The Annapolis Royal Development Commission was established in 1977 at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, and grew out of recommendtions made by the Annapolis Royal Heritage Conservation Committee. The purpose of the ARDC was to attempt to revitalize the commercial core of the town and promote heritage conservation in Annapolis Royal. It was to co-ordinate and implement projects designed to enhance the town and promite it as a tourist attraction. It was successful in putting together funding from federal, provincial and municipal sources for these purposes. It had a mandate to acquire buildings and properties and initiated the conversion of the Lewis Transfer Building (now Newman's Restaurant), the restoration of King's Theatre, the reconstruction of the Adams-Ritchie House, the stabilizing of the Sinclair Inn, the establishment of the haul-up for boat repairs, the construction of the boardwalk, the establishment of the Annapolis Royal Historic Garden, and the designation of the Ducks Unlimited Wetlands along Allains' Creek. By March 1986 the activities of the ARDC ceased with ongoing functions taken over by the Business Improvement and Development Commission of the town of Annapolis Royal.
The grand jury was one of the institutions of customary law whose existence, although amended and altered by provincial legislation, was based on practice established in England. The Annapolis County Grand Jury was established when the county was created in 1759. The grand jury was chosen by lot from lists of qualified property owners prepared by a committee of the Court of General Sessions. Sitting for a year, the jury nominated individuals for the Sessions to consider for appointment to local offices; prepared financial estimates for county government; inspected the accounts of expenditures; determined the annual road work and the establishment of new roads; and claimed the right make presentations to the Sessions on topics of public interest. The grand jury also acted in a judicial capacity to determine whether sufficient evidence existed for an accused to be placed on trial by the Supreme Court. Half of the grand jury, or 12 of the 24, were required to concur, otherwise no bill was returned and the criminal case did not proceed to trial. In 1879 the advent of elective municipal government ended the administrative function of the grand jury. Although terms of jurors, their numbers, qualifications and method of appointment changed over time, the judicial function persisted until 1979 when amendments to the Jury Act abolished the grand jury
Prior to 1879 local government in Nova Scotia was the responsibility of the appointed Court of General Sessions of the Peace, which was composed of all those who held commissions as justices of the peace within a particular county. The Annapolis County Court of General Sessions of the Peace began with the creation of the county in 1759. Meeting two or more times a year, the court had both administrative and judicial functions. It was empowered to appoint local officials, who had been nominated by the Grand Jury; levy county and poor rates; exercise control over roads, bridges, prisons, hospitals, and other public works; regulate animals, weeds, fires, taverns, and the inland fisheries and perform other duties assigned by statute. It could also sit as a court of justice, with limited criminal jurisdiction, using the Grand and Petit Jury system from England. The Grand Jury decided whether a charge should proceed to trial. The Petit Jury decided on an accused’s guilt or innocence. Jury members were selected by lot from a list of male residents who either owned land or held a minimum amount of personal wealth. In 1800 Annapolis County was divided into eastern and western districts and the Court of General Sessions was required to sit twice a year in each district. In 1837 the Western District became Digby County and was subsequently under the jurisdiction of its own court. The passage of the County Incorporation Act in 1879 replaced the administrative functions of the Court of General Sessions with an elected municipal council. Its judicial function was assumed by the Supreme Court on County Circuit.
Although legislation was passed in 1758 regulating the process of probate the Governor, through his Surrogate General, retained exclusive power over the appointment of judges of probate and the creation of courts of probate as outlined in the carious instructions to governors regarding the appointment of local officers of the courts. Until additional legislation in 1842 local officers had little guidance in determining what they were to do beyond attempting to make analogies to the Ecclesiastical Courts of England. Today's Annapolis County Court of Probate originated with the appointment of Jonathan Hoar as Judge of Probate for the County in 1767. In 1810 Elkanah Morton was appointed Judge for the Western District of the County which became Digby County in 1837. With the 1897 amendments to the Probate Act uniformity in record keeping emerged as retiring Judges were replaced with full time registrars of probate and the County Court assumed the judicial function. In Annapolis County Jacob Owen was the last Judge of Probate electing in 1912 to continue in office but as Registrar. In 1900 the Revised Statute edition of the Probate Act added many forms which provided additional uniformity to the process.
Mary Elizabeth (Annand) Cooley (1928-2017), political campaign manager and long-time volunteer with the J.W. Logan Chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.), married Donald Leonard Cooley (1926-2008) in Halifax circa 1949. “Mary Lib” was born in 1928, the daughter of Frederick W. Annand Jr. (1891-1957) and his second wife Mary A. Dickinson (b. ca1897), who could trace their ancestry back to William Annand (1808-1887) and his second wife Martha Tupper, publisher of newspapers the Novascotian and the Morning Chronicle, premier of Nova Scotia from 1867 to 1875, Agent General for Canada in London 1875-1879 and Agent General for Nova Scotia in London 1885 until his death in 1887. William’s son Charles Annand (b. ca1841) also earned his living as a publisher, was appointed Queen’s Printer for Nova Scotia in 1875. He petitioned the Government for crown land in 1885 and leased a gold mine in Queens County in 1886. Charles Annand married and had a son Frederick William (b. ca1864) who married Charlotte S. Dickie (b. ca1866) in August 1887 in Kings County and earned his living as a farmer. Their son Frederick William Annand Jr., became an insurance broker and married Mary A. Dickinson on September 18, 1926.
Donald Leonard Cooley (1926-2008), a watchmaker and jeweler, was born in 1926 to Charles Leonard Cooley (1887-1960) and Winnifred M. Nicoll (1885-1961). He began his career in 1946 working in his father’s and uncle’s business, Cooley Brothers Jewelers Ltd. of Halifax, NS. He later worked for Webster China and Gifts, and Cooley Jewelers. With his wife, Mary Elizabeth Annand, they raised 5 children. Donald’s father, Charles L. Cooley, was born in London, United Kingdom and apprenticed in the watch, clock and jewelry business from 1903 to 1906, then immigrated to Canada in 1912. When Charles’ younger brother Robert W. Cooley (1890-1964) arrived in Halifax ca1914, they formed Cooley Brothers Jewelers Ltd.
Angus Downes Mathwin Curry was an Engineer Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy. Born on August 14, 1889, in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom to William D. Curry and Amy Angus Curry, he came to Canada in 1910, and joined the Royal Canadian Navy in Vancouver, British Colombia. He served aboard ships from 1911-1913, then out of Halifax, Nova Scotia at the Royal Naval College of Canada from 1913-1915. He married Brenda Marion Morrow in 1915, and the couple had two children, Brenda Margaret and Angus Michael. During the First World war, he was lent to the British Royal Navy, from 1916-1917. In 1918 and 1919 he was again stationed out of the Royal Naval College of Canada, before serving aboard the HMCS Patriot in 1920-1922, then as a Canadian Naval Officer with the British Royal Navy from 1923-1925. From 1926 onward he served on board Canadian Naval vessels, eventually rising to the rank of Engineer Commander. By 1937, he was the Director of Naval Engineering at the Naval Services Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, remaining there until 1940 and reaching the rank of Engineer Captain. He then served in Esquimalt, British Colombia from 1941-1945, first as Chief Engineer of the H.M.C. Dockyard Esquimalt, then as Naval Superintendent, Fleet Engineer Officer and Superintendent Overseers (B.C.), and finally as Supervising Naval Engineer Pacific Coast. He received the Order of the British Empire, and was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia just before he retired in 1946. He lived his final years in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and passed away on June 25, 1961.
John Alexander Andrews was born Feb 15, 1852 in Indian Point to Daniel Andrews and Eliza Zwicker. He was a farmer and married Catherine Rachel Ernst on Feb 26, 1880 in Mahone Bay. Before he died on March 29, 1911, he and Catherine had eleven children: Arthur Andrews (b. abt 1880); Lida Elizabeth Andrews (b. 13 Mar 1883 - d. 26 Jun 1979); John Alexander Andrews (b. 3 Aug 1885 in Indian Point- d. 15 Jun 1966 in Indian Point); Charles Edwin Andrews (b. 1887-d. 5 Jan 1908); James Kenneth Andrews (b. 13 Jun 1889 in Indian Point - d. 12 Jun 1973 in Indian Point); Annie Victoria Andrews (b. abt 1893); Samuel Benjamin Andrews (b. 8 Aug 1894 - d. 24 Aug 1927); Wilfred Arthur Andrews (b. 1 Jan 1897 in Indian Point - d. 24 Aug 1927); David Albert Andrews (b. 1 Dec 1900 in Oakland - d. 3 Dec 1982 in Indian Point); Glennie Bell Andrews (b. 18 Mar 1903 - d. 24 Dec 1998); Reginald Sharp Andrews (b. September 23, 1905 - d. 24 Aug 1927). Reginald, Samuel, and Wilfred were all lost at sea on the schooner Uda R. Corkum during the gale of 24 August 1927.
Alan R. Andrews is an emeritus professor at Dalhousie University. Born in England in 1935, he was educated at King Henry VII and King Edward VI schools before earning his BA, MA and a Diploma of Education from Leeds University. He later obtained his PhD at the University of Illinois.
Andrews was appointed to Dalhousie's English department in 1966, but moved to the theatre department in 1969 and was promoted to full professor in 1981. His scholarly interests included George Bernard Shaw, Granville Barker and St. John Hankin, about whom he wrote and lectured frequently, including at the Shaw Festival in Ontario. He directed many university theatre productions, served as chairman of the theatre department (1968-1971) and editor of The Dalhousie Review (1985-1995), and was secretary to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the early 1980s. He had close ties with Neptune Theatre, was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and served as President of the Canadian Association of University Teachers from 1992-1994. Alan Andrews retired from Dalhousie in June 2001.