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George Frederick W. Young received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and went on to complete his Ph. D. at the University of Chicago. In 1970 he began a long career at St. Mary’s University in the History Department as Assistant Professor (1970-74), Associate Professor (1974-88), and Professor (1988-2005).

Dr. Young has held other administrative roles within the university as well, including Chair of the History Department from 1978-82, 1986-87 and 1999-01, and Visiting Lectures Chair from 1979-80. He also worked with the St. Mary’s University Faculty Union (SMUFU) in the mid-seventies as Secretary, Senate Research Committee Chair, and as a member of the Salary Committee.

Dr. Young’s research interests include Spain, Latin America, and modern Europe. He has studied the topic of Germans in Latin America extensively and done research in Germany (1959-60) and Chile (1964-65). In 1991, he co-ordinated the symposium “German Business in Latin America and Latin American Deutschtum, 1815-1945” at the 47th Congress of the Americanists held in New Orleans. In 1980 Dr. Young, along with three colleagues, also collaborated to create a current events commentary program called Canadian Commentary.

As of 2005, Dr. Young continues to teach in the History Department on a part-time basis.

Journalist, author, lawyer, and politician George Renny Young was born at Falkirk, Scotland on 4 July 1802, son of John and Agnes (Renny) Young. He emigrated to Halifax, N.S. with his parents in April 1814 and assisted in his father's business as a dry goods merchant prior to entering Pictou Academy. He founded the Novascotian newspaper in 1824, selling it to Joseph Howe in 1828 in order to pursue legal studies in Britain. Young became a barrister in 1834 and practiced law in association with his brother William. He entered politics in 1843 as member of the Legislative Assembly for Pictou County and was also a member of the first Executive Council. A dispute over the formation of an intercolonial railway led to his resignation from the cabinet in 1851. He died at Halifax on 30 June 1853. Young was the author of numerous books and pamphlets. Among his best-known works is On colonial literature, science, and education (1842). Young married Jane Frances Brooking (d. 1841) of London, England on 19 April 1838; they had a son, John Brooking (1839-1870).

George Renny Young was a publisher, lawyer, author and politician. He was born in Falkirk, Scotland, on 4 July 1802 to John Young and Agnes Renny. In 1814 he came with his family to Nova Scotia, where he helped to establish John Young and Company with his father and brother William. Young worked for the family dry goods business until 1821, when he started at Pictou Academy. In 1824 he founded a weekly newspaper, The Novascotian. In 1827 he sold the paper to Joseph Howe in order to pursue legal studies in Britain. He became an attorney in 1833 and a barrister in 1834, when he established an insurance practice with William that would last into the 1850s. In 1838 he married Jane Brooking, with whom he had one son, John.

Young entered the Nova Scotia assembly in 1843 as the member for Pictou County. He was a strong and vocal supporter of the reformers, protesting the General Mining Association’s monopoly in the province and supporting the creation of a Halifax and Quebec Railway. In 1848 he became a minister in J.B. Uniacke’s government. In the following years Young’s physical and mental health deteriorated. Although he did not seek re-election in 1851, he continued to voice his political opinions in a series of letters published in the British North American.

George Young wrote articles, books and letters to newspapers on a variety of topics. His first book, The British North American Colonies, was published in 1834. He also wrote a romantic fiction, The Prince and his Protégé, which appeared in a variety of formats in 1844. Young lectured and served as president of the Halifax Mechanics’ Institute. He died in Halifax on 30 June 1853.

James Young was an honours student in the sociology program at Dalhousie University during the 1970s. His honours thesis involved the origin and development of the Communist Party in Canada up to 1926.

John Young, son of William and Janet Young, was born at Falkirk, Scotland in September 1773 and educated at Glasgow University. He was a merchant in Glasgow before emigrating to Nova Scotia with his wife and four sons in April 1814. He established a business in Halifax importing and selling dry goods under the name John Young and Company. His interest in agriculture prompted him to write a series of letters to the Acadian Recorder in 1818 under the pen name Agricola, urging the improvement of agricultural practices in Nova Scotia. He was subsequently appointed secretary and treasurer of the newly established Central Board of Agriculture in 1819 and also served as member of the Legislative Assembly for Sydney County from 1824 until his death. He died at his farm, Willow Park, near Halifax on 6 October 1837. Young and his wife Agnes "Nancy" (Renny) had nine children, three surviving to adulthood: William, George, and Charles.

