The days of baronets and baronetesses would seem a thing of the distant past, far removed from Nova Scotia.
But one man in Edinburgh, Scotland, holds the title of the 11th Baronet of Nova Scotia, and he’s not alone. Sir Crispin Agnew, 81, is one of at least 100 people who still hold the title, originally created as a money-making scheme to help fund the colonization of New Scotland.
Agnew is about to participate in an upcoming conference in Stirling, Scotland, that will mark the 400th anniversary of the first-ever Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1625.
“It’s important from a family history point of view.… It’s nice to have it, but in the modern day and age, it’s really not of any particular benefit or anything other than a historical point of interest,” Agnew told CBC’s Information Morning Nova Scotia.
As a means to get more Scots to settle in New Scotland at the time, the King offered for purchase the hereditary title Baronet of Nova Scotia, with the proceeds from those sales used to cover immigration costs for settlers.
The payment of 3,000 Scottish merks, which would be the equivalent today of almost $66,000 Cdn, entitled the buyer the use of the title Sir before their given name and 6,500 hectares of land to settle in New Scotland, the land between New England and Newfoundland.
While it was intended to encourage colonization, Agnew said many were deterred because the title and land offering also came accompanied by a wealth tax.
“There was a lot of skulduggery that went on to encourage people to take up the titles,” said Agnew.
He said King Charles I went to great and morally questionable lengths to force people to accept the title, including threatening to investigate murders and involve in the investigation people who refused to accept the title.
The end result was that only about 110 titles had been sold by the end of the reign of King Charles I.
Agnew’s family, he said, received a letter that threatened to take away their most valuable source of income, a hereditary sheriffdom, if they didn’t buy a title.
Since then, it has been passed down through generations.
“I inherited it from my father, he inherited it from his uncle,” said Agnew.
Although there is little to no modern significance to being a baronet, he quipped being called Sir Crispin has a nice ring to it.
“After all, we did pay 166 pounds 13 and fourpence, so we might as well benefit from it.”
Agnew owns a badge signifying that he is a Baronet of Nova Scotia. But he also acknowledges the title was used as a means to enforce widespread colonization of Indigenous people, including the Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia.
That’s something that will be discussed at the Nova Scotia and Scotland Conference in Stirling on June 30. Agnew said speakers from Indigenous communities will discuss the long-term impact of the granting of a charter for New Scotland to Sir William Alexander.
“It’s something I think we modern baronets are really quite conscious of, even though we were … the original cause of it, although we were basically there to fund colonization. It was a way of raising money by the King without having to go to Parliament,” said Agnew.
And while he holds the title of 11th Baronet of Nova Scotia, Agnew has yet to set foot in the province.
“I haven’t and nor has any close member of my family, as far as I’m aware. It’s perhaps on my bucket list,” said Agnew.