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William Pagan (1744 - 1819)

The Honourable William Pagan was the first President of the Saint John Society of Saint Andrew (the first such Society in Canada). He was inaugurated as President in 1798 and served again in 1799, 1800, 1806 through 1812, and 1815. He owned property in both Saint John and Fredericton. 

Born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1744, William Pagan was descended from a long line of commercial wealth stretching back to the 1650s. As David Macmillian and Roger Nason have noted: 

The Pagan family had been active in the rising commerce of Glasgow since the 1650s. William Pagan Sr, a prominent sugar refiner there, established a strong commercial reputation through trading activities in the West Indies, in the Mediterranean, and along the Irish coast. In 1754 he and his brother John became burgesses and guild brethren of Glasgow, positions open to them because their father, David, had been admitted to the city as a merchant earlier in the century. Another brother, George, set up as a merchant in Greenock; a third, Thomas, successfully entered the London trading community as a silk-mercer. There were yet other family ties to London and the West Indies, as well as to the tobacco commerce of North America. Thus, by the 1760s, when a second generation of brothers – William, Robert, and Thomas – left their home port of Glasgow for North America, they had the advantage of an existing network of commercial, financial, and political connections. 

Prior to the American Revolution, William and his brothers based their operations in Falmouth Neck, Massachusetts (present-day Portland, Maine), where in partnership with the Greenock firm of Lee, Tucker and Company, traded goods from the West Indies and Scotland in return for masts and timber. Between 1770 and 1775 William was also a member of the prestigious St Andrew's Society of New York, where he rubbed shoulders with the business elite of Atlantic trade. 

Upon the British evacuation of New York, William and his brothers became agents for the Penobscot Associated Loyalists and assisted in re-settling 430 families to St Andrews (New Brunswick). From there they also re-established trading businesses in St Andrews, Saint John, and Fredericton. In Fredericton, William and Thomas were granted lots 17 and 18 in the town plat, encompassing the entire west side of Regent Street between Queen and King. 

William Pagan lived in both Fredericton and Saint John. He never married and had no children. He served as an Alderman for the City of Saint John starting in 1795, and in the same year, was elected to the House of Assembly, representing Saint John City and County through five successive elections. He was appointed to a seat on His Majesty’s Council in 1818. In total, he served in the Legislature for a total of 22 years, and was well respected for his “integrity, correctness, and impartiality.” 

The Honourable William Pagan died in Fredericton on March 12, 1819 at the age of 73 years. He is buried in section 6 of the Old Burying Ground: 

In memory of the Honourable
William Pagan
who died at Fredericton
on the 12th day of March, 1819 
aged 73 years, 1 month and 9 days


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