Joseph “Vincent” Gerald Young was born November 5, 1899 in West Petpeswick. His parents were Dennis Madden Young and Annie (Thompson) Young. He was a fisherman and married Anna Frances Bayers on July 15, 1918, however she died of Spanish influenza on November 2, 1918 at just 18 years old after having given birth to a stillborn son on October 31st. He later married Maud Irene Williams on June 23, 1921. He may have been a member of the RCMP. He lived away from the Eastern Shore for some time but later returned. He sang folk songs that had been passed down through the generations, some of which were local to the West Petpeswick area. The banjo player in the sound recording accompanying Vincent Young may have been Marshall Bayers.

William Young, lawyer, politician, judge, and philanthropist, was born at Falkirk, Scotland on 8 September 1799, the son of John and Agnes (Renny) Young. He was educated at the University of Glasgow. Young emigrated with his family to Nova Scotia in April 1814 and worked at his father's business, John Young and Company, as an agent in Halifax and later New York. In 1815 he entered into an auction and commission business in Halifax with James Cogswell. From 1820 to 1823 Young apprenticed in the law firm of Charles Rufus and Samuel Prescott Fairbanks; he began his own practice in Halifax when he was admitted as a barrister in 1826. From 1834 to the 1850s he maintained a legal partnership and insurance business with his brother George. In 1832 he was elected MLA for Cape Breton County (later Inverness) and also represented Cumberland County, 1859-1860. Young also served as speaker of the House of Assembly, 1842-1854; member of the Executive Council, 1842-1843; premier and attorney general 1854-1857; and premier and president of the council, 1860. He was appointed chief justice from 1860 until his retirement in 1881. Young was also a great benefactor to the City of Halifax and Dalhousie University. He received a Knight Bachelor in 1869 and honourary degrees from Queen's and Dalhousie. He died at Halifax on 8 May 1887. His wife was Anne Tobin, daughter of Hon. Michael and Margaret (Lanigan) Tobin, whom he married on 10 August 1830; they had no children.

William Young was a Nova Scotia businessman, lawyer, and politician. He was born in 1799 in Falkirk, Scotland to John Young and Agnes Renny. In 1814 he moved with his family to Nova Scotia, where he helped to establish John Young and Company, a wholesale dry goods business. He acted as his father’s agent in Halifax and New York. In 1815 he formed a partnership with James Cogswell to operate an auction and commission business that lasted until 1820.

Young began an apprenticeship in 1820 with the Halifax law firm of Charles Rufus and Samuel Prescott Fairbanks. The relationship ended in 1823 when Young was accused of sharing Fairbanks' campaign information with his father during John Young's failed bid against Charles Fairbanks in a Halifax by-election. In 1824 he managed his father’s successful campaign in a Sydney by-election. He became an attorney in 1825 and a barrister in 1826. In 1834 he and his brother, George, established an insurance business that lasted into the 1850s. He married Anne Tobin in 1830.

In 1832 Young won his first seat in the provincial assembly. The election results were invalidated because of interference from his brother George. In the election of 1836 he ran and won in Inverness County, a seat he held for twenty years. Young was active in the assembly, working with reformers and supporting responsible government. He was a member of a delegation to Quebec City for constitutional discussions with Lord Durham in 1828. He served as speaker of the assembly for many years and as attorney general from 1854 to 1857. In 1859 he ran and won in Cumberland County and served briefly as premier before being appointed chief justice, a position he held until his retirement in 1881.

Young was actively involved in many aspects of Halifax society. He donated books and money to the Citizen’s Free Library. He was instrumental in negotiating the land lease for Point Pleasant Park, contributed financially to Dalhousie College, and served as chairman of the college’s Board of Governors for thirty-six years (1848-1884). William Young died in Halifax on May 8, 1887.