who spends his nights obsessing over reporters’ unnecessary “thats” and his days caring for a demented father he knows should be in twenty-four-hour care. Then, on a single day, he loses his job and his father dies. He ends up adrift in Cuba where he falls in love with Mariela, an off-the-books Havana tour guide. But does Eli really fall for Mariela or just for the idea of her? And does she actually love him, or is he just her ticket to a better life. They both have secrets they’re not willing to share until they have no choice. The Sweetness in the Lime is "a charming, clever novel that peels back the rind to discover there really is sweetness in the lime of life."
Kimber is also the author of ten other books, including another novel, Reparations (HarperCollins, 2006), and eight non-fiction titles — What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five (Fernwood 2013); IWK: A Century of Caring (Nimbus 2009); Loyalists and Layabouts: The Rapid Rise and Faster Fall of Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1783-1792 (Doubleday 2008); Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War (Doubleday 2002); NOT GUILTY: The Trial of Gerald Regan (Stoddart 1999); Flight 111: The Tragedy of the Swissair Crash (Doubleday 1999); More Than Just Folks (Pottersfield 1996); and Net Profits (Nimbus 1990). He is also co-author of the book The Spirit of Africville (Formac 1992) and the most recent updated edition of Thomas Raddall’s classic Halifax: Warden of the North (Nimbus 2010).
Since 1983, he has taught journalism at the University of King’s College, where he specializes in creative nonfiction. From 1996 to 2003 and in 2007-08 and 2013-14, he was Director of the School of Journalism.
In 2001, he completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction degree at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD.
He and his wife, Jeanie Steinbock Kimber, live in Halifax. They have three grown children.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 27, 2024
A readable narrative history by one of my home province's best journalists. As an historian by training and journalist by profession myself, I can imagine that academic historians might have some arrows to let rip at this book. But Kimber makes no pretensions on this front: he is a story teller and he has a story to tell.
A few of the things I learned from this informative book include the fact that the rural Black settlement of Preston, a few miles east of my hometown of Dartmouth, was virtually abandoned when Black Loyalists decided to take their chances on Freetown in Sierra Leone. As someone with a keen interest in human/wildlife conflict, I was also intrigued by Kimber's brief mention that among the threats the Freetown settlers faces was wild animal attack. I would suspect that would have been from crocodiles and hippos in the river and possibly lion, leopard or elephant as well.
My wife and I recently spent three nights with friends in Shelburne - a part of Nova Scotia where I had spent scant time before - and I found the museum in the Black settlement of Birchtown moving. As a Johannesburg-based journalist with a South African wife, it was a salient reminder that my home province also has a troubled and oppressive racial past. Kimber's narrative has helped to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of this past.
What went wrong in Shelburne, a town situated on the third deepest natural harbour in the world that briefly rivalled New York and Boston in terms of size?
"The short answer is everything," Kimber concludes. The harbour was probably its only advantage. There was no river capable of bringing logs down from the immense surrounding forest, and no roads to connect it to other centres of economic activity. The British soon lost interest in the place, and the rocky soil was and remains unsuitable for farming.
So a boom town suddenly went to bust. Shelburne is a delightful town to visit, and the ghosts of the past haunt the streets I recently trod. And the wilderness remains - we saw several white-tailed deer on a trail run on the edge of town and right in the "downtown" itself.
Some towns were just never meant to be cities ...
A few of the things I learned from this informative book include the fact that the rural Black settlement of Preston, a few miles east of my hometown of Dartmouth, was virtually abandoned when Black Loyalists decided to take their chances on Freetown in Sierra Leone. As someone with a keen interest in human/wildlife conflict, I was also intrigued by Kimber's brief mention that among the threats the Freetown settlers faces was wild animal attack. I would suspect that would have been from crocodiles and hippos in the river and possibly lion, leopard or elephant as well.
