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 Perkins House Museum - Liverpool, Nova Scotia Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 44° 02.402 W 064° 42.714
20T E 362841 N 4877743
Adjacent to the Queens County Museum, the Perkins House once held one of the most important historical documents in Canada. It is, in itself, a separate museum, the Perkins House Museum.
Waymark Code: WMP758
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 07/12/2015
Views: 4
That document, the Simeon Perkins diary, was recovered from the house in 1897 and is today in the care of the Queens County Historical Society and is housed in the Queens County Museum, next door.
A successful businessman in the town of Liverpool, Simeon Perkins was a diarist who recorded the every day life of Liverpool in the years 1767 to 1812, the year of his death. This house, the Perkins House, was built for him in 1766. A leading citizen in Liverpool, he spearheaded the construction of defences for the town during the American Revolution, in an attempt to ward off the raids of American Privateers. Perkins even partook of a bit of privateering himself during this time.
Mounted on the front of the house is a Canadian National Historic Person plaque honouring Perkins, the text from which follows.
SIMEON PERKINS
1735 - 1812
Born in Connecticut, Perkins moved to Nova Scotia in 1762 and became a leading entrepreneur of Liverpool township. As Lieutenant-Colonel of Militia he conducted himself during the American Revolution as a zealous Loyalist and took shares in some of the famed Liverpool privateers. A member of the legislature (1765-99), he was also a justice of the Peace and a judge of probate for more than thirty years. His diary, kept from 1766 until his death, is a valuable source for the study of the economic, social and political life of those years. He died at Liverpool.
Perkins House Museum
Perkins' home was preserved through the efforts of the Queens County Historical Society in 1949 led by the author and historian Thomas Raddall. It opened as the Perkins House Museum in 1957 and became part of the Nova Scotia Museum system, the oldest building owned by the province. It became a popular tourism draw in Liverpool open every year during the summer. However the house was closed to the public in 2015 after the province, citing shifting floor beams deemed the building a safety hazard. Repairs were completed in 2021 after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum reopened in June 2021.
From Wiki
Perkins House Museum
Perkins House, built in 1766, offers a glimpse of life in Liverpool as it was lived in Simeon Perkins’ day, when the harbour teemed with schooners, sailors, and privateers. In its time, Simeon Perkins’ property—now Perkins House Museum—was a bustling centre of international shipping and trade.
Step inside the grand old house and explore the grounds of this colonial treasure. Discover the intrigue of Nova Scotian privateers, whom some considered protectors but others called pirates. Learn about the important role Perkins played in the local economy and in protecting the settlers during the American Revolution and later wars.
“CAPT. SNOW’S FISHING SCHOONER COMES IN, AND REPORT THAT THERE WAS A SMALL SCHOONER ALONGSIDE THEM LAST NIGHT AND TOLD THEM MY BROTHER, CAPT. MASON AND MR. GIDEON WHITE WERE ALL TAKEN BY AMERICAN PRIVATEERS. THAT THERE IS A GREAT NUMBER UPON THE SHORE AND THAT THEY HAVE TAKEN NEAR 20 SAIL ABOUT THE HEAD OF CAPE.”
-FROM THE DIARY OF SIMEON PERKINS, SEPT. 13, 1775
"MRS. HORTON DELIVERED OF A SON LAST NIGHT. CAPT. HORTON HAS BEEN GONE NEAR 1 YR. AND 10 MOS. JANE NICKERSON, A SINGLE WOMAN, WAS ALSO DELIVERED OF A DAUGHTER. SEVERAL SUCH INSTANCES HAVE HAPPENED OF LATE, TO GREAT DISGRACE OF THE PLACE…”
-FROM THE DIARY OF SIMEON PERKINS, MARCH 26, 1778
Perhaps best known for the detailed diary he kept, Simeon Perkins provided a faithful record of his life and times. As in the excerpts above, his diary provides vivid detail about what life was like in Liverpool from 1766 to 1812. Today, the information recorded in Perkins’ diary finds new life through the exhibits and interpretation of Perkins House Museum, part of the Nova Scotia Museum.
Simeon Perkins' diary was bequeathed to the town of Liverpool in 1896 and turned over to the Queens County Historical Society in 1932 where it remains in their possession and on permanent display in the Queens County Museum. C. Bruce Fergusson—in a biography for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online—describes Perkins diary as “a mine of information for the study of economic, political, and social institutions, shedding light not only on the life of a community but also on a region occupying a significant place in the North Atlantic triangular trade and an important position in the evolution of the second British Empire.”
In his diary, Perkins kept a careful record of births, deaths and marriages; faithfully recorded the weather; and often commented on religion, the war at sea, and public affairs. The Diary of Simeon Perkins was published in five volumes by the Champlain Society and edited by H.A. Innis et al, but the book is currently out of print.
From the Perkins House Museum
Theme:
Colonial era history of Liverpool, NS
Street Address:
105 Main Street
Liverpool, Nova Scotia
B0T 1K0
Food Court: no
Gift Shop: no
Hours of Operation:
June 1st - October 15th
10:00am till 5:00pm
Sundays 1pm till 5:30pm
Cost: 4.00 (listed in local currency)
Museum Size: Small
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
In order to log this waymark in this category, you must be able to provide proof of your visit. Please post a picture of yourself or your GPSr in front some identifiable feature or point of interest either in the museum, or on the museum grounds.
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