Robert Pagan

For the English/South African writer who sometimes wrote under this pseudonym, see William Plomer.

Paintings of Robert Pagan, and his wife Miriam

Robert Pagan (November 16, 1750 – November 23, 1821) was a Scottish-born merchant, judge and political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Charlotte County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1786 to 1819.

He was born in Glasgow, the son of William Pagan and Margaret Maxwell. In 1768 or 1769, he went to Falmouth Neck, Massachusetts (now Portland, Maine), where he became involved in the timber trade and ship building.

In October 1775, his premises were destroyed by American forces who were reacting to rebel activity in the area. In early 1776 Pagan and his brother Thomas brothers departed to the Barbadoes, as the schooner Favourite chiefly owned by Pagan set sail in January, and in February the Brig Falmouth in February although it was seized entering Bridgetown.

They returned in 1777, joining their brother William in New York City.

Pagan was named in the Massachusetts Banishment Act of 1778.

Pagan married Miriam Pote, daughter of Captain Jeremiah Pote who was also the father-in-law to prominent local Thomas Dyer who would cooperate extensively with Pagan in the future.

Life in New Brunswick

In 1780, Pagan settled at the mouth of the Penobscot River, believing that this would become a loyalist settlement, and established sawmills, stores and engaged in ship building. In 1784, learning that the border would be established further east, he relocated to what would become Saint Andrews in the Passamaquoddy Bay. He was named a justice of the peace and a judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for the county.

Pagan was involved in the timber trade, operating mills, shipbuilding and the fish trade and was a wholesale and retail merchant. In 1787 Thomas Carleton, the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, appointed Pagan the first colonel in command of the Charlotte County Militia. He served as colonel until approximately 1808.

He assisted in research and surveys which helped establish the St. Croix River as the international boundary with Maine.

By 1815, Pagan was one of the twelve wealthiest men in the province.

Pagan helped found the Bank of New Brunswick in 1820.

He died in Saint Andrews in 1821 at the age of 71. He declared on his deathbed that he wished for no debtor owing monies to his estate to be imprisoned, forgiving any what they could not pay.