My wife and I recently spent three nights with friends in Shelburne - a part of Nova Scotia where I had spent scant time before - and I found the museum in the Black settlement of Birchtown moving. As a Johannesburg-based journalist with a South African wife, it was a salient reminder that my home province also has a troubled and oppressive racial past. Kimber's narrative has helped to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of this past.
What went wrong in Shelburne, a town situated on the third deepest natural harbour in the world that briefly rivalled New York and Boston in terms of size?
"The short answer is everything," Kimber concludes. The harbour was probably its only advantage. There was no river capable of bringing logs down from the immense surrounding forest, and no roads to connect it to other centres of economic activity. The British soon lost interest in the place, and the rocky soil was and remains unsuitable for farming.
So a boom town suddenly went to bust. Shelburne is a delightful town to visit, and the ghosts of the past haunt the streets I recently trod. And the wilderness remains - we saw several white-tailed deer on a trail run on the edge of town and right in the "downtown" itself.
Some towns were just never meant to be cities ...
July 13, 2015
Picked up this book while touring Nova Scotia. We were interested in the history of Shelburne because of the novem, The Book of Negroes. The writer, a self-admitted journalist, not a historian, tells in a fairly popular style the story of various personalities involved with the first decade of Shelburne's life. We hear a lot of the backstory of these persons, and a bit of what happened to them after Shelburne receded in significance after 1792. The book is engaging, but there are abrupt transitions between chapter sections as the author shifts from person to person. Historical analysis is thin, and I was vaguely dissatisfied when I ended. A brave effort, but I suspect the source material available was just too thin.
March 12, 2026
Canadian journalist Stephen Kimber has researched a wide array of material to produce this interesting history of the founding of Shelbourne, a town on Nova Scotia’s south shore. It tells the story of the loyalists living in America who wanted to stay loyal to the British crown, while other Americans wanted to be free of their English masters, tired of that country across the sea deciding their future. They fiercely resented the taxes the British exacted to fund their war with France and after the thirteen colonies unilaterally declared themselves The Independent United States of America, bullied and harassed those who did not agree with their views. They saw the Loyalists as royalist sympathizers and what started as bullying, escalated to violent behavior. The loyalists believed they would never have peace, so many emigrated to Canada, intending to build a new town they called Port Roseway, where they could live in peace.
Those who scouted out the location for the new town boasted about its many advantages. It had a deep harbor which would make it an ideal stopover for ships headed north or south, was surrounded by forests and the possibility of a profitable trade in lumber and had good opportunities for fishing, farming and the fur trade. It appeared to be a good fit, but nothing was done to prepare for the many boatloads of those who arrived after a long voyage at sea. Instead, they landed on the shore to be greeted by rocks, forests and scrub brush.
The immigrants were a diverse group of men, women and children. Among them were aristocrats, artisans, politicians, preachers, artisans, mariners, slaves, slave owners, freed blacks, former soldiers and servants, as well as hustlers and gadabouts. They were merchants, tailers, craftsmen and printers, but they were not pioneers and did not have the skills needed to tame and survive in this uncultivated, uncultured environment. Forced to live in tents, expected to hunt and fish for their food, they had to clear the land and cut down the timber to build their homes. Complicating matters further, there was no agreed upon mechanism to determine how land was to be distributed, how the streets would be laid out, where the churches, docks and warehouses would be located or what rules would govern the behavior of these people. Complaints, arguments and quarreling became common, as new comers arrived daily adding to the chaos and confusion.
Using a narrative approach, Kimber describes this historical period through the storied lives of several real-life characters. He chose them from a wide variety of backgrounds, allowing him to portray many aspects of their experiences and giving readers a range of different views of the events as they evolved.
More than 15,000 Americans flowed into the town that ultimately became Shelbourne, but sadly, despite its promise, the town as it was envisioned never became a reality. Kimber’s account of what happened shows why it was doomed to failure. Foremost among those reasons, was not just the lack of pre-planning and the limited skills of its first inhabitants, but the cold winters when the harbor froze, the lack of connections to others towns, the fires, storms and blackflies that impeded their work and the lack of marriageable women. Some arrivals became so disillusioned after a short stay, they returned to the United States.
