Thomas Baillie
1797-1863
Thomas Baillie (colonial administrator and officeholder) was born on 4 October 1796 at Hanwell, Middlesex, England. Baillie joined the army in April 1815 as a lieutenant in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He served at Limerick (Republic of Ireland), where in 1824 he married Elizabeth Hall, the same year he entered the Colonial Office and was appointed commissioner of crown lands and surveyor general of New Brunswick. Baillie arrived at Fredericton late in 1824. In 1831, Baillie formed the London-based New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company which purchased 350,000 acres in York County. The next year he wrote An account of the province of New Brunswick including a description of the settlements, institutions, soil and climate of that important province, with advice to emigrants (London, 1832). In 1846 he won election to the assembly for York County. The introduction of responsible government early in 1848 compelled his resignation from the Executive Council. Baillie did not relinquish the office of surveyor general until 1851, when he retired and left to reside at Budleigh Salterton in Devonshire, England. Baillie died 20 May 1863 during a holiday at Boulogne, France.
W.S. MacNutt. “Baillie, Thomas.” Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol 9, 1976. Accessed 7 June 2023.
Predominant New Brunswick Residences:
Fredericton
Archival Material
In addition to the material listed below, there is correspondence from Thomas Baillie at the National Archives in the UK and the Public Archives of New Brunswick in the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Surveyor General records. There are also relevant materials at the Maine Historical Society. Information related to Baillie renting land from the University of New Brunswick can be found in UA RG 34 at UNB Archives & Special Collections. There is also extracts of a report and correspondence fr om Baillie in UNB's Archives. A "Letter Book from March 1825 to March 1829", contains letters written from the Crown Lands Office, Fredericton (Thomas Bailie). Recently held by UNB Archives (MG H 46d) has been transferred to the Provincial Archives of NB, however it is available digitally here. There are also various documents related to Bailie in the New Brunswick Museum archives and in Mount Allison University Archives.
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Thomas Baillie fonds
⌄LocationLibrary and Archives CanadaWebsite/Catalogue RecordRetrieval NumberR2639-0-5-E, MG24-B45Date Range of Material1838-1849Extent
2.5 cm of textual records
Scope and Content NoteFonds consists of correspondence relating to the reduction of Thomas Baillie's salary, and the abolition of his office as Commissioner of Crown Lands.
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New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company fonds
⌄LocationUniversity of New Brunswick Archives & Special CollectionsWebsite/Catalogue RecordRetrieval NumberMG H 76Date Range of Material[18--?]; photocopied after 1900Extent
18 p. textual records
3 mapsScope and Content NoteThis fonds contains photocopies of four documents relating to the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company: Reports nos. 1 and 2 of the state and condition of the province of New Brunswick with some observations on the company's tract laid before the Court of Directors of the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Land Company by E. N. Kendall, commissioner, on 31 December 1835; Sketch of the proposed town of Stanley now being erected and settled by the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company showing its present state, dated 11 October 1834; Sketch plan with names of the occupiers of houses in the town of Stanley, those having taken lots and intending to build -- also the inhabitants of the houses dated 11 October 1837. Provincial Archives of NB has a NB and NS Land Company fonds (MC1284).
Thomas Baillie
Portrait of Thomas Baillie. Pioneers, Ploughs and Politics: New Brunswick Planned Settlements. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick,[ca. 1850?]. Accessed 7 June 2023.