The First Years


Soon after their arrival in Halifax, both young daughters of the Bissetts died. In 1753, The British moved the Bissetts, with the rest of the Foreign Protestant immigrants, to the site of an abandoned French hamlet about fifty miles along the coast soutwest of Halifax. The new settlement was named Lunenburg, in honor of one of King George's titles in his native Germany.

The Bissetts settled in quickly in Lunenburg. The son, Jean George married Judith Metin in 1756, at least partially so that he could be granted his own plot of land. War with France soon broke out, however, and the infant settlement was often hampered by Indian raids. In spite of this, the Bissetts thrived along with the rest of the settlers and seven children had been born to Jean George Bissett and his wife by 1772.

In early 1772, the Bissetts all left Lunenburg and moved to a new settlement at Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. Tatamagouche had been established as an old fashion "manorial grant", where the settlers were really tenant farmers. In the long run, this didn't work out and most of the family moved again in the early 1780s - this time to Cole Harbour, just outside of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. We are not completely sure if any of them remained behind at that time in the Tatamagouche area, since there are almost no records from there in that period.

Jean George Bissett received a license to farm at Cole Harbour in 1781. This was subsequently comverted into a large grant in 1786. He died in 1788 and the land was subsequently divided up among his heirs.

"Go Forth and Multiply . . . "




Last Update: 5/17/99