Kimber explains how difficult it was to create this narrative story using historical facts. The process required a vast amount of painstaking research including journals, letters and first-person accounts. The next part was more difficult, combining this large array of factual information about his characters with historic events of the time and adding a dash of imagination to create an engaging story his readers would enjoy. Kimber deserves credit for his ability to create this comprehensive narrative thread that bring everything together so readers do not feel they are reading a history book. He uses a minimum of footnotes to avoid disrupting the flow of the narrative, providing ample support for his work in the afterword and the comprehensive bibliography that follows. He also includes a section describing what eventually happened to some of the characters in his story.
This is a valuable volume for those interested in understanding the loyalist experience or why the struggle to establish Shelburne as a bustling community and a cosmopolitan city, ultimately failed.
Those who scouted out the location for the new town boasted about its many advantages. It had a deep harbor which would make it an ideal stopover for ships headed north or south, was surrounded by forests and the possibility of a profitable trade in lumber and had good opportunities for fishing, farming and the fur trade. It appeared to be a good fit, but nothing was done to prepare for the many boatloads of those who arrived after a long voyage at sea. Instead, they landed on the shore to be greeted by rocks, forests and scrub brush.
The immigrants were a diverse group of men, women and children. Among them were aristocrats, artisans, politicians, preachers, artisans, mariners, slaves, slave owners, freed blacks, former soldiers and servants, as well as hustlers and gadabouts. They were merchants, tailers, craftsmen and printers, but they were not pioneers and did not have the skills needed to tame and survive in this uncultivated, uncultured environment. Forced to live in tents, expected to hunt and fish for their food, they had to clear the land and cut down the timber to build their homes. Complicating matters further, there was no agreed upon mechanism to determine how land was to be distributed, how the streets would be laid out, where the churches, docks and warehouses would be located or what rules would govern the behavior of these people. Complaints, arguments and quarreling became common, as new comers arrived daily adding to the chaos and confusion.
Using a narrative approach, Kimber describes this historical period through the storied lives of several real-life characters. He chose them from a wide variety of backgrounds, allowing him to portray many aspects of their experiences and giving readers a range of different views of the events as they evolved.
More than 15,000 Americans flowed into the town that ultimately became Shelbourne, but sadly, despite its promise, the town as it was envisioned never became a reality. Kimber’s account of what happened shows why it was doomed to failure. Foremost among those reasons, was not just the lack of pre-planning and the limited skills of its first inhabitants, but the cold winters when the harbor froze, the lack of connections to others towns, the fires, storms and blackflies that impeded their work and the lack of marriageable women. Some arrivals became so disillusioned after a short stay, they returned to the United States.
Kimber explains how difficult it was to create this narrative story using historical facts. The process required a vast amount of painstaking research including journals, letters and first-person accounts. The next part was more difficult, combining this large array of factual information about his characters with historic events of the time and adding a dash of imagination to create an engaging story his readers would enjoy. Kimber deserves credit for his ability to create this comprehensive narrative thread that bring everything together so readers do not feel they are reading a history book. He uses a minimum of footnotes to avoid disrupting the flow of the narrative, providing ample support for his work in the afterword and the comprehensive bibliography that follows. He also includes a section describing what eventually happened to some of the characters in his story.
This is a valuable volume for those interested in understanding the loyalist experience or why the struggle to establish Shelburne as a bustling community and a cosmopolitan city, ultimately failed.
June 24, 2019
I did not find this book particularly engaging. The strange blend between historical documentation and fictionalized dialogue and inner thoughts made strange bedfellows for the narrative. Also, the time spent building the story took much too long, with hardly any time spent on the town itself while it existed.
