Palliser, Sir Hugh

Hugh Palliser, (1722/23-1796), naval officer, Governor of Newfoundland (1764-8), politician, was born on 22 February 1723 in Kirk Deighton, West Yorkshire, England, son of Mary (Robinson) and Captain Hugh Palliser. He never married; a son, George Thomas, became a principal heir. He died on 19 March 1796 in Chalfront St. Giles, Buckinghampshire, England.

Little is known about Palliser's educational background. He entered the Royal Navy at the age of eleven, and quickly moved through the naval ranks to become a lieutenant and captain by the mid 1740s. He commanded a number of successful military campaigns in the North Atlantic, including Louisbourg (Ile Royale) and Quebec (1755-59). Palliser was sent to Newfoundland in 1762 to expel the French who had captured St. John's, but arrived the day after the French had surrendered. Two years later, on 18 April 1764, he was appointed Governor of Newfoundland.

Under the treaties of Paris and Utrecht, France had been granted the legal right to fish along the stretch of coastline extending from Cape Bonavista to Point Riche (termed the French Shore), and had received the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon as a base for French fishermen. Palliser asserted the right of British fishermen to fish unimpeded in Newfoundland waters, while acknowledging the rights of the French to fish in designated areas of Newfoundland without disruption. Palliser settled grievances between British and French fishermen and provided naval patrols for the Newfoundland coastline to prevent illegal coastline settlements and illicit trade between the British and French. While advocating a conciliatory stance towards the Beothuk, Palliser was quite hostile towards the Mi'kmaq on the the island, whom he suspected of having strong ties with the Roman Catholic French at Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

In 1763 Labrador was placed under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. Palliser encouraged the establishment of a migratory fishery and supported the visit of British Moravian missionaries to Labrador (1764-5). These missionaries were instructed by Palliser to cultivate diplomatic relations with the Inuit, to act as interpreters, and to halt trade between the Inuit and the French. In 1764 Palliser appointed cartographer James Cook (surveyor of the island of Newfoundland in 1763) as a ship master, with his own crew, to systematically survey contested northern waters for French interference. Palliser also instructed Cook to chart the coastline near Saint-Pierre and Miquelon in 1765 to assist British patrol ships in the region.

Palliser left Newfoundland in November 1768 and returned to England, where he continued his involvement in British naval affairs, including an appointment as comptroller of the navy. On 6 August 1773 he was named a baronet; he was elected as a member to Parliament in the fall of 1774. Palliser proposed an Act for the Encouragement of the Ship Fishery, commonly termed "Palliser's Act," (passed in 1775). Among articles listed in the act, it offered bonuses for fishing ships going to the Grand Banks during the fishing season and reiterated the orders prohibiting settlements along Newfoundland coastlines.

In the course of British naval campaigns against the American colonies and with the French, Palliser was appointed Vice-Admiral . He resigned his seat in Parliament after disputes within the navy concerning tactics in 1778. He was ultimately acquitted of misconduct and appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital in 1780. Palliser was also reelected to Parliament, where he served from 1780-84. Palliser was promoted to Full Admiral in 1787.

Created - April 29, 2013

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