Joseph Gerrish (September 29, 1709 – June 3, 1774) was a soldier, merchant, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the 1st General Assembly of Nova Scotia. He is buried in the Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia).
In early February 1747, a French and Indian force passed through Pesegitk on the way from Chignecto to Grand Pre. They were joined at Pesegitk by some local Acadians. At Grand Pre they made a successful surprise attack on a British force, killing the commander, Colonel Arthur Noble from Massachusetts. One of the New Englanders who survived the attack was Joseph Gerrish. He had served at Louisbourg when New Englanders captured the fortress in 1745, and became a grantee at Windsor. [L.S. Loomer – ‘A Journey in History’]
Joseph and Mary’s 2 daughters, Mary and Susannah. They lived in Gerrish Hall, built on the hill of Fort Edward by Joseph himself. Mary Gerrish soon became Mary Gray, after marrying Joseph Gray, a Halifax merchant and her father’s business partner. Susannah Gerrish became Susannah Stannus after marrying Capt. Ephraim Stannus of the 64th Regiment of Foot.
After Joseph Gerrish’s death in 1774, his estate was divided between his 2 daughters: Mary, who married Joseph Gray, and Susannah, who married Ephraim Stannus. And yes, Stannus and Gray streets were named after these landlord-in laws. During this era, the houses and shops in Joseph Gerrish’s domain were rented to tenants, some of them being leases of lives on these, three persons as tenants agreed to hold the property under specified conditions, sometimes including the building of a house, the term to be until the death of the last survivor.