Useful, however, for some insight into the historic event that is the town of Shelbourne.
Useful, however, for some insight into the historic event that is the town of Shelbourne.
Read
July 9, 2021I just saw my facebook post from 2010 when I made a list of what I had read up to July of that year and saw this on it. I remember enjoying it. My ancestry who lived in Nova Scotia may have been among the Loyalists who settled up there (and eventually came back to New Jersey).
July 23, 2013
Before reading this book, I knew pretty much nothing about Shelburne, Nova Scotia, and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t really care much. But the book was written by one of my journalism profs, and I like to support artists I know, so I bought his book (also, I had previously read some of his other work, and he’s quite good). I know that’s not a huge ringing endorsement, but really, Shelburne is a small town in Nova Scotia; there are really only going to be so many people who are interested in reading about it.
Frankly, I’m finding it difficult to write about this book, because I do know the author, and he’s a good guy, but I was really kind of indifferent to the book. I don’t think that’s Kimber’s fault. I think I’m just not that interested in Shelburne’s history. A bunch of Loyalists, most of them a bit spoiled and not so much cut out for roughing it, left the US because of the American Revolution and settled in what looked for a brief shining moment like it might become the capital of Nova Scotia. But due to the afore-mentioned unsuitability of the new citizens, politics and various other shenanigans, it didn’t pan out that way, and now it has a population of about 1600, and, as I assume you know, Halifax became the capital instead.
I give Kimber credit for trying. In his foreword, he talks about how hard he tried to find one character who was, if not central, was at least somewhat key throughout the whole story. I especially liked how he recognized that it can often be a woman’s story (the wife of a really critical character, for example) where the real interest lies, but alas, even if that’s the case, this was one of those all-too-common situations where if there is an interesting woman’s story here, it has not been preserved for posterity. And even among the men involved, this particular story is kind of odd in that there’s kind of one set of leaders and strong characters for the first half of the story, but then they kind of faded away to be replaced by another set of important figures. So there isn’t really one good solid, character-based arc you can use to tie the whole thing together from beginning to end. And unfortunately, the result is that we look at a whole lot of characters, bounce around between them a lot, and ultimately have kind of a hard time really just settling in to the story.
So... yeah. It wasn't a bad book by any stretch of the imagination, I just think that maybe its best audience would be people who have some connection with either Shelburne or the people involved in founding it.
Frankly, I’m finding it difficult to write about this book, because I do know the author, and he’s a good guy, but I was really kind of indifferent to the book. I don’t think that’s Kimber’s fault. I think I’m just not that interested in Shelburne’s history. A bunch of Loyalists, most of them a bit spoiled and not so much cut out for roughing it, left the US because of the American Revolution and settled in what looked for a brief shining moment like it might become the capital of Nova Scotia. But due to the afore-mentioned unsuitability of the new citizens, politics and various other shenanigans, it didn’t pan out that way, and now it has a population of about 1600, and, as I assume you know, Halifax became the capital instead.
I give Kimber credit for trying. In his foreword, he talks about how hard he tried to find one character who was, if not central, was at least somewhat key throughout the whole story. I especially liked how he recognized that it can often be a woman’s story (the wife of a really critical character, for example) where the real interest lies, but alas, even if that’s the case, this was one of those all-too-common situations where if there is an interesting woman’s story here, it has not been preserved for posterity. And even among the men involved, this particular story is kind of odd in that there’s kind of one set of leaders and strong characters for the first half of the story, but then they kind of faded away to be replaced by another set of important figures. So there isn’t really one good solid, character-based arc you can use to tie the whole thing together from beginning to end. And unfortunately, the result is that we look at a whole lot of characters, bounce around between them a lot, and ultimately have kind of a hard time really just settling in to the story.
So... yeah. It wasn't a bad book by any stretch of the imagination, I just think that maybe its best audience would be people who have some connection with either Shelburne or the people involved in founding it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews