Isaac Hildreth

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Isaac Hildreth (1741–1807) was a British architect, surveyor, and master builder who spent much of his life in North America.

He was born in Ellerton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, England, in 1741. In 1770 he moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he surveyed the James River falls and proposed canals for the North and Elizabeth Rivers in 1774. He helped the colonial government at the start of the American Revolution but lost everything in the Burning of Norfolk. He resigned in 1776 and returned to England.

In the early 1780s he went back to the Americas, living briefly in Charleston, South Carolina, before moving again during the British evacuation in 1782. After a time in Jamaica, he joined other Loyalists and arrived in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, in 1783. He received a land grant and started a carpentry business.

Hildreth was soon hired to build Christ Church in Shelburne, in 1788. He also worked on King’s Collegiate School in Windsor, adapting plans from Peter Harrison. He contributed to the Shubenacadie Canal project and, in 1797, led the first survey and feasibility study for a canal linking Dartmouth Cove to Minas Basin via the Shubenacadie lakes, estimating costs for the project.

By 1800 he had settled in Halifax and built Government House, the residence of the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia. The first stone was laid on September 11, 1800, by Sir John Wentworth, and the design is believed to come from Harrison. He also supervised the building of the Halifax Town Clock (completed around 1803) from a design by Captain William Fenwick.

In January 1807 he received a certificate recognizing his contributions to the Government House project. Isaac Hildreth died on September 16, 1807 